Leaving campus housing marks a big change in one’s college experience.
Gone are the days of sharing a box-sized room and living among strangers. Moving off campus provides students with a sense of autonomy — choosing where and with whom they live.
One way to give your house more character is to give it a name, Hayleigh Coppenger, a fourth-year in city and regional planning, said.
“The Igloo was our house of eight girls,” Coppenger said. “We had a painting on the wall that had an igloo on it, and we decorate for Christmas year-round.”
Though she no longer lives in the Igloo, Coppenger and her roommates continued the trend of naming houses — their current house on Waldeck Avenue is the Dock.
“It’s called the Dock because no one could decide on a name,” Coppenger said. “We couldn’t agree on one that was better than Igloo because, in my eyes, that was legendary.”
One perk of having a house name is convenience, Corinne Esposito, a fourth-year in communication and resident of the Dock, said.
“Once people know where you live, instead of having to state your address, you can just say, ‘Come to the Igloo,’” Esposito said. “The Igloo is just one entity, and it’s everyone’s house.”
While some of the fun in moving is picking out a creative name for your house, many times, house names are inherited and passed down.
Vivi Raab, a fourth-year in international studies, is living in a house named White Castle for the second year — a house that has been passed down in her sorority for more than 10 years.
The name comes from the house being white and palacelike, not from the fast-food chain, Raab said.
“I think the reason I value the name is because it adds character to our space, and it makes it special to call home because it’s been within our friend group for many years,” Raab said.
Though older members of White Castle graduated years before she joined her sorority, Raab said she is still close with them because they all share a common bond.
Sometimes a name has been passed down for more than a decade, but Maddie Grosklos, a fourth-year in biomedical engineering, started the tradition.
Grosklos said she and her roommates decided to keep the name of their house its previous renters coined.
“We tried a few different things, but for some reason, the only thing that fit was Clubhaus,” Grosklos said. “A lot of my roommates love club music and when we’re all there together, whether it’s on a game day or just as a pregame, that’s what’s going on.”
Grosklos said that after their lease ends, the new tenants plan to carry on the tradition and keep the name.
“It makes it homey for us, and we love our Clubhaus,” Grosklos said. “Other people love our Clubhaus, and it just kind of stands for something with us and all of our friends.”
