Graphic(s) by Betty Smart ‘26 & Melanie Duronio ‘26.
BY BETTY SMART ’26
STAFF WRITER
How well do we all know the residence halls on campus? There are 18 dorms at Mount Holyoke College. All of them were gradually added to campus following the fire that burned down the College’s original seminary building in 1896. A colorful bunch, the dorms each have distinct quirks and drawbacks. Your personal taste may affect how you see each one, but they all have something to offer that truly makes a resident’s experience unique. This past week, I visited Torrey Hall, Abbey Hall and Pearsons Annex, three dorms that mark the turning point between Mount Holyoke’s older and newer-styled living spaces.
Torrey Hall
Built in 1949, Torrey Hall is located across the street from the science buildings and close to the Upper Lake waterfall and the Kendall Sports and Dance Complex. There is a short, white outer facade at the entrance, which connects to the taller brick structure for the actual dorm rooms.
The outer facade holds Torrey’s two common rooms, as well as the computer room and a small MoAsis space for quiet work-free relaxation. While the smaller common room is more closed off, the larger one is long and wide, with the stripes on the wall resembling an airport waiting room. There is plenty of empty space there, most notably in the abandoned kitchen, whose equipment and bulletin board can be seen through a locked glass door in the still wide-open dining room.
The wide residential hallways are oriented in a T-shape, with green linoleum floors — except the first floor, which has carpeting — cream-and-blue walls, bright lighting and a very chemical-y smell. Each floor has its own kitchenette and trash room. Resident Sunny Hong ’26 expressed satisfaction with the rooms themselves. “[My] room is very big.” Despite taking issue with the dorm “not [having] the air conditioner in the summer,” Hong felt Torrey was “a very warm place to live in.”
Also found in Torrey is the Lyons Nation Living Learning Community for varsity/club athletes and dancers, with a very bare-bones lounge on the top floor. Resident Katie Frank ’27 had high praise for the LLC. “Being an athlete, getting to live on a floor with people who share similar lifestyles with you — like some of them are on my team, some of them are [from] all the other sports, and it’s really cool to see them when you’re in Kendall and get to go to their games and [say] ‘Yeah, that person lives two doors down from me!’ and I feel like everyone on this floor knows how to keep things clean and stay organized. I mean, a lot of these things come with being an athlete.”
The dorm is notably home to the Livin’ Free LLC, for students who don’t wish to be around alcohol or drugs. Livin’ Free has a spacious lounge on the second floor. Mariama Diallo ’26, a member of this LLC, said, “It’s nice because I don’t like the smell of alcohol or any sort of smoke or drug use, [here] I don’t have to worry about that. Whenever I’m walking down my hall, I know there’s never gonna be a party situation when someone’s hanging out in their dorm.”
Abbey Hall
Built in 1939, Abbey Hall is right at the southwest corner of campus, neighbor to Mary Woolley Hall and Chapin Auditorium. It is a short and long brick building.
There is only one common room, but it is beautiful, with wooden walls, blue carpets and very colorful furniture. Abbey Hall is also home to The Hoard, a small student-run library on the first floor that caters to at least three of the College’s sci-fi and fantasy clubs.
Each floor of Abbey has a slightly different layout from the others, though they all share the same white walls and bright lighting. The first floor, however, is a lot more eclectic. Patterned linoleum hallways with green trim lead one to the common room. Meanwhile, the basement has windows on one side and houses the dorms’ laundry, computer and trash rooms in various semi-secluded niches. The basement used to connect to Buckland Hall, and the kitchen can still be seen behind a locked door.
Currently, Abbey Hall has its nightly Milk and Cookies tradition in Buckland Hall, something resident Ellie Chadwick ’27 found bizarre. “I always forget to go because I never think to go in Buckland. … I would love that tunnel [between Abbey and Buckland Halls] to be opened up. … It'd be easier to see people [because] when it’s freezing out, no way I’m walking over [there] for a cookie.”
Like many other dorms on campus, Abbey has a reputation for being haunted. Afsana Islam ’24 commented, “Compared to the other dorms, it’s not as haunted; it’s just a little creepy at night, and I was here … during winter break, … so I can see why people said it was haunted. But if you leave the ghosts alone, they leave you alone.” Compared to Islam’s previous dorm, “The actual dorm rooms are a lot bigger; you can end up getting a double closet. It’s unassuming, but [Abbey’s] like a secret good choice.”
The dorm also has two LLCs: the Lyon’s Legacy LLC for transgender and nonbinary students and the Gloria Anzaldúa LLC for queer and trans students of color. Resident Xhayla Strickland ’‘27 had high praise for the latter, saying, “For us, it’s pretty great. There’s a lot of community in our LLC, so [it’s very] chill, connected and lively. … If you wanna have a good time, come have a good time; if you wanna chill, there’s always space to chill, also. … My first semester, I was in Mead, [but] I’d say I like the build of Abbey more. The walls are thicker, and the doors are thicker, so there’s much more privacy.”
Pearsons Annex
Though technically built before 1810, Pearsons Annex was officially added to campus in 1926. It is right next to the Harriet Newhall Center — which coincidentally was also once called Pearsons Annex — and is close to the Stone Shelter bus stop and Williston Memorial Library. Initially named “The Brick Store,” Pearsons Annex is the only dorm, and indeed the only building on campus, to predate the original founding of Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837. Approximately 116 years after being built, it was officially acquired as housing for first-years, making it the smallest dorm on campus by volume and occupancy.
The Annex is a small two-story house with a whitewashed brick exterior and doors that still have door knobs instead of the push bars seen everywhere else. Found on the first floor is the pink carpeted computer room and the very domestic Golden Pear kitchen. The walls on the first floor are decorated with eclectic but colorful works of art. The common room is soft and cozy, with many soft chairs, a large TV and an old box-style piano. The Annex is a 24-hour quiet dorm, however, so it’s unlikely that the piano is played often.
The hallways on both floors have black linoleum, white plaster-y walls and bright lights. Downstairs is a very dark, claustrophobic and spooky basement that holds the laundry room and trash room. The upstairs floor is a little uneven and is only accessible by a short-railing staircase, with no elevators. Current Resident Advisor Wenjie Gong ’24 compared the Annex positively to other dorms, saying, “I lived in Ham and Creighton before … and I feel like in big dorms like [those], people are more distant from each other, but in such a small dorm, like Pearsons Annex, you meet most of them every day. … It feels more like a family in the Annex.”
An Explorer’s Opinions
Torrey Hall was pretty much the last of the “modern” dorms, and I can’t say I’ll miss them. It was far from my least favorite though, and I think in the future, the empty spaces should be taken full advantage of. Maybe the dorm can get its own Golden Pear, a sunroom and more dorms. I agree that Abbey Hall was definitely a hidden gem of a dorm, echoing what Islam said. It was appropriately cozy and quiet without feeling too isolated or lonely. Furthermore, it just looked good, in my opinion. I must confess, Pearsons Annex was my favorite of all these dorms, and probably my favorite of all the dorms on campus so far. What can I say? I love old-fashioned New England domesticity, and the Annex brought it in spades. I felt at home in that building, which I’d say is kind of the point.