Dorm-mestic exploration: A visit to the first three dorms

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 original Mount Holyoke Female Seminary 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 Porter Hall, Safford Hall and Brigham Hall: the first dorms, all built within the first year after the Seminary fire. With these three dorms, Mount Holyoke’s expansion and evolution were truly catapulted into motion.

Porter Hall

Built in 1897, Porter Hall is a broad brick box with sandy trim, perched at the top of Gettell Amphitheater. It is located in a corner of Skinner Green, up the hill from Ciruti Language Center and the mail center, adjacent to Mary Lyon’s grave — it is truly a central dorm.

“It’s good for people-watching. It’s small, it feels very tight-knit, cause I feel like I know everybody on my floor … it feels almost like living in a building in a real city,” resident Luisa, who only wanted their first name used here, said.

Resident Krista Xiao ʼ25 echoed this sentiment, saying the dorm was “cozy, and normal, and [felt] like life.”

Porter Hall noticeably does not have very much of a first floor; it is almost completely taken up by the College’s anthropology and sociology departments. This has proven to be a little tricky.

Resident Hope Wampler ʼ24 found it “a little silly… cause I’ll get up early in the morning, and go ‘Oh no, I can’t go use the water fountain in my pajamas, cause I will probably run into two or three professors.’” Wampler elaborated on the surreality of this situation, explaining that when passing by professors, she would think ‘“Oh, you’re in my dorm,’ and [the professors would probably think], ‘You’re in my academic building.’”

Properly inside the residence hall, which is behind another OneCard accessible door on the left of the first floor, is Porter’s yellow common room and Golden Pear kitchen. The kitchen has proven to be a big draw amongst residents who “love cooking” like Xiao. Luisa also recalled, “I saw someone left snacks in the common room the other day, for other people, and I just thought that was really sweet. … I think Porter attracts really nice people.”

Porter’s upper floors have one main board hallway that splits off into narrow dorm “branches” at each end. Facing the front of the building, the left stair will lead an explorer to the common room, while the right stair will lead outside. These upper floors have mottled pale yellow walls with deep red carpeting and bright light. In the basement, one will find the building’s laundry room, derelict computer room and trash/bike room with the vending machine. There are a few rooms located in the basement, where lighting is partly blocked by pipes in the ceiling.

Unfortunately, as is the case with many of the older dorms, there is no elevator, which has frustrated Porter residents. Xiao pointed out that any time a resident needed to move out, they would have to “lift [their] luggage downstairs and upstairs. Also, it’s really hot in [the] fall. … We have to use the fan [on the highest setting.]”

Wampler backed this up. “It was kind of stressful when it got really hot, I have an [emotional support animal] we don’t have air-conditioning, it was kind of bad for her, cause she’s a cat,” the resident said.

Safford Hall

Built in 1897, Safford Hall is a more elegant L-shaped brick building with a bright green cupola in the center. It is sandwiched between Porter and Brigham, as well as Mary Lyon’s grave and Skinner Green.

In a red-carpeted yellow foyer is a cluster of red couches set up around a little puzzle table. This foyer splits the first floor between its dorms and many common spaces. At each end of the floors are stairwells that each have a couple of dorms in them. There is also a large central staircase that leads to the top floor.

Safford has three common spaces, not counting its red and pale green kitchen. Aside from a barebones computer room, there is a more elegant green piano room with a large window seat looking out at Mary Lyon Green, as well as some velvety antique furniture. Next door to this, behind a glass door, is the retro-styled TV room with maroon dining booths, an air hockey table, a foosball table, a vending machine and of course, the TV, surrounded by purple couches.

“There aren’t parties here on the weekends ever. It would be really strictly forbidden. People have game nights or watch TV… but they keep it in there, and it gets really quiet after silent hours start,” resident Ainsley Morrison ʼ25 said,

Since Safford is one of Mount Holyoke’s fully quiet dorms, a person can “do school work anywhere,” resident Andi Price ʼ27 said. “We mostly keep to ourselves. It’s pretty chill… but it’s not that big of a community. … It’s just a really comfy-cozy vibe, especially [because] it’s an older building.” Morrison went on to say, “I think it’s kind of the only way to make quiet dorms work ‘cause you can hear people across the floors pretty easily.”

Safford’s basement is split in two, with one half a mini maze containing the bike room, trash room and laundry room, containing signs to direct anyone to their desired stop. The other half is offices for Residential Life staff. On its upper floors are wide black carpeted hallways with beige walls, white wooden trim and bright lighting. Though it also doesn’t have a proper elevator, Safford does have a dumbwaiter that extends from the basement to the top floor and can transport a resident’s belongings in and out.

Morrison believed the dorm was “perfect” for “anyone who isn’t looking for a party scene, or if you like going out but then coming back and going to bed at a reasonable time… and if you like to hang out with friends in places that aren’t your room.” Price also recommended the dorm for anyone who is an “introvert, someone who really wants to focus on schoolwork,” while warning that “it can be sometimes hard to bring friends over here, cause they’re afraid of laughing too loud. … This is not the hangout spot.”

Brigham Hall

Built in 1897, Brigham Hall is a large but unimposing orange-red brick building right at the College’s main gate. It is directly across the street from Mary Lyon Hall, which was built over the original Seminary building. At the front of the dorm is a high green porch with Adirondack chairs overlooking College Street and the tall flagpole near the front of the gate.

Residents expressed satisfaction with Brigham’s location. “The reason I personally chose Brigham was because it had good proximity… so I never have to walk longer than five minutes whenever I want to go somewhere,” resident Mishaal Khan ʼ25 explained.

Brigham has two large common rooms. There is an elegant red one with yellow-orange furniture, a TV and a grand piano. The other one is a larger and more casual beige one with the dorm's vending machine, foosball and air hockey tables, a large blue-ish couch and a few cafeteria-style tables.

The corridor on the first floor is wide, with fancy peach chairs, gray walls and a red patterned carpet. At each end of the dorm are stairwells with dorms set in them, both leading from the basement to the top floor. “It would be nice if we had an elevator, but at least we have a dumbwaiter,” resident Lila Hancock ʼ26 opined.

The basement has brick walls in two colors. In the white half is the laundry room and trash room, with large corridors and carpeted floors around the few dorms located there. Upstairs, the hallways are still wide but have gray linoleum with bright lighting. Like Pearsons, the top floor is a bit smaller, but throughout the dorm are many smaller niches and nooks where dorms have been placed.

The middle two floors have kitchenettes that overlook the Abbey Memorial Chapel. Khan also remarked that Brigham was “peaceful, but it’s also smelly. … You’ll smell a lot of food, especially on my floor. … Usually food sits [in the kitchenette] for a while, and the ventilation is kind of on and off.”

Unfortunately, Brigham’s age has also left it vulnerable to outdated building conditions, such as asbestos in the walls. One resident remarked, “If it’s visible, you get moved out. … I wanna say it’s happened to four rooms in the building this year. But I couldn’t actually tell you a number.”

An Explorer’s Opinion

The oldest dorms have undoubtedly changed a lot since they were first raised, but their pleasant, individualized exteriors and central locations make them impossible to ignore.

Porter has perhaps the most comfortable-looking upper halls, barring the basement. Going in there, however, I still found it a little strange to see that an academic department and a residential building have fused together so seamlessly. Like Pearsons, it should definitely obtain its own elevator or at least a dumbwaiter.

Safford is a lovely-looking dorm both outside and inside; proof that a person can have peace and quiet without bare isolation. I like the dumbwaiter, though I don’t think it would hurt to perhaps convert it into a proper elevator. Old-fashioned stickler as I am, I don’t care for the lack of proper metal keys to get into the rooms. However, as I may live in Safford one day, I don’t think I can afford to complain.

Brigham is a dorm that is equal parts beautiful and uncanny. So many rooms are tucked away in little niches, and the floors themselves all differ from each other so dramatically, barring the two in the middle. And somehow, they have all managed to fit into Brigham’s simple rectangular shape. Again, the dumbwaiter is a nice touch, but Brigham should really get an elevator.

Unsurprisingly, I adore these dorms for having stayed around so long, and enjoy getting to see the little touches of the 1890s that still remain. If there’s one touch that should go, it’s the asbestos, and the lack of proper elevators. Barring that, I hope these dorms stay standing for another 127 years.

And with that, everyone, I am done. Of course, with rumors of a new dorm being built soon, I may find myself making a new addition. If I’m not around when it goes up, whichever staff writer wants to, I give full permission for you to write your own review. Until then, I’m glad you all could accompany me on this exploratory journey. You now have almost everything you need to know about Mount Holyoke’s residence halls! I say almost, because there’s only so much I can fit into these articles. If you’d like to find out what I couldn’t touch on, you should visit them yourselves!