Holworthy Hall

Holworthy Hall is one of the dormitories housing first-year students at Harvard College. Housing 85 students, it is located in Harvard Yard and borders Kirkland Street. It is the closest dorm to the Harvard Science Center and the second-closest dormitory to Memorial Hall, which houses the freshman dining hall, Annenberg. Throughout its first century of existence, it was considered the finest dormitory on Harvard Yard and the most desirable in terms of the physical accommodations it offered.

Holworthy is part of the Ivy Yard grouping of freshman dorms at Harvard, along with Apley Court, Hollis Hall, Lionel Hall, Massachusetts Hall, Mower Hall, Stoughton Hall, and Straus Hall.

Holworthy's floorplan is unique among Harvard dormitories. On each floor of three entryways — Holworthy East, Middle and West — there are two suites connected by a 10-foot-long hallway and a shared bathroom. Each suite features a large common room, with two double bedrooms. While some residents choose to close the hallway doors, many leave the bathroom hallway open, creating an eight person "mega-suite," unmatched by other freshman housing. Each bathroom contains two sinks, two toilets, and two showers. The bathroom itself has no windows, but the lighting is bright.

Holworthy was named in 1812 in honor of a wealthy English merchant, Sir Matthew Holworthy, who died in 1678 having bequeathed £1,000 to Harvard — then the largest donation in the college's history — "for the promotion of learning and the promulgation of the Gospel" in Cambridge. When it opened on August 18, 1812, then-President John Thornton Kirkland of Harvard referred to it as "Holworthy College." It did not have indoor plumbing; for almost a century, students had to go outside to use the college's pump. Rent was $26 per year.

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