Quincy House (Harvard)

Quincy House
Residential House at Harvard University
Stone Hall (the former Increase Mather Hall, usually called "Old Quincy")
University	Harvard University
Location	58 Plympton Street
Coordinates	42°22′14″N 71°07′02″W / 42.3705°N 71.1171°W / 42.3705; -71.1171Coordinates: 42°22′14″N 71°07′02″W / 42.3705°N 71.1171°W / 42.3705; -71.1171
Full name	Josiah Quincy III House
Established	1959
Named for	Josiah Quincy III
Sister college	Branford College
Freshman dorm	Pennypacker Hall
Faculty Deans	Lee and Deborah Gehrke
Dean	Judith Flynn
HoCo chairs	Janice Jia and Brittany Wang
Tutors	20
Website	www.quincy.harvard.edu

Quincy House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, located on Plympton Street between Harvard Yard and the Charles River. The second largest of the twelve undergraduate houses, Quincy House was named after Josiah Quincy III (1772–1864), president of Harvard from 1829 to 1845. Quincy House's official counterpart at Yale University is Branford College.

House colors are red, gold, and black, and the House's seal in those colors is emblazoned on a wall of the dining hall wing facing the House's main courtyard. In 2005, Quincy House adopted the penguin as its official mascot. Its residents, nicknamed "penguins" after the mascot, live in the house during their sophomore through senior years.

Officially opened in September 1959, Quincy House symbolized the "new" Harvard. As a part of the Edward Harkness bequest, it was the first House to be built after construction of the original seven river Houses. Three buildings currently house Quincy House students: Old Quincy, New Quincy, and 20 DeWolfe Street.

The older of the sections of Quincy House, "Old Quincy", underwent extensive renovations during academic year 2012-13 and opened in the fall of 2013 as Stone Hall. It had originally been named for early Harvard president Increase Mather and was part of Harvard's Leverett House until 1960. Constructed in 1929-30 during Abbott Lawrence Lowell's university presidency, its neo-Georgian exterior has been retained, but its finely detailed suites, high ceilings, carved moldings, and fireplaces have given way to modern suites, corridors that invite interaction between suite residents, and sunlit common rooms. Until the construction of New Quincy in the late 1950s necessitated their removal, the now open east side was enclosed by a one-story range of squash courts.

Designed by the Boston firm of Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson, and Abbott, New Quincy is a modern eight-story high-rise with views of its more traditional neighbors. It consists of a two-story commons wing along Mt. Auburn Street, a nine-story main residence unit with split level suites having splendid views, and the raised, glass-walled House Library, nicknamed "the Qube", the placement of which adds a second interior court to the series of courtyards and gardens that are a distinctive part of the House.