24. Beta Theta Pi, Kansas State
Your Take: “Great group of guys that have won intramurals for 8 years in a row. Great looking house that was built in 1930's and still looks great.” -- Anonymous, Kansas State
Our Take: While we feel like we need to help out the Beta Theta Pis with their adjectives, it is true that their house does still look great. A cool 30’s design gives it an unusual look, and the moss is a nice touch. Really classes the joint up.
23. Sigma Alpha Mu, Ohio State
Your Take: "What makes Sigma Alpha Mu - Sigma Beta chapter is not only the history of the fraternity, but the men who live in it. Each and every guy that has lived and who is currently living in the house share similar interests that help keep this frastle the way it is today... Everyone on campus dreams of Sammy's football block pre-game parties every football season. The house itself is compatible with any type of party. We can turn our outdoor porch/balcony into a beach with a pool, or we can turn it into outdoor dance floor. The 4 floors can be utilized for parties and they each have unique qualities to them. Out of the many fraternities I have visited, nothing beats Sammy Sigma Beta. Go Bucks.” -- Spencer, Ohio State
Our Take: Four floors conducive to partying you say? All with unique qualities? Is this actually a misplaced description for a club in Ibiza? And if not, can we go there?
22. Sigma Chi, Bradley
Your Take: “Built in 2007, the Sigma Chi chapter house at Bradley has already been regarded as one of the most dominant buildings on campus. We originally came to Bradley’s campus in 1949, but in 2006 the university needed the land where our old house was located to construct a new recreation center. A deal was made with school officials to relocate and after payment from the university and a very generous amount of donations from alumni, the new multi-million dollar house was built in less than a year. Inside features 23 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms (no one likes communal bathrooms) for the 40 brothers we can hold. Around the house there is over 25 flat-screen TV’s, a speaker system throughout the common rooms, a HD projector room, game room with pool table and custom pong tabletop, and with an infamous balcony that is considered to be one of the most, if not, the most popular spot on campus, no party is the same with the amount of space and amenities we have here and we only just named a few.” -- John, Bradley
Our Take: 25 flat screens, a speaker system, AND a projector room. This is the house that Vince Vaughn’s Speaker City maven Beanie Campbell would have built if he was given the time in “Old School.” What a financial commitment to partying. Admirable.
21. Chi Psi, Wisconsin
Your Take: "Alpha Iota of Chi Psi, more commonly known on campus as ‘The Lodge’, has grown into one of the premier fraternities at the University of Wisconsin. One of the longest continuously active fraternities on campus, the Lodge has become a staple of the University and the city of Madison since its founding 135 years ago in 1878. Generations of men look back at their experiences at the Lodge as some of the most memorable times in their lives. The over 100 year-old Tudor Revival fraternity house was designed by renowned Milwaukee architect Alexander C. Eschweiler and constructed of native Madison sandstone. It was built in 1911 for the Chi Psi Fraternity, and designated a Madison Landmark in 1988. The imposing fraternity house rests high above the shores of Lake Mendota, a 15 square-mile lake in Madison. The lake provides year-round activities for Lodgers from swimming and boating in the warmer months to ice fishing and hockey in cooler seasons. Famous Wisconsin Lodgers include Stephen Ambrose, American Historian; The Pabst Family from Pabst Brewing Co.; Steve Miller, Musician; Ben Karlin, Executive Producer of The Daily Show & The Colbert Report among others." -- McGuiness, Wisconsin
Our Take: It’s a lake house! Like the places people go on vacations to! And you're already basically on vacation (college).
20. Kappa Sigma, Ohio State
Your Take: This was too interesting to not include in full...
"The Kappa Sigma house at Ohio State was originally built in 1856 atop an ancient indian burial mound as part of the Neil family estate which spanned the entire Ohio State campus and much of modern day Columbus. The house was named "Indianola" as a corruption of the words "indian" and "knoll" from which the street it resides on was named after. The Neil's were abolitionists and the house was built with secret passageways throughout. Many of the walls are hollow and small hidden corridors exist throughout the house granting access into the walls and ceilings. An underground tunnel used to escape slaves exists in the basement and runs directly down the middle of the front lawn and connects to a sorority house down the street. Unfortunately the tunnel was sealed decades ago for structural reasons although the entrance can still be accessed. From 1860-1862 the house was home to the Governor of Ohio, William Dennison, Jr. who married Anne Neil, daughter of William, who built the estate. The chapter was chartered at Ohio State in 1895 and fell into the hands the chapter in 1908 when the owner agreed to rent it to them for $120 a month as reward for two brothers warding off drunks that had attacked him. The chapter purchased the house in 1919 for $18,000. The house was originally built as a Swiss chalet, but remodeled in 1937 as a Virgnia colonial with six pillars to honor Kappa Sigma's Virginian roots as well as the six founding fathers of the Ohio State chapter. During WWII, the house was used as a girls dorm for two and a half years while the army took over the Ohio State dorms for housing. All of the active brothers except for two who did not pass the physical entered the armed forces. In 1984 Playboy used the front lawn with the chapter house as the backdrop to do a shoot for their "Girls of the Big Ten" edition. In 1999 the house was the center of a controversial philanthropy event that ended up as the topic of a criticizing article in Rolling Stone Magazine. The philanthropy was essentially a concert that utilized the lawn as the venue and featured the band, and OSU students at the time, O.A.R. That same year two brothers, along with a third OSU student who was not in the fraternity began experimenting in the house to create a new drink. That drink would later become known as Four Loko." -- Chase, Ohio State
Our Take: The Kappa Sigs’ house can claim a Playboy photo shoot, one of the very first O.A.R. concerts, and the place where the seeds of the idea that would become Four Loko were planted. At this point, it’s almost like the caricature of a frat house. Are we sure this place isn’t just the scrapped idea of a “Greek” TV show writer?
19. Theta Xi, UCLA
Your Take: “First off, Theta Xi was the first fraternity to have a house at UCLA. Since we got to choose our street address, the number of every other house on frat row is based on a decision our brothers made almost a century ago--which makes for an awesome story to tell at parties.
“Today, we're the only house at UCLA with a working pool. Bros can be found watching sports on our projector screen TV or playing ping-pong or billiards in the living room on any given night of the week. We've even got a library for when bros need to buckle down and find a quiet place to study. But of course, Theta Xi is also tricked out with a whole-house audio system and laser lighting for parties. Our house is already legendary and it's only going to get better: current projects include a complete renovation of our basement bar and the installation of a deck on the hill overlooking our pool. We're also working on converting our backyard patio into an outdoor canopied gym.” -- Drew, UCLA
Our Take: This UCLA abuela has a uniquely dope California design, complete with the palm trees in the front. It’s a testament to the sheer variety of these houses that the Theta Xi house exists for the same purpose as, say, a Southern school’s castle, despite looking nothing like the frat house stereotype. That being said, beer spills the same everywhere.
