2723 Durrant Ave.,Berkeley

This was home for four years of my life. K-Ann took this picture last fall.Sadly, it is missing it's beautiful old tree that graced its front walkway. Other than that, it is still the same..at least in my mind and heart. I have never been back inside the Theta house since I graduated and walked out the door. I think that is best because than it always stays the same. If I had been with the program at all back then I would have taken pictures like crazy..but I just took pictures of people..go figure. It was a lovely home built back in the early 1900s with tons of charm. Unlike the ratty fraternity houses, sorority homes are meticulously maintained with pretty gardens. Lets see, you could live in the boxy,grey dormitories and run the risk of getting a militant,revolutionary roommate or live in a gorgeous,old, Berkeley-style architectural home with maid service and a cook (ok, we had to clean our own rooms.) Typically,girls would move out their junior or senior year and get an apartment.But not our group, maybe we were a touch dorky ,or maybe we just knew a really good thing when we saw it!! The Theta house wasn't my first choice when I went through rush my freshman year..but ultimately it was the very best decision I made at Berkeley. Houses are always" known" for one thing or another, but I had no preconceived notion of the Thetas. The Tri-Delts were giggily blondes, the Kappas snobby little rich girls, the Pi Phis had the corner on cool and the DGs were cute (in a tiny,irish,catholic way.) See, anyone could find their niche.. that is the point of rushing. But the Theta house was ALL over the board-some girls were drop-dead gorgeous,some were little Einsteins, there was the organic Marin faction, a few nyphomaniacs, more than our share of bohemians.A nice mix really. I think others would define us as girls-who-liked-to-party..well, we did. It was a fun and eclectic group that I came to love dearly. But what I have been thinking of is the house, the physical house. It had an addition built on during some aesthetically bland period..it was referred to as the "new" side but I wanted none of it. The old part had crown moldings, crank windows, little wooden closets and sun-porches. It was light and airy . It had views of the aforementioned garden or the Berkeley hills. None of our rooms had locks on the doors and men weren't allowed upstairs. If you had a brother or a platonic guy friend who was moving some heavy item for you you had to announce"man on" as you climbed each floor. Oh, I haven't mentioned the stairs ( Berkeley as a whole was Very fond of stairs) without elevators-very unfriendly handicapped wise- but great for the calf muscles. All told, 90 girls, a house mother and one "house boy" lived at 2723 Durrant. There was an old,dark stairway that went past the house-boys room and to the kitchen and eventually to the back alley. I feed the feral cats there. we were always told not to-diseases and that kind of rot-but on my watch,for four years they were well-fed. The house-boy thing is odd,yes? An archaic idea to protect the girls I assume. They got free room and board for doing manly jobs around the house I guess. They were the butt of many a joke, and ours had the unfortunate name of Julian. Monday night dinner was our fancy meal of the week and Julian and several other young men had white coats on and served us dinner. Does this sorority stuff sound FUN or what?!! I want to go back!! Our version of "texting" consisted of a lovely, old, wooden message center that stood at the base of the stairs. Mail, phone messages on slips of paper or notes from boys were waiting in your own little box. It being a sorority tiny girlie friendship quotes or flowers were also included. I , of course, found much joy in putting random, odd items in peoples boxes. But -WOW-I loved the box. Remember we didn't have cell phones so we really relied on "the box"...there were 3 house lines that people could Try and get you on. And once a week you had "phone duty" where you answered the phone"Kappa Alpha Theta" and then would get on the intercom and say "Nancy Tufts call on 45, Nancy?" If the aforementioned girl didn't answer you wrote down the message and left it in her box..for her to find joy later. This all makes it sound like I was there in the early 1900s doesn't it? It worked, and if you were trying to avoid someone, it worked real well. Don't hold your breath, but I will probably post some more riveting info later.