- Eliot House
Eliot House is one of twelve residential houses for upperclassmen at
Harvard University . Opened in 1931, the house was named afterCharles William Eliot , who served as president of the university for forty years (1869-1909). Thearchitectural style of Eliot House is typical of Harvard, with red brick construction and vertical entryways with residential rooms branching directly off stairwells. The House'scupola was modelled after the dome ofNew York City Hall .Fact|date=February 2007The current Masters of Eliot House are Professor
Lino Pertile and his wifeAnna Bensted .Famous former residents of the house include
Leonard Bernstein ,Peter Benchley ,Benazir Bhutto ,Ben Bradlee ,Archibald Cox ,John Harbison ,Ted Kaczynski ,William Kristol ,Richard Leacock ,Joseph Lelyveld ,Jack Lemmon ,Thomas Oliphant ,George Plimpton , andJay Rockefeller .In 1951, roommates of Eliot House A-12 included
Paul Matisse , grandson of French impressionistHenri Matisse ,Stephen Joyce , grandson of novelistJames Joyce , andSadruddin Aga Khan , lineal descendant of theIslamic prophet Muhammad . This caused master John Finley to brag to the "New York Times ", "where else would you find, in one room, the grandson of Matisse, the grandson of Joyce, and the great-great-great-great-grandson of God?" [ [http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/050244.html Pure Fabrications (May-June 2002) ] ]Before Harvard opted to use a lottery system to assign residences to upperclassmen, Eliot was known as a 'prep' house, providing accommodation to the university's social elite. Vestiges of this remain in traditions like the spring formal, the Eliot Fête, and the house remains especially well-endowed, although Harvard no longer permits donors to fund individual houses.
Movie Appearance
Eliot's prominent bell tower is featured in many films including: two screen shots in Old School;
Legally Blonde ; The Firm;Fact|date=February 2007Chasing Liberty ; andEuro Trip features the tower at the end of the film, incorrectly calling it Oberlin College. Eliot House is also featured prominently in Love Story.References
External links
* [http://eliot.harvard.edu/ Eliot House official site]
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