Every year, upperclassmen organize in groups and compete for the best rental properties UP has to offer. They take tours. They ask questions. And they try to remember the best parts of each house. But
By Maureen Inouye
4805 N. Willamette Blvd.
From the inside, this house seems much newer than many other UP rentals with its great hardwood floors, fresh paint and big front windows. The house has a lot of storage space, with two closets in the first-floor hallway and crawl spaces on the second floor that run the length of the house.
"For three people, it's pretty big. There's so much freaking space," senior Kevin Johnston said. This house was the first pick for groups of three in last year's housing selection.
Best Features:
The hardwood floors
"We really like the floors - they're less of a pain to keep clean," Johnston said.
The basement
A large purple basement, with the title "Da Purple Pit" painted in large white letters on the wall, makes this house perfect for parties. Besides built-in wall storage, there is enough room for several couches.
Loft bedroom
"We hang out here, that's why there's the nice couch," Johnston said. He enjoys the extra space and unique composition of the room, which is divided into two parts, has a curved ceiling and gets a lot of sunlight.
Worst Feature:
The first floor bathroom leaks.
5215 N. Willamette Blvd.
"This is a college house," said senior Liz Bailey about her five-person house. She's right. This house isn't the newest, or the most impressive, but it's fun.
There is a large, open front room divided by the present occupants into a living room and a dining room. The kitchen is a little small, but the dozens of different chocolate wrappers from Austria lining the ceiling (gathered during the students' study abroad time) give the room a distinctive appeal. This is the type of house that cries out for idiosyncratic decoration like this from future residents.
"The whole house is quirky, actually," Bailey said.
Best Features:
The unique bedrooms
Each bedroom is painted a bright color (from orange to green), and has its own distinguishing traits. They vary in size from postage stamp to warehouse, and several have slanted ceilings.
The purple basement
There are several rooms in the basement, which is painted bright purple. One room holds the students' mini pool table, another is the size of a bedroom. The weirdest feature is a room that just contains two showers.
The porch
"It's my favorite part of the house. We go out there whenever it's warm enough," Bailey said. Large enough for a couch or two, the porch is a common hangout for people watching - especially when weekend partygoers don't realize the pavement in front of the house is uneven.
Worst Feature:
Poor heating
"The whole house is really drafty. The heat doesn't really reach everywhere," Bailey said.
5618 N. Strong Ave.
(aka The Hobbit House)
This quaint little house deserves its name. The Hobbit House looks like a life-size dollhouse, with its white paint and tiny porch. The charm continues in all the details, from the swinging kitchen doors (straight from a classic saloon), to the pond, to the vaulted ceilings in the bedrooms - every one of these niceties explain why this was the number one choice for four-person groups during housing selection last year. The only large thing about the house is the basement, which includes a two-car garage that student can either use for cars or couches.
Best Features:
Great view
"If you peer out really far, you can see St. Johns' Bridge," senior Polly Manning said. The yard, large enough for a picnic table and small pond, looks out over the Willamette River. The view, according to the housemates, is especially beautiful at night.
Huge kitchen
With the largest kitchen of all five houses previewed here, this is the house for people who like to cook. Or to eat - it holds two dining tables.
"We really like how spacious the kitchen is," Manning said.
The bathrooms
"The bathrooms are amazing," Manning said. It may seem strange that the bathrooms are a high point, but these bathrooms are adorable. One has red velvet wallpaper, while the other is covered entirely in light green with white polka-dots.
Worst Feature:
Nothing
"There's nothing wrong with this house. We had an ant problem for like two days, at the beginning, but that went away quickly," Manning said.
5706 N. Willamette Blvd.
(aka The Farmhouse)
"We have 13 couches," junior Maureen Lathrop said. Lathrop is one of the occupants of The Farmhouse, one of UP's most notorious rentals. The house is huge - large enough to fit 13 couches, six students and lots of parties.
The Farmhouse has a wide front porch and two living rooms, both of which now hold several of the couches mentioned above. The kitchen is moderately sized, but has plenty of counter space, and the house itself feels roomy and open.
"We inherited a lot of stuff. And we have a sweet porch," senior Megan Bell said. Sadly, the Farmhouse isn't on the housing list this year because the residents are squatting.
Best Features:
The basement
"We have a huge basement that came tricked out for parties - tables, lights, disco ball," Bell said.
The large rooms
"All the rooms are fairly big," senior Bri Caldwell said. "But mine's the best, with the built-in desk and five windows."
The history
"There's a legacy that comes with this house - all the stuff that people who've lived here have left behind," Caldwell said.
She especially likes how several bricks in the kitchen wall can be removed - and have hidden messages written on the back by past residents.
Worst Feature:
The cold
"It's pretty cold in winter. And the bills can get high," Lathrop said.
The housemates also joked about the occasional mouse.
6507 N. Monteith Ave. (aka The Bluffhouse)
"Imagine that 17 color-blind, stylistically challenged people got together and decided to create a house - that's this house," senior Laurie Soderstrom said. It's true - the house's design is quite random.
The biggest bedroom is a converted garage, there are steps that lead to nowhere, light switches you can't turn off, and secret cupboards. The five students that live in the house, however, adore it.
"I wish we could keep this house forever," Soderstrom said.
Best Features:
The location/view
The Bluffhouse really is on the bluff. Behind the house, stone steps wind down among the trees and you can see the Willamette sparkling below. The living room and the "Treehouse" (a bedroom with two large windows replacing walls) allow viewers to enjoy the sights from inside the house as well.
The breakfast nook
The Bluffhouse has a separate dining room, but the kitchen is large enough for a small table in a nook surrounded by windows.
"I love to sit, with food and my book, and watch the squirrels playing outside while the sun shines in," Soderstrom said.
The paint
The cupboards in the kitchen are painted avocado and watermelon. The bathrooms are Pepto-Bismol pink and daffodil yellow. The house itself is white and teal. And the basement is papered in red apple trees.
"I told you the designers were color-blind," Soderstrom said with a laugh.
Worst Feature:
Bars over windows
"One of the Physical Plant guys called this 'the Victorian prison look,'" Soderstrom said. Some of the windows open out, and cannot be used due to the bars.
