Harvard renews Dunster House

House Renewal reaches a whole new scale.

Having practiced the art and craft of House renewal on parts of Quincy and Leverett houses, the College is now renovating an entire undergraduate residence. As soon as students decamped, the scaffolding went up, construction workers began stripping the roof and removing obsolete interior fixtures, and the courtyard was converted into a staging area for heavy equipment and building materials: the grass gave way to gravel and the iron gate facing the Charles River was removed for safekeeping (with the supporting towers protectively boxed). After a year-long diaspora—in part in the repurposed Inn at Harvard, which will have a swing-space dining hall—students should move back into their remade quarters in time for classes in September 2015.

You might also like

Boston Board Approves Harvard’s Enterprise Research Campus Framework

City planners adopt principles to guide future development of the commercial innovation district in Allston.

One of Harvard’s Oldest Structures Is Hiding Behind a Beer Garden

A crumbling wall in Harvard Square holds centuries of the city’s story, if you know how to read it.

At Harvard’s Beck-Warren House, Ghosts Speak Many Languages

The quirky 1833 home now hosts Celtic scholars.

Most popular

Your Harvard 2026 Commencement Week Guide

College reunions and Alumni Day will take place the following week

Harvard Releases Database of 1,613 People Enslaved by University Affiliates

Research continues to track down living descendants.

Martin Nowak Placed on Leave a Second Time

Further links to Jeffrey Epstein surface in newly released files.

Explore More From Current Issue

Colorful illustrated map of Colonial Cambridge and the Harvard College campus featuring buildings of the campus, houses, Cambridge Common, and the Charles River

250 Years Ago, Harvard Was Home to a Revolution

A look at the sights, sounds, and characters that put the University on the frontlines of history

Alene Anello smiling surrounded by four chickens in a natural outdoor setting.

This Harvard-Trained Lawyer Fights for the Rights of Chickens

Alene Anello wants to apply animal cruelty laws to birds raised for meat.