sleek sophistication

The Mask and Spear Pub and Lounge is a 21-and-over, invitation-only bar. The sleek bar, replete with mirrors, stools and guest book wows visitors. The authentic African masks and spears on the walls inspired the name of the institution. Signs behind the bar list the house drinks and the benefactors of the watering hole; many people have endowed bottles in their name. The lounge encourages friendly chatting among guests.

The inhabitants of Dunster E-22 spent a good part of the month of November in the Dunster woodworking shop. It all began with a trip to Home Depot for lumber, after which the roommates sanded and stained the veneer in the shop but had to do the final assembly in their room. "It was like building a ship in a bottle," said Dan Horwitz '98.

1950's beer ads from Life magazine grace the walls of the pub with catchy phrases like "In this friendly, freedom-loving land of ours...Beer belongs-Enjoy it." Indeed, resident efforts resulted in a sophisticated interior as well as a semi-legendary Harvard institution.

Horwitz comments on the institution: "The Mask and Spear's countertop is finished with Supergloss, the Michael Jordan of synthetic finishes. One coat is equivalent to a whopping forty coats of polyurethane. The Mask and Spear's guest book boasts over 120 signatures, among them dignitaries from Accra, Monterrey, Budapest, and Paris. Advanced HorwitzSonic wiring carries audio power among six speakers in two rooms...only the finest materials were used in appointing the Mask and Spear--including carved South African objects obtained by Cito Horwitz, and adhesive tape from Luxembourg whose installation came at the cost of $100 term bill fine from the superintendent's office."