Leverett House
You may recognize Lev by its green and gold crest, embellished with particularly ~muscular~ rabbits. If you join Lev, you’ll become a bunny — or, hare, technically. Leverett means “young hare”, so the mascot is quite fitting.
Leverett House primarily consists of McKinlock Hall and the F and G towers across the street. These buildings once housed people like Amanda Gorman, Yo-Yo Ma, Pete Buttigieg, and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Tour with a Bunny
This housing season, I had the privilege of touring Lev with Arezoo Ghazagh ’26, a Flyby editor and proud Lev-lover. Our first stop was McKinlock Hall, which encompasses dorms, common rooms, and the dining hall, among other amenities. She first guided me through the Light Court, a seating area preceding the dining hall that’s, well, filled with light. Past those beautiful skylights (which are much appreciated, as Harvard students don’t tend to get much sunlight) is the d-hall entrance, where you may encounter the famous BonLee (more on her later!).
Now, Lev is known for having the most students (they notably achieve this without overflow housing), so anticipate the d-hall to be “hustlin’ and bustlin,’”, as Ghazagh told me. The room may never be empty, but that doesn’t mean you’ll feel overwhelmed or lost, either. Lev’s size contributes directly to its sense of community. Ghazagh noted, “If you’re in the dining hall, you can look around and can be like, I know that person lives in Leverett or not. You recognize faces, you get familiar.”
Further, the d-hall is considered the central element of Leverett. It also happens to be ~optimally~ located, so much so that people from other houses prefer eating there. Rest assured, you won’t have to worry about long walks to the d-hall from your dorm; the farthest you’ll come from is the other side of the crosswalk.
One last dining hall perk: Lev has all of your niche food needs. Perhaps it’s a benefit of trying to provide for the large number of students. Nutella. Gluten-free waffle mix. Vanilla coffee. Boom Boom Sauce every day. Impressed yet?
I next traveled to the aptly named Rabbit Hole, a common room — kitchen included — where steins (upperclassmen study breaks) are frequently held. Leverett is unique in that it hosts weekly steins, whereas other houses may operate on less regular schedules. Again, Lev cares about community, and its steins cultivate just that.
Close by are the music practice rooms, band room, and art rooms, which Ghazagh described as another source of niche, “obscure” materials like “really intense glue that you probably shouldn’t touch unless you need to.”
After honing your artistic expression, you can lounge in Lev’s library theater, which is a large space often reserved for ceremonies, shows, and social gatherings. Only people within Lev can rent out the space, so any organizations you’re a part of will thank you later. The aesthetic of this room is captivating, from its dramatic staircases to the quintessential common room piano (you’ll have no trouble accessing pianos in Lev — they’re everywhere).
The common rooms continue with the Junior Common Room, which has an actual working fireplace. The faculty deans will host fireside events here, and they’ll often provide fresh berries and cream (a needed change from Berg’s cantaloupe-heavy mix). There’s a Senior Common Room as well, but it’s a bit more ~exclusive~. While you explore these spaces in McKinlock, keep an eye out for bunny-themed art and house traditions like the Lev quilt on the walls.
After exiting McKinlock, I took a moment to appreciate the view of the river, but I should have prepared myself for the even greater awe I was about to experience: the library. If you, too, have grown fond of the book nooks in Lamont, this is the place to be. Imagine the Lamont basement — but with windows and light. In other words, as Ghazagh observed, “It’s giving Lamont if she was maybe not as old and dusty.” It’s gorgeous.
Now, I would be remiss not to acknowledge the controversy surrounding the towers. Sure, F and G towers aren’t the most attractive buildings on campus, but they provide all the amenities you could need, and the interior more than makes up for the exterior (huge dorms, anyone?). The towers each have their own common rooms, F-Hutch and G-Hutch. You’ll have quick access to a gym, laundry rooms (hint: tunnels connect the towers’ laundry rooms), and bike and canoe racks.
The first few floors of the towers feature suite-style rooms, and there are singles up to the top floor. The tower rooms are reportedly larger, but if you’re looking for more room type variation, McKinlock can provide doubles and even duplexes. McKinlock gives you the “old” Harvard feel, while the towers are comparatively modern; whatever your interior design preference is, you should be satisfied. So if you’re admiring other houses from afar and feeling bitter, remember Ghazagh’s words on Dunster a neighboring house: “I’m glad I get to see it and not live inside it.”
At the end of our tour, Ghazagh highlighted extra locational benefits of Leverett. Lev is only an eight minute walk from central campus and is positioned right next to the shuttle stop (SEC travelers, this is especially convenient for you). Finally, Leverett is just a short walk from Dumpling House, which Ghazagh highly, fervently recommends.
The HoCo Perspective - Excerpts
Following the tour, I sat down with Leverett HoCo Chairs Carly Y. Chen ’26 and Hayden S. Graham ’26 to get a glimpse into Lev’s culture. In summary, when I requested that they select three words to represent Lev, the consensus was “Lively, Lovely, Legendary.”
Lev is Lively
Chen and Graham have unique perspectives into Lev, as they are hard at work behind the scenes. They adamantly spoke about Lev’s vibrant community and atmosphere. In Graham’s words, “I think Lev is just jolly.”
Not only are the humans of Lev lively, but the courtyards are full of life, too. Graham commented, “It’s iconic how we have actual rabbits in our court. It’s not just an odd bunny here and there. Every day you walk through the courtyard you’ll see probably 20 rabbits in there.” What better way to build house spirit than to be surrounded by your own mascot?
Speaking of the Lev mascot, Chen explained, “I think a testament to house spirit is how willing people are to dress up as a mascot. So many people want to do it because they love our house.”
Additionally, Lev has lively participation in IMs. Notably, Graham started BroomBall (akin to hockey but with a broom and normal shoes) this semester, which he stated, “has been really fun. Leverett hasn’t done too great, unfortunately. But turnout has been amazing.”
Lev also has a spread of lively events, including a tradition of apple-picking, themed feasts, and the impressive Donut Drop. As Chen illustrated for me, “The last night of Reading Period [the faculty] do a massive drop of donuts in the d-hall. The d-hall tables will be covered in donuts.”
Lev is Lovely
A recurring theme during my discussion with the HoCo chairs was the presence of genuine people and a beautiful community in Leverett.
Graham shared about the community, “I feel like the nice thing is, you can just go into the dining hall, no dinner plan, and just see a bunch of people. And it usually ends up just being collections of people who aren’t friend groups or anything. They’re just all talking, and we have really nice round tables in our dining hall, which is nice.”
I then learned about some pillars of the Lev community; if you get Lev, take note, because these individuals will soon become close to your heart.
First, there are the faculty deans, Eileen and Dan, who Graham described as “Incredible people. They have these super high stress jobs, but they are the most down to earth nicest people. And I swear they put in 110% for the house.” Chen added., “They also care about the individual student perspective.” The faculty deans can be found wearing bunny ears and swiping students into the dhall on community nights, timing a morning run based on pieces of litter picked up rather than miles, or hand-making chocolates and birthday notes for each Lev student.
When I asked which fictional characters the faculty deans were most comparable to, the HoCo chairs responded with the parents from Bluey, Doc McStuffins, and maybe the parents of Sofia the First. No final conclusion was made, but key characteristics would be “someone that can do it all, and is chill about it,” as Chen expressed, while staying “humble,” as Graham added.
Other recognizable figures include Robert, the IM tutor who Graham described as a “really cool guy, super passionate about IMs. He’s at almost every IM game, really rallying the Leverett community to come.”
It’d be hard to miss Mike, the security guard who’s been at Lev for years. Graham shared, “He’s just such a friendly guy. People will go to him for advice, just have conversations, long conversations, with him at 2 a.m. — a big fixture of the Leverett community.”
Finally, the famous BonLee protects the Lev d-hall and thus protects Lev’s community. She’s strict about who enters the d-hall, which helps establish the “community environment,” Chen mentioned. If you spark up a conversation with BonLee about her history with Lev, you’ll hear extraordinary stories and get to enjoy her humor, too.
Lev is Legendary
To round out the HoCo excerpts, Chen and Graham mentioned additional aspects of Lev that make it stand out from the rest. From having arguably the best merch to being a frequent office hours destination, Lev is legendary.
Chen mentioned, “Lev is one of the only accessible houses in the whole campus. So everything is elevator accessible.” On the topic of elevators, the tower elevators only stop on even floors, which is certainly unique. Chen also went on to praise McKinlock, as its available spaces allow for “when I want to be alone away from people and study, but I don’t want to be in my room with depression.”
If a bustling social scene is for you, it’s worth remembering that the towers are renowned for their ~lively get togethers~. Keep the Iliad suite in McKinlock in mind, too.
When discussing Lev’s color scheme, Chen noted that the green (which is rare among the other house colors) is “so sexy.”
In addition to learning more about Lev’s perks, I pulled out the REAL questions: According to Graham, if Lev house were a fruit, it would be a vegetable. A carrot, specifically. You see the connection, right? Now, if Lev House were a Harry Potter house, Graham suggests, “Hufflepuff. We’re just like a house of people who are bubbly and cheery in that way.”
If you’re still feeling any doubts upon joining Lev, remember that it may be a “sleeper hit,” as Chen reassured me.
To leave you with one final note, a common phrase used in Lev is “Lev Love.” I second Graham’s advice for the incoming sophomores to “expect some Lev Love their way.” If you are sorted into Lev this Housing Day, wear your bunny ears with pride!