Merrill House

The Charles E. Merrill House—or simply Merrill—is one of two traditional dorm-style residences on Hampshire's campus, along with Dakin. It is home to 12 halls in three buildings (A, B, and C) and two basement halls. Each building has four floors plus the basement, and each floor consists of a long side and a short side. A, B, and C are connected through the basement. Like Dakin, Merrill has a house office, living room, and kitchen, which are contained in a building across the quad. The Merrill House Office also contains the Spiritual Life Office (not to be confused with the Spiritual Life Center in Greenwich).

According to Hampshire's website, continuing students (second, third, and fourth years) make up at least half of Merrill's population, whereas Dakin houses more first years.

There is a lounge on each floor, shared by the residents of the two sides. A lounge contains a refrigerator. Unlike in Dakin, there is a small kitchen area in each lounge with a stove and a sink. When the houses are full, some of the lounges are occupied by students during the first few weeks in September, until other rooms can be found.

Purportedly, partially owned by Sodexo as collateral for improvements to campus.

History
Merrill House was the first residential house to be built on Hampshire's campus. It was designed by the architect Hugh Stubbins. In the planning for Merrill, it was discovered through interviews of students from other colleges that singles where preferable to doubles or triples due to the increased amount of privacy and greater feeling of independence. It was also decided that a lounge area was necessary and that a kitchenette and refrigerator should be included in these social spaces. Merrill House “consists of three four story buildings which house an even mix of first year and older students.” The three buildings, A, B, and C, are connected only through service corridors in the basement. The structure is made of exposed brick and poured concrete. The construction method and materials for Merrill were specifically chosen to keep costs down. The actual construction was funded by a grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. In Merrill, “each floor was separated into two unequal halls which came to be known by students as the 'long' and 'short' sides.” On the long side, ten students live in eight singles and one double, and on the short side, seven students live in six singles and one double. “In either hall the rooms faced out into a U-shaped hallway which surrounded a communal bathroom.” The halls all exit into the central stairwell of the building. From here, the lounge which is shared by each floor is accessible. Merrill's design allows for intimate living while maintaining a high degree of privacy. “By avoiding a double loaded corridor and insuring that the halls led nowhere except back into themselves the amount of traffic moving through the halls was minimized.”

Halls
"S" and "L" denote short and long halls, respectively.