Neighborhood Welcome to Edgemoor. Home to nearly every initiated brother since 1920, 125 Edgemoor Lane is an 1894 Tudor expanded in 1916 and 1956 and renovated in 1972. It is the only piece of privately owned land on the block, and remains our greatest financial asset, valued between $600,000 and $1,000,000 today. Cornell University, a five-minute walk to the northeast, is famed not only for its Nobel laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners, but for a campus that is among the most beautiful in the world. High on East Hill overlooking Cayuga Lake and downtown Ithaca, Cornell's natural beauty can only be hinted at in a virtual campus tour. Our block is a busy one owing to its proximity to West Campus and Collegetown, and its heavy Greek population. Telluride House, 112 Edgemoor Lane (part of the ELMMs complex), and Young Israel House accompany Alpha Omicron Pi and Kappa Alpha Theta sororities; and Delta Upsilon, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternities, and of course the Craigelea manor, home of Chi Phi and the oldest fraternity house at Cornell. Front Yard Situated on Cascadilla Gorge and framed by woods on three sides, our house is an imposing edifice as seen approached from West Avenue, especially at night. The front yard was relandscaped after the stone patio was completely reset over the summer of 1995. The new slate is much safer and more pleasing to the eye, and has the fringe benefit of covering the old coal chute through which a number have unsuccessfully tried to break into crowded parties. When the weather is warm, brothers may take a couch outside and spend the day there; when covered with snow, yard play is left to the dogs, for whom a stash of treats is kept in the mailbox. Foyer On either side of the inside of the front door are memorial plaques to the Omicrons who gave their lives in either of the World Wars. To the left is the coatroom, where you can leave your jacket (or find another); to the right is the mailroom, also home for emergency info and Brother Clarence. On the opposite side one finds antique tables, covered with food or information during alumni or rush events, and newspapers and magazines in between. The stairwell door is in the center, usually covered with announcements. Hollengreen Room The Hollengreen Room, first floor west, was the house library until the Second World War. A full-sized pool table was installed in 1950; the presence of this entertainment makes the Hollengreen Room the most social during typical afternoons. The fireplace is plugged as an energy-saving and safety measure, but the Owls With No Eyes still hold to a log at the ready. The wood mantle is temporary home for various awards earned in the current semester; the brick chimney above clings to the current composite photo. It is also the site of the Ding Wall, where rejection letters (or postcards) from assorted graduate schools or companies are attached, decorated with colorful language. To the left of the chimney is a picture of the 7 founders of the ISWZA Society, predecessor to Omicron Zeta, and of 614 Stewart Avenue, purchased in 1912 and our home until 125 Edgemoor Lane was bought in 1920. The Hollengreen Room is dedicated to Milburn A Hollengreen, Jr. O-924. A legacy member of the Class of 1965, Holly was killed in a car accident after he had flown several brothers to the Bahamas for Spring Break. When the dormer was converted into a weight room in fall 1995, Hollengreen's Chair was moved into the room named for its partisan, though we cannot ascertain if Hollengreen's Ghost has also made the move. Library (Bartholomay Room) Two paned sliding doors give access to the Bartholomay Room, the house library. When the house was first purchased, this room was a sun deck, later closed in to become home to our Dusty Old Books (tm) collection. Amidst these books are issues of the Cornellian (yearbook) for almost every year since 1892. There are bound volumes of the Cross and Crescent, original copies of the Purple, Green, and Gold and the Theta News, and other vintage Lambda Chi Alpha, Theta Kappa Nu, and Cornell University literature. A set of four albums archives the Omicron Oracle, among the first alumni newsletters of Lambda Chi Alpha, dating back to the inaugural 1917 issue. In the northwest corner is a picture of our notable alum in the fraternal world, Ernst J.C. Fischer '10 O-34. Across from it hangs our original charter, vintage 1913, a picture of our the ISWZA members who became our Founding Fathers, and the official dedication to Brother Ronald K. Bartholomay '73, killed in an automobile accident in 1972. On the same shelf are crowded an assortment of trophies, certificates, and other commendations. Still, the library is not much of a museum, and the four couches crowded into it signify its use as an entertainment room. It is home to the house VCR, television, and phone, and its relative privacy makes it popular for small meetings as well. Mitchell Room Lying on the east side of the first floor, the Mitchell Room is more a front parlor than If the Library and Hollengreen Room are our "family room." the Mitchell Room is our front parlor. Couches surround the fireplace, whose mantle and chimney are decorated with the last year's composite, some historical pieces, and various artwork drawn or painted by brothers. The foosball table, of course, gets plenty of attention. In the northwest corner of this room is our refurbished baby grand piano (rarely in tune, but banged upon ceaselessly by brothers of varying musical talent), the sole reminder that this was once called the Music Room. On the west wall are found the group photographs of the house from before World War II, removed for parties which are best suited to the Mitchell Room's hardwood floor. The Mitchell Room was dedicated to Claude E. Mitchell '13, O-1, Cornell's first initiated brother of Lambda Chi Alpha and until his passing one of our most active alumni. Chapter Room One walks through the Chapter Room through swinging double doors at the south end of the Mitchell Room. Used for large meetings, certain rituals, and dance space for social events, it was previously the TV room, and long before that the dining room, in more genteel days when brothers dressed up for dinner that was served from a dumbwaiter to the kitchen downstairs. The Chapter Room is perhaps the most beautiful of rooms, with the original Tudor woodwork illuminated by English-style brass lanterns, the leaded glass windows providing a sun and charming views. The rushing sound of water from Cascadilla Gorge below, and the colorful paddles of current brothers hung about help make it a popular study (and/)or nap space. The Roof From the third floor, one can climb a ladder to the attic (home of a decade's worth of various personals) and from thence to the roof. The flat spot on the roof is ideal for picnics when watching Fourth of July fireworks or just admiring the wide view which includes Cayuga Lake to the northwest, the twin towers of Ithaca College on South Hill, the McGraw clock tower on campus to the northeast, and the lights of downtown Ithaca to the southwest. On sunnier days, we may battle with the funnelator against Deke or Chi Phi (or unsuspecting brothers approaching from below). Weight Room (Dormer) The dormer has the distinguished honor of having housed every brother up through the 1960s. Like most Cornell fraternities and sororities, forty or more used their rooms for studying and socializing but always slept in the dorm. A chilly sleep but tremendous fraternal experience, the dorm system ended in the 1960s with changes in City of Ithaca fire codes (a few, such as Kappa Alpha Theta, still retain it). The open wooden framework, home to decades of paddles (and a few diligent squirrels and bats), was drywalled to comply with fire codes in the mid-1980s, by which time the "dorm" had become the "dormer," used for parties and as a storage area. Retained a few of the bunks (left by the U.S. Navy after they used the house during World War II), we converted the space into a vastly more utilitarian full weight room in September 1995. Pictures of Third Floor Bedrooms The Lounge The Cave 614 The Niche The Steppe The Pit The Stoop Pictures of Second Floor Bedrooms The [South] 40 The Range No Name II The [Sperm] Bank The Ritz The Saloon The Mess The Room With No Name Paus M The Zoo Stairwell The black metal stairwell, installed in 1956, extends connects all four floors at their center. Along its walls can be found the Beta Board, with the official calendar and bulletin board, and most of the surviving post-World War II composite photos. It replaces a branching wooden staircase which, though creaky, rickety, and inefficient, was nevertheless a beautiful structure. The alumni board was forced to remove it in order to come into compliance with changing fire codes, being unable to install a sprinkler system. Dining Room At the bottom of the stairwell is found our dining room, built in 1956 and dedicated to Ernst J.C. Fischer '10 O-34. It seats 48 comfortably with the breakfast area, Iron Cow, and juice machine. It is simple, marking the era of its construction, adorned only with the giant illustration of the chapter house on the west wall. Opposite the broad plate glass sliding doors which afford a view of the patio and woods alongside the Gorge, one can discern the original south wall of the house complete with shutters for access to the bar. Pledges used to stand along this wall and have ice water (and other concoctions) tossed onto their heads from above; nowadays, diners are subject to water-drops for sitting in the president's chair or other offenses against the Steward. Bar Our serving area is a pleasant hangout even when not occupied by partygoers, particularly during the sumertime when the cool etched floor gives welcome reprieve from the Ithaca heat. The bar is home to may artifacts of house history: a plaque dedicated to Eleusis, a goalpost from the Cornell-Michigan football championship, a pole vault and shirt of a brother who broke Cornell's pole-vaulting record, a tap (from the days when a keg was always on tap), signs from Masonville to Moose Lodge, and plates for brothers who have Demolished Forty Ryes. The area is constantly being improved with new lighting, new signs, and new booths; a license plate collection was hammered up in the fall of 1996. Kitchen The Demesne of the Steward, the kitchen was wholly rebuilt in 1992 and fitted with modern safety and cooking equipment. It has been the home now for over two decades, of Raymond Melton, our cook. He has become an institution in his own right, and has adopted the kitchen as his own. The midway table is Ray's Counter, the outside door is Ray'd Door, and before it was the Steward Closet, Ray lived in Ray's Room adjacent. Basement The service areas of the basement are there for the rudimentaries of everyday life. Brothers who stumble their way into the Sigma Closet (a.k.a. "Tool Room") may leave a despairing message on the bricks on the north wall thereof. Adjacent that room is an empty space formerly occupied by the coal bin; the coal chute is still attached. Patio The site of many a spring dinner and summer barbecue, the stone patio outside the ground floor ends in a precipitous drop to Cascadilla Creek. There are two promontories, Plunkett's Point and the Summerhouse, which overlook the swimming hole carved out by a pre-World War II flood-- about seven stories down. Summerhouse All house tours lead inevitably to the gazebo or summerhouse, set on a promontory which commands a view of the gorge. From here, the home of Veg's Margarita parties, one stands as much on the edge of the world as one the edge of the property. The falls that give Cascadilla Creek its name; the wooded hills below Lower Collegetown; Cascadilla Hall, oldest building on East Hill; and the church spires of downtown Ithaca can all be made out. And of course, Cascadilla Creek rushing down to Cayuga Lake, alternately surging madly and burbling peacefully almost a hundred feet below. It is a glorious site that gives the visitor a feeling both of power and of tranquility. There is a light atop the gazebo of the kind Jay Gatsby might have descried at Daisy Fay's, representing the hopes and aspirations of youth. It represents, too, the jealous green of outsiders, for whom the Lambda Chi, admiring the view with his girl, is the most enviable creature alive.