Sophia Gordon: Tufts' ultimate on-campus housing. The location is ideal, the building is brand spanking new and the lucky few who live there can even take an elevator to their room.
Let's face it; it's basically like living in a four-star, environmentally friendly hotel.
So how did seniors Ted McMahan, Tim Li, Winston Lee and Mike C. take their top floor SoGo digs with the extra big windows to the next level? By turning it into The Clock Tower.
"It's early September, and we're walking around Target to get stuff for the suite," McMahan said. "Target has these giant clocks, and we were totally messing around. We were like, ‘Hey, dude, how cool would it be to buy one of these big clocks, backlight it and put it in one of the big windows of the suite? We'll light it up when we're having parties like we're Big Ben or something.'"
Since the giant clocks at Target were too expensive, the boys went to the Crafts Center and made their own that can be seen in their window on certain Friday and Saturday nights.
A typical SoGo suite comes with a couch, a comfy chair, multiple coffee tables, a round table with four chairs, a large fridge and a dishwasher. The boys of the Clock Tower have added a futon, a mini-fridge just for beer and two television sets.
"At some point, we decided that we'd rather be classy than college-y," McMahan said. "We have red Solo cups sitting out, too, but it's so cliché to live in an exceedingly dirty apartment with crude posters on the walls."
McMahan, Li and Mike C. became friends while spending the summer at Tufts-in-Talloires, so the walls are adorned with artful framed pictures to commemorate the trip.
"For my birthday one year, my girlfriend took a bunch of pictures that I took and that she took [in France], and she blew them up and gave them to me," McMahan said. "I took … one of the Eiffel tower, and she took … one of [a] cow."
Colorful paintings hang in the hallway going to Lee's bedroom.
"There were a bunch of girls downstairs who … graduated in the fall," Li said. "They left and gave [these paintings] to us, and we put them at an angle … Well, they were straight, and we pushed them into an angle as a distraction for beer pong. [Let's] just say we have nice paintings."
Though the boys scored with some beautiful artwork for the walls, that's not to say they don't put money into the suite. They prefer to spend their cash on electronics like televisions and computers. In fact, they have already been through five TVs this year.
"We go on [Craigslist.com] and we get these 55-inch monster TVs," McMahan said. "We got [one that] we had for a month and half. [Our friend] Gabe was watching it one day — he was the only person here — and it broke … We officially declared that he was watching the TV too hard."
The Clock Tower inhabitants keep a pretty clean space and make sure not to have old television sets lying around the suite. Actually, they see to it that their broken equipment gets a proper send off.
"[The TV] had wheels on it," McMahan said. "So we took it up to the top of the hill and we rode it. It was a projection TV, so [when you take] the screen off, it has this big hollow chamber. So one person was sitting on top and one was sitting in the TV, and we rode it down Packard Avenue."
Three out of the four suitemates are engineers, and they wired the apartment in all sorts of different ways. McMahan can play music from the computer in his room that sounds over the seven speaker surround sound system in the living room. If he plays a video from YouTube.com, it also plays on a TV in the main room. Li connected a TV to his computer so the boys can watch Hulu.com videos on a big screen.
Though the group is crazy for technology, they are also aware of how to keep the suite sophisticated and uncluttered.
"A good way to be classy is to hide wires," McMahan said. "That's a thing [to] mention as a decorating tip … The best way to make a place feel like not a home — to make it feel like a temporary residence — is to have wires underfoot."
Li also has a decorating tip for classy living.
"Clean up plates," he said, looking at the remains of McMahan's lunch that were sitting on the coffee table.
The suitemates frequently make good use of their kitchen, often inviting large groups of people over for home- cooked meals.
"Last semester we [were watching Food Network, and we] saw a pork roast Thanksgiving dinner," Lee said. "We were like, ‘Oh that'd be a good idea to have as a Thanksgiving dinner.' So we went to Costco!"
And they make sure to have the right wine to complement their meal.
"We have a nice wine rack," McMahan said. "We usually have it stocked because [Li's] mom works for a wine distributor, so we get all sorts of wine for free."
After dinner, the suite turns into the ultimate movie watching experience.
"The [mini]-fridge slides over the two inches that you need so the futon can open up completely," McMahan said. "[We] push the pillows up against the window, and then have seven people lying across the futon. Pop a couple of bags of popcorn … complete surround sound … and you turn the lights down."
Above everything else in the suite, McMahan appreciates the view.
"All I've wanted for the last three years was a room with a view," McMahan said. "Here you have a view of the rooftops of the skyline of Boston … at night … You can see what's going on all the way at Dewick. You can see up to the library … You can see right into these three girls' rooms in Stratton! The view is actually pretty phenomenal from here."
Conveniently, they can also tell when a big trustees event is happening in Aidekman.
"We rolled down there once," McMahan said. "We just put shirts and ties on, and they didn't ask questions. It was a pretty good meal … catered … It was nice."
All in all, the Clock-Tower inhabitants love SoGo, and feel that it's a pretty sweet place to live. Next time you're walking down Talbot on a Saturday night, look up and maybe you'll see their illuminated clock.
As McMahan put it: "Dude, it's the batman signal."
If you have or know of a sweet campus crib, email Alison Lisnow at alison.lisnow@tufts.edu.
