After more than nine months of renovations, Mauck Residence reopened to residents this week. The nearly 80-year-old building now features more modern amenities, while still maintaining its classic antique feel.
“It was a complicated and challenging renovation, given the age of the building,” Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé said. “It is a very lovely environment now. It’s what I hoped it would be like, when it was all done. I think for a long time it will be very desirable to live there.”
Hillsdale’s renovation project added new floors and paint colors to the dorm’s prolific solarium and grand hall, a new full-size kitchen on the main floor with kitchenettes for every hall, community-style bathrooms, new furniture throughout the building, and two new dorm rooms. Forty-three women now live in Mauck, just a few residents shy of the 53-person limit.
Dean of Women Diane Philipp and Associate Dean of Women Rebekah Dell worked closely with contractors to find a balance between modernizing one of the oldest dorms on campus, while still keeping its vintage charm.
“It was a back and forth with the architect until it fit the vision, aesthetic, and personality of the residence hall,” Dell said. We were able to factor in the personality of Hillsdale women and the type of environment they seem to enjoy.”
New and old residents alike said they enjoyed seeing antique pieces from the old building pop out on a new canvas of pastel colored walls and updated furniture, such as maintaining the reading nook on the second floor but updating it to have a television and new couches.
“It was like ‘Extreme Makeover, dorm edition,’” junior Brigette Hall said. “They managed to keep the retro, vintage, ’30s feel in those rooms.”
House Director senior Deborah Stevenson has lived in Mauck since 2014 and said she has fond memories of the old problems Mauck had, such as the occasional bat in the bathroom or the outdated steam-powered heating system, which would shake walls, now replaced by a new heating and cooling system.
“We called it the trolls in the pipes, the moles, or even the ‘dragon in the pipes.’ And, in a way, I miss that,” Stevenson said. “But it’s so much more peaceful now. I’ve been with this old building for a long time. It was amazing to walk in and see all the changes.”
But more than just the physical changes, several of the residents said that the renovation is a chance to improve stereotypes that the quiet and isolated dorm fostered.
“This really changes the stereotype of a ‘Mauck girl,’” Resident Assistant junior Danielle Ruedisueli said. “This isn’t just some hideaway where people go just to study and sleep anymore. It’s not the introvert house; it feels like a new place.”
Dell said renovations such as the community laundry and bathrooms and other additions such as the fitness room in the basement will help make it a more social place.
Péwé said the college has completed almost all of the updates in the dorm.
“The only thing we may do over time is some of the actual doors, we didn’t replace those,” Péwé said. “So in time we might replace those, but it’s pretty comprehensive.”
Dell said she can’t wait for future women to live in the newly renovated dorm.
“Mauck has always been that hidden treasure for the campus,” Dell said. “After all the renovations and additions, now it’s not just this hidden treasure. Now it’s a shining gem on our campus.”