Alex House: A Home To Many

10 March 2012Taryn O

The Brentwood campus is full of life. Several new buildings have been opened within the past decade – with the final installment on its way – and the air is saturated with excitement for the future. Brentwood boasts many modern structures, yet in the middle of the campus there remains a construction of aged elegance: Alexandra House.

Back when this site was a medical clinic for tuberculosis, Alex House was the home of many nurses, and when suddenly Brentwood moved over to Mill Bay, the house endured. For a while it was a boys’ residence, and then – making Brentwood history – the first girls’ residence on campus.

Many years of tradition have made this dignified house a desirable location for girls from Grades 9 to 12. Perhaps I’m biased. After all, I have lived in this house for three years. The Grade 9s can boast of having the smallest rooms on campus, and yet the Grade 12s can then say that they have some of the biggest.

An ever-evolving house, the layout has changed, and continues, even now, to transform. Just this past summer our kitchen was renovated, adding a much needed island for extra counter space. What are now girls’ rooms were once a teacher’s house, or even odder, a washroom. “The Dungeon”, where suitcases are stowed, is said to have pathways underground to other areas of campus through which dead bodies were once transported. But maybe that’s just a myth. There is also the bathroom on the second floor, where girls have said that in the middle of the night they’ve seen the ghost of ‘Little Boy Blue’. One can never be certain.

Whatever the rumors of this old house may be, it cannot be denied that it is as outwardly attractive as it is inwardly awesome: and that’s saying a lot. During the precious moments that our campus is gifted with snow, Alex House glimmers with a blanket of white softly caressing its ancient peaks.

The true magic of Alex House, however, is not what it may appear to be, but what it really is. The substance of the residence is made up of the girls within, all of whom I count myself privileged to know. Coming to Brentwood is a big change for many people, but it is the girls who become your sisters who make the adjustments truly worth it.

Just ask Mrs. Mais, more affectionately known as ‘Maisy’, who has been the houseparent for 18 for the past years, or the recently married Warners, who have been sharing their newlywed year with all of us.

This old house with lots of youthful vigor stole my heart the first time I stepped foot inside, and has been doing the same to many ever since. Suddenly, purple is no longer just a color, and everything from makeup to secrets is shared. Of all my memories of Brentwood, I can say with certainty that my fondest moments have taken place within these halls and rooms, which I call my home away from home.

Taryn O

Where Students Choose To Be