French House

Front entrance of brick building with windows along the front, greenery in the foreground with New House sign at the bottom right corner, blue skies in the background.

Welcome to French House

    A Note from Current Residents:

    Bonjour! We are La Maison Française (French House): a small, tight-knit living group at MIT. We have about 30 residents, living in half of the fourth floor of New House.

    We represent a huge variety of majors, hobbies, and French-speaking ability. We win baking contests, teach elementary schoolers, sing, garden, sail, perform in plays, dance, ice skate, run, bake more, hike, build rockets, compose string quartets, and go to Boston Symphony Orchestra concerts. In the spring, we all get fancy for our annual formal, and in the winter our Dîner de Noel (a ginormous holiday dinner and party) is lots of fun for everyone. We throw birthday parties for each other, and hide under tables to sing "joyeux anniversaire.” Day or night, you can usually find some delectable morsel up for grabs on the sactab: our "sacrificial table." 

    What we all have in common: an interest and appreciation for French language and culture! That said, proficiency (or any French language ability at all) is NOT required to live here. All we ask for is enthusiasm and interest in learning! We have brunches to learn and practice French, and sometimes watch French movies together!

    Our cooking system is unique on campus: we eat delicious, home-cooked, four-course meals six days a week - and each resident only has to cook once per week!

    If all this sounds awesome to you, consider becoming a resident or a social member! Shoot us a message at the e-mail address above; we would love to hear from you.

    Here in French House, we have dinner together six nights a week, Sunday through Friday. Everyone cooks one night a week as part of a five- or six- person cooking team. A different member of the team acts as head “chef” each week; that means that everyone gets to design the menu two to three times per semester.

    Aside from dinner, all members have full access to our (very well-equipped) kitchen, which we keep stocked with bulk ingredients including flour, butter, sugar, rice, eggs, milk, and extensive collection of spices and more!

    New House
    471-476 Memorial Drive
    Building W70
    Cambridge, MA 02139
    Tel. (617) 253-6561

    Visit the resident-managed website for more information about German House.  You can also check out the community's Facebook and Instagram social media accounts.  Questions about the community may be directed to resident leaders by emailing lmf-rex@mit.edu

    Facility Information

    Capacity
    290
    Coed
    Yes (Chocolate City all-male, Juniper all-female)
    Room Types
    Singles 46%; Doubles 54%
    Room Cost per Semester
    $7,315 - $6,530
    Tax
    $35-95 (depending on the specific house)
    Dining Program
    Cook-for-Yourself Community
    Carpeting
    hallways
    Air Conditioning
    Yes
    Elevators
    Yes
    Shuttle Stop
    No
    Pets Allowed
    no pets (except fish)
    Style of Building
    suite/corridor style

      From the Residents

      Video, photos and quotes from real MIT residents.

      New House Living Groups

      All six physical houses are connected by the "arcade" on the first floor of the building. In addition, houses 1, 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 are connected diagonally on the second through fifth floors. 

      The rooms in these six physical houses are divided into nine living groups, which, to make things confusing on purpose, are also called "houses”. New House is split into 9 different living groups: 5 cultural houses and 4 numbered houses. Click to learn more!