Deke House, the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active colonies across North America. It was founded at Yale College in 1844 by fifteen ...

or "Deke" House on the campus of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, was built in 1893 and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1991. It was designed by William Henry Miller to serve as a fraternity house. Two trees which

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

planted in front of the house are on the National Register of Historic Trees. ''See also:'' It is located at 13 South Avenue in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

. The original 1893 building was designed to house only 16 students. Three sides of the exterior were clad with marble from the St. Lawrence Marble Company of

Gouverneur, New York Gouverneur (pronounced GUH-vuh-nor) is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, St. Lawrence County, New York (state), New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the popul ...

. at 17. It was built on land leased to the fraternity by

. Except for World War II, it was occupied continuously by the fraternity from September 1894 through May 2014. During World War II, it was occupied by Navy personnel being trained at Cornell. From September 2014 through May 2018, it housed single, male graduate and professional students. In August 2018, the fraternity returned. In 1900, Miller was retained to design an addition to the original 12 x 15 foot dining room. He enclosed the loggia on the west side of the building to add 500 square feet. In 1910, the fraternity hired the architectural firm of Gibb and Waltz of Ithaca, New York to design a new addition on the east side of the house. In response to objection of the professor occupying 9 South Avenue, Cornell required that the new east wall of the house not have any windows "except such as may be stationary and glazed with cathedral or prism glass or otherwise so that the interior may be invisible from the outside."Executive Committee Minutes, Proceedings of the Board of Trustees, 18 January 1910, p. 67. This wing brought the house to its present form. DKE Cornell Chapter

In the 1990s the south half of the property was converted into a university parking lot. In 1991, the building was added to the national register, and in 2003 the City of Ithaca designated it a Landmark.

External links

Delta Kappa Epsilon History Collection (Cornell University Library)Delta Chi Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon Website2020 Historic Preservation Award by Historic Ithaca

References

Cornell University buildings William Henry Miller buildings Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Fraternity and sorority houses Houses in Tompkins County, New York University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Houses completed in 1893 Romanesque Revival architecture in New York (state) Delta Kappa Epsilon National Register of Historic Places in Tompkins County, New York {{TompkinsCountyNY-NRHP-stub