The Scarlet & Black

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The Scarlet & Black

The Scarlet & Black

Stugotz III still gots it

Last December, the S&B published an article about substandard off-campus living conditions with 1005 High Street pictured as the token house. Today, broken furniture adorns the front porch, a large hole looks down upon the first-floor kitchen and a colony of bats permanently inhabits the basement.

However, this year’s members of 1005 have insured that it would no longer be the token house for filth and subpar living, as 1005 was once described. Sawyer Carlson-Price, Sid Dhananjay, Luke Johnson and Matt Lewis (all ’14), are the crew that manages to throw open-door, High Street quality parties yet maintain a, somewhat, clean standard of living.

“Our house is a lot nicer than last year and this summer. That is the number one thing we hear when people come over for the first time,” Carlson-Price said.

The crew goes by the nickname Stugots III, in memory of Tony Soprano’s boat, Stugots II, from the hit T.V. show ‘The Sopranos.’ Lewis and Johnson were good friends their first year, as were Dhananjay and Carlson-Price, and the two pairs started hanging out second year when they realized their friend groups overlapped.

“From second year, it was like we knew we were going to live together,” Lewis said.

1005 High Street - Shadman Asif
1005 High Street in all its glory.
Photo by Shadman Asif.

For the next two years the four bonded and when senior year came it was time to find a house that would suit all of them, but one thing was unanimous—they wanted to live on High Street.

All the good houses went quickly and soon the group found themselves with slim pickings for a place to live.

“We took this house out of necessity,” Carlson-Price admitted.

When the group moved in, an interesting assortment of leftover items greeted them. Full-sized chicken, gorilla and turtle animal suits along with paintings of animals were found scattered around the house. A world globe hung, suspended upside down in one bathroom. A cosmetic mannequin head named Hernando is currently residing in the kitchen freezer.

“When we got here we spent like six straight days scrubbing the house … it was really a mess,” Carlson-Price said. “There were some substandard living conditions here.”

The group recalls when a bat got stuck in an old tub of jungle juice. It stayed stuck for three days until it licked itself free from the congealed bottom of the container and was able to escape.

But the group is hoping that they will not simply be known as the four seniors living in filth.

“We’re kind of obsessed with pop/RnB music,” Johnson said. “We love Mariah Carey. Absolutely adore her. Leona Lewis not so much though.”

When possible, the housemates road trip around the U.S. Past trips have included excursions to Boulder, Colo., Chicago, Ill. and Beloit, Wisc. The crew bonds over a shared love of food. Since most of them are on a College meal plan, they cook and eat almost every meal together in the house.

“We make a lot of food, that’s one thing we do a lot of … we eat like kings,” Lewis said, “Being off the meal plan is [awesome]. We really like to cook.”

The group bonds while playing console games like Mario Party and Grand Theft Auto V. Every Sunday night, the house gathers to watch an episode from one of their many favorite shows, such as Eastbound and Down, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. The housemates are also adamant basketball fans and have been devoutly keeping up to date with the 2013-2014 NBA season. Despite being in the final year of college, the four have found that it doesn’t have to be the hardest year.

“[Right now it’s] simple senior living. We peaked in our excited college life in our early undergraduate years, and now we’re just riding it out and chilling,” Johnson said.

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    Brian Gregg Silberberg '39Dec 14, 2013 at 4:37 pm

    Foundationally this is all set up on lies that young Matt Huck fell privy to. For example, the claim that the housemates don’t listen to Leona Lewis is dubious at best.

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