By Amanda Weber
weberama@grinnell.edu

Upon walking into 1021 High Street, one is greeted by an abundance of living space decorated with an eccentric set of décor and furniture. The space is also permeated by a sense of comfort and community, which makes a good deal more sense after having the opportunity to speak with the residents.

The unique decorations, designed almost entirely by Austin Wadle ’18 as a result of a lack of furniture and décor left behind by previous residents, reflect well the character of the house and its residents. Emma Friedlander, Katie Parrish, Charlie Rosenblum and Austin Wadle, all ’18, are 1021’s tenants. Outside of being housemates, they are all also close friends.

The four met in their first year, during which they all lived in Norris Hall.

“Through that at-times trying experience, we banded together so we’ve all been friends since then,” Friedlander said.

When they all decided last year to live off-campus, it was hardly a stretch that they make the move all together — and they definitely don’t seem to regret it. Not only do they see the situation as the opportunity to live with their best friends, but they also love the house.

“We found this perfect four-person house. It was serendipity,” Friedlander said.

“A match made in heaven,” Rosenblum agreed.

“Emma actually found the house — we snapped it up a little bit late. It was like the last house on High Street to be leased by anyone,” Parrish said. “[But] we came and saw the house and we loved it.”

The house’s layout in particular is a popularly admired feature of the house.

“The layout of the house is incredible,” Wadle said.

“Primo,” Parrish agreed, with enthusiasm.

“We really like throwing parties here because, like Austin said, the layout is perfect for it. We call that front room ‘the ballroom’ because we only use it to dance,” Friedlander noted.

It works well that the house is set up perfectly for social events, because the residents of 1021 do enjoy throwing a good party. In fact, according to Friedlander, the housemates have by this point even set up a regimen for their parties.

“We have a playlist,” Friedlander explained. “To signal that [the party] is coming to a close … we’ll play ‘Green Light’ by Lorde, and then we play ‘Piano Man’ by Billy Joel and that’s your signal to get the fuck out.”

“The party really doesn’t end until ‘Piano Man’ ends, because people stick around and sing. We’ve had great times where people have stuck around and stood on the front ledge singing ‘Piano Man,’” Parrish added.

This sense of closeness and companionship manifests itself not only in large parties, but also amongst just the four housemates themselves. They make a point to spend time together and support one another.

“We all have very different schedules … but I think at the end of the day we all come together at night, we all try to make time for each other and hang out at least for like an hour or two,” Rosenblum said.

“Yeah, we watch stuff on the projector,” Friedlander added.

The aforementioned projector is clearly a fixture of the house. A great venue for the housemates to spend time together and watch everything from Buzzfeed videos to opera to History Channel documentaries, the projector is a source of pride and community.

“Katie and I have a bit now. [I say] in an NPR voice, ‘From Beethoven to Buzzfeed, Hawkeye to Holst, this is 1021,’” Wadle exclaimed.

As close as the housemates are, they also have the advantage of being very different people with very different interests. All four are double majors, and with so many different topics on the table, they have plenty of opportunities to learn new things and share information about subjects and activities in which they themselves are not personally involved.

Perhaps more importantly, it also gives them a space to decompress and distance from the topics to which they are constantly exposed.

“You get to do all of your classes, do your extracurriculars, do your jobs and then come back to this house and decompress and just be with your friends without having to have those things on your mind,” Friedlander said. “We also have stupid conversations.”

“It’ll go from Katie and I being really obnoxious about chemistry … [to talking] about the latest pop culture trend,” Wadle added. In particular, they cited gay pop culture icons as a popular topic of conversation and very significant influences in their lives.

“We can all say anything to each other about anything, and we all care about the things that each other care about. Then we get to go to all each other’s activities and events and performances and presentations. It’s all very exciting and fun and supportive and I can always count on them,” Parrish said.

When asked what their favorite part of living in 1021 is, the unanimous answer was put perfectly by Friedlander, and greeted by plenty of murmurs of agreement.

“Living with my best friends,” she said.

—Editor’s Note: Emma Friedlander is the Editor-in-Chief of The S&B.