Stepping out of the cold, stormy night of Mar. 3rd and into Renfrow Hall, Grinnell’s newest residence hall located at 1021 Broad Street, visitors might be greeted by the smell of pizza, luring them into the suite belonging to Adam Figueras `25, Jules Wood `25, Liv Hage `26 and Katie Acosta `25, who call this corner of Grinnell home.
The shared living room and kitchen space of their Renfrow suite opens onto a patio facing McNally’s Foods, the residents’ favorite part of the space. “Once the weather’s nice, it’ll be really fun,” said Wood. “We can have people over out there.”
The suite’s proximity to McNally’s is convenient for its residents. “You go out the back door, it’s like … a 30-second walk there, and we’ve been using dining dollars, so it’s really nice,” said Figueras.
“We have our projector instead of a TV,” said Figueras.
“We repurposed our TV stand for D-Hall takeout boxes,” added Wood.
A glitzy recent addition to the apartment, the disco ball, sits in a box in the living room. “We just got it today, like a couple hours ago, and we want to hang it right up there [on the ceiling], but we don’t have the tools yet,” said Figueras.
“We didn’t plan it very well,” added Wood.
A hallway leading out of the living room connects it to three bedrooms; two singles, occupied by Hage and Wood respectively, and a double that Figueras and Acosta share. Rooms come with lofted beds that can be adjusted as per residents’ preferences, although not without difficulty. “It’s hard to lower the beds, I can say from experience,” said Wood.
The rooms are furnished with decorations that make each space unique to its resident. For instance, Wood’s collection of uniquely patterned bucket hats, which she refers to as her “wall of hats,” hang on a clothesline under her bed.
“I used to have an actual wall, but now I just have them all hanging under my bed,” said Wood.
Wood’s vibrantly colored and patterned handmade quilts decorate the space, hanging on walls and draped over furniture.
“That one is in progress — you can see the edges aren’t quite done yet,” said Wood, gesturing to a quilt hanging in the hallway. “There’s a few others out in the living room that I’ve done too.”
The hallway ends at a walk-in bathroom with separate sink, shower and toilet spaces.
“It’s usually not too conflicting when we’re all getting ready,” said Figueras. “It’s really big, too, which is nice.”
The suitemates appreciate the independence that comes with their own apartment.
“We didn’t want to pull the trigger on living off-campus fully, but we were kind of sick of dorms,” said Figueras.
Acosta and Figueras had previously been roommates, as had Wood and Hage.
“We kinda just joined forces,” said Figueras.
Acosta and Figueras had been studying abroad for the spring 2024 semester, leaving Wood to deal with the logistics of applying to live in Renfrow.
The incessant fire alarms have been the most inconvenient part about living in Renfrow. “Someone put a count in the hall, ‘days since last fire alarm’ — I think it’s at nine days now,” said Figueras.
Since access to Renfrow for non-residents is currently restricted, the apartment does not often receive visitors. “We just … live in a little bubble sometimes,” said Figueras.
