With spacious lounge areas, handsome fireplaces and great views of the heart of central campus, Longwood’s newest student residences— Sharp and Register halls—are getting rave reviews in their first year of occupancy.
“It feels like I’m living in a hotel,” said Austin Van Horn ’19, a history and modern languages major from Midlothian who lives in Register.
Located across from Greenwood Library, Sharp and Register are the first residence halls built on the main campus since 1992. They were designed with a goal of fostering a sense of community, which is accomplished, in part, by their smaller size and the configuration of the two-room suites.
“Residential academic communities are one of the things that make liberal arts education so unique and such a powerful experience,” said Longwood President W. Taylor Reveley IV. “We are committed to investing in residence halls that bolster the natural camaraderie and collaboration of campus life.”
Mirror images of each other, each of the four-story buildings houses 112 students. Mikah Hosang ’18, an exercise science major from Chesapeake who lives in Sharp, called the buildings “gorgeous on the outside and just as gorgeous on the inside.”
“These buildings don’t have the traditional look and feel of a residence hall,” agreed Doug Howell ’86, associate director of residential operations, adding that each has a first-floor parlor with chandeliers and Oriental rugs. “We tried to provide some nice, classic touches.”
Ground broke on the $16.5 million project in early summer 2015. The halls are named for Marc Sharp and Wilma Register Sharp ’66 of Williamsburg, whose $2 million gift in September 2015 endowed the deanship of the Cormier Honors College for Citizen Scholars.
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