Parsons Complex

Parsons House

Parsons and Parsons Annex function as a unit, holding joint social events, for example, fielding joint intramural teams and electing one set of house officers.

The site on which Parsons House now stands is laden with local history. The land is said to have been purchased by Conet Joseph Parsons from Native Americans in 1645, before the first settlement of Northampton. The property served as the home for two generations of the Parsons family before it was acquired by Miss Bessie Capen, who built a house—which she dubbed Faunce House—as a dormitory, library and recitation hall for her school, the Capen School, in the early 1900s. Smith College acquired the property in 1921 and the house, renamed after the old Northampton family, has served as a Smith residence since that time.

Parsons Annex

Parsons Annex, an adjunct to Parsons House, has been part of its Round Hill neighborhood for more than a century and still reflects the quality of old Northampton. It was purchased by the college in 1968.

The Annex's two living rooms often serve as quiet study areas and residents frequently host cocktail parties there during winter and spring weekends.

Parsons Complex is home to members of all four classes and often an Ada Comstock Scholar or two. Its location removes it from the noise and bustle of center campus, though it is only a 10- to 15-minute walk to academic buildings and downtown Northampton.

Year built (house/annex)	1902/1896
Renovations (annex)	2001
Capacity (house/annex)	46/18
Residential floors (house/annex)	4/3
Singles	28
Doubles	12
Triples	0
Approximate number sharing bathroom (house)	18
Approximate number sharing bathroom (annex)	8
Handicapped accessible	Yes
Elevator	No

Floor Plans

Parsons House

First floor (PDF)

Second floor (PDF)

Third floor (PDF)

Fourth floor (PDF)

Parsons Annex

First floor (PDF)

Second floor (PDF)

Third floor (PDF)