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Club House

The Glee Club House has been the unofficial social center of the Virginia Glee Club from 1989 to 2011, and again from 2012 on. Built in 1948[1] and located at 505 Valley Road, just across the street from New Cabell Hall and now just steps from the South Lawn buildings, the house's geographic proximity to Old Cabell Hall made it a natural venue for post-concert parties for more than 20 years of Glee Club guys.

The Glee Club House was a house that individual Club members rented for student housing. It was generally occupied year-round, and offered multiple bedrooms (two basement, one or two first floor, and three second floor--one small first floor room was sometimes used as an office space, for instance during the Glee Club 1993-1994 season, and sometimes as a bedroom) in just over 2000 square feet of space. Common/entertaining spaces included the basement (including space for a keg under the stairs and a bar that was constructed by Jonathan Finn in 1992); the first floor living room, in which various Glee Club posters and trophies were hung; a screened porch on the first floor; and a kitchen with a dining table booth attached.

The front lawn, while small, provides habitat for Wafna.

Glee Club House Annex (Acme Acres)[]

For several years beginning in the early 1990s, a second group of Glee Club guys rented the property across from the Club House at 502 Valley Road. Called the Club House Annex by non-residents and Acme Acres by its proprietors, the house's initial residents included Burt Kann, Tyler Magill, and Paul Stancil. The house at 502 Valley Road was demolished as part of the construction for the South Lawn Project.

Memories[]

Glee Club Christmas Concert parties were generally held after the final Saturday concert at the Glee Club House; the parties often continued the "champagne toast" tradition in which the President and Vice President would raise a glass to the Club during the performance of "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

During the early 1990s, a ritual version of "Alle Psallite Cum Luja" was often performed in the street between the Club House and the Annex, or in the Club House basement.

The Club House was set on the side of a ridge, with its back yard sloping up to the street above. In cleaning up the yard in August 1993, Craig Fennell and others cleared away underbrush and discovered a forgotten terrace behind the house that was subsequently used for barbecues and other outdoor activities.

Due to poor drainage and the notorious Charlottesville weather, the house basement was prone to flooding. A French drain in front of the basement door frequently clogged, leading to rain water backing up into the basement and damaging Club members' belongings.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. "Charlottesville Register of Deeds". http://realestate.charlottesville.org/. Retrieved 2011-08-11. . To find the Club House record, search for 505 Valley and choose the first record.
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