Tilton Hall (Somerville, Massachusetts)

 house, dormitory

Tilton Hall is a dorm at Tufts University. It is one of the all-freshman dorms on campus. It houses 144 freshman when filled to its maximum capacity. It offers only standard doubles. The dorm is co-ed, with both guys and girls living on all of the floors. In addition to the freshman there are 4 RA's- one on each floor- and one RD. On each hall, there are a number of single, lockable bathrooms. Each one has one sink, one shower, and one toilette. Usually one bathroom serves four to six people in the surrounding rooms, though anyone is free to use any of the bathrooms. Each hall also has one central lounge with couches and tables. Though Tilton has 4 floors of rooms, there is a first floor where the lounge is. That's to say that if one lives on the fourth floor, they must climb 5, not 4, flights of stairs.
Tilton was built in 1961 and has been fairly well maintained since. The doubles are approximately 12.5'X15 in size. The rooms have built in dressers and closets along with a bureau. All of the other furniture in the room is movable. The rooms all have painted cinderblock walls and beige linoleum floors. All of the rooms are generally the exact same, except for rooms 100, 200,300, or 400. They are all an L shape, more or less. Tilton has a very large common room with a TV, a communal kitchen, a study room, and a medium sized laundry room. Tilton is also part of the Scholar-In-Residence program. A Tufts professor actually lives in the dorm and organizes weekly events, most often discussion groups of some sort.
Tilton is recognized as one of the most social dorms that a freshman can live in. Students like it because it is located very close to both Dewick and Hodgdon, and is just a short walk to Davis Square. For downhill freshmen, it is usually the social center of dorm life. The size and layout of the halls are extremely conducive to the residents socializing and forming close bonds with one another.