Marmion and Tholl House face changes

Marmion House and Tholl House, which make up the sustainable living community at SJU, will soon join the list of buildings that exist solely in the history of St. John’s and St. Ben’s. The seven residents of Marmion and two residents of Tholl will be the last cohort of students to occupy the houses, which will remain vacant until the structures are torn down at a later date.

Marmion House was constructed around 1920. Known around campus as Marm, the residence first became part of the CSB+SJU community in 1968 as home to the Community Education Program (CEP) or “The Farm.” The house was leased by a local farmer and used as a space for an intentional living community comprised of Johnnies who lived in the house and Bennies who lived in a mobile home adjacent to the house. While the CEP existed for only a year in Marm, the home continued as a residence for faculty and later served as the Episcopalian House of Prayer.

St. John’s officially purchased Marm in the late 1990s and established a sustainable living home in 2000. In 2014, Tholl house joined the eco-house community as a replacement for the Edelbrock home, which served as an eco-house from 2010-2014 before being razed.

Students in the eco-house demonstrate a commitment to sustainable living in a variety of ways. They indulge in cold showers, turn the heat on late in the season and off early in the season, keep lights off and practice composting. In the past, members were responsible for planting and caring for the Edelbrock Greenhouse, but the space is now operated by the Full Circle Greenhouse and the Sustainability Office.

Though saddened by the end of an era for the homes, residents understand why it must end. The spaces are old, and necessary maintenance and repairs have proven too costly for the institution, especially given decreased interest in the sustainable living community. The decision to close the houses was finalized in the fall of 2023.

Luke Broghammer, a senior resident of Marm, spoke about how his experience at the home has been different from that of a typical housing situation.

“Unlike a dorm or an apartment, where you just have your close friend group, it’s people who have the same idea of environmental protection,” Broghammer said. “Coming together through sustainability and through the environment and making a community, a very unique and powerful community—that’s what drew me towards Marm.”

Some of the residents were already friendly faces to one another, but many were also meeting and interacting with each other for the first time. The house represents a variety of majors from accounting to psychology to environmental studies. In the fall semester, the residents held a weekly social hour to get to know one another.

The future of this community is uncertain. Jameson Nogowski, director of housing for SJU, said recruitment for a new eco community was largely unsuccessful, with only a few students indicating interest in the community.

“The eco house program will look a bit different for the 2024-25 academic year. Although there will not be residents in this interest housing next year, as a department we are working with the CSB+SJU Sustainability Office to find ways for all our residents to engage with the topic of stewardship and sustainability,” Nogowski said via email. “We hope that this will organically grow interest back for the program to continue as intended moving forward.”

James Leon, the only resident who will be back next semester, expressed sadness that the sustainable living community will not look the same as it once did, at least for the foreseeable future.

“I feel bad for those who won’t get to experience this. It’s so different, it’s so unique—it’s really going to feel like something is missing,” Leon said.

Leon hopes to bridge the gap between the old living community and the formation of a new one. One of the hallmarks of the houses is the items that have been passed down through the years from resident to resident. Besides items like furniture, current students will pass down letters annually written by past residents of Marm and Tholl about their experience.

“I am definitely going to try and keep this feeling going and share with the future guys. This is what I felt, and I’m going to try and show you guys what this community was like for me,” Leon said.