| After ten strong years at the University of Missouri, Rho Chapter finally had a home to call our own. In the fall of 1896 Rho Chapter officially moved into the new chapter house on the corner of Hitt and University Streets. Brother Fred Niedermeyer built the house. It served as the chapter house for the next 19 years.
By 1910 the active members realized that it was time for a new home. The house on Hitt Street was no longer large enough to house all of the active members. Fund raising for the new house began in earnest that fall, but construction would not begin for another four years, until April 1914. At the start of the 1915-16 school year, the house was still unfinished.
The current house at 710 College Avenue house officially opened on Thanksgiving Day 1915, as did a new chapter in Rho's history. |
The house as it looked on Thanksgiving day, 1915, much as it does today, nearly 90 years later. In 1921 the 'sleeping room' and the sunpoarch were added and in 1961 the 'New House' was added.
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| "The Snake Hilton," as its affectionately known, currently serves as home-away-from home for as many as 70 members. Over the past several years, under the direction of Chapter Advisor Howard Audsley, the house has received much of tender love and care.
Recent improvements include:
- Renovating the ladies bathroom on the first floor
- Renovating and reopening the kitchen
- Completely rehabbing the second and third floor bathrooms
- Installation of a new door in the alumni hall
- Converting the first floor library to a much-needed computer center
- New furniture and carpeting for the first floor living room
- A big screen TV, generously donated by Brother Craig Ligibel, P1344
Projects on the horizon include:
- Tearing down the annex behind The Snake Hilton
- Expanding and paving the parking lot
- Rehabbing the new house basement and bathroom into a recreation room
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