Кингман-холл: История и жизнь студенческого кооператива в Беркли

Kingman Hall is located at 1730 La Loma Avenue near the northeast corner of the University of California, Berkeley campus. As part of the Berkeley Student Cooperative, Kingman Hall houses 50 residents, known as Kingmanites or Toadies. It is named after Harry Kingman, the former YMCA director who in 1933 inspired 14 students to start a student cooperative. The house was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in January 1999.

The house at 1730 La Loma Avenue was designed by the San Francisco architects Charles Drysdale and Harry Thomsen, Jr. It was built in 1914 as a chapter house for the Theta Xi engineering fraternity for $27,000 by Barry Building Co. of Oakland. The Nu chapter of Theta Xi resided there until 1964, when the fraternity was disbanded owing to anti Greek sentiment on the Berkeley campus.

Kingman Hall is part of the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) a student housing cooperative serving primarily UC Berkeley students, but also open to any full time post secondary student. There are approximately 1,300 members in 17 houses and three apartment buildings. Kingman Hall houses 50 students and there are 30 units 11 singles, 18 doubles and one triple. In addition there is a restaurant sized kitchen, a large dining room, as well as a roof deck and an outdoor amphitheater. Council meetings are held every week, with decisions made through a majority vote.

In 1998–1999, in response to the residents' application to construct a deck on the roof of the building, the neighbors sought landmark designation for the building by the city's Designation Commission. The neighbors were successful and the house was designated a landmark with the commission denying Kingman's permit application. As a response Kingman appealed to the Berkeley City Council and was successful. The permit was issued with use restrictions, resulting in the deck being built. Under the restrictions Kingman residents are not allowed to use the deck after 9 pm.