Inside the $17M sorority home at the University of Alabama — a 40,000-square-foot palace (2024)

Welcome to the new reality of sorority life in the South, where living in luxury isn’t just a perk — it’s a necessity.

At the University of Alabama, the Delta Zeta sorority house isn’t just a place to crash between classes. It’s a $17 million, 40,000-square-foot palace complete with a grand staircase, a crystal chandelier and a custom leaded-glass window proudly displaying the group’s logo.

And Delta Zeta isn’t alone.

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Across the South, top-tier sororities are pulling out all the stops, adding blow-dry bars, gold-leaf molding and craft rooms to their swanky abodes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

As enrollment surged in the 2010s, these Greek organizations doubled down on opulent amenities, sparing no expense to ensure their houses stand out during rush week.

At the University of Alabama, the sorority housing arms race kicked off in 2012 and 2013, with the campus’s first $10 million house.

By 2016, nearly every sorority had spent at least that much, according to school records.

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Kappa Delta at Ole Miss opened a $13.3 million mansion in 2020, and in 2022, Alpha Chi Omega at the University of Oklahoma unveiled a $12.7 million stunner. Texas A&M’s Tri Delta chapter is already planning to up the ante with a $15 million replacement for its 1984 house, set to debut in 2026.

Blame it on skyrocketing construction costs, or stringent ADA and commercial building codes, but sorority houses now run about $450 to $550 per square foot to build, compared to $300 to $375 a few years ago, Charles Watson, an architect from Pryor Morrow, told the Journal.

Yet, these sororities are willing to pay the price, knowing that these lavish homes are crucial for luring in the next generation of members.

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“The house is the largest way of telling people about our sorority,” Melissa Hall Simmons, a Tri Delta alumna and interior designer who helped renovate her chapter’s 43,000-square-foot residence at the University of Arkansas, told the outlet. “Every year before recruitment, there is a push to get things together.”

Sorority houses have come a long way since their late 1800s origins. Today, these mansions are not just living quarters but social hubs, where meals, meetings and even “The Bachelor” watch parties take center stage. And they’re all over YouTube and TikTok, with house tours racking up millions of views.

At the University of Alabama’s $15 million Pi Beta Phi house, for example, a video of sisters dancing in fanny packs and leg warmers to the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” theme — complete with a grand chandelier cameo — went viral during rush week.

“We’re all trying to recruit the best, the brightest, most amazing women,” said Jennifer Keeling, president of the facility corporation board for the University of Oklahoma’s Kappa Alpha Theta chapter, which is dropping about $14 million to renovate and expand its 1932 house by 10,000 square feet.

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The stakes are high, and with social media making first impressions more important than ever, young women are now laser-focused on the look and feel of their living spaces. “When I lived at the Theta house, I couldn’t have told you what the couch looked like—I didn’t care about any of that. Now they just do,” Keeling told The Journal. “It is a competitive disadvantage if other houses have beautiful facilities.”

Delta Zeta at Alabama tore down their old house in 2017 to make way for a new, 40,000-square-foot estate with room for 66 sorority members.

Alumna Virginia Loftin, who co-chaired the building committee, said the upgrade was driven by a surge in enrollment. The new house, completed in 2018, has a wide front porch with ten rocking chairs, each named by an alumni donor.

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Inside, the house is just as luxurious. There’s a backpack room to keep the foyer tidy, a white oak-paneled library with a limestone fireplace from the original 1925 house, and a wall honoring deceased sorority members.

The kitchen churns out hundreds of meals daily, with a serving room showcasing the sorority’s silver plates. And for those late-night cravings, alumna Hannah Duffy revealed in a 2021 YouTube tour that the kitchen is stocked with snacks like Doritos and ice cream.

“You feel like you live in a mansion, which I guess you do,” Duffy quipped in the video.

And the amenities don’t stop there. The chapter room, which seats 300, doubles as a dance practice space and even has a T-shirt closet with cubbies and a Dutch door for organizing sorority swag, according to architect Les Cole.

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There’s also a craft closet with an industrial sink for cleaning paint brushes and several study rooms equipped with videoconferencing tech for job interviews.

The competition to have the best sorority house is so fierce that even rising costs haven’t deterred these organizations. Still, some, like Alabama’s Sigma Kappa, have had to hit pause on their plans.

Earlier this year, the chapter shelved its $24.7 million dream house project due to inflation, according to university documents. It would have set a new national record for sorority house price tags.

“We’ve had several projects in the last few years that have halted for a second and gone back to the drawing boards,” Liz Toombs, a Kentucky-based interior designer specializing in sorority houses, told the Journal.

Inside the $17M sorority home at the University of Alabama — a 40,000-square-foot palace (2024)

FAQs

How many square feet is a sorority house in Alabama? ›

Most cover about 40,000 square feet so that there's room for around 70 members to attend meetings, eat meals, and live on-site. And since the University of Alabama's sorority membership is one of the largest in the country (with more than 2,000 women rushing 24 sororities every year), the school invests in them.

What is the most expensive sorority at University of Alabama? ›

Take a look inside the new $13 million Phi Mu sorority house at the University of Alabama. The brand new 39,444-square-foot Phi Mu sorority house (Alpha Zeta chapter) opened along Colonial Drive in July 2016.

How much does it cost to live in a sorority house in Alabama? ›

How much does it cost to be in a sorority? Well, that answer varies by college and house. At the University of Alabama, the average new member fees run between $4,170 and $4,978 per semester. Members who live in the sorority house typically pay between $7,465 and $9,445.

What does it cost to be in a sorority at University of Alabama? ›

It's also important to note that initial fees for new sorority members tend to be higher than fees for returning members. For example, at The University of Alabama, new members typically pay between $4,170 and $4,978 per semester for their first year only.

What is the top sorority house at Alabama? ›

While there's no official ranking of the sororities at University of Alabama, it's widely accepted that there are top-tier houses. (Example: Zeta Tau Alpha, Phi Mu and Alpha Deta Phi are considered the most desirable sororities, per the doc.)

Who gets to live in the Bama sorority house? ›

Current enrolled University of Alabama students are eligible to live in the chapter house if they have met the following: have completed at least 24 credit hours at Alabama. are active members of the organization.

What is the richest sorority in the United States? ›

Among sororities, Alpha Gamma Delta came out on top for having the most expensive properties by organization. Founded in 1904 at Syracuse University, the average Alpha Gamma Delta property is worth $1.74 million based on our study. Meanwhile, Chi Psi fraternity properties ranked as the most property-rich for men.

What is the most classy sorority? ›

Here's a list of some of the most prestigious sororities:
  1. Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Founded: 1908 at Howard University. ...
  2. Delta Sigma Theta (DST) Founded: 1913 at Howard University. ...
  3. Kappa Alpha Theta (ΚΑΘ) ...
  4. Pi Beta Phi (ΠΒΦ) ...
  5. Gamma Phi Beta (ΓΦΒ) ...
  6. Alpha Phi (ΑΦ) ...
  7. Delta Gamma (ΔΓ) ...
  8. Zeta Phi Beta (ΖΦΒ)
Sep 28, 2023

What is the oldest sorority house at Alabama? ›

Installed March 12, 1904, the Zeta Chapter of Kappa Delta at the University of Alabama was the first women's sorority on the UA campus and the first women's sorority in the state of Alabama. Zeta Chapter is Kappa Delta's oldest chapter to have been active continuously since its chartering.

Is it cheaper to live in a sorority house than a dorm? ›

Depending on where you attend college and the other lodging options available, living in a sorority house may be cheaper than living in a dorm. At the University of Iowa, for example, the average cost of living in a sorority house ranges from $4,800 to $11,150, depending on meal plans and specific sorority fees.

What school has the most expensive sorority? ›

The most expensive sorority, or at least one of the most expensive, is the University of Alabama. A new member will pay over $4,000 per semester.

How many people live in a sorority house in Alabama? ›

The majority of the Greek organizations at The University of Alabama are housed on campus. House occupancies range from 16 to 80 members, and many facilities have a live-in house director that manages the day-to-day operations of the chapter facility.

How hard is it to get into a sorority at Alabama? ›

This percentage can be as high as 70%. If we look at the University of Alabama, around 2,500 women participate in sorority recruitment each year. The most competitive and popular sororities drop around 70% after Round 1. They invite back around 750 potential new members to Round 2.

How many girls rush at Bama? ›

At the University of Alabama, rush is a big deal—more than 36% of the campus is involved in Greek life, and about 2,500 students rush sororities every year. There are a few stages to sorority rush at Alabama, starting with open houses, where prospective members get to know each sorority chapter.

What is the minimum GPA for Alabama sorority? ›

As such, it is HIGHLY recommended that women participating in Primary Recruitment or COB have at or above a 3.3 cumulative high school or college GPA at the time they are seeking membership.

How big are sorority houses? ›

Fraternity and sorority houses range in size from three to twenty bedrooms or more. They can usually be identified by large Greek letters or flags on the front of the house. The larger chapter houses generally have a large meeting room, a large dining room, a commercial kitchen, and a study room.

How big are Alabama sororities? ›

Fraternities and sororities range in size from 6 to 452 members.

How big is the Phi Mu house Alabama? ›

The sisters at the University of Alabama's Phi Mu chapter just rebuilt their house, and they aren't playing around with chump change: According to AL.com, the sorority spent a whopping $13 million to update their "smaller" house into a 40,000-square-foot mansion.

How many square feet is Alabama campus? ›

There are 297 buildings on campus containing some 10,600,000 square feet (980,000 m2) of space. In 2010, the school added 168 acres to its campus by purchasing the land formerly belonging to Bryce Hospital.

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