Three student residential houses—Crafts, Nichols, and Runkle—comprise MIT's first dormitory. Occupying a privileged position next to the President's House (MT21), this dignified complex, grouped around an L-shaped paved court, features a narrow frontage on Memorial Drive that belies the size and spaces within. A mélange of styles is evident from the stone blocks of the entrance that are crowned by a wood lattice à la japonais. Runkle House at the rear borders on the pompous with its lattice-covered stonework leading to fragile arched openings above a balcony and beneath a crowning cornice.