Rugby Road - Fraternity and Sorority Houses

Fraternity and Sorority Houses

Rugby Road and the neighboring streets house a large number of fraternity and sorority residences, including Delta Gamma, Theta Delta Chi, Sigma Phi (SERP), Delta Upsilon, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Gamma Delta, Delta Sigma Phi, St. Anthony Hall, St. Elmo Hall, Pi Kappa Alpha, Phi Sigma Kappa, Sigma Phi Epsilon (SPE), Pi Lambda Phi, Sigma Chi, Phi Delta Theta, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Pi Kappa Phi, Theta Chi, Kappa Sigma, Chi Phi, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Sigma Nu, Phi Society, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Mu, Zeta Beta Tau, Zeta Psi, Alpha Delta Pi, and Alpha Tau Omega. The first fraternity to purchase a house on Rugby Road was Phi Delta Theta, in 1908, followed shortly thereafter by other houses clustering along the neighboring streets of Madison Lane and on Carr's Hill.

In 1983 the University’s Board of Visitors decided to address the deteriorating conditions of many fraternity and sorority houses on Rugby Road. It created a limited partnership program, known as the Historic Renovation Corporation. The Historic Renovation Corporation became a partner in the ownership of many of the houses, renovated them, and then sold them back to their original owners, most of whom are University of Virginia alumni. The Historic Renovation Corporation is still operating today, and is currently providing property management services to the alumni owners of eleven Rugby Road houses.