Kappa Sigma and Beta Alpha Delta have called five houses “home” over the years. Each has had a special place in the hearts those who lived in it and is filled with memories of undergraduate days and alumni reunions at Denison. Each move meant more room and better facilities as the chapter grew and the Alumni Association developed and was able to provide a better and better home. It was a long way from the little house on Cherry Street to the beautiful home on the College Hill, built for the chapter by her own alumni. All of the former houses are still standing in Granville, although three have been considerably remodeled.
The first real home of Beta Alpha Delta, on the southwest corner of Cherry and Elm Streets, was rented after three years in Talbot Hall. It was so small that only four brothers could room there, but the new fraternity was now in its own chapter house. The years here marked the development of Beta Alpha Delta into a strong local fraternity, eagerly accepted into Kappa Sigma. Today, the house is just barely recognizable, having gone through extensive remodeling and enlargement over the years.
At the time Beta Alpha Delta became Gamma-Xi of Kappa Sigma, the men were living in the larger house on the northwest corner of Prospect and Elm Streets. This house served the chapter only three years, for soon another move was made. Today, after major porch remodeling, the house now serves as a funeral home.
For sixteen years the house on Shepardson Court, just south of Broadway, on the west end of Granville was the Kappa Sigma house. Here the chapter grew and matured, became an equal with the other national fraternities, and ceased to be the youngest on the campus as other fraternities were established and received national charters. Memories of this house and the long walk to the campus were vivid among a large group of alumni, no longer with us. It was here that a strong alumni organization developed and assumed the responsibility of housing the chapter. Today, after removal of the front porch, the window placements and roof lines remind us that this was once our home.
The beautiful Avery-Downer House on Broadway in downtown Granville is a world-famous example ot Greek Revival architecture. Built in 1842, it was designed by the man who planned the State House in Columbus. The architecture is important because it contains excellent examples of the three Greek Orders—Ionian, Doric, and Corinthian. It served as a private residence until 1903, when it was purchased by the Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. Kappa Sigma purchased the house in 1930 and added a wing, carefully matching the existing architecture. Dedication was held on October 18, 1930, and was a very impressive event. Representing the Denison Board of Trustees was Charles F. Burke ʼ04, whose generosity made the purchase possible. It served the chapter well and holds a deep place in the hearts of many Kappa Sigs. But, fifty-four years of fraternity use had taken their toll, a larger chapter could not be accommodated, and all but the newest of eight other fraternities by then had homes on the hill. So with some regret, but with the need vital, Kappa Sigma proudly build a house on the hill. Today, the Robbins Hunter Museum preserves the classic architecture and features furnishings of the nineteenth century. Exterior changes include the removal of the crest and letters from the pediment as well as the upper porch, which research determined was not part of the original structure.
Serious discussion about building on the hill dates from the early twenties, but the means to do so were not there. Burke felt that occupying the Avery-Downer house was just temporary, but the depression and the war years prevented the move. Then, on October 6, 1956, Mrs. Lorena Burke, the widow of Brother Burke, turned the first spade of earth. Unfortunately, a labor strike prevented completion of the new house by the next fall, and the chapter went for five months with no house at all. The modified Georgian colonial structure, accommodating thirty-eight men was occupied February 2, 1958. Formal dedication services were held October 9, 1958, and all new furnishings had been provided by 1961, marking the culmination of the long, hard work of the alumni—Kappa Sigma’s own home on the hill. Over the years, improvements and repairs kept the house in good condition for the most part. But in 1995 the Denison Board of Trustees decreed that fraternity members could no longer live in their own chapter houses. The Gamma-Xi Alumni Association leased the upper two floors to the University and retained the ground floor as a lodge. In 1999, the recreation room was divided to provide a dedicated chapter room. But a serious hazing incident in 2004 led to the suspension of the chapter from the campus and the loss of its charter. When Denison agreed in 2009 that Gamma-Xi could return, the lodge was reopened for the interest group, which was granted colony status in December. The alumni remodeled the lodge: a second tier of seating was added to the chapter room, the old dining room was remodeled into a lounge, and the commercial-style kitchen was replaced with a residential-style kitchen for brothers to fix snacks and weekend meals, along with providing a small dining room.