To rest your head in the same place as the most recent past presidents of Allegheny College, all you need is half a million dollars and a whole lot of lawn care equipment. The college-owned home traditionally reserved for the president and family, located at 286 Jefferson St., went up for sale last month for $498,000 and is still looking for a new owner.

Housing is a common benefit given to the leaders of higher education institutions. At some schools, living at a specific address can even be a non-negotiable part of the job description. As a location often steeped in tradition and splendor, the president’s house can function as a strategic venue in which the college might hold events for high-profile visitors and the campus community.

President Lawrence Lee Pelletier was the first Allegheny president to officially take up residence at 286 Jefferson St. in 1955, although a 1982 report preserved in the Merrick Archives called “Allegheny Presidents at Home,” a 1982 report preserved in the Merrick Archives which details the early history of places where presidents lounged in their pajamas, notes that Allegheny’s 14 president Louis T. Benezet seems to have briefly lived in 286 Jefferson St. following the sale of his Loomis Street home during the final months of his presidency that same year. Vice President for Enrollment Management Jenn Winge, ’96, explained that prior to the Pelletier family’s arrival, the home was built for another major Meadville institution’s leader.

Winge said that “one of the original owners that was not connected to the institution was the head of Talon Zipper,” which she thought “is kind of fun that there’s a historical perspective there from an industry that was unique to Meadville, that the zipper was created here in Northwest Pennsylvania and little Meadville.”

By the standards of the era, she said, the house was considered an executive mansion. “It was a pretty signature lot and residence in the city of Meadville,” Winge said.

Allegheny College’s decision to let go of its presidential property stems from several factors.

“This was something that was discussed over years, is that it’s an incredible, incredibly beautiful, historic home that needs to be updated significantly to maintain not only as a residence, but potentially as an entertainment space,” Winge said. “It is not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible currently. There’s ups and downs to almost every room in the house. And so it was going to take a significant renovation to make sure that it was accessible to all parties if it was going to be a public space as most presidents’ homes tend to be.”

In a mid-September interview with The Meadville Tribune, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Rignani said that regular care for the space has also been burdensome.

“The maintenance is costly for the house, and we aren’t using it for events of the president,” Rignani said. “We’d love to have someone else enjoy it.”

In addition, the house has not held a full-time resident for several years, although the home has continued to serve as an occasional hosting space for the college’s overnight guests. When President Ron Cole, ’87, stepped into his current role as president in 2022 after many years serving as provost and dean of the college, he opted to continue living in his own Meadville residence and receive a housing stipend instead of moving across town.

Winge explained that under Allegheny’s ownership, faculty departmental dinners, family receptions for new students and many types of events that have more recently been held in spaces like the Tippie Alumni Center have been held in the Jefferson Street house in the past. She recalled her own experiences as a guest at these events, including while she was a student.

“I know that as a tour guide, I was invited by Dan Sullivan to come up,” Winge said, referring to Allegheny’s 19th president.

As a candidate for the position she now holds, she was invited back, that time staying in the guest house during the interview process.

“You know, it was a callback for me in some ways as an alum,” Winge said.

In the future, Winge said that Allegheny will again re-evaluate its housing benefit for presidents.

“I think there’s not a decision made about what that may look like next,” Winge said. “I do know that it’s more typical than not that institutions have a variety of ways where they provide either a stipend or housing or opportunities for presidents to have a living quarters, either on or off a campus, but then every campus or every school sort of has different traditions around how the president interacts with the community.”

For a highly social president like Cole, who is often spotted at on-campus events during the week and weekends, Winge said not having a designated presidential hosting space poses no barrier to his ability to connect with the Allegheny community.

“He’s so visible and accessible,” Winge said. “Whereas some presidents aren’t as accessible and as engaged with everyday life on campus, and so their way of interacting is inviting folks to an entertainment space, whether that’s their home or, you know, perhaps like a center like Tippie. So I think it depends on the personality of the leader of the campus of what they decide.”

For those who find themselves short of the cash required to purchase the Jefferson Street property, living like an Allegheny president is not quite out of reach. In fact, a handful of students on campus already are. The more affordable option may simply be to join Green Living. According to “Allegheny Presidents at Home,” Green Living’s 296 Loomis St. address was once the home of Allegheny’s 14th president, Louis T. Benezet, who served between 1948 and 1955, just before 286 Jefferson Street became the de facto residence of the presidents.

As the Green Living house’s history illustrates, the most recent sale of 286 Jefferson St. is not the first time that Allegheny has shifted housing accommodations for its leader. Originally, that location was Bentley Hall, according to the “Allegheny Presidents at Home” report. It’s unclear whether Timothy Alden ever slept a night below the bell tower, but for one of his successors, a bed in Bentley proved to be the gateway to eternal rest.

“It is certain, though, that Bentley Hall’s West Wing was the residence of President (John) Barker; for he died in his chamber there in February 1860,” the report said.

Johnathan Hamnet took over presidential duties following Barker’s untimely demise and built a home that same year at 513 Randolph St. down the hill from Bentley. Between then and the mid-1950s, Allegheny presidents lived all over town. James Albert Beebee, who served as the ninth president from 1926 to 1930, held a home in what is now the Bentley lawn, and the structure was used to house students after he resigned. The college’s 12th president, William Pearson Tolley, lived at 438 Chestnut St.; his successor, John Richie Schultz, remained at his home on 380 North Main St.

For now, 286 Jefferson St. will join this list of properties that have sheltered Allegheny’s leaders.

“I think that, in addition to thinking about the future of providing some flexibility for future presidents of whether they would want to have a different house or not,” Winge said, “we decided that it was best to allow someone else to enjoy.”