Another home for Rice’s second century

Rice’s Habitat for Humanity chapter dedicated its Centennial House just over a year ago, but that hasn’t stopped the organization from making plans for a second home, the Rice Second Century Home.

As with the Centennial House, Rice students will be involved in every aspect of planning, fundraising, design and construction efforts. Rice students Julia Madden and Alex Cooper, who are working closely with Rice student architects and other Rice and Houston community members, are leading the project.

“The house will be the first of many ways for Rice to show its commitment to serving the Houston community in its second century,” Madden said. “And it’s bringing together students from different residential colleges and majors in addition to encouraging collaboration across various undergraduate and graduate departments.”

The house will fulfill all design requirements set by Houston Habitat for Humanity and the city of Houston. Cooper noted that the most direct benefit to the Houston community will be to the family who is selected through a competitive application process by Houston Habitat for Humanity.

“It is noteworthy that in keeping with Habitat’s philosophy, the house will not be given away,” Cooper said. “The family will put in at least 100 hours of sweat equity for the first down payment in addition to paying the 20-year no-interest mortgage on the house to pay for its building costs.”

Approximately $35,000 has been raised toward the $70,000 goal to be met by December, and the students are seeking volunteers to contribute labor when construction begins in January. The goal is to have the house built by May.

Anyone interested in donating labor or money can visit http://habitat.rice.edu/rsch for more information on how to provide support for the project.