Live in college every year of your degree.

First Year Accommodation

Our students all agree that, while Vaughan may not be the most attractive building in Somerville, it’s certainly the friendliest. Vaughan possesses around 60 student rooms, a gym, meeting rooms, the college bar and terrace (which doubles up as a café in the daytime), and on the ground floor, the newly renovated Junior Common Room (with TV, computers, sofas, dining table, table football, bean bags). Each floor has two small shared kitchens complete with fridge, microwave, kettle, hob and toaster. The building is named after Dame Janet Vaughan, Principal of Somerville from 1945-67.

First year accommodation

With wooden floors, fireplaces (non-functioning!), high ceilings, and wooden doors, Penrose is a grand building with around 30 student rooms. Each floor has a kitchen of a reasonable size, with full cooking and storage facilities. Built in the 1920s, Penrose is named after Dame Emily Penrose, Somerville’s third Principal (1906-26) and the woman who played a crucial role in securing the rights of women to gain an Oxford degree.

Mixed First and Second Year Accommodation

One of the older buildings in Somerville, Park contains 44 undergraduate rooms with a large kitchen on the ground floor as well as a music room and a wide selection of vending machines for midnight snacks. Rooms vary in size, with many possessing lovely views of the Quad. Park is named in honour of Daphne Park, Baroness Park of Monmouth, Principal 1980-89, and has a fascinating history stretching back to its use during both world wars as an extension of the Radcliffe Hospital next to Somerville.

Attached to Park, and sitting over the library extension, is Holtby. Named after Winifred Holtby, the novelist, former English student and great friend of Vera Brittain, Holtby contains a further 10 student rooms with a bathroom and kitchenette on each floor. 

Second Year Accommodation

Built in the 1930s and named after Helen Darbishire (Principal 1930-45), Darbishire is an elegant quadrangle with accommodation spaced over three storeys around some of the prettiest gardens in Oxford. Darbishire contains 36 student rooms, as well as a smattering of tutors’ rooms, and is connected to Hostel, which contains a further 12 rooms in what were once the stables (it’s much nicer these days, with less hay). There are also two further student rooms available in House, the former private home around which Somerville grew up. 

Second, Third and Fourth Year Accommodation

The latest, greatest addition to Somerville, the Catherine Hughes Building, or CHB, was completed in 2019, and added 68 new en-suite rooms to the Somerville roster. There are 5 floors, including the basement laundry room, with a lift for accessibility and at least one kitchen on every floor (floors 2 & 3 have two). It also contains the MCR Reading Room (which is lovely). The building is named after Catherine Hughes CMG, who, as Principal from 1989-96, oversaw the arrival of the first male students at Somerville.

Second, Third and Fourth Year Accommodation

Another architectural masterpiece of the 1960s (for which it received a Grade II listing), Wolfson looks out onto College Quad, making its occupants the owners of one of the best views in Oxford. Rooms are mostly allocated to Fellows and students, with the addition of small, well-equipped kitchens between each floor. Bedrooms also have beautiful, big windows with window seats. On the ground floor is Flora Anderson Hall (FAH), where lectures, bops (college discos/parties), and other events take place. Wolfson is named after Sir Isaac Wolfson, who provided the funds for the building (and for Wolfson College).

Second, Third and Fourth Year Accommodation

The two spectacular wings of the ROQ (short for Radcliffe Observatory Quarter) occupy the north edge of the Somerville site. They overlook the Observatory development, which is soon to house the £150m Stephen A. Schwarzman Building for the Humanities (scheduled to open in 2024). ROQ East and West accommodate a total of 68 students, all in en-suite rooms with a dedicated laundry room and a kitchen on nearly every floor. ROQ East has accommodation spread over three floors, while ROQ West has four floors, a lift and a number of accessible rooms. These buildings were made possible by donations from over 1,000 alumni and friends of the college (donations totalling over £2.7 million to date) and therefore take their names from their locations alone in recognition of this phenomenal collaborative effort.

All rooms in ROQ feature clean and modern ensuite bathrooms

Second, Third and Fourth Year Accommodation

Barbara Craig House is located next to Somerville and is some of our newest accommodation, opening in September 2016.

It features a combination of two and three bedroom flats spread over three floors. Each fully furnished flat contains a shared bathroom, kitchen with dining area, and either two or three single bedrooms.

Third and Fourth Year Finalists

The Dorothy Hodgkin Quarter is named after Nobel Prize-winning Somerville alumna Dorothy Hodgkin. Together with the Margaret Thatcher Centre, it is one of the the newest parts of College. It has sixteen self contained flats, which accommodate two to four students and is generally reserved for Finalists, as it’s a little bit quieter than some areas.

Graduate Accommodation

Margery Fry and Elizabeth Nuffield House – generally referred to simply as Margery Fry – is the heart of the graduate community at Somerville. It was created to offer accommodation and study/living space specifically for graduates and is, in its design and execution, effectively a smaller version of Vaughan with bigger rooms. It contains 24 graduate bedrooms, a TV room, kitchen, dining room, and computer room. The building is named after Margery Fry, Principal 1927-30 and Elizabeth Nuffield, the wife of Lord Nuffield who provided the funds to enable the completion of the building.

Graduate Accommodation

Somerville has a graduate house on on Woodstock Road, about ten minutes’ walk or a few minutes cycling from the College. The house contains eight single bedrooms and one double room spread over three floors. There is one bathroom, two shower rooms, and two kitchens which are shared between the occupants. The house also has a large garden with apple and pear trees – making it our only accommodation with an on-site orchard!

Graduate Accommodation

In addition to our other offerings, we also lease 25 rooms in Wellington Square from the University. Don’t be alarmed – they are located immediately opposite the bulk of our other graduate rooms on the other side of the gorgeous Little Clarendon Street. The rooms are self catered and provided with excellent shared kitchens, so you can have a more independent approach if you want, but if you still fancy eating in hall with your friends it’s only a short walk away.