[4] As part of their rental agreement, residents of the houses are required to perform workshifts, typically five hours per week.

[7][8] The house would be based on Rochdale Principles, which include: democratic control, common purchase of the cheapest available produce, open membership, market prices charged, political neutrality, limited interest on any invested capital, and return of savings to members in return for their investment.

[8] Next, Sherman Hall originally a sorority, Oxford a large apartment building and Atherton a smaller house next to Barington, were opened.

[8] As the US entered World War II the number of male students dropped significantly and Sherman and Atherton stopped operating.

[8] On the other hand, Barrington Hall was temporarily rented to the Navy resulting in Oxford becoming the sole male residence.

[8] Right after World War II, the UCSCA purchased Ridge House, formerly a mansion, and the year after that – Cloyne Court Hotel.

Both properties were bought to house men as there was a sharp increase in the student population caused by the GI Bill.

Lothlorien was previously leased to the One World Family Commune and Kingman Hall was owned by the Berkeley Living Love Center.

[9] In 1989, the members of the USCA voted to close Barrington Hall, its largest co-op, in reaction to complaints from neighbors and problems with the city.

Each of the 17 houses and 3 apartment complexes elects a representative to a 12-month term approximately corresponding the UC Berkeley academic year.

The BSC also has a permanent staff of approximately 20, including maintenance, office, and food warehouse employees.

Waster-reduction Managers usually maintain color-coded bins, post information sheets and hold workshops/seminars to help residents make sustainable choices.

[27][28][29] The Ridge House is a faux Tudor mansion built in 1906 during the Beaux-Arts architecture movement by John Galen Howard.

It sits atop Holy Hill, the area in the vicinity of a five-way intersection surrounded on all sides by churches and seminaries, such as Graduate Theological Union.

[34] It was built for University's economics and political science professor Adolf Miller and changed hands several times before being bought by the BSC in 1945; where it now houses 38 students.

[8][35][36] Although retrofitted for the student housing, there are still working fireplaces, exposed, half-timber redwood beams, along with a secret stairway.

The living-room mantel is carved of oak, showing acorns, leaves, birds, and squirrels; another has classical details; brackets in the hall and on yet another fireplace, in the library, repeat the Tudor rose.

At some point the house became a sorority Alpha Xi Delta and several additions were made to the building, including a sleeping porch with a deck above that features an expansive view of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Parsons became the Episcopal Bishop of California, the family moved to San Francisco,[41][n 2] the house was first rented and later sold.

Its most distinguishing external feature is the three-story red brick staircase leading up to the Warring Street entrance.

This changed in the 1930s, when the house was bought by the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, which stripped the interiors of the woodwork and enclosed the front porch in glass.

BSC purchased the building in 1971, and decided to name the house in honor of long-time central kitchen cook Andres Castro, who was seriously ill at the time, but later recovered.

[59] Lothlorien retains a unique communal culture with fusion of art and progressive activism being a mainstay of the house.

[76] Because the land on which Rochdale is located is leased from the university, only UC Berkeley students are eligible to reside during Fall and Spring semesters.