“Beautiful,” “Fun,” “A great place to live.” These are just a few comments made by new Norby House residents and visitors who attended Norby’s open house Saturday, Oct. 24.

The newest addition to campus housing, Norby House is located at the intersection of Dike Road and Riverview Road. Originally built by former Luther College dean Paul Lionberger, Norby was utilized as Lionberger’s personal residence upstairs and fraternity housing downstairs.

In more recent years, the house was used for offices for campus organizations Upward Bound and Celebration Iowa. Over this past summer, however, the house was renovated to serve a new purpose. Work began in late May to prepare the building to house female students.

Partially funded with FEMA money received for flood damage sustained in the past year, most major renovations were completed by the beginning of fall semester this year and all residents were able to move in on time.

A kitchen with granite countertops, new furniture, on-site laundry, a fireplace and art work from Luther’s archives were installed. Laura Davis (‘11), a current Norby resident, likes the living space.

“I love having the experience of living independently, but also having the benefits of on-campus housing,” Davis said.

According to Director of Residence Life Kris Franzen, the house was perfect for a transition to housing students.

“Norby House is a great size for accomodating students, and that was one of the reasons it was rennovated for student housing,” Franzen said. “I personally like how Norby is an upperclassmen residence hall that provides the students with the experience of living indepedently.”

Norby is technically located off-campus, but is still considered an on-campus residence hall and therefore is treated and serviced as one. The house has an in-hall manager and is serviced by Luther custodial staff.

There are some concerns about the house-turned-residence hall, however. Some Decorah residents are concerned about increased traffic through nearby intersections, which was already an issue, and an increase in noise level.

Franzen also noted future complications regarding who gets to live in Norby.

“The only hesitation with Norby is how to conduct room draw for it next year,” Franzen said. “We’re expecting it to be a desired housing unit for students in the coming years.”