Keep Cottage

Keep Cottage — or just Keep — is a housing & dining co-op located just a block from the Allen Art Museum and Hall Auditorium, sitting conveniently right on top of Oberlin’s bike co-op. Keep, which opened in 1965 as OSCA's third co-op, is known to be one of the most welcoming communities on campus and makes a great first co-op to join or call home for all four years. It houses over 50 members and feeds about 60. Although not a vegetarian co-op, meat is not served with regularity, and vegan and vegetarian options are available at every meal. 

Notably, Keep’s dining space is a lounge instead of a regular cafeteria style, so members sit together on couches, armchairs, or the floor for meals. On sunny days, most Keeple (as they are affectionately known) will take their plates outside to the porch steps or the lawn. They can also be found watching movies together in their living room, playing Sardines or Bodies Bodies Bodies throughout the house, or just sitting on the porch swing and talking with each other. The smaller size of the kitchen and dining space make the co-op incredibly cozy, albeit sometimes a little squished. 

Keeple take pride in their decorations and always encourage new members to add their own artistic flair to the many signs, posters, and trinkets they display in the lounge. Wandering the halls, one may find various mice figurines—the Cottage’s mascot—tucked into curious corners, nooks, and crannies. Keeple have a whiteboard at the bottom of the main stairwell that periodically hosts interactive prompts, asking members of the co-op to write their favorite quote from another Keep member, decide their aesthetic on a scale from 1920s Snooki to Charlie Chaplain from the future, or unscramble the anagram of their name. 

Keep is known for its culture of community care and inclusivity, which is in no doubt helped by the disproportionately high number of summer camp counselors within its membership. The inherent relaxed feeling in Keep is bolstered by members who mindfully foster the democratic consensus process. For most decision-making, there is a consistent and thoughtful dialog which deters apathy. Overall, Keep offers a space to feel at home that is dedicated to excellent, nutritious food (complete with a wall for cooking tips and food comments), kind souls, acoustic music, bicycles, crafts, vegan desserts, great bagels, and general good cheer. This co-op lives up to its “cottage” title in just about every way, and many members will say that they found their family at Keep.