Hamilton Hall
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Hamilton Hall is a hall of residence for the University of St Andrews, Scotland.
History
In 1896, Thomas Hamilton applies to join the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and is promptly rejected; his Jewish roots having more than a small part to play for the rebuttal. Unhappy, Thomas decided to draw attention from the Club by building a larger, brighter and more extravagant building between the Golf Club and the church (in order to hide the church's spire, which was a significant thing in those days). The result was exactly as Tom would have wanted: every (non-official) picture of the Royal and Ancient, every visitor who ever comes to see the R&A for the first time and every person who ever looks over the St Andrews roof tops from the West Sands beach - including anyone who ever watched Chariots of Fire - looks at the large red building with the pepperpot spire and thinks it's the Golf Club. It's not: the R&A is the small little building sitting in the shade.
The Building was a top class hotel, with rooms costing up to £2.50 a night (don't forget inflation, which sets the price to a few hundred pounds nowadays). During the two wars it was used a a military base. In 1949 it was acquired by the University of St Andrews to be used as a hall of residence. It had an annex called Eden Court, which is situated further down The Scores.
Present
-->Hamilton Hall was a hall of residence of the University of St Andrews. Located in St Andrews, it overlooks the famous Old Course at St Andrews. From the windows on the west side the first and 18th holes are clearly visible, and from the windows to the north, the River Tay is clearly visible with Dundee opposite. It's address is:
Hamilton Hall The Scores St. Andrews KY16 9BD, Fife ScotlandThe residence, like all others owned by the University, has a wardennial team.
Wardens from the recent past include:
| Year | Warden of Hamilton Hall |
|---|---|
| 2005-2006 | Dawn Rimmer |
| 2004-2005 | Mikey Klink |
| 2003-2004 | Steve Yorkstone |
| 1998-2003 | Shane Bonetti |
| 1996-1998 | Rob Willson |
For the past 30 years, the Residence Manager has been Ann Gillespie.
The hall also has a student elected and run committee, session 2005-2006 consisting of:
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Senior Student | Andrew Cassels |
| Deputy Senior Student | Chris Sharp |
| Treasurer | Jakob Frotscher |
| Ball Convenor | Jarrett Blaustein |
| *** Incomplete *** |
Future
At the end of the 2005-2006 academic year, Hamilton Hall will become "The St-Andrews Grand" a building with 23 luxury time-sharing flats. It will be only for 115 top range golfers, paying each 30 000$-40 000$ annual fee and 700 000$-3 800 000$ for 4 to 9 weeks occupancy (which if you are a member for 10 years and use 4 weeks every year, it would sum up to aprox. 3 600$ per day), with free helicopter, driver, golf courses etc.
That is a little contrast to the current residence fee of aprox. 7 000$ a year (single catered room - some 20$ per day)
The St Andrews Grand
In July 2006, work will begin on Hamilton Hall to convert it into a prestigious residence club, The St Andrews Grand. While many options were considered for Hamilton Hall, a residence club bringing like-minded people together to preserve the Victorian building was considered the best option. Membership prices are between $1.3 million and $3.3 dependent upon the size of the flat, its view and its location in the building. Services will include; butlers, housekeeping, masterchefs, private and communal dining, spa and treatments for men & women, club/library, games/billiards room and courtesy cars.
External links
- [St Andrews Grand]
- [Description of the residence on thesinner.net]
- [University of St Andrews]
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