John Winthrop House (commonly Winthrop House) is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It is home to approximately 400 upperclass undergraduates. Winthrop house consists of two buildings, Standish Hall and Gore Hall, originally freshman dormitories built in 1912. In 1931 they were joined as John Winthrop House, one of the seven original Harvard houses in which students reside from sophomore through senior years. Historically, Winthrop was also one of the first Harvard houses open to Catholic and Jewish students. Winthrop House maintains an affiliation with Davenport College at Yale University. The house's name honors two notable men who shared the name "John Winthrop"—the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, as well as his descendant, an 18th-century astronomer who was both a Harvard professor and president of the university. The house shield is from the Winthrop family coat of arms: a lion with three chevrons in the background. In heraldric language, the blazon of the house shield is "Argent three chevrons Gules overall a lion rampant Sable." The current faculty deans of Winthrop House are Stephen Chong and Kiran Gajwani, who were appointed to replace interim deans Mark Gearan and Mary Herlihy-Gearan. Gearan and Herlihy-Gearan took over for a one-year term following the College's decision to let go of former deans Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. and Stephanie Robinson in 2019. The two John Winthrops The first John Winthrop (1588-1649) was a member of the English gentry. In 1630, at the age of 41, Winthrop sold his home and sailed for New England, recording his visions that the New World could be a "city on a hill." He served as leader of the Massachusetts Bay Company, then later became the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a position he held for over sixteen years. His great-great-great-grandson John Winthrop (1714-1779) was the Hollis Professor of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy from the age of 24 until his death at 65. Regarded as the first American astronomer, Winthrop also served briefly as the president of Harvard from 1773-1774. Structure Architecture The two halls which would become Winthrop House were built in the same year and share many attributes. Both are four-story U-shaped buildings surrounding courtyards, with a gated open side facing the Charles River. Their facades are based on Sir Christopher Wren's late-17th-century garden wing of the Hampton Court Palace. The present Gore Hall maintains the memory of Christopher Gore,