Our Mission
The Iota Court Preservation Association, Inc., is a Wisconsin non-stock corporation organized for the purposes of restoring, renovating, and preserving the significant building on the National Register of Historic Places, State of Wisconsin Register of Historic Places, a contributing structure to the Langdon Street Historic District, and City of Madison Landmark #84 located at 150 Iota Court in the City of Madison, County of Dane, State of Wisconsin.
The Chi Psi Lodge at 150 Iota Court was built between 1911-1912 for $50,000. At that time, Alexander Chadbourne Eschweiler (August 10, 1865 – June 12, 1940), a notable American architect in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, designed and built the stone building as the second “Lodge,” specifically for Chi Psi in Madison.
Built of irregularly coursed, rough-finished local sandstone, the Chi Psi Lodge has the parapeted gables and grouped casement windows of one variation of the Tudor revival style. Viewed from the shores of Lake Mendota, the building rises almost castle-like from the steep embankment along the lakeshore. The high quality of the stonework greatly enhances the structure, and its solid appearance suits its longtime occupants, the Chi Psi fraternity.
Iota Court, the street on which the building fronts, was named for the local Alpha of the Chi Psi fraternity, “Alpha Iota,” the longest continuously active fraternity established at the University of Wisconsin, founded in 1878. Chi Psi also has the distinction of being the first fraternity to establish a chapter house at the University of Wisconsin, which they did around 1883 at a rented house at 602 N. Frances Street.
The Iota Court Preservation Association is a tax-exempt, section 170(b)(1) public foundation and an approved section 501(c)(3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code. The Association’s tax identification number is 36-3548648. Bequests, legacies, devises, transfers or gifts to the Association or for its use are deductible for Federal income tax purposes and estate and gift tax purposes under sections 2055, 2106, and 2522 of the Internal Revenue Code. Donors receive no goods or services, in whole or in part, in consideration for their gift to the Iota Court Preservation Association.
Through the efforts and generosity of Alumni and Friends, the Iota Court Preservation Association is fulfilling its enduring mission of restoring, renovating, and preserving the historic and landmark building at 150 Iota Court and the home of Alpha Iota of Chi Psi Lodge at the University of Wisconsin.