Though he has no official ties to Stanford, Rob Levitsky is a hero to many of its students. Each year, he provides dozens of them with something the University no longer guarantees: an affordable place to live within a mile or so of campus. His rents run half the local going rate, with no security deposit required.
Levitsky’s 12 houses, like their owner, stand out in tony Palo Alto. Ranging from substantial three-story structures complete with pillars and verandas to modest one-story bungalows, they’re all named for Grateful Dead songs. (A computer consultant, Levitsky used to be the Dancing Bear, resplendent in multicolored flashing lights, at Grateful Dead concerts in the band’s heyday.) For 15 years, ever since he bought Terrapin Station, the first of what came to be called the “Dead Houses,” Levitsky has rented almost exclusively to Stanford grad students and seniors.
Former University President Donald Kennedy says Levitsky is “doing a terrific thing for Stanford students.” But why does he bother? Says Levitsky: “This is a beautiful college town, and you can’t have that without college students.”
