Students at Radcliffe College first took up residence on campus in 1901; apparently, the oldest parts of PfoHo date to that year. Moors opened in time for the 1949-1950 academic year, the year plans for Holmes were first drawn up. Construction of Comstock began in 1957. The Jordans opened for business as an experiment in cooperative living in 1961. The use of Jordan as a co-op persisted at least until 1997. Wolbach, formerly an apartment building, was purchased by Harvard in 1964. The townhouses of Faculty Row joined the House around 1971.

The name “North House” first appeared in 1961 and consisted of Comstock, Moors, and Holmes. It appears that Wolbach did not yet belong to Harvard at this point. The Jordans were initially assigned to a now defunct East House. Male students were first assigned to the House around 1971. Early House Masters included Giles Constable, Ned Keenan, and from 1975 to 1996, Woody and Hanna Hastings. Jim and Sue McCarthy began their term in 1996. The transformation of the original cluster of Radcliffe dormitories to a unified house took place under the Hastings’ leadership. The renovations they oversaw during the mid 1980s were key to their success in forging a strong house identity. For example, the Hastings rejected an early proposal that would have segmented the house into disconnected vertical “entryways,” opting instead for a plan that connected the dormitories to one another more closely, and in the process allowed the construction of the Holmes junior common room, the PfoHo Grille, the Comstock Library, and the centralized balconied dining hall. The unique duplex suites on the top floors of Moors, Comstock, and Holmes were also created during this renovation. In 1995, North House was renamed Pforzheimer House, acknowledging the life-long philanthropy of the late Carl Jr. and Carol Pforzheimer. They were strong supporters of both Harvard and Radcliffe, and are well known at Harvard and beyond for their support of libraries. It didn’t take long to adjust to the new name. Pforzheimer House quickly became PfoHo, and fun was had replacing letters f or ph with pf in house-related words; hence Pformal, PfoHo Pforums, Pfacebook, Pfreshman Welcome, etc.

In October 1999, Adams House closed its dining hall to non-residents during peak hours. Of course, exiled Quadlings looking for a quick lunch were most impacted by this policy. To enforce the interhouse dining restrictions, Adams issued special ID-card stickers to its residents, and a large gong in the dining hall became Adams’s mascot. It was sounded when non-residents were caught sneaking into the dining hall; these outsiders were then boisterously ejected. PfoHo replied with two symbolic gestures. First, it banned students with Adams stickers from eating in PfoHo during the contested hours. Second, and more importantly, PfoHo students stole the gong and placed it on display in the PfoHo dining hall, much to the chagrin of Adams residents.

Scott DiGiulio, a Pfohoser, recorded the war of Pforzheimer and the Harvard Houses, writing how they waged it against each other and beginning his work as soon as the war broke out in expectation that it would be a major one and notable beyond all previous wars, basing this assumption on the fact that all sides came into it in the midst of reading period; this was certainly the greatest disturbance to affect the campus and our students’ grades – one might say the majority of our lives. War broke out on the 6th of May, 2007 AD, in the 371st year of Harvard College, in the 11th year of Pforzheimer House. The war begin as an uneasy peace between Pforzheimer and Currier existed, though this was not to last. Currier and Cabot were rapidly assaulted, and in time and with the help of Pfoho’s true allies, Quincy House, the Quad fell into the hands of Pforzheimer House and its allies. Despite the concerns of the house, Quincy and Pfoho, by means of the Quad swap, both grew and increased their powers. At the same time, Lowell was establishing their power in the south. In the second major phase of the war, the first Pfoho Committee on Public Safety was established. Slowly, Pfoho moved against Kirkland and consolidated the Yard with its now vast forces. Meanwhile Mather concluded peace accords with Lowell, forming a great and powerful alliance. The Pforzheimer-led alliance, now joined by Leverett, moved to destroy Cabot while maintaining an uneasy cease-fire with Mather. However, this did not last, as Pforzheimer’s security was undermined and troops were sent against Mather, leading to open conflict. Dunster was invited to join the coalition against Mather, but instead attacked Pfoho; Pfoho attacked the heavily fortified Mather frontier, and won a great victory, but at great price. Following a Funeral Oration for the troops, the people’s resolve was increased, and treacherous Dunster was punished. The next season of the war begins with the abolishment of the Committee on Public Safety by the Pfoho Defense Council. Kirkland joined the alliance opportunistically, only to betray and join the Mather-Lowell Juggernaut. With the Alliance holding the North and Lowell-Mather-Kirkland the South, the war accelerated, with the Allies breaking the resistance on the West flank. In time, the Polar Bear Cavalry marched into Mather territory and successfully broke the resistance of Mather. On the 45th turn of Risk, on 20th May, the Tripartite Alliance successfully defeated their foes. There was a glorious banquet that night, and much rejoicing and speechifying. The victory was grand and complete, truly worthy of Pforzheimer House.