Located at 17 Pine Street, Elms House is one of several house structures on campus, and is currently a space for Theme Houses. Theme Houses at Wheaton College are small communities that apply to live together with a common purpose or passion, and collaboratively share their theme with the larger Wheaton community. Through the diversity of personal experiences and academic pursuits, houses strive to enrich both their own and their fellow students’ co-curricular and academic learning. They are an active and available resource educating and raising awareness within the Wheaton Community as it pertains to their respective missions. They afford a uniquely focused form of experiential learning that holistically represents the liberal arts traditions of Wheaton College, and allow residents to experience more independent and unique living within the bounds of the Honor Code and Residential Life Community Standards.

The building was previously used as a dormitory for The House in the Pines, a private girls’ school. Wheaton College purchased it in 1972 after the school closed.