USF’s presidential mansion, called the Lifsey House, is located on USF Sago Drive and was built in 1993 for presidential living and university events. ORACLE PHOTO/AYRON ESPINO-NARDI

USF’s Lifsey House — a mansion used for presidential housing and events — is a deep-set house at the corner of Fowler Avenue and Leroy Collins Boulevard.

The house, more than three decades old, is surrounded by oak trees with winding branches and lush foliage, and has long been a subject of students’ curiosity because of its secluded location.

And while the living space has been mostly vacant since USF President Emeritus Steven Currall resigned in 2021, USF President Moez Limayem has chosen to live there during his transition from Jacksonville to the Tampa Bay region.

USF spokesperson Althea Johnson said student body interactions with the home are strictly limited to students invited there for official business. 

Still, Limayem hosted about 80 students from the USF Ambassadors at the house in March for the third and final interview to join the 2026–27 team.

The USF Ambassadors is a professional organization sponsored by the USF Alumni Association that connects the current student body to USF alumni and the surrounding community, according to its website.

Lauren Rufolo, a freshman healthcare administration major, said she was one of the students who interviewed for USF Ambassadors at the Lifsey House.

Rufolo said she felt honored to be in Lifsey House and said both the interior and exterior were beautiful.

“It’s really gorgeous,” Rufolo said. “We walked past these beautiful bushes and flowers. The inside was beautiful as well.”

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The Lifsey House was built in 1993 and was named after Julian and Mary Ann Lifsey, who donated about $600,000 to the $1.2 million project.

The 9,000-square-foot yellow-brick home was originally designed as a private residence for the university president, but has mostly been used as a venue for events and social gatherings, according to USF Digital Commons.

The first USF president to live in Lifsey House was Betty Castor, USF’s fifth president. Castor lived there for her entire five-year tenure, from 1994 to 1999.

Castor’s successor, Judy Genshaft, also chose to live in the house for six weeks while transitioning from her position as provost of the University of Albany in New York to Tampa to take over her role as USF’s sixth president in 2000.

Still, Genshaft ultimately chose to move off campus after settling into the area due to her young sons. 

The living quarters were then unused until Currall moved into the mansion with his wife, Cheyenne, in 2019.

After the couple moved into the home, a $376,000 security fence was installed around the property to maintain a “safe living environment.”

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While the Lifsey House remained unoccupied as a home from 2000 to 2019, USF spokesperson Althea Johnson said the property was and still is a “highly utilized facility.” 

The house serves as a primary hub for hosting donors, faculty and award recipients, she said.

“A few examples include employee appreciation lunches, an annual faculty and staff holiday celebration and lunches with award recipients from USF commencement ceremonies,” Johnson said. 

In addition to USF Ambassadors in March, Limayem also spoke to deans of various Colleges of Arts and Sciences from across the Association of American Universities at the Lifsey House on Feb. 19.

Johnson said there are no plans to remodel or replace Lifsey House, adding that it will continue to serve as a residency option for presidents and a space for building university relationships.

Lifsey House’s living room in 1993, which features red sofas, a coffee table, bookshelves and a grand piano. SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE/USF DIGITAL COMMONS

Rufolo said she and other student guests walked from the Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center through a tree-covered pathway to the Lifsey House as part of their USF Ambassadors interview.

“A really essential part of the final ambassador interview is being quizzed on a bunch of facts [about USF],” Rufolo said. “The president himself, as an honor for us making it to the third round, asks us those questions.”

The guests toured Lifsey House’s living room, decorated with wood-stained French doors, a grand piano and tall windows for natural light.

Rufolo said her experience was unique, adding that she felt honored to walk through the home and proud to make it to — and through — the USF Ambassadors interview.

“It was private, and it was honorable,” Rufolo said. “I called my mom right after, and I was like, ‘You won’t believe what I just did.’ It was really an incredible experience.”