greenbuilder wonders if the architecture that I envision is too colonial for Nebraska. That is a wonderful point to discuss.
Let’s go back in time nearly 15 years ago to 1992. That is when my wife (now deceased) and I had in mind to build a house of a particular style, the Georgian style. We had traveled extensively along the East Coast and developed a strong affinity for that style. We knew also that we wanted architectural authenticity. So we did not want to build our Georgian house in a conventional subdivision to have it surrounded by houses of the Tudor, French provincial, Italianate, Prairie, modern or just “McMansion” styles.
We believed then, as I still believe even more strongly now, that all those styles would fight each other. So we began looking for land upon which to build our home. We came upon the 160 acres on State Street at 168th. That was then waaaay out in the country. The owner would not sell just a part of it, so we had to buy the whole piece. As you can see from the site plan, we put our house right in the middle of the quarter. That is the back ground. Now, let us return to the question of the “architectural focus” for this new traditional neighborhood.
I have walked the streets of quite a few new traditional neighborhoods around the country and one of the distinct “feelings” I frequently get is a case of “too-many-styles.” It is as though the developers and builders are trying to appeal to all tastes out of fear of losing any sales. I think that this does not create a “Best Loved Place.” I am of the opinion now as I was back in the early 1990’s that fewer, more coherent architectural styles create a better neighborhood.
That does not mean architectural boredom or bland-sameness at all. I intend that the architectural styles in this new traditional neighborhood shall be of a focused yet broad range of styles that include the true colonial, Georgian, Federal, Adam, Greek Revival and neo-classical, Charleston single-house, Colonial Revival, Cape Cod, and southern national styles. This will, I believe, help create a feeling of place that conventional subdivisions with their architectural-chaos lack (if one can even use the term “architectural” at all).
The principles of creating a great Traditional Neighborhood go from greater scale to finer scale and therefore involve not only the entire site and the green ways and the streets and the blocks and the lots but also and to a very great extent the houses and the architectural details of the houses. It is said of our Most Loved Places that “the God is in the details.” When the houses and the great detailing that makes a house architecturally wonderful do not fight, the details and the houses combine synergistically to create a “Best Loved Place.”
I think this article from the PlaceMakers website will help to advance the discussion on the nature of the Best Love Places and the role of repetition and a narrower range of architectural styles:
http://www.placemakers.com/library/Prin ... tition.pdf
greenbuilder, it is not a question at all about right or wrong. One architectural style is not intrinsically “better” than another. It is just that too many divergent styles all in one place tend to fight each other and detract from the totality of the place. I hope you will consider joining us out on State Street in one of the many styles that will create the neighborhood, but if you are unequivocal in your desire for your craftsman bungalow, I hope you find a great place to build it. Thank you for your interest in and support of the broader goals I intend to accomplish.
Herb