As regular readers might have guessed, I’m not a big fan of new homes. I feel uncomfortable in new buildings of all types – offices, stores, and especially houses. Growing up in Berkeley in the 1970s and 1980s, I never even guessed that such things as sprawling suburban development even existed – I had very little contact with the kinds of people who lived in such places. To me, then and now, there was something stifling and unnatural about living in a space that had not evolved, and while certainly the idea of building my own home some day has its attraction, I cannot honestly say that I would feel comfortable in a place without its own history.
Thus, it is with conflicted feelings that I read an email telling me about Atlanta’s Hawthorn Park development. Part of that city’s Kirkwood neighborhood (which itself was originally established in 1899), Hawhtorn Park is a 2003 development where the home plans are based on traditional (but slightly larger) Craftsman plans. Certainly this is not new; developers want to make money, and ever since the Craftsman revival of the early ’90s homebuilders have been offering Craftsman plans and even a few large(er)-scale developments like this have been built. All of the homes in the Hawthorn Park development sold out quite quickly after the initial offer in 2003, and many of them seem to be complete and lived-in at the present time. read on…
By all reports, the homes at Hawthorn Park are especially well built.
Available in 11 plans and styles, they run the gamut from strict
shingle Craftsman bungalows to slightly more Queene Anne inspired
designs and even a more formal western Stick model. Exteriors are a
combination of brick, lapp siding and shingle (painted and stained),
and the furnished model home,
which uses their Gramercy plan (with the usual upgrades that new home
developers expect all buyers to be tempted to buy) shows off all three
exterior materials.
So what exactly is my problem? I’m not really sure; certainly these are
pretty homes, on a pretty tree-shaded street, in a pleasant historical
neighborhood. They seem well built, in some cases using materials that
are as good – and maybe even better – than what they’d be made of if
built 90 years ago. Aesthetically, they may be indistinguishable –
minus the wear and tear and the patina on the floors and banisters – of
a immaculately-maintained bungalow built back in the day.
Many of you grew up in old homes, homes that other generations of folks
had been born in, grew up in, died in. Didn’t knowing that history was
there make the experience seem safer, more comfortable and richer for
you? Would the attraction of starting from scratch really be enough to
make you want to live in a new house?
Or is it something else entirely? Maybe there is something weird and
fake about modern homes being built in another era’s aesthetic. Can a
modern house use these classic floorplans and still be Craftsman? Maybe
this type of home needs more than just a look – maybe it needs a way of
being built, materials, etc. that were only available for a short
period of time at the beginning of this past century.
I don’t have any easy answers why I am unsettled by this type of
development or the idea of living in new houses in general. I
understand, rationally, the need for new housing – obviously. My wife
works for a planning agency and I live in one of the fastest-growing
parts of California. There’s a very real need for well-made housing for
people of all income levels, built along public transportation
corridors and in infill developments in city centers. I realize all of
this, but I don’t know if I myself could ever live in such a place.
I share your sentiments of new homes for the most part and find them often cold and lacking in character. Denver also has a new developmment area called Stapleton where new homes are going up as far as the eye can see and many of them are styled after the Craftsman tradition and architecture. Here is another example.
While the architecture of these types of new houses may follow some of the Craftsman floor plans, I hesitate to call them Craftsman homes. The Arts and Crafts ideal is so much more than the layout of a house.
I live right around the corner from Hawthorn Park, and while on paper (um…web actually) it may appear cheap and in poor taste, the development is actually a respectful addition to an area of Atlanta that is *full* of Craftsman bungalows from the early 1900s.
I own a restored craftsman that was originally built in 1923 and had fallen into massive disrepair over the years. The people who restored it did a marvelous job by replacing that which needed to be replaced, and kept what could be salvaged or reused. So we literally have the best of both — a sense of the old but with the dependability and quality of the new.
At any rate, back to Hawthorn. While they are respectful of the overarching style of homes in the area, they are saccharin compared to the personality and style of the real ones just down the road. They’re too refined, perfect, and…well…dull. My house and a lot of other period houses have little quirks, blemishes, and downright odd features that give the homes a personality that is far more charming and lovable than the cookie cutter Hawthorns. Plus, it’s kind of sad to see some of the authentic ones falling into decay when Joe-public is more willing to pay huge amounts of money for a ‘new’ one.
Now, architecturally, it could also be argued than any period rehash is hardly progressive. But that’s an entirely different topic.
I live here in Hawthorn Park. I live two doors down from the pictured model. While I completely understand the resistance of others to adopt the mockery of what I perceive to be the “real” craftsman style homes (celebration of real craftsmen, investment in natural products and earth tones), I can appreciate what the builders had in mind to try to bring back some of the life to this area.
It is cookie-cutter. In the same way that the post-war crackerbox neighborhoods were cookie cutter. In the same fashion that ranch-style developments in the 50s were cookie-cutter. I certainly do appreciate folks who are doing a great amount of work around our area to revive and refurbish (some of) the great old homes around this area.
Within Hawthorn Park there are 8 represented floorplans, all with a pre-ordained colorscheme for each “lot”. There are drainage ponds, and paved roads and concrete driveways, and about 15-20 feet clearance between houses. It is a surreal feeling to drive through here after driving through the huge number of smaller, 1-2 bedroom 1 bath homes that must date back to the 30s.
I only know that of all the newer architectural styles, this pictured home won me over. It was an incredible find.
Yes, there is something still a little hollow about having a house “this perfect” when you know you should be breaking your back trying to restore and rebuild it. It isn’t Joe-public’s need for a brand new, it’s a need for a city to bring interest back into the neighborhood at large, establish a good tax-base, and a new set of faces with varied backgrounds.
I’ve had a few folks over from the west coast. They say our neighborhood looks like a set of a movie. I laughed. I said it looked more like Disneyland. I felt ok about laughing, because I live here, and I love my house.