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The Acres
The Acres, also known as Galesburg Country Homes, is a 71.25-acre (28.83 ha) residential development in Charleston Township, Michigan, United States. Developed starting in the late 1940s, it consists of 21 or 22 circular land lots, of which five contain houses. Four of the houses were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, while the other was designed by Taliesin Associated Architects fellow Francis Wilsey after Wright's death. The Acres also contains 50 acres (20 ha) of open land, including a pond; the entire complex is accessed through a single road, Hawthorne Drive. The development was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
From west to east, the development consists of the Pratt, Fonken, Meyer, Eppstein, and Weisblat houses. All of the houses have different designs, though each has a concrete-block and mahogany exterior. The Pratt, Weisblat, and Eppstein houses are designed in the Usonian style with an "in-line" floor plan. The Usonian houses generally share features such as open plan floor layouts, radiant heating systems, overhanging flat roofs, and carports. The Fonken House is partially built into a hill, with a capital "T"-shaped layout, and the Meyer House is a solar hemicycle. All of the houses have either two or three bedrooms, in addition to rooms such as a combined living–dining space and a kitchen.
In the 1940s, a group of scientists from the Upjohn pharmaceutical company planned to build a community of homes. They eventually split into two groups, who developed the Galesburg Country Homes on a farm and Parkwyn Village closer to Kalamazoo; both groups hired Wright to design their respective projects. Plans for the Acres called for up to 22 houses on the site, most of which were never built. The first four houses (for the Weisblat, Pratt, Eppstein, and Meyer families) were built from 1948 to 1953, and two of them were subsequently expanded. Wilsey designed an additional house for the Fonken family in 1959, after Wright died. After the houses were completed, each house was sold several times; the last original resident, Christine Weisblat, died in 2007.
The Acres (officially the Galesburg Country Homes Acres) is located in Charleston Township, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, in the eastern suburbs of Kalamazoo. The development, spanning 71.25 acres (28.83 ha), is located just south of Interstate 94 and about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Galesburg. It is one of several Usonian developments planned by Frank Lloyd Wright and one of the first Wright–designed multi-family developments that were actually completed. Prior to designing the Acres, Wright had drawn plans for other multi-family developments such as the unbuilt Broadacre City; the partially built Suntop Homes in Ardmore, Pennsylvania; and the Usonia Homes in Pleasantville, New York.
The houses are accessed by from Hawthorne Drive, a narrow, winding street flanked by trees; it serves as the only thoroughfare in the Acres. At the entrance to the neighborhood is a stone signpost structure, which contains letters spelling out "The Acres" on one side. The signpost measures about 6 feet (1.8 m) wide by 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. There are six niches within the signpost: one for packages and the other five for mail (with each family having its own mail niche).
The southern half of the development includes either 21 or 22 circular land lots with an area of 1 acre (44,000 ft2; 4,000 m2). The lots each measure 114 feet (35 m) in diameter and are located on both sides of Hawthorne Drive. Since the circular lots are tangent to each other, there are large tracts of communal land in between each lot. The use of circular lots contrasted with Wright's other designs, such as the Usonian Houses in Pleasantville and Parkwyn Village in Kalamazoo, Michigan, both of which used polygonal lots. Wright's original plans called for the tracts to be clearly demarcated so that "any house owner can tell where his lot limits are", and for the areas between each tract to be filled with native plants. In practice, there are no clear boundaries between each lot, and some of the landscaping stretches across multiple lots.
Although seven of the lots were sold to individual owners, only five of these contain houses. Three of the houses are located south of Hawthorne Drive, while two are to the north. The Fonken and Meyer houses are accessed by driveways branching off Hawthorne Drive to the north and south, respectively, and the other houses are closer to the road. The Fonken House is accessed by a curving driveway that slopes down from Hawthorne Drive north of the Pratt House. Another driveway extends southeast near the Pratt House, ascending a slope before looping back to the north; the Meyer House is located on this driveway.
The development was also intended to have 50 acres (20 ha) of open land. The unsold lots and all of the open land are communally owned by the Acres' residents. Throughout the complex are grassy paths measuring 8 to 30 feet (2.4 to 9.1 m) wide, which meander between the lots. The winding paths made it harder for random people to amble around, thereby protecting the privacy of the Acres' occupants.
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The Acres
The Acres, also known as Galesburg Country Homes, is a 71.25-acre (28.83 ha) residential development in Charleston Township, Michigan, United States. Developed starting in the late 1940s, it consists of 21 or 22 circular land lots, of which five contain houses. Four of the houses were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, while the other was designed by Taliesin Associated Architects fellow Francis Wilsey after Wright's death. The Acres also contains 50 acres (20 ha) of open land, including a pond; the entire complex is accessed through a single road, Hawthorne Drive. The development was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
From west to east, the development consists of the Pratt, Fonken, Meyer, Eppstein, and Weisblat houses. All of the houses have different designs, though each has a concrete-block and mahogany exterior. The Pratt, Weisblat, and Eppstein houses are designed in the Usonian style with an "in-line" floor plan. The Usonian houses generally share features such as open plan floor layouts, radiant heating systems, overhanging flat roofs, and carports. The Fonken House is partially built into a hill, with a capital "T"-shaped layout, and the Meyer House is a solar hemicycle. All of the houses have either two or three bedrooms, in addition to rooms such as a combined living–dining space and a kitchen.
In the 1940s, a group of scientists from the Upjohn pharmaceutical company planned to build a community of homes. They eventually split into two groups, who developed the Galesburg Country Homes on a farm and Parkwyn Village closer to Kalamazoo; both groups hired Wright to design their respective projects. Plans for the Acres called for up to 22 houses on the site, most of which were never built. The first four houses (for the Weisblat, Pratt, Eppstein, and Meyer families) were built from 1948 to 1953, and two of them were subsequently expanded. Wilsey designed an additional house for the Fonken family in 1959, after Wright died. After the houses were completed, each house was sold several times; the last original resident, Christine Weisblat, died in 2007.
The Acres (officially the Galesburg Country Homes Acres) is located in Charleston Township, Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, in the eastern suburbs of Kalamazoo. The development, spanning 71.25 acres (28.83 ha), is located just south of Interstate 94 and about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Galesburg. It is one of several Usonian developments planned by Frank Lloyd Wright and one of the first Wright–designed multi-family developments that were actually completed. Prior to designing the Acres, Wright had drawn plans for other multi-family developments such as the unbuilt Broadacre City; the partially built Suntop Homes in Ardmore, Pennsylvania; and the Usonia Homes in Pleasantville, New York.
The houses are accessed by from Hawthorne Drive, a narrow, winding street flanked by trees; it serves as the only thoroughfare in the Acres. At the entrance to the neighborhood is a stone signpost structure, which contains letters spelling out "The Acres" on one side. The signpost measures about 6 feet (1.8 m) wide by 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. There are six niches within the signpost: one for packages and the other five for mail (with each family having its own mail niche).
The southern half of the development includes either 21 or 22 circular land lots with an area of 1 acre (44,000 ft2; 4,000 m2). The lots each measure 114 feet (35 m) in diameter and are located on both sides of Hawthorne Drive. Since the circular lots are tangent to each other, there are large tracts of communal land in between each lot. The use of circular lots contrasted with Wright's other designs, such as the Usonian Houses in Pleasantville and Parkwyn Village in Kalamazoo, Michigan, both of which used polygonal lots. Wright's original plans called for the tracts to be clearly demarcated so that "any house owner can tell where his lot limits are", and for the areas between each tract to be filled with native plants. In practice, there are no clear boundaries between each lot, and some of the landscaping stretches across multiple lots.
Although seven of the lots were sold to individual owners, only five of these contain houses. Three of the houses are located south of Hawthorne Drive, while two are to the north. The Fonken and Meyer houses are accessed by driveways branching off Hawthorne Drive to the north and south, respectively, and the other houses are closer to the road. The Fonken House is accessed by a curving driveway that slopes down from Hawthorne Drive north of the Pratt House. Another driveway extends southeast near the Pratt House, ascending a slope before looping back to the north; the Meyer House is located on this driveway.
The development was also intended to have 50 acres (20 ha) of open land. The unsold lots and all of the open land are communally owned by the Acres' residents. Throughout the complex are grassy paths measuring 8 to 30 feet (2.4 to 9.1 m) wide, which meander between the lots. The winding paths made it harder for random people to amble around, thereby protecting the privacy of the Acres' occupants.