Homes: New and Old

I thought of Kirkwood as the perfect place to find examples of mid-century homes and new construction. The first picture is of my friends' house on Hosea that was built in the 1950s. It was completely renovated before they moved in a couple of years ago, but the charm still remains. The tile floor in one of the bathrooms as well as the windows are all original. I love this little house and its adorably homey porch complete with swing. The strange thing is that you have to share a driveway and gate with your neighbor, which I thought was odd if the home was built in a time of cars. However, the lot size and the fact that their house is on such an incline makes a second driveway between the two homes impossible or at least expensive. They do each have their own separate garages, though.


I've also included a picture of the house directly across the street which has not been renovated. This shows the gentrification that is occuring in Kirkwood as older homes are renovated and resold, pushing the property value up and forcing out previous home owners/renters. Some areas are further along this process, while others remain a tad spotty to say the least.

The last picture is of Kirkwood Station, the over-priced development down the street from their house in Hosea. It is a mixed use space with stores on the ground floor and two-story townhomes above. Right now it houses a couple restaurants, a spa and a gift/floral shop. Due to the market, and perhaps also because of the location, the townhomes or lofts or whatever they want to call them have not all been sold. Perhaps if prices drop and more development occurs around Kirkwood Station, the remainder of the homes will sell



The differences between these two homes are clear. The older, single-family dwelling speaks to families or couples who want the privacy of their own, free-standing home with a yard to care for and the perhaps the status that comes with home ownership. I know my friends bought this house after they lost everything in Katrina and I think it really served them as a return to normalcy. The house really does just feel like a normal, comfortable house.

The Kirkwood Station lofts, however, speak to a different type of person who wants a more urban and compact living space. Hungry? Go downstairs and eat at Vinocity. You don't have to waste your weekends on lawn care, which is really appealing to some. The closeness of neighbors does not bother everyone, in fact some prefer it and feel safer. I think these types of new developments with mixed use space speak to some kind of return to our roots, like the English burgher house and the European town square where people worked and lived in the same space. The only problem is that Kirkwood Station does not really offer this kind of lifestyle, since nothing else is in walking distance besides the post office and the library, and not everyone living there works on the ground floor. Perhaps it is just the ambiance of this idea that attracts people, as well as the lovely kitchens (I pretended like I wanted to buy one and took many tours).

From Arcade to Strip Mall?

Built in the 1920s, the Grove Arcade is a free standing arcade on the edge of downtown Asheville, NC, which was originally designed to house a skyscraper above it. However, the Depression put a crimp in that plan and it remains standing today with only three stories.Though the arcade is more the predecessor to the mall than the strip mall, contrasting it with the modern strip mall reveals many of the changes retail establishments made after the proliferation of the automobile.

Though the Grove Arcade was built shortly after cars hit the mainstream, it still maintained a pedestrian scale (it's unclear whether the curbside parking is original to the design). Like in a mall, most of the stores in an arcade are on the interior with few exterior entrances. The entrance seen above invites the pedestrian off the street with a massive 2-story arch. A permanent canopy in the foreground, houses an open air market during the day. The arcade is decorated with intricate Tudor elements and the second and third floors contain windows for offices.

The strip mall has no use for the second and third stories. These buildings are designed for only one use: selling stuff. And if there were upper floors they certainly wouldn't be wasted with all those windows. Instead we'd probably see the space utilized with lots of advertising.

But as seen in the example above, some of the first strip malls didn't do the best job of appealing to the passing car. Though cars in the 1950s probably drove by this establishment at a slower pace than they do today, the small cursive lettering of "Briarcliff Village" indicates early strip construction that didn't fully grasp the benefits of LOUD advertising. In addition, signs for the individual businesses are also in small fonts along either the front exterior, or under the overhang, which probably catered to the pedestrian, since its all but invisible from the street. Another element to note: limited parking.Compared to both the arcade and the earlier strip mall this more recently constructed strip mall has an insane amount of parking for its customers...probably more than would ever be used. Though you can still spot awnings, which hearken back to the arcade, this strip is the simplest of all. While the arcade had all kinds of expressive detail, and the early strip mall still attempted a style with its small turrets on top, this strip mall is bare bones. The most important element has become the sign (as detailed by Venturi & Scott Brown) , which is quite large, visible from the street and can be illuminated at night!