Reformatting Suburbia

The modern suburbs trace back to the very large lot park concept of Llewellyn Park just outside Newark New Jersey, the Silicon Valley of its day. Thomas Edison's house in Lewellyn Park occupied nearly 14 acres. Multiacre lots afford a parklike setting and great privacy without resort to courtyards or elevated decks As the suburb gained popularity its lots declined in acreage. Nowadays homes in suburbia are set on lots scarcely larger than the house's own footprint. In consequence they have been stripped of both privacy and park. Developers have regrettably even started to borrow from the communist lexicon, terming a subclass of the suburbs 'workforce' housing.

The modular home, by virtue of its fresh, new mode of construction, offers the opportunity to restore to the suburbs both their parklike quality and their privacy, the twin characteristics which made the first suburbs such a hit. Walled courtyards and elevated decks achieve privacy even on very small lots, while grouping homes around a tree lined garden square creates the look and feel of a park. As a case study I have drawn up a design for a 20 unit suburb with each house set on lots just 40' x 130'. The interior park is around 400' x 100'. All in, including streets and sidewalks, the 20 unit development measures 400' x 400'. This is around 3.66 acres or around 5.5 units per acre including streets, sidewalks, and interior park and paths.

Walls and windows are carefully coordinated to ensure that courtyard interiors have privacy, that all 'sightlines' onto them are blocked - creating that crucial feel architectural theorist Jay Appleton termed 'refuge'. On the other hand the raised deck at the end of the house is situated so as to have privacy from its immediate neighbors but afford what Appleton termed 'prospect', an expansive view into the park with its pool, fountain, and seating areas beneath shade trees. As well the interior park is also completely private, accessible only from the homes surrounding it. This scheme was quite popular in the suburbs built in Victorian era London such as Collingham Gardens illustrated below - which it bears mentioning are among the most valuable and most prized residences in the city:

As mentioned previously, the lot size for the proposed modular homes are just 40' x 130'. Each modular home has an open plan living and dining space, two ensuite bedrooms and a powder room on the first level, along with three bedrooms and two baths on the second level plus an L shaped half open office area. After the modular units are set up on their lot, a site built carport-storage combo can be added at the front while a raised deck can added in the back. To complement the more 'schematic' drawings shown at the top, a set of AI renderings below helps convey a better sense of look and feel.

Conclusions:

Subdivision homes sited around a private internal garden square tend to sell at a premium.
Wright's open plan with sofa bank along the long wall adapts well to the modular home
Replace the garage with a carport / bulk storage space hybrid design.
Use high, 'crenelated' walls to create private garden courtyards.
Crenellation adds interest, is much sturdier, and better supports awnings
Put raised decks along the interior garden square.
Small bedrooms with alcove beds are complementary to modular.