Parkwyn Village History
Parkwyn Village is a neighborhood of Kalamazoo, Michigan that was founded in the 1940s by a group of young families who had a vision for a "congenial housing community." They purchased a 47-acre tract of land in 1946 at the west end of Winchell Avenue, overlooking Lorenz Lake (now known as Asylum Lake), for $18,000. The land was originally considered to be beyond the Kalamazoo city limits. By the fall of that year, they prevailed upon world-famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, to layout the community and design affordable houses they could build themselves.
The homeowners pooled their resources so that they could buy materials in bulk, make their own concrete blocks, and do some of the work of building the homes. Wright's site plan would accommodate 40 lots of approximately 1-acre in size, and reserve the remaining 7-acres for common area for gardens, tennis courts, playgrounds, etc. The four homes Wright designed reflect his Usonian design concept.
The word "Usonia" is said to be an abbreviation for United States of North America. While the United States was still recovering from the Great Depression, this word fit Wright's concept of urban planning and captured Wright's aspiration to create a democratic, distinctly national style that was affordable for the "common people" of the United States. It was a design concept tailor-made for Parkwyn Village.
Wright's Usonian homes were designed to be modular, and situated on an acre of land with a large living room and fireplace, a convenient kitchen, indirect lighting, heated concrete floors and built-in furniture and closets. The walls would be constructed of inexpensive concrete blocks accented with mahogany trim and an extensive wall of windows overlooking a naturally landscaped yard. Designed to control costs, they would have no attic, basement, visible roof, garage, gutters or downspouts. While only four of Parkwyn's homes are pure Wright designs, his concepts influenced the majority of homes in the neighborhood.
Wright's original plans called for 40 circular or semi-circular lots. Here is an original survey for Parkwyn Village, donated by Alfreds Gramatins. The FHA prevailed upon founders that the lots had to be rectangle in order to secure financing - so the community was replatted.
This 198-page book includes a history of Parkwyn Village based on the documentation supporting the nomination of Parkwyn Village to the National Register of Historic Places. (copies still available)
Current and former residents of Parkwyn Village share their memories and photographs of Parkwyn’s earliest years in this 52-page book: Growing Up and Living in Parkwyn Village: Reminiscences. Get your copy here.
This YouTube video is a wonderful memoir from one of the original families, Robert and Rae Levin.
The Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Homes in Parkwyn Village
See more photos on our Pinterest page
The Robert & Rae Levin House
Year Built - 1948
2816 Taliesin Drive
Photos of this home, from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, may be seen here.
The home was the first of the four built in Parkwyn Village and is constructed of concrete blocks, with interior trim of red Tidewater cypress. The plan had several irregular protrusions that give it a pinwheel effect. A playroom with basement was added in 1960 by John Howe of Taliesin Associated Architects.
There is a YouTube video memoir (shown above) presented by the original owners.
The is also a Wikipedia page on the home here. This page talks about the textile blocks (shown above) that were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and used to build the Levin House. Some of these 15,000+ concrete blocks contained patterns and some had cut outs with glass inserted, to allow light to filter through.
The house was assembled without mortar between the blocks, but with a steel rod for the inner foundation. This method of assembling the blocks was also used for Wright’s Imperial Hotel.
The Eric V. Brown House
Year Built - 1949
2806 Taliesin Drive
Photos of this home, from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, may be seen here.
The home is constructed of concrete blocks, with mahogany trim inside. The living rooms overlooks nearby Asylum Lake; the roof line facing the street is at ground level.
The Browns observing the home construction with Frank Lloyd Wright
Ann Brown on the roof of the home during construction.
Here is a video clip, produced by Gary Glasser when the house marked its 50th anniversary, featuring original home owner Eric Brown.
The home last changed hands in 2012. The current owners, Janet and Peter Copeland secured a listing for the home on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
The Ward McCartney House
Year Built - 1949
2662 Taliesin Drive
Photos of this home, from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, may be seen here.
This Wright home was originally owned by Helen and Ward McCartney and is built on a 4 foot parallelogram grid, with each wing in the form of a triangle. The plans were derived from a design Wright originally created as a cottage for his sister, Maginel.
Helen McCartney recorded her memories of those early days in a published booklet that included correspondence with Frank Lloyd Wright.
In 1956, the original carport was enclosed to create a new master bedroom, and a new carport added to the east of the house.
This is perhaps the most dramatic Usonian designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Parkwyn Village. Helen McCartney, who died in 2008, lived in the home for 54 years until 2005, and it has had five subsequent owners.
The most recent owners invested thousands of dollars into restoration projects, including repairing and re-staining the exterior concrete blocks; restoring a 20-foot section of the exterior screens, windows and doors to match the original blueprints; and installing a new hot water boiler system for the furnace and radiant heating.
The Robert D. Winn House
Year Built - 1950
2822 Taliesin Drive
Photos of this home, from the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, may be seen here.
The Winn Residence was the last of the four Wright-designed homes to be built - and the only one to be considered two-story. It is similar in its curved design to the Kenneth Laurent Residence in Rockford, IL.
The plan of the Winn house featured a porch, enclosed by screen, and cantilevered over the hillside.
One of the original chairs, designed by Wright for the Winn House, had found its way into the hands of a collector of mid-century modern furniture. It sold for $5,000 on 12.08.19. Another one of the chairs found its way into the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Another Famous Architect
Parkwyn Village is also home to several designs by Norman F. Carver, Jr. In fact, the Ruth and Lawrence Strong home is the result of efforts by both Frank Lloyd Wright and Carver.
Wright was originally commissioned for the home's design in 1950, but the original owners relocated in 1952 and the final design/construction was handled by Carver.
Original costs to establish Parkwyn Village
47-acres of farm land = $18,000
neighborhood roads = $7,000
underground electricity = $9,000
telephone wiring = $1,600
water system = $10,000
An early promotional flier for the community set out "one common dream:
"The opportunity to work out by an individual family it's aims and ideals in a new home - one that is well designed, comfortable and homey and not necessarily expensive - located in an area that is spacious for maximum privacy, yet, among congenial neighbors with similar ideals who join together when the need arises to work out economically plans and developments to get the most in better living at minimum cost to all. It is estimated that the average cost of a developed lot will be around $1,000 including roads, city water and utilities.
In January 1957, after nearly a decade, all the lots in Parkwyn Village had been sold.