Five Fields is a modernist residential neighborhood in Lexington,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

developed starting in 1951. It consists of 68 half-acre (0.2 hectare) lots with modernist houses on an 80-acre site designed by

The Architects Collaborative The Architects Collaborative (TAC) was an American architectural firm formed by eight architects that operated between 1945 to 1995 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The founding members were Norman C. Fletcher (1917-2007), Jean B. Fletcher (1915-19 ...

(TAC). Partners in charge from TAC were Norman Fletcher and Louis McMillen with Richard Morehouse as Senior Associate. A 20-acre portion is held in common and includes community facilities such as a swimming pool and playground. Five Fields was one of a series of "innovative contemporary housing developments" in Lexington, starting with

Six Moon Hill Six Moon Hill is a residential neighborhood and historic district of mid-century modern houses in Lexington, Massachusetts. Description Incorporated in 1947, the community originally encompassed 28 houses which were built between 1947 and 1953. ...

(

, 1948), and then Five Fields (1951), Peacock Farm ( Walter Pierce and Danforth Compton, 1952), and Turning Mill / Middle Ridge ( Carl Koch, 1955)."Post 1940 Period", ''Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey'', Town of Lexington, Massachusett

/ref> Several other modern housing developments were built later. Like the

Case Study Houses The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by '' Arts & Architecture'' magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day, including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray ...

in Los Angeles and the other Lexington developments, Five Fields was "intended as a corrective to the cheap historicism of many new developments". Jane Thompson, Alexandra Lange, Ruth A. Peltason, ''Design Research: The Store That Brought Modern Living to American Homes'', 2010, , p. 11 (cf. Design Research (store)) TAC-designed Five Field House

The development was established on the former Cutler dairy farm, near the Waltham line. Stone walls divided the area into five fields. To keep costs down, the houses were originally limited to three standard plans, which allowed the use of common, mass-produced components.Richard Kollen, ''Lexington: From Liberty's Birthplace to Progressive Suburb'', 2004, , n.p.

Notes

Bibliography

* Denise Dube, "Modern Art: Lexington's Other Historic Home", ''North Bridge Magazine'', Fall 2008, p. 18–26. * Amanda Kolson Hurley, "The Rise of the Radical Suburbs", ''

Architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

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April 9, 2019
adapted from her book ''Radical Suburbs: Experimental Living on the Fringes of the American City'', 2019, {{isbn, 1948742365 Modernist architecture in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Lexington, Massachusetts Houses in Middlesex County, Massachusetts 1950s architecture