The Acres, also known as Galesburg Country Homes, is a naturalistic residential plat designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
in
Charleston Township, Michigan
Charleston Township is a civil township of Kalamazoo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The 2010 census recorded a population of 1,975, up from 1,813 at the 2000 census.
Geography
The township is on the eastern side of Kalamazoo County, borde ...
. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2004.
History
In 1947, a group of scientists from the
Upjohn
The Upjohn Company was a pharmaceutical manufacturing firm founded in 1886 in Hastings, Michigan, by Dr. William E. Upjohn who was an 1875 graduate of the University of Michigan medical school. The company was originally formed to make ''friabl ...
pharmaceutical company purchased this section of land to cooperatively build a community of homes. The group approached Frank Lloyd Wright about designing the subdivision, and he visited that same year, walking the land to gather information. Wright laid out lots in a non-conventional circular pattern, with the interstitial areas to be held in common. Starting in the late 1940s and continuing through 1960, five of the lots were developed — four with designs by Wright and one designed by Taliesin School fellow Francis "Will" Willsey. With the fifth house, coop members decided that they liked the result, and further development came to an end.
Description
The Acres consists of 21 circular lots, each 114 feet in diameter. The plat was designed to have 50 acres of open land for community use that also included a three-acre pond. Seven of the lots are owned; only five of these contain houses. The remainder of the plat, including unbuilt lots, is held in common. Of the five houses, four are Wright-designed Usonian homes, and the fifth was designed by Taliesin School fellow Francis "Will" Willsey.
The homes are located on Hawthorne Drive, a narrow and curving road bordered alternately by heavy woods, low scrub growth, and open areas. A signpost is located at the entrance to the neighborhood.
Homes in the Acres are:
*David and Christine Weisblat Residence (Frank Lloyd Wright): Long in-line house with an exterior of concrete block and mahogany, built in 1951.
*Eric and Pat Pratt Residence (Frank Lloyd Wright): Long in-line house with a taller central mass with an exterior of concrete block and mahogany, built in 1950–54.
*Samuel and Dorothy Eppstein Residence (Frank Lloyd Wright): Long in-line house with an exterior of concrete block and mahogany, built in 1950–59.
*Curtis and Lillian Meyer Residence (Frank Lloyd Wright): A "solar hemicycle" design, with exterior of concrete block and mahogany, built in 1950–51.
*Günther and Anne Fonken House (Francis "Will" Willsey): T-shaped house with a low pitched roof, built in 1960.
Gallery
File:Weisblat house west elevation.jpg, David and Christine Weisblat Residence
File:Eric and Pat Pratt Residence.jpg, Eric and Pat Pratt Residence
File:Eppstein Residence Galesburg MI.jpg, Samuel and Dorothy Eppstein Residence
See also
*
Robert and Rae Levin House
Robert and Rae Levin House, also Robert Levin House and Robert Levin Residence, is a single-family home in Kalamazoo, Michigan and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
In 1949, Robert and Rae Levin worked with Frank Lloyd Wright to build a house, the ...
*
Broadacre City
Broadacre City was an urban or suburban development concept proposed by Frank Lloyd Wright throughout most of his lifetime. He presented the idea in his book ''The Disappearing City'' in 1932. A few years later he unveiled a very detailed twelve- ...
*
Usonia Homes
Usonia Historic District was a planned community and is now a national historic district located in Town of Mount Pleasant, adjacent to the village of Pleasantville, Westchester County, New York. In 1945, a rural tract was purchased by a cooper ...
References
* Storrer, William Allin. ''The Frank Lloyd Wright Companion''. University Of Chicago Press, 2006, (S.294, S.295, S.296, S.297)
External links
Galesburg Country Homes on delmars.comFrank Lloyd Wright 'Galesburg Country Homes' Site Plan 1947, USONIAN HOUSES - John Sergeant, 1984Curtis Meyer House website
Frank Lloyd Wright buildings
Houses in Kalamazoo County, Michigan
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