Village Homes is a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Gre ...

, Yolo County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. It is designed to be ecologically sustainable by harnessing the energies and natural resources that exist in the landscape, especially

stormwater Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation ( storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed l ...

and

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essen ...

History

The principal designer of Village Homes was architect Mike Corbett who began planning in the 1960s, with construction continuing from south to north from the 1970s through the 1980s. Village Homes was completed in 1982, and has attracted international attention from its inception as an early model of an environmentally friendly housing development, including a visit from then-French President

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

Sustainability

The 225 homes and 20 apartment units that now are the Village Homes community use solar panels for heating, and they are oriented around common areas at the rear of the buildings, rather than around the street at the front. All streets are oriented east–west, with all lots positioned north–south. This feature has become standard practice in Davis and elsewhere since it enables homes with passive solar designs to make full use of the sun's energy throughout the year. The development also uses natural drainage, called bioswales, to collect water to irrigate the common areas and support the cultivation of edible foods, such as nut and fruit trees and vegetables for consumption by residents, without incurring the cost of using treated municipal water.Source
Village Homes, Davis, California
Bill Browning and Kim Hamilton
"Village Homes: A model solar community proves its worth"
Smart Communities, Ibid.

References

External links

* http://www.villagehomesdavis.org/ * Village Homes information on the Davis Wiki. * http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC35/Browning.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20070609124520/http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/vitalsigns/workup/siegel_house/vh_bkgd.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20131110035906/http://www.earthfuture.com/community/villagehomes.asp

Documentary videos about Village Homes

Global Gardener: Urban Permaculture feat. Bill Mollison (1991)

GeoffLawton.com: Food Forest Suburb (2015)
{{Coord, 38, 32, 50.92, N, 121, 46, 49.83, W, display=title Davis, California Sustainable communities Stormwater management Renewable energy Permaculture