VH community memoir

Where do you live?  Where else have you lived, and how did you come to live at Village Homes? 

We’ve lived at Creekhollow Lane since 1979; we moved into Village Homes in 1976 in the apartments along Russell Blvd. living next door to former VH landscape team member Salvador Castro and his family; they now live across our common area on Overhill.  We moved to Village Homes from the Berkeley area to start a job with Living Systems writing a publication called Planning Solar Neighborhoods and designing passive solar buildings. When we arrived for the initial job interview in early October, it was over 100 degrees.

What were some of the things that appealed to you about Village Homes?  

Due to our work with neighborhood planning and passive solar design, it was clear that we needed to live in Village Homes.  

What do you remember most about the “early days”?

One of our earliest memories was walking around the neighborhood in the evenings and exploring many of the houses under construction.  The thermal mass water tanks, rock bed storage systems, ducted greenhouse spaces, skylights with moving, insulated shutters, etc. were all fun to watch as they progressed from drawings to living spaces.  The Thigpen/Hunt house and the Nittler/Maeda house were especially of interest.  We also remember dust from the ongoing construction work to the north, and how the northerly streets were in a sort of “future” area.

Were you involved in the design and building of your home, or your garden?

My brother, Donna , and I were able to build the majority of our earth-sheltered house thanks to Mike Corbett being the official general contractor and arranging financing for us.  I remember bringing our construction drawings to the building department for an informal review prior to submitting them for the building permit.  I met with the chief building official who looked at the drawings for a while, then said, “Do you know what you should do with these?” He then threw the roll of drawings in his waste basket!  Then he laughed and said, “Just kidding”.  We had no trouble getting our permit.  Neighbor Al Colombano was a few months ahead of us with the construction of his house, and continually loaned us power and tools; thank you again, Mike and Al.  One memory of our house construction is when my mother came to visit to see what we were up to.  At that time the house was framed and, except for the south and north walls, completely wrapped in black synthetic rubber waterproofing, but no earth berm, earth roof cover, or south trellis were in place yet.  With no east-west windows and a simple wedge-shaped overall form, it looked like a black hulk.  My mother just didn‘t say anything!

Please share any favorite moments, building projects, garden improvements or traditions (like harvests or potlucks) that you treasure, or that evoke some “essence” of Village Homes life. 

 I remember cutting all the rafters for the gardener’s shed at a framing work party.  Whenever I go by the shed, I think of that.

What are some of your favorite places in Village Homes?  

We live just north of the main playfield (Parque Grande), community center, and pool and really enjoy all the activity there.  

What have you experienced or learned about from living here?  Even in our contemporary era, and in a state that has such mobility, there can still be a sense of neighborhood extending well beyond the adjacent homes.

Were you someone who gave tours to folks interested in Village Homes? Tell us about that.

 Over the years I’ve facilitated a number of tours for a variety of different groups. There was a period when the Japanese were very interested in VH, so much so that they asked Mike Corbett to travel to Japan and make a series of presentations to planners, designers, and developers.  Mike was unable to go and asked me if I was interested in going in his place.  It was a great experience.  I remember speaking via an interpreter who interpreted for 3 or 4 minutes each 30-second segment of my presentation.  There was much interest, but this occurred in the 1990s, just as a recession was hitting the country, so nothing came of it.

Have you raised children here?  And if so, has living at Village Homes had an impact on their sense of the world?  

Yes, we think raising children in VH has been one of the greatest benefits of living here.  Children have a freedom of movement and a connection to the wider neighborhood that is quite unique in suburbia. Access to our “edible landscape” and options for play in the swales, orchards, and perimeter areas helped expand their concept of what a neighborhood can be.

Tell us about the Mitterand visit. 

We’ll always remember Mitterand’s dramatic, multi-helicopter visit which blew the canvas canopy off the gazebo.  Our son and his friends had a play structure in our yard facing the big playfield which served as the landing field; federal investigators came over and checked out the structure before the landing, impressing the kids.

What were some of the things that appealed to you about Village Homes?

  Overall, we found appealing the sense of both environmental and social innovation, accomplished affordably, not just for the wealthy.  (We won’t even say how little we paid for our parcel.)