As readers of this blog know, the City of Rochester, New York, has been doing some interesting work in the areas of neighborhood organization, revitalization, infill housing design and construction, and realtor training. This previous post describes some of the programs the city and associated organizations have developed and implemented, and yesterday's New York Times had this small piece in the Currents column in the Home and Garden section (copy by Aric Chen, photographs by James Rajotte, 3/29/07)[I added web links]:
"Last week the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, a nonprofit group based in New York City, and Habitat for Humanity completed the first of several low-cost houses they are collaborating on to “bring better architecture to the realm of affordable housing,” said Paul Gunther, the institute’s president. Although the three-bedroom, 1,400- square-foot house in Rochester cost just $90,000 (it was constructed by a volunteer crew), it has Greek Revival details that allow it to blend into the historic neighborhood, said Richard Cameron, the designer. Nilsa Rivera, 24, the local resident who was selected to live there, will move in this weekend with her 2-year-old daughter, her fiancé and her brother; in June the institute will publish “A Pattern Book for Neighborly Houses,” a guide to building well-designed affordable housing."
The Projects page of Flower City Habitat for Humanity's (Rochester, New York) web site has additional information on this and other projects, including an article (on their News page) from the Democrat and Chronicle about the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America's project, which is also being carried out in Savannah, Georgia, and Norfolk, Virginia. By visiting their web site (click link above), I also discovered their blog, The Classicist. I have not had a chance to do much more than skim its most recent postings, but it looks very promising, with many rich photographs of (what else?) classical buildings and interiors, accompanied by thoughtful commentary. I've added a link to the blogroll at right (scroll down!).
"Last week the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, a nonprofit group based in New York City, and Habitat for Humanity completed the first of several low-cost houses they are collaborating on to “bring better architecture to the realm of affordable housing,” said Paul Gunther, the institute’s president. Although the three-bedroom, 1,400- square-foot house in Rochester cost just $90,000 (it was constructed by a volunteer crew), it has Greek Revival details that allow it to blend into the historic neighborhood, said Richard Cameron, the designer. Nilsa Rivera, 24, the local resident who was selected to live there, will move in this weekend with her 2-year-old daughter, her fiancé and her brother; in June the institute will publish “A Pattern Book for Neighborly Houses,” a guide to building well-designed affordable housing."The Projects page of Flower City Habitat for Humanity's (Rochester, New York) web site has additional information on this and other projects, including an article (on their News page) from the Democrat and Chronicle about the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America's project, which is also being carried out in Savannah, Georgia, and Norfolk, Virginia. By visiting their web site (click link above), I also discovered their blog, The Classicist. I have not had a chance to do much more than skim its most recent postings, but it looks very promising, with many rich photographs of (what else?) classical buildings and interiors, accompanied by thoughtful commentary. I've added a link to the blogroll at right (scroll down!).
