Homes for sale.

Copied from the March 1941 issue of Architectural Forum.

A SUBDIVISION AND 15 HOUSES ARE MADE TO ORDER sponsored by Cleveland's Chamber of Commerce juniors. Building boosted as a quartet of architects and a land planning expert enhance an attractive site.

Tailor-made houses on hand-picked lots invariably cost more than comparable units mass produced in speculative small-lot subdivisions. The latter quite logically outnumber the former for the obvious reason that a family's housing demands are much more flexible than its pocketbook. Many a family, however, has individually reckoned that, if a dozen or so home seeking friends could be lined up, they could have the houses they want on the lots they want and at costs close to those of the speculative builders. But, few home seekers express these thoughts out loud, much less try to organize a building group.

It would not have been tried in Cleveland had not the Junior Chamber of Commerce decided to capitalize on the potentiality as a means of promoting the local building business. It rounded up fifteen home prospects, a beautiful site, a builder, a quartet of architects and a landscape architect, gave Cleveland a professionally planned, tailor-made subdivision which today boasts sixteen attractive houses completed, four more under construction and seventeen additional lots sold for later development. While this cooperative development of $10,000 houses has fallen short of one goal (cost savings were only about half the anticipated 10 per cent), it has achieved noteworthy results in the fields of landplanning and house design, which should prove of interest to more orthodox subdividers.

Juniors. Organized in April 1938 to give young male Clevelanders an opportunity to participate in civic affairs, the Junior Assn. of Commerce was originally an independent group of 32 upstarts. Its rapid membership growth to 454 was alone reason enough for its adoption last year by the seniors and its rechristening as the Junior Chamber of Commerce. Among the Junior's first undertakings was appointment of housing committee headed by Builder A. Kingsley Ferguson. Purpose was to research the possibilities of launching a moderate cost housing project well planned and executed for the benefit of Chamber members and their friends and true to the traditional Chamber of Commerce spirit, for the benefit of local business.

Helpful and continuous newspaper fanfare began when the Juniors took their first housing step, the mailing of consumer preference questionnaires to some 1,000 junior executives and professionals. Replies were expressed in generalities but gave the novice housers three cues: 1) A large proportion of respondents desired more of the amenities than afforded by the average city lot and were thus eager to leave the crowded city; 2) Early American architecture was preferred; 3) Many would-be home builders were hesitant to face the problems entailed and would welcome the opportunity to entrust them to a reputable organization. From this third finding came the idea of a Chamber sponsored cooperative subdivision.

Forthwith the Juniors selected a hilly site 14 miles from the city center, called it West Hill Colony and signed up fifteen families, including a few of its own members, who were eager to colonize it.

And at this point, except for their continued sponsorship and promotion, the Juniors dropped out of the picture in favor of a seven-man board of directors elected by the fifteen participants and headed by the Chamber’s Housing Committeeman Ferguson as the paid president. Other Juniors were selected as members of an architectural quartet to design the houses.

Lots. Since the site originally chosen by the Juniors would have entailed high development costs, the colonists selected another tract which offered several advantages: It is only 12 miles, or about 35 automobile minutes from Cleveland’s Public Square; only about three miles from a six-store shopping center; and only three miles from a rapid (22 minutes) transit line to the city, soon to be connected with the colony's site by a shuttle bus line. Situated within the limits of Pepper Pike Village, the 111 acres of rolling, partially wooded land enjoy protective zoning restrictions and are conveniently hemmed in to the north and east by two golf courses. Seven acres are covered by damming a creek running the length of the property. Most important, the entire tract was for sale at only about $60,000, and could be acquired piecemeal under an option.

In subdividing the site with streets and lot lines Land Planner Babcox was wisely guided by the creek, lake and contours, and had the foresight to set aside a 2.1 acre community recreation area at one end of the lake, and a ten-foot strip around its shores for the same purpose. The 83 lots are generous in size, averaging about 150 ft. in frontage, about 300 ft. in depth, about 1.15 acres in area. Since cul-de-sacs are employed almost exclusively, through traffic has been practically eliminated.

Utilities. To preserve the country atmosphere and minimize costs, sidewalks and curbs are omitted and roads are finished with macadam, gutters with grass. Being outside the reach of the Cleveland water system, the corporation has been forced to drill for water. Today, one extremely productive well and mains connecting 40 lots have been provided. Completion of the system including adequate storage facilities will bring the total cost of this utility to an estimated $27,000, or $375 per lot. Also about half complete, the entire street program (2.2 miles) is expected to cost about $43,000, or $518 per lot. Other corporation-finanaced improvements will come to some $10,000, or $120 per lot, and raise the utility total to $80,000, or a little less than $1,000 per lot. Lot prices, including utilities, range from $1,500 to $3,300 depending upon size and location, average about $2,000 each.

Finances. Operating without financial backing, West Hill Colony has been developed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Each of the original fifteen colonists made a cash down payment of $1,500 to $2,600 to cover the cost of taking down about 20 acres (eighteen lots under the land option and of completing the basic utility installations). Down payments also gave the corporation a little working capital to defray its comparatively small operating expenses, biggest of which is the salary of General Manager Babcox who supervises the sale of property and the installation of utilities. Since subsequent lot sales have been made in advance of improvements, the lack of financial backing has presented no problem. And, the practice of delaying the surfacing of roads until heavy hauling has been completed has temporarily augmented the corporation's working capital during the periods when it was most needed.

Fifty dollars of each purchaser's down payment pays for one share of corporation stock which carries voting rights and the privilege of participating in any profits turned in the land development. Lot prices have been marked up over costs as a hedge against any eventualities, but are in line with fair market values. Since the colony is essentially a non-profit, cooperative venture, any profits which ultimately result from lot sales will either be returned to purchasers as stock dividends or be plowed back into the project in the form of community improvements. Stockholders votes will decide the action.

Houses. While these savings were about as expected, the tyro subdividers were somewhat disappointed in their construction cost savings. It was originally expected that mass purchasing and production economies would save the fifteen families about 10 per cent, but they actually pocketed only 5-7 per cent. Reasons: 1) Construction bids were invited in 1939's early fall when World War II began, and the anticipated rise in material prices was probably reflected in the low bid submitted by Builders Olson and Johnson. 2) Each house was designed by the architectural quartet to meet individual family demands, and economical standardizations was limited to the mechanical equipment. 3) Instead of working under one general contract, the builders were required to deal separately with each family.

Chances are that new members of the colony will save even less on building costs, for it has been difficult to hold back a family which is anxious to build while a group is being formed. However, while many of the preferred locations have already been snapped up, these new-comers will share in the land purchase and development economies and will benefit by the building labor agreement which the Junior Chamber of Commerce engineered for West Hill Colony's pioneers.

Ranging in cost from $8,300 to $15,000, the sixteen completed houses average about $10,600 which is raised to $12,600 by the average cost of land and utilities. Nine have been financed with FHA-insured mortgages held by several local banks and two insurance companies. Their owners have an average age of 40 and earn an average of $4,000 per year in downtown Cleveland offices.

Results. In addition to the 24 houses completed, a building or definitely scheduled, lots have been sold this year for the eventual construction of thirteen more, and four more lot deals are hopefully classed in the negotiation stage, an enviable record for a one-and-one-half-year-old project in the colony's price class. Present colonists, who have enjoyed the rare opportunity of building tailor-made houses in a tailor-made subdivision and reaping some of the benefits of group action, now hold stock in a going corporation. Moreover, they have given other Cleveland home seekers a professionally planned, restricted and protected hunting ground unlike any other in the vicinity.

Finally, the Junior Chamber of Commerce takes justifiable pride in having launched a project which, although only one-quarter finished, has directly brought more than $250,000 worth of business to the local building industry. Actually the total is much larger than this, for West Hill Colony's success has stimulated the opening of seven other subdivisions which have already sprouted some forty houses for colonists neighbors.