"When we look at projects we really like, we tend to recognize something in them that says 'home' to us."

Bruce Hampton

Tools recently asked architect Bruce Hampton, principal of Elton Hampton Architects, to comment on three award-winning affordable-housing initiatives funded by the Bank. They are: Monterey Place in New Haven, Connecticut; Churchill Homes in Holyoke, Massachusetts; and Erie-Ellington Homes in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Hampton was the architect for Erie-Ellington Homes.

Over the years, the biggest change in the design of affordable housing has been the recognition that people need to own their own streets if communities are to stay healthy.

Each of these projects — Erie-Ellington Homes, Monterey Place, and Churchill Homes — has its own qualities and architecture, but there's a thread that runs through all of them.

The New Urbanism movement tends to think in terms of smaller-scale communities. When we look at projects we really like, we tend to recognize something in them that says "home" to us. These projects could be rental or homeownership housing.

All of these projects share certain characteristics. For one thing, the existing neighborhoods tend to be smaller scale; the roads are a little smaller and the need for parking lots tends to be less of a driving force. In some cases, these projects use the existing streets. The streetscapes appear to have been laid out before automobiles took over the neighborhoods. The result is a pedestrian-friendly streetscape.

The AHP-funded Erie-Ellington Homes in Dorchester, Massachusetts.

I think there's the recognition now that it's important to make the streets friendly enough for people to walk on. If it's small enough to feel like yours, you'll tend to take care of it.

In these projects, you also find recognizable front doors and other details that make them feel like smaller-scale homes. Such detail makes the buildings feel homier and inspires residents to take more pride in their streets and neighborhoods. People who live in these buildings tend to take better care of their yards. In general, these kinds of properties — even rental properties — are better maintained. People take pride in their homes because they have a sense of ownership.

When we moved away from big barracks-like affordable housing, we started to look more closely at what signifies home to people. We started to pay more attention to nice little gable ends for entryways that signal you're home and little private spaces — porches — that separate you from the street but give you a public place where you can talk with your neighbors. Existing street trees and small gardens are the kind of details that enhance affordability and quality of life.

I think it's good to feel you live on a street where you can know your neighbors and not feel terribly strange going next door to ask someone for a cup of sugar. New Urbanism proposals tend to pay attention to issues like this.

I noticed that each of the projects has outdoor space that appears to belong with each unit. I think it's important for this space to be neither too big nor so small that people can't use it. Residents start to feel that this is their space, not a public space; there's the sense that people shouldn't be walking across their yard. It may not be ownership, but it feels like that. I think this principle is respected in each of the projects.

The AHP-funded Churchill Homes in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

There's the recognition that this kind of scale works and that large boxes — huge affordable-housing towers — don't work because they depersonalize the experience. It's not a new lesson, really. The success of Levitown teaches the same lesson. The Levitown project was inexpensive housing on Long Island that was built for returning World War II vets. The houses all looked the same, but over time people personalized them. You can't personalize a big block of a building. Over time the Levitown-type neighborhoods became really popular.

Design Details Each of these projects has a slightly different design and layout, but one thing that runs through all three projects is the care that the architects and the planners took to make sure the residents have their own front doors rather than shared, apartment-like lobbies.

In designing Erie-Ellington's three-family buildings, we made a conscious effort to make sure that each person had his own front door. The residents don't have to share a door with somebody else. That same effort is apparent in both the Churchill Homes and Monterey Place projects.

Each project also has a little bit of New England design in it — traces of an old New England village. There's a front porch with a railing, columns, and a few steps up to separate you from the sidewalk. This kind of detail makes the building feel familiar and homey.

There's also a feeling of texture and substance to each of the designs. These buildings don't feel like boxes. They have clapboard siding; there's trim around the windows, doors, and porches; they don't feel like stripped-down projects.

Sometimes the physical reality of what we're seeing blurs. But the more it blurs, the better we've achieved our goal of seamlessly mixing affordable housing with market-rate housing. It's this diversity within a familiar context that makes for a really good community life.