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Category: Architecture

New Urbanism comes to Harbor Springs

ArchBlogger spied these admirable new cottages down a side street about a month ago while driving into Harbor Springs, Michigan's answer to New York's Hamptons.

The Bay Street Cottages, as they're called, turned out to be adorable, historic recreations of little lakeside houses that look like they were dropped out of the 1880s: clapboard-and-shingled charm up the wazoo, sweet front porches, gorgeous window details, appropriately steep gables, and two-part Dutch-style front doors.

In a particularly lovely touch, on some cottages they've even used the old-fashioned, interlocking shingles characteristic of houses 75 years ago.

[All photos by ArchBlogger]

The cottages cluster tightly around two small courtyards for a pedestrian-oriented, not to say slightly claustrophobic, ambience. The explicit aim, in good New Urbanist fashion, is to promote interaction with the neighbors.

Grand Rapids architect Robert Sears has, at least from the street (A.B. didn't get inside), done a lovely job recreating the feel of the last century. About the only criticism ArchBlogger could level is that these houses -- really freestanding condominiums -- are shoehorned into an incredibly small plot of land. If you don't mind having the neighbors within spitting distance, it's really a lovely little architectural cluster. If, however, your needs for privacy are greater than that, it's about as private as an apartment building.

What ArchBlogger regrets in general is that while he's come across other housing developments that invoke the New Urbanist principles first articulated by Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk (and realized on a large scale in their development, Seaside, Fla.), he has yet to see these applied to Michigan town centers and retail strips.

The essence of New Urbanism has more to do with mixing retail and housing than just cute historicism. It's a bold effort to recapture the town-planning wisdom of the late 19th century, before the automobile elbowed every other consideration aside.

But A.B. has looked in vain for anything in Michigan that resembles New Albany, Ohio, Kentlands, Md., or Seaside, Fla. -- real efforts to integrate housing and commerce in a pedestrian-friendly environment.

Without the adjacent commerce, developments like Bay Street Cottages amount to little more than unusually pretty, old-fashioned subdivisions. This is no slam against Bay Street. It's a gorgeous, creative development. But ah, how A.B. would have loved it had they been able to work in a corner store or two with an apartment on top, based on good New Urbanist principles. (He well understands that, from available real estate to modern zoning restrictions, that was never in the cards.)

The cottages sell between $375,000 and about $600,000, the latter for three bedrooms with two baths. Association dues are about $4,000 a year. If this sounds like your ticket to paradise, contact Graham Real Estate in Harbor Springs.

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