Assignment 8: Angelica

Buckhead Preserve is a subdivision located along Shady Valley Drive NE in the Buckhead area. The builder for the subdivision is Bostwick Homes and many of the lots are still under construction. According to the website, the subdivision is composed of an estimated fifty homes. At the entrance, the subdivision is not gated but contains brick columns with a wooden fence, reminiscent of a farm type fence, with flowers along the edges. (see photo 1) From the main road the area does not look like a subdivision because of the hilly topography and the fact that many lots are still empty, but with house markers, so there is still a lot of space in between the homes. The neighborhood has a cul-de-sac design with sidewalks, no front fences, and lots that are composed of large two-story homes with small yards. The houses are brick and some have stone around the lower portion of the structures. (see photo 2) The homes have a strange mix of roof and window types, making it difficult to discern a specific style. From my knowledge I would say it is a mix of English Vernacular meets a rustic cottage look. They seem to want to convey a message of old luxury with a European influenced and rural charm. For the size of the houses it seems the homes are not in proportion to the size of the lot. The developer wants to create the feeling of walking through the countryside with a European “rustic” influence, looking onto the low-rising hills and surrounded by mature trees. (see Photo 3)

The subdivision is advertised on a website for “elegant Atlanta homes.” Each home has a name, such as the Habersham, the Lenox, or the Stratford model. The Habersham floorplan only contains three bedrooms but looks like a 5-bedroom house from the exterior. The homes are marketed to families or wealthy couples as being “different from other typical homes.”

From reading the John Chase article on The Role of Consumerism in American Architecture, I would suggest this subdivision exhibits a fake vernacular architecture that plays on historicism but promotes its modern amenities to induce consumption (buying the homes). It is a fabricated community of “old and rustic” looking homes with a luxurious appeal.

If Gans were to suggest a taste culture for this subdivision, it would probably be the upper-middle class culture. According to Gans, this culture does not find high-culture satisfying (hence the trend to emphasize country living in this subdivision) and they are less literal in art so they probably would not mind the mix of architectural styles in these homes.