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Historic Preservation for Tract Homes?

Posted by: Tim Halbur

16 July 2009 - 7:00am

A resident of a Rancho Palos Verdes, CA development of 262 tract homes designed by Paul R. Williams, the first African-American architect in the AIA, is seeking an historic preservation measure to protect the 1950s-era homes.

"The Seaview homes - with a modern style featuring flat roofs, angled walls and midcentury decorative touches inside and out - have a 'special allure' and should be preserved, Morgan said.

'It doesn't look cookie-cutter. It looks like a group of custom homes, rather than a repetition of a lot of the same things,' he said. 'It's very Space Age.'"

Full Story: Worth preserving for Rancho Palos Verdes posterity?
Source: Daily Breeze, July 12, 2009
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Really?

Submitted by travis.cleveland on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 14:32.

I mean no disrespect to architects. I often daydream that I am one.

But the simple act of building 190 homes with only a few different simple floor plans -- this is what tract homes are -- doesn't exactly render you worthy of historic designation. I don't care who you are.

The mayor said it best:

"I don't believe the Mills Act was based upon noted architects designing tract homes," Mayor Larry Clark said at Tuesday's council meeting. "I'm not going to go there.

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