In my earlier work of planning on Roadtown I thought it would be
necessary to cater to the wishes of the well-to-do by discontinuing the
house line in some sections and breaking it up into detached villas.
By carrying the monorails and all pipes and wires in a trench from
villa to villa the full benefit of the co-operative functions could be
attained, but of course with the additional expense of the extra land,
extra length of the trench and its contents, the extra wall and the
loss of the roof promenades. I know of nothing that will give a better
conception of the wonders of Roadtown than to consider for a moment
this villa construction. By the continuation of the Roadtown trench
between villas it would be possible to give to a modest ten or twenty
thousand dollar villa facilities that would cost half a million if
installed in a single country or suburban home.
But when we had such a villa completed what advantage would we have
over the continuous house? A few added windows on two sides of the
house that would look out into the other fellow’s windows across the
lawn and instead of passersby on a grand promenade above our heads
entirely removed from our sight, or we from theirs, we would have a
sidewalk by the door where our neighbors who became curious as to our
domestic affairs could stroll and stare into our windows and doors.
In practice more light and air could enter the two freely open sides
of the Roadtown house than through the carefully shuttered windows on
four sides of a “private” villa. I am satisfied that very few if any
sections of Roadtown will be built in villas because they will offer no
advantages that I am aware of to offset the disadvantages. People will
accept the uniformity of the exterior of the roofs and walls as they
now accept the uniformity of the street. Their personal tastes will be
put on interior decorations or in beautiful gardens that may be seen
from the roof promenade and enjoyed by all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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