A MODERN EDEN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1049, 11 February 1911, Page 15

A MODERN EDEN.

COMFORT WITH BEAUTY. AMERICAN MODEL SUBURB. riicro aro many persons to whom .the reading of tho descriptions of tho Sage moilel suburb now being built at Forest Pills, Long Island, will bo liko a fairy story—a talo too good to bo true '(says tho "New. York Tribune"). Uncon- ' volitional houses, neat in design and of durable workmanship; macadamised streets, bordered with trees and green- ' sward; private playgrounds for small children; recreation fields; an apart- < ment hotel, with restaurant attached, for those now obliged to put up with barren hall bedrooms, and tho privileges \ of a great city park, all literally within thirteen minutes of Broadway, these mako up a picture that suggests fairyland to them. And that it should bo within tho reach of tho man who can afford to 'pay a rent of no moro than 25 dollars a month is a, fact that is likely to lift that group in New York City's lifo into tho seventh, heaven of anticipatory happiness. To bo sure, only a comparatively few of thoso of this financial level will bo ablo to take advantages of the opportunities offered, because of lack of space, but possibly other real estato operators ana. builders will take tho hint and str'ivo to meet tho public demand by providing something as approximately' as good. . Experiment in Housing. Those in'charge of tbo plans of tho suburban development undertaken by tbo Russell Sago Foundation aro unfolding them, ono by one. "Forest Hills Gardens,", as its creators have chosen to call it, is an effort to bring together good workmanship and design, with tasteful surroundings, at .a moderate cost. It is an educational experiment in housing,, in which between 7500 and SOOO persons will havo an opportunity to assist. It is expected that it will bo a demonstration to others interested in ■ developing suburban tracks of "eflicient" methods which will contribute to tho comfort of the homo-makers,'as well as to tho profit of tho house' builders. .: . . Tho tract on which, in the course of time, Forest Hills Gardens will spring into existence is 142 acres in area. .It is bordered upon one sido by the main' lino of tho Long Island Railroad. On . another side it is bordered by Forest Park, an' area of moro than 500 acres, set asido by the city for recreation purposes. In order that tho model suburb may fill efficiently every need of tho social group for which it is intended, every detail has been worked out by, experts, just as if it wore tho estate of a wealthy man desiring everything to bo so planned as to combine a .maximum ~ of utility and ■durability'.with a minimum of cost. Tho 'division of tho p/round was put into tho' hands of Fred: eric Law Olmsted. ■ • .:./■, - ■ ' : Principles of.City Planning. . In laying out tho gardens Mr. Olmsted attempted to Eeeiiro tho full benefit resulting .from what ho considers thrco important principles in city planning.. Tho first ofitheso is .that, which requires 'that. tho. main .'thoroughfare's, ; shall bo direct, ample, and iofivoniciit,' , regardless of tho contour of, tho land. So ,' two eighty-foot • streets aro, carried straight through the property, on lines 12G0 feet apart, fixed'by tho location of, tkenoppnings-through tho , railroad embankment,..-and, in. accordance! with the Ibity'AiMntfUivo. street, pta Jor.jhat' ', neighbburhbod, 'a boulevard to-be 1 120 ' foot wide is provided along'the section fronting on Forest.Park.. Tin's also coincides with tho city's tentative street '; plan. .'!.;' . > ' At tho point whore tho moro important of tho eighty-foot streets passes under tho four railroad tracks n "civic centro" has boon established.' This is called - Station . Square,.--for at this.' ; point is to bo located \ tho beautiful station, which has been planned by Grosvonor Attorliury, tbo foundation's architect.-From, this square .two seventyfoot/ streets radiate', paralleling, each'.' other on, cither-side of a-hit of elon? gated parking for a short distance! and then sweeping away from each other in tho. curves of a giant oaliperi finally reaching the park boulevard at tho entrance to tbo park. ' Tho .lines do not follow those of tho caliper throughout, gently .changing their direction in a'distant part of the area to acepmmodato themselves'.-''.'to grades and tho most agrcoablo setting. On theso roads tbo buildings will bo set back from tho sidewalk. The thorough-" fares of secondary importance are sixty feet wide, and so laid out ns to follow lines carefully related to the' topography of tho country, and which will'at tho same timo fit in with the street lay-out of the city's tentative plan for tho neighbourhood. Quiet Strests. A second feature of tho layout, which will bo strang'o to most" New' lorkors, but, doubtless; • very agreeable,' is tho arrangement of tho residenco streets in such h way as to give a largo degree of quietness. This is tho second, principle which Mr. Olmsted has applied in tho Gardens. • This is the way Mr. Olmsted describes this feature: "A second principle, which is very important to supplement tho first, but which has-been too generally ignored in American street layouts, is that those streets which are not needed as thoroughfares should bo planned'and constructed to meet tho purposes •of quiet residenco streets in the best possiblo manner. To this end tho local streets at Forest Hills Gardens aro laid out so as to discourngo their use as thoroughfares. "Whilo not fantastically crooked, they aro novcr perfectly straight for long stretches. Thoir roadways, . well paved with bituminous macadam, aro narrow, thus permitting additional spaco to bo dovoted to tho front gardens which will bo ono of tho characteristic features of, tho wholo development. ,' "Probably ono of tho most notablo characteristics.of Forest Hills Gardens from tho point of view of tho homoseeker, when tho plans, nro fully realised, will bo tho cosey, domestic character of theso local streets, Tho-mono-tony of endless, straight, wind-swept thoroughfares, which form tho Now York conception of streets will, give place to sho,rt, quiet; self-contained and garden-like neighbourhoods, each having its own distinctive character." Tho Pleasure Grounds. ' In tho designing of tho Gardens land has been deliberately set apart for the common use and enjoyment of tho inhabitants. That this should bo dono is tbo principle of city plnnning to which Mr. Olmsted gives third place. Owing to tho proximity Forest Park, it was not necessary to provido n a largo park within tho tract itself. Nevertheless, a villago green has been formed at tbo point whero tbo two main avenues swing away from each other into the caliper curve.. J Ins is within view of the railroad station and central to that part of tho tract which is furthest away from Forest Park. It will servo as the focus for the residential part of the community, just as tho neighbouring Station Square will fulfil the same function for whatever business lifo develops in tho commun"lii addition to the school playground and tho green, provision has been mado for tho sportivo activities of tlm younger inhabitants of tbo community, in the form of a public recreation ground. This will occupy a space of about an *<uo and a half in area.

Nor does this complete tho provision made for physical activity. 'I ho most novel recreation feature is that of enclosed "block playgrounds." Theso aro spaces of varying shape and size, occupying Iho interior portion of somo of the blocks and intended for the exclusive use of thoso living on the surrounding lots. They will not be available for tho active, noisy games of large boys, and will not bo open to tho general public or to loungers. Thev will ho reserved for tho smaller children of the block, and will be reached through gates directly from Iho back yards of most of tho houses in the blocks. This is intended to solve the problem of play spaco for the children, who aro now limited in cities to tho street, with all its dangers. From an architectural point of view, tho greatest opportunity, apart from certain novel uses of material and methods of construction, will lie in that general harmony of design which is possible only whero tho entire scheme of development is laid out and executed under such a system of co-operation by tho various experts as in this work for Russell Sago Foundation. Fireproof materials, such as tiles, terra cotta and cement, as well as brick, will be used, and the village.will probably be moro nearly fireproof than any other in tho country.