Design Philosophy
Nicholas Pappas, the design architect of Wessynton and member of Deigert & Yerkes Associates, was present at a Special Board meeting on March 5th, 1973. At this meeting with the Board of Directors, the newly-formed Architectural Control Committee, and members of the Association, he discussed the original thinking involved in the design of Wessynton.
Mr. Pappas, when specifically asked about fences pointed out that David N. Yerkes considered the lots too big to fence to establish boundaries as would be done in townhouses. Fences would cut the natural flow of the terrain. An attempt was made to preserve as much of the natural plantings as possible.
In regard to Wessynton colors, Mr. Pappas pointed out that natural earthen colors were chosen to fit into the surrounding area of Wessynton. David N. Yerkes and Associates stayed away from primary colors other than for the sole use as accent colors. In this connection, he pointed out that the original thinking of his firm was to use natural materials as much as possible.
He pointed out that large expanses such as garage doors should be painted in colors similar to the siding, but not bright colors. In fact, the original thought of the architects was to build all garage doors out of natural wood in order that they would blend in with the surrounding terrain. Unfortunately, the time lag and expense of procuring this type of door was prohibitive. In order to ensure that Wessynton was, in fact, an open park-like community, David N. Yerkes and Associates left as many natural areas as possible. The park is a good example where they used logs and discarded telephone poles along with a tree house to maintain this atmosphere.
Mr. Pappas further added that the Wessynton homes’ doors had not been designed for storm doors. However, he believed that should a homeowner desire a storm door, it should be an extremely simple design with as much glass as possible and with very narrow frames at the top, bottom and sides.
Mr. Pappas pointed out that in order to maintain the woodland type appearance, frames of the storm doors should be painted the same color as the door which they cover.