Architectural Oversight: Of What Value Is It?
by Dr. Linda H. Michael, FAIA, as reported in Byways Vol. XXVII, No. 5 (1995)
If there is anyone in Wessynton who harbors doubts about the rightfulness of the powers of the Architectural Review Committee, you are invited to visit Carderock Springs in Potomac. Md. to see what can happen to a community that started out the same as ours and at the same time. However, you will be hard pressed to even know you are there, so devastating have been the changes to the individual houses bit by bit over time. The result is visual chaos and total loss of community identity. That has not happened in Wessynton because of the stewardship of its residents and the oversight vested in our Review Committee.
Dr. Linda H. Michael, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects [and resident of Wessynton at the time of this writing], was asked to provide a professional’s perspective on covenants and architectural standards. In the following article, she shares with us her thoughts and expert views on the value of exercising discipline and architectural oversight in maintaining the character of a planned community
This same vigilance is found in virtually every city, town or district that you can quickly name off as desirable places to go and see—Old Town in Alexandria, Annapolis, Savannah, Charleston, or old Santa Fe. These are all historic districts protected by architectural controls, but the same principles have been applied in new towns such as Reston or Seaside, Florida. It does not matter what the style of architecture is; what matters is that once a critical mass of buildings is established, that the major design principles be maintained in any subsequent construction.
Design principles include not only the shape and decoration of buildings which we call “style”, but the entire manner in which a building relates to its surroundings—siting, setbacks, open space, landscaping—all of the issues addressed by the designers of Wessynton. The site issues in tandem with the design of the individual buildings create the “feel” or ambiance of the community. Our bucolic environment is a result of all of these factors. A different set of rules creates a difference environment, be it urban or suburban, but a cohesive one.
Rules. That is a word at which many chafe. However, as an architect working primarily in Old Town, Alexandria for the past twenty-five years, I can attest that with the sheer numbers of buildings our firm has designed for that area in that time frame, had we not adhered to the rules we could have changed the face of Old Town. It only happens one building at a time, but they add up. Fortunately, Wessynton has stuck to the rules—its own rules, and it has paid off. We are twenty-five years after inception still an award-winningcommunity.