Red Mill Village
by Michael Behrendt, AICP,
City Planner in Rochester, NH
and CNU NE Board Member

Thursday, August 9 turned out to be a very good day. I was wary at first, for I had committed to taking my fourteen year old daughter Emily and two friends to the marathon Warped Tour concert at the Tweeter Center in Mansfield, Ma. Listening to twelve hours of “Screamo” music from Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Bleed the Dream, and Poison the Well was not entirely enticing. Plus, I lack the requisite tattoos and piercings to fit in and I can’t grow a proper Mohawk.

Then I realized that Mansfield was near North Easton. I dropped the girls off at the concert and set out to immerse myself in the largest concentration of Henry Hobson Richardson masterpieces in the world. It was a thrill to visit North Easton’s Memorial Hall, town library, and train station and the Ames Gatehouse, all designed by Richardson through the illustrious patronage of the Ames family.

I headed back toward the Tweeter Center hoping to arrive in time for Cute is What We Aim For. While driving south on Route 123 in Norton my attention was arrested by a beautiful village green to my right. I thought, “Wow, this looks like a new urbanist development!” I turned in to inspect the site and checked my enthusiasm, expecting to be disappointed by another cruddy, ersatz, suburban schlock project, one misappropriating a few neo-traditional concepts. Certainly, if there were a genuine TND (traditional neighborhood development) in Norton, Ma. I would have heard about it.

Basic information

Red Mill Village is an active adult community (ages 55+) with 158 homes (82 attached and 76 detached) planned for the 53 acre tract. The project is underway and partly built out (note that some comments herein are based on plans rather than actual construction). It is being developed by Thorndike Development Corporation. I liked what I saw when I pulled in so I parked my car, got out, and walked.

Layout, streets, and sidewalks

The centrally located village green, greeting you as you enter, is the focal point. Its individuality in form and landscaping evokes a traditional New England commons. The green is criss-crossed by two paths, bordered by a rail fence with granite posts, and framed by charming dwellings.

When I looked north up Williams Road, situated on the back side of the green, I realized this was the real thing. The street is relatively narrow and on each side there is on-street parallel parking, a vertical concrete curb, a wide grass planting strip with closely spaced street trees, a concrete sidewalk, shallow front yards, and well designed multi-story buildings. This is the basic cross section that we new urbanist nerds look for on residential streets.

There are three distinct parts to Red Mill Village: a northern section composed of attached (townhouse form) dwellings, a southern section of single family detached houses, and an extensive conservation area in between. Codding Road, which links the two sections, has an enchanting rural feel with the conservation land on one side and half dozen houses on the other.

The street layout in each section is a modified grid with subtle bends and curves, and several decorative landscaped medians in the center of the road. Most every dwelling fronts the street and is served by a one or two car garage situated in a rear alley. Due to constraints in layout a number of single family houses do have front facing garages. Some of the alleys within the single family area also have slight bends to add interest.

Much of the development is adjacent to natural areas and thus insulated from its surroundings. However, Red Mill Village does an excellent job relating to neighboring White and Newland Streets. There is one connection to each street and townhouses are placed adjacent to and fronting those two external streets. A new sidewalk will run along the perimeter edge and the line of townhouses is chamfered at the corner to create a triangular green space.

According to William Mullin, Thorndike’s Chief Operating Officer, an attractive walking environment is the number one amenity for this age group. The network of pedestrian pathways includes sidewalks within the development, (the aforementioned) new sidewalks along existing streets, a trail system in the conservation area, and alleys, which tend to be surprisingly pleasant, intimate spaces even though their main purpose is strictly functional - providing a location for garages, patios and utilities and most importantly, reducing the visible automobile presence on the main streets.

Uses, architecture, and green space

Along with the two types of residential housing there is a meeting house/community building on the interior of the site and a 5,000 square foot country store (to be called “Red Mill Crossing”). Red Mill Crossing, strategically situated along East Main Street, the primary collector road adjacent to the project, will serve the residents but also benefit from business brought from passing motorists. It will also house the community postal boxes and trash and recycling center.

The architecture at Red Mill Village is traditional, neo-colonial New England style. The buildings are handsome and authentic. All incorporate a front porch or an entry porch. They incorporate well pitched gable roofs; cross gables; gabled and catslide dormers; bays; cornerboards; simple entablatures; two/two double hung windows with proper casing, sills, and lintels; and chaste columns with bases and caps. Yet, the variations in number and spacing of windows, porch configurations, blocking of building masses, and innumerable other details along with the pleasing palette of muted colors provides significant variety. Happily, all of the dwellings are sided with cement fiberboard (CertainTeed brand) clapboards, cedar shingles, and pine trim, rather than vinyl.

The design of the attached houses is quite accomplished. Most are in blocks of a half dozen units. They do not resemble townhouses as there is not a simple, repeating module. Rather, an irregular and complex yet harmonious rhythm conveys a sense of single family dwellings having been appended one to the other incrementally. The result is a marvelous and engaging street wall.

Garages on single family houses which face the front are designed to mitigate the impact on the streetscape. Generally, the garages are part of a subordinate building block and incorporate individual doors with some articulation such as panels and transom windows.

There is a substantial amount and variety of green space including the conservation area, the village green, a victory garden for residents to work their own plots, several vest pocket parks, and four stormwater detention areas designed as visual amenities.

Company

Lloyd Geisinger, President, and Abbott Stillman are Thorndike’s co-directors. The firm was founded 24 years ago. Mr. Geisinger has a background in architecture and urban design and got his start doing rehabilitation work in the South End of Boston. Thorndike’s first traditional neighborhood development project was Chapman’s Reach/Marina Bay in Quincy.

(Years ago, an enterprising developer in Rochester, NH, where I am the city planner, took our planning board for a tour of Chapman’s Reach to educate the board about new urbanism in order to facilitate review of his own planned unit development.)

Thorndike embraces the principles of new urbanism. Mr. Mullin stated in the October, 2007 issue of New England Condominium: “…Somewhere along the way, we allowed the automobile to take priority over pedestrians and our neighborhoods have never been the same. Our streetscapes are now dominated by cars. Sidewalks, street trees and pedestrian lighting are often eliminated. Our current residential pattern seems to tie us to the automobile for every activity. But the traditional neighborhoods of our youth are now making a comeback in new communities like Red Mill Village…” Bravo to that.

Planning of project

Mr. Mullin said the land plan began largely based on Mr. Geisinger’s vision, but received strong creative assistance from Skip Burck of Richard Burck & Associates. Mr. Geisinger also conceived the basic building designs which were developed in collaboration with the architectural firm, Deveraux and Associates, along with a local architect. There is no pattern book or template. Thorndike can ensure quality control and adjust designs as needed in its capacity as general contractor for the project. The landscaping was designed by Tom Ryan and Associates and Skip Burck's firm.

Thorndike Development Corporation is based in Norton and had completed another project across town (Great Brook, which is not a TND). According to Mr. Mullin, the town was therefore familiar with Thorndike so there was a high degree of trust. He said the company conducted a good deal of outreach up front, inviting abutters to see what was planned, and there was no resistance to the project.

A few variances were needed but the existing zoning largely accommodated the plan. Several environmental constraints - the conservation area, the Town of Norton protected water supply, the Canoe River, extensive wetlands, and the presence of three endangered species - largely dictated the overall layout.

Sense of community

I asked Mr. Mullin what the firm’s attraction was to new urbanism. It was gratifying to hear him say, “This is the way that people want to live”. He added that this particular age group is to some extent starting over again and people want to have a good time. New urbanist developments promote sociability far more than conventional subdivisions whose hallmark is exclusivity and privacy. Mr. Mullin added, “these are the party years”. As an early 50 something myself, I say “Rock on”!

There are numerous gathering places for residents: the meeting house, country store, victory gardens, pool, and pedestrian network, and, of course, the myriad front porches. Free concerts are held each summer on the village green. At the same time, allowance for privacy is essential. Every home has it own outdoor space - a patio, deck or enclosed garden.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Marc Berman during my visit. He has lived in Red Mill Village for over a year and told me, “We visited our former executive style neighborhood in Acton, Ma recently and the contrast to Red Mill Village was quite strong.  The compact, more closely spaced homes seem much more pleasant than the suburban 1/2 acre lot…”

A critique

Most new urbanist projects seek to achieve diversity and integration of uses, housing types, and population within developments. Red Mill Village departs from these goals in that it is restricted by age, there is a limited range of uses/building types, and there is a fundamental separation of the multifamily from the single family. There are several parking lots situated adjacent to the streets and the country store is surrounded by parking, much of which may be minimally screened.

I think that the development would be even better if it were open to residents of all ages, there were more variety in housing type, the uses were mixed in a fine grained manner, and some of these parking lots were reconfigured. However, every developer must confront real world planning and market constraints and this project comports with the new urbanist canon to a great degree. Indeed, it is one of the few, and one of our best, examples in New England. The attention to detail, high quality of design, and commitment to creating a walkable community are what count most in the end.

The project is clearly doing very well and has won numerous national and regional awards. It is satisfying to know that Thorndike plans to continue building TND’s as evidenced by its WestRidge project, which is now under development in Hudson, Ma. Mr. Mullin assured me that “new urbanism is the way to go”.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

I stayed at Red Mill Village much longer than I had anticipated and missed Cute is What We Aim For’s set. But I did catch all of Drop Dead Gorgeous and by then I was in the mood to dance. What a day!

 

For more information:

Red Mill Village
Route 123 in Norton, just north of Interstate 495
One Codding Road
Norton, MA 02766
(508) 285-2040

www.thorndikedevelopment.com