HomeMy WebLinkAboutA&M Campus Housing 010604THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Sunday, August 30, 1925
(Section Three, Page Five)
SOLVE PROBLEM OF HOUSING AT A&M COLLEGE
Swampy Land Reclaimed by "Profs" to Erect Fine'Homes Thereon
LIFE THAT'S IDEAL
Community Plan Works to the Advantage of Schoolmen
By Violet Short
The unique little settlement known as College Park is the happy culmination of
a problem in home - building.
The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas is peculiarly and unfortunately
situated in so far as living conditions are concerned. There are about a hundred
small cottages maintained on the campus which are assigned to the heads of depart-
ments and a few members of the teaching staff, but these houses are totally inade-
quate to take care of the entire faculty of the institution. Furthermore, the majority
of them are only five -room frame structures which are much too small for a large
family. Bryan, the nearest town, is five miles away and the only means of transport-
ation is the street car which runs once an hour, and the round trip between Bryan
and College Station costs 30 cents. As Bryan is only a small town., there are few
houses to be rented, so the college professor who is not fortunate enough to secure
a house on the campus must take an apartment in town and either purchase a 'car
to carry him to and from his work or he must pay out a goodly amount each month
for car fare.
Such were the existing conditions when a group of college professors determined
that they would have homes of their own and yet have the benefits of living in a
college community.
College Park is in the 'Woods" south of the campus of the A &M College and, although
it is yet in its infancy, it is doubtful whether a more attractive group of homes
could be found in the State. The main street, which is called Clark Boulevard in
honor of the promoter of the idea, resembles from a distance only a beautiful shady
road encircling a very blue lake. Proximity, however, brings out the fact that back
among the giant trees is a row of beautiful houses, or rather homes. for each one
has that personal touch which distinguishes a home from just a house. The houses
are in a great semi - circle, each one facing the lake and also the road. The shady
lawns and the gayly painted rowboats on the water would convince the onlooker
that life in such a community would be verypleasant indeed.
Because they were built to livein, each house is individual and reflects the ideas
and taste of its owner. In appearance they are as varied as the Pied Piper's rats.
There are great houses set on two lots in order to have plenty of room for the child-
ren to romp and play. There are small houses with one side set aside for the family
roadster. There is a log house with steam heat and bizarre walls. There are modern
bungalows, Old English farm houses, New England cottages, white- columned Southern
Colonials and many that are too original to be classified as to any definite architect-
ural style.
Although College Park has a great deal of natural beauty, it required the aid of
man to make the location a habitable place. Five years ago the site of the little
community was nothing more than a mosquito - infested swamp, the only pretty feature
being the great trees and luxuriant foliage. There was not a road leading through
this land because no one cared to go there. In fact, the college professors purchased
a tract of land that the owner was more than glad to sell, and there were numerous
kill -joys who said that nothing could ever come from such an investment.
But the last few years have wrought great changes in that piece of land. Prof. F.
W. Hensel of the landscape art department laid out the plans for the lots. Members
of the civil engineering department aided in surveyiing and planning a roadway.
The swamp was cleared. A dam was erected, which held the water that had been
seeping away and a beautiful lake was the result. A spillway was made to take care
of the overflow.
Soon afterward in rapid succession the houses were built. The financing of the building
was done through a co- operative arrangement, by which the funds were put into
what was known as the College Park Housing Corporation. This was for mutual
benefit and not for profit. The corporation would finance a man in building his home
and then he repaid the money in small monthly payments. However, later the demand
for homes far exceeded the supply of funds and various building and loan associations
offered their services. In some instances homes were put up through such aid.
The land which has not been sold is held by the College Park Corporation, headed
by Dr. F. B. Clark and composed of all the residents of the community. The proceeds
from the sales go into the housing fund. Lots are never sold for speculation and
each individual who wishes to buy must show that he is purchasing with the intention
of building a home for himself. When a home owner leaves, which occurs more fre-
quently in college communities than in other places , his house is sold for him through
the housing corporation.
Ideal Community Life. The community life at College Park is as interesting and
refreshing as the homes themselves. People reside there who were originally from
all parts of the United States. There are some from the East, many from the old
South, a few from the great Northwestern and Middlewestern. States, and, of course,
there are many Texas. Because the settlement is yet quite young, its native -born
residents are too few and too small to be counted as a definite group.
Foreign countries are also represented among the families who live in College Park.
The Rev. C. P. Hancock, the college Presbyterian minister, who owns a home in
College Park, resided in China twenty years as a missionary. While they are American
citizens, several others claim foreign countries as their birthplaces. On the whole
there is a cosmopolitan atmosphere in the community.
There is a great variety of social life aand the community is conspicuous for the
absense of those examples of neighborly strife which usually accompany any group
of people living close enough together for the children and the chickens to become
mized up. There is little cause for jealousy because the incomes are all approximately
the same and the people are too busy and contented to
indulge in imaginary grievances.
Among the forty families who now reside in College Park all branches of the A &M
College are ref'resented.
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Many Interesting Homes. Perhaps the most outstanding home of the community is
that recently built by Dr. F. B. Clark, head of the department of economics. This
is a large old English house with a many - gabled roof. From the old -style lantern
which lights the entrance, through the entire house, the furnishings are consistently
old fashioned. There are large square wooden doors, with immense metal hinges
and heavy casement windows. The furnishings are antique. The dining room, which
has occasioned much local interest, has a decoration of brown painted ships upon
the cream background of the wall. The table and chairs are painted green and brown
and the dishes are of green willow -ware. The decoration of this room was done by
Miss Marie Haines, a sister of Mrs. Clark, who is a well -known artist.
The log cabin, with its chinked walls, stone fireplace and slate roof, is also in "Exibit
A" and comes in for its share of attention as one of the show places, especially
as it has the added feature of being steam - heated throughout.
Other attractive homes are owned by M. M. Daugherty and R. R. Lancaster of the
extension service, Professor Drink Milner of the agricultural department, who is
the son of a former. president of the College; Professor Robert Smith, one of the
old- timers of the mathematics department; Dan Scoates, head of the department
of agricultural engineering; Professor Guy Aduiance of the horticulture department;
P.D. Hammond, assistant librarian of the College; C. W. Burchard of the chemistry
department and many other prominent men of the A &M College.
The problem of buying a home and at the same time feeding a growing family has
puzzled men with larger incomes than that of a college professor, for whatever
compensations the business of educating young Americans may have, few teachers
become uncomfortably wealthy. College Park, an experiment in home building, how-
ever, has solved this problem for the professors of the A &M College of Texas.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEB' §
1925
Ideal Indiriduttl H A. M. � k