Six-Unit Craftsman Style Row Court Town Homes — Fremont

This small, challenging corner site offered the property owner an opportunity to build up to 6 new homes in Fremont’s historic Irvington District. Street widening requirements reduced the lot size even further—to less than 1/3 of an acre but offered just enough space to create a U-shape building footprint with two rows of attached homes around a partially sunken parking court. A net density of 20 units per acre was achieved on homes that appear almost like single-family residences set very close together. Unit size ranges from1,500 to 1,850 SF on three floor plans, each with small private yards off their living rooms. Four of the units had two-car garages and the other two had one-car garages with additional open spaces. There were also two on-site guest parking spaces. 

One key concept was to sink the parking level far enough below grade so that first floor would be no more than 3 feet above grade. This enables the buildings to appear two stories in height with ground floor activities near grade and mostly underground parking. The second key was to orient the units depending on their location on property rather than using a simple row house approach to site planning. The end units on Carol Avenue, the front of the project, have broad front façades with a stepped entry terraces facing the street. This avoids the building sidewall exposure on the street that often plagues similar projects. 

By fine-tuning the site layout, the infill development approach became a hybrid of row house and courtyard housing prototypes. This hybrid, sometimes referred to as Row-Court, even adapted well to the City’s suburban zoning regulations for parking, driveways, and yards that are more generous than those in more urban municipalities. 

The Craftsman style seemed appropriate to the project and location. Rooflines, wall shapes, windows, and detailing are reminiscent of works by Greene & Greene and Bernard Maybeck. Shaped, painted wood rafter tails, rake end boards and corbels, diagonal braces and trellises, horizontal wood trim and wood posts between banks of windows highlight the architectural vocabulary and create contrast with the integral color stucco. The overall effect is a lively collection of homes with a unified traditional Craftsman appearance, and well-proportioned building forms.