I may be jeopardizing our luck right before the worst part of a huge winter storm, but I wanted to mention a few things I have been thinking during this rainy weather we’ve had. Our house (around Central and Thomas in Phoenix) was built in the late 30′s or 40′s, and is a fascinating study in how houses used to be built.
One example I noticed this week is the way our house is raised above the surrounding yards by around a foot or so.
I believe this is because it was built during a time when the Rio Salado still would occasionally flood, or there was a fear that it would. My other theory relates to irrigating yards, but there’s no evidence that our yard was ever irrigated.
Whatever the reason, in a storm like this one, it is a blessing. The likelihood of water flowing into the house is pretty low. Many houses probably have measures of protection, but we have one of the original ones. It’s like a miniature version of what many builders did in other cities around the US that are prone to occasional flooding. Savannah, Georgia or New Orleans, Louisiana both come to mind.
But that’s not all. The house also has ample doors and openable windows throughout the historic portion, to control and manipulate airflow, especially in what probably used to be cool evenings during the summer. I’m sure there is much more that makes the house weather-resistent, and also weather-prone.
When I go to new homes throughout Phoenix, the floors are level with the outside environment. True, we don’t expect floods often in Phoenix. But even at my mom’s house, probably built in the 60s or 70s near 7th Street and Glendale in Phoenix, the backyard is actually higher than the back of the house. Even in a light rain, water tends to find a way into the back of the house. This was an addition to the original imprint of the house, so maybe it was better planned originally.
All of this is to say, why or how did we forget the way we used to build homes? It seems that houses used to be built to work with nature. The height of the foundation, the floor plan, number of windows, et cetera, all seemed to work with nature. Now, on the other hand, it seems like we build most houses based on what people want, and don’t consider the impact weather will have on the livability of the house. And then we take the same general plan for a house and make copies and place them in neighborhoods with labyrinth-like streets, which create more traffic, more social isolation, and the need of a car just to leave the neighborhood.
I guess the point I am trying to make, in a very meandering way, is that I hope I can always live in homes (houses, apartments, etc) that take the best from both: new ideas about sustainability, and a return to working with (and not against) nature.
