Golf Course Island Cluster

Our History.​

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The townhouses and site plan of Golf Course Island were designed by architect Louis Sauer. At that time, Sauer was associate professor of architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and had been a faculty member, lecturer, and critic at the Drexel Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rhode Island School of Design, and Yale University. 

 

The townhouses gained national recognition when, in 1967, they were chosen as Houses of the Year by Architectural Record Magazine. The magazine noted that Sauer had taken full advantage of the proximity to the golf course by orienting the main living areas toward the open space. The magazine said that “the buildings together create a skyline effect that is jutting, angular, vigorous, and yet not disruptive. In contrast to the expansive golf course, secluded courts, decks, and patios are included in each of the individual house plans, while sheltered community areas are planned between the rows. Row houses, whose history has ranged from the elegant to the mean, have here found a contemporary expression which makes them a positive asset in a planned new town community.”

 

Sauer was quoted as saying in The Evening Star newspaper, dated February 9, 1968, that he considered the two main problems created by townhouses were 1) lack of privacy and 2) lack of individuality. He said, “We must create privacy in today's townhouses, both inside and outside. It can be accomplished with careful interior planning and the proper use of space. Then, of course, there should be individuality in the exteriors.”