Splendid Saturday- Residential

We visited two specific residential neighborhoods, White Oak Village and Irving Park. First we visited the White Oak Village, the housing provided by the Cone Mills for the workers. The houses are small, simple, and modest with a decent amount of yard space. The village has a road grid of its own. In the picture to the left you can see the street in front of us was 12th St. The roads in town were not like that, just the ones within the "Village" which did comprise a small town within itself. As we walked down one of the streets we noticed there were no sidewalks; what does this tell us? I am not sure. I would think it means that community and friendship was not a strong value the mill wanted to promote, but the good sized yards kind of contradict that. Maybe the workers from the mill worked so hard during the day that sidewalks were not seen necessary because residents would just be resting, but sidewalks are not just for exercise.
The second residential neighborhood we visited was Irving Park for lunch. Honestly, as we were driving in I was focused on getting to eat lunch and may not have been the most observant student. Although I may not have been on my A game, I do not think there was anything to catch my attention until we pulled up to Edward Lowentstein's work. The houses were average middle class homes similar to my neighborhood in Boone. The Levy family invited us over to their house, an Edward Lowenstein original, for lunch. We pulled up and the artwork in their yard immediately caught my eye. We walked around to the front of the house, down the driveway, past the garage and pool, up to the front door where we were welcomed to their outgoing dog and warm smiles. The house does not feel or look like a huge house, but as we walked around the inside it just kept going. All of the beautiful bedrooms and bathrooms and storage space was enchanting. In the living room the slanted wall were most evident, and the open windows looked out at the artwork in the yard. The huge pearl necklace, and the airplane parts sculpture caught your attention first, but as you keep looking you notice more. Irving Park is a wealthier neighborhood, but not an overly showy neighborhood.