Blackwood

Version 4: The Grand Reveal

Blackwood4-ground

Ah, Version 4… Not significantly different from Version 3, perhaps, but a major milestone. I think we decided that instead of a lower level and a basement below that, it was more efficient and cost-effective to build UP. So we split the previous “lower level” in two, putting half of its rooms in an expanded…

View Version 4: The Grand Reveal »

A Plethora of Plans

Blackwood4

We wanted feedback—we got it! There was a Version 4.1, with a radically different layout, then Versions 5 through 7 were back to the original concept. Then there was a Type II, again with a very different L-shaped footprint. To open a window on the thought process, here are the notes accompanying Version 5: fireplaces:…

View A Plethora of Plans »

Reality Sets In

Blackwood8-ground

After months of wrangling different plans, it was slowly sinking in just how difficult consensus decisions were. I posted the following missive almost exactly one year after sending out the initial introductory letter: Just when you thought it was safe to check your mailbox… …OK, I know I’m the one who said it was time…

View Reality Sets In »

What Might Have Been

Besides the morass of degenerating house plans, many of us were now facing actual graduation from college. Being so rudely thrust into full-fledged adult life was pretty much the final nail in the coffin of the Blackwood commune. I’d like to finish this reminiscence with a look at what life in the commune might have…

View What Might Have Been »