The inspiration for Village Homes began in the early 1970s with Mike and Judy Corbetts' awakening awareness of alternatives to conventional housing concepts in suburbia. Mike had studied architecture at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and then designed and built several houses, which were very attractive but not particularly sensitive to energy conservation or environmental issues. Later Mike took classes at Sacramento State University in ecology and psychology while Judy earned a master's degree at UC Davis in the new Graduate Group in Ecology.

They started meeting weekly in 1970-71 with a group of about 30 friends to discuss the elements needed in an ideal community. After more than a year the group dissolved when they were unable to reach a consensus on action. At about this time, Mike lost a close friend. Realizing that life can be short, Mike pursued his dream of developing a special community, a "garden village" incorporating several innovative ecological and social features identified during the group meetings. On their own, he and Judy decided to try to develop such a neighborhood in Davis as a commercial venture.

Although at first the Corbetts were skeptical of their chances to actually develop an innovative community, three factors greatly boosted their opportunity for success.

First, in 1972, due to a moratorium on growth in the city of Davis, Mike was able to afford an option to develop an appropriate piece of land from a nervous landowner. Mike started designing a prospectus to interest local investors.

A second factor was the increasing public awareness of the fragility of the earth. In 1972 a group of UC Davis students organized a celebration of the planet, dubbing it Whole Earth Day, which continues to be held annually. The festival celebrates the environment, alternative energy sources, recycling, organic foods, and responsible lifestyles, all of which were newly focused and appealing ideas in 1972.

Thirdly, the Davis City Council had just undergone a major change in composition. In 1971, a group primarily made up of fellow students in Judy's Graduate Group in Ecology had started to meet to discuss ways that the City of Davis could act locally to address the looming environmental problems. They were worried about urban sprawl, preserving agricultural land, recycling, increasing development density in towns, and reducing downtown parking lots, among other issues. One member of this group, Bob Black, former UC Davis student body president, agreed to run for city council in 1972. Two other candidates, an attorney and a UC Davis environmental health professional, adopted Black's platform and the three were voted onto the five-member Davis City Council.

The new three-member majority strongly advocated for the rule-breaking innovations of the Corbetts' planned development. This was unusual and essential to the success of the project, as the city planning department resisted each request for a variation from normal construction conventions. (*Most of the innovations are described elsewhere on this website.)

At one point, when the narrowness of the proposed Village Homes roads was being challenged, Mike Corbett arranged to meet with city council, planning and fire department officials with fire trucks on a Sunday at a huge factory parking lot. Mike set out pylons to simulate the width of the proposed streets, and the fire department found that they were able to park two trucks side by side and still open all the doors, as required, on all but the narrowest proposed streets. Bob Black suggested enforcing a three-foot "easement" on each side of the narrowest streets as a compromise, and that was acceptable to the fire department. (The city official who protested that the demonstration was a failure because "the city street sweeper can't fit past the two fire trucks" was ignored).

One remarkable element in the development of Village Homes involved the drainage concept of having natural swales and collection ponds to collect rain water and encourage it to seep down into the local water table instead of being pumped through storm drains to an evaporation pond. It was remarkable in part because during the early earth moving and shaping of the system, there was a severe drought and the system was untested. Finally, after two years, in November of 1977 it started to rain heavily. One day Mike was supposed to be conducting the "final walkthrough" for a newly completed house when he started pacing, looking outside, pacing, looking out. Finally he couldn't resist. He apologized for halting the inspection, saying, "I'm sorry, I just have to go out and see if the drainage system is working." It was and still is. In fact, the city's streets flooded that day and excess water backed into the Village Homes system, which absorbed the city's water without any problem.

Obtaining financing for the subdivision was another challenge. The Corbetts wrote a detailed proposal explaining the ecological value of all the innovations, but 32 banks rejected their request for a loan. Finally they rewrote the proposal, reducing the scope and downplaying the innovations, and approached the bank where Mike's parents, who were also builders, did business. They received the loan with the promise that Mike's parents would build many of the first homes. Obtaining the loan and Davis city permits, they broke ground on August 29, 1975 with enough financing for the first phase to encompass the two southern-most streets.

Corbett built 90% of the houses, and owner-builders and independent contractors built the remainder. (Mike's stepfather built several conventional homes in the first phase.) All of Corbett's homes incorporated white stucco walls, tile roofs, tile on slab floors, passive solar hot water panels, wood stoves for heating, double pane windows and extra insulation. Within this overall design framework, Mike frequently customized room placement and square footage to suit the needs of individual homebuyers. Corbett and other architects, designers and contractors tried out various innovations using solar energy and other energy conservation ideas. There were water walls, culverts full of water, solar radiant floor heating, underground rock piles with fans, greenhouses attached to the south sides of houses, sun-catcher roofs, and others.

The way the 242 houses (units) were organized was unusual too. Some houses were larger, some were quite small, some were duplexes, some were apartments, some were very small with larger shared dining and living room spaces, four had sod roofs and bermed soil on three sides, one was a cooperative with seven bedrooms for University students, and one was a cooperative of two buildings for five families. All of the homes faced north/south, with 70% of the windows on the south side to capture the winter sun for heating. Awnings, arbors and deciduous trees shaded the south-facing windows in summer. 20% of the windows faced north to allow for cross ventilation for summer cooling from the Delta breeze. Having very few east and west facing windows reduced heat gain in summer. Private fenced-in yards were on the street side of the houses. Lots were graded to drain toward the back, eliminating the need for gutters along the streets. The backyards were open and included shared land (Common Areas) with drainage swales and sidewalks/bike paths connecting all the houses and eliminating the need for sidewalks along the streets. All roads were narrow, ended in cul-de-sacs and had off-street visitor parking bays. (*Details of these and other innovations are found elsewhere on this website.)

At first, the real estate community resisted Village Homes, refusing to take clients to the model homes, but the public insisted. Drawn by the promise of energy savings (post 1973 oil embargo), accepting the ecological "small is beautiful" concept, and looking for a sense of community, they came and bought. All the houses in the first unit sold within a year and the Corbetts were ready to begin developing the second phase. Based on a successful sales record, they had no trouble getting funding from the loan company for the rest of the development, which was eventually completed in the early 1980s.

In March of 1977, Sunset Magazine ran an article about Village Homes and suddenly it was the place to see and be. There were lots of academic studies and surveys, as well as organized tours and visitors from all over the world. On a nation-wide tour to promote energy conservation, President Carter's wife, Rosalyn, visited in March of1979 and curiously rode a bicycle around the neighborhood. Jane Fonda gave a stump speech at Corbetts' home for her then husband, Tom Hayden, who was running for State Senate. US Senator Alan Cranston came for a look around, climbing up a ladder into the attic to inspect one family's passive solar water heating storage tank. Dusty! The most dramatic visit was by Francois Mitterrand, President of France, who arrived in March of 1984 in a small helicopter on the large Village Homes playfield, Parque Grande. He was accompanied by his own security forces and hordes of camera-carrying press in another small helicopter and two huge ones, all landing on the lawn in front of the community center. Turbulence from the landing helicopters tore the blue canvas cover off the gazebo. A great crowd ringed the lawn. A huge welcoming banner was unfurled. School children waved little French flags. President Mitterrand walked around and visited the Siegel and Corbett homes.

Early on in the development of Village Homes, neighbors attended many community planning meetings and work parties. When most of the lots in each cluster of eight houses were bought, the owners met to plan the elements and design of their shared Common Area. Children drew pictures of what they wanted in the first playground, next to the sandy area beside Apple (later Peach) Hill. Volunteers at work parties planted daffodils and built wooden bridges along the bike paths.

A Board of Directors was elected, with Mike and Judy Corbett filling two of the five positions at first to guide the initial growth of the community. Dues were set at $12 per month and then quickly raised to $14, $16, then $24 per month to cover the expense of the future pool and other amenities. This caused a flurry of anxiety among residents. Some initial homeowners weren't aware they had moved into a planned community, which would assess dues to provide amenities. Others feared uncontrolled inflation. To ease tensions, the Board passed a rule that the dues could be raised each year by no more than 10%. Residents began meeting to design the community center and swimming pool.

At first, residents wanted four pools for wading, diving, lap swimming, and general use. Everybody was excited! Then reason and economic reality prevailed. One pool was built, purposely not of standard length to avoid pressure to use it for swim meets. Together, residents worked on the pool retaining wall, the trellises and benches in the pool area, the lap lane lines and the decorative tile around the edge of the pool. Volunteers wisely did not tackle construction of the pool itself. Initially the purification system chosen was ozone, considered "cleaner" and safer than chlorine, but after several years of struggle to get it to work properly, it was abandoned for a standard chlorine system. The pool and community center share the large bank of solar panels on the roof of the building. In winter, hot water circulating in the slab floor heats the daycare center, while in spring, when they don't need the heat anymore, valves are switched and the same panels heat the pool. The reverse happens in autumn. Thus the community center/day care center's heating needs dictate the opening and closing of the pool season.

In the early 1980s, two volunteers organized construction of a children's playground near the community center. It was to be an "Adventure Playground", with potential for building forts, swinging from rope cables, and free form playing. Mark Francis, professor in the UC Davis Landscape Architecture Department, was invited to help design the playground. He and his graduate students surveyed the local children (and parents?) and developed a design. After lots of fund-raising and work parties, the park took shape. The father of one of the organizers passed away just as the park was completed, and the grove of redwood trees northwest of the playground was planted in his memory. Then, in unfortunate timing, the Rivendell Nursery School/daycare center organized in the community center, and to meet regulations, they needed a fenced-in playground. The logical location was just where the adventure playground was nearing completion. A compromise was reached after a bit of acrimony and disappointment, and the two playgrounds now stand side by side. The adventure playground, now called Figgy Park, has since been renovated, with thanks to many more volunteers and good community spirit.

Later, residents at the north end of Village Homes wanted another playground at their end of the community. More fundraising and work parties, led by many more dedicated volunteers resulted in the wonderful play area and structure nestled in the northwest corner of Parque Chico.

In 1985-86, developer John Whitcombe approached the Village Homeowners Board of Directors with a proposal. He wanted to develop a large apartment complex west of Village Homes along Portage Bay Avenue. At that time, Portage Bay ran clear through from Arlington Boulevard to Lake Boulevard. Whitcombe anticipated that Village Homes residents would object strenuously to increased traffic on their southern-most residential street, so the developer had a solution. In exchange for Village Homes' approval of Whitcombe's apartment complex, he offered to pay to make the Village Homes section of Portage Bay into a cul-de-sac and have Portage Bay curve to the south and connect to Russell Blvd just west of Village Homes. (He also disconnected Portage Bay at the apartment complex, creating Portage Bay East off of Russell and Portage Bay West off of Lake.) The Village Homes Board accepted the offer, and a contest was held to rename the Village Homes section of Portage Bay. It would have to be a name connected with the J.R.R. Tolkien Hobbit/Lord of the Rings theme. The winner was Evenstar.

Why were Hobbit names chosen in the first place? On a family camping trip in 1974, Judy Corbett's mother was reading The Hobbit. As they sat around the campfire, Judy and Mike told their family of the possibility that they might be naming a number of streets soon and asked for ideas. Judy's mother suggested those "cute" names from The Hobbit – which is why most of us must spell out our street names when giving our addresses – "No, not Huckleberry, BuckleBURY!" "Not RiveRdell, it's RiveNdell." We don't mind, though, when we think of how much we enjoy living here!

We knew from the beginning Village Homes was an experiment, and not surprisingly we've learned and evolved over time. The ecological planning has worked well. It feels good to live in Village Homes. We can be ecologically responsible and save energy with a minimum of effort, almost by default. Our natural drainage allows rainwater to seep back into the earth, our narrow, shaded streets stay cooler in summer, and our extra slab insulation and double pane windows have paid for themselves. We've tried a variety of ways to heat and cool our homes, with varying degrees of success, but we know for certain north/south orientation with adequate shade on the south pays off in our climate.

Socially, we are striving to live in peace with one another, and mostly we succeed. In retrospect, perhaps a community half this size would have been more ideal in terms of decision-making and cohesiveness. With 220 units we can't personally know all VH residents. Our idea of Common Areas has both brought neighbors together and caused some dissention. Living in such close proximity to one another with open spaces cared for jointly takes effort and sensitivity. While sometimes differences in lifestyle can be a challenge, most of us enjoy our immediate neighbors. The closest friendships have formed around similar interests (raising children, gardening, swimming, dogs, being single, etc.) rather than within Common Areas. Many residents have best friends living within the neighborhood, and we love the ease of meeting. We are all fortunate to live here and enjoy the results of Mike and Judy Corbetts' vision and the continuing efforts and cooperation of all the residents of Village Homes.