Celebration's houses are familiar, about what I expected after seeing Kentlands, but in Celebration the houses seem more divided into distinct style groups, and are on average bulkier; some are quite large, especially in the North Village upper class section. The look of the houses is more varied than in the monotonous subdivisions down the road, but less varied than in the older suburbs of my youth. House lots are generally narrower than a typical suburb, but quite deep. Everything is tasteful, relentless design. There are fewer fences than at Kentlands, and porches seem more prominent. All the houses are within easy walking distance of a park or the lakefront.
I have the feeling that allowed set of house styles in Celebration includes too many vertical lines for the Florida landscape. Frank Lloyd Wright would protest that on this flat land the houses should be more horizontal. But could you build one of his houses on these narrow lots? Imagine his Usonian houses into a New Urbanist development?
(c) David Kolb, 1 August 2001