VIGNETTE > Homestead Terrace

A block up Montford from Miller is Homestead Terrace, Federal Public Housing, Elderly/Disabled. Residents are generally at least 62 years old with a very low annual income.  The complex consists of 5 buildings with 27 studio apartments, each 374 sq. feet, plus a community building. Construction was completed in February 1969.  It received the 1970 HUD Honor Award for Design Excellence and the 1974 Bay Area AIA Design Excellence Honor Award for Architect/Landscape. Architecture was by Campbell & Wong of San Francisco. Landscape Architecture was by Royston, Hanamoto, Beck & Abey of Mill Valley. Project plans were announced in June 1966.  Neighborhood reaction was immediate: density was too high and increased traffic would be a hazard to the elderly. There was even talk of Mill Valley annexing the flat portion of Homestead Valley to kill the county project.   City council and planning commission members toured the site, but they took no action.   In September 1966, the Homestead Valley Improvement Club board voted unanimously to support the project—”We feel that the small group of loud opponents in no way represents the true feelings of the valley with regard to this project.” A week later, the Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the 28-unit project. By 1970, neighbors who had been opposed said it was “very nicely done” and an “asset to the community.”
For more info see: Homestead Terrace Redux