Clarence Stein and Henry Wright's Garden Cities

During the first half of the 20th century, architects Clarence Stein and Henry Wright founded the Garden city movement in the United States. They and their talented collaborators provided the leadership in designing a new type of community that continues to have an international influence on community planning, landscape architecture and architecture.

In the mid-20th century, Stein wrote Toward New Towns in America, which described the major garden cities that he and his colleagues designed and built.

Below is a list of these communities which have achieved historic distinction, along with links to documents about their histories.

National Historic Landmarks
Greenbelt, Maryland (1996) PDF--4.3 MB
---Greenbelt, Maryland

Baldwin Hills Village (2001)
---Los Angeles, California

Radburn (2005)
---Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Chatham Village (2005)|
----Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

National Register of Historic Places
New York City Landmark
Sunnyside Gardens and Phipps Garden Apartments
PDF--23.6MB
---New York City, New York
The Sunnyside Gardens Historic District has been declared a New York City Landmark in October 2007 after a four year process. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Notes: The Baldwin Hills Village nomination contributed to Radburn and Chatham Village's Landmark nominations.
The Radburn Preservation Conservancy and LandmarkWatch has supported the Sunnyside Gardens District in its New York City Landmark status.

Candidate for Historic Certification
Hillside Homes Apartments
---New York City, New York
Major historical documentation provided by Bret Garwood in his 1998 Masters thesis at Cornell University ---"Clarence S. Stein and Hillside Homes: Precedent For Planning Low Income Housing and Designing Community Architecture in New York City".
No historic nomination has been prepared for this site.

Historic Online Resources

Clarence Stein Archives at Cornell University

Henry Wright Archives at Cornell University

Professional Studies
Works on Clarence Stein by Kermit Carlyle Parsons
Description of Parson's book on Stein and a bibliography compiled by Parsons of his important articles before his death in 1999.

Works on Urban Planning and Clarence Stein
by Kristin E. Larsen
A continuation of Kermit Carlyle Parsons' work. Publications and on going research of Kristin E. Larsen at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

"The Pragmatist--the Impact of Stein and Wright's Works on the Federal Housing Administration"
Published research by Dr. Lauren Weiss Bricker of the California State Polytechnical Institute,Pomona, California

Clarence S. Stein Institute at Cornell University
On going research related to Clarence Stein. Graduate fellowships offered annually. The director is Michael Tomlan.


Notes: On April 2007 , a meeting was held at Hillside Homes Apartments in New York City to help with its historic certification. Present were representatives from Hillside Homes Apartments, Sunnyside Gardens, Radburn, Baldwin Hills Village, and also Colonial Terraces (a community designed by Henry Wright during World War I).
--------On May 2009, a two-day seminar was held at New York City 's Pratt Institute. It was organized by Michael Tomlan, Director of the Stein Institute at Cornell University.
--Stein scholars spoke on these topics: Stein's biography, California Garden Cities, and the New York City Preservation Commission.
--Representatives from the Stein communities told about their communities through slide presentations: Hillside Homes, Sunnyside Gardens, Chatham Village, and Radburn. Representative from Baldwin Hills Village spoke on the National Landmark program and the Stein communities.
--Stein Institute's community fellowships were announced.
--------On May 2010, Michael Tomlan organized a two-day seminar at New York City's Cooper-Hewitt.
-- The first day was a bus tour of Radburn, Hillside Homes, Sunnyside Gardens, and Phipps Garden Apartments.
-- The second day included presentations from Stein scholars: Design Standards for Sunnyside Gardens, Planning of Stein communities, Comparative study involving a Garden City community in South America, and the work of Henry Wright.
--Stein communities reported on a preservation framework (completed fellowship); preservation conditions at Radburn; early filming at Phipps Gardens; and Chatham Village's proposal for a historic archive of documents and photographs.
---Discussion on Stein Institute's future community fellowships.
---------Next Meeting on June 2011 at Greenbelt, Maryland.

Clarence Stein on Wikipedia

Updated May 2011