The Harbor Hills- Master Plan

This is a close-up of the high, eastern area that in current drafts is the center of the community.
The blue shows the ridge line. The ground slopes down toward the right. Slopes are more gentle than
elsewhere in the site. Much of the area is open meadow. There are apple and plum orchards and
groves of wild azaelas.

• The existing gravel road (whitish in the background photo) that enters at the bottom center and exits at the top right is a major route. Below the photo it splits, with one leg descending to US 101 and the other running along the top of the hills. Beyond the photo to the upper right it descends to the Chetco River and the new Salmon Run Golf Course. Just uphill from the existing shop (a white square) it passes the old Freeman homestead. Widening it here would require cutting old apple, walnut, and locust trees. To avoid this the main route was moved uphill, passing above the orchard. The old one will be one-way or local access.

•The meadows and the vistas across them seem too beautiful to develop, so they are designated as public space (the green) with the houses moved behind the tree lines. Grey areas are primarily residential. As result of keeping the meadows-- some of the easiest areas to develop-- public, there will be public or park space that is highly useable.

• There is a strong axis running from the peak of the Hills toward the east, over the apple orchard (white and pink flowers), over the homestead site (walnut and locust trees-- sculptural silhouettes and white flowers), over the meadow and out to Preston Peak on the horizon, a picturesque mountain that is covered with snow during three seasons. Whimsically, really-- not thinking it would stay-- we dropped Maybeck's plaza design for Brookings onto this axis, above the orchard, to see how it looked. From the plaza you would look across the orchard/locusts/Preston Peak sequence. It is a difficult site to develop as a plaza or as a community center because it is steep-- but it has a lot of power, works in many ways, and is popular with those who have commented. So, for now, we're thinking about how to make it work. Perhaps if ... a story above the lower road, a story below the upper. Buildings (restaurants, cafes, a hotel, maybe the gym) with a floor at street level and one at plaza level. Doubled Italianate stairs connecting the plaza to the streets (curious how this image popped up from the unconcious, having just noticed how similar the geometries of Maybeck's Brookings Center are to Michaelangelo's Campidoglio-- which had such stairs). Balconies lining the plaza, from which people could watch performances. The path network, another strong axis, connects at plaza level, . It could, as the area grows, become a small but intense urban center-- that looks out across a marvelous sweep of wild landscape: Center

• One goal of the design is to include places that could experience such evolution as the area grow while still working as quieter places in the meantime. Both to avoid the development "project" feel given by places that don't evolve (are frozen by their master plan) and to create a tight juxtaposition of nature and the urban, privacy and interaction, for people who enjoy each and want the freedom chose which they'll have when.

• In apparently all of his urban and community designs Maybeck included pathways and stairs that cut through the blocks and small parks in the blocks interior. This is another place where we're letting his work influence the plan. The interior routes


	The Harbor Hills Draft Master Plan- Community Center

	This is a close-up of the high, eastern area that in current drafts is the center of the community. The blue shows the ridge line. The ground slopes down toward the right. Slopes are more gentle than elsewhere in the site. Much of the area is open meadow. There are apple and plum orchards and groves of wild azaelas. Some influences: • The existing gravel road (whitish in the background photo) that enters at the bottom center and exits at the top right is a major route. Below the photo it splits, with one leg descending to US 101 and the other running along the top of the hills. Beyond the photo to the upper right it descends to the Chetco River and the new Salmon Run Golf Course. Just uphill from the existing shop (a white square) it passes the old Freeman homestead. Widening it here would require cutting old apple, walnut, and locust trees. To avoid this the main route was moved uphill, passing above the orchard. The old one will be one-way or local access. •The meadows and the vistas across them seem too beautiful to develop, so they are designated as public space (the green) with the houses moved behind the tree lines. Grey areas are primarily residential. As result of keeping the meadows-- some of the easiest areas to develop-- public, there will be public or park space that is highly useable. • There is a strong axis running from the peak of the Hills toward the east, over the apple orchard (white and pink flowers), over the homestead site (walnut and locust trees-- sculptural silhouettes and white flowers), over the meadow and out to Preston Peak on the horizon, a picturesque mountain that is covered with snow during three seasons. Whimsically, really-- not thinking it would stay-- we dropped Maybeck's plaza design for Brookings onto this axis, above the orchard, to see how it looked. From the plaza you would look across the orchard/locusts/Preston Peak sequence. It is a difficult site to develop as a plaza or as a community center because it is steep-- but it has a lot of power, works in many ways, and is popular with those who have commented. So, for now, we're thinking about how to make it work. Perhaps if ... a story above the lower road, a story below the upper. Buildings (restaurants, cafes, a hotel, maybe the gym) with a floor at street level and one at plaza level. Doubled Italianate stairs connecting the plaza to the streets (curious how this image popped up from the unconcious, having just noticed how similar the geometries of Maybeck's Brookings Center are to Michaelangelo's Campidoglio-- which had such stairs). Balconies lining the plaza, from which people could watch performances. The path network, another strong axis, connects at plaza level, . It could, as the area grows, become a small but intense urban center-- that looks out across a marvelous sweep of wild landscape: Center • One goal of the design is to include places that could experience such evolution as the area grow while still working as quieter places in the meantime. Both to avoid the development "project" feel given by places that don't evolve (are frozen by their master plan) and to create a tight juxtaposition of nature and the urban, privacy and interaction, for people who enjoy each and want the freedom chose which they'll have when. • In apparently all of his urban and community designs Maybeck included pathways and stairs that cut through the blocks and small parks in the blocks interior. This is another place where we're letting his work influence the plan. The interior routes Center Ball field Area Azalea Area West West Detail South North North Park

The Harbor Hills

Draft Master Plan- Community Center