OSKAR STONOROV

725 DAVIDSON RD.

BUILT 1956

This house, designed by Oskar Stonorov in the International Style, is sited on a slope at the periphery of the Cherokee Village apartment complex. It emerges from the ground in a series of increasingly open pavilions whose flat roofs float above bands of clerestory windows, creating a light, suspended feeling. The building is anchored by a central brick pavilion (housing service functions) that separates the garage on the left from the entrance on the right. The two-story living area, clad in white panels, steps up and down, culminating at the rear in an open pool terrace that looks deep into the woods below. (For more on Stonorov, see also 709 Davidson and Cherokee Village below.)

709 DAVIDSON RD.

BUILT 1956

Designed by Oskar Stonorov in the International Style, this house is sited below street level, and approached down a long, sloping drive to an arrival court bounded by the one-story carport and kitchen on the right and the two-story main living wing of the house on the left. One moves diagonally from the entry through the open plan to an enclosed pool court beyond. Jumbo brick and large roof overhangs in the east/west direction bring stature and directionality to the massing. (For more on Stonorov, see also 725 Davidson above and Cherokee Village below.)

CHEROKEE VILLAGE.

BUILT 1950-1959

After studying architecture and sculpture in Italy and Switzerland, Oskar Stonorov (1905 - 1970) emigrated to Philadelphia from Germany 1929. He is best known for his social activist approach to architecture, which is clearly displayed in the modernist public housing projects he designed — most notably the Carl Mackley Houses (1933-34), with Alfred Kastner¹ and Pennypack Woods (1941-43), a government sponsored co-op community which he designed with Louis Kahn and George Howe. He also collaborated with Kahn on books which expounded their ideas of city and neighborhood planning. He was a true idealist who believed that a well-planned environment would result in a healthy community with its own sense of identity.

Cherokee Village² was designed by Stonorov in the International Style with a nod to Le Corbusier (Stonorov compiled a significant collection of Le Corbusier's writings and plans and was a co-editor of the definitive eight-volume set on the Swiss architect's work). Built on the site of the former Stonehurst estate, Cherokee Village is a 104-unit garden apartment complex that creates the feeling of a close-knit village with large open spaces encouraging pedestrian interaction. Stonorov rejected the stark regularity of typical post-World War II housing developments, incorporating his design into the glorious natural setting and tying the project to a Chestnut Hill aesthetic while staying true to his European ideal of social architecture.

1. Since neither Stonorov nor Kastner was a registered architect at the time, William Pope Barney was listed as the architect of record.

2. Robert Venturi was the draftsman for this project.