I was walking the block passing out handbills for National Night Out next week in my immediate part of Bon Air which is Commander Drive and Doreen Way. These blocks are distinctive from the rest of the neighborhood as they have "Levittown" properties. It seems to be an interesting story to tell.
With the exception of the three houses at the south end along Farnsley Park, these houses were measured and cut in a factory/production facility and brought to the sites and assembled. They were not brought wall by wall like the US Steel houses on Johnston Way, but brought board by board and assembled on site.
The houses are of three cookie-cutter styles: ranch, cape cod, and what I will call "A-frame." They were among the last built in the area in 1956. On one wandering trip home, I discovered that there is a bunch of these same housing models on the other side of the Watterson on Betty Lane.
I did an ethnographic research paper on Doreen and Commander as a neighborhood back in my U of L days in 2003. John Gilderbloom gave me an A on it. I had a chance to talk with four original owners of the houses before three of them passed away.
Commander Drive was originally going to be Betty Lane and I understood Doreen was to be called "Joan." As noted above, Betty Lane and Joan are still there and would be Commander and Doreen on the north side of the Watterson. My conclusion is that the same developer went with the same plan for the same type of house on both sides of the Watterson.
I learned in my interviews that the upstairs of the cape cods and A-Frames were originally unfinished. (There is still one of the cape cods on Doreen that was not totally finished.) It was incumbent on the owners to finish their houses. Indeed they did finish them and some of them were very creative in building additions and making the upstairs into bedrooms. Some of the additions obviously were amateur in nature and some of them were very good.
I learned that the houses on Doreen and Commander were distinctive efforts to take advantage of the VA housing program to provide houses for World War II veterans. They cost new about $17,000 apiece. The first owners of most of the houses on Doreen and Commander were Louisville Police Officers and Louisville Fire Fighters.
Anyway, the residents of Commander and Doreen jokingly called themselves $99.00 a week millionaires because moving out to the East End of Louisville was something the rich people did. They at one time had numerous social connections and would sit in their front yards talking to each other because they had a lot in common, especially four men that would sit in one of the yards daily and became known as the four-old grumpy men. They appeared to be outsiders to the rest of the East End, but they appeared to have a wonderful community among themselves.
Right now from what I can tell, there is only one original family occupying one of the houses. Their parents bought the home. They grew up in it and they continue to live in it.
The Neighborhood Today
I would say that Commander Drive is much more intact than Doreen is today. As I walked along Doreen this week, I discovered five empty houses. One of the websites I looked at a few weeks ago said that one of them is in foreclosure. There are two houses with dumpsters outside going through apparent renovation and two that are obviously for sale. From what I have learned over the years, a number of the houses on Doreen have been rental properties.
I would hope that Doreen draws some first time home owners who see the opportunity for an affordable starter home in a surprisingly fantastic location. We are so close to hospitals, shopping, Farnsley Park and all the other amenities of the East End. Yes, Commander and Doreen are not the most glamorous blocks of houses in Louisville, but they are good housing values and a good place to set up house and raise a family. . If you are looking for a good home value in Bon Air, take a look at these streets.
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With the exception of the three houses at the south end along Farnsley Park, these houses were measured and cut in a factory/production facility and brought to the sites and assembled. They were not brought wall by wall like the US Steel houses on Johnston Way, but brought board by board and assembled on site.
The houses are of three cookie-cutter styles: ranch, cape cod, and what I will call "A-frame." They were among the last built in the area in 1956. On one wandering trip home, I discovered that there is a bunch of these same housing models on the other side of the Watterson on Betty Lane.
I did an ethnographic research paper on Doreen and Commander as a neighborhood back in my U of L days in 2003. John Gilderbloom gave me an A on it. I had a chance to talk with four original owners of the houses before three of them passed away.
Commander Drive was originally going to be Betty Lane and I understood Doreen was to be called "Joan." As noted above, Betty Lane and Joan are still there and would be Commander and Doreen on the north side of the Watterson. My conclusion is that the same developer went with the same plan for the same type of house on both sides of the Watterson.
I learned in my interviews that the upstairs of the cape cods and A-Frames were originally unfinished. (There is still one of the cape cods on Doreen that was not totally finished.) It was incumbent on the owners to finish their houses. Indeed they did finish them and some of them were very creative in building additions and making the upstairs into bedrooms. Some of the additions obviously were amateur in nature and some of them were very good.
I learned that the houses on Doreen and Commander were distinctive efforts to take advantage of the VA housing program to provide houses for World War II veterans. They cost new about $17,000 apiece. The first owners of most of the houses on Doreen and Commander were Louisville Police Officers and Louisville Fire Fighters.
Anyway, the residents of Commander and Doreen jokingly called themselves $99.00 a week millionaires because moving out to the East End of Louisville was something the rich people did. They at one time had numerous social connections and would sit in their front yards talking to each other because they had a lot in common, especially four men that would sit in one of the yards daily and became known as the four-old grumpy men. They appeared to be outsiders to the rest of the East End, but they appeared to have a wonderful community among themselves.
Right now from what I can tell, there is only one original family occupying one of the houses. Their parents bought the home. They grew up in it and they continue to live in it.
The Neighborhood Today
I would say that Commander Drive is much more intact than Doreen is today. As I walked along Doreen this week, I discovered five empty houses. One of the websites I looked at a few weeks ago said that one of them is in foreclosure. There are two houses with dumpsters outside going through apparent renovation and two that are obviously for sale. From what I have learned over the years, a number of the houses on Doreen have been rental properties.
I would hope that Doreen draws some first time home owners who see the opportunity for an affordable starter home in a surprisingly fantastic location. We are so close to hospitals, shopping, Farnsley Park and all the other amenities of the East End. Yes, Commander and Doreen are not the most glamorous blocks of houses in Louisville, but they are good housing values and a good place to set up house and raise a family. . If you are looking for a good home value in Bon Air, take a look at these streets.
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