In his book, Boderlands, John Stilgoe discusses the inspiration that the English villa park had on American urban and suburban areas. An English villa park is a private area that is maintained and solely accessed by the neighboring inhabitants. A prototypical English villa park is pictured in the movie, Notting Hill. The villa park was imported to the United States; one of the most famous examples is Central Park of New York City. Another example would be the picturesque squares and courtyards of Savannah, Georgia. The before mentioned American villa parks do allow public access, which is contrary to their English counterparts, but Stilgoe does discuss a case study of a private villa park in the United States. Llewellyn Park in New Jersey is only accessible by neighborhood home owners and their friends. Stilgoe labeled Llewellyn Park and others like it as "picturesque fairyland(s) in solitude" (page 55).
While reading Stilgoe's description of the private suburban play land, my thoughts drifted to a different translation of this phenomenon common in the north Atlanta borderlands. Lake Winward is an affluent cluster of neighborhoods surrounding a small private lake. Lake Winward is private and picturesque. Next to the lake is a private clubhouse, with a beautiful sign and an uninviting smaller adjacent sign which reads, "Private, Members Only." The lake and clubhouse are for the inhabitants of the neighborhood alone.
While reading Stilgoe's description of the private suburban play land, my thoughts drifted to a different translation of this phenomenon common in the north Atlanta borderlands. Lake Winward is an affluent cluster of neighborhoods surrounding a small private lake. Lake Winward is private and picturesque. Next to the lake is a private clubhouse, with a beautiful sign and an uninviting smaller adjacent sign which reads, "Private, Members Only." The lake and clubhouse are for the inhabitants of the neighborhood alone.
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