We have a vision of what a neighborhood should be. We’re leaving behind the suburban sprawl of plain, identical boxes, and creating a neighborhood on a human scale. Imagine safe walkways and friendly conversations on front porches. We believe that quality is not quantity – it’s value. People come first, which is why these homes are affordable, rich in character, and highly efficient. It’s about time to let your quality of life improve.
Many people love walking through older neighborhoods of towns to see the charm of homes of the past. So why isn’t that charm embraced in new homes as well? We’re not sure, but we think that they had the right idea all along. So our homes have been designed with the past in mind, making room for those details that have been left behind. After all, it worked before…
When we first looked out over the land that was to become Josephine Crossing, we were struck by the beauty of the river that Billings has nearly forgotten. We wanted to create a community where everyone could enjoy the beauty provided by the Yellowstone River. So we kept the yards a little bit smaller which let us maintain large natural spaces and more parks.
Josephine Crossing has been carefully designed with safety in mind. Today’s conventional neighborhoods have wide streets with a sidewalk directly bordering the street and often obstructed by large brick mailboxes, if there is a sidewalk at all. It is uncomfortable and unsafe to walk on. We have moved our sidewalks back from street and filled that space with a boulevard lined with trees. We figure that someday a kid with a rake and an itch for a new bike will thank us. With garages in the rear of homes, sidewalks become even safer as there are no cars backing out of driveways. In Josephine Crossing, we’ve narrowed the streets to unconsciously slow the traffic. Intersections and mid-block crossings have curb/walk extensions, which again slow traffic, and means that kids will have less distance to cover while in the street. Oh, we could go on and on…
Of all the things that make older neighborhoods charming, we cannot forget their proximity to parks. It seems that as time has gone on, developers have forgotten the importance of parks and have favored greenbelts behind yards instead. And in theory, greenbelts are great…but it’s where they’ve been put that’s wrong. They usually sit backed up to surrounding yards, so that you hardly ever see them and they usually feels closed off. We’ve nestled “pocket parks” into the land in the fronts of homes. This way, the view from the park looks at the best part of the house, the front, and parents can sit and watch their children play together from nearby front porches.
The most common question we hear about Josephine Crossing is “How big are the lots” It’s a great question, and one that people have become accustomed to because they want space for their kids to be able to play. Since most new developments don’t have any parks nearby, the backyard is the only place for that. We thought differently though. Most parents want to spend time playing in the yard with their kids but end up spending the entire weekend mowing and caring for the oversized yard. So we made our yards a little bit smaller to make room for pocket parks and open spaces where parents can run free with their kids. After all, a yard should be big enough to enjoy but small enough to mow…So go on, take your Sundays back!
In the last fifty years or so, building has centered more around the automobile than people. Increasing traffic has increased stress while physical activity and social interaction has faded away. With all things centered on the car, it became necessary to drive a 2,000 pound vehicle to the store to buy a one pound loaf of bread. Have we sacrificed convenience in the name of convenience? Josephine Crossing is a neighborhood where people can feel free to leave the car in the garage and venture out to where buildings are focused on the human-scale.
A porch? People still have those?? Well, not often on newer houses but then people don’t have someplace to relax and enjoy a glass of lemonade while the kids play in the park nearby. We want to bring that back. Besides, is there a better place for long talks and short chats, first kisses and bittersweet goodbyes?
Tired of not being able to find your friends’ front doors amongst vast sea of imposing garage doors? We are. That’s why we’ve moved our garages to the backs of homes. This allows us to make the fronts of homes more beautiful and inviting to visitors. We feel that cars are less important than people; they can take the back entrance.