Christeele Acres Historic District
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The Christeele Acres Historic District, a residential subdivision built in 1943, is located between State Street and 500 East, and between 900 South and 1010 South in Orem, Utah. The district consists of sixty-two single-family dwellings and three duplexes on sixty-five rectangular lots. The buildings are all one-story brick structures, similar in scale and materials. Built during World War II for defense workers, the design and construction of the houses was tightly controlled. The floor plans and stylistic elements were based on the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) "minimum house" prototypes developed in the 1930s. The majority of the dwellings have four principal rooms and approximately 700 square feet (65 m²) of living space. While in general, World War II-era houses were stylistically plain, the homes in Christeele Acres display an unusually high degree of variety for the time period. Not including the duplexes, there are eight distinct facade treatments and several minor variations in floor plans. In addition, the houses were well-constructed and demonstrate a high level of quality of materials and workmanship. With few exceptions, the houses and yards have been maintained and are in good condition. Other than garages, there are no out-of-period structures within the district.
[edit] Landscaping Features
The Christeele Acres subdivision was built on a flat parcel of approximately 10.5 acres. The land was originally an irrigated farm. The fields and orchards which surrounded the subdivision in the 1940s have been gradually replaced by later subdivisions to the north, south, and east, and by commercial development along State Street to the west. The University Mall in Orem, built in 1972 just two blocks south of Christeele Acres, was a major factor in the growth of retail along State Street and 1300 South (both five-lane) highways). Today the landscape of Orem has been almost completely transformed from agricultural uses to shopping centers, retail stores, and other commercial uses.
Despite the growth surrounding it, many of the original landscape features of Christeele Acres have been retained making it a visually cohesive neighborhood. The subdivision lots were arranged on two long streets (400 East and 450 East) with two shorter cross-streets at each end (900 South and 1010 South.) On the original plat map, 400 East was designated as "Scera Avenue," 450 East was "Lincoln Avenue," and 1010 South was 10th South. The house addresses were numerical by lots. In the 1940s, the streets were numbered and the houses giventhe numerical addresses currently used. With a few exceptions, the houses face inward. The developers provided curb, gutter, sidewalks, driveways, and street paving. The home owners provided their own fences and lanscaping. The majority of lots are 55 feet (17 m) wide by 125 feet (38 m) deep with lots that are more square at the corners. There is a uniform 25-foot (8 m) setback for all buildings. Running along the rear of each property is a 10-foot (3 m) right-of-way for utilities and the irrigation system. Many of the irrigation ditches are dirt, however some were lined with stone or cement in the 1950s.
Because individual home owners provided landscaping, there is a variety of vegetation. Each house has a front lawn and most have lawn in the backyard as well. There are a number of homes with large fifty-year-old conifers and deciduous trees. Front yards also include shrubbery and flower beds. In the backyard, most property owners have garden plots and many have fruit trees. Fence types are mostly wood plank or chain link, nearly all extant fences date from after the historic period. The lots are separated by fences at the rear and sides of the backyards. Only a few homes have fences separating the front yards from one another.
