A drawing of the plans for the School Street homes looks like a row of arts and crafts bungalows built in an era decades ago, when houses were smaller, neighbors spoke daily, and residents walked to school, the corner store, and into town. 

John McLinden, the School Street developer, had this concept in mind, and now together with Sarah Susanka, renowned architect and author of the Not So Big House, they will turn this idea into reality.

“These houses look like home,” Susanka said. “Everyone has their archetypal home.  They want a house that has a face. So many new suburban homes don’t have a grace or charm that comes from good design.”

In 1998, Susanka wrote the Not So Big House after hearing clients, time and again, complain that their recently built “McMansions” did not feel like home or function properly. Susanka turned the design world on its head at a time when everyone poured their money into the square footage of a new house. Her book and philosophy stresses that we need to think better not bigger. 

“It’s about quality, not quantity,”  Susanka said. “The Not So Big House is paradoxically not about size, but about building a home that is a third smaller than you think you needed. I want to help people build a home that reflects them and use the money really appropriately, creating a better quality of life.”

Susanka says that the Not So Big House is about good design, and not so much about style, although she does say that the New Urbanism trend, one that the School Street homes reflect, tends to have a certain look.

“The New Urbanism homes have a lot of classic details,” she said. “They emulate bygone eras. The homes on School Street are inspired by the bungalow. The bungalow design came into prominence as a counter-movement to the Victorian, which was the ‘McMansion’ of the time.”

In her book, Susanka says that smaller houses connect us to a simpler time and notes that in 1926, Sears catalogue listed a two-bedroom bungalow for $626. McLinden points to this idea as one of the inspirations behind the development and design of School Street.

“I was really inspired by seaside, Florida and the beloved bungalow,” McLinden said. “The bungalow isn’t overwhelming. It’s like comfort food.”

McLinden, a Libertyville resident for 17 years, says he wanted to create a more urban, walkable community that had homes with large front porches where people can stay connected to their neighborhood. McLinden has worked on other residential projects closer to the city, mostly with residential loft rehabs, but says he’s never done anything like this before.

“I’m exponentially excited about this project,”  McLinden said. “If it says anything, I sold my home on the other side of Milwaukee, and I’m moving in.”

The homes start at $489,000 and range from 1,800 square feet up to 3,600 square feet. The Not So Big House concept is evident in all of the homes they are building.  The floor plans do not list sizes, but focus more on functionality and usability.

“In the beginning, it drives people crazy,” McLinden said. “They look at the drawings and want to know how big every room is. But that’s not as important as looking at the floor plan and asking, ‘Does this work?'”

McLinden says Susanka’s book and work inspires him. After he read her first book, McLinden started emailing and calling Susanka for six months until finally he got a call from Susanka in July of 2010. McLinden says he really wanted Susanka to collaborate with him on this project. Susanka was cautions at first because “I wanted to find a place and developer that really understood my ideas.”

During the 80s and 90s, Susanka did a lot of work with homeowners, but stopped after she started writing. The author of nine books says it’s time to put the ideas from her books into action. She says she was drawn to the School Street project due to its scale and McLinden’s love for her ideas.

“I wasn’t anticipating that it would be the most perfect community,” Susanka said.  “You know how sometimes you just have serendipity? I found that this project has the will, the means, the community, and the enthusiasm.”

Susanka will design one of the homes on School Street. The project will start construction in spring and open in the fall. Her schematic design for the 2,400-square-foot home will feature an “away” room and a shared hobby and laundry room. She stresses that there will be no formal rooms, which are areas that she’s found usually go unused.

“The kitchen and the main dining area will be in the front, right off of the front porch,” Susanka said. “All of the discussion about the front porch I think is wonderful. But the problem with traditional houses is that the main living area is in the back. With this design, the residents will spill out onto the front porch on a nice day, and there’s that interaction with pedestrian traffic.” 

Susanka says that she wants to hear what people say about this project. Her goal is to get more of these projects around the country at different price points. Although the bungalow style fits this project well, Susanka says that the “Not So Big House” concept can embrace any kind of style.

“Good design is the process itself, style comes out the end,” she said.