For our last post for Preservation Month, let's take a look at Parkbelt Homes! In 1938, General Houses of Chicago built 10 experimental streamlined houses here in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Parkbelt Houses in Greenbelt were composed of concrete slabs, steel frames and prefab panels. These modern homes were considered cutting edge at the time.
General Houses exhibited an almost identical model to the #Greenbelt Parkbelt Homes in the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Exposition. Watch a video about the houses and exhibition here:
Almost all of Greenbelt's Parkbelt Homes have been significantly altered. They pre-date the more well-known prefabricated Lustron houses by a decade. As we conclude Preservation Month, remember that preservation is about more than structures. It is also about community and the stories told about and within those structures. Come visit the Greenbelt Museum Historic House and discover some of those stories for yourself.