1973: House in Meade Heights

Meade Heights

Although Meade Heights was built by the Air Force between 1958-1960, students at Capitol Campus did not live there until 1970 when a Board of Governors was created to assist with its day-to-day management. It was a unique “learning-living environment” with some houses occupied by students, while others were home to faculty and their families. The photograph above illustrates a typical duplex, ranch-style house. Each side of the house (A and B) was large enough for four people and featured a floorplan with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a common living area. Two noteworthy elements of each house were a lack of insulation and sliding patio doors, housing details considered undesirable in Pennsylvania, especially during the cold winter months. A long-standing legend states that the design plans for Meade Heights were intended for a warmer climate and accidentally switched with those for the Homestead Air Force Base, located in Homestead, Florida, which was destroyed in 1992 by Hurricane Andrew and later rebuilt in 1994.

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