Donald Leon Farrow believes that architectural structures should be beautiful, livable, and sustainable. When planning structures, we must understand how environmental attributes like light, warmth, and privacy influence people. Farrow argues that home layouts should facilitate efficient movement between spaces like the kitchen and dining room. Additionally, smaller, more energy efficient homes that use premium materials are preferable to large homes. Location is also important, and neighborhoods should be safe, provide opportunities, and avoid environmental hazards. Overall, Farrow advocates designing homes and planning communities in ways that consider people's needs and relationship to their environment.

1. Musings on How Buildings and Environment Relate to People by Donald Leon Farrow
Donald Leon Farrow believes that the better architectural structures are at once beautiful,
livable and sustainable. When it comes to planning – we start with understanding the
prevailing human condition, and what environmental attributes have a positive influence
on people. For instance observes Donald Leon Farrow, people and animals in general
respond positively to light and warmth during the day, and dark and warmth during the
night. So this kind of natural comfort is critical to take into consideration when
considering structures. Sunlight and the trajectory of the sun should be considered when
citing a home insists Donald Leon Farrow, as well as the effects on areas that receive
direct sunlight. and areas of the home that do not.
Whereas lots of windows in a home invite light during the day – the effect of night must
be considered, where privacy and security might be considerations as well as energy
efficiency states Donald Leon Farrow. He insists that this is not really an either / or
situation. For instance, you can have majestic windows – and majestic (high-quality)
curtains for those windows.
Also consider how the house interior lives. We want communal spaces and we want
private spaces too, and these can be balanced says Donald Leon Farrow. The cathedral
ceilings desired by some, are not preferred by others who want more of a cozy feel to the
house.
You will notice that formal dining spaces found in many home plans seem to be placed
arbitrarily, and not adjacent to the kitchen - thereby necessitating travel with containers of
food. There is no efficient flow in these situations says Donald Leon Farrow. The better
homes have more efficient floor plans, that for instance consider what doors are placed
where for visual continuity, and the direction of door swing.
Donald Leon Farrow notes that people today are finding that small homes live much
better than the very large houses preferred in years past. The smaller homes are more
energy efficient, cozy and manageable. And because they are smaller, more premium
materials can be used inside and out sometimes for less money than standard materials on
larger homes, hence the term “jewel boxes” states Donald Leon Farrow.
Home exteriors are as critical as interiors says Donald Leon Farrow, where the exterior
should give an indication of the quality inside the house. Particular attention should be
paid to materials used and the relationship of these materials to nature. Protecting old
growth trees by fencing off around the tree parallel with the tree canopy, and using colors
of the home complimentary of nature - generally yield very positive results says Donald
Leon Farrow. However, he contends that this work must be combined with a sense of
proportion, scale and materials used in the house design.
There are also consideration of status. Many higher-end home designs for example do
not have garage doors on the façade of the house states Donald Leon Farrow. These
doors are placed on the side of the house, but in trade require larger lots for the side
driveway. In addition, the practice of decorating the façade of the house, whether in
brick or stucco or shutters, and not continuing this theme on all sides of the house – is
tantamount to a bad make-up job.
With the growing trend in gentrification and people leaving northern cities for southern
locations, location is still important. However, the guidelines have softened somewhat.
If a town is poor while very safe – it becomes more reasonable to purchase a house in a

2. neighborhood that is not trending upward, as long as it is not necessarily trending
downward says Donald Leon Farrow.
Sometimes if a house is purchased in a marginal or poor neighborhood, and these areas
are especially safe. A tear down of neighboring houses may be an opportunity to
purchase the lots for city gardens (after soil testing) states Donald Leon Farrow.
He also cautions that houses torn down may have contained lead or asbestos based
materials or other harmful materials. This is why Donald Leon Farrow insists on having
the soil and any debris professionally tested.
Another consideration is a modern greenhouse or hydrophonic garden as a gesture toward
controlling a portion of your food source says Donald Leon Farow.
We are reminded by Donald Leon Farrow, of some tried and true rules for home purchase
anywhere. These include considerations of not buying or building in or near major roads,
or business districts, or industrial parks or utility or manufacturing plants, or highways, or
dangerous areas or railroads, or dumps or major animal farms, etcetera.
Donald Leon Farrow cautions that if you are considering purchasing a house in the
country or a small country town, beware of the ground water if the house uses well water.
Pesticides and chemicals placed on the crops can make their way into the well water
stream, so the water should be precision tested says Donald Leon Farrow. Also, crop
sprays can be ingested for those in the vicinity so know the area crops and how they are
tended before buying.
Donald Leon Farrow stated that old barns or stables can be revamped into beautiful and
efficient dwellings under the right circumstances. You should have the right engineers
and architects available to estimate the planning process and general costs of making
these structures livable says Donald Leon Farrow.
According to Donald Leon Farrow, there is a growing trend in urban living, gentrifying
downtown areas for upscale living. There is also some mixed-income living in these areas
– very little. The caution is regarding the direction of society with the dangers that
people pose to each other as society becomes more stressed and global. The caution is
that these areas may become riskier to live than areas of less density says Donald Leon
Farow.
Also advises Donald Leon Farrow, is the break-up of impoverished urban areas. These
areas are targets in a different sense he observes. People living is these urban ghettos
should disperse throughout the country, abandoning these cities and areas to integrate
themselves into areas of much less cultural density, and greater services and
opportunities. Donald Leon Farrow states that these areas lack jobs, and safety and good
schools, and decent housing, and are instead infested with crime and drugs and danger.
Although some older persons in these areas may be stuck, the younger people, especially
those with kids, have everything to gain by packing up and finding safer and less targeted
areas to live suggests Donald Leon Farrow. Finding the right location would mean a
lower cultural density, but improved safety and schools and local grocery stores and jobs.
Donald Leon Farrow believes that whether Latino or Black or Asian, urban ghettos
represent a false sense of community and culture, as these are overrun with deceit, and
danger and large statistics of inter-racial crime. Donald Leon Farrow believes that
culture is better experienced in locations of peace and safety and opportunity, even when
the cultural density is much less than in urban ghetto areas.

3. One of the biggest crimes states Donald Leon Farrow are the long-term redlining and
housing practices that heaped poor minority persons on top of each other in housing.
Often the purveyors of these crimes purposely targeted a specific level of status within
this class while they urged non-minority persons to sell their houses, and pulling services
from the area says Donald Leon Farrow. Most services that remained were run out of
business by the predictable decline and decay of these areas, which would occur to any
race of people subjected to the same criminal herding and baiting. Living in these
situations observes Donald Leon Farrow make these areas targets for removal of services
and sustenance, infestation of drugs, guns and other crime, targeted policing, mass
imprisonment and other practices orchestrated at harming the urban poor. These abuses
will only get worse, so the residence that can leave must abandon these areas with the
children.
Finally, we know that energy is required to build a house. Energy is also required to
demolish a house and recycle or dispose of the debris. Therefore, one of the greenest
approaches to acquiring a house, is to remodel an existing house. If more people did this,
not only will many wonderful structures be preserved, but our carbon footprint would be
greatly reduced says Donald Leon Farrow.