Mathews Architecture

Prospect Terrace is an excellent example of new in-fill construction that complements and enhances the historic West End-Clingman Avenue neighborhood in which it was built. Mountain Housing Opportunities has been focusing much of its work in the WECAN neighborhood for the past decade. In 2004 it began its ambitious Prospect Terrace project, which included the renovation of an existing house and the construction of several new single-family, duplex, and multi-family structures. For decades, local people called the target area “Kudzu Valley.” Today it is a lively, integrated addition to the WECAN community. Jane Mathews had been involved with the residents in the neighborhood from the time of the original design charrettes that identified this area as a weak link in the neighborhood fabric. The designs that Mathews Architecture developed for the in-fill construction draw on and respect the character of the existing houses. This project was also a pilot project for the state of North Carolina’s Healthy Built Homes initiative to show that affordable housing could be sustainable in its design, maintenance and operation while at the same time fitting into the historic context of the neighborhood.