Union Village Awarded John Russell Pope Award for Urban Planning

LEBANON, OH– Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices has been awarded the John Russell Pope Award for Urban Planning for their Union Village Master Plan. The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art held the inaugural John Russell Pope Awards on April 17. The Awards recognize the best work of individuals who contribute to the creation of classical and traditional architecture.

The vision for Union Village is a multi-generational community with residential homes; retail businesses; arts and cultural centers; educational and health care operations; and several parks and town centers, to create the vision of a complete village that might develop over time. The architects used the concept of new-urbanism, an urban design movement which promotes walkable neighborhoods containing a range of housing and job types.

“From my first phone call with Jill Hreben at Otterbein Homes I knew that their passion for building a place that fosters community aligned with mine. Awarding-winning design relies heavily on award-winning clients. Otterbein Homes is just such a client. I’m excited about their goals and intentions for their property. Having lived in a community I helped design that is based on the same design principles that informed the Union Village master plan, I’m am reminded daily of the power of design to improve our quality of life. Just as places like Lebanon and Mariemont are highly valued and protected today, Union Village will be a great legacy for this generation to leave for those to come,” said Mike Watkins the architect for Union Village.

The Awards are named for John Russell Pope, 1874-1937, best known as the architect of the Jefferson Memorial and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Pope’s additional significant works include the National Archives Building, Constitution Hall, the Temple of the Scottish Right, and Woodend, a mansion in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He was born in New York and educated at the American School of Architecture in Rome (later called the American Academy in Rome) and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was renowned for interpreting European classicism in a new, American form. Pope’s domestic and monumental architecture established him as a “leader in the development of highly refined and restrained classicism.”

“It is exciting that Union Village is already receiving this type of recognition,” said Jill Hreben President and CEO of Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices. “We are proud of this plan, and winning an award for our vision makes us even more eager to see it come to life.”