 The principal designer of Village Homes was architect Mike Corbett who began planning in the 1960s, with construction continuing from south to north from the 1970s through the 1980s.Village Homes was completed in 1982, and has attracted international attention from its inception as an early model of an environmentally friendly housing development, including a visit from then-French President François Mitterrand.The 225 homes and 20 apartment units that now are the Village Homes community use solar panels for heating, and they are oriented around common areas at the rear of the buildings, rather than around the street at the front.