Tri-Cities Habitat for Humanity Alphabet Homes

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In Eastern Washington state, the government built a secret city during World War II to support the Hanford site, part of the Manhattan Engineer District Project. The community became a patchwork of single-family houses built according to a literal alphabet of plans.

Today, you can still peruse all of the plans, from A to Z. One of those plans, the F design, was the basis for our last Habitat project.

The homes, which were built to house scientists and others who were supporting the work at Hanford, became the community of Richland, one of the Tri-Cities. Each worker was assigned a house based on their rank, job, and family size. The roughly 1,600 homes were arranged in neat grids in “one of the most complete surviving examples of federal wartime community planning in the country,” according to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.

Alphabet Design Inspiration

Tri-County Partners Habitat for Humanity stipulated that they wanted a design derived from the historic alphabet homes for a new low-cost housing project. Using the F design, Tessa created a 28-unit housing development of medium- and large-scale townhomes. 

The design preserves the recognizable character and architectural identity of the original exterior while updating the design to meet current building codes, contemporary space planning standards, and energy performance requirements. It features both three and four-bedroom models that are more than 1,600 square feet each. They’re economical to build, ADA accessible, and are scalable and repeatable. The floor plan and building systems allow the townhouse prototype to be used on various sites throughout the Tri-Counties region. 

The homes are an open-concept design with nine-foot ceilings on the bottom floors and windows that reach higher than usual so light penetrates further inside, making them lovely to live in. Each unit will have two bathrooms, regardless of the number of bedrooms, and has an optional washer and dryer placement on either the main or second floor. The design also includes lots of storage and a patio in the back of each space with a privacy fence.

“These are charming homes,” Tessa says. “Sometimes communities push back against low-income housing. But if they’re appealing to live in and to look at, it makes everyone happier. That’s one reason architect-led projects are better for the community.” 

By balancing historic character with modern functionality, durability, and long-term livability, these units are meant to transform affordable housing in the region and beyond. We’re so smitten with them that we’re even working on making the design a stock plan that would be available to Habitat for Humanity offices across the country.

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