Juxtaposition in Advertising

I read the real estate section in the newspaper each weekend. An advertisement caught my eye. “A return to village life,” it read. The houses pictured are just the kind I like. But the development is for “active adults,” by which the advertiser means “AARP members without school-age children.” And it’s across the river in Warwick.

Conveniently located next to the advertisement for Duany Plater-Zyberk‘s Warwick Grove, and just outside the village of Warwick, is Pelton Crossing. The advertisement for Pelton Crossing extols the planned luxury and the “million-dollar views.” The home pictured is too big and bland — and starting at $300,000 more than those in Warwick Grove. Pelton Crossing’s site plan is typical of most developments over the past several decades.

I wish more new old houses were being built.