Photo by Lorn Spolter
The catalyst that catapulted the sleepy farm country of New Albany into the groundbreaking design that would gain national acclaim began with the desire to build just one house.
“It started with a simple idea,” says Les Wexner, founder, chairman and CEO of L Brands, Inc.
Wexner was one of the panelists at the Jefferson Series’ Revisiting the Vision roundtable discussion, held Feb. 25 at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts. Other panelists on hand for the glimpse 30 years into the past were New Albany Company co-founder and chairman Jack Kessler; architects Gerald McCue, Jaquelin Robertson and Graham Wyatt; and landscape architect Laurie Olin.
Journalist and PBS talk show host Charlie Rose moderated the discussion.
One house soon became two, Wexner told the audience, as Kessler realized that he also wanted to build a home in the country. Despite his travels across the country as founder and chairman of L Brands, Wexner knew he wanted to build locally.
“There’s something about midwestern values,” he says.
As Kessler and Wexner began to acquire property, they remained focused on quality. They also began talking to their friends about their plans.
“It caught on pretty quickly,” Kessler says.
Once the land acquisitions became publicly associated with their names, the price of the land increased in anticipation of what the two were planning.
In the late 1980s, realizing that the scale of what they were undertaking was beyond their collective experience, the duo began seeking outside help. The team began to take shape. They visited Europe, seeking inspiration from Normandy villages.
The design centered on a traditional Georgian style architecture done in mostly brick. Though the buildings shaped the landscape, the overall appearance of the land was important to the planners. Trees were collected from Ohio, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Illinois.
Details were important to the team, even down to the color of mailbox covers, Wexner says.
When they began planning the New Albany Country Club and its golf course, they turned to golf legend Jack Nicklaus for leadership.
In many ways, Wexner says, their lack of knowledge about the traditional ways of designing communities allowed them to see with fresh eyes.
“There was a vision. And they stuck with the vision,” Wyatt says.
Sarah Sole is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
