The Parkwyn Village Association was found in the 1940’s originally by a group scientists who were employed at the Upjohn Company. Originally the entire group planned to buy land near Galesburg Michigan but members within that group wanted to be closer to Kalamazoo schools so eventually this group purchased a 47-acre lot of land in 1946 at the west end of Winchell Avenue for $18,000. By the fall of 1946, the group meet with world-famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright in Wisconsin and agreed to a design. According to the original design plans, the community was going to consist of rounded plot but due to the FHA not allowing loans for rounded lots, they were changed for the more traditional squared lots.

The residents pooled their money to buy material and resources in bulk. The residents also worked collaboratively when constructing homes to save on costs, there is record of residents making their own concrete blocks and aided in the construction of their homes to help make it more affordable. Four homes in Parkwyn were designed by Wright that reflected his Usonian design. The Usonian design came from when American’s were still recovering from the Great Depression and this design was to help the “common people” create a home that is more affordable. These homes were small with no attic, basement, visible roof, garage, gutters or downspouts.

Architect Norman Carver, Jr. (1928-2018) who studied at Taliesin, assisted in designing homes in Parkwyn. Carver was a Kalamazoo native and a graduate of the Yale Architecture School in 1953. In addition, Carver helped design six homes in Parkwyn Village and would eventually take over the final design and construction of the homes in Parkwyn.

The Lots in Parkwyn Village were sold for about $1000 each and by 1956 and all of the lots were sold and anyone could have bought a plot since deed covenants prohibited the association from discriminating by race, religion, or color.