Austin’s Air-Conditioned Village brought central A/C to U.S.

With panic-inducing ERCOT conservation requests coming in droves these days, it’s hard to remember a world that isn’t soundtracked by the hum of a struggling HVAC unit. Cool air is the only savior right now in Central Texas and beyond, but in the not-so-distant past, Texans did without it.

Back in the early 1950s, folks — even in Texas — made it through the hottest months with window units, if that. Central air at that time was reserved for commercial properties or for the richest residents.

But a project by the National Association of Home Builders led to the construction of what was known as Austin’s Air-Conditioned Village in 1953. Located in Northwest Austin’s Allandale neighborhood, the one-story, mid-century ranch-style homes were to be constructed for sale the following summer. At that time, manufacturers like Chrysler and others would support the testing of central air conditioning in various forms across the sub-division to see what people liked and what was cost efficient enough to build to scale.

That included different forms of shading used on some of the homes, various types of insulation, attic fans, and more.

“They were innovative in the sense of the air conditioning systems, but they were explicitly trying to cover the range of designs and styles that were being built at the time,” Mid Tex Mod board member Jason John Paul Haskins told Community Impact in 2021. “So it really does highlight both the current trends in residential construction in Austin and in Texas, but also where that could go.”

Of the 22 homes, built between 1,145 and 1,468 square feet and priced in the $12,000 range, 20 sold and a largely attended press event announcing the opening of Air-Conditioned Village was held in June of 1954. Hundreds — or thousands, per some reports — of people, including reporters, builders, and those simply curious about these newfangled homes of the future turned out for the event.

A drive through the neighborhood reveals that while some of the homes have changed — of the 22, 15 still stand — the neighborhood retains most of the mid-century charm of yesteryear. The area near Twin Oaks Drive is where most of the homes are located, and while some have had some exterior remodeling, many are still pretty similar to the original vision.

This wasn’t the first air-conditioning test program in the United States, as has been previously stated. It was the first one targeting the middle class by home builders, though, which came up in 2020, when a man named Barry Williamson wanted to demolish the “Air Temp” house on Park View Drive.

In the years preceding, local residents, bolstered by groups like Preservation Austin and Mid Tex Mod, applied for a National Register historic nomination. In the nomination packet, there was more information about the history of experimental subdivisions like this one, plus some unsettling racist housing practices. It turns out that — as in other areas in Austin at the time — only white people were allowed to purchase homes in Air-Conditioned Village, per the packet, because of, “restrictive housing laws, regulations and common practices.”

One of the criteria listed for the historical designation of the Park View Drive home is for the “historical association” with which the house, and the village at large, has. While the owners of the home were not famous people, the “identity of the house as a demonstration project associated with the National Home Builders Association’s initiative to explore the feasibility of installing central air conditioning into homes for the middle class satisfies this criterion for significant historical associations,” reads the proposal filed with Austin’s Historic Landmark Commission.

Nevertheless, the Air-Conditioned Village made chill waves far and wide.

Perhaps most surprising is that, while the Air-Conditioned Village wound up a success, it wasn’t a given that the test families would take a shine to the experiment. In fact, this new technology weirded some folks out at first.

“One of the things that really stood out to me that was kind of surprising was that people had to be convinced that air conditioning was a good idea,” Haskins told CI. “One of the [contemporary] quotes was that the sound of it starting up wasn’t worth having the cool air.”

As temperatures hit the triple digits once more in Central Texas, they could roar like 747s throughout the city and remain on, ERCOT warnings be damned.