Don Hershey kept a series of notebooks that contain various types of information such as a summary of his career and awards, listings of his various projects, and stories of his early life in Dayton, Ohio where he lived until college. We are gradually transcribing these writings as we go through these books and will be putting the contents up in this section. He mentions his incorporation of passive solar design and radiant heat in a slab on the ground of about 35 of his houses in the 1940′s, “taking advantage of 55% earth temperature. These proved successful with a 30% fuel saving and delightfully warm floors.” Ideas that were way before their time. It’s also illuminating to hear him describe watching the Wright Brothers (his neighbors) do tests with kites while also working on a plane that eventually led to their building the world’s first successful airplane.
We have added a section with the transcriptions of these notebooks and will continue to add more as we get them typed! Click on the “Notebooks” tab in the menu or click here to go to this new section.
As the daughters of the late Bob (and Jane) Hershey, eldest son of Don Hershey, we were so surprised and proud to find our grandfather memorialized with his own website! We were born and raised in a Don Hershey original home at 1807 Clark Road in Penfield. The “Hershey Girls” loved the house our Grandpa designed and built for us with its classic open floor plan, beamed cathedral ceilings, sunken living room and wall of trapezoid windows which brought the outside in. Whenever the Hershey family gathered in one of our uncles’ homes in the Rochester area or at our grandparents’ home on Landing Road South in Brighton, we were greeted with the same contemporary floor plans and warm finishes for which a Hershey home is legendary. Naturally we thought all homes were built this way! Only when we visited our friends’ homes and moved to other parts of the country did we realize what a unique piece of artwork a Hershey home is. We are pleased to know that others have found owning a Hershey Home is just as special for them as it was for us. The more than 500 homes our Grandpa Hershey left behind are truly an amazing tribute to the creative man he was and his life’s passion.
With Heartfelt Gratitude,
Lynda Hershey Spalding, Christina Hershey Katsarsky & Karen Hershey Morrell
Christina,
It’s great to hear from you and your sisters! Your description of your home while growing up is wonderful. Could I use an excerpt on the site? Keep in touch. We’re adding more as we go along in our Hershey journey of discovery.
Peggi