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| This 25 foot high structure was placed near the intersection of Route 73 and Evans Road in 1973 |
(Author's Note: 7/13/2023 - There was some confusion on my part as to where the model homes and the globe (shown above) were located. Newspaper reports at the time stated it was at Evans Road and Route 73. But the photos at the end of this piece clearly show the model homes at the corner of Commenwealth and Route 73. At the time, Evans Road did not dead end at Commenwealth. It went all the way to Route 73. Today, that section of Evans is now part of Commenwealth Drive. If you look at the street plan of New World below, you will see Evans (now called Commonwealth) intersecting with Route 73 and the model home shown there.)
Buried in the history of the Willow Ridge neighborhood lies a hidden neighborhood of 58 homes. Originally called "New World Evesham," a development officially known as "New World at Willow Hill" was designed to be a"planned neighborhood" of 877 single family homes and 292 town homes. (Note: Newspaper sources at the time quote the developer giving slightly different number of homes and townhouses over the few years of the project).
In early 1972, the Rossmoor Corporation, who had previously designed planned neighborhoods in Maryland and California, purchased 415 acres just off Route 73 near Evans Road. Prior to the development, the area was the location of Willow Hill Farm, which gave its name to the new development.
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| Ad from the Philadelphia Inquirer, 1966 |
Plans were approved to build the first neighborhood under Evesham's new "Cluster Ordinance". This ordinance allowed new neighborhoods to be built as long as 25% of the land in the neighborhood was designated as "open space". In New World, the open space would consist of several recreation areas and an elementary school. Single family homes were to be priced between $43,990 and $53,990 and come in 5 different styles: Antigua, Granada, Martinique, Devon and Nassau. These styles were unusual for the area, with both Spanish contemporary and English Tudor in the same neighborhood. Townhomes would start at $29,400 and come in 4 styles: Trinidad, Aruba, Bermuda and Jamaica. Plans for the new development were officially announced in March 1972.
By September of 1973, model homes were completed and the neighborhood was ready for its opening weekend preview. Homes in the first section of the new development were expected to be ready for occupancy by Spring of 1974. To celebrate the opening weekend, Rossmoor contracted to have a giant metallic globe brought from another of their developments in Monroe, NJ, near exit 8A of the NJ Turnpike. It was flown down by helicopter to a pedestal that had been built on the corner of Evans and Route 73.
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| 10,000 pound globe flown to Evesham on September 25, 1973 |
The air crew, together with workers on the ground, were to set the globe upon a pedestal.
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| Landing in Evesham |
Unfortunately, when the globe was being put into place, the stem on which it was to have balanced snapped. The globe was set down in a field until repairs could be completed.
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| The globe on its side, with the helicopter in the backround |
Initial 'news reports' in the local newspapers show pre-sales of new homes were 'brisk'. However, these reports appear to be more like press releases than actual news reporting, so it is difficult to get a handle on whether sales were going well. By November 1973, 29 homes had been pre-sold and by April 1974 that number had risen to 50. The sales office stated that helping sales was the fact that there was planned bus service to the Lindenwold high-speed line.
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| The Martinique. This English Tudor style home sold for $56,900. |
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| The Antigua |
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| The Grenada |
Behind the scenes, however, things were not looking as well as the press releases declared. Two issues were hampering sales of the new homes. The oil crisis of 1973-1974 precipitated a recession, causing many people to delay big purchases. In response, in the fall of 1974, 3 new models of homes were introduced at a reduced price - the Jamestown, the Nantucket and the Williamburg. (Oddly, the next two ads each spell Williamburg differently.)
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| Print ad March 21, 1975 |
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| Print ad September 13, 1974 |
Perhaps more importantly, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection banned new sewer hookups in Evesham, due to capacity issues at its Elmwood plant. New World had initially received hookups for only 80 single family homes and 50 townhouses. Without being able to connect new homes to city sewer lines, construction eventually ceased by August of 1975. By the time of the stoppage, 58 homes were built - 33 were occupied and 25 were unsold.
In September 1976, prices were reduced in order to sell the homes that were already built, including the 7 model homes. (Purchasers of the model homes were required to move the houses to another location.)
Eventually, after losing $1.5M, Rossmoor threw in the towel and sold the development to Chiusano Brothers in March of 1977. By this time, Evesham had expanded its sewer plant and was again able to provide sewer hookups. Chiusano Brothers renamed the neighborhood Willow Ridge and announced plans to remove the globe and build an additional 915 new homes.
About the only proof that 'New World' ever existed is if you own one their homes, you can look at your land record or tax bill, under 'description', it will show the one of the original names from the New World Development. These homes will be a few years older than the ones around it built by Chiusano.
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| Land record showing a 'Martinique' home from New World, built in 1974 |
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| Photo via John Flack |
Most of the completed New World homes are located in the top right hand corner of this map. Many of the planned streets were already paved, so this map will look somewhat familiar today. Some time between 1980 and 1983, New World Drive was renamed Willow Ridge Road.
It is interesting that a school was planned for Hedges Road (now called Commonwealth Drive) and Luray Lane (which would have been a through street). Jaggard School was already being planned at this point on Wescott Road, just a short distance away.
I have been unable to determine the current location of the globe, if it still exists. I saw one webpage that said it might be in a field near Scranton, but the webpage wasn't very credible.
Chiusano began selling homes in Willow Ridge by April, 1978.
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| Ad for Willow Ridge 4/28/78 |
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| Ad for Willow Ridge 4/7/78 |
Update: 7/17/21- I found New World on a map at OpenStreetMaps.org!
Update: 12/16/2022 - Found a new map with New World
Update: 7/13/2023 - I found overheads from 1975 and 1995. The 1975 overhead shows the model home area and you can see the round globe in the parking lot, located at the corner of Route 73 and Commonwealth Drive. By 1995, all the homes are gone except one. The homes were sold and moved.
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| Model home area in 1975 |
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| Model home area in 1995 |
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