History of New Thought and Unity

Unity Village’s impressive and European charm can be attributed to one person, Waldo Rickert Fillmore, the second son of Charles and Myrtle Fillmore.  Often referred to as just Rickert, his is the master architectural plan for Unity Village. Which people went on to describe It as peaceful, centering, still, calm, serene and impressive.

The artistic ability of Rickert was evident at an early age, and this talent took him to Chicago, where he earned a degree from the Chicago Art Institute. Rickert was involved in several ventures, some in Colorado along with some in Kansas City, Missouri, but his designs for Unity Village came from his travels in Europe around 1910.

Rickert first traveled to England, which influenced the little dwellings in the English Cotswold style, reminiscent of old country meadow landscapes. Rickert then traveled to Italy where he studied in Rome, where his Mediterranean influence is prominent in the center of the campus.  There is some speculation that Rickert spent time in Seville Spain, but there are no records in Unity’s archives.

Rickert returned to the United States when World War I broke out, but his architectural style was planted in his heart. Rickert loved architecture based on books in his library Florentine History and Samuel Chamberlain’s Domestic Architecture in Rural France. Author Zebley wrote in his book From the Beginning-Unity, volume two describes how much of the architecture around the Village is reminiscent of pictures in both books

The first two buildings in the Village that Rickert designed, was the Tower and the original Silent Unity Building. This building now houses the Unity Archives and Unity Worldwide Ministries, which were completed in 1929. Rickert’s master plan was finally completed in 1989, 24 years after his transition.