l_ I B R / 
 STA 
 
 1 
 SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA 
 
 \
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 ITS PLAN, 
 DECORATION AND CARE 
 
 ISABEL BEVIfiR 
 
 AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS 
 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 
 
 1911
 
 A/4 
 7120 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE I 
 
 DEVELOPEMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE . .- 20 
 
 THE MODERN HOUSE .49 
 
 HOUSE PLANNING 52 
 
 ENTRANCES 58 
 
 THE FARM HOUSE . . ... 74 
 
 ROOMS 80 
 
 STAIRS 90 
 
 SECOND FLOOR PLAN . 95 
 
 APARTMENTS 95 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE 101 
 
 FLOORS 109 
 
 DECORATION AND FURNISHINGS 123 
 
 DRAPERIES 139 
 
 FURNITURE ... .... 145 
 
 CARE OF THE HOUSE 152 
 
 HOUSES OF THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD . . . i^- 
 
 COLOR IN DECORATION 170 
 
 HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES 181 
 
 PLANS FOR A $2,000 COTTAGE i85 
 
 COMPLETE HOUSE PLANS 185 
 
 THE COST OF BUILDING BY FRANK CHOUTEAU BROWN 189 
 PROGRAM FOR SUPPLEMENTAL STUDY .... 217 
 INDEX 221
 
 AMERICAN SCHOOL OF HOME ECONOMICS 
 CHICAGO 
 
 January 1, 1907. 
 My dear Madam: 
 
 As the home is so inseparably 
 connected with the house and as our comfort and 
 efficiency are so greatly influenced by the kind 
 of houses in which we live, much of interest and 
 importance centers in the study of "The House" 
 
 Moreover, with the house, its evolution, 
 decoration, and care may be associated much that 
 is interesting in history, art, and architecture, 
 as well as much that has a direct bearing on the 
 daily life of the individual. 
 
 These lessons are the outgrowth of some 
 class work' in which the students and I have found 
 pleasure and profit, so I am glad to pass them 
 oh with whatever of information and inspiration 
 they may have for another and larger class Of 
 students. 
 
 If they help to a better conception and 
 a truer appreciation of the meaning of the terms
 
 house and hone, they have not failed in their 
 purpose. 
 
 Sincerely yours,
 
 TEEE DWELLINGS OF THE TRIBES'OF CENTRAL AFRICA 
 
 From " 1,'HobiUtion Humint"
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Its Plan, Decoration and Care 
 
 T N our study of the House it will be interesting to 
 * review briefly what is known about the earliest 
 human habitations and the way in which the modern 
 house has developed. 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 It may be well to consider what is meant by the 
 term "the evolution of the house." One hears much 
 in these days about evolution in plans, plants, ani- 
 mals. For present purposes the following definition 
 seems best suited : "Evolution is a process in which, 
 by a series of continuous progressive changes, a com- 
 plex arrangement, agency, or organism is developed 
 from rude or simple beginnings as the evolution of 
 civilization from savagery ; the evolution of a chicken 
 from an egg." The evolution of the house, then, 
 means that progressive series of changes by which 
 the modern house has developed or evolved from an 
 earlier and simpler form. 
 
 What were some of these simpler forms? The 
 
 . . Simpler 
 
 modern house has a very denr.'te meaning to most Forma 
 of us, but how little we know of its beginnings. Let 
 us go back into that dim and shadowy past and find 
 what it can tell us about the earlier human habitations.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 It is so difficult to trace beginnings even of most im- 
 portant events and inventions. The origin of lan- 
 guage, the origin of the family, the earliest home of 
 the human race, are alike unknown ; so we shall not 
 hope to find the first human dwelling, but to find types 
 of early human habitations, and in a study of these 
 types to be enabled to see the evolution of the modern 
 house. 
 
 However much the modern house may differ from 
 the earliest dwelling place, since both were destined 
 to serve the needs of human beings, we may assume 
 that the earlier, as the later form, has been intended to 
 meet some primal human need. Man today needs 
 shelter from the summer's heat and the winter's cold, 
 protection from the wind and the storm, defense from 
 wild beasts ; so it seems most probable that his brother 
 man in the earlier ages of the world had these same 
 human needs. Those who have studied most about 
 early human habitations seem quite agreed that man 
 found his first shelter under the spreading branches 
 of a tree. In a warm climate and in the absence of 
 wild beasts a tree might meet his requirement for 
 shelter from the sun's rays. Viollet Le Due in his 
 "Habitations of Man in all Ages," gives us a picture 
 of this first human dwelling. Moreover we know that 
 trees are now occupied by tribes in Central Africa 
 and South America.
 
 EVOLUTION 01 ; THE HOUSE 
 
 The overlapping and intertwining of the branches Tr6eg 
 are supposed to have suggested the thatched roof for 
 which shingles were later substituted. Viollet Le Due 
 
 - i , i , 1*1 
 
 r 
 
 FIRST HUMAN DWELLING 
 
 shows how the primitive hut may have been suggested 
 by this- putting together of the branches of the tree 
 and intertwining of them. But trees are not found 
 everywhere and cannot be moved from place to place.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Among nomadic tribes whose place of habitation is 
 dependent upon the water supply and the pasture a 
 
 PRIMITIVE HUT MADE BY INTERTWINING OF BRANCHES 
 
 movable dwelling is a necessity. A small amount 
 of wood would serve as a frame work or support and 
 skin for a covering, while its lightness and ease of
 
 EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE 5 
 
 transportation made the tent a most desirable dwell- 
 ing. We read how Abraham sat at the door of his 
 tent, and how the Israelites dwelt in booths at the 
 
 TENT OR HUT 
 [ Light framework covered with Reeds or "Woven Straw 
 
 time of one of their great festivals. "And ye shall 
 take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, 
 branches of palm trees and the boughs of thick trees 
 and willows of the brook ye shall dwell in booths 
 
 TENTS OP NOMADIC TRIBES 
 
 seven days."* 
 One other form of dwelling which Nature has pro- 
 
 Tents 
 
 Cavei 
 
 Levttlcna rxlll, 40.
 
 6 THE HOUSE 
 
 vided for her children was that of the cave in the rock 
 from which it was sometimes necessary to drive out 
 the lower animals before it could be used by man. 
 The cave finds its modern counterpart in the "dugout" 
 
 Pueblos 
 
 TWO-STORIED TENT COVERED WITH SKINS 
 
 of the west. The sod house or "dugouts" are neither 
 so durable nor desirable as the log cabin which has 
 served as a dwelling place for so many pioneers. The 
 log cabin seems to be the most universal form of early 
 dwelling. Types of it are found among primitive and 
 modern races, in Russia, and in all parts of the United 
 States. 
 
 Two other forms of human habitations are of in- 
 terest particularly to Americans. First : The pueblos ;
 
 EVOLUTION OP THE HOUSE 7 
 
 this name signifies a market town or village and is ap- 
 plied to the structures found in Mexico. They con- 
 sist of a compact mass of rooms that may be entered 
 only from the top. They were entered by ladders and 
 the ladders were drawn in after the people, so these 
 
 REED TENTS OP AFRICAN TRIBES 
 
 dwelling's offered considerable security to their occu- 
 pants. These buildings were made of stone carefully 
 laid and the crevices filled with clay and mud. They 
 are both rectangular and circular in form. They con- 
 tained from two to six stories with seventy or more 
 rooms or cells on each story. Some of the rooms com- 
 municated with each other by trap doors, and some 
 of them had openings in the side walls admitting light 
 and air.
 
 8 
 
 Description 
 of Pueblos 
 
 Communal 
 Life 
 
 Mr. Lee Ghilde gives a description of a modern In- 
 dian pueblo which he visited in 1881. "Before us," 
 he says, "on the right are two rows of these adobe 
 habitations, low, with no openings outward, no doors, 
 no staircases. The flat terraced roofs are reached by 
 a movable outside ladder. All the windows and doors 
 
 LOG H( 
 
 OF RUSSIAN PEASANTS 
 
 open into an inside court which can only be reached 
 by going down another ladder. Each house is thus 
 a little fort into which, the ladder once withdrawn, 
 neither man nor beast can penetrate." 
 
 The general arrangement of the cells in these habi- 
 tations indicates that the inhabitants had a communal 
 rather than a family life. Travelers speak of the morn- 
 ing chant and the proclamation made at dawn by the 
 chief. The chant is supposed to be an act of wor-
 
 Ef'OLUTION OF THE HOUSE 
 
 ' $ - 
 /7 /"AV 
 
 '*<**/'< -z *. - n 
 '< ^JS^ 
 *$**r~ 
 
 PRIMITIVE LOG HOUSE OF THE ARYANS 
 Shows chimney which seems to have been lost for some years
 
 10 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 PUEBLO OF TAGS, NEW MEXICO 
 
 ship, and the proclamation the assignment of the day's 
 tasks of the different families living in the pueblo. 
 
 The second form of habitation which in general 
 character much resembles the pueblo are the cliff 
 dwellings. The cliff hous- 
 es were built of rock or 
 cliffs and were often 
 reached with great diffi- 
 cult},'. Their shape and 
 size depended largely up- 
 on the form of the cliff. 
 The walls are of stone ce- 
 mented with clay, and 
 they show much skill in 
 construction. 
 
 While these later forms 
 show much architectural 
 skill and knowledge of 
 the management of mate- House In a Rock 
 
 rials, they would seem very unsatisfactory dwellings to 
 the modern man. The absence of light and heat, the
 
 EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE 
 
 ii 
 
 stone floors and bare walls, with no provision for 
 sanitation do not accord with the idea of what a mod- 
 ern house should offer. 
 
 Besides these typical American forms of dwellings, 
 we will consider four others, viz. The Swiss, Grecian, 
 Roman and Japanese 
 dwellings. 
 
 The lake dwellings 
 of Switzerland are old- 
 er than the pyramids 
 of Egypt. They were 
 built in the still waters 
 of lakes, but far 
 enough from the shore 
 to be safe from dis- 
 turbance. As life be- 
 came safer, the lake 
 dwellers came back to 
 the land. 
 
 In the primitive 
 dwellings which we 
 h ave considered the 
 one requirement which they have all met has been 
 that of protection or defense. As civilization ad- 
 vanced and man learned the use of tools, domesti- 
 cated animals, learned the arts of weaving and of 
 working in wood and metal, his dwelling came to 
 mean something more than a place of shelter. More- 
 over, the character of the country, the climate, the 
 
 Rio Mancas. Two-Storied Cliff House 
 and Enlarged Plan of Rooms
 
 12 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Greek 
 Houses 
 
 kind of building material at hand, all had a part in 
 determining the kind of dwelling that was built in 
 any locality. 
 
 Among the Greeks the energies of the people seem 
 to have been given to the making of temples rather 
 
 LAKE DWELLINGS OF SWITZERLAND 
 
 than private dwellings. Judging from the indications 
 home and family life as we understand it were almost 
 unknown to the ancient Greek. The dwellings were 
 within walled cities ; of one story with stone floors. 
 The absence of any provision for family life is very
 
 PUEBLO OF TAOS. (After a Photograpft.i
 
 EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE 13 
 
 evident. The two principal divisions are the courts 
 for men and women. The seclusion and separation 
 of the women is shown in the general plan. It is said 
 that the Greek woman of the wealthy class was not 
 expected to leave her home more than about once a 
 year ; that she never appeared at dinner with her 
 husband if a guest were present. 
 
 We see in the plan given the combination of the shop 
 or small store with the dwelling. The entrance is 
 guarded by the porter. The vestibule leads into the 
 men's court about which are the bedrooms for the men. 
 The anteroom separates the women's part from the 
 men's, and about the women's court are various rooms 
 in which the house work is done. There seems to have 
 been no general room for both men and women. The 
 house was sometimes two stories. In that case the 
 women's apartments were in the second story. 
 
 We are indebted to the ruins of Pompeii for the B 0man 
 knowledge we have of Roman houses. These houses Houses 
 were derived from the Greek house with its two 
 courts. The plan shown is evidently the house of a 
 wealthy man. We see here the combination of the 
 shop and small house with the larger house. There 
 is the family court and the public court. One has 
 said that the Greek house was made for the use of 
 men and women, the Roman house for public and 
 private life. The house occupied a block. The out- 
 side was rented to tenants and used either as shop or
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 GREEK HOUSE
 
 EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE 
 
 ROM AX HOUSE
 
 i6 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Japanese 
 Houses 
 
 house while the family dwelling centered about the 
 inner court. The walls were of wood finished with 
 plaster; the floors of stone. There were no windows, 
 but there was a good water supply and drainage. The 
 house was heated by braziers containing charcoal, and 
 lighted by wicks in oil. The Roman loved display 
 
 EXTERIOR OF A JAPANESE HOUSE 
 
 and publicity and much of his time was spent in the 
 forum or. the theater. The Roman woman enjoyed 
 greater freedom than the Greek. 
 
 The Japanese house is built of wood with tile roof 
 and no cellar; its walls are made of sliding shutters 
 so that it is possible to make doors anywhere. The 
 size of the rooms is decided by the number of mats. 
 These mats are made of straw, size 3 x 6 ft. There 
 are no bedrooms needed in a Japanese house because 
 any of the rooms can be transformed into a bedroom
 
 EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE 17 
 
 by putting thick comforters on the mats. This practice 
 is much more cleanly than it sounds to an American be- 
 cause the Japanese houses are kept exceedingly clean 
 
 FLOOR PLAN OF A JAPANESE HOUSE
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Swiss 
 Houses 
 
 and the shoes are removed on entering the house, so 
 the dust of the street is not carried in. 
 
 The rooms are used for different purposes. No 
 chairs are used and no dining room tables. Charcoal 
 is used for cooking. It is said that the kitchen utensils- 
 
 are kept under the floor. 
 The wooden verandah is 
 also inclosed by shutters. 
 
 The Swiss houses are 
 made almost entirely of 
 wood. The lower story is 
 of masonry and the base- 
 ment is sometimes used for 
 stores and for the domestic 
 animals. Timbers of the 
 lower story project, form- 
 ing corbel windows. 
 
 To summarize this sec- 
 tion : We see that through 
 the centuries there has 
 been a progressive series of 
 changes in human habita- 
 tions. From the shelter 
 afforded by a tree, the tent, 
 the cave, and the log cabin 
 of one room, the courts of the Greek and Roman 
 houses, or the great hall of the castle, to the modern 
 house of today is a long journey, marked at various 
 times by the introduction of those elements which 
 
 Swiss House. Basement used for 
 
 Cattle; Upper Stones for 
 
 the Family
 
 EVOLUTION OF THE HOUSE 
 
 SWISS HOUSE, SECOND FLOOR PL.AN 
 
 enter into the modern house. The thatched and stone 
 roofs have been replaced by slate and wood. Here 
 the window has been introduced ; there the chimney. 
 The ladder has been replaced by a beautiful staircase. 
 Provision has been made for heat and light. The ar- 
 tist and architect have combined to make the modern 
 house not only the place of shelter but the place of 
 beauty as well.
 
 Civilization 
 
 and 
 
 Architecture 
 
 Conditions 
 
 Influencing 
 
 American 
 
 Architecture 
 
 In the previous section some steps in the evolution 
 of the house have been briefly outlined. It is evident 
 that social conditions and climate influence the charac- 
 ter of the buildings of a country or nation. So we 
 have what are called the characteristic buildings of dif- 
 ferent nations. For example: Egypt is noted for its 
 temples and towers ; Assyria for its palaces ; Greece for 
 its temples ; Rome, for its bridges and aqueducts ; 
 mediaeval Europe for castles and churches ; the Low 
 Countries, for their trade halls ; England, for its coun- 
 try houses, and the United States, for its fine office 
 and municipal buildings. So we realize the truth of 
 the statement that much of the civilization of a coun- 
 try can be read in its architecture. 
 
 It may be well to consider how social conditions- and 
 tradition have influenced American architecture. In 
 a new country there is less of conventionality, greater 
 freedom of action, more originality in the manner of 
 conducting affairs, often less wealth and fewer class 
 distinctions than in an old and well established com- 
 munity. Judged by the standards of the old world 
 America is a very new country. When its resources 
 were undeveloped and its people had little wealth its 
 life and its houses were very simple, limited for the 
 most part to the necessities, but as the development 
 progressed, life became more complex, more influenced 
 
 by the traditions of these lands whose descendants had 
 
 20
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 21 
 
 LOG CABIN IN WHICH PRESIDENT LINCOLN WAS BORN 
 
 Typical of the Houses of the Early Settlers. Chimney on the End 
 
 Partly Demolished 
 
 settled in America. Moreover, America has always 
 been a land for the people not for any one class, but 
 for all the people. Its architecture shows some of these 
 same characteristics. It is original, varied, irregular, 
 with a strong individuality. Again, the Americans are 
 a comfort-loving people, so they demand comfort and 
 convenience in a building, whether it be house or shop. 
 The marble halls and stately palaces of the old world, 
 beautiful though they be on the exterior, do not ap- 
 peal to the American because they are damp and cold ; 
 the same is true of many of the European dwelling 
 houses.
 
 22 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Early House 
 
 Lacking 
 
 in Beauty 
 
 The artistic sense of the people has not been de- 
 veloped by association with the art treasures and splen- 
 did buildings which are so numerous in the old world, 
 so for many years American architecture was sadly 
 lacking in beauty. It was natural that builders should 
 follow the forms of construction which were used 
 abroad. It was soon found, however, that many of 
 those forms were unsuited to the life and customs 
 which prevail in this country. A castle, for instance, 
 is not adapted to the free and simple life of America. 
 The English country house or manor is not suited to 
 
 FAIRBANKS HOUSE AT DEDHAM, MASS., BUILT IN 1(536 
 From " Hnmes in City and Country ' 
 Charles Scribner's Sons, Publishers
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 23 
 
 Built about 1650. Second Story Overhangs Front and Sides 
 
 From ' Early Connecticut Houses ' 
 Preston and Rounds Co., Publishers 
 
 country life in America. Nor do Americans wish the 
 first story of their city houses to be given up to sta- 
 bles and shops as they are in Paris. So the newer 
 and better architecture of America is formed by tak- 
 ing the elements of proportion, symmetry, and beauty 
 as found in the old world structures and using them 
 in the construction of buildings which are suited to 
 the needs of Americans.
 
 Log 
 Cabins 
 
 24 THE HOUSE 
 
 DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 As we know, the log cabin was the earliest home of 
 the colonists. The construction of the early houses was 
 much the same though they differed in the number of 
 rooms which they contained. 
 
 Built about 1660. Shows Front Overhanging and Long Sloping Roof 
 
 From " Early Connecticut Houses " 
 
 The logs were dressed on two sides and placed 
 one on top of the other until the structure was high 
 enough for a tall person to walk about in it. The 
 crevices between the logs were filled with mud. The 
 roof was made of poles covered with straw or reeds. 
 Fireplaces at first were made of sticks, and plastered 
 on the inside with clay, but later of stones or brick 
 laid in mortar.
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 25 
 
 Domestic architecture developed rapidly. At 
 first the construction was changed only by the 
 addition of clap-boards to the log walls and hand- 
 made shingles for the roof. The following descrip- 
 tion is given by Air. Plym, of a house of the period 
 
 V 
 
 t685. 
 
 Has an Entrance Porch, the Sloping Roof Covering the "Lean-to" 
 Retained 
 
 From "Early Connecticut Houses' 
 
 known as "Old Colonial :" 
 
 "Tliis was probably the most common type, having 
 eight rooms and a front central stair hall. The fire- 
 places were symmetrically located on the inner walls, 
 while the exterior was decorated with a small portico. 
 The second story was usually constructed of heavy 
 log timbers placed at regular intevals 1 , which served 
 as a ceiling for the rooms below. The outside walls 
 were often packed with mud or sea weed to add to 
 their warmth in winter and coolness in summer. Ice 
 
 "Old Colonial" 
 House
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Types 
 
 Built about 1715. A Two-Story House with Dormer Windows. 
 North End of Brick 
 
 From "Early Connecticut Houses" 
 
 was kept in the cellar and was reached through a trap- 
 door in the floor* About 1630 hand-cut wood shingles 
 came into use for roofs, and brick and other materials 
 were brought from Europe. The several colonies, 
 English, Dutch and Swedish, began to show individ- 
 uality in their designs, which was suggestive of their 
 native buildings. The Dutch houses were especially 
 distinctive on account of the gambrel roofs with heavy 
 over-shot eaves and practically no cornice on the ga- 
 bles. They often constructed their houses of stone 
 and barred their windows with solid panel shutters." 
 Two quite distinct types of colonial houses are 
 found in the earlier houses, both founded on English 
 models :
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 27 
 
 1. The Puritan or New England. 
 
 2. Those houses which were built on the large estates 
 
 in Virginia. 
 
 Climate and s-ocial customs have left their impress 
 on each. The early Puritan "on that rock-bound 
 coast" found life a rather serious business, and his 
 architecture has something of severity in it. The 
 houses are built comfortably of three stories, with 
 very plain exteriors. 
 
 The Virginia homes of the eighteenth century offer 
 quite a contrast to this. In the "sunny south" the 
 climate was pleasant, the soil productive. There were 
 plenty of slaves to do the work ; the owner of the 
 estate was socially inclined ; circumstances favored a 
 luxurious mode of life, so the house needed to be 
 large to accommodate the family, guests, and slaves-, 
 
 BteeSsfey^-iSi^ ^&^^ 1 *3r ^i'. . '*-%: .'*:' 
 
 New England 
 Old Colonial 
 
 Specimen of Early Dutch Architecture. Long Island, N. Y. 
 
 From " Homos in City and Country "
 
 28 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Plan of 
 
 Southern 
 
 Old Colonial 
 
 Houses 
 
 and to maintain the generous hospitality for which 
 the region is famed. Monticello is one of the most 
 typical of these estates. It is said that Jefferson 
 ruined himself by his hospitality. 
 
 The houses consisted frequently of a central two- 
 story portion with two wings. The wings were 
 
 Rhode Island and Connecticut Shore House, with Gambrel Roof and "L" 
 
 From Homes in City and Country " 
 
 sometimes used for guests, sometimes for domestic 
 servants. The use of brick when wood was so much 
 easier to obtain showed how the colonist clung to his 
 English models. The fact also that they were slow 
 in introducing the veranda so much needed for pro- 
 tection against the heat of an American summer is 
 due to the same slowness to give up old ideals. The
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 29 
 
 importance of the hall in the early colonial house 
 must not be overlooked. It was living room, dining 
 room and frequently guest room, in fact all the house 
 except kitchen and bedroom. The common life of 
 the family centered about this room, and to it the 
 family treasures in the way of good furniture were 
 brought. 
 
 The colonial builder was limited both in materials 
 and skilled workers. He had plaster, wood, and paper, 
 but good plasterers 1 were scarce ; carpenters were the 
 best craftsmen of the times, so the wood work of the 
 colonial builder remains his chief title to recognition. 
 It is said that much of the best interior work in the 
 coast towns was done by ship carpenters who had left 
 
 r 
 
 Limitation 
 of Colonial 
 Builders 
 
 STRATFORD HOUSE, WESTMORELAND COUNTY, VA. 
 
 The Birthplace of General Lee, built in the 18th Century, of Bricks sent 
 
 over from England
 
 i^v--- 3 
 
 
 IS PD f
 
 THE HOUSE. 
 
 Influence 
 
 of the 
 
 Carpenter 
 
 Careful 
 Detail 
 
 their ships for a season. Desmond and Croly say: 
 "Colonial architecture has well been defined as 'the 
 carpenters' interpretation of the Renaissance.' In no 
 other country was the carpenter permitted a rendering 
 of the great classic revival. 
 
 "The predominance of the carpenter rather than the 
 mason, arising immediately from the great variety 
 and abundance of native American woods, is from the 
 start one of the most important facts connected with 
 American architecture and to the present day it has 
 not lost its importance. In structure and ornament 
 the American house has been made largely too largely 
 of wood. In colonial times, while a good tradition 
 prevailed, the use made of the material was acceptable ; 
 but later when the craftsmen had deteriorated, the ex- 
 cessive importance granted to a building material that 
 is flexible, cheap, and tempts the unwary into multi- 
 plying members and elaborating detail, was partly re- 
 sponsible for some of the most grotesque wooden mal- 
 formations which the world has ever seen. More- 
 over, our wood work, founded as it was upon forms 
 that pertained properly to the masons' materials, has 
 always betrayed a leaning toward a decadent principle, 
 which has not been without a generally corrupting 
 effect upon American practice."* 
 
 The Colonial architecture was characterized bv care- 
 fulness in detail, by a considerable use of moldings as 
 
 *" Stately Homes in America."
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 35 
 
 a finish for doors, windows, chimneys, and paneling. 
 The staircases with their newel posts and baluster gave 
 an opportunity for much fine work, the carving of 
 which often showed much delicacy and skill. The 
 paneling and the fireplace were sometimes the best 
 features of the work. Desmond and Croly sav : "The 
 
 MT. VERNON, THE HOME OF WASHINGTON 
 Southern Colonial House 
 
 detail was most carefully and elaborately worked. 
 Often it is somewhat stiff and lifeless ; but it is always 
 moderate and correct ; and occasionally it is of an 
 exquisite and delicate simplicity. The Colonial is the 
 one type of building in our architectural history which 
 bears the mark of a definite style. It is strongly dis- 
 tinguished from every subsequent style of residence,
 
 36 THE HOUSE 
 
 because it was used in the colonies for something 1 
 over a century ; and because throughout all that time it 
 prevailed absolutely. The owners of these Colonial 
 houses were nothing more than ordinarily well-to-do 
 men who had enough money to live in a pleasant and 
 substantial generous manner, but who very distinctly could not 
 Economical afford any considerable extravagances ; consequently, 
 while they built substantially they were also obliged to 
 build economically. One of these old brick houses 
 frequently took many years to erect, and required on 
 the part of the owner and builder the utmost patience 
 and the utmost ingenuity in overcoming obstacles. 
 They did not have the benefit of expert assistance ; 
 there were practically no professional architects in the 
 colonies until the very end of the colonial period ; and 
 they were engaged almost exclusively in the design of 
 public buildings. The only assistance upon which a 
 man who wanted to build could rely was that of 
 trained mechanics, who were frequently imported for 
 the purpose, and who naturally built according to rule. 
 That under so many disadvantages the result was often 
 so admirable, is most excellent testimony to the train- 
 ing of the eighteenth century hand craftsmen. They 
 had been educated in a good school : they knew how to 
 do certain things only, but everything they did was 
 well done; and if their tradition and method of work 
 had only survived for two or three generations, we 
 Americans would have been spared a caution of ugli-
 
 r? t/j
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 39 
 
 ness particularly in wood-work which persists 
 among American carpenters to the present day." 
 
 While there is so much that is favorable to be said 
 concerning the "old Colonial" style it is but fair that 
 
 THE "OLD MANSE." CONCORD, MASS. 
 Home of Hawthorne and Emerson 
 
 we should consider the unfavorable statements also 
 and Desmond and Croly close the chapter on "The 
 Colonial residence" thus : "At the time the colonial 
 style prevailed it was admirable because it was safe; 
 but in view of the immensely richer materials and 
 larger opportunities which architects 1 of the present 
 time have at their disposal, they cannot afford to ac- 
 
 Deflciencies 
 of the Old 
 Colonial Style
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Lacking 
 
 in Breadth 
 
 of Style 
 
 Transitional 
 Period 
 
 cept the colonial tradition too seriously. Both as re- 
 gards outside and in, the excellence of the colonial 
 dwellings depended on their decorous and unobtru- 
 sive character. They aimed studiously at under-state- 
 ment. Their owners were people of taste, in whom the 
 ideal of respectability was still fortunately allied with 
 some notion of good form, and who would not for the 
 world do anything to .violate the prevalent proprieties. 
 But it lacked structural and functional character; its 
 range of expression was extremely limited. It is as- 
 sociated somehow with a tea table respectability, an 
 old maidenly reserve and propriety ; it is quaint and 
 stiff and charming, but it lacks the richer tones, the 
 deeper harmonies, the grander style of some French 
 and Italian models. It remains, nevertheless, one of 
 the best sources from which to derive the forms of a 
 modest and inexpensive modern dwelling, for its de- 
 signs are simple, its material cheap, and the character 
 of its expression adapted to the houses of quiet people 
 of good taste without much originality."* 
 
 \\"hat might be called the decadence of the colonial 
 style of architecture, or the transitional period, began 
 in the early part of the nineteenth century. The White 
 House is among the last and best known examples of 
 pure Colonial. The times were revolutionary in more 
 senses than one. New social and economic forces were 
 at work. The people were trying experiments in gov-~ 
 ernment and business. The condition of the country 
 
 "Stately Homes in America."
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 41 
 
 was unsettled. Houses, especially on the borderlands, 
 were temporary structures. The standard of handi- 
 craft was lowered. It seemed necessary to build 
 quickly rather than well. 
 
 After 1825 domestic architecture ceased to be colo- 
 nial. The use of classic forms was- revived and led to 
 
 CRAIGIE HOUSE. CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 
 
 Headquarters of Washington and Home of Longfellow. An Example 
 of New England Colonial House 
 
 the making of wooden parthenons for public buildings 
 and for a dwelling house a Doric or Ionic temple. 
 The rapidity with which one kind of architecture fol- 
 lowed another was remarkable. The classic forms were 
 
 Monstrosities
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 THE WHITE HOUSE, SOUTH FRONT 
 
 succeeded by the use of French and Italian models. 
 The stately mansion in the Greek was followed by the 
 picturesque villa. Many of these dwellings were built 
 along the Hudson about the middle of the nineteenth 
 century. This century marks the development of the 
 city house. There was a great deal of indiscriminate 
 imitation of Old World forms. The French villas 
 were succeeded by Italian ones. The Gothic was intro-
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 43 
 
 duced in ecclesiastical buildings, such as Trinity and 
 St. George's churches in New York City, about 1850. 
 The Romanesque revival began in 1877 with the com- 
 pletion of Trinity church in Boston and deserves men- 
 tion because it is associated with the name of Richard- 
 son, one of America's best architects. 
 
 Now we have the country house, the city residence, 
 and the suburban dwelling, each with its characteristics 
 
 NORTH FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE
 
 44 THE HOUSE. 
 
 strongly marked. Various localities have also their 
 distinctive types. Root says : "In the growth of their 
 plans Western city houses have tended also toward 
 greater enlargement and importance of the living and 
 dining rooms at the expense of the parlor and reception 
 rooms."* 
 western One feature in the plans of Western city dwellings 
 
 City Houses _,..,. 
 
 must be clearly denned. Ihis is their openness. Aot 
 only are windows upon the average larger than in the 
 East, but they are more frequent. 
 
 Price says : "The ordinary older cottages, those of a 
 quarter of a century ago, were generally planned with 
 a single entrance facing the approach ; this opened 
 from a porch into a passage rather than a hall, with 
 the stairway starting a few paces within and running 
 straight up the side wall to the floor above ; the parlor 
 and library to right and left, with the dining room 
 beyond the one and the kitchen beyond the other. Be- 
 tween the last two came the butlery and servants' stairs 
 and the back door, which usually in the family life of 
 the occupants became the thoroughfare to and from 
 the house. This, pure and simple, was the general 
 plan from which the house of to-day started. Step by 
 step it developed ; the passage became a hall ; the stair- 
 case changed its position ; the parlor became less im- 
 portant, the fireplace more so."* 
 
 So much, or rather so little, out of all that might 
 be said for the evolution of the house in the United 
 
 "'Homes in City and Country."
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN HOUSE 47 
 
 States. Let us next consider certain essentials in 
 planning for one of these modern houses. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 A further knowledge of the "Evolution of the House" and 
 the ''Development of the American House" may be obtained 
 by reference to the following : 
 
 The Habitations of Man in All Ages. Viollet LeDuc. 
 L'Habitation Humane. Gamier and Amman. 
 Prehistoric America. Nadaillac. 
 
 American Renaissance ($4.00). Joy Wheeler Dow. 
 Early Connecticut Houses ($4.00). Isham and Brown. 
 Homes in City and Country ($2.00). Sturgis, Root, Price, 
 
 Mitchell, Parsons and Linn. 
 Stately Homes in America ($7.50). Desmond and Croly. 
 
 Note. Any of the above books will be purchased and forwarded on 
 receipt of the price given.
 
 TEST QUESTIONS 
 
 The following questions constitute the "written reci- 
 tation" which the regular members of the A. S. H. E. 
 answer in writing and send in for the correction and 
 comment of the instructor. They are intended to 
 emphasize and fix in the memory the most important 
 points in the lesson.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Its Plan, Decoration and Care 
 
 PART I 
 
 Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the 
 first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
 on one side of the sheet only. Do not copy answers from 
 the lesson paper. Use your own words, so that your in- 
 structor may know that you understand the subject. Read 
 the lesson paper a number of times before attempting to 
 answer the questions. 
 
 1. What interest or value has the "evolution of the 
 
 house" for you? 
 
 2. Name some of the types of early human habita- 
 
 tions. What purposes are they supposed to 
 have served? 
 
 3. Show how the environment influences the char- 
 
 acter of the dwelling place. 
 
 4. Explain the statement The history of a nation 
 
 may be read in its architecture. 
 
 5. What do you learn from a study of the Greek 
 
 and Roman houses about their family life? 
 
 6. Mention some advantages of Japanese houses. 
 
 7. What conditions and influences affected the de- 
 
 velopment of the American house? How did 
 the Northern houses differ from those in the 
 South ?
 
 
 THE HOUSE. 
 
 8. Trace briefly the development of the house from 
 
 the log" cabin to the houses of our grand- 
 parents. 
 
 9. What good points had the so-called Colonial 
 
 houses? In what were they lacking? 
 
 10. Describe some house in your neighborhood that 
 
 exemplifies the deficiencies of the transitional 
 period of American architecture. 
 
 NOTE. After completing the test sign your full name.
 
 7 
 
 ^*j^ 
 
 [he beauty of 
 k the house is 
 &the Mess- 
 ing of the house is 
 contentments the 
 glory of the house 
 is hospitality&the 
 crown of the house 
 is godliness ^^&3
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 H 
 P 
 
 i 
 
 8 s 
 
 fc S 
 
 < < 
 
 B 1 
 
 CJ 1 
 
 K t 
 
 W x 
 
 Q I" 
 
 iJ 
 C
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Its Plan, Decoration and Care 
 
 PART II 
 
 THE MODERN HOUSE 
 
 While the subject is "The House/' it is almost im- 
 possible to separate it in thought from the home for 
 which it stands. We all appreciate that the house is 
 not the home, as the body is not the spirit, but as the 
 body serves as the means of expression for the spirit, 
 so in the houses we build and furnish we show our 
 appreciation of beauty or the lack of it. We give, 
 quite unconsciously perhaps, our definition of home. 
 
 All this thought and care then is to be expended The House 
 upon the house, not only that it may be a comfortable ite Home 
 and convenient workshop for home industries, but 
 also a place in which child life may develop among 
 artistic and beautiful surroundings, and that it shall 
 at the same time serve as a place of rest and inspira- 
 tion for the older members of the family. 
 
 There should, then, be a very definite idea in the 
 mind of the owner of the amount of money he wishes 
 to expend and the kind of family life he wishes to 
 maintain in this house. It is to be built for his family, 
 not his neighbors. The real comfort and convenience 
 of the family are not to be sacrificed to display for the 
 chance guest. Comfort may demand that the expense 
 
 49
 
 5 o THE HOUSE 
 
 of the parlor mantel be put into the kitchen sink. Es- 
 sentials, not fancy work, are to be considered. 
 The sue The selection of a suitable site is one of the first 
 considerations. To be sure it is quite probable that to 
 the vast majority of home makers the opportunity for 
 choice in the details of location and construction may 
 not be given ; but this paper is written from the stand- 
 point of the freedom of choice in the belief that it is 
 better to strive for ideal conditions than to omit them 
 from life's 1 program. 
 
 Where then shall the new house be put? On the 
 hill or in the valley? In the city or in the country? 
 The answer to these questions will vary according to 
 the tastes of the different owners, but in each case cer- 
 tain questions should be very carefully considered in 
 choosing the location of the house. The character of 
 the soil ; the natural slope of the land ; the direction of 
 the prevailing winds ; the possibilities of drainage ; the 
 character of the surroundings ; the kind of neighbors 
 one is likely to have. 
 
 In most regions a southern or eastern exposure al- 
 lows the best distribution of sunlight in the house. 
 There may be the temptation in the crowded city to use 
 the "made ground" before nature's agencies has had 
 time to make it fit for human habitation ; and, in the 
 country, the site of the barn, regardless of the drainage 
 may determine the location of the house on the basis 
 of saving steps for the men of the family.
 
 MODERN 
 
 Since so much of some people's time must of neces- 
 sity be spent inside the house some real thought and 
 care ought to be given to securing an outlook that 
 shall yield to the occupants of the house as much of 
 the beauty of the earth and air and sky as possible. 
 A slight change in the position of even one window 
 may bring to the dwellers for all time a picture of hill 
 ,-*- and dale with forest and stream that shall be a peren- 
 _^ nial source of pleasure. 
 
 Due consideration having been given to securing 
 
 pure air, sunlight, dryness, and the various elements 
 
 included in the term "agreeable surroundings," the 
 
 form of construction and kind of materials are to be 
 
 ^considered. 
 
 Shall the new house be of wood, brick, or stone? 
 .. Queen Ann, Gothic, or Old Colonial style? Here 
 again much depends upon individual taste and the ma- 
 terials that can be obtained at least expense. Stone 
 houses, for example, are practically debarred from 
 some localities because of the expense of transportation 
 which must be added to the cost of the stone ; but in any 
 case the construction must be adapted to the location. 
 A stone house in a treeless, stoneless, prairie region, 
 looks like an intruder in the landscape. It needs the 
 hills and rocks for its setting. A low, rambling house, 
 if it crown the brow of a hill, lends- itself to the land- 
 scape much better than the high narrow one which 
 gives somewhat the impression of a sign board. Again, 
 
 The 
 Outlook 
 
 Style 
 of House
 
 Tbe 
 
 Architect 
 
 52 THE HOUSE 
 
 an Old Colonial house requires space for its proper 
 setting. Adaptation and appropriateness are important 
 elements in deciding the materials and construction or 
 the new house. 
 
 HOUSE PLANNING 
 
 We are now to consider this subject in detail. The 
 problems of domestic architecture are complex not 
 simple. Its elements are numerous and varied. Ec- 
 clesiastical architecture has fewer difficulties to con- 
 tend with than domestic. A church is built for a spe- 
 cific purpose, a dwelling house stands for a dozen in- 
 terests, some of them apparently conflicting. It must 
 be at the same time a workshop and a place of rest. 
 In it provision must be made for the sick and the 
 well, the young and the old, for sleeping, eating, and 
 cooking, as well as for the entertainment of guests. 
 
 It requires skill of a high order in more ways than 
 one to plan a successful house. A house plan is to be 
 regarded as successful only when it meets the require- 
 ments for comfort and convenience of the particular 
 family for which it is intended. It is evident then 
 that house plans should not grow, like mushrooms, in 
 a night but should be given ample time for develop- 
 ment. 
 
 The architect should be made familiar in so far as 
 practicable with the personal preferences of the family 
 in order that he may the better plan for their comfort.
 
 \
 
 HOUSE PLANNING 55 
 
 It is not for the architect to express the personality 
 of the owner, but to help the home maker to do so. 
 Six months or a year is not too long a period in 
 which to consider the plans for the new house. In the 
 meantime it is well for the family to collect as many 
 concrete examples as possible of the things that seem 
 to them desirable in the new home. 
 
 The sight of the real may often do away utterly with 
 an ideal that had been cherished for sometime. Hav- 
 ing collected and considered these various ideas it is 
 well to formulate some method of procedure, to make 
 some analysis of house plans, an outline, if you please, 
 of essentials and non-essentials. 
 
 However much house plans may differ in details it Di vision 
 is evident that the whole space enclosed by the four of s P ace 
 walls must serve at least two purposes ; one part of it 
 will serve as a place to rest, work, or sleep in ; and an- 
 other portion must serve as a means of communica- 
 tion. This fact serves as a basis for the division of 
 the entire space into rooms and thoroughfares. This 
 first division is of great importance. The comfort and 
 convenience of many a house has been forever de- 
 stroyed by the fact that the thoroughfares were im- 
 properly located, or in wrong proportion to the size 
 of the house, and the cost of heating has been mate- 
 rially increased by a wrong distribution of floor space. 
 
 We all know of houses in which the distance from 
 the front door to the kitchen is so great that the time
 
 56 THE HOUSE 
 
 and energy used in answering the front door bell 
 leaves little of either for anything else, and other 
 houses where wide drafty halls and open stairways 
 take the heat from the small rooms and leave the occu- 
 pants shivering before the grate. 
 
 The manufacturer constructs his "plant" so as to 
 save time and labor for his workmen. Ought not the 
 same care to be given to the construction of his house ? 
 
 The space and money expended in passage ways be- 
 yond that required for comfort and convenience adds to 
 the expense in building and later in the care and fur- 
 nishing without yielding an adequate equivalent. Both 
 rooms and thoroughfares admit of classification. The 
 rooms may be divided as those intended (i) for the 
 use of the family, (2) for the use of the servants. 
 
 Yet another division may* be made of the rooms. 
 In every home there are rooms set apart for family 
 use, for the entrance of the friend or stranger, and 
 there are other rooms for the private use of the individ- 
 ual members of the family. 
 
 Thorough- The thoroughfares, too, may be classified as those 
 intended for the family or for the servants and the 
 family ones may be intended for public or private use ; 
 the servants' thoroughfares may be private or service, 
 that is, used by servants in performance of their 
 duties. 
 
 We give, then, as most suggestive and helpful the 
 "analysis of the house plan" outlined by Osborne in 
 his little book on house planning:
 
 HOUSE PLANNING 
 
 57 
 
 
 ' Reception Room (Pu.). 
 
 
 Parlor (Pu , Pi ). 
 
 
 Drawing Room (Pu., Pi..) 
 
 
 Library (Pu ,Pi.. 
 
 
 Public, -t 
 
 Billiard Room (Pi.). 
 
 
 
 Picture Gallery (Pu.>. 
 
 
 
 Dining Room (Pi., S.). 
 
 
 
 Verandas. 
 
 
 'Family. < 
 
 
 .Etc. 
 
 
 
 
 Study (PI ). 
 
 
 
 
 Boudoir (Pi.V 
 
 
 
 
 Bed Rooms <Pi.V 
 
 
 
 .Private. ' 
 
 Dressing Rooms (Pi., S.). 
 
 
 
 Bath Rooms (Pi.). 
 
 
 
 
 Verandas. 
 
 
 ROOMS, 4 
 
 
 .Etc. 
 
 
 
 
 Kitchen (S, Sp.). 
 
 
 
 
 Pantries (S ). 
 
 
 
 
 Service. . 
 
 Laundries (S.). 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dairies (S.) 
 
 
 
 Servants , 
 
 
 Store Rooms (S.). 
 .Etc. 
 
 
 
 
 Servants' Hall (S., Sp.V 
 
 The 
 House ' 
 
 
 ^ Private. < 
 
 " Bed Rooms (Sp.). 
 " Bath " (Sp.). 
 " Verandas. 
 
 
 . 
 
 Principal Porches. 
 
 
 f Public. 
 
 Vestibule. 
 Entrance Hall. 
 
 
 I 
 
 Inner Hall. 
 
 
 
 ' Family. < 
 
 .Etc. 
 
 
 THOROUGH- . 
 
 [private. . 
 
 Family Stair Hall. 
 Family Corridors. 
 Etc. 
 
 
 FARES. 
 
 f Sprvio J Between Family and Sen 
 1 vice Rooms. 
 
 
 Servants. < , Bet se rvants ' Rooms. 
 
 I Private, i or Servants' and Ser- 
 
 * (vice Rooms. 
 
 NOTE. Letters in brackets indicate the proper thorough- 
 fares upon which the room should be found ; where two thor- 
 oughfares are indicated the room may or should be upon 
 both; Pu, public family; Pi., private family; S., service; 
 Sp., servants' private thoroughfares. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the statement about the diffi- 
 culties of house-planning will not discourage anyone
 
 5 8 THE HOUSE 
 
 from undertaking it. Women especially should learn 
 to express on paper the mental picture they have of the 
 house that seems to them comfortable and convenient. 
 At the same time they learn to understand and to think 
 in the terms of the architect and so to interpret his 
 plans. Very many disappointments about the "new 
 house" are due to the fact that the housekeeper "did 
 not understand from the plan that it was going to be 
 that way." Some bedrooms are made with no desirable 
 place in them for the bed because they were consid- 
 ered as rooms in the abstract without thinking of their 
 particular use and the furniture which would be re- 
 quired. 
 
 House-planning if entered into in the right spirit, 
 
 Cross-Section r i ^u r -i *. i 
 
 Paper can furnish to the family quite as much interest and 
 more profit than a game of cards. A good pencil, a 
 ruler, an eraser, some cross-section paper and a prob- 
 lem are all that one needs to begin the game. The 
 spaces in the paper, usually one-eighth inch, can stand 
 for a foot and thus aid to accuracy and proportion of 
 the several parts. Or the engineering paper in which 
 the spaces are smaller may be used. 
 
 ENTRANCES 
 
 It is perhaps simpler to make the entrance the chief 
 factor in the first planning, since it is such an import- 
 ant factor in all house plans. Quite unconsciously our 
 impression of the house is greatly influenced by our
 
 A. SIMPLE COLONIAL ENTRANCE 
 rnotograph by E. Q. Sylvester, Boston
 
 OLD COLONIAL ENTRANCE. NORWALL, MASS. 
 Leaded Glass Top and Side Lights
 
 ENTRANCES 
 
 59 
 
 Plan of a House Showing the Use of Cross-Section Paper. Each Small 
 Square Equals One Foot. 
 
 ideas about the front entrance. There are entrances 
 that repel, that invite, that show the owner's love of 
 display, that leave the visitor in doubt because there 
 are apparently three front doors.
 
 6o 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Essentials 
 
 Simplest 
 Entrance 
 
 Porch and 
 
 Reception 
 
 Hall 
 
 Entrance 
 
 What then are the essentials in a front entrance? 
 First, it should be so placed as to leave no doubt that 
 it is the principal entrance. To that end it should be 
 easily accessible and have some distinctive character. 
 It is a source of considerable profit and diversion to 
 study the front entrances of the dwellings on a particu- 
 lar street to see the character or lack of it which they 
 convey to the passer-by. 
 
 Let us consider the different types of entrances. The 
 first, simplest, and least desirable is that in which the 
 caller steps directly from a stone or a plank into one 
 of the principal rooms of tha house. 
 
 There are many disadvantages about such an ar- 
 rangement. Whatever of cold or heat or storm is on 
 the outside is taken directly within to the living room. 
 In winter the frequent admission of these blasts of cold 
 air increases the expense of heating the house. It also 
 means additional labor for the housekeeper because of 
 the snow and dirt that are brought into the living 
 room. The addition of even a small porch on the out- 
 side large enough to hold a mat on which the muddy 
 boots can be wiped, and a roof over the door will add 
 not only to the appearance of the house, but afford 
 much protection to the front door. 
 
 Another form of entrance consists of porch and re- 
 ception hall with the stairs leading from it. This 
 form is sometimes used to economize space ; that is, 
 to make the hall serve the purpose of a reception room.
 
 ENTRANCES 
 
 61 
 
 PLAN No. 1 Shows Reception Room so Arranged as to Avoid Drafts 
 
 and to Give Space for Chairs. Combination Stairs. 
 
 Scale & inch=l foot.* 
 
 A fireplace adds to the comfort and attractiveness of 
 this hall. Care must be exercised as to the relative 
 position of the doors, fireplace and stairway or the 
 room may be a drafty place. With the proper pre- 
 cautions it can be a useful and attractive room. This 
 plan is improved by making a vestibule of part of the 
 hall. (See Plan No. i.) 
 
 t In this plan the danger of drafts is lessened by the 
 fact that so large a part of the reception room is be- 
 
 * In all of the house plans shown one-sixteenth of an inch in the draw- 
 ing represents one foot in the house.
 
 ENTRANCES 
 
 PLAN No. 3. Shielded Entrance at North Side. House Facing West. 
 
 yond the opening into the hall and also removed from 
 the staircase. 
 
 In yet another type of house the entrance consists 
 of three parts, (i) porch, (2) vestibule, (3) entrance 
 hall. This entrance may be placed in the middle of 
 the house with rooms on either side. (See Plan No. 
 2.) Or, if there be a narrow lot or a west exposure, 
 in which case it is desirable to shield the front en-
 
 66 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Side Porch 
 Entrance 
 
 trance, it may begin with a porch which is on the 
 front and extends to the side, .opening into a vestibule 
 which leads into a hall. (See Plan No. 3.) 
 
 In this plan, No. 3, the porch shuts some of the sun 
 from the sitting room which has also a southern ex- 
 posure. The entrance is shielded both by the porch 
 and by the projecting parlor. 
 
 riesT ri_ooK 
 
 PLAN No. 4. Northern Entrance Protected by Porch and Projecting 
 Room. West Dining Room Not so Desirable. Fine Porch on the East.
 
 ENTRANCES 
 
 Another type of entrance at the side is shown in 
 Plan No. 4. There is no porch on the front here and 
 the reception hall with its bay window is quite an 
 attractive room. 
 
 In any case the vestibule proves a most desirable 
 addition. It makes the transition from the outside to 
 the inside more gradual, prevents the direct passage of 
 the cold air into the body of the house, provides a 
 place for wraps, overshoes, umbrellas, and contributes 
 to the comfort of both hostess and caller. 
 
 Plan No. 5. This illustration shows a very conve- 
 nient and comfortable arrangement of floor space in 
 a rather small house. In this plan a small amount of 
 space used as hall gives convenient access to the recep- 
 tion room, living room, kitchen and stairs. The re- 
 ception room is large enough for the formal caller, 
 while the living room is a very attractive and well 
 lighted room. The second story shows a good ar- 
 rangement. 
 
 No mention has been made of the porte-cochere or 
 side entrance, which is so desirable in country or sub- 
 urban houses. The connection is sometimes made 
 by a side porch which connects with the front one 
 and the guests pass in at the front door. Often this 
 is not desirable as it results sometimes in bringing 
 the guests into the midst of a company when no op- 
 portunity has been given them to put aside their 
 wraps. It is better if the side porch can connect 
 
 Vestibule 
 Desirable 
 
 Small 
 Hall 
 
 Side 
 Entrance
 
 6 a 
 
 
 2 
 P "" 
 
 2' 
 
 a a, : 
 
 s 
 
 .1'J 
 
 "" a 
 
 a" 
 
 o 
 o 
 M
 
 ENTRANCES 73 
 
 directly with a side hall and thus admit the guests 
 to the stairs without passing among the company. 
 
 It is well to remember what seems to be a rather 
 recent development in house-planning ; viz. : that the 
 best porch for family use is not necessarily the front 
 porch. A southerly 'exposure, which for many reasons 
 is desirable, does not give a pleasant afternoon front 
 porch ; but if a porch be placed on the east side, the 
 family may enjoy shade and freedom from the publicity 
 of the front entrance at the same time* (See Plan 
 No. 2.) A good porch, someone has said, "is the most 
 
 Position 
 of Porches 
 
 PLAN No. 6. Family Porch on the East of the Living Room. Onl? 
 
 One Staircase, but Well Placed to Serve Double Purpose, 
 
 Servants' Sitting Room.
 
 74 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Conditions 
 on the Farm 
 
 Men's 
 
 Sitting 
 
 Room 
 
 valuable room in the house." It is certainly a bit of 
 space that yields as much comfort as any room, now 
 that we have learned to have roomy, comfortable 
 porches and to live on them. Plan No. 6 shows a 
 small entrance porch with a comfortable porch for the 
 family on the east connected with the living room. 
 
 THE FARM HOUSE 
 
 The usual distribution of the first floor space into 
 kitchen, dining room, living room, and parlor or recep- 
 tion room with hall and vestibule which has been sug- 
 gested in these plans has been worked out in many at- 
 tractive ways for the city or village house, but is not 
 so well developed for the average farm house. The 
 necessities for farm dwellings differ somewhat from 
 town houses. For example, there is little formal call- 
 ing on the farm, but frequent short calls that have more 
 or less of a business character. It is not desirable to 
 bring these strangers into the privacy of the family 
 life and apparently not suitable to receive them in a 
 formal reception room. It seems as if a reception hall 
 with desk, fireplace and one or two easy chairs, with 
 the daily paper or new magazine might serve a useful 
 purpose here. 
 
 Another room that is much needed in some farm 
 houses is a sitting room for the men who work for 
 the family. It should be on the first floor, easily ac- 
 cessible from the side or rear of the house, and have
 
 THE FARM HOUSE 75 
 
 in it or near it a lavatory in order that the workers 
 may be able to make themselves clean and comfortable 
 before they pass to the dining room. 
 
 Another requirement of the average farm house is Large 
 a large dining room to accommodate the large number oom g 
 of men that are needed on threshing and wood sawing 
 days. It is quite desirable also that the dining room 
 shall have an outside door, that it may not be necessary 
 for workmen to pass through the kitchen and pantries 
 or sitting room to reach the dining room. 
 
 Plan No. 7, shows a plan for a farm house that has 
 many desirable qualities. The men's sitting room is 
 well placed. The bedrooms for the "help" are sepa- 
 rated from the family bedrooms as is also the bath- 
 room. A bedroom downstairs is often a great con- 
 venience, particularly if the mother does her own 
 work and has little children. A great lack in most 
 farm houses is water brought into the kitchen. It 
 seems to be easy enough to have the wind pump and 
 the pipes to carry the water into the barn, but "so 
 much trouble" to put it into the kitchen. In no place 
 is the need greater for water in the kitchen and for 
 a good bath room than on the farm. 
 
 The plan for a farm house is capable of many varia- 
 tions. The outline of the parlor may be made less 
 rectangular by a change in the windows. If the men's 
 room is not needed by the "help" as a sitting room all 
 the year it will make a good children's room.
 
 PLAN No. 7. Farm House. Facing South. Family Bedroom and 
 " Help" Sitting Room.
 
 PLAN No. 7. Farm House. Separation of Family and Servants' 
 Koonis. Good Arrangement of Rear Stairs.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Most farmers would probably not be willing to put 
 in two bathrooms. In that case the space given to the 
 family bathroom might be used as a sewing room. The 
 
 PLAN No. 8. Basement Plan of a Farm House Saving Bath Room 
 in the Cellar.
 
 THE FARM HOUSE 
 
 79 
 
 arrangement of the back stairs makes it possible to 
 pass directly to the attic from the first floor. 
 
 The dining room is large and can be entered from 
 
 PLAN No. 8. First Floor. Bay Window in the Dining Room, and 
 Fireplace in Living Room. (See Page 59 for Second Floor Plan).
 
 8o 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Farmer's 
 
 Flan for a 
 
 Farm House 
 
 The Hall 
 
 the men's room. The essentials in the kitchen at*, 
 well located. 
 
 Plan No. 8 is a student's plan for a farm house. It 
 shows the use of cross-section paper in making house 
 plans, each small square representing a foot. The 
 maker of this plan is a farmer's son. It seemed to him 
 desirable to have the place for the men to clean up in 
 the basement. The cold storage room has in it a place 
 for the storage of ice for summer use. The stairs from 
 the basement lead directly into the rear hall, which 
 gives easy access to kitchen and dining room. A bay 
 window adds attractiveness to the dining room and a 
 fire-place gives cheer in the living room. If it were 
 desirable the library might serve as the office and re- 
 ception room, or the room could be used as a down- 
 stairs bedroom if one were needed. 
 
 If the house be heated by a furnace, a hall is very 
 desirable; if it be not so heated a hall seems a cold, 
 unattractive place in winter.* 
 
 These two types of house plans seem fairly well suit- 
 ed to the needs of farm life. 
 
 ROOMS 
 
 The entrances and halls considered indicate a few 
 of the ways in which the thoroughfares of the lower 
 floor may be treated in the distribution of the floor 
 space. The width of the hall will depend upon the 
 size of the house, the location of the hall and the pur-
 
 ROOMS 81 
 
 pose it is intended to serve. Seven and one-half or 
 eight feet is a minimum width for a central hall. The 
 lighting of it too is an important factor. It is usually 
 accomplished by making a part of the entrance door 
 of glass 1 , by transom and by glass at the sides of the 
 door. Artistic and pleasing effects are often thus pro- 
 duced. 
 
 It may be well now to consider some of the charac- 
 teristics of the rooms usually found on the first floor. 
 If one classifies the rooms of a house as rooms to live 
 in, to work in, and to sleep in, those rooms which be- 
 long to the first two classes will be found most often 
 on the first floor. 
 
 It has been said that proportion is the good breeding 
 
 Proportion 
 
 of architecture and it is one element never to be for- 
 gotten in house construction or decoration. The thor- 
 oughfares are to have their due proportion of space, 
 no more ; no less ; the separate rooms are to have their 
 proportion of space, determined by the purposes which 
 they are to serve. For example, a large parlor or re- 
 ception room and a small living room would seem to 
 indicate that the comfort of the family was to be sacri- 
 ficed to display for the formal caller. Each room is to 
 be considered not only in reference to its specified pur- 
 pose but in its relation to the other rooms, and to the 
 thoroughfares. 
 
 The Parlor. Much is said in these days about "the 
 passing of the parlor," and great emphasis is put upon
 
 82 THE HOUSE 
 
 the living room. A closer study would seem to in- 
 dicate that it was not the room that was passing away, 
 but that its purpose was given a new interpretation. 
 
 The term parlor to many people suggests a square 
 room with a few pieces of hair cloth furniture set at 
 regular distances about the wall, a "center table" in 
 the center of the room and on it a glass case contain- 
 ing wax flowers and an album ; the walls decorated 
 with the family portraits, and the whole having a gen- 
 erally unlivable air and so quite properly reserved for 
 funerals and weddings. 
 
 Heception Happily such parlors are "passing" and some peo- 
 ple, because of the ridicule attached to them, are al- 
 most afraid to own that they possess a parlor. The 
 fact remains, however, that that ridiculed parlor stood 
 for two things which every well-regulated home should 
 have, a room that is kept in order, and a place where 
 the formal caller may be received without intruding 
 into the privacy of the family life. The rooms in which 
 the family live and work are not always and should 
 not be expected to be ready for the reception of the 
 passing stranger. So, for the comfort of all it is belter 
 that there should be a room near the principal entrance 
 and not far from the front stairs for the reception room 
 or parlor. To avoid the "stiffness" sometimes asso- 
 ciated with a square room its outline may be changed 
 by the introduction of a bay window or a grate. The 
 haircloth furniture and family portraits also may be
 
 ROOMS 83 
 
 eliminated. It is desirable too that this room have 
 more than one door of exit. In case a company is to 
 be entertained in the house "circulation" is much more 
 easily accomplished if one may pass from the parlor 
 to either the hall or library or sitting room. 
 
 The Living Room. In this room the family life is Living 
 to center. Provision is to be made in it for the needs ooin 
 of the various members. It should then have, if pos- 
 sible, the best view the situation affords, plenty of sun- 
 light, and a view of the setting sun is desirable. Its 
 outline too should be distinctly varied either by win- 
 dows or fire-place so as to make it possible for groups 
 to gather. Cupboards for toys, fancy work, or a few 
 books, and window seats which open all help to meet 
 the varying needs of family life. 
 
 This room too should open on the principal thor- 
 oughfare. It is desirable that it be the largest room of 
 the house, oblong rather than square ; a room eighteen 
 by thirty or twenty by thirty feet makes a good-sized 
 living room. 
 
 The Dining Room. This is one of the most impor- 
 tant rooms in the house. It is possibly the one place 
 where all the family gather daily. Cheer and bright- 
 ness are associated with it and its construction should 
 aid to both. First, as to size : It should be wide enough 
 to allow the easy passage about it that is required in 
 service. A minimum of eleven by thirteen and one- 
 half feet ~\nd a maximum of seventeen by twenty-two
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Lighting 
 
 of the 
 
 Dining 
 
 Boom 
 
 The 
 
 "Dinner Route" 
 
 feet seem to meet the requirements of ordinary houses-. 
 A sideboard or china closet is almost an essential. It 
 is desirable to have it built in in a recess near the 
 pantry door. If there be room for it a fireplace is a 
 desirable addition but its location should be carefully 
 considered. It is better at the end than at the side, as 
 the heat of the fire may make the backs of the people 
 at table uncomfortable. 
 
 The lighting is another important consideration. If 
 that can come from the end too, it is less likely to shine 
 in the eyes- of the people at table, or to cast a shadow 
 over those on the other side of the table. It should not, 
 however, be placed directly in the middle of the end, 
 but distributed by being put near the corners of the 
 room. A secondary light may be added by smaller or 
 irregular windows at the side. A western exposure is 
 not preferable for a dining room. It makes the room 
 a rather cheerless one on a winter's morning, and in 
 the summer, by the time the family gather for the 
 evening meal, the rays of the setting sun are likely to 
 interfere with their comfort. So a southerly or easterly 
 aspect is much to be preferred. 
 
 The communication with the kitchen should be easy, 
 not direct, but through a small pantry. By this means 
 the odors from the kitchen are avoided, and the two 
 walls shut from the dining room the noise in the 
 kitchen. The doors in the pantry should not be directly 
 opposite, lest they afford a direct view into the kitchen
 
 
 ROOMS 85 
 
 from the dining room. It is quite evident also that 
 this passage from the kitchen to the dining room, 
 called by some the "dinner route," should be distinct 
 and separate from the family thoroughfares. 
 
 The question of the communication between the din- 
 kitchen is an open one. In a small house where the 
 only rooms that can be open to guests are the parlor 
 and dining room, it seems almost necessary to have 
 direct communication between them. On the other 
 hand because of the close connection of this room with 
 the service rooms and the consequent necessity, for 
 several hours of the day, for complete separation it is 
 desirable not to have this direct communication. 
 
 Perhaps in this connection a mild protest may be sliding 
 entered against a too generous use of sliding doors 
 between the parlor, library, living room and dining 
 room. They may prove useful when one wishes to 
 "open up" the house for a large company, but for 
 daily living they certainly detract from the privacy and 
 singleness of use for which the separate rooms were 
 planned. In feudal times the hall was the place where 
 the people lived, ate, worked, and slept. The introduc- 
 tion of separate rooms for sleeping and eating were 
 regarded as improvements. The introduction of a dis- 
 tinct passage way w r as a still further improvement. A 
 too generous use of sliding doors seems to convert 
 the floor space into a large hall. Sounds and odors
 
 86 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Sitting 
 
 Room 
 
 or Study 
 
 Tlstof 
 
 the Kitchen 
 
 then penetrate to all parts of the house. The reader 
 in the library is apt to be disturbed by the chatting in 
 the parlor. The odors from the dining room are 
 wafted into the living room. It seems much more de- 
 sirable to have a hall serve as- a means of communi- 
 cation and the rooms allowed to fulfill their particular 
 function. 
 
 The Library. This term may mean a study chiefh 
 for some one member of the family or it may be a kind 
 of sitting room in which most of the books of the 
 family are kept. If it is the former, the privacy and 
 quiet which the worker seeks is often more easily ob- 
 tained on the second floor. 
 
 The Kitchen. There yet remains for consideration 
 that all important room, the kitchen ; out of which 
 issues so much that makes or mars the health and com- 
 fort of the family. A visit to the kitchen of the Dean- 
 ery of Durham Cathedral helped the author to realise 
 as never before how the purposes of the kitchen had 
 changed in the centuries. That was an octagonal 
 room with eight fireplaces and a stone floor. The 
 guides explained that perhaps- only two or three of the 
 fireplaces would be used in the preparation of the daily 
 food ; that in the others were hung the quarters of 
 beef or the pork destined for future use and preserved 
 by the smoke which was kept beneath them. 
 
 The modern kitchen is not supposed to be either a 
 store room, a laundry, or a sitting room, but it is a
 
 ROOMS 
 
 CONVENIENT PLAN OP KITCHEN, DINING ROOM 
 AND PANTRIES. 
 
 place for the preparation of food, a workshop. For 
 that purpose it should be well lighted, ventilated pre- 
 ferably by a cross draft, and of such materials as can 
 be cleaned easily. It should be so planned that its 
 chief articles of furniture the range, sink, work table 
 should be near together and in line with the pantry, 
 that its working space may be as compact as possible. 
 (See Kitchen in Plan No. 7.) 
 
 A room ten by twelve feet is usually sufficient for 
 the purpose. Opinions differ greatly concerning the 
 details of the kitchen. Some women prefer a very 
 
 Size
 
 88 THE HOUSE 
 
 small kitchen and a large pantry with provision for 
 doing the pastry work and much of the preparation of 
 the food other than the cooking. Others prefer a large 
 kitchen with a space quite removed from the range for 
 this preparation. If the woman does her own work 
 the first plan has much to commend it, and the amount 
 of travel is not greatly increased if the working pantry 
 be well placed. 
 
 closets However much opinions differ as to the size of the 
 kitchen, all women appreciate the value of closets and 
 cupboards. It may be desirable for the cook in hotel 
 kitchens to have his utensils hung on the walls over 
 his work table. His interest does not lie in making 
 as little work at possible for those who are to wash the 
 soiled utensils and keep the room in good order. He 
 wishes everything at hand that he may work quickly. 
 In the average home the woman who cooks also cleans 
 and it is to her interest to have as few things as pos- 
 sible exposed to the dust and steam of the kitchen. 
 Utensils do not need to be exposed to be easily access- 
 ible and the care of them is greatly lessened if cup- 
 boards are abundant and roomy. 
 
 The The location of the ice-box is a fruitful source of 
 annoyance in many houses. It should be so placed that 
 it can be filled from the back porch and thus avoid the 
 necessity of having the iceman's boots and dripping 
 ice leave their marks in the kitchen. 
 See ice-box in Plan No. 2.
 
 ROOMS 
 
 KITCHEN PLAN WITH LARGE PANTRIES. 
 
 Sink in Butler's Pantry. Refrigerator in Working Pantry. 
 
 Servants' Room. 
 
 Before leaving the first floor I wish to emphasize 
 the comfort and convenience afforded by plenty of 
 closets in addition of those destined for kitchen uses. 
 Beginning in the front entrance a useful piece of fur- 
 niture is a box seat which may hold the rubbers. A 
 closet under the front stairs for wraps is most desir- 
 able. Reference has already been made to their use in 
 the living room. 
 
 Closets
 
 90 THE HOUSE 
 
 We have come by a somewhat circuitous route to the 
 second floor plan. Just at this point is where the real 
 fun in house planning begins, when one begins to de- 
 vise a means of getting to the second floor. It is said 
 that most women plan houses without putting in any 
 stairs, and then wonder what the architect means by 
 the "well hole," since they understood that the "water 
 supply was to be brought from the outside." 
 
 STAIRS 
 
 Eciation It may be well to face the difficulties squarely and 
 to Biser to decide just what is to be expected of a stairs. First : 
 That it shall afford an easy means of transition from 
 the first to the second floor. The ladder of the log 
 cabin failed at the point of ease. The winding stair 
 is likely to have the same de- 
 fect. Wherein then lies the se- 
 cret of ease in stairs? The 
 A architect answers in the rela- 
 
 tion of riser to tread. A stairs in which the riser and 
 tread bear the relation shown in figure B, gives one 
 somewhat the feeling of attempting to lift him- 
 self bodily into the air. A stairs in which the 
 tread is about double the riser, A, is a much more com- 
 fortable one. Authorities seem to agree that when 
 twice the height of the riser added to once the tread 
 equals twenty-four inches the stair will be comfortable ; 
 that means a riser of seven inches and a tread of ten.
 
 STAIRS 
 
 Two times seven plus ten equal fourteen plus ten 
 equals twenty-four. 
 
 Second : It is evident that in going up stairs attention 
 must be given to one's head as well as to one's feet, 
 hence the necessity for the "well" or space between 
 the floors. 
 
 Again, the stairs must be of sufficient width to al- 
 low easy passage. They should not be less than three 
 feet and six inches, while four feet is a better width. 
 The rear staircases should be wide enough to carry up 
 furniture and trunks, and so save the front staircases. 
 If absolutely necessary an eight inch riser may be used 
 in the rear stairs. Into what shall the upper stairs 
 lead? This is an important question. The answer 
 given by some houses would be into a narrow, box 
 like passage way ; by others, into a room. Compara- 
 tively few people seem to understand that their efforts 
 regarding attractive hall space ought not to be limited 
 to the first floor. It is quite as desirable to have the 
 stairs end well. 
 
 Plans No. 2 and No. 5 show attractive hall space 
 on the second floor. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of stairs attention should 
 be called to the various kinds of stairs in the house 
 plans already considered. It is easy to appreciate the 
 value of a front and back stairway as illustrated in 
 house plans Nos. 2. 4, and 7 ; but in small houses it 
 sometimes is desirable to put both the space and money 
 
 Well Hole 
 
 Front and 
 Back Stair
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Combination 
 "Stairway 
 
 VNCOVERCD PORCM 
 O 
 
 p 
 
 PLAN No. 9. An Excellent Arrangement of Rooms in a House Nearly 
 Square in Plan. Compact Stairway. Side Entrance for Doctor's 
 Patients. Convenient Kitchen, Pantry and Refrigerator. Note Side- 
 walk Light in the Covered Porch to Admit Light to the Cellar. 
 
 required for the making of the second pair of stairs 
 to some other use. In such cases one may use either 
 a "combination stairway," as shown in house plan No. 
 I, or locate the one stairway in such a place that it 
 will be easily accessible from the 'front or rear of the
 
 STAIRS 
 
 93 
 
 PLAN No. 9. Second Floor. Good Closet Room. Clothes Chute in 
 the Bath Room. Scale ^ inch=l foot. 
 Messrs. White and Temple, Architects. 
 
 house. House plan No. 6 is a good example of that 
 kind of a stairway. It is easily accessible from the 
 front hall and yet so placed that one could pass up 
 stairs from the kitchen without being noticed by any 
 person in the reception room. 
 
 The combination stairway as shown in Figure I, 
 gives the privacy and separation on the first floor and 
 saves space on the second floor.
 
 SECOND FLOOR 95 
 
 SECOND FLOOR PLAN 
 
 The division of floor space here into rooms and 
 thoroughfares should receive careful attention. The 
 rooms are likely to be used for bedrooms ; possibly the 
 family sitting room may be here. If so it should be 
 near the front stairs, and the bath room should be 
 accessible but somewhat removed from the front. It 
 is very desirable to separate the bath room and the 
 water closet. 
 
 The surest \vav to be certain that the bedrooms have 
 
 ' Placing of 
 
 wall space for the furniture one expects to place in a Furniture 
 bedroom is by representing these various articles of 
 furniture by bits of paper at the same scale as the plan, 
 and placing them about the room. Care should be 
 taken about the position of the door that it be not so 
 placed as to expose the bed whenever it is open. Light 
 and air should be obtained by windows on two sides 
 if possible, or by use of transoms. Ample provision 
 should be made for closet space, at least one in each 
 bedroom ; one in the hall for the weekly supply of 
 linen, and a store room for the bed coverings. 
 
 APARTMENTS 
 
 Nothing yet has been said about apartments or flats 
 in which all the rooms are on one floor. The building 
 of apartments is increasing rapidly in the large cities 
 where land is expensive, because rents can be less for 
 the reason that not so much must be charged for the 
 ground rent. When hot water, heat, and janitor ser-
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Essentials 
 in House 
 Planning 
 
 Originality 
 
 vice are furnished, the complications of housekeeping 
 are lessened and as there are no stairs to climb, energy 
 is saved in the daily routine. In the planning of apart- 
 ments the most difficult problem is to obtain sufficient 
 light and air especially sunlight. Many of the rooms 
 in a block of houses must, of necessity, be dark or only 
 partially lighted an unpleasant and unhygienic condi- 
 tion. 
 
 Many apartments are planned with a long, dark hall. 
 The accompanying illustration shows an apartment in 
 which such a hall is not present. The conveniences 
 of a well-planned apartment are not to be gainsaid. 
 The disadvantages are lack of privacy, an inability to 
 have out-of-doors space, and lack of sunlight. These 
 disadvantages are most objectionable when there are 
 children in the family. 
 
 So much for the planning of the house. Whatever 
 the style selected, the requirements of good building 
 are great leading lines, good proportion, clear detail, 
 and appropriate ornament. If the owner remembers 
 this and that the structure must be adapted to location, 
 environment, and purpose, with comfort and conven- 
 ience, he is likely to have a house that is pleasing to 
 the eye as well as convenient. 
 
 To some people originality and individuality in house 
 planning consist in introducing an unusual window 
 here, a strange cornice or ornament there, and an odd 
 door at another place. As a result of this "freakish- 
 ness" one finds a window which looks like the port hole
 
 ST> T 
 
 APARTMENTS 
 
 97 
 
 PLAN OF A FLAT WITHOUT A LONG, DARK HALL. 
 GOOD CLOSET ROOM. 
 
 of a vessel, a gingerbread cornice and a heavy castle 
 door all heaped together in a small house, making it 
 look as if it had been made from an architectural 
 scrap bag. 
 
 This quotation from "Decoration of Houses," by 
 Codman and Wharton is one that ought to be fre- 
 quently recalled. The author is discussing originality 
 in architecture : "What is originality in art ? Perhaps 
 it is easier to define what it is not; and this may be
 
 98 THE HOUSE 
 
 done by saying that it is never a wilful rejection of 
 what have been accepted as the necessary laws of the 
 various forms of art. .Thus, in reasoning, originality 
 lies not in discarding the necessary laws of thought, 
 but in using them to express new intellectual concep- 
 tions ; in poetry, originality consists not in discarding 
 the necessary laws of rhythm, but in finding new 
 rhythms within the limits of those laws. Most oi the 
 features of architecture that have persisted through va- 
 rious fluctuations of taste, owe their preservation to the 
 fact that they have been proved by experience to be 
 necessary ; and it will be found that none of them pre- 
 cludes the exercise of individual taste, any more than 
 the acceptance of the syllogism or of the laws of 
 rhythm prevents new thinkers and poets from saying 
 what has never been said before. * * * All good 
 architecture and good decoration must be based on 
 rhythm and logic. * * * To conform to a style 
 then is to accept those rules of proportion which the 
 artistic experience of centuries has established as the 
 best, while within those limits allowing free scope to 
 the individual requirements which must inevitably mod- 
 ify every house or room adapted to the use and con- 
 venience of its occupants,"
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Its Plan, Decoration and Care 
 
 PART II 
 
 Read Carefully. Place your name and address on the 
 first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
 on one side of the sheet only. Do not copy answers from 
 the lesson paper. Use your own words, so that your in- 
 structor may know that you understand the subject. Read 
 the lesson paper a number of times before attempting to 
 answer the questions. 
 
 1. Name some considerations that influence in de- 
 
 termining the (a) site of a house, (b) ma- 
 terials, and (c) general appearance of a 
 house. 
 
 2. What disadvantages arise from an unwise dis- 
 
 tribution of floor space? 
 
 3. Name the different types of entrances. 
 
 4. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of a 
 
 reception hall plan. 
 
 5. What are some of the special needs of farm 
 
 houses ? 
 
 6. Which of the nine plans illustrated do you like 
 
 best? Why? 
 
 7. Give some distinctive characteristics of the (a) 
 
 parlor, (b) living room, (c) dining room, (d) 
 library, (e) chambers.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 8. Which type of kitchen plans do you prefer? 
 
 What are your reasons ? 
 
 9. How is ease secured in stairs ? 
 
 10. What are the advantages of a combination 
 
 stairs ? 
 
 11. Complete the plan you like best (No. i, 3, 4, 5, 
 
 or 6) for the first and second story. Make 
 your drawing twice the size of the illustration, 
 i. e., scale y inch:=i foot, using cross section 
 paper. 
 
 12. Indicate on your sketch the position and size of 
 
 range, sink, refrigerator, and dining room 
 table on the first floor, and of the beds and 
 bureaus on the second floor, determining their 
 position by using small bits of paper as de- 
 scribed on page 95. 
 
 Note. After completing the test sign your full name.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Its Plan, Decoration and Care 
 
 PART III 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE 
 
 Perhaps an outline will afford the simplest method 
 for suggesting some of the points to be considered in 
 the construction of the house. 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 (2) Preparation of the 
 
 soil for, includes 
 Removal of the top 
 
 soil, 
 
 Grading, 
 Drainage. 
 (4J Cellar 
 Structure, floor and 
 
 walls, 
 Drainage, 
 Divisions, 
 Inner finish, 
 Ventilation, 
 Lighting. 
 
 Before considering the superstructure, we will stop 
 a moment to amplify some of the points suggested. 
 
 The adaptation of the structure to its intended uses 
 has already been considered. 
 
 The removal of the top soil prevents it from being 
 mixed with the lime, sand, and cellar dirt, and leaves 
 
 ( 1 1 Structure adapted to 
 Location, 
 Environment, 
 Purpose of the owner. 
 
 ''5; Foundation Walls 
 Materials, 
 Size, 
 
 Manner of laying, 
 Height above ground. 
 
 outline 
 
 Preparation 
 of the Bite
 
 102 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Sle 
 Ceilar 
 
 it ready for use in the growing of the grass later. If 
 this precaution is not observed it may be necessary to 
 bring good soil from elsewhere. 
 
 The materials of the foundation will be either brick 
 or stone, according to the expense. Stone is usually 
 more expensive and is generally considered better than 
 brick, but owing to the difficulty in securing good 
 stone masons to lay the stone properly, brick has 
 grown into favor and is preferred by some good build- 
 ers, especially above the ground line. Neither brick 
 nor stone should be laid in freezing weather and only 
 cement mortar, to keep out dampness, should be used 
 for walls below ground. The thickness will depend 
 upon the kind of superstructure. F. C. Moore says in 
 "How to Build a House," "Foundation walls should 
 not be less than twelve inches if of brick, nor less than 
 eighteen inches if of stone." The part of the walls 
 above the surface of the ground should not be less 
 than eighteen inches in thickness. 
 
 One feels inclined to beg that special emphasis 
 should be given to the construction of the cellar, for out 
 of it issues so much that makes for health or disea.se. 
 Probably it will never be known how much of the low 
 state of vitality found in some families is to be cliarged 
 to an illy ventilated, badly lighted, poorly drained cellar 
 used as a storehouse for decaying vegetables and send- 
 ing its foul germ-laden air to every part of the house. 
 
 It is more sanitary to have the cellar under the 
 whole house and adds very little to the expense. Its
 
 CONSTRUCTION 
 
 103 
 
 ceilings should not be less than seven feet high, plas- 
 tered if possible on metallic lathing. The side walls 
 should be whitewashed. The floor made of concrete. 
 It should be well drained, well lighted and partitioned 
 into such rooms as have definite uses. The vegetable 
 room should be separated and fitted for its purpose. 
 
 SUPERSTRUCTURE OF THE HOUSE 
 
 , (2) 1 1 'alls 
 Materials, 
 Wood, 
 Stone, 
 Brick. 
 Shingles. 
 (4) Chimneys 
 Built from ground, 
 \Yalls of flues (eight 
 
 inches thick), 
 Lined with fire clav or 
 
 ('/; Framing 
 Balloon, 
 Braced. 
 
 (3j Floors 
 Construction, 
 Single, 
 Double. 
 
 Manner of laying. 
 Deafening. 
 Sweeping molding. 
 ( 5; Doors 
 ( Closets 
 
 flue lining. 
 
 (6) Windows 
 (8) Devices for 
 
 Strength. 
 
 Warmth, 
 
 Dryness. 
 
 Safety from fire. 
 
 Preventing shrinkage. 
 (10) Roofs 
 
 Material, 
 
 Manner of laying. 
 
 Of the two kinds of framing, that known as the 
 braced is the more expensive and stronger. 
 
 (Q) Porches
 
 104 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Balloon 
 
 and Braced 
 
 Framing 
 
 Frame 
 
 Lath 
 
 and 
 
 Plaster 
 
 The balloon frame is considered strong enough for 
 all practical purposes and is quite generally used. See 
 illustration. Owing to the greater expense of building 
 stone or brick houses, and the fact that they are more 
 apt to be damp than frame houses, wood is the material 
 more generally used. 
 
 The construction of a wooden building is, in gen- 
 
 f -~r | 
 
 BRACED FRAME. BALLOON FRAME, 
 
 a, Corner Posts; b, Sill; c, Plate; d. Girt; e. Braces;/, Studs; h. Sill; 
 
 j, Ledger Board; *, Plate. 
 
 In the full braced frame all pieces are fastened together with mor- 
 tise-and-tenon joints. In the balloon frame the pieces are simply nailed, 
 the frame depending upon the boarding for its stiffness. A combination 
 of the two is common. 
 
 eral, as follows: The walls consist of a frame of 
 studs or light timbers, 2 in. by 4 in. or 2 in. by 6 in., 
 set about sixteen inches apart from center to center. 
 The outside is covered with rough boards, then with 
 clap-boards or shingles. 
 
 Inside the walls are covered with laths and plaster 
 The interior partitions are made of studding covered
 
 CONSTRUCTION 
 
 105 
 
 on both sides with laths and plaster. The laths should 
 be green, that is, not dried, for the wet plaster would 
 cause them to warp. The first coat of plaster, called 
 the "scratch coat" because it is scratched or roughened 
 in order to hold the next coat, should be allowed to 
 dry thoroughly before the second coat is laid over. 
 Much of the falling, cracking and annoyance with 
 plastering comes from the lack of this precaution. 
 
 The studs of the outside wall should stand on a 
 heavy timber called a sill, 
 which rests on top of th^e 
 cellar wall. At the top of trie 
 walls the horizontal piece, 
 called the plate, is placed, on 
 which rest the lower ends of 
 the rafters forming the roof 
 pieces. The rafters are cov- 
 ered with boards and these 
 with shingles. 
 
 CCD 
 
 SILL PLACED ON WALL. 
 a, Cement; b. Anchor Bolt; 
 c, Sill; d. Girder, 
 
 The girders are the heavy timbers set level with the 
 beams of the first floor, on which stand the studs of 
 main interior partitions. 
 
 Shingle houses are much in favor in some localities 
 and make very attractive and inexpensive homes. 
 Cedar shingles "weather" to a grey tint that is pleasing, 
 but many prefer the brown or green stain. Shingle 
 houses are a little more expensive than plain wooden 
 ones. 
 
 The SiH 
 
 Girdera 
 
 Shingled 
 House*
 
 io6 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Floors 
 
 Windows 
 
 Floors should be of well-dried, carefully selected ma- 
 terial. The beams are usually two inches thick and ten 
 inches wide ; but if one or two inches be added to each 
 of these dimensions the extra cost will add to the 
 strength of the floor and tend to prevent cracks in 
 ceilings and walls due to vibrations. It is better to 
 have the floor double and to put asbestos paper or 
 salamander between the two layers. The paper serves 
 as fire resisting material as well as to deafen the 
 sounds. The under floor should be nailed diagonally. 
 The baseboards should be set upon the under floor if 
 the floors are double, or tongued into the floor plank if 
 the floors are single, to prevent the unsightly cracks 
 that sometimes appear between the floor and base- 
 board. The sweeping molding should be convex so as 
 to shed rather than retain dust and moisture. 
 
 In general, doors and windows should be of a uni- 
 form size and height. 
 
 In a city house, recently, the writer counted win- 
 dows of nine different shapes and sizes on the front 
 of a single house. 
 
 The small leaded or colored glass window may have 
 its place in the dining room or library where light is 
 wanted without the view ; and the French windows 
 which open like doors may sometimes be desirable, but 
 usually the ordinary sized windows hung on weights 
 will prove more practicable for the admission of light 
 and better ac'^pted to keep out the storm. The writer 
 was impressed with the limitations of casement win-
 
 CONSTRUCTION 
 
 107 
 
 dows recently, when she found herself in a bedroom 
 on the first floor with two windows, one opening on 
 the front porch of the house, the other one on the drive 
 way. The only possible way of securing air in the 
 bedroom was by opening a door, as it were, to the 
 
 mmitif'i >*&& i_-4-'' ^*m^ .' * ?ii i UE!*-L, X. 
 
 A SHINGLED HOUSE. 
 
 public. The problem was complicated by the fact that 
 the host had explained that bears frequently wandered 
 about the region after dark. 
 
 If sliding doors-are used precautions should be taken 
 to insure their moving easily when so desired. Closet 
 doors should never open in, and bedroom doors should ^ 
 be so hung as to screen rather than reveal the bed. 
 Swinging doors with glass in them to provide against 
 servants running imo each other, are desirable in 
 pantries. 
 
 Doors
 
 io8 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Front 
 Door 
 
 It is desirable to have the front door a little larger 
 and heavier than other doors, with perhaps glass in 
 the upper half, but if the glass extends below the upper 
 half, it detracts from the sense of privacy desirable in 
 an outside door. 
 
 Provision for warmth is made by a generous use 
 of building paper, back plastering, mineral wool and 
 felt. Nothing is so good a 
 non-conductor as a dead air 
 space, so double walls with 
 air space between are of 
 special value in this respect. 
 It seems almost criminal 
 to be careless . in the matter 
 of fire stops. Yet this is so 
 often the case in the ordinary 
 house, often far removed 
 from the help of any fire de- 
 partment. Hollow partitions, 
 open staircases and spaces in 
 side walls from cellar to gar- 
 ret make drafts and flues for carrying flames. These 
 spaces should be closed on each floor by plaster, 
 cement, or metal stops. Metal lath for ceiling, as- 
 bestos or mineral wool between the floors, ordinary 
 lime mortar are all helpful in making a "slow burn- 
 ing" house. 
 
 FIRE STOPS BETWEEN. 
 STUDS.
 
 FLOORS 
 
 Volumes might be written upon the subject of floors 
 and their finishing, covering and care. Pine, hard and 
 soft, maple, ash, and oak are the kinds of timber most 
 often used in floors. Soft pine has the advantage of 
 being least expensive. Oak is by many considered the 
 best wood for floor uses, particularly if it is quarter- 
 sawn. All woods darken in time if treated with oil. 
 
 Material 
 
 METALLIC LATF. 
 
 Maple is preferred by those who object to the dark 
 floors, as the closeness of its grain prevents the rapid 
 absorption and consequent darkening by oil. The 
 stained, painted, oiled or waxed floor partly covered 
 by rugs is steadily growing in favor and displacing the 
 floor covered with carpet. 
 
 There is much to be said in favor of the finished 
 floor. It saves the tugging and pulling sometimes 
 necessary to make the carpet fit. It simplifies very 
 much the problem of house cleaning. Instead of that 
 week or two in the spring and fall when all the carpets 
 were taken up, pounded, beaten, stretched and pulled 
 
 109 
 
 Advantages 
 of Finished 
 Floors
 
 no THE HOUSE 
 
 with the resulting finger and back aches, with the rug 
 covered floor, the rugs are removed as often as need 
 be, shaken, the floors wiped off with a damp or oiled 
 cloth and the rugs relaid with much less expenditure 
 oi 'energy. The rugs are much lighter and easier to 
 handle and the dust which accumulates under the ordi- 
 nary carpet is thus dispensed with ; so the rug covered 
 floor is apt to be more sanitary. Some people object 
 to any bare floor where there are children or elderly 
 people. This can easily be obviated by the use of 
 large rugs with borders of matting or filling. 
 
 No exact statistics can be given as to the compara- 
 tive time required in caring for a room with waxed 
 or painted floors with rugs, and one covered with 
 carpet. The testimony of one woman who had the 
 care of eight carpeted rooms for years, is given. After 
 one of them had been transformed by floor finish and 
 two rugs, she said that she would rather care for 
 three such rooms than one carpeted one. 
 
 Kind of The question as to whether the finish shall be paint, 
 varnish, shellac or wax must be decided by the expense 
 and by the use of the rooms. \Yax and varnish are 
 not desirable if the floor is to be subjected to the tread 
 of many dusty feet. The oiled or painted floor will 
 stand the wiping with the damp cloth to remove the 
 dust much better. A little kerosene or milk added to 
 the water used in sponging will serve to brighten either 
 the paint or oil.
 
 Q 
 
 8s 
 
 a" 
 
 K 6 
 
 a fc
 
 FLOORS 
 
 113 
 
 Before a floor is treated with varnish or wax, the 
 pores of the porous woods are usually filled with a 
 paste filler, which may be combined with a stain if 
 other than natural finish is desired. This treatment 
 brings out the grain of the wood and prevents the 
 absorption of too much of the more expensive finish.- 
 
 Varnished floors are perhaps easiest to keep clean 
 and when newly finished look well, but they are easily 
 marred and become unsightly in places where there is 
 much wear, especially if the varnish is not of the very 
 best quality. The cost of the best materials is small 
 in comparison to the cost of labor in finishing floors. 
 Refinishing is always an expensive process, so that it 
 is economy to use the best varnish obtainable- Much 
 expense will be saved by re-varnishing at the first sign 
 of wear, for if the surface becomes broken, the wood 
 underneath absorbs dirt, and scraping or planing may 
 be required to remove it. It will be found cheapest 
 in the end to apply a thin coat once a year, or oftener 
 if necessary. 
 
 Many housewives find shellaced floors easiest to 
 manage. Shellac varnish is made by dissolving gum 
 shellac in either grain or wood alcohol. The varnish 
 which one buys is apt to be adulterated with cheaper, 
 inferior gums, so that the surest way to get pure var- 
 nish is to make it for oneself. The materials can be 
 obtained at almost any drug store. To make sufficient 
 quantity for small repairs, six ounces of light yellow 
 flake shellac may be added to a pint of alcohol. The 
 
 Varnished 
 Floors 
 
 Shellaced 
 Floors
 
 H4 THE HOUSE 
 
 gum will dissolve in about an hour and make a varnish 
 of proper consistency for floors. It is best to strain 
 the varnish through cheesecloth before using. The 
 varnish will dry in less than an hour and makes a 
 very hard surface. All varnish should be applied with 
 long, slow strokes of the brush and with the grain of 
 the wood. 
 
 In repairing a varnished floor which has been neg- 
 lected, the much worn, dark places may be scrubbed 
 with water and a fine sand soap, like sapolio, until 
 clean; then be given a preliminary coat of varnish, and 
 after these places have dried, the entire floor should 
 Le varnished. 
 
 Waxed Many think that wax makes the most desirable 
 Floor* , i]ic j j ast j n y fl oor finish for the living rooms. The ex- 
 
 o -* 
 
 pense of this finish is somewhat more than the varnish 
 finish because of the greater amount of labor required. 
 Clark in "The Care of the House" recommends that a 
 new floor be treated with two coats of linseed oil and 
 turpentine mixed with enough Japan dryer to dry over 
 night. This is put on to prevent the floor from show- 
 ing spots. \Yhen this is dry. two coats of floor wax 
 are applied and after standing over night, rubbed thor- 
 oughly into the wood and polished with a weighted 
 brush made for the purpose. A waxed floor should 
 be given a new coat of floor wax every year or oftener 
 in the places subjected to hard wear. A floor so treat- 
 ed will last for a long time. One objection to the 
 wax finish is that water will turn the coating white.
 
 I-LOORS 
 
 The floor must be cleaned with a dry cloth or mop or 
 one which is only slightly damp and rubbed occa- 
 sionally with the weighted brush. If the floor becomes 
 spotted by water through accident, the damage can be 
 repaired easily by applying a little wax and rubbing 
 with the brush. If the floor becomes soiled or stained 
 the wax may be removed by turpentine, the spot treat- 
 ed and the place covered anew with wax. Ink or iron 
 stains may te removed with a solution of oxalic acid. 
 
 Xo entirely satisfactory finish for the kitchen floor 
 has yet been found. The time honored way of scrub- 
 bing with soap and water makes the whitest and clean- 
 est looking floor, it is true but the work required ! 
 It does not seem to be an economic condition to have 
 the floor cf .the work shop such that nothing may fall 
 upon it. Linseed oil, frequently applied, makes a finish 
 in every way good if it were not for the unsightly dark- 
 ening. When the wood is thoroughly filled with oil, 
 nothing will produce a spot on such a floor, not even 
 grease. It may be wiped up with a wet cloth but should 
 not be scrubbed with soap and water. 
 
 A good grade of linoleum makes a floor covering 
 most easily cared for. \Yhen this is to be used there 
 is no necessity of laying an expensive hard wood 
 floor in the kitchen. This does not mean, however, that 
 the floor need not be carefully laid, for if any of the 
 boards warp the linoleum will be quickly worn through 
 in the raised parts. 
 
 Kitchen 
 Floor 
 
 Linoleum
 
 n6 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Oiling 
 
 Expense 
 of 
 
 Finished 
 Floors 
 
 Comparative 
 Cost of 
 Floors 
 
 Fainted 
 
 The clear boiled linseed oil is applied hot. The 
 first essential in the care of any finished floor is that 
 it should be perfectly clean and dry before oil, wax 
 or varnish is applied. 
 
 The floors of pantries, back hall and stairs may well 
 be finished in oil. 
 
 The expense so often urged against a hard wood 
 floor does not seem to be borne out by the following 
 statistics carpets to look well must be frequently re- 
 moved while waxed or oiled floors may be kept in 
 order for years with slight additional expense. 
 
 The utmost care should be used in securing well 
 dried material for floors, and eternal vigilance is re- 
 quired to prevent new floors from being ruined by 
 careless workmen before the house is finished. 
 
 The following table compiled from recent estimates 
 will answer some of the questions concerning the cost 
 of new floors per square foot. 
 
 I. Cost of soft pine floor, 
 
 Laid unfinished 3^2 cents 
 
 Stained " 
 
 Total cost of floor 4^ cents 
 
 2. Cost of soft pine floor, 
 
 Laid unfinished 3^2 cents 
 
 Painted two coats, cracks not put- 
 
 tied 
 
 i 1 / 
 
 Total cost of floor 5 cents
 
 FLOORS 
 
 117 
 
 3. Cost of hard pine floor, 011 
 
 Planed and scraped 7 cents 
 
 Oiled with one coat of hot linseed 
 
 oil y s " 
 
 Total cost of floor 7^ cents 
 
 4. Cost of hard pine floor, shellac 
 
 Planed and scraped 7 cents 
 
 Stained and two coats of shellac ... 2 
 
 Total cost of floor 9 cents 
 
 5. Cost of soft pine floor, Carpet 
 
 Laid unfinished 3^/2 cents 
 
 Cost of ingrain carpet at 65c per 
 
 yard . 7.2 " 
 
 Total cost of floor 10.7 cents 
 
 6. Cost of soft pine floor, plain 
 
 Laid unfinished 3^2 cents Linoleum 
 
 Cost of plain linoleum at 65c per 
 yard 7.2 " 
 
 Total cost of floor 10.7 cents 
 
 y. Cost of straight oak floor, Oak 
 
 Planed and scraped 9 cents 
 
 Stained, filled and two coats of 
 
 shellac .^A " 
 
 Total cost of floor n l /2 cents
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Oak 
 
 and 
 Wax 
 
 Brussels 
 Carpet 
 
 Inlaid 
 
 Linoleum 
 
 Quartered 
 Oak 
 
 8. Cost of straight oak floor, 
 
 Planed and scraped 9 cents 
 
 Stained, one coat of shellac and 
 wax 2 l / 2 " 
 
 Total cost of floor 1 1 1 A cents 
 
 9. Cost of soft pine floor, 
 
 Laid unfinished 3^ cents 
 
 Cost of Brussels carpets at 8oc per 
 yard 9 " 
 
 Total cost of floor i2 l / 2 cents 
 
 10. Cost of snft pine floor, 
 
 Laid unfinished 3^ cents 
 
 Cost ot inlaid linoleum at $1.10 per 
 yard 12.2 " 
 
 Total cost of floor 15.7 cents 
 
 ii. Cost of quarter sawed oak floor, 
 
 Planeu and scraped 14 
 
 Stained, filled and three coats of 
 varnish 5 
 
 cents 
 
 Total cost of floor 19 cents 
 
 The above cost is given in items of sq. ft. from 
 which it is easy to obtain the cost per sq. yd. if one 
 remembers that nine sq. ft. make one sq. yd. 
 
 One or two examples are worked out for the sake
 
 FLOORS 119 
 
 of comparison. For example : What is the cost of the 
 floor in a room 15 ft. square with 
 
 1. A soft pine floor covered with ingrain carpet? 
 
 2. A soft pine floor covered with Brussels carpet? 
 
 3. A hard pine floor, planed and scraped, with one 
 coat of oil ? 
 
 4. A hard pine floor planed, scraped, stained and 
 with two coats of shellac. 
 
 A room 15 ft. square contains 25 sq. yds. 
 
 The table shows ( Xo. 5) that a soft pine floor with 
 ingrain carpet costs 10.7 cents per sq. ft.=96.3 cents 
 per sq. yd. 
 
 25 sq. yds. cost 96.3x25=824.075. 
 
 A room of the same dimensions of soft pine covered 
 with Brussels carpet (Xo. 9) costs $28.125. 
 
 If the floor to be of hard pine treated as in No. 3, 
 the cost will be $16.59. 
 
 If the floor be of hard pine treated as No. 4, the 
 cost will be 820.25. 
 
 OLD FLOORS 
 
 Many people who would be glad to have the benefit 
 of the use of rugs, feel that they cannot undertake 
 either the trouble or expense of having new floors laid. 
 For such the following suggestions, which have been 
 carried out in actual practice, are given. One woman 
 wished to make over an old soft pine floor, but found 
 the wide cracks a great detriment. She overcame this 
 difficulty by stretching very tightly over the floor
 
 I2O 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Color 
 
 Floor 
 
 Coverings 
 
 strips of old sheeting. To this she applied two coats 
 of paint and thus secured a very satisfactory "border" 
 to her room, the center of which she covered with a 
 rug made of old ingrain carpet which had been ravelled 
 out and woven over. 
 
 Another woman secured a very good looking floor 
 from an old, soft pine one with wide cracks by apply- 
 ing first, a coat of linseed oil, after which the cracks 
 were filled with a "crack and crevice filler," then an 
 oak stain and two coats of floor finish were used. The 
 wood work of the floor was inconspicuous because it 
 was of the same general tone as the rest of the wood 
 work of the room. 
 
 This treatment of the floor cost $5.00 and the floor 
 is in quite good condition after two years constant use. 
 
 In treating an old floor it is well to avoid the use 
 of bright colored stains or paints as such treatment 
 calls attention to the floors ; also very dark colors are 
 to be avoided as they show the dust more easily than 
 lighter colors. At the same time it is to be remem- 
 bered that in the general color scheme of the room, 
 the floors are supposed to carry the deepest tones, the 
 walls to be lighter and the ceiling still lighter. It is 
 well if possible to have the color of the floor blend with 
 the color of the baseboard and with the border -of the 
 rug. 
 
 The kinds of floor coverings now on the market are 
 so numerous that one can hardly fail to find a suitable- 
 one. Fiber carpets and mattings of good color and de-
 
 FLOORS 121 
 
 sign can be obtained for a comparatively small sum. 
 Then there are a great variety of American rugs. 
 The "Smyrna" rugs made in Philadelphia are very 
 satisfactory. Oriental rugs with their beautiful dura- 
 ble colors are a constant source of pleasure. It ought 
 to be remembered in selecting any floor covering that 
 the walls and floors are to be a background for the 
 other furnishing. Therefore, patterns and colors that 
 "rise up and hit you," startling colors, immense bou- 
 quets and in general large designs are to be avoided. 
 Bright colors in a small pattern or a conventional de- 
 sign make a much better background.
 
 DECORATION AND FURNISHING 
 
 No problems of household management are perhaps 
 more trying to the average woman than those of deco- 
 ration and furnishing. ' The daily paper will provide 
 her with menus for every day in the week, with direc- 
 tions for the preparation and the service of the food. 
 The current magazine will give her numerous sugges- 
 tions for her clothing, but she finds fewer helps in the 
 line of decoration and feels a greater need for assist- 
 ance there. 
 
 The subject is a large one. Let us begin with some 
 questions. 
 
 \Yhat does decorate mean ? To embellish ; to adorn. 
 The savage decorates his body with paint ; his tools by 
 carving them. The child easily learns to say "pretty,' 7 
 "pretty ;'' and the woman tries to express her sense of 
 beauty in her house furnishings. \Yhy does she so 
 often fail ? Usually for one of three reasons, viz. : 
 (i) Because of a lack of trained color sense; (2) Be- 
 cause she overlooked the law of appropriateness; (3) 
 Because of the lack of means. But no amount of 
 money can compensate for the failure to appreciate the 
 value of color and appropriateness. 
 
 The definition of decoration sometimes leads one 
 astray by giving the impression that decoration applies 
 to something added and has nothing to do with the 
 original construction, while the truth . is that good 
 decoration in houses has its beginning in good archi- 
 tecture and that a room which has good lines and good 
 
 123 
 
 Decoration 
 
 Defined 
 
 Proportion
 
 124 THE HOUSE 
 
 proportions will require less decoration and look much 
 better than one not so constructed. 
 
 Color A trained color sense is not an easy thing to acquire ; 
 it is born of association with the beautiful, and some 
 people's opportunity for seeing the beautiful creations 
 in the way of art treasures and good architecture has 
 been limited. 
 
 However, one should not be discouraged. Nature 
 shows us beautiful things in form and color, so most 
 of us have access to at least one great teacher. More- 
 over, the world is waking up to the pleasure and profit 
 to be found in developing the artistic instinct. Copies 
 of the really good pictures of the world are being made 
 for moderate prices. The school children are being 
 trained in form and color, and William Morris's defini- 
 tion of decoration, "To give people pleasure in the 
 things they must perforce use ; that is the one great 
 office of decoration. To give people pleasure in the 
 things they must perforce make; that is the other use 
 of it", is being appreciated more and more. 
 ad Where then shall the decoration begin? With the 
 lines of the room. If the house be new, it is to be 
 hoped that the builder has realized the truth of the 
 statement, "Proportion is the good breeding of Archi- 
 tecture". If the room is not in right proportion, oeco 
 ration should begin in the consideration of what may 
 be done to make the lines of the room good. If the 
 ceiling be too high, the effect of lowering it may be 
 given by allowing the ceiling paper (or calcimine) to
 
 DECORATION 125 
 
 extend a foot or more on the side wall. The picture 
 molding may be put on where the ceiling paper meets 
 that of the side wall. If the pictures are hung from 
 this molding and brought down to the level of the eyes, 
 one is helped to the impression that the molding marks 
 the line of the ceiling. "Skied" pictures that one must 
 stretch one's neck to see are never decorative. A wain- 
 scoting and frieze help greatly in breaking up a high 
 side wall. 
 
 Again, if the ceiling be low a striped paper, where 
 stripes extend from baseboard to ceiling, will make the ceiling 
 ceiling appear higher than it really is. 
 
 The apparent height of windows may be changed by 
 their drapery. 
 
 The opening of a door in the opposite way or the Wall 
 closing up of it altogether, may materially improve the spacing: 
 wall spacing of the room. 
 
 After lines and proportion comes color, and here one 
 
 Colo: 
 
 meets many difficulties because so many factors enter 
 into the problem. The quantity and quality of light that 
 enters the room, the use of the room, the ''livable- 
 ness" of the color, all are to be considered. For ex- 
 ample, a pink or lavender ribbon may give just the 
 finishing touch to a young girl in a white muslin dress, 
 but a living room in pink or lavender may prove 
 something of an undertaking "to live up to" three hun- 
 dred and sixty-five days in the year. The psychology 
 and physics of color are not easily given in set for- 
 mulae. A few general principles may prove helpful.
 
 126 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 White 
 Light 
 
 Complementary 
 Colors 
 
 Harmony 
 
 White light may be separated into what are known 
 as the seven primary colors, red, orange, yellow, green, 
 blue, indigo and violet, although there are a great num- 
 ber of different shades of these colors. In a stricter 
 sense red, green and blue are the primary colors be- 
 cause they can not be resolved into any others. 
 
 Complementary colors are those colors which when 
 combined produce white light. Rood in his "Text- 
 book of Colors" gives the following Table of Com- 
 plementary Colors : 
 
 Red Green blue. 
 
 Orange Cyanogen blue. 
 
 Yellow Ultramarine blue. 
 
 Greenish yellow Violet. 
 
 Green Purple. 
 
 A knowledge of complementary colors is important 
 because these colors furnish the strongest contrasts. 
 Again there are the "cool" colors blues in various 
 grades, grays, apple green ; warm colors are reds, 
 golden browns or pure gold, olive green. Colors are 
 also classified as grave, gay or somber. 
 
 Harmony and appropriateness are to be carefully 
 watched in the selection of color schemes. Harmony is 
 secured by the skillful blending of colors of somewhat 
 the same tone. Contrasting colors emphasize each 
 other and should be used with care. For example, in 
 a room in which the walls are colored bright red and 
 the floor covered with a bright green rug, the contrast 
 between the two colors will make both stand out more
 
 DECORATION 127 
 
 plainly. Where the background of floor and walls is 
 so striking it is difficult to have the furnishings blend 
 with the colors already present. In simple furnishing 
 it is better to choose some one prevailing color as the 
 predominant one rather than two contrasting ones. 
 
 The quantity and quality of light which enters the Color 
 
 &nd 
 
 room will prove a potent factor in selecting its color Lighting 
 schemes. A room with a southern or western ex- 
 posure is likely to be well supplied with brightness and 
 sunshine and needs to have its brightness modified by 
 cool blues or greens, so a west dining room in red is 
 apt to seem too warm most of the year, while a sunless 
 north room needs the yellow and gold to be brought 
 to it in the colors of its walls and draperies. Golden 
 browns and rich reds have their place in such rooms. 
 
 One more principle is of universal application in the Principle 
 consideration of color effects. It is known as the prin- Gradation 
 ciple of gradation. According to it the strongest tones 
 of color belong at the base. In a room the floor serves 
 as the base in any scheme of decoration. The floor 
 covering, therefore, should carry the strongest tones, 
 the walls should represent the next lighter tone and 
 the ceiling the last step in the gradation. This does 
 not imply any fixed line of demarcation for the varying 
 tones. It is rather the statement of a general relation 
 that is to be maintained among the various parts. The 
 floors, walls and ceiling should sustain a certain rela- 
 tion to each other, while they are the setting for the 
 furnishings. The application of this principle forbids
 
 128 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Appropriate- 
 ness 
 
 Relation 
 of Booms 
 
 the use of light gray paint for the floor with cbep blue 
 walls and ceiling, though blue and gray in some com- 
 binations might be most desirable. 
 
 The law of appropriateness if practiced would re- 
 move many things from our homes ; the spider web 
 tidies that protect nothing, the gilded spoon tied with 
 a ribbon and hung in the parlor, the brie a brae from 
 the sitting room mantel that must be dusted every day, 
 the meaningless pictures, the very light and delicately 
 upholstered chair from the sitting room, the pitcher 
 that will not pour from the dining room. It would ex- 
 change this rubbish for one beautiful picture, or com- 
 fortable chair, or a table that will hold something and 
 thus add simplicity and comfort to the house. 
 
 Diamonds are always valuable and beautiful but 
 they are not the proper accompaniment of morning 
 dresses. They show to better advantage among velvet 
 and laces; so velvet carpets and real lace curtains are 
 not to be expected in the living room. 
 
 Rooms must be considered not only as individual 
 rooms but in their relation to the other parts of the 
 house, if one would have the house a harmonious 
 whole. To this end sharp contrasts in size of rooms, 
 color and furnishings are to be avoided. One should 
 not be ushered from a bright green parlor with hand- 
 some mahogany furniture to a dull and faded sitting 
 room with the cast off and worn out parlor furniture. 
 Such contrasts show that emphasis is put upon display 
 rather than comfort in the house. Bright green is
 
 DECORATION 
 
 129 
 
 rarely if ever a suitable color for a wall, and half worn, 
 cast off furniture is neither useful nor beautiful any- 
 where. 
 
 Design is another important factor in decoration, as 
 is also the kind of material. 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF SELECTION 
 
 Certain general principles apply in the selection of 
 decoration and furnishings. Avoid pretentious things. 
 If real lace cannot be afforded, sham lace ought not to 
 be allowed. Muslin curtains are better adapted to the 
 purpose and much prettier than sham lace ones. Get 
 simple things, few things, durable things and such as 
 will harmonize with many others. Avoid the unusual ; 
 chairs with impossible twists in their legs ; tables with 
 glass and brass feet ; settees, whose arms are "deco- 
 rated" with hearts set on at irregular intervals and 
 whose backs are "finished" with marvelous clusters of 
 grapes glued on. These and their kind make a room 
 a museum for the keeping of curios rather than a place 
 of rest and beauty. 
 
 One should have a definite plan in mind for the 
 decoration and furnishing of the whole house before 
 it is begun. Possibly only the color scheme for the 
 walls can be realized the first year with a few pieces 
 of good furniture, but these will be a pleasure because 
 of the simplicity, harmony and comfort which they af- 
 ford. Styles in furnishing vary ; but good colors, good 
 designs and appropriate furnishings are always in 
 fashion and a satisfaction. 
 
 Avoid the 
 Pretentious 
 ;, nd Unusual 
 
 Definite 
 ?lan
 
 130 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 ROOMS 
 
 Perhaps a few concrete examples may help in the 
 application of these principles of decoration. Let us 
 begin with the vestibule Certain additional principles 
 apply in the selection of all furnishings, (i) The pur- 
 pose of the room; (2) Its size; (3) The use of the 
 article. These furnishings should be adapted to the 
 
 Vestibule purposes of a room so exposed as a vestibule. The 
 floor coloring should be the deepest ; a suitable grada- 
 tion would leave the walls of a lighter tone with the 
 ceiling still lighter. The amount of light will influence 
 the color. The vestibule is not likely to be too well 
 lighted, and therefore dull and dark colors are to be 
 avoided. Pompeian red, or tints of brown correspond- 
 ing with the natural finish of the wood are desirable. 
 The floor of the vestibule should be tile or linoleum 
 that it may be easily cleaned. Owing to the effect 
 that the weather may have upon the paper some prefer 
 the use of rough plaster or paint. The window hang- 
 ings should be of some washable material. The en- 
 trance is to shut out the world and at the same time 
 serve as a pleasant introduction to the brightness and 
 cheer within. Dunable, substantial, and pleasing ef- 
 fects are to be sought in its furnishings. 
 
 The Hail In the hall proper the same rules as to gradation of 
 color hold. It is safer and better, if one is somewhat 
 of a novice in the selection of color, to choose some one 
 prevailing tone for the hall and the rooms that open 
 from the hall in order to avoid a striking contrast,
 
 DECORATION 131 
 
 and trust to relieve the monotony by a difference in 
 the principal colors in the rugs. A grey green makes 
 a comfortable color to live with, and the halls and 
 rooms opening from it may have papers in which 
 these colors predominate ; varying shades of reds and 
 browns may be used in the rugs. 
 
 In wall coverings one has the choice of many ma- wail 
 terials, calsomine, papers of many kinds, grass cloth, 
 burlap and its near relative fabrikona. The list as 
 given indicates in a measure the scale of cost. Plain 
 papers have their use and their abuse. A plain paper 
 makes a good background for pictures and is less likely 9 
 to introduce elements that are at war with the other 
 furnishings. On the other hand too liberal a use of it 
 in a house tends to monotony. Very good patterns 
 may be found in two-toned papers. Of a given sum of 
 money to be expended in wall covering, some prefer 
 to use elaborate and expensive Morris or Crane papers 
 and to omit all the pictures. 
 
 Grass cloth makes satisfactory hanging. Its slightly 
 uneven surface gives pleasing effects in the distribu- 
 tion of light and shades. ,Burlap and fabrikona are 
 more expensive but they can be painted and so re- 
 newed. Both give a somewhat severe and substantial 
 air to a room. Too much of them in a small house 
 gives a somewhat heavy effect. They are, perhaps, 
 most suitable for library and dining room.
 
 FURNISHINGS 133 
 
 A two-toned green paper with a cream ceiling, 
 weathered oak furniture and wood work, with Oriental 
 rugs or American ones in shades of browns and a little 
 red, make a satisfactory living room. Or one may use 
 the copper brown tints for the walls with blues, browns 
 and reds in the rugs. However, blue is likely to show 
 soil and wear more easily than either browns or reds. 
 Morris's words, "Have nothing in your house that you 
 do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful", 
 finds especial application in the sitting room. Where 
 so many tastes are to be considered as in the family 
 living room one can hardly hope for great beauty, 
 but there should be harmony, comfort, and restfulness 
 suggested by all the furnishing as well as durability 
 and appropriateness. Chairs that do not tip over 
 easily ; tables that will hold the lamp, books and maga- 
 zines and leave a little extra space are quite necessary 
 here. Draperies and brie a brae should be conspicuous 
 by their absence ; a beruffled lamp and a bedecked sofa 
 cushion are alike undesirable. A good light and com- 
 fortable chairs are essentials. 
 
 The furnishings of the parlor are best characterized The 
 as delicate. Some one has said it corresponds to the 
 afternoon tea toilet of the family. Whatever of ele- 
 gance the family wishes to show will find its place 
 here. Old rose or blues make a good background for 
 the delicately upholstered furniture, the rare vase or 
 bit of favrile glass. Oriental rugs with their mellowed 
 tones will harmonize with almost any color.
 
 FURNISHINGS 
 
 135 
 
 The dining room requires little furniture besides the 
 table, chairs and china which are its essentials. Soft 
 yellow walls, mahogany furniture, ivory white paint 
 and net curtains make a pleasing combination. Soma 
 prefer the Delft blue with cream ceiling, oak furniture 
 and the Delft china displayed on the plate rail. The 
 plate rail is a somewhat questionable feature, as some- 
 times used with a motley collection of old ugly china 
 covered with dust, it is far from decorative. A side- 
 board on which a few good pieces are displayed at one 
 time is likely to be more truly decorative, and a china 
 closet built in, more useful. 
 
 Leather bottomed chairs are a desirable addition to a 
 dining room, and burlaps may be used very success- 
 fully on its walls. 
 
 The kitchen furnishings should be such as can be 
 kept clean easily. Linoleum seems to have the prefer- 
 ence* as a floor covering. Tiles are expensive, hard 
 for those who must walk over them constantly and a 
 hard wood floor is more difficult to keep in order than 
 linoleum. A good piece of linoleum will last for years 
 and its use dispenses with the scrubbing which takes 
 so much time and energy. If the worker is careful 
 to wipe up the spots immediately, the care of the 
 kitchen floor is reduced to a minimum. 
 
 In wall coverings, one has the choice of paper, cal- 
 somine, paint, enamel paper or oilcloth. Paint some- 
 times scales and its continuous use necessitates a num- 
 ber of coats which must finally be removed and this is 
 
 The 
 
 Dining: 
 
 Room
 
 FURNISHINGS 
 
 137 
 
 a somewhat tedious and expensive process. Paper 
 must be frequently renewed, the enameled paper is 
 quite durable and can be wiped with a damp cloth; 
 oilcloth stands this treatment still better, and for the 
 woman who does her own work and does not wish 
 to calsomine or paper her kitchen every season, it is 
 perhaps the most satisfactory wall covering and it may 
 be obtained in very attractive patterns and colors. Un- 
 der present circumstances the kitchen may be a very 
 attractive room and color schemes are as effective here 
 as anywhere. 
 
 One feels inclined to turn aside for a moment from 
 the purely decorative effects in the kitchen furnishing 
 to plead for a careful placing of the essential furnish- 
 ings, range, sink and work table, so as to keep the 
 working space within small compass. The height of 
 these same articles plays no small part in the comfort 
 of the workers. Most kitchen sinks are too low, and 
 however much the plumbers may insist that it is the 
 "regular height", the mistress should see to it that it 
 is made the height she finds convenient. It is a great 
 waste of energy to be obliged to bend double in so 
 simple a process as dish-w r ashing. 
 
 The sink should be ample in size and the faucets 
 set well up and back. Breakage is much more apt- to 
 occur in a narrow sink than in a broad one. 
 
 The bedroom is the place for individual expression 
 such as is not attainable in the family room. The first 
 requirement is a good bed ; be the mattress hair, wool, 
 
 Placing 
 
 of 
 
 Fixtures 
 
 The 
 Bedrooms
 
 138 THE HOUSE 
 
 cotton or husk, it should be the best of its kind. Many 
 Mattress people have a wrong sense of values in regard to 
 bedroom furnishings. Much too large a proportion 
 of the total expenditure goes for something other than 
 the mattress, and yet one-third of a life is to be spent 
 on the bed, so the mattress and springs should have 
 the first consideration. A hard wood floor and a rug 
 or two help to the simplicity which aids restfulness 
 and to the cleanliness which is one of the most desirable 
 elements in bedroom furnishings. Here is a chance for 
 dainty belongings, for light and airy wall papers, cool 
 blues, greens and pinks not with fantastic figures that 
 dizzy and perplex by their intricacies. The bedroom is 
 not to be a sitting room, but a sleeping room with per- 
 haps an easy chair and one or two favorite books, be- 
 side the mirror and drawers in dresser or chiffonier. 
 The bath room may relieve the necessity for a wash 
 stand and thus save the trouble of caring for the articles 
 it requires. 
 
 Bedroom O ne has a large opportunity for choice in the mat- 
 Covering ter of suitable bedroom floor coverings mattings in 
 great variety, fiber carpets, Berea rugs or the more 
 expensive ones. 
 
 A very attractive bedroom can be made with white 
 enamel paint, white iron bedstead and the Japanese 
 matting with its blue figures and a blue rug. An old 
 dresser may be quite transformed by a coat or two of 
 white paint. Rattan chairs because of their lightness 
 make good bedroom chairs
 
 DRAPERIES 139 
 
 The bathroom is one of the most useful rooms of The 
 
 Bathroom 
 
 the house and can easily be one of the most attractive. 
 Good plumbing, a commodious tub and a stationary 
 wash stand are its most attractive furnishings. A 
 hard wood or tile floor with a small rug, a wainscot- 
 ing of wood, tile, or cement made to resemble tile, 
 with paint or oilcloth above, give a good setting for 
 the necessary fixtures. A small cupboard for the 
 bathroom accessories, a larger one for the towels, a 
 washable curtain, a good mirror and a towel rack 
 complete the list of essentials. A desirable addition 
 is the chute, by which the soiled clothes may be sent 
 down to the laundry. Some very ugly bathrooms 
 have been transformed by a generous use of white 
 paint and enamel. 
 
 DRAPERIES 
 
 A word should be said in this connection regard- color 
 ing draperies for they have a potent influence in mak- 
 ing or marring the artistic effect of the room. If of 
 the right color and suitable material they add much 
 to the attractiveness of the room. A beautiful por- 
 tiere may serve as a picture in giving color and bright- 
 ness to a dull room. In general their color should 
 follow that of the walls. In order to give variety, if 
 the walls are plain the curtain should be figured ; 
 while if the walls are covered with figured paper the 
 curtain gives variety by plainness.
 
 DRAPERIES 
 
 141 
 
 The law of appropriateness should be observed in 
 regard to window hangings. Curtains do soften the 
 lines and take away the bareness and stiffness from 
 the room, but that fact does not make it desirable to 
 have a double set of draperies in a living room. The 
 family need the light, air, and sunshine which the 
 hangings, particularly if they are heavy, shut out. 
 We forget that the heavy hangings were used origi- 
 nally for the purpose of keeping out the wind and rain 
 which entered through the openings cut in the walls of 
 the castle. 
 
 Texture and quality are important factors in select- 
 ing draperies. Silk lends itself most easily to grace- 
 ful folds, and wool conies next, but alas ! woolen stuffs 
 are a favorite haunt for moths. This leaves cotton 
 and linen for inexpensive hangings and there is a 
 large list from which to choose ; chintzes, lawns, mus- 
 lins, cretonnes, denims, Madras, hop-sacking and 
 countless others. Chintzes have a large use in bed- 
 rooms and in summer houses. Denim is very much 
 prized by some in indigo blue it is apt to hold its 
 color well ; that and Turkey red are the two colors 
 which are most nearly "fast" in cotton stuffs. Madras 
 makes very pretty and effective curtains for those 
 who are not so old-fashioned as to feel that nothing 
 is quite so satisfactory as white. The fading of most 
 of the cotton stuffs is a serious objection to their use. 
 Mrs. Wheeler says in "Principles of Home Decora- 
 tion" : "There is a place waiting in the world of art 
 
 Appropriate- 
 ness 
 
 Texture
 
 - 
 
 -
 
 A 
 Hissing: 
 
 Textile 
 
 144 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 and decoration for what in my own mind I call the miss- 
 ing textile. This is by no means a fabric of cost, for 
 among its other virtues it must possess that of cheap- 
 ness. To meet an almost universal want it should 
 
 Governor Carver's Chair. 
 
 Elder Bewster's Chair. 
 
 EXAMPLES OP TURNED CHAIRS. 
 
 combine inexpensiveness, durability, softness, and ab- 
 solute fidelity of color, and these four qualities are 
 not to be found in any existing textile".
 
 FURNITUk^ 
 
 Draperies, furnishings and furniture are so closely 
 related and so integral a part of decoration that it is 
 difficult to tell in what order they should be consid- 
 ered. 
 
 We have treated of the wall and floor coverings 
 first and left the separate pieces of furniture to the 
 last on the supposition that in the furnishing of the 
 new house that might be the order observed. One 
 safe principle should guide in the buying of furni- 
 ture, avoid getting too many things. The average 
 houses are crowded with pieces of furniture which 
 serve no definite purpose and take space that could 
 be better used. 
 
 Helen Campbell in "Household Economics", says : 
 "This reasoning holds good for every article of furni- 
 ture ; first, its use to man ; second, its own laws of 
 construction ; third, its relation to the thousand needs 
 of household life". 
 
 Our early models in furniture as in architecture 
 were English. To them we are indebted for the de- 
 signs which served as models for New England cab- 
 inet makers. 
 
 Out of the number of forms we select various styles 
 of chairs as illustrating the types of furniture. Frances 
 Clary Morse says in "Furniture of the Olden Times" : 
 "Forms and stools were used for seats in the six- 
 teenth and early seventeenth centuries and inventories 
 of wealthy men do not often contain more than one 
 
 145
 
 146 THE HOUSE 
 
 or two chairs". Thrown or turned chairs were in 
 
 use then 
 
 English Three of the best known English chair makers of 
 Makers the eighteenth century were Chippendale, Hepple- 
 
 CHIPPENDALE AKM CHAIRS 
 
 From Furniture of the Olden Times, by Alice Carey Morse. Macmillan & 
 Co., Publishers. 
 
 white and Sheraton. Chippendale seemed to have 
 borrowed his ideas from the French in the way of 
 ornamentation, though the form is developed from the 
 Dutch style and the legs adapted from Chinese furni- 
 ture. He seems to have preferred the French scroll 
 foot. A distinguishing characteristic is the bow form
 
 FURNITURE 
 
 147 
 
 at the top of the back ; elaborate carving and fine pro- 
 portion are his also. 
 
 Hepplewhite followed Chippendale. The Hepple- 
 \vhite chairs are characterized by lightness. He used 
 both carving and inlaying. 
 The heart, oval, or shield 
 
 shape back distinguishes these ^-_,.. \$fr.m^^ 
 
 chairs. A specialty of Hep- af ./ ,_ 
 
 pie white was to finish the V^- 
 
 chair backs with painted or 
 japanned work. 
 
 Hepplewhite was followed 
 by Sheraton, whose chairs re- 
 tained many of the features 
 of Hepplewhite's, but he 
 sought to strengthen the 
 chairs by a different construc- 
 tion of the back. He made 
 the back rectangular in shape. 
 The splats end in a rail which 
 crosses the back a few inches 
 above the seat. 
 
 The Windsor is another familiar type of chair 
 which made its appearance in this country about 1730. 
 Originally the Windsor chairs were painted green. 
 The comb back Windsor chair illustrated is a Windsor 
 writing chair said to have belonged to Thomas Jeffer- 
 son. 
 
 CHIPPEXDALE CHAIR 
 W r ITH LEATHER SEAT. 
 
 Hepplewhite 
 
 Windsor 
 Chairs
 
 148 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Mission 
 and 
 
 Morris 
 Furniture 
 
 HEPPLEWHITE CHAIRS. 
 
 With these types which 
 show so much of beauty and 
 grace of proportion may be 
 contrasted our modern "Mis- 
 sion" furniture, where 
 strength seems often to have 
 been exaggerated to clumsi- 
 ness. The original Morris 
 furniture, bearing that name, 
 is said to have been much 
 lighter than the heavy pieces 
 now found in the market. 
 
 Good lines, simplicity of 
 
 ,, ARM CHAIR 
 
 construction, strength ana ap- From Fttrniture of the O i d en nme s .
 
 FURNITURE 
 
 149 
 
 SHERATON PAINTED 
 
 CHAIR. 
 From Furniture of Olden Times. 
 
 SHERATON CHAIRS. 
 
 propriateness make for beauty 
 in furniture as well as in 
 architecture. The fashion 
 swung from the gilt and gold 
 chair, too ornamental for use 
 and too poorly constructed to 
 bear the weight of any human 
 body except that of a child, 
 to the other extreme of heavy 
 "substantial" furniture, about 
 as immovable and decorative 
 as a log. Fortunately we are 
 in a saner mood at present 
 and are conscious of the fact 
 that it is not only desirable 
 but quite necessary that fur- 
 
 simplicity
 
 Parlor 
 "Sets" 
 
 ISO 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 niture be movable. Another delusion that is passing, 
 too may it continue to pass is the fashion of "sets." 
 Often these three-piece and six-piece sets were a device 
 
 WINDSOR CHAIRS. 
 
 Wholesome- 
 ness and 
 Beauty 
 
 for using up the remnants of upholstery and were often 
 at variance with each other in regard to color. Many 
 a misguided individual has bought two pieces of un- 
 desirable furniture with the one piece which really 
 sold the "set." 
 
 But a better day is dawning. The public taste is
 
 FURNITURE 
 
 demanding things that have more real elements of 
 beauty. Henderson's words find a response in many 
 minds. He says, 
 "One must sur- 
 round one's self 
 with wholesome- 
 ness and beauty. 
 This parallelism 
 between con- 
 sciousness and 
 nature makes this 
 insistence upon 
 convenience of 
 arrangement and 
 respect for form 
 and color more 
 than a matter of 
 taste. It makes 
 it a matter of 
 moral obligation. 
 A man's surroundings are not accidental. They are a 
 part of himself and must likewise be chastened and 
 purified. An ugly room, badly lighted, poorly ven- 
 tilated, inadequately heated, must be regarded as 
 morally reprehensible whether provided for one's self 
 or for somebody else. It is the projection of an evil 
 thought and, entering into consciousness, lowers the 
 level of human life." 
 
 Comb Back Windsor Chair of Thomas 
 Jefferson.
 
 CARE OF THE HOUSE 
 
 Changes 
 
 More 
 
 Windows 
 
 New 
 Wall Paper 
 
 However carefully a house may have been planned 
 it is indeed rare that the result is perfect. Very many 
 have not even the opportunity to plan for themselves 
 and either buy houses built for others or are compelled 
 by circumstances to live in rented houses. Remodelling 
 a house that is hopelessly wrong is never a success, 
 as the expense is oftentimes as great or greater than 
 building anew. There are minor changes, however, 
 which can be made at moderate cost. 
 
 It is always a good plan to have a carpenter or build- 
 er estimate the cost of any changes before beginning, 
 and it will generally be found more satisfactory to have 
 an architect plan alterations. If a house lacks a good 
 broad porch or verandah, the addition of one will well 
 repay the expense. Two seven by nine bedrooms with 
 no closets had better be made into one fair sized bed- 
 room and one closet. 
 
 A window cut in the kitchen or dark corner or closet 
 will frequently be found worth the cost. The addi- 
 tion of a bay window is less in vogue now than a few 
 years ago, but if made in keeping and not "stuck on," 
 may improve the appearance of the outside of the 
 house and brighten up the room wonderfully. Win- 
 dow seats cost but little and may be found to add much 
 to the comfort of a room. 
 
 For the money expended the change in wall paper 
 will produce the greatest difference in the appearance 
 
 152
 
 CARE OF THE HOUSE 153 
 
 of a room. One never realizes the irritating and de- 
 pressing influence of ugly wall paper until it is changed 
 for the better. If over two layers of paper are on 
 the wall, the old paper should be removed before put- 
 ting on new, as the paste used may serve as an attrac- 
 tion for vermin and also make a very unsanitary con- 
 dition. 
 
 It costs fifty cents a roll, more or less, to "hang" Cost 
 wall paper in addition to the cost of the paper itself, 
 which may be from ten to fifty cents or a dollar or 
 more a roll. A roll of paper will cover four square 
 yards. Generous allowance must be made, however, 
 for waste. The plain cartridge paper is very apt to 
 fade as the coloring is simply a stain, while the fig- 
 ured papers are coated and printed with mineral colors 
 or "lakes." The color of faded papers can be renewed 
 or changed slightly by a thin coat of water color stain 
 applied, of course, by one who has had experience. It 
 sometimes happens that the fading of the paper adds 
 to the harmony of a room. 
 
 In sections of this country burning soft coal, the Cleaning: 
 
 r . ' . . Wall Paper 
 
 use of wall paper cleaner is very common, but it is 
 not so frequently made use of in the eastern states. 
 The most convenient kind of wall paper cleaner comes 
 as a powder which, when mixed with cold water, makes 
 a mass of rubber-like consistency with which the paper 
 is rubbed vigorously. It will brighten soiled paper 
 greatly ; pencil marks, even, may be removed with it.
 
 A TWO-STORY KITCHEN TABLE ON ROLLERS 
 Made from an Old Fashioned Wash Stand with Zinc Covered Top and
 
 CARE OF THE HOUSE 
 
 155 
 
 A home-made recipe for cleaning soiled wall paper 
 is as follows : Take a salt sack or make a small cheese 
 cloth bag, partly fill it with ordinary flour and gently 
 rub the paper. The flour will become dusty as the 
 wall paper grows cleaner. A friend of the author 
 makes bread dough, bakes it so that it is quite 
 "doughy," and uses this for a wall cleaner with great 
 success. She says it is much cheaper than the ordi- 
 nary cleaner. 
 
 Happily the style for paper- 
 ing ceilings in figured designs 
 is going out. A ceiling so 
 covered may be painted with 
 two coats of calcimine and 
 thus the restfulness of the 
 room helped. 
 
 The staining and painting 
 of floors has already been 
 
 spoken of. The woodwork of a parlor may often be 
 brought into better harmony with the rest of the room 
 by coats of cream-colored paint. The last coat should 
 be mixed with good varnish to give a more resisting 
 surface. Ugly radiators and steam pipes can be im- 
 proved by a coating of aluminum enamel. 
 
 Most kitchens can easily be changed for the better. 
 A drop-leaf table may be an added convenience. A 
 table, preferably with two "stories" on rollers or castors, 
 should be found in every kitchen. It should be small 
 enough to pass through the doorways easily. It may 
 
 A Drop Leaf Table. 
 
 Painting 
 
 Changes in 
 the Kitchen
 
 156 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Raising 
 the Table 
 
 Raising: 
 the Sink 
 
 be used to transfer dishes or food from one room to 
 another. If the bread needs to be nearer the stove for 
 warmth it can be put on this table and moved wher- 
 ever needed. Such a table is also useful when one is 
 making croquettes or doughnuts. Almost all kitchen 
 tables are too low for a person of ordinary height. 
 
 Table Leg TableLeg. 
 
 Ir<on Oowe/ Brass o. 
 /ronFerrult 
 
 Extent/on Cxtent/'on 
 
 TWO METHODS OF LENGTHENING THE TABLE LEGS. 
 
 Castors will add an inch or more to their height or 
 the legs may be lengthened as shown in the illustra- 
 tion. The same fault is nearly always present in the 
 height of the sink. Changing this will require some 
 little outlay if the plumber must be called in, as is gen- 
 erally necessary. The traps need not be moved, the 
 waste pipe should be lengthened by soldering a short 
 piece of lead pipe to the end of the old pipe, attaching 
 it anew to the outlet of the sink. The water faucets 
 must be raised also in most cases.
 
 CARE 01^ THE HOUSE 
 
 157 
 
 The position of the range may be changed at slight 
 expense by lengthening the stove pipe ; its height should 
 be considered too. The fuel ought to be stored on a 
 level with the kitchen. The amount of energy required 
 to carry the coal from the cellar to the range and again 
 to carry the ashes back to the cellar can be measured 
 in tons and is energy entirely wasted. 
 
 The illustration shows a window cupboard for pro- 
 visions to save steps to the cellar in cool weather. 
 
 Be the house new or old much of its attractiveness is 
 due to the care bestowed on small repairs. The slat- 
 terly, neglected and generally run-down appearance of 
 some houses is due to this neglect of small repairs. 
 Broken door knobs, cracked window panes, scratched 
 furniture that squeaks, doors that will not close, win- 
 dows that will not open, are all real sources of dis- 
 comfort in any home and yet are often found. 
 
 In fixing any contrivance about the house, it is first 
 necessary to make a careful diagnosis of the difficulty 
 before the trouble can be rectified. This is a self-evi- 
 dent statement, but altogether too frequently very sim- 
 ple repairs remain undone because the trouble is not 
 investigated. If as much ingenuity as is shown in fix- 
 ing over a dress were used about the house many in- 
 conveniences would be rectified and dollars saved. 
 Many minor changes and repairs can be very easily 
 made. More hooks where needed, a convenient shelf, 
 a small cupboard perhaps made from a box may be 
 
 The Rang e 
 and Fuel 
 
 Repairs
 
 A WINDOW CUPBOA1U) 
 inom the Cornell Reading Course for .FVm/ioV WU-es
 
 CARE OF THE HOUSE 
 
 159 
 
 of great convenience in either the kitchen or bath- 
 room. If the men of the family cannot be inveigled 
 into doing these things, it is very simple to take the 
 initiative. 
 
 Every household should include among its essen- 
 tial possessions provisions for removing these difficul- 
 ties. Most of them can be disposed of by the use of 
 tools, glue, furniture polish, or some simple chemical. 
 
 The tool box should contain a few ordinary tools, 
 such as a hammer two sizes preferable a screw driv- 
 er, gimlet, awl, pliers, a saw, a chisel, and plane. A 
 key-hole saw is light and convenient. The hammer 
 should bear some relationship in size to the nail to be 
 driven. A large hammer and a small nail results in 
 the proverbial bruised ringers. Even a carpenter can- 
 not saw perfectly straight unless he draws' a line to 
 guide him. 
 
 In putting in screws, screw eyes and the like, espe- 
 cially in hard wood, it is first necessary to have a 
 hole nearly as deep as the screw to be used. This 
 should be made with a gimlet for large screws and an 
 awl for small screws. There is then no difficulty in 
 inserting the screw to its full length. Frequently a 
 screw too large or too long is used when a small one 
 will hold all weight required. The nails and screws 
 that have accumulated are all that are to be found in 
 most households. A few cents invested at a hardware 
 store in nails, screws, hooks, etc., of assorted sizes will 
 
 Tools 
 
 Putting in 
 Screws
 
 i6o 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 The 
 Repair Box 
 
 Furniture 
 Polish 
 
 prove a good investment and may remove the inertia 
 which is so hard to overcome in making small changes. 
 
 The repair box should certainly contain a bottle or 
 tube of liquid glue for mending furniture and toys. A 
 thin coating of glue will hold more securely than a 
 thick one. Success in gluing is dependent on bringing 
 the parts to be glued as near together as possible and 
 keeping them in position until the glue sets. China 
 which must be washed can be repaired by the use of 
 thick shellac varnish. Although this has not as strong 
 adhesive properties as glue, it will not dissolve in warm 
 water, and pieces that one hesitates to throw away 
 because of a small nick may be kept in use until serious 
 accident happens. 
 
 Furniture polish, alcohol, turpentine and floor wax 
 are useful in removing scratches and stains from fur- 
 niture, floors, and woodwork. 
 
 A furniture polish recommended by an old furniture 
 man consisted of equal parts boiled linseed oil, Japan 
 drier, and turpentine. It should be applied with a 
 linen cloth and rubbed until dry. 
 
 The care of the floors has been mentioned and that 
 in general applies to the hardwood finish all over the 
 house. Remember that in polishing, all woods should 
 be rubbed with the grain. Weathered oak and ma- 
 hogany furniture may be kept in the best condition 
 by a weekly application of a pure oil, rubbed on well, 
 always with the grain. To keep mahogany as did our 
 forbears, good, hard rubbing is the essential.
 
 CARE OF THE HOUSE 
 
 161 
 
 Varnish may be removed, in preparation to revarnish- 
 ing, by means of one of the many "varnish removers" 
 to be obtained at any good paint store. These con- 
 tain amyl alcohol, amyl acetate and other solvents 
 which have a rather disagreeable odor, but they are 
 not caustic and so are more convenient to use than 
 caustic soda and other strong chemical varnish re- 
 movers. The solvents soften the varnish which then 
 may be easily scraped off with a knife or scraper. 
 
 The ornamental brass work about the house as gas 
 and electric fixtures and some of the silver-plated ware 
 is coated with a thin transparent varnish called "lac- 
 quer." This prevents the polished metal from tarnish- 
 ing while it is intact. If the lacquer becomes scratched 
 or damaged in any way the only method of helping 
 matters is to remove the coating, polish the metal anew 
 and apply a fresh coating of lacquer. The old lacquer 
 is easily removed by alcohol. Shops having the proper 
 polishing wheels for obtaining a good polish can ac- 
 complish this better than the housekeeper. 
 
 Wall paper which has been marred by staining or 
 otherwise can be repaired by patching a carefully 
 matched piece over the offending damage, or if the 
 paper be simply rubbed off in small spots, as happens 
 in moving furniture and trunks, a small brush dipped 
 in water will remove the coating of a small bit of the 
 paper and the white spot of plaster can be touched up 
 so as to be unnoticeable. 
 
 Varnish 
 Removeri 
 
 Lacquer
 
 Ife 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Care of 
 Rugs 
 
 Marble 
 
 Washing 
 Windows 
 
 Fainted 
 Wood-work 
 
 Rugs should not be whipped unless laid flat on the 
 ground. They never should be hung over a line. All 
 rugs improve in glossiness and beauty under proper 
 treatment. Cheap or expensive, they should be swept 
 in the direction they were woven, which may be ascer- 
 tained by putting your hand over them and feeling 
 which way the nap runs. It ruins Oriental rugs to 
 sweep them in the wrong direction, and small rugs 
 should be brushed with a whisk broom in preference 
 to sweeping them. 
 
 Marble and tiling should be washed with a soft 
 cloth, soap and water. Avoid acids on either; to 
 marble they are destructive. Porcelain tubs can best 
 be cleaned with kerosene and clear water. If the 
 marble bowl is stained, whiting will clean it better than 
 a sand soap, which scratches it. 
 
 Matting should be swept, then wiped with a damp 
 cloth, never wet. 
 
 When washing windows, first remove the dust, both 
 outside and in, with a dry. soft cloth. Clean the cor- 
 ners and grooves with a skewer, covered with a cloth. 
 Wash with clean water and ammonia, using plenty of 
 soft, clean cloths, and polish dry. Do not wash win- 
 dows when the sun is shining on them. 
 
 Painted wood-work requires care. Paint is sof- 
 tened by wet alkalies, such as ammonia, potash, or 
 borax. Clear, warm water, or whiting and cold water, 
 should be used. The enamel finish is most easily 
 cleaned with clear, warm water. Whiting will remove
 
 HOUSEKEEPING 
 
 the ordinary spots on the wood-work ; if stained, alki* 'i 
 will perhaps have to be used and the place re-painted. 
 
 Plaster of Paris should be kept on hand as it is con 
 venient for filling up cracks and mending various arti 
 cles. As it hardens very quickly, some deftness is re- 
 quired in using it. A very little vinegar added to the 
 water will keep the plaster from hardening quickly. 
 
 Eternal vigilance in little things is the price paid for 
 small repairs. One must feel it is worth while to mend 
 a broken lock, or oil a squeaky door, or polish the fur- 
 niture, if one would keep the house looking well. 
 
 HOUSEKEEPING 
 
 A word more instead of a section must be said in 
 closing about the care of such a house as is described 
 in these pages. Happily the days are passing when the 
 feeling prevails that "anyone can keep house." We 
 have been a long time in learning that housekeeping 
 is a profession for which intelligent preparation is 
 demanded. The woman who attempts to usurp the 
 authority of the trained nurse in charge of the paMcnt 
 does so at the risk of the patient's life. Results quite 
 as disastrous to the life of the household may be* ex- 
 pected from the woman ignorant of the first princi- 
 ples of household management and care. 
 
 Proper care of the house implies: 
 
 1. An intelligent conception of the construction of 
 the house. 
 
 2. Some acquaintance with appliances for heating 
 and lighting-. 
 
 Housekeeping 
 as a 
 Profession 
 
 rentiai
 
 i6 4 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 The 
 
 Mistress 
 of the 
 Home 
 
 Drudgery 
 
 3. A knowledge of the sanitary aspects of plumbing. 
 
 4. A knowledge of values relative and absolute. 
 
 5. A knowledge of materials used in the home. 
 
 6. That attitude of mind which finds pleasure and 
 satisfaction in a well-cared-for house. 
 
 The leader of the orchestra must understand the 
 various instruments if he would blend their tones in 
 a pleasing harmony; so the mistress of a home must 
 have some definite knowledge of the machinery of its 
 various parts if she would manage them successfully. 
 It is worth while to know enough about the heating 
 system to save an explosion by simply opening a 
 valve, worth while to know enough about the fur- 
 nace to be able to save fuel by closing the drafts, 
 worth while to be able to buy intelligently the food, 
 silver, china, linen, and glass needed in a home that 
 the money, of which there is rarely an abundance, be 
 not squandered for poor materials. 
 
 The woman who announces that housekeeping is 
 drudgery and that she keeps as far away from it as 
 possible, thus confesses that she has been unequal 
 to her task. To such it must ever be drudgery, but to 
 her who understands the possibilities and satisfaction 
 in a well-ordered house and gives herself to a con- 
 scientious and intelligent study of its problems, it 
 gives an insight into and an understanding of people 
 and things : it provides a place for the application of 
 science, economics, ethics and aesthetics and yields 
 the satisfaction of achievement and the gratitude and 
 love of those who have shared the benefits of such a 
 home.
 
 TEST QUESTIONS 
 
 The following questions constitute the "written reci- 
 tation" which the regular members of the A. S. H. E. 
 answer in writing and send in for the correction and 
 comment of the instructor. They are intended to 
 emphasize and fix in the memory the most important 
 points in the lesson.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Its Plan, Decoration and Care 
 
 PART III 
 
 Read Carefully. Place your name: and address on the 
 first sheet of the test. Use a light grade of paper and write 
 on one side of the sheet onl}*. Leave space between the 
 answers for the notes of the instructor. Use your own 
 words and answer fully Read the lesson paper a number 
 of times before attempting to answer the questions. 
 
 1. 'Name the points to be considered in the con- 
 
 struction of the house. 
 
 2. What devices for fire protection are there? 
 
 3. Define stud, sill, plate, girder, rafter. 
 
 4. What kind of floor for living room do you pre- 
 
 fer? Give reasons for your preference. 
 
 5. Where should the decoration of a room begin? 
 
 6. W r hat do you consider the most important factor 
 
 in the furnishing of a room? 
 
 7. What principles should govern in the selection 
 
 of the furnishing and furniture of a room? 
 
 8. Give a scheme for color and furnishing of a 
 
 living room (15x25 ft.) with low ceilings, 
 west and north exposure, varnished hard pine 
 for its wood. 
 
 9. Give color scheme for a kitchen with covering 
 
 for walls and floor and the location of the es- 
 sential furniture.
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 10. What can you say of draperies? 
 
 11. Give the distinguishing characters of some of the 
 
 best known types of chairs. 
 
 12. What seems to you the greatest difficulty in the 
 
 care of the house? Why? 
 
 13. What do you regard as essentials in bedroom 
 
 furniture and furnishings? 
 
 14. Suggest changes in the house most familiar to 
 
 you which could be made to advantage and at 
 small expense. 
 
 15. What suggestions have you to offer concerning 
 
 household conveniences ? 
 
 16. Are there any questions you would like to ask 
 
 relating to "The House"? 
 
 NOTE. After completing the test, sign your full name.
 
 SUPPLEMENT TO THE HOUSE, 
 ITS PLAN, DECORATION AND CARE 
 
 BY ISABEL BEVIER, PH. M. 
 HOUSES OF THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD 
 
 In the papers which I have received it is evident 
 from the answers to the question in Lesson I on the 
 transitional house that much misunderstanding exists 
 in regard to it. By some it seems to be interpreted to 
 mean any inconvenient house, while others feel that 
 they ought not to be expected to be familiar with 
 houses which were built seventy-five years ago. Be- 
 cause of this misunderstanding it seems desirable to 
 add a few words concerning the transitional house. 
 The characteristics of the Colonial house are discussed 
 on pages 25-41, and the statement is there made that 
 the transitional period began in the early part of the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
 In order to appreciate the house of the transitional 
 period one must remember how much of the life of a 
 people is shown in its architecture. The difference be- 
 tween the Colonial houses of the North and the South 
 illustrate this point. A glance at the pictures of the 
 two types reveals at once the difference in thoughts 
 and feelings between the dweller in the Sunny South 
 and the one on the Northern "stern and rock-bound 
 
 coast." 
 
 167
 
 168 THE HOUSE 
 
 The word transition suggests change and that sug- 
 gests variety, uncertainty, and these are the words 
 which characterize the period beginning about 1825. 
 The war of the revolution was over, but the spirit of 
 it yet remained ; traditions and customs were being 
 questioned. The Americans were experimenting in 
 politics, business, and social customs and naturally this 
 spirit of experimentation expressed itself in archi- 
 tecture. For a time Colonial customs and traditions 
 were maintained, but they were bound to yield sooner 
 or later to the demands of the revolutionary spirit for 
 a newer style of architecture as well as changes in 
 social order and business methods. Architecture is 
 too complex to yield easily to experimentation. As a 
 result the dwellings of the period show all sorts or in- 
 congruities. 
 
 The well-trained handicraftsmen lost much of their 
 skill in their attempt to build quickly rather than well. 
 They lost, too, the inspiration of association with 
 skilled workmen and good standards as they journeyed 
 westward. The amateur architects lacked judgment 
 and adaptation. Greek art and architecture have been 
 the standard of beauty for all ages, but these archi- 
 tects overlooked the fact that these models of beauty 
 were public buildings, not private residences. ' The 
 results were incongruities in domestic architecture. 
 Imitations of Greek and Doric temples made strange 
 looking houses on the Hudson. Many towns in the 
 United States are still in their transitional period as
 
 HOUSES OF THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD 169 
 
 regards art, and architecture, witness the tiny cottage 
 with Doric and Ionic columns of a size sufficient for 
 a Greek temple, or the house with Dutch gambrel 
 roof, French windows and old Colonial outline. 
 
 The wooden Parthenon endured longer in the South. 
 The veranda with pillars served to shut out some of 
 the heat of the Southern sun. This lawless imitation 
 of old world forms obtained not only in architecture, 
 but furniture and furnishings as well. Empire furni- 
 ture lacking the refinement and simplicity of Colonial 
 became common and what one has called the "Dark 
 Middle Age" of American interior decoration began. 
 
 The condition of New York residential architecture 
 in the fifties may be gathered from the complaints of 
 one writer who does not like to have the "streets of 
 New York filled with costly and meaningless copies of 
 Greek porticos, of Gothicized dwellings, of ambitious 
 imitations of baronial castles, Egyptian tombs, turreted 
 churches, useless campanile towers." The writer adds, 
 "As yet there is no American architecture whose name 
 is known beyond the circle of his own employers" and 
 he predicts that we must outgrow our childish de- 
 pendence upon the old world before we shall be able 
 to boast of our architecture as we boast of our ship 
 builders. One style followed another in rapid succes- 
 sion. All lands, all materials were brought into 
 requisition by the energetic American architect, aided 
 by the ambitious rich man who had traveled in other 
 lands. Perhaps the most extreme example of the in-
 
 170 THE HOUSE 
 
 congruities of the house of the transition period may be 
 found in 'The Celebrity," where the new rich man 
 gives this description of his favorite country seat. 
 
 "I had all these ideas I gathered knocking about the 
 world, and I gave them to Willis of Philadelphia to 
 put together for me. But he's honest enough not to 
 claim the house. Take, for instance, that minaret 
 business on the west. I picked that up from a mosque 
 in Algiers. The oriel just this side is whole cloth from 
 Haddon Hall, and the gallaried porch next it from a 
 Florentine villa. The conical capped tower I got from 
 a French chateau, and some of the features on the south 
 from a Buddhist temple in Japan. Only a little blend- 
 ing and grouping necessary, and Willis calls himself 
 an architect, and wasn't equal to it. Now," he* added, 
 "get the effect. Did you ever see another house 
 like it?" 
 
 Extreme as this description may seem, such mon- 
 strosities existed and similar examples are yet to be 
 found. It would appear that the United States is still 
 in the transitional period so far as its architecture is 
 concerned though distinct types of American houses 
 are being developed. It is also evident that while the 
 house of the transitional period may be inconvenient 
 it is certain to be incongruous because of its blending 
 of elements which do not belong together. 
 
 COLOR IN DECORATION 
 
 Since the words concerning color were written a 
 number of new books treating of this subject have
 
 COLOR 171 
 
 come into the author's hands. One of the most help- 
 ful of these is Ward's "Color Harmony and Con- 
 trast." In the hope that the knowledge may be helpful 
 some of the ideas there presented are here given. As 
 previously stated the way to study color or to teach its 
 use is by actual practice with color itself, and that is 
 not easily accomplished by printer's ink. 
 
 Judging by the papers received it seems desirable 
 to call attention to the different theories of color, and 
 so explain why red, green and blue are regarded as the 
 primary colors rather than the red, yellow and blue 
 of the older theory. This theory arose from the 
 knowledge that any mixture of pigments could not 
 produce a pure red, yellow or blue, so these were con- 
 sidered as the primary colors. Moreover, most colors 
 other than the primaries can be made by mixing the 
 pigments red, yellow and blue, so, those who work 
 with pigments and dyes regard them as the primary 
 ones. 
 
 The physicists base their theory of color upon the 
 fact that while yellow exists in the spectrum as a sim- 
 ple color of definite wave-length it may also be pro-, 
 duced on the retina of the eye as a color-sensation by 
 a mixture of red and green waves. When it was 
 shown that yellow could be made by a mixture of two 
 other colors it lost its place as a primary color. It has 
 been proved that the retina of the eye is sensitive only 
 to red, green and violet blue ; all other color sensations 
 result from the blending of these sensations.
 
 172 THE HOUSE 
 
 This fact calls attention to the different results ob- 
 tained by the mixing of pigments and the mixing of 
 colored lights. Yellow and blue pigments give green. 
 Yellow and blue lights produce white or grayish white, 
 but in no case any tinge ot green light. This difference 
 between the mixing of pigments and of light is further 
 explained by the fact that in mixing lights one color is 
 added to another, while in a mixture of pigments each 
 color of the mixture absorbs the color of its companion 
 and the final color is due to the power of the mixture 
 to reflect the particular color not absorbed by either 
 constituent. For example, the result of a mixing of 
 blue and yellow pigments may be illustrated as follows : 
 The colors making up white light are 
 
 Red 
 
 Orange 
 
 Yellow 
 
 Green 
 
 Blue 
 
 Violet. 
 
 Pigments absorb certain colors and reflect others. 
 The mixture of these reflected give the color. The 
 blue pigment absorbs red, orange and yellow. The 
 yellow absorbs blue and violet. Then, only green is 
 left unabsorbed and this is the light reflected which 
 gives color to the mixture. As we are concerned with 
 colors of light in decoration and not with mixing pig- 
 ments, the scientific classification is the important one 
 here. So much for the theories of color.
 
 COLOR 173 
 
 It may be well to define some terms. Scientists in 
 defining color consider three of its qualities, viz., 
 Purity, luminosity, and hue, and to these they have 
 given the name "Constants of Color/' Purity in a 
 color means freedom from white light. The colors of 
 the spectrum are taken as standards of pure color. 
 All natural bodies reflect more or less white light and 
 are to that extent impure.. Artists sometimes use the 
 term to indicate purity from "muddy" tones, but that 
 is not the scientific use of the term. 
 
 The second constant of color is luminosity or 
 brightness. This brightness depends on the total 
 amount of light reflected to the eye. This total amount 
 varies with the degree of illumination and the amount 
 of black in the pigment. The tone of a color therefore 
 depends upon its degree of luminosity. 
 
 The third constant is hue. All the spectrum colors 
 have different degrees of refrangibility or different 
 wave-lengths, violet having the shortest and red the 
 longest. As generally interpreted a shade is produced 
 by adding black to a hue or color, and a tint by adding 
 white to a hue or color. Brown is a shade of orange, 
 the color of the sky a tint of blue. When one re- 
 alizes the number of shades and tints possible the 
 problem of making a good selection is better appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 Only general principles can be given to aid in the 
 selection of colors. 
 
 First, the decorator finds that he can not use the
 
 174 THE HOUSE 
 
 pure tones in complementary pairs on account of their 
 violent contrast and their inharmonious association. 
 The use of green and red has already been considered. 
 See page 126. 
 
 The darkened shades of the primaries and their com- 
 plementaries make much more satisfactory colors for 
 general use. The pure tones are too exciting, too 
 stimulating to both eye and mind. Ward gives (page 
 49) the following table of darkened complementaries 
 (obtained by adding black to spectrum colors). 
 j Dark red or maroon. 
 ( Dark blue-green. 
 
 f Olive-yellow or citrine. 
 { Dark blue. 
 
 ( Dark green, or myrtle. 
 
 ( Dark violet-purple or plum. 
 
 Besides the "harmony of contrast" in colors there are 
 other kinds of color harmony. One cf the most desir- 
 able is that obtained by mixing colors with others of 
 closely related hues, where one color passes to another 
 by a marked interval ; another method is by the gradu- 
 ation of a color from darker to lighter shades, or yet 
 another by the use of a "dominant color." 
 
 Ward says, "Brilliant and intense colors are always 
 very difficult to harmonize in pairs, but if it were neces- 
 sary to have a pair of brilliant colors in any particular 
 scheme of decoration, care must be taken to use one or 
 other of the pair in a much greater proportion, either 
 of area, or of intensity, than its companion ; for in-
 
 COLOR 175 
 
 stance, if orange-yellow and blue, which are perfectly 
 harmonious together, are used in the same proportion 
 in a scheme of color, the effect will be unsatisfactory 
 and bewildering, as each color will appear to fight for 
 the mastery, one or other color must be distinctly dom- 
 inant in order to give that sense of proportion and 
 artistic balance which is looked for in true color har- 
 monies. . . . But no two colors in any scheme, 
 however complex, should, as a rule, be used in similar 
 quantities. One color either in area or intensity ought 
 to be in excess of any other color in a good composi- 
 tion." Page 74. 
 
 Following out this principle in improving the green 
 and red room already considered, it would be improved 
 by making green the dominant hue and adding touches 
 of red possibly in the hangings or sofa cushions. 
 
 "We see this kind of gradation or small interval 
 in the green foliage of trees, where the lighter greens 
 are yellowish, the middle tints of the masses greener, 
 and the darker tints inclining to blue or grey-greens, 
 though the latter are never absolutely cold in hue. 
 
 "When using tints or shades of green in large spaces 
 in decoration, it is always much better to keep the 
 lighter tints purer in color, and the darker shades more 
 grey in hue. This is a lesson from nature which can 
 be applied in decoration with the best results. With 
 other colors this is more or less true, but it applies par- 
 ticularly to green, because it is the most difficult of all 
 colors to manage, either in pictorial or decorative art.
 
 i;6 THE HOUSE 
 
 "There is no quality of color in nature, or in art, so 
 precious as that of gradation, and none so universal ; 
 it is gradation which gives the palpitating and throbbing 
 life to color, in fact, it is the life itself of a color. Com- 
 pare the flat uniform layer of a wash, or coat of color, 
 with a wash of the same color laid on unevenly, or 
 allowed to flow freely from the brush, and the greater 
 beauty and superiority of the latter will at once be 
 self-evident." (Page 80.) 
 
 So much for the principles. It is hoped that the fol- 
 lowing combinations of color taken from Mr. Ward's 
 book may be helpful. 
 
 TABLE OF COMBINATIONS OF DYADS, OR PAIRS OF COLORS 
 
 Red with blue very good. 
 
 Red with green harsh. 
 
 Red with yellow moderate. 
 
 Red with orange-red moderate. 
 
 Red with blue-green fair. 
 
 Red with green-yellow fairly good. 
 
 Red with violet bad. 
 
 Scarlet or vermilion with blue good. 
 
 Scarlet, or vermilion with turquoise, .good. 
 
 Scarlet or vermilion with green harsh. 
 
 Scarlet or vermilion with yellow moderate. 
 
 Scarlet or vermilion with violet bad. 
 
 Orange-red with blue good. 
 
 Orange-red with turquoise good. 
 
 Orange-red with blue-green harsh. 
 
 Orange-red with yellow-green moderate. 
 
 Orange-red with yellow....* moderate. 
 
 Orange with blue excellent, 
 
 but powerful. 
 
 Orange with turquoise excellent. 
 
 Orange with green fairly good. 
 
 Orange with blue-green good.
 
 COLOR 177 
 
 Orange with violet fairly good. 
 
 Orange with purple moderate. 
 
 Orange-yellow with blue .' excellent. 
 
 Orange-yellow with turquoise fairly good. 
 
 Orange-yellow with blue-green moderate. 
 
 Orange-yellow with red poor. 
 
 Orange-yellow with violet good. 
 
 Orange-yellow with purple fairly good. 
 
 Yellow with blue good. 
 
 Yellow with turquoise fair. 
 
 Yellow with blue-green bad. 
 
 Yellow with green moderate. 
 
 Yellow with red moderate. 
 
 Yellow with violet excellent. 
 
 Yellow with purple good. 
 
 Greenish-yellow with blue good. 
 
 Greenish-yellow with turquoise poor. 
 
 Greenish-yellow with blue-green tair. 
 
 Greenish yellow with green fair. 
 
 Greenish-yellow with red harsh. 
 
 Greenish-yellow with violet excellent. 
 
 Greenish-yellow with purple good. 
 
 ureen with blue poor. 
 
 Green with turquoise bad. 
 
 Green with red strong and harsh. 
 
 Green with violet iioderate. 
 
 Green with purple harsh 
 
 Bluish-green with scarlet fair. 
 
 Bluish-green with blue bad. 
 
 Bluish-green with violet good. 
 
 "Many of the combinations given above as 'moder- 
 ate' and 'fair' can be much improved by darkening the 
 lighter color, and where they are mentioned as 'harsh' 
 they may be brought into better harmony by darkening 
 both colors. 
 
 "Most of the bad or poor combinations may be made 
 into agreeable harmonies when a third color is added 
 to the "Ton]-), which, on the other hand, may shattei
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 the harmony of a pair that combine well together. 
 Thus yellow with blue-green is a bad combination, but 
 if violet is introduced the arrangement is excellent. 
 Scarlet and blue are a good pair, but if green or green- 
 ish-blue is added to make a triad, the combination will 
 be disagreeable. 
 
 TABLE OF AGREEABLE CONTRASTS 
 
 1. Heliotrope and light 
 amber. 
 
 2. Violet and amber. 
 
 3. Violet and light yellow- 
 ish-pink. 
 
 4. Ultramarine and dark 
 
 yellow-green. 
 
 5. Grey-blue and light 
 golden-ochre. 
 
 6. Plum-purple and orange- 
 
 amber. 
 
 7. Plum-violet and sage- 
 green. 
 
 8. Brownish-yellow and 
 
 deep warm green. 
 
 9. Dull orange and slate- 
 blue. 
 
 10. Dull indigo and dull or- 
 ange. 
 
 11. Slate-blue and greyish- 
 yellow-green. 
 
 12. Claret and buff. 
 
 13. Deep blue and yellow- 
 ish-pink. 
 
 and pea- 
 
 and warm 
 bronze-yel- 
 medium 
 grey- 
 
 14. Chocolate 
 green. 
 
 15. Maroon 
 
 green. 
 
 16. Black and 
 low-green. 
 
 17. Deep red and 
 grey. 
 
 18. Venetian red and 
 
 yellow-green. 
 
 19. Coral-red and turquoise. 
 
 20. Chamois and lavender. 
 
 21. Deep crimson and yel- 
 lowish-green. 
 
 22. Deep golden-yellow and 
 
 sea-green. 
 
 23. Golden-brown and olive- 
 green. 
 
 24. Pale turquoise and pale 
 orange. 
 
 25. Deep blue and yellow- 
 
 ish-green. 
 
 26. Indigo and light olive- 
 green. 
 
 "All these color combinations would be improved if 
 the colors were divided by lines of black, white, gold, 
 or in some cases by a neutral grey. 
 
 "Any two colors, no matter how disagreeable they 
 may look together, may be brought into harmony by 
 the added help of another color in combination, and,
 
 COLOR 179 
 
 generally speaking, it is not a very difficult matter to 
 obtain the color that is wanted to complete the har- 
 mony. The chief thing to observe in the selection of 
 any three colors, necessary to form an agreeable ar- 
 rangement, is that each color, or tone of a color, should 
 be selected from equally distant, or nearly so, positions 
 on the chromatic circle, and what is almost of as great 
 importance, is to have two of the colors in the arrange- 
 ment selected from the group of the warmer colors. 
 Not only do these conditions obtain in the natural laws 
 of harmonious coloring, but we constantly notice this 
 preponderance of warm colors over the colder ones, in 
 the best color schemes of the great colorists and dec- 
 orative artists. 
 
 "The old mosaics of the fifth century at Ravenna 
 have color arrangements of blue, gold, and green ; the 
 green is yellowish in the lighter parts, and is grada- 
 ted into the blue ground in certain parts of the de- 
 sign, and here the gold supplied the place of red or 
 orange, the whole being a perfect harmony. 
 
 "The favorite triads of the best Italian painters 
 were 
 
 Red, blue, yellow. 
 
 Coral-red, ultramarine, orange-amber. 
 
 Scarlet, olive-green, violet. 
 
 Orange, green, violet. 
 
 Purple, yellow, grey-green. 
 
 "In all these groups it will be seen that the warmer 
 colors are in the ascendc ncy, and each of the triads 
 afford excellent color combinations."
 
 A CUTLER'S TRAY ON WHEELS 
 Photograph Furnished by a Massachusetts Student of the A. S. H. E.
 
 HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES 
 
 In reply to question 15 of Part II, "What sugges- 
 tions have you to offer concerning household conveni- 
 ences?" a number of interesting replies have been re- 
 ceived. One student from Massachusetts sends in a 
 photograph of a home-made butler's table on wheels. 
 She says : "It is 39 inches long, 22 inches in width in 
 the middle, and slants till at the ends it is 16 inches. 
 This allows it to go through doorways without so 
 much danger of bumping. The small wheels are put 
 on like castors, on swivels, thus allowing the table to 
 turn completely around, which is a great convenience. 
 It is used for setting the table, clearing away the 
 dishes, etc. 
 
 A number have spoken of the convenience of shal- 
 low closets or wardrobes when there is not space for a 
 large closet. These sometimes have double doors that 
 open the full width of the closet, thus bringing every- 
 thing into view. Sometimes the lower portion is made 
 into drawers. 
 
 One describes a. chest of very large drawers that 
 run on rollers and so are easily pulled out. Skirts 
 were placed full length in these drawers. 
 
 Another tells of a horizontal curtain pole placed high 
 up in a large closet. This is used for hanging of 
 dresses, each on its own dress hanger. A tick with a 
 hook on the end served to put up and take down the 
 hangers. Others place the pole under the closet shelf 
 where it serves a similar purpose of economizing space.
 
 1 82 THE HOUSE 
 
 An ingenious arrangement for an ironing board is 
 described by an Illinois student. The board is hinged 
 at the wide end and has a hinged leg near the other 
 end. When not in use, the board may bo swung up 
 into the narrow closet in which it fits, and the door 
 closed. The closet contains the irons and other appli- 
 ances and materials used for ironing. 
 
 A number have written of the convenience of a 
 narrow space in the butler's pantry to receive extra 
 table leaves when they are not in use. 
 
 A china closet described has a small space with 
 upright slats in it, between which dinner platters are 
 placed without fear of breakage. In the same house 
 the space under the front stairs, which was too shallow 
 for a closet, was utilized for a number of drawers. 
 
 Clothes chutes from the bath room to the laundry 
 and built-in refrigerators with arrangements for filling 
 the ice compartment from the outside, as illustrated 
 in some of the plans, seem to be fully appreciated. 
 
 Quite a number have spoken of the convenience of 
 an upper balcony for airing bed clothes, brushing 
 rugs, clothing, etc. A Philadelphia student writes : 
 "Last year we made one change for the sake of our 
 daughter, then three years old. This was the addi- 
 tion of a balcony. My husband said it would cost no 
 more than many men spend for tobacco. The lum- 
 ber was bought and a carpenter employed to build it. 
 The roof of the second story serving as a foundation 
 for the porch. A railing three feet high with an eight 
 inch ledge makes a safeguard. The roof is of canvas.
 
 HOUSEHOLD CONVENIENCES 183 
 
 White lead was used between the floor boards to make 
 the joints waterproof. A swing is one of the many 
 things that the porch holds. The total cost was sixty 
 dollars." 
 
 I have one kitchen convenience which I would 
 suggest to housekeepers in Mexico or similar coun- 
 tries where it is necessary to lock the pantries. It 
 is a long, low box with a hinged cover (something 
 like a couch box) and is divided into compart- 
 ments, which hold potatoes, onions, and other daily 
 necessities in small quantities. One compartment is 
 useful for holding all the old newspapers, which are 
 put there for kindling. 
 
 Another convenience is the built-in end of my 
 dressing room, which is arranged as follows : The 
 top of the dresser serves as a shelf. Underneath 
 this the space is divided into three compartments 
 for about three feet. The center one is an open re- 
 cess having hooks on the three sides. The left 
 compartment is divided into three shelves for hats 
 and shoes. The right compartment is divided by 
 shelves into five compartments for the baby's 
 clothes. The shelves are made of quarter-inch 
 boards, removable for cleaning. Both these side 
 closets are closed with doors, having spring latches 
 and hooks on the inside of the doors. Below r the 
 three compartments are three shallow drawers 
 made full width for skirts, and below these are four 
 deep drawers made half width two on each side 
 for shirt waists and pieces.
 
 HOUSE PLANS 
 
 185 
 
 PLANS FOR A $2,000 COTTAGE 
 
 Several students have asked for plans of a cottage 
 that might be built for $2,000. The accompanying 
 plans give some idea of an inexpensive seven-room 
 cottage with a bath room and with a laundry in the 
 basement. Two rooms on the first floor are called 
 bedrooms, although the front one might be used for a 
 library if desired. 
 
 Some of the rooms might be made more attractive 
 if bay windows were added, but any change from sim- 
 ple rectangular lines adds to the expenst. The ar- 
 rangement of the rooms should prove convenient for 
 a small family. 
 
 COMPLETED HOUSE PLANS 
 
 Question XI in Part II asks the student to complete 
 the plan preferred of those illustrated in the text. Re- 
 prints of Plans 4 and 5 on cross section paper being 
 furnished by the school, most of the students have 
 selected one of them. Many have sent in good solu-
 
 186 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 tions, but many more seem to have difficulty with the 
 problem of adding the dining room and kitchen plan. 
 All, I think, appreciate better some of the difficulties 
 of the architect. The illustrations show how the arch- 
 
 THE ARCHITECT'S COMPLETION OF THE SECOND FLOOR PLAN
 
 COMPLETED HOUSE PLANS 
 
 187 
 
 itccts completed plan Xo. 4. The architect's solution 
 of plan Xo. 5 is often sent to students with the cor- 
 rected test. 
 
 THE WAY THE ARCHITECT COMPLETED PLAN Xo. 4.
 
 THE COST OF BUILDING 
 
 FRANK CHOUTEAU BROWN, Architect, Boston. 
 
 There is no prospective owner or builder of a home 
 but desires to know of some way of arriving at as near 
 an approximation of its actual cost as it is possible in 
 advance. The problem, difficult enough itself, is com- 
 plicated by the constantly varying and shifting price of 
 material and labor ; as well as their great divergence in 
 cost especially in material in the different parts of 
 the country. With the possible exception of California, 
 where labor is excessively high but many materials are 
 cheapci" than elsewhere in the country, and such cities 
 as Chicago and New York, where the labor problem is 
 unusually complicated by the labor unions, it is per- 
 haps safe to consider that the prices current in Massa- 
 chusetts and especially in the vicinity of Boston are at 
 least as high as the average throughout the country. 
 In the South, West and Northwest, most materials 
 are considerably below the prices ruling in that loca- 
 tion and, except under exceptional conditions, labor is 
 also generally cheaper and more easily obtainable. 
 Labor is both less skilled and less expensive the further 
 you remove from the larger cities ; while material 
 such as brick or lumber may of course be obtained at 
 a cheaper price nearer the place where it is made or 
 milled. 
 
 189
 
 190 THE HOUSE 
 
 FAVORABLE SEASON 
 
 Besides labor and material, it must be remembered 
 that, throughout the country, the selected location and 
 the individual contractor are factors that may influence 
 considerably the cost of a building. A distant or in- 
 accessible location, far from city, railroad, or water, 
 increases the expense of obtaining material on the 
 ground. The individual contractor figures more when 
 work is plenty and his own concern is carrying along 
 several contracts, than when there is less building, or 
 when it happens that he is completing most of the work 
 upon which he is engaged. In a year when building is 
 very general in any locality, that fact will increase the 
 average cost of building ; unless a contractor is discov- 
 ered who is not sharing in the general prosperity and 
 rush of business. Even in a busy year, it will gener- 
 rally be less expensive to start a building in the fall 
 than in the spring provided it is started early enough 
 to complete the mason work before the frost sets in 
 and so leave the carpenter to carry on the interior fin- 
 ish of the house during the winter months, when there 
 is generally less demand for the services of his trade. 
 
 THE ARCHITECT A FACTOR 
 
 Thus far the individual owner or designer of the 
 house has no control over its cost ; but there are many 
 ways some of which ma}- not be generally known 
 in which the arrangement of the plan and the treat- 
 ment of the rooms or the exterior of the dwelling 
 may become quite a factor in determining the compara-
 
 COST OF BUILDING 191 
 
 live cheapness or unnecessary expense of constructing 
 the building. 
 
 When making his drawings, every conscientious 
 architect should keep in mind those facts that he knows 
 to affect the expense of a building, for there are many 
 technical points of which it is impossible for the owner 
 himself to be aw r are, that may exercise a considerable 
 result toward adding or saving expense upon his 
 dwelling. Certain of these may have to be explained 
 to the owner before he \vill allow of some changes 
 from his first idea which their consideration may 
 necessitate. Others are too many and too involved for 
 him to bother with, but must nevertheless be kept in 
 mind by the architect while he is evolving both plan 
 and design of the building. 
 
 SIMPLE PLANS LEAST EXPENSIVE 
 
 As a general rule, it may be said that a house in 
 which the plan is simple and uninvolved, with square 
 angles and rooms large rather than small, and with 
 stories not too high, can be built at a somewhat less 
 proportionate expense than an arrangement of which 
 the reverse is true. It is not the plastering of a plain 
 wall surface nor the laying of a floor in the centre of 
 the room that takes time and extra labor; but rather 
 the work in the corners and angles of walls and ceiling, 
 the fitting of the .border strips of the floor around jogs 
 and angles in the plan where material is sawn with a 
 waste and extra labor is required to complete the work 
 all expense that would be saved on a simpler struc- 
 ture, with fewer rooms and their less fussy disposition.
 
 192 THE HOUSE 
 
 A chimney costs less coming in a brick exterior wall 
 that when isolated in the centre of a building; unless 
 by so doing it is possible to make it take care of three 
 or four rooms upon each floor instead of only one 
 as might be true of the other location. A single plumb- 
 ing fixture placed by itself costs proportionately much 
 more than two or three grouped together; while if 
 they can be arranged to come over each other from 
 basement to attic, a very considerable reduction in the 
 cost of labor and piping may be effected. 
 
 INSTALLATION ADDS TO COST OF FIXTURES 
 
 It is comparatively easy to give the cost of a door, 
 a window, a screen or whatever other detail may be 
 required in the construction of the house but it must 
 be remembered that this single item does not nearly 
 express the cost of installing that individual fixture 
 within the building. The door requires hardware and 
 finish around the opening; the window the same, as 
 well as presupposing the addition of blinds, screens, 
 and, finally, in the furnishing of the house, curtains 
 and hangings ; while always there is an additional item 
 which cannot be expressed so definitely in figures 
 to cover the labor of making and framing the opening, 
 of furring and plastering around it, and otherwise 
 supplying the various extra material and time neces- 
 sary before the fixture may be actually set in place. 
 
 SMALL HOUSES LESS PRETENTIOUS, SO LESS EXPENSIVE 
 
 As a rule the small house costs less per square foot 
 of the area it covers than the large house, but this is 
 merely because the house of larger first floor surface
 
 COST OF BUILDING 193 
 
 general!) presupposes a dwelling more expensive in 
 finish and design. If the larger structure were built 
 with the same finish, with as proportionately few door 
 and window openings, it could actually be carried out 
 at a less cost per foot of area than when condensed in 
 a dwelling of smaller size ; although heating and 
 plumbing would average a slightly higher cost per fix- 
 ture in the larger dwelling, because of the longer runs 
 of piping required. 
 
 INITIAL COST AND TOTAL COST 
 
 Some years' experience has tended to prove to the 
 satisfaction of the writer that the owner is too much 
 inclined to look only to the initial cost of his dwelling 
 and allows it to govern too greatly his determination 
 of plan and selection of materials; when, as a matter 
 of fact, a somewhat broader point of view would in 
 the end save him a considerable amount of money upon 
 the total of his investment. The installation of cheap 
 floors, for instance, demands their eventual treatment 
 with paint, carpet or other material wearing out con- 
 stantly and requiring as constant renewal or repair at 
 a cost that, while comparatively small yearly, in the 
 end totals up to a pretty considerable sum. A porch 
 floor much exposed to weather or storms could fre- 
 quently be originally laid in brick or rough tile at a 
 cost but slightly more than finishing it in hard pine, 
 which latter demands yearly treatment by the painter 
 and probable renewal, in part or in whole, every few 
 MB*.
 
 194 THE HOUSE 
 
 It must be remembered, too, that while the best of 
 these suggested materials costs but a little more in the 
 first instance than the less expensive and far less per- 
 manent coverings, and while it will indisputably earn 
 back its extra initial cost in the mere saving of labor 
 and maintenance; there is still another point of view 
 from which the prospective owner of a building should 
 closely regard this investment, and that is as to its 
 appreciation in value in case it becomes at any time 
 desirable to sell or dispose of the property. There are 
 few people who can afford to entirely disregard this 
 practical and commonsense point of view, even when 
 planning so sentimental a problem as the home. This 
 fact, if properly regarded, will rightly influence to a 
 certain extent the plan and arrangement of the house, 
 keeping it from departing too far from the conven- 
 tional, and so preventing the use of extreme, outre, 
 and fantastic ideas ; while the well constructed modern 
 appearing house of plaster or brick is always more 
 readily salable and at a much better price. 
 
 EXTERIOR FINISH 
 
 The walls of a house may be covered upon the exte- 
 rior cheapest with clapboards, which require painting 
 at least every two years and sometimes oftener. 
 Shingles those obtainable to-day a somewhat better 
 and more expensive wooden covering, are not of very 
 long life and require considerable attention, whether, 
 stained or left to weather ; while they are at their best
 
 COST OF BU1LDIXG -195 
 
 in appearance for what is, after all, a relatively short 
 period. 
 
 Plaster as an exterior covering is somewhat more 
 expensive but, with the exception of cracks and checks 
 of merely surface extent, is a much more durable and 
 attractive material. In many sections of the country 
 and in the suburbs of most of our cities, brick the 
 rough-textured hard-burnt cherry-red kind is now con- 
 sidered best and most artistic may be used either for 
 a solid wall or for an outer covering veneered upon 
 the w-ooden frame at a cost so little in excess of wood, 
 that it will make up for its first additional expense 
 within a half-dozen years, while its aesthetic advantages 
 are of course obvious. Its use insures a permanent 
 outer covering, proof against injury by weather or 
 common accident, while it allows of the close sur- 
 rounding of the dwelling by trees and the growing of 
 vines directly over the wall surface important con- 
 siderations in the environment and appearance of the 
 modern dwelling. 
 
 An idea of the comparative cost of the exterior fin- 
 ish materials mentioned may be obtained by contrast- 
 ing the difference between their cost on the house 
 over a surface of 100 square feet (a "square" in build- 
 ers' measure), or 10x10 feet in dimension. 
 
 Clapboards (painted 3 coats) 
 
 $10.00 per LOO sq. ft. 
 
 Shingles (natural) 9.00 per 100 sq. ft. 
 
 Shingles (stained) 10.25 P er TO st l- ft-
 
 ig6 THE HOUSE 
 
 Plaster (3 coats on metal lath) 
 
 T2.ooper loosq. ft. 
 
 Brick veneer 15.00 per 100 sq. ft. 
 
 Brick 12-inch wail 40.00 per loosq. ft. 
 
 The above amounts will vary with the varying 
 prices of the materials named in the different sections 
 of the country. The estimate on brick, for instance, 
 figures that the selected hard burnt brick can be ob- 
 tained at about $11.00 a thousand, which is not ex- 
 orbitant for some sections, while in other portions of 
 the country the rate may increase the cost of common 
 brick to $18.00 or $19.00 a thousand. 
 
 The sudden increase in price between the brick 
 veneered house and the brick 1 2-inch walled house 
 does not show the proportionate costs of these two 
 ways of constructing a dwelling; as the last item in- 
 cludes also the support of the building itself, whereas 
 in all the others there is to be added to the cost of the 
 exterior surface finish covering, the cost of the stud- 
 ding, boarding and papering (both the materials and 
 the labor of setting in place). As a matter of fact, 
 the house built with a 1 2-inch solid wall would not 
 now cost over 10 per cent more than the brick veneered 
 dwelling, after allowing for cost of studded wall be- 
 hind the brick exterior veneer. 
 
 METHODS OF ESTIMATING COSTS 
 
 The two most common means of estimating the cost 
 of a dwelling are (i) judging of the comparative 
 amount and expense of its finish including masonry, 
 frame, floors, \valls and ceilings and establishing a
 
 COST OF BUILDIXG 
 
 197 
 
 (A) COTTAGE AT BASS ROCK. MASS. 
 
 rate per square foot of the area covered by the first 
 floor and so arriving at the total cost of the dwelling ; 
 or (2) figuring up its cubical contents from cellar 
 floor to roof and then as arbitrarily setting a price 
 per cubic foot, and so obtaining an approximate total 
 estimate. Both of these means may be employed, the 
 one to check the other. While the first method seems 
 the somewhat rougher and more hit or miss, it is yet, 
 granted the estimator has the judgment and experience 
 to propertly set the square foot cost both the quick- 
 est and the one that is in most cases sufficiently exact 
 for obtaining approximate estimates. As nowadays
 
 198 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 (B) COTTAGE AT BASS ROCK. 
 
 there is but little difference in the height of stories in 
 the house of average expense, the second, while appar- 
 ently the more careful and accurate, is after all hardly 
 any more certain. The accuracy of both will depend 
 upon the amount allowed for the square or cube-foot 
 cost, as the case may be, and the correctness of this 
 item depends altogether on the experience of the in- 
 dividual making the calculation. 
 
 The figures given per square or cube foot that fol- 
 low, are based upon prices in the vicinity of eastern 
 Massachusetts, and include, dwellings, on good founda- 
 tions, plastered inside and finished in pine or white 
 wood, painted and stained, with hard pine floors, sim-
 
 COST OF BUILDING 199 
 
 pie but good bath room fixtures, and with heating and 
 plumbing, a laundry, and a cemented cellar under the 
 completed house. It should also include a couple of 
 chimneys, clapboarded or shingled walls, and any small 
 sized simple porch, without additional allowance of 
 area. For a large porch, or one having many columns 
 and elaborate balustrades, some additional allowance 
 must be made. If the second story is built out over 
 the piazza, between one-half and two-thirds of the 
 area it covers should be added to the area of the first 
 floor before multiplying by the cost price per foot. 
 No fixtures for lighting, no shades, or draperies, 
 stoves, papering or other furnishings are included in 
 the amounts given. 
 
 For a dwelling of about 1,000 or 1,500 square feet 
 area, containing eight to ten rooms, the price per 
 square foot will vary between $3.00 and $3.50, and 
 the cubical contents could be estimated at from ice 
 to I2c a cubic foot. A house having eight rooms and 
 covering 1,000 square feet, at $3.00 a foot would cost 
 $3,000.00; and a ten-room dwelling with 1,500 feet 
 area at $3.50 a foot w-ould cost $5,250.00. The smaller 
 dwelling, allowing 30 feet for its height, at loc a 
 cubic foot, would cost $3,000; and the other dwelling, 
 the same height but larger size at I2c per cubic foot 
 would come to $5,100.00. Such a building, with better 
 interior and exterior finish or more expensive fittings 
 or design, would possibly run to $4.00 a square foot 
 ( $4,000 on the small house, $6,000 on the large) or
 
 200 THE HOUSE 
 
 150 ($4,500 to $6,750, on the two houses) or more per 
 cubic foot. 
 
 If intended for a summer cottage, without some of 
 the various items which become necessities in a dwell- 
 ing used all the year such as interior plastering, base- 
 ment laundry, furnace heat, etc., the cost might be 
 reduced to the neighborhood of $2.50 a square foot 
 ($2,500 to $3,750) and 8c and gc a cubic foot ($2,400 
 to $4,050) ; while in exceptional instances, where lo- 
 cal conditions were favorable and the plan was inex- 
 pensive in arrangement and treatment, it might even 
 be possible to get the cost down as low as $2.00 per 
 square foot. 
 
 For a somewhat larger house, say from 1,500 to 
 2,500 feet area, the cost would run from $3.50 to $4.50 
 per square foot, with a mean average of $4.00 ($6,000 
 to $10,000) ; and from I2c to i6c per cubic foot. This 
 would mean a total cost of from $5,450 for the smaller 
 size and price, to $12,000 for the larger. If of 2,500 
 feet area or over, the price would run at an average 
 of $5.00 a square foot, and the cubic foot cost from 
 i5c to i8c. 
 
 Such small dwellings as those shown at A and B, 
 consisting of 9 rooms each and containing almost ex- 
 actly the same amount of area (1,026 and 1,040 square 
 feet respectively) and cubical contents (30,780 and 
 31,200) would agree with the rules given. At $3.00 a 
 square foot they would cost $3,078 and $3,120; at loc 
 the cubic foot the same respective figures. House A
 
 COST OF BUILDING ->oi 
 
 actually cost just over $2,800 and House B, about $3,- 
 200. 
 
 The Colonial House containing more elaborately de- 
 signed finish, Oak and Maple floors and mahogany 
 doors and mantels comes into quite another class. Cov- 
 ering about 2,658 sq. feet and allowing for porches 
 310 sq. feet more (about one-third their area they 
 are only half covered) a total of 2,968 sq. feet is the 
 result. At $6.00 a foot this equals $17,898; and its 
 cubic contents 100,912 ft. at i8c a foot equals $18,- 
 164.16. The cost of this house ran somewhat over 
 $18,000. (See page .) 
 
 ITEMS IN THE CONTRACT 
 
 On a five thousand dollar wooden frame house, the 
 various items included in the contract would probably 
 average about as follows : 
 
 Foundation and Chimney $ 680 
 
 Framing 420 
 
 Lathing and Plastering 350 
 
 Interior Finish 320 
 
 Exterior Fnish 225 
 
 Painting 275 
 
 Plumbing 490 
 
 Heating System 320 
 
 Hardware 125 
 
 Carpenter Labor 1,625 
 
 4-830 
 Architect (5% of the cost) 241.50 
 
 $5.071-50
 
 202 THE HOUSE 
 
 . Of course hard digging or gravel on the lot would 
 increase or lower the cost of this item, while the sum 
 set aside for "finish," inside and out, depends alto- 
 gether upon the design of the dwelling. While this 
 schedule will vary somewhat in its different items in 
 almost every instance, still as it was compiled from 
 averages obtained from a number of small houses of 
 about the same size and cost, but of different styles, 
 it should prove approximately correct, sufficiently so 
 at least, to act as a guide for obtaining the preliminary 
 estimates. 
 
 The above tabulation is based solely upon an ap- 
 proximate size of house with the average correspond- 
 ing quality of finish and architectural treatment that 
 would ordinarily be expected to accompany an Ameri- 
 can dwelling of that size. It must be remembered 
 however, that these figures merely offer a mean basis 
 for comparison. If expensive systems of plumbing and 
 heating are installed, if hard wood is used largely for 
 finish and oak for floors, if the mantels are elaborate 
 and the rooms are finished with beam ceilings and 
 dados, the expense can be run up very quickly to far 
 beyond these approximate figures; while on the other 
 hand, by keeping the finish down and with an econom- 
 ically arranged plan and disposition and installation 
 of plumbing, heating, etc., it is oftentimes possible to 
 obtain an attractive and modestly designed home at a 
 corresponding reduction from the estimates given. 
 
 It is always possible, for instance, for the architect
 
 COST OF BUILD1\'C 203 
 
 to use a porch finish as on the cottages A and B, 
 that will be both simple and effective, for a sum which 
 will be considerably less than a finish much the same 
 in appearance, but requiring heavier stock and more 
 workmanship ; and this depends largely upon the judg- 
 ment and training of the architect as well as his dis- 
 position and judgment of his client's actual desires. 
 The finish on the first cottage (A) is simpler in ef- 
 fect but in reality about as costly as the columns and 
 simple rail shown on the second small dwelling (B). 
 Such balustrades and columns as on the porches of 
 the Colonial house at Wellesley, however, will cost 
 more than double the simpler porch finish of those cot- 
 tages. 
 
 THE IDEAL AND THE REAL 
 
 It rarely happens that the house-builders ideas of 
 what he wants to pay and his requirements as to 
 number of rooms, their size and location, are co-or- 
 dinated one to the other. Almost invariably his de- 
 sires are greater than his set limit of price can secure. 
 Also he is not to be satisfied with the architect's mere 
 statement of this fact ; but is only convinced by hav- 
 ing the house that he desires drawn out and esti- 
 mated ; when he either has to cut it down, and so 
 sacrifice many of his pet ideas, or else make up his 
 mind to pay the larger amount that his ideal will cost. 
 Generally a satisfactory compromise is arrived at. Cer- 
 tain things he is willing to give up; certain others he 
 is willing to pay for the privilege of securing.
 
 204 '-/'//; HOUSE 
 
 The architect is often confronted by a client demand- 
 ing a house at a cost and of a size that will not pos- 
 sibly give him the kind of dwelling that he really de- 
 sires and with which alone he will be satisfied. If the 
 mistake is made of starting a plan intended to meet 
 the clients expressed wishes, either the house when 
 finally built will cost greatly more than such a plan 
 rightly demands ; or the scheme is abandoned and an 
 arrangement better suited to the client's needs sub- 
 stituted in its place. In the first event the client re- 
 mains forever unsatisfied ; and in the latter much un- 
 necessary time and energy has been lost by both par- 
 ties. If the owner as frequently happens states at 
 the first an amount less than he actually intends to 
 expend, a similar result is to be expected. 
 
 COST OF FIXTURES 
 
 The cost of the various items that go to make up 
 the house may be stated with fair exactitude, although 
 it is doubtful if the attempt to estimate such minor 
 details is not, after all, more confusing than beneficial 
 to one inexperienced in house building; as all these 
 details are already included in the general methods 
 just given for approximately estimating the cost of 
 the completed dwelling. 
 
 For plumbing, it is possible to say that the cost of 
 installation including labor and simple but good fix- 
 tures will average from $50 to $75 per fixture, de- 
 pending upon whether the house is small or large; 
 while if more elaborate or expensive individual fix-
 
 COST OF BUILDIXC 205 
 
 tures are employed, the cost may run to over $100 
 an outlet. 
 
 For heating, the hot air furnace should cost be- 
 tween $20 and $25 per register in the small house, 
 while running to perhaps $30 or more on a larger 
 dwelling. If a combination hot air and hot water heat- 
 er is used, it may average from $35 to $40 an outlet. 
 For steam, the cost on a small or large house will 
 probably vary from $40 to $45 per radiator with an 
 additional 25 per cent increase for hot water. 
 
 It is customary in some sections to estimate from a 
 dollar to $1.25 an outlet for gas; and about $1.50 or 
 $1.75 an outlet for electricity, the latter sum including 
 switches as an outlet, wherever they occur. 
 
 Window screens may be obtained for from about 
 $1.25 to $2.25 a window, depending upon the material 
 of the frame and the quality of the wire employed; 
 the lower price being for wood frame and steel jap- 
 anned mesh, while the more expensive would generally 
 cover the cost of a metal and bronze wire window 
 screen. Screen doors of pine will run corresponding- 
 ly from $6.00 to $7.50 apiece ; with metal weather 
 strips for windows at about $2.00 to $2.50 and for 
 doors from $3.50 to $4.00 an opening. 
 
 The cost of doors and windows depends upon both 
 their design and material. Stock doors of the cross 
 panel, or four upright panel, type can be obtained in 
 so-called pine (generally actually Washington Fir), 
 Carolina Hard pine, or Birch for about $2.50 apiece.
 
 206 THE HOUSE 
 
 The frames will cost from $1.25 to $1.50, and the 
 architrave finish upon both sides probably $2.00 more, 
 making each opening cost about $6.00 or with hard- 
 ware a total of about $8.00 a door; not allowing any- 
 thing, however, for labor in fitting, hanging, and fin- 
 ishing around openings, etc. 
 
 A window costs for the frame between $2.50 and 
 $3.50, with sash costing from $2.00 to $3.00 and, with 
 hardware and architrave finish, the whole would prob- 
 ably run to about $10.00 an opening. 
 
 These sums will only apply to those sizes and de- 
 signs that are near enough to the stock patterns to 
 be handled by the concerns manufacturing these spe- 
 cialties in large numbers. For special mouldings, de- 
 signs and sizes, or for work executed in more ex- 
 pensive wood, such as oak and mahogany, a consider- 
 able difference in cost will at once manifest itself. 
 
 Storm windows range from $1.50 to $2.50; with 
 window blinds at between $1.00 and $1.50 an opening. 
 
 A fireplace will cost about $40.00 for facing and 
 hearth with about $30.00 more for a mantel. This is 
 additional to cost of chimney. It will add perhaps 
 $25.00 to the latter for each fireplace after the first 
 one it carries. In more important rooms the mantel 
 will cost more than the sum given ; in bedrooms suit- 
 able facings may be obtained for less; but the above 
 amounts will stand for fair averages.
 
 COST OF BUILD1XG 207 
 
 COST OF FINISHING WOODS 
 
 The cost of woods for finish as has already been 
 said varies in different sections of the country so 
 extensively from time to time, that it is impossible to 
 give any exact price by which they may be compared. 
 In general, however, they bear a certain relation to 
 each other which may be suggested by the order in 
 which they are named. In most portions of the coun- 
 try, cypress and whitewood may be obtained at about 
 the same price, the former having a considerable beauty 
 of grain, and the latter varying in color from white to 
 quite dark. It becomes more and more difficult year 
 after year to obtain good stock in the cheaper finishes, 
 especially in whitewood. While both shrink rather con- 
 siderably, if anything, the advantage belongs with the 
 cypress. Hard pine and ash are more expensive than 
 the first named materials for finish. Sometimes the 
 latter may be used very effectively in a way that sug- 
 gests oak. 
 
 Birch and cherry, or redwood and cedar are em- 
 ployed for standing finish in some localities, while of 
 late years spruce has begun to be used in summer cot- 
 tages, as it is somewhat cheaper and not much more 
 objectionable than the "country pine," which is about 
 the only variety of this wood that now comes w r ithin 
 the range of the ordinary pocket-book. Both redwood 
 and cedar are considerably less expensive in the western 
 part of the country than in the east. 
 
 Oak is an expensive finish that is less used now than
 
 2o8 THE HOUSE 
 
 a few years ago, when its popularity almost equalled 
 that obtained by black walnut in the preceding decade. 
 In part this is because it is difficult to obtain it in the 
 best grades, and often a selected ash will give a finish 
 quite as pleasing as that of the lower grades of the 
 more expensive oak. Mahogany still remains the fa- 
 vorite wood for Colonial finish and treatment, but on 
 account of its expense, various substitutes for it are 
 continually being used. Of these cherry and syca- 
 more are the most common; and cherry, by the way, 
 may in its turn be well imitated by selecting white- 
 wood and then finishing it carefully over a stain. 
 
 WHAT IS "FINISH"? 
 
 Although possible materials are comparatively few 
 in number; of variety of design in their finish and 
 treatment there is no end. The word "finish" has, 
 architecturally, two meanings. In one sense it applies 
 only to the surface treatment and protection of the 
 woodwork, in which case its consideration comes en- 
 tirely within the province of the painter; but there is 
 a broader meaning than this, where it applies to the 
 woodwork used for the final covering on both inside 
 and outside of the house, when it is referred to as 
 "interior finish" 2nd "exterior finish," as the case may 
 be. In this meaning not only is the kind of wood in- 
 cluded, but also the general design and treatment 'in 
 which this "finish" is carried out. It may be said that 
 a room is "finished in hardwood" (there meaning the 
 material alone") ; "finished in shellac" (here referring
 
 20Q 
 
 only to its painted applied surface) ; or "finished in 
 the Jacobean style" (here referring only to the ar- 
 chitecural design and treatment of the walls and ceil- 
 ing of the room). Of the materials for interior finish 
 something has already been said. As to its method 
 of treatment by the painter, this should often be de- 
 cided by the style of design of the room ; to which 
 certain finishes only are sometimes appropriate. 
 
 PAINTING OF INTERIOR WOODWORK 
 
 A room . of Colonial design is ordinarily best car- 
 ried out in cream-white painted woodwork, as was done 
 in most residences of the Colonial period, frequently 
 the doors being of mahogany. This offers a pleasure- 
 able contrast, and the white woodwork is best adapted 
 to showing off the delicate furniture of that period, 
 generally mahogany, with which a room of this style 
 only should be furnished. Occasionally, a room in a 
 \ery elaborate dwelling may be carried out entirely in 
 mahogany, although this was rarely done in actual Co- 
 lonial times ; where occasional rooms such as halls or 
 libraries were almost as rarely finished in oak. A 
 room of English architectural character may be most 
 appropriately carried out in oak. stained dark in tone. 
 Less frequently rooms of this period were executed 
 in mahogany or Wclnut and very often their wood- 
 work was painted arid handled in a way not unlike 
 our present so-called "Colonial" finish. The modern 
 English, or so-called "mission style" of furniture, re- 
 quires room backgrounds of similar simplicity and
 
 2io THE HOUSE 
 
 with oak or ash finish stained and treated in the same 
 manner as the furniture itself. Sometimes appropriate 
 and simple rooms of modern design may have their 
 standing finish even when of a soft wood or white- 
 wood stained and finished in a like manner. 
 
 Painted woodwork should receive one coat of shel- 
 lac varnish to prevent the sap, which is now very 
 frequently in the wood placed upon the market, from 
 coming through and staining the surface of the paint. 
 Upon this first coat there should be applied four coats 
 of paint, this number being about the least that can 
 be depended upon to thoroughly cover the stock. Even 
 then, if whitewood and pine are used side by side- 
 such as for architraves and door, for instance it is 
 quite possible that a difference between the two colors 
 of white may be noticeable, the pine door being of 
 a warmer, creamier tone and the whitewood being a 
 little more toward the gray white. The least expen- 
 sive way of finishing painted woodwork is to put a 
 little varnish in the last coat and so impart a slight 
 gloss to the surface. 
 
 When the more expensive enamel finish is desired, 
 the painter uses more stock and each coat of paint is 
 rubbed down with felt and pumice-stone until it is 
 given a dull lustre or flat polish. From six 'to eight 
 coats of paint are necessary to obtain the best effects. 
 Such painted finish should only go -over certain kinds 
 of moulded woodwork, as where many sharp exterior 
 angle? break up the surface, the painters are likely to
 
 COST OF BUILDING 211 
 
 rub entirely through the paint down to the surface 
 of the wood, which is then exposed and left unprotect- 
 ed at these places. 
 
 FINISHING OF HARD WOODS 
 
 Where mahogany is finished to go with Colonial 
 white woodwork, it should be shellaced and varnished 
 four to six coats in all. Each coat of varnish should 
 be rubbed down to the same dead lustre that is found 
 in old furniture. The better the finish, the greater 
 number of coats will be of varnish and the fewer of 
 shellac, as the more expensive varnish furnishes the 
 better surface for wear and polish. Any surface where 
 water or hot pans and dishes may be placed, such as 
 the upper shelf in a side-board or a table top, if of 
 hardwood, should be finished, polished and rubbed 
 down in oil ; if the ordinary stock is used, it will show 
 all the marks made by w-ater or heat, while with an 
 oiled surface such blemishes can be easily wiped off 
 with a damp rag. 
 
 Where oak is used for "standing finish" (i. e. the 
 upright wood-moulded finish placed upon the walls of 
 a room, and around doors and windows, including 
 base or mop boards, etc.,} it should be finished in 
 shellac or varnishj or with a waxed surface, according 
 to the effect desired. Wax treatment is generally giv- 
 en by using a semi-fluid composition which is put upon 
 the wood with a fag, and then polished as -dully or as 
 highly as may be desired. Hardwood, along with cy- 
 pres's,' white wood and pine or spruce, are frequently
 
 212 THE HOUSE 
 
 stained in order to bring out the grain and fibre of 
 the wood the more effectively. Some of the best mod- 
 ern finish, especially that on furniture and fine cabinet 
 work, is now obtained by means of burning the wood 
 with acid or ammonia, or "fuming" and smoking it, 
 and so bringing out the grain in this way instead of 
 by a liquid stain, which is too likely to fill up, overlay 
 and obscure the grain instead of bringing it out to the 
 best advantage. The staining of a piece of wood is 
 always the first thing done; the remainder of the 
 painters finish, the shellac, varnish, wax, etc., being 
 applied on top of the stain. 
 
 STYLE OR DESIGN OF WORK 
 
 As to the style of treatment of the woodwork it may 
 be that in the matter of interior house finish both 
 client and architect are too easily and generally ruled 
 by conventional ideas. The client desires to reproduce 
 the appearance of a room sometime seen and liked by 
 him, without regard to its appropriate relation to the 
 atmosphere of the rest of his dwelling. The architect 
 is too prone to follow periods and styles that, in the 
 inexpensive American dwelling at least, frequently ap- 
 pear over-pretentious and out of harmony with the 
 life of its occupants. A certain amount of experimen- 
 tation along newer lines could here be undertaken with 
 advantage by both parties. 
 
 In the summer cottage especially, there are many 
 ways of obtaining attractive effects inexpensively that 
 are perhaps less suitable to the more restrained conven-
 
 COST OF BUILDING 213 
 
 tions surrounding life near the city, or to the dwelling 
 inhabited for the major portion of the year. Rough 
 plaster stained one coat, for instance, is much more 
 attractive than the same color rendered monotonous 
 in tone by its even application in coatings several times 
 repeated. The simpler life during the summer allows 
 of the introduction of the element of accidental in- 
 formality into the design of the country or sea-shore 
 dwelling. This meaning may perhaps be best and most 
 exactly illustrated by quoting actual happenings that 
 have come within the writer's immediate experience. 
 
 ACCIDENTAL INFORMALITY" 
 
 In one instance a dining room was designed with a 
 simple panelled effect of wide boards with the joints 
 covered by narrow moulded "battens." The mill get- 
 ting out the finish asked for further time to complete 
 the contract for this especial room as they had not 
 stock of sufficient width available, except some which 
 had been thrown aside as imperfect on account of dis- 
 coloration and worm holes. The curiosity of the archi- 
 tect being aroused, he made occasion to visit the yard 
 to see this stock and found his anticipations more than 
 realized by discovering it to be a whitewood (the ma- 
 terial specified) of the necessary width, to be sure, but 
 liberally colored in beautiful reds, yellows, browns, 
 and pinks, while the figuring of the wood itself varied 
 greatly from light to a rather dark tone which hand- 
 somely brought out its veining. Realizing the possi- 
 bilities, it did not take long to come to an understand-
 
 2i4 THE PIOUS E 
 
 ing with the contractors whereby they were only too 
 pleased to be allowed to make use of this material, 
 and affording the owner a considerable reduction for 
 the privilege ! while, by changing the finishing of the 
 wood to a very light gray stain with waxed surface, a 
 room in appearance quite as handsome as though very 
 expensive imported woods had been employed was 
 finally obtained at a really absurd cost. 
 
 Again; an unusual delay in the installation of some 
 fireplace facings sufficiently aroused the ire of the ar- 
 chitect to cause him to descend upon the workshop 
 of the defaulting contractor with the intention of re- 
 lieving his mind orally and in person. The visit de- 
 veloped the fact that the delay had been caused by the 
 shipment from the factory of a lot of tiles which did 
 not equal the sample selected by architect and client, 
 and the contractor insisted that until he received a 
 shipment of perfect material from the factory, he could 
 not install the fireplaces that had been estimated. The 
 discolered tile being exhibited, it took but a glance to 
 perceive that whereas the sample selected had been 
 a rather flat and characterless pale cream-colored tile ; 
 these "defective" specimens had been tinged 'in their 
 firing by varying and changing modulated -tones of yel- 
 lows,, umbers and browns, in just such a way as. to . em- 
 phasize their design- most delicately, and to form, in 
 combination, a fireplace facing and hearth of much 
 more character and artistic value than would have re- 
 sulted if the original intention had been followed out.
 
 COST OP BUILDING 215 
 
 Of course both of these opportunities could not have 
 been availed of if the architect had not been sufficiently 
 assured of his client's ability to appreciate the artistic 
 and unusual effects thus accidentally procured ; yet this 
 "accidental" element appears so frequently and so un- 
 expectedly in the evolution of house after house that 
 to obtain the best results, the designer and his client 
 should be at pains to work together harmoniously and 
 remain open to accept and make the most of just such 
 accidental happenings as they arrive. 
 
 HOW TO KEEP THE COST DOWN 
 
 If one were asked what single factor most added 
 to the cost of a building there could be no doubt but 
 a truthful reply would be that changes made by the 
 owners during or while the building is in process 
 of construction are more universally the cause than 
 any other one thing. Yet this in itself is easily avoid- 
 able provided only that architect and owner once ar- 
 rive at a perfect understanding, that sufficient time is 
 taken before actual work is commenced to study over 
 the possible variations in plan and finish and to mutual- 
 ly decide which will the better meet the points in- 
 volved that it seems inexcusable that such should be 
 the case. But time after time, to begin actual work 
 but means the beginning of making changes on the 
 plan, until additional and unnecessary expense is in- 
 curred to an amount that is often ridiculously in ex- 
 cess of the benefits achieved; the final result being 
 rarely as good as the arrangement determined upon
 
 216 THE HOUSE 
 
 in the first instance. Unless one is accustomed to the 
 different aspects under which a building and its in- 
 dividual parts will appear while in course of construc- 
 tion, one is not able to judge what its effect will be 
 when completed. The unduly small and apparently 
 low room, when only studded out or rough plastered, 
 appears of quite different and much more capacious 
 proportions when completed and finished ; and so it 
 goes throughout the entire dwelling, until the old an- 
 swer to the jesting query as to "How to Build a Dwell- 
 ing Cheaply," "Keep the Owner Away Until It Is Fin- 
 ished," is proven to be a most serious and learned bit 
 of practical philosophy.
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAM FOR CLASS STUDY 
 
 ON 
 
 THE HOUSE, ITS PLAN, DECORATION, AND CARE 
 
 By ISABEL BEVIER, PH. M. 
 
 MEETING I 
 (Study pages 1-20.) 
 Evolution of the House. 
 
 Woman's Share in Primitive Culture. Chapter I. ($1.75, 
 
 postage :6c.) O. T. Mason. 
 Household Economics. Chapter II. ($1.50, postage i6c.) 
 
 Helen Campbell. 
 
 Evolution of the Home. Vol. X, Page 509. Andover Review. 
 The Dwellings of Primitive Man. House Beautiful, January, 
 
 1904. 
 Quiviras and the Wichita Grass Houses. Harpers, Vol. 99, 
 
 p. 126. 
 
 The House Beauiful. ($0.50, postage 6c.) W. C. Gannett. 
 Topics: Place of Architecture in Civilization 
 
 Relation of Architecture to History and Art 
 The Home as the Center of Life 
 
 MEETING II 
 
 (Study pages 20-47.) 
 Development of the American House. 
 
 American Renaissance. ($4.00, postage 300.) Joy Wheeler 
 
 Dow. 
 Cost of Shelter. Chapters I and III. ($1.00, postage IDC.) 
 
 Ellen H. Richards. 
 Early Connecticut Houses. ($4.00, postage 24C.) Isham and 
 
 Brown. 
 Homes in City and Country. ($2.00, postage i8c.) Sturgls, 
 
 et al. 
 Stately Homes in America. ($7.50.) Chapters 2, 3 and 4. 
 
 Desmond and Croly.
 
 House Beautiful. ($2.50, postage 200.) Introduction. Cook. 
 Beautiful Houses. Chapters i and 2. ($2.50, postage 240.) 
 
 Gibson. 
 Evolution of Domestic Life in America. House Beautiful, 
 
 Voi. XII, p. 281. 
 
 Topics: Description of a Colonial House (of the neigh- 
 borhood) 
 
 The Apartment House as Affecting Family Life 
 The House of the Future. 
 
 (Select answers to test questions on Part I. and send them 
 to *ie School.) 
 
 MEETING III 
 
 (Study pages 49-98.) 
 
 (.a) The Modern House. 
 
 Household Economics. Chapter III. ($1.50, postage l6c.) 
 Helen Campbell. 
 
 Home Economics. Chapter I. ($1.50, postage i6c.) Maria 
 Parloa. 
 
 The Cost of Shelter. Chapter V. ($1.00, postage xoc.) El- 
 len H. Richards. 
 
 (b) House Planning. 
 
 How to Build a Home. Pages i-io. (Out of print.) F. C. 
 Moore. 
 
 Home Economics. Chapter I. ($1.50, postage ice.) Maria 
 Parloa. 
 
 House that Jill Built. ($1.00, postage IDC.) E. C. Gardner. 
 
 House Planning. ($1.00, postage 8c.) Osborne. 
 
 The House Book. ($1.50, postage I4C.) Kline. 
 
 The Book of One Hundred Houses. ($3.20, postage i6c.) 
 From The House Beautiful. 
 
 Collect plans from The House Beautiful, The Craftsman, De- 
 lineator, Ladies' Home Journal, Architects' and Builders' 
 Magazine, Architectural Record, Etc. 
 
 Topics: House Analysis, or Where to Begin in Planning. 
 The Aesthetic Side of House Planning, or Resi- 
 dence Design. 
 The Ideal Kitchen. 
 (Select answers to test questions on Part II.) 
 
 ais
 
 MEETING IV 
 
 (Study pages 101-102.) 
 
 (a) Construction of the House. 
 
 The Farmstead. Chapters 6 and 8. ($1.25, postage I2C.) 
 
 Roberts. 
 Article by F. C. Brown, Jan., Feb., March, April, '05, Good 
 
 Housekeeping. 
 Stairs, Windows, Floors See series in House Beautiful, 
 
 1905-1906, R. C. Spencer. 
 
 (b) Floors. 
 
 Care of House. Chapter 12. ($1.50, postage i6c.) T. 
 
 M. Clark. 
 Home Economics. Chapter 12. ($1.50, postage i6c.) Maria 
 
 Parloa. 
 Topics: Cost of Building. 
 
 Woods Used in House Building. 
 Outside Finish. 
 
 MEETING V 
 (Study pages 123-151.) 
 
 (a) Decorating and Furnishing. 
 
 Kinds of Art. "Household Economics." Chapter V. ($1.50, 
 postage i6c.) Campbell. Also see Encyclopaedias. 
 
 Principles of Home Decoration. ($1.80, postage i6c.) Can- 
 dace Wheeler. 
 
 Art of the House. (Out of print.) Watson. 
 
 Claims of Decorative Art. (Out of print.) Walter Crane. 
 
 Household Art. Progress of American Decorative Art. 
 ($1.00, postage xoc.) Wheeler. 
 
 Household Art. Limits of Decoration. Wheeler. 
 
 Hopes and Fears for Art. ($1.25, postage I2c.) William 
 Morris. 
 
 Beginnings of Art. ($1.75, postage I4C.) Grosse. 
 
 Philosophy of Beauty. (Two parts, each $1.00, postage IDC.) 
 Knight. 
 
 (b) Household Decoration. 
 
 Household Economics. Chapter 6. ($1.50, postage i6c.) 
 Campbell. 
 
 219
 
 Decoration of Houses. ($2.50, postage 2oc.) Codman and 
 
 Wharton. 
 Homes and their Decorations. ($3.00, postage 26c.) L. H. 
 
 French. 
 Color Harmony and Contrasts. ($4.20, postage i6c; printed 
 
 in colors.) James B. Ward. 
 (c) Furnishings and Furniture. 
 Household Economics. Chapter 6. ($1.50, postage i6c.) 
 
 Campbell. 
 Furniture of Olden Times. ($3.00, postage 24c.) Alice Cary 
 
 Morse. 
 See Magazines Country Life in America, Harper's Bazar, 
 
 House Beautiful, etc. 
 Topics,: Elimination in Furnishings 
 
 The Setting for the House or the Surroundings. 
 Curtains Their Use and Abuse. 
 
 MEETING VI 
 (Study pages 152-165.) 
 
 (a) -Care of the House. 
 
 Home Economics. Chapters 14-16. ($1.50, postage i6c.) 
 
 Maria Parloa. 
 Care of the House. Chapter 12. ($1.50, postage i6c.) Clark. 
 
 (b) Conveniences. 
 
 Convenient Houses. Chapters i, 2, 5 and 6. ($2.50, postage 
 
 24C.) Gibson. 
 See Magazines. 
 
 Topics: Rugs and their Care. See Rugs, Oriental and Oc- 
 cidental. ($3.50.) Rosa Bell Holt; and Ori- 
 ental Rugs. ($7.50.) J. K. Mumford. 
 The Town Beautiful, or Village Improvement. 
 Home-making as a Professsion. 
 (Select answers to test questions on Part III.) 
 Note. For further references and topics, see syllabus on 
 Shelter, prepared by Lake Placid Conference on Home Econ- 
 omics. Price sc, of the School. 
 
 220
 
 INDEX 
 
 Accidental informality, 213 
 American architecture, 20 
 Analysis of house plan, 5 7 
 Apartments, 95 
 Appropriateness of draperies, 
 141 
 
 of furnishing, 128 
 Architect, the, 52 
 Architect's plans, 190 
 Architecture, American, 20 
 
 American, characteristics 
 of, 21 
 
 domestic in U. S. 24 
 
 Bilcony, upper, 184 
 
 B illoon frame, 104 
 
 Bithroom, 139 
 
 Badroom floor covering, 138 
 
 Badrooms, 137 
 
 Braced frame, 104 
 
 Brich veneered house, 195 
 
 Batler's table on wheels, 181 
 
 Care of the house, 152, 163 
 
 or marble, 162 
 
 of rugs, 162 
 
 of woodwork, 162 
 Caves, 5 
 
 Carpets, 109, 117 
 Ceiling, low, 125 
 Cellar, the, 102 
 Chairs, Chippendale, 146 
 
 Hepplewhite, 147 
 
 kinds of, 146 
 
 Mission, 148 
 
 Morris, 148 
 
 Windsor, 147 
 
 Characteristics of American 
 
 architecture, 21 
 of colonial architecture, 32 
 China closet, 183 
 Chippendale chairs, 146 
 City houses, western, 44 
 Civilization and architecture, 
 
 20 
 
 Cliff dwellings, 10 
 Closets, 88 
 
 shallow, 181 
 
 Colonial architecture, charac- 
 terists of, 32 
 
 finish, 209 
 
 houses, New England, 27 
 
 houses, old, 25 
 
 houses, southern, 28 
 
 houses, types of, 26 
 Color, 125 
 
 harmony and contrast, 170 
 
 in decoration, 170, 179 
 
 of floors, 1 20 
 
 sense, 124 
 
 Colors, complementary, 126 
 Combination of pairs of colors, 
 table of, 176 
 
 stairway, 92 
 Communal life, 8 
 Comparative cost of exterior 
 
 finish, 194 
 Complementary colors, 126, 
 
 J 74 
 
 Compromises in building, 203 
 Conditions on the farm, 74 
 Constants of color, 173 
 Contrasts, table of color, 178 
 Construction of houses, 101
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Conveniences, kitchen, 155 
 Cost of building, 189-216 
 
 of finishing woods, 206 
 
 of fixtures, 192 
 
 of floors, 116 
 Coverings of floors, 1 20 
 Cross-section paper, use of, 58 
 
 Decoration and furnishing, 1 23 
 Deficiencies of old colonial 
 
 style, 39 
 Definite plan for furnishing, 
 
 129 
 Development of American 
 
 house, 20 
 
 Dinner route, the, 84 
 Dining room, 135 
 
 room, lighting of, 84 
 Division of spacers 
 Door, front, 108 
 Doors, 107 
 
 cost of, 205 
 
 sliding, 85 
 Draperies, 139 
 
 texture of, 141 
 Drudgery, 164 
 Dwellings, cliff, 10 
 
 lake, ii 
 
 Early habitations, i 
 
 Entrances, 58 
 
 Essentials in house planning, 
 
 96 
 Estimating costs, methods of 
 
 196 
 
 Evolution of the house, i 
 Exterior finish, 194 
 
 Farm house, 74 
 
 house, plans of, 78 
 Finish, definition of, 208 
 Finished floors, 109 
 Finishing of hard woods, 211 
 
 woods, cost of, 207 
 
 Fireplaces, cost of, 206 
 Fire protection, 108 
 Floor coverings, 1 20 
 
 finish, kinds of, no 
 Floors, 1 06, 109 
 
 color of, 1 20 
 
 cost of, 116 
 
 finished, 109 
 
 kitchen, 115 
 
 material of, 109 
 
 oiled, 116 
 
 old, 119 
 
 shellaced, 113 
 
 varnished, 113 
 
 waxed, 114 
 foundation , 102 
 Frame, balloon, 104 
 
 braced, 104 
 Front door, 108 
 Furnaces, cost of, 205 
 Furniture, 145 
 polished, 160 
 
 Gas outlets, cost of, 205 
 Girders, 105 
 Good lines, 124 
 Gradation of color, 175 
 
 principle of, 127 
 Greek houses, 12 
 
 Hall, 80, 130 
 Harmony, 126 
 Hepplewhite chair, 147 
 House, care of, 152 
 
 construction of, 101 
 
 development of American. 
 
 20 
 
 evolution of the, i 
 Greek, 12 
 Japanese, 16 
 modern, 49 
 plan, analysis of, 57 
 plans, 185 
 planning, 52, 96 
 Roman, 13
 
 INDEX 
 
 223 
 
 shingled, 105 
 
 style of, 5 1 
 
 superstructure of, 103 
 
 Swiss, 1 8 
 Houses of transitional period, 
 
 167 
 
 Household conveniences, 181 
 Housekeeping a profession, 
 
 163 
 Hut. primitive, 4 
 
 Ice box, 88 
 
 Interior woodwork, painting 
 
 of, 209 
 Ironing board closet, 183 
 
 Japanese houses, 16 
 
 Kitchen conveniences, 155 
 floor, 115 
 furnishings, 135 
 range, 157 
 size of, 87 
 use of, 86 
 
 Lacquer, 161 
 Lake dwellings, 1 1 
 Lath, 104 
 Library, 86 
 Lighting, 127 
 Linoleum, 115 
 Living room, 83, 133 
 Log cabins, 24 
 Low ceilings, 125 
 
 Marble, care of, 162 
 Mattress, bed, 138 
 Men's sitting room, 74 
 Methods of estimating costs, 
 
 196 
 Mission chairs, 148 
 
 style, 209 
 
 Mixing of pigments, 171 
 Modern house, the, 49 
 
 Monstrosities in architecture, 
 
 41 
 Morris chairs, 148 
 
 New England colonial houses, 
 27 
 
 Oiling floors, 116 
 
 Old colonial style, deficiencies 
 
 of, 39 
 
 Old floors, 119 
 Originality in planning, 96 
 Outlook, the, 51 
 
 Painting, 155 
 
 of interior woodwork, 209 
 Parlor, 81, 133 
 
 sets, 150 
 
 Pigments, mixing of, 171 
 Placing of fixtures, 137 
 Planning, 96 
 
 Plans for $2000 cottage, 184 
 Plaster, 104, 163 
 Plumbing, cost of. 204 
 Porches, position of, 73 
 Preparation of site, 101 
 Principles in selection of colors, 
 
 J 73 
 
 of graduation, 127 
 
 of selection, 129 
 Proportion, 81, 123 
 Pueblos, 6 
 
 Reception hall, 60 
 
 room, 82 
 
 Relation of rooms, 128 
 Remodeling houses, 152 
 Repair box, 160 
 Repairs, 157 
 Roman houses, 13 
 Rooms, 80, 130 
 
 relation of, 128 
 Rugs, no, 121 
 
 care of, 162
 
 224 
 
 THE HOUSE 
 
 Second-floor plan, 95 
 Selection, principles of, 129 
 Shallow closets, 181 
 Shellaced floors, 113 
 Shelter, 2 
 
 Sheraton chairs, 149 
 Shingled houses, 105 
 Side entrances, 69 
 
 porch entrance, 66 
 Sill, the, 105 
 Sink, raising the, 156 
 Site, 50 
 
 preparation of, 101 
 Sliding doors, 85 
 Small hall, 69 
 
 houses, cost of, 192 
 Southern colonial nouses, 28 
 Space, division of, 55 
 Stairs, 90 
 
 Stairway, combination, 92 
 Storm windows, cost of, 206 
 Study, the, 86 
 Style of house, 5 1 
 
 of room, 212 
 
 Superstructure of house, 103 
 Swiss houses, 18 
 
 Table of color contrasts, 178 
 Table, raising the, 156 
 Tents, 5 
 
 Texture of draperies, 141 
 Theories of color, 171 
 Thoroughfares, 56 
 Tools, 159 
 Transitional period, 40 
 
 houses of, 167 
 Tread and riser, 90 
 Trees as dwellings, 3 
 Types of colonial houses, 26 
 
 Varnish removers, 161 
 Varnished floors, 113 
 Vestibule, 130 
 entrance, 65 
 
 Wall covering, 131 
 
 paper, 152 
 
 paper, cleaning, 153 
 
 paper, cost of, 153 
 
 spacing, 125 
 Washing windows, 162 
 Waxed floors, 114 
 Well hole, 91 
 Western city houses, 44 
 Window cupboard, 158 
 
 screens, cost of, 205 
 Windows, 106 
 
 cost of, 206 
 Windsor chairs, 147 
 Wood -work, care of, 162
 
 COMPLETE COURSE IN HOME ECONOMICS 
 
 This course covers, systematically, in an interesting and practical way, the new 
 "Profession of Home-making" and "Art of Right Living." It is divided into forty 
 lesson pamphlets of fifty to one hundred pages each. 
 
 REGULAR ORDER IN WHICH THE LESSONS ARE TAKEN 
 
 FOOD SUBJECTS 
 (1) Chemistry of the Household 
 
 Parts I, II, III. 
 (3) Principles of Cookery 
 
 Farts I, II, III, IV. 
 (5) Food and Dietetics 
 
 Parts I, II, III, IV. 
 (7) Household Management 
 
 Parts I, II, III, IV. 
 
 HOUSEHOLD ART 
 (9) The House Its Plan, Deco- 
 ration and Care, I, II, III. 
 (10) Textiles and Clothing 
 Parts I, II, III. 
 
 PARTIAL LIST 
 ISABEL BEVIER, Ph. M. 
 
 Professor of Household Science, 
 
 University of Illinois 
 S. MARIA ELLIOTT 
 
 Instructor in Home Economics, 
 
 Simmons College, Boston 
 BERTHA M. TERRILL, A. M. 
 
 Professor of Home Economics, 
 
 University of Vermont 
 KATE HEINZ WATSON 
 
 Formerly Instructor Lewis Insti- 
 tute, Chicago 
 MARGARET E. DODD, S. B. 
 
 Graduate Mass. Inst. of Technology 
 ANNA BARROWS 
 
 Teacher of Cookery, Columbia 
 
 University. Director Chautauqua 
 
 School of Cookery 
 
 HEALTH SUBJECTS 
 (2) Household Bacteriology 
 
 Parts I, II, III. 
 (4) Household Hygiene 
 
 Parts I, II, III. 
 (6) Personal Hygiene 
 
 Parts I, II, III, IV. 
 (8) Home Care of the Sick 
 
 Parts I, II. III. 
 
 CHILDREN 
 
 (11) Care of Children 
 
 Parts I, II, III. 
 
 (12) Study of Child Life 
 
 Parts I, II, HI. 
 
 OF INSTRUCTORS 
 
 ALFRED C. COTTON, A. M., M. D. 
 Professor Diseases of Children, 
 Rush Medical College, University 
 of Chicago 
 
 ALICE PELOUBET NORTON.M.A. 
 Assistant Professor of Home Eco- 
 nomics, University of Chicago 
 
 MARION FOSTER WASHBURNE 
 Editor of "The Mothers' Magazine" 
 
 AMY ELIZABETH POPE 
 
 Instructor in Nursing, Presby- 
 terian Hospital, N. Y. City 
 
 CHARLOTTE M. GIBBS, A. B. 
 Director of Household Art, Uni- 
 versity of Illinois 
 
 MAURICE LE BOSQUET, S. B. 
 Director American School of Home 
 Economics, Chicago 
 
 BOARD OF 
 
 MRS. A. COURTENAY NEVILLE 
 President of the Board; First Chair- 
 man Home Economics Committee, 
 G. F. W. C. 
 
 MRS. ELLEN M. HENROTIN 
 
 Organizer and Honorary President 
 General Federation Women's Clubs 
 
 MRS. FREDERIC W. SCHOFF 
 President National Congress of 
 Mothers 
 
 MRS. LINDA HULL LARNED 
 Past President National Household 
 Economics Association 
 
 Miss ALICE RAVENHILL 
 
 Commissioner of the British Gov- 
 ernment on Domestic Science in 
 the United States 
 
 TRUSTEES 
 
 MRS. MARY HINMAN ABEL 
 
 Editor "Journal of Home Eco- 
 nomics" ; Author U. S. Government 
 Bulletins 
 
 Miss MARIA PARLOA 
 
 Founder of the Original Cooking 
 School in Boston ; Author, etc. 
 
 MRS. J. A. KIMBERLY 
 
 Vice-President of National House- 
 hold Economics Association 
 
 MRS. JOHN HOODLESS 
 
 Government Supt. of Domestic 
 Science of the Province of Ontario 
 
 MRS. WALTER McNAB MILLER 
 Chairman of the Food-Sanitation 
 Committee, G. F. W. C.
 
 7/20- 
 017- 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 Series 9482
 
 A 000653178 4