Sound sense in suburban architecture, containing hints, suggestions, and bits of practical information for the building of inexpensive country houses

Preface

After an experience of twelve years, largely filled up with the designing and superintending some two hundred suburbanresidences in different parts of the United States, it seems to me that a straightforward, brief, and practical little book on the subject of inexpensive Country Houses will be of great service to those who are about to build. This is but a collection of bits of practical instruction which an architect has gathered during years of practice, and which has been of great use to his clients.

The Author.

COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY

Frank T. Li:nt.

HOUSE FOR J. \\ . BAINKER, CRANFORD, N. J.

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

I

But all men are concerned with architecture, and have at some time of their lives serious business with it. — Ruskin.

TO the mind of the hard-worked American of the present time "there is no place like home"; nor is there to be found an expression of more comfort and delight than the word Jiovic conveys when one may apply it to his own house. No other kind of property is as well worth striving for. The ownership of property of other kinds may give enjoyment, but whatever amount and variety of possessions may have been secured, the real pleasure we find in them is not to be compared with our enjoyment in the ownership of a home.

We are told that Jenny Lind was the perfect picture of noblest womanhood. Her artistic career was quite Napoleonic in its splendid and unbroken success. In fact hers was the conquest of Europe, yet she gladly exchanged all her triumphs for the simple happiness of home. She sang- "Home, Sweet Home," not only with the grandest artistic success, but also with the deep feeling and tenderness which could only arise from a loving personal apprehension of the charming significance that lies in this dear old word. The sweeping universal interest in it makes the thought of its meaning of deep value to everyone. Be it a simple, unpretentious cottage, a modern residence, or an elaborate country seat, it means the same charming thing to its owners, in whatever class or station of life they may be. Yet of the thousands who yearly reach that period in their lives where they have, for the first time, both the means and desire to possess a home for their very own, there are many who do not know anything of practical use as to how^ to proceed, how to formulate their ideas — and, above all, how to get full value for the often hard-earned funds they wish to invest.

"Shelter from the inclemency of the weather," says Violet Ic Due, "is the first step in architecture." And that was the idea of our early colonists, w4io had first to protect themselves from the rain and wind, the cold of winter and the heat of summer. But in these days more than this is demanded. The house must be well heated in cold weather, and properly ventilated ; must have the best possible sanitary conditions, and, above all, must be artistic as well as well constructed. But even the early colonists of this country, who had to be satisfied with the more primitive ideas of houses for residence, soon began to build in that graceful and charming style which to-day wc return to with keen and sharpened appetite.

The term ''Colonial" implies a structure that is substantial, picturesque to all Americans, and historic in its associations.

"We realiz.c the beauty of our own colonial architecture," writes a clever architect. It is our own. The Colonial is all wc have, and every day we find that a yearning for the good old style is becoming more and more general.

It is said that all European architecture is derived from Greece, through Rome, and the history of architecture is nothing but tracing the various modes and directions of this derivation.

Our Colonial is derived from the same source. The clew is easily followed back to a point of origin, and there is something very much more satisfactory in an art that had its beginning in a venerable classic integrity than in new-fangled and short-lived novelties.

"Classical art has been assailed repeatedly," we read in Vignola, ''and these attacks have not been answered with

I)E WITT HOUSE, CRANFORD, N. J.

anything like the vigor of spirit in which they were made, because the faithful followers of that art have felt secure in their position, and have replied most forcibly by continuing in its practice."

Of what earthly use and how unsatisfying are all these pretentious, but ridiculous, styles — as they are called — which are springing up in the majority of our suburban towns? We are indebted for the origin of the most of them to the stupidity and thoughtlessness of ingenious (?) designers who have never honestly studied architecture ten hours of their Hves — designers who know not the meaning of good composition, good color, ensemble^ and picturesqueness.

"All very good," say the people who are ready to secure a home, "but how are we to insure success in obtaining what we desire?"

In order to proceed intelligently it is necessary to become somewhat posted in suburban architecture — and it is, believed that a careful study of the plans, specifications, and notes herein given will put one on the right road. Not that the buildings represented by the drawings are intended to be set up as acmes of perfection, nor that they are to be followed as models, but are suggestive of important practical ideas. If they graphically explain and illustrate the hints herein given their design will be accomplished. If a young couple have any individuality of character, and the average amount of common sense, they will not put up with a pattern house or a duplicate of a neighbor's, on the same principle that there is no real, lasting pleasure in the possession of a chromo, no matter how cleverly or handsomely framed, but of which duplicates may be so easily obtained. Duplication or repetition soon renders any object common and distasteful.

The people who resort to patent medicines when their child is ill often make a fatal mistake. It is much more soimd sense to send for a doctor, if there is a good one to be had. It is a disadvantage that good professional services in designing suburban houses of small cost often cannot be secured. When, however, the services of a good architect are within reach the owner cannot make a mistake in securing them. This advice is so generally recognized that it is not necessary to argue the case here. It is true that the majority of well-posted architects arc too busy with more important and more profitable work to pay attention to small houses.

Yet there have been painted as many small pictures which are as full of interest, of artistic effect, and of careful design, as large ones. Why should not we have as good design, as good color, and as good sense in our small homes?

The quaint interest of the cottages and some of the large houses of European towns unquestionably arises from the fact that each was built to suit requirements and tastes of the owner, and a remarkable fact is that many of them are of very low cost as well as in good taste.

People have already begun to study for themselves, to become intelligent on the subject of suburban and domestic architecture, and already improvement is noticeable.

The chances are against your finding a pattern or patent house planned to suit you. You may think it will answer your purpose, until you get into it, when you will find you have made a sad mistake. The idea that there is a fashion to follow in houses is as ridiculous and as short-lived as fashions usually are. Fashions change rapidly, and your ideal house soon becomes stale, and old, and behind the times.

The only way to get a house thoroughly satisfactory is to study closely the habits, customs, and needs of the family that is to occupy it, and then plan the house to suit. This can only be done by hard, conscientious study.

In adapting the designs of a modern house to special requirements it is of course a difficult matter to adhere in all respects to the pure, straightforward Colonial style of architecture. But whatever departure in minor details may be required in accommodation to our later mode of life or personal conveniences, the old Colonial grace, simplicity, and refinement are sure to make a favorable impression in contradistinction to foolish attempts at outward display, bedaubing with scroll-sawed brackets, freaks of the wood turner's fancy, fantastic color, lop-sided design, and cheap, senseless ornaments.

The shape, color, and form of a house defines very clearly the character, education, and taste of its owners; and the general arrangement, interior decoration, and selection of furniture show at once the social condition and the standard of refinement of the inmates.

DE WrrX HOUSE, CRANFORD, N. J,

II

The beautiful is sometimes more useful than the useful.

-RUSKIX.

TN designing a house it is as well to bear in mind one or ■■■ two principles, and, as far as possible, to carry them out. The strongest work which is to-day done in designing is the simplest, and those designs which have required the greatest amount of study are often the ones which appear the simplest.

In good architecture utility and beauty go hand in hand, and neither need be sacrificed to the other. As the house is planned the mind should be continually turned from that which is useful to that which is beautiful ; or if the inclination is to produce picturesque effect, it is important to remember that no house would make a desirable habitation if its usefulness should be sacrificed to its prettiness.

No ornamental feature or work should be put on a building unless it has a reason for being there, either as useful or as indispensable to good construction. What is meant by truth s

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

^4ALL-'SAHI!^&^ H®Vi% in architecture is just this, the adaption of ornament to some practical purpose, so that everyone shall see that it is the right thing in the right place.

There is one practical rule which should nev^er be departed from in arranging the plans for a dwelling. It is that the living side of the house, that is, the side which is principalh' inhabited, should face the south rather than any other point of the compass. The more sunlight there is in a house the smaller the doctor's bills will be, to sa}- nothing of the cheerfulness and pleasure the sunlight brings with it.

THE HALL.

Probably no room in the suburban house is more important than the hall — the room which is too often treated as a mere runway to get to the other parts of the domicile. The impression first formed of the building — at least as far as the interior goes — is the most lasting one, and will be carried by visitors as they go around through the other aj^artments.

The first impression should therefore be an exceedingly pleasing one, and the arrangement nowadays generally adopted is to make the hall a reception, sitting, and staircase room all in one. Add to this a good-sized fireplace with mantel, a comfortable spacious seat or couch, and as the result of this the hall becomes an exceedingly interesting place to pass the time hi, and one with which the visitor cannot help being pleased at first sight, especially if the color is well handled. Now the hall does not come under the head of a living room, and usually has to occupy the northerly and most undesirable side of the house. There may be no sunlight to cheer and brighten it up, and consequently the right thing must be done w^ith the walls and windows. The former may be treated with decorations of warm, cheerful yellow hues, w^hile the windows are the places for stained glass, which fortunately can be had in these times in very good designs for very reasonable prices.

In furnishing, there is but little required for the hall; an old-fashioned chair or two and a table should be selected, if of oak all the better. Put down a rug of good color, and the effectiveness of the room will be accomplished.

In order to avoid the ungainly and unpopular hat rack it is very desirable to provide a closet for hats and coats in some convenient place, and, if possible, go a step further and put a lavatory in this closet.

If, on account of expense, there is but little hard wood to be used in the house use that little in the stairs and mantels; and if there is to be but one hard wood floor have it in the hall in preference to any other place.

It is a good idea, when possible, to arrange it so as to separate in some manner the staircase part from the hall proper by means of a beam along the ceiling, the same supported by' columns at each end. If there is a good place for a nook, or for a couch on which one can rest in front of the fire, it lO

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

always adds to the picture the element of repose and comfort, Avhich cannot be gotten out of a sofa or lounge.

The drawing room or parlor is used much more now than it ever has been; that is, it is not kept shut to be opened only on the arrival of guests or for airing. The drawing room of to-day, in most country houses, is used for a music room, general sitting room, and often for a library. There is something honest and above board in seeing the family use the house as if they had no fear of spoiling the rooms and furniture. It shows a good breeding and training to use the best in the house without injury or defacement. One must naturally feel awkward and out of ])lace in othci" [)coplc's parlors if not allowed the free occupation of his owmi. The drawing room should be the lai-gcst in the first story; it should have a firepl.ice and the most important mantel, and should be separated from the hall ,ind other rcjonis by commodious doors

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

II sliding out of sight when opened. In decorative managenaent it is well that this room be of a color scheme contrasting strongly with that of the hall. There is nothing more beautiful than the white and gold, though a much darker coloring may be pleasant if it has the sunlight, which should by all means be secured for it if possible.

PARLOR AND DIMXG ROOM — DE WITT HOUSE.

THE DINING ROOM.

The dining room should get the morning sun. A pleasant, cheerful breakfast goes a long wa}- in making one goodnatured for all day. The evening meal occurs after sunset for the greater part of the year. This room should be longer, if possible, than it is wide, so that the table may be extended without filling the room full.

A bay window, where plants may be kept in winter, is always pleasing ; and a closet for fine china and glass is very useful.

^ People go to the dining room to appease their appetites, and it might be a good plan to have the decorations and fur-

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

im'^'M'^^^AfAi

»®TLEI^''&PAOTRy-^AlMKIEK H@W5£ nishings very simple, rather than so luxurious as to distract the attention from the purposes for which the room is built.

The dining room may better be without a fireplace than any other room in the house, because, unless the room is of great size, someone's back will be roasted.

A recess for the sideboard is a very pretty feature, and has its usefulness too, for it is not necessary for the sideboard to project out into the room and be in the way ; but if this is not feasible the sideboard may be located in the bay, under a stained glass window. One of the prettiest arrangements of color for a dining room is what is called the Whistler effect — a treatment in yellow and white for the walls, natural pine trim or woodwork, and an oak table, sideboard, and chairs.

THE butler's rantry.

While the dining room should be near the kitchen, it is always well to separate

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

the two by means of a good-sized closet — commonly called the butler's pantry. This should be well supplied with cupboards with glass doors, lockers, and butler's sink, where the china and glass can be washed and dried instead of taking it to the kitchen. You say, "We shall not have a butler." Very good ; the very people who cannot afford the butler are those for whom every convenience should be studied, and the pantry as described is one of the most useful contrivances in the whole house. The doors between this pantry and both the dining room and kitchen should be hung to swing both ways, and also to be self-closing. By means of these the smells of cookery are confined to the kitchen — the place where they belong — because in passing betw^een the two rooms it will be impossible to have both doors open at the same time. These self-acting doors admit of the passage of a person with both hands full, as they are easily pushed open with the knee or shoulder, and a tray can be carried right through both doors without stopping to open or close them.

V/e can live without men We cc^n live without booKs But where is the man That can live without cooKs?^ r

We can live without love what IS passion but pining? ^ut where 15 the nan That can live without dimng ?

■»_oriii~ii.iii~i_ I "Vj~<^ i->"i- ^

STAINED GLASS WINDOW, DINING ROOM.

H

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

THE KrrCHEN.

The kitchen, first of all, should be well supplied with closets. "A place for everything and everything in its place" was never more applicable than right here. There should be a large sink and ample drip board, good places for tables, plenty of light, and good ventilation. The kitchen generally occupies the north side of the house; and this should be so, for in the summer it should be as cool as possible, and in the winter it is always warm enough. A good kitchen is a great assistance in getting and keeping a good servant. It should be cheerful — paint the walls and ceiling a bright straw color.

PIAZZAS.

Piazzas — the most useful part of the house in the summer, and worse than useless in the winter, because they keep off sun when it is most needed — troublesome things to manage,

these. You cannot have them around the living side of your house; they can only be put on the northerly and perhaps the westerly sides. A very good method is to build them out and projecting away from the house, far enough to be spacious, and yet to not take up too much room on the sides of the house. A very bad method is to project them under the second story where air cannot circulate freely. Sometimes piazzas are built without roofs, an awning being put up in the summer time to keep off the hot sun, and taken down in the fall in order that the sun shall have free access. This device is very commendable.

AWNING AND BAY.

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

THE DEN.

The majority of people living in suburban towns have but a small collection of books, which can be disposed of in a bookcase or two. and as these cases may be placed in any room, there is but little use for a library : but there is sfood use for a den — a man's own room, to which he can retire with his friends and have some privacv. These rooms are becoming more and more popular; they are found in nearly all of the larger houses. As many persons do not like to have the entire house fumigated, they are especially useful as smoking rooms, and are generally furnished with a comfortable couch or lounge, and are often made extremely interesting with a decoration of arms, armor, antlers, and other accompaniments and recollections of various sports and games. If the den can have an exterior side or rear door opening into the garden, or perhaps toward the stable, the man of the house will find it very convenient, and if a small conser\^atory could be arranged to fit on the den a

great deal of pleasure and satisfaction might be derived from its products and garden-like appearance during the cold and drearv months of winter.

CONSERVATORY

THE SECOND STORY.

A careful arrangement of the rooms in the first story will generally give good rooms on the second, and the partitions should be kept over each other as far as possible. The bedroom principally used should have a fireplace. Each bedroom should have a good-sized closet, and spaces should i6

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

be provided for the bed, dressing case, and any other large pieces of furniture. From the second-story hall there should open closets for linen and bedding, and a small closet fitted up with shelves for medicines. The stairs to the attic should be open — nothing makes one think that the attic is uninviting and garret-like so much as a closed and narrow stair. The attic rooms should be made as interesting as possible, and the entire attic should be lathed and plastered. The open stairway will be a great aid in ventilating in the summer time.

A STABLE.

A stable is an important adjunct to a country house if one can keep a horse, and in every case stables should be of the same general design as the house.

STABLES.

It is common belief that a /^r/^ cocJicrc is a purely ornamental and very useless feature to the country house; but this is wrong. A well-arranged /<?r/r cocJicre is very useful; in fact it is quite difficult to get along without it when one thinks how many times during the year it is necessary to embark or disembark in vehicles when the rain is pouring down in torrents.

I

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

1/

PORTE COCHERE — HOUSE FOR J. RODGERS, CRANFORD, N. J.

THE CELLAR.

A cellar may be developed into a very useful part of the house. There should be a small room with a window in it quite near the foot of the cellar stairs, and this fitted up with shelves for a cold room. The coal bins should have partitions carried up to the ceiling so that the coal dust cannot get all over the cellar when the coal is put in. Another room might be developed into a laundry, another into a carpenter's shop, etc., etc. At completion let it all be whitewashed and you will find that you will have something to show your friends even down cellar.

III. Drainage

THERE are two sides to the drainage or sanitary subject: the inside and the outside — and each is equally important.

The sewage must be gotten safely out of the house, and after it is out it must be safely disposed of by cesspools or sewers. There is no poetry in this. The disagreeable business of plumbing must be accomplished in a safe and sure manner, because carelessness and ignorance may mean death..

The Inside.

To be comfortable and meet the demands of the day the modern suburban home must be fitted up with a bath room

containing bath, basin, and water closet (it is far better, when practicable, to have the water closet in a small apartment adjacent to and separate from the bath room). There must be also kitchen sink, butler's sink, and laundry wash trays — to say nothing of a water closet for servants' use. This list may be reduced or several other fixtures may be added, but the kitchen sink, the bath, and water closet are indispensable, and they must be so arranged and connected as to be absolutely safe against conducting or generating that dread demon sewer gas.

The first requirement is that all of the plumbing pipes must be thoroughly gas and water-tight.

1 8

BATH ROOM,

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE. I9

They must be fitted up so as to have a thorough flush (by flush is meant a quick flowing, as a jet or stream of water thrown suddenly for cleansing or washing purposes), and should be well ventilated. The waste pipes inside the house should be of heavy cast iron or lead, according to what they have to carry off — the main line soil pipe 4", and the wastes from basin, bath tub, sinks, and wash trays not less than 2". No earthen pipe should be used inside, and the waste pipes should be fitted at convenient places with appliances so that they can be easily inspected and cleaned out.

It is very easy to see that a line of waste pipe from any fixture to the sewer — or cesspool — without traps would be an open duct for bringing gas directly and continually back to the house, and perhaps into the very center of the house.

The only method known for preventing the return to the house of injurious sewage gases — either from sewer or cesspools— is the use of traps. These are really bends in the pipe arranged so as to hold liquids, these liquids making a continuous seal or obstacle, which prevents the gases from passing back through the waste pipe when empty — and they are empty more than nine-tenths of the time.

But traps are not continual and perfect seals, and have to be fitted themselves with appliances to make them safe.

The worst enemy traps have is siphonage. Suppose, by way of explanation, that a volume of water is suddenly started on its journey down the main soil line — as wdien the water closet is flushed. That this volume of rushing water with its attendant atmospheric pressure will draw or siphon the smaller quantity of water out of the traps is easily undei - stood ; and, of course, if the traps are empty the sewer gas not only can come directly through the waste pipes, but is actually invited and conducted to the house.

To make traps invulnerable against siphonage was devised the system of back-airing or ventilation, viz.: providing each trap at its crown or on the sewer side of the seal with a pipe running directly to the open air above the roof of the house, these back-air or vent pipes counteracting the siphonage, and the water in the traps remaining undisturbed. The vent pipes must be of large size and of short runs, however, or they will not do their work, and the scheme of ventilating or back-airing the traps becomes, in large plumbing systems, quite complicated, and in small houses is expensive.

A comparatively new device has been in use for some years back, is highly commendable, and is used in place of the vent pipe to a great extent. It is the McClellan Anti-Siphon Trap Vent, and when placed on plain traps will prevent siphonage and save expense. Then there are skillfully devised traps which are made to be un-siphonable, the Sanitas family. It is not advisable to discard the ventilation of the main soil line under any circumstances, and, being a 4" pipe, it may be depended upon to ventilate the trap of the water closet safely and surely. In a word, then, good plumbing in the house consists mainly of keeping the sewer gas out by means of the seal of traps, and having these seals so protected as to be constant and unimpaired under all conditions.

The Outside.

In selecting a suburban town in which to build one would do well to locate in one where there is a good sewer system ; the cesspool difficulty would not have to be considered, and the continual expense of emptying and cleaning would not have to be met. But if the cesspool has to be used let the greatest care be exercised that every precaution is taken to have it as safe as possible.

As the soil pipe passes the walls of the house, just outside of the wall, there should be a 4" running trap fitted with a 4" vent pipe of cast iron from its crown, and the vent pipe carried up to tlic ground directly over tlie trap; and at a point

SUBURBAN ARCHITECTURE.

SECTION OF VENT AND WALL.

one foot above the ground the vent pipe should be provided

with ventilating cap. The work just described, and outside

of the house walls, is usually done with earthenware traps,

vent, etc., which are very good,

but a cast iron trap and vent are

far better, and if the work is well

done the owner ma}" feel certain

that the main bulk of virulent gas

will never reach the inside of the

house.

But aside from this ventilation it is very important that the deadly gas should be prevented, if possible, from coming so near the house. To accomplish this

the device of ventilating the cesspool itself should be adopted. A cesspool should not be nearer than fifty feet, and should be ventilated through its top.

The vent is indispensable, because a closed cesspool, when partially filled with the sewage and excrement from the house, is nothing more nor less than a retort in which foul air and dangerous gases are formed. When, by fermentation and chemical action, these gases accumulate sufficient force by expansion they will force their way back to the house through the drain pipes. The vent at the cesspool allows escape to the fresh air, which soon renders the gases harmless. The ventilation of the cesspool is often accomplished by ventilating the soil pipe at the house, and carrying the vent pipe up to the roof. This is not considered desirable because of the easy access the free and noxious gas has to the windows of sleeping rooms. Carbonic acid gas is largely the principal ingredient of cesspool and sewer gases, and being heavier than air it naturally falls as soon as liberated. This being the case, if it is liberated close to the ground and a few rods away