OCR Text |
Show Architect Discusses Features of a Weil-Appointed Residence j "Gcitinjr Heal "Rcsulls in Uomc Buildin.ir i.s the suleet, of :i paper ly Artliur 'C. t'lauson. a.'.MinneapoliH arelii loot, tvlio lias written extensively on the subject from flic point, oi' view of tlie jiraeiieal designer of homes. "It eo5ls Iops to ma Ice a plan than it. does to change it,'5 is one of tho maxims illustrated, il-lustrated, and likewise, "It. co.its more (0 change a building once started than it does to build right in the first, place'' is another thought, conveyed-by the article ar-ticle by Mr. Clausen, who says: "There arc three things' which are always uppermost in the nn'iul of a prospective pros-pective home builder. They aro the cost, plan and design. Of these three lie probably knows the least about the cost and design. Tho plan arranger ment is sometimes more easy to comprehend com-prehend aud he Ihereforo gives it. more attention at first than either the cost or design. The result is that when he has outlined iu a rough way the approximate ap-proximate size and arrangement of tho rooms as a guide for his architect ho often has a plan entirely practical, except, ex-cept, as to a few minor points and lack of consideration for small conveniences which will cost, him in some cases many times what lie cares to speud and "in which very little consideration has been given to the external appear-anco appear-anco of design. There arc a great many ways in which a home can be designed de-signed a iid planned and still meet the same requirements as to number and sizo of rooms. One home wilh a certain cer-tain floor area will have a decided lack of homelike appearance, while another home with the samo amount of floor space and the same number of rooms will immediately impress one as ' being be-ing unusualb' homelike and convenient. Importance of Vestibule. "We will not consider Ihe porch at. this time, since it belongs "to the exterior ex-terior design, .but start; with tho vestibule ves-tibule and .then take up each room stop by step. Tho vestibule so frequently fre-quently used in ;he northern part of this country to give double doors between be-tween the hallway and Iho weather is usually a very 'inconvenient conlriv-vnnce conlriv-vnnce nnd seldom tills the requirements which are expected of it. The vestibule vesti-bule should never be, nor appear to be, crowded. It looks very poorly lo project at vestibule out into the "porch suggesting a crowded appearance. Neither doe.-, it look well to project it into the. curnnr of the room having an exposed corner. The. average vestibule, in which must swing a throe-fool, door, is throe foot eight, inches wide by three foot six inches or four foot, bylwoon doors. 11 can le 'easily seen that no one can stand inside of the vestibule with tho inside door closed and open the ouisido door. The vestibule hould bo larrrc enough to admit .both tho hostess .and Ihe guest, and at, the samo time allow for iho free swing of the outside door, open or shut. To do (his the vestibule must either bo twieo as long as the width of the door or else it must be twice as wide ns tho front door with the distance between the doors about one foot greater than the wuli h of I lie door. ' ' TiecopI ion halls can vary in size according to tho size of the "homo and the social position hold by the owner. So 1110 people make Iho reception hall a very beautiful, largo room, resplendent with architectural effects aud line furniture. fur-niture. I'Voni .1 practical standpoint it need bo no larger than ij- necessary to accommodate tho stairs without crowding and give ample pas-sago pas-sago room. The stairway should never nev-er bo less than throe feet: six inches wide for tho main stairway ami throe feet wide for the back stairway. The platforms should bo perfectly square, with, 110 steps on the diagonal, commonly com-monly known as winders. The stair should bo so located that the landing at tho head of tho stair will be as near to the center of the house as possible, making it an easy matter to reach all of the bedrooms on the second lloor without a groat waste of hall space. Small Parlor Obsolete. "The day of the small parloV is past. A large living room, or as some prefer lo call il, a drawing room, in Avhich are combined the old-time parlor, sitting sit-ting room and sometimes Iho library has taken its place. For those who still adhere to tho idea of a reception room of some sort, the separate library becomes popular. 'The dining room should always be considered as tlie sotting fur a bouquet, bou-quet, somewhat plain, of ample size, luit. its chief adornment should bo its furniture. In speaking thus, tho sideboard side-board is considered part of the furnishing fur-nishing since it is noiliinc but. a manufactured man-ufactured pieco of furniture after a special desnrn. With inanv il. is not pooulnr. for it is of very littlo practical practi-cal utility. With drawers in tlib lower low-er part., a place can be had in which to place table linen aud silverware, but tho upper part has as its principal adornment a largo mirror with several piocos of line china, cut glassware or silver service. An overloaded sideboard side-board indicates poor taste, f il must be used as a storing place for china ware used every .day. il is better to transform it into a regular china closet. Plate Rails Go. "Tho plnlo rail is not. as pomtlar as it. used lo bo. It is a great dust cob lector and lo make any practical u::o of it. one should have" a number' of piecos of lino china. The dining room should bo well lighted. Whilo it does not, mat tor so much in a largo dininn room it is quile necessary in a small one that rlio pantry or kitchen door be located near ono corner so that tho doo will havo a free- space . to swing in ani! neither bump tlx: back of a Chair or give the servant a crowded space in which to turn upon entering tho room "A 'volume could probably bo writ ton on Ihe arrangement f kitchens. Somu women prefer 'small kitchens that, will save steps.' others declare they want kitchens 'largo enough to turn around in.' In a family whore it is the habit lo havo breakfast iu the kitchen, a largo kitiMion is. of course, a necessity, but where all the meals are served in the dining room a small, well-arranged well-arranged kitchen (of course it, can bo loo smain with everything arranged in proper place, jy without.' doubt, the most practical. Ono of the main things to look out for in Iho planning of a kitchen is to see that il has not too many openings and (hat there is. plenty of wall t-paeo for all kitchen furniture, backs up against, tho wall. Many people peo-ple entirely forget tho fact thai the ice box is part of every homo and that, there should be an appropriate space to put il. (Some people prefer to have il in the pantry whore the ice is not apt to molt so fiisl and wiiere it. is both convenient for tho. dining room and kitchen. If placed iu the pantry it should always have :m outside filling door. Others prefer lo have it in the kitchen or in the entry. Kitchen Arrangcmcuts. The sink and range should be appropriately appro-priately located, it being preferable to place the sink near the pantry door or door loading to dining room where the soiled dishes can be immediately set down. It is not always convenient lo make this arrangement and keep the plumbing on a lino with tho plumbing aboe, but whenever possible it should be done. Tin; kitchen windows should be at least three foot from the. 'lloor to tho sill so that the kitchen table can be placed under it aud there should be a good wall space for a kitchen cupboard, cup-board, cither .stationary or movable. Many people prefer to havo tho Hour boxes built in a work table in the pan-trv pan-trv where they will be away from the boat, of Ihe -kitchen. Other people pro.-for pro.-for lo have it in the kitchen cabinet or under a built-in work table wilh a marble top. This is one of tho many little things in Ihe building of 'a home which goes by preference and either .way is right if if suits the party-most concerned. "A clothes chute is of course always a convenience and should bo included when possible. J'ireplaces should always al-ways have a littlo iron trap door in tho bottom of the hearth so that Iho 0;ho can bo dumped in a pit iindor-nealh iindor-nealh into the cellar, in order to not havo to carry them through Iho house. Tho time lo avrango for all those little con venii'iiccs of (his nature is when having tho plans prepared. Many people peo-ple who attempt to build without' properly prop-erly prepared plans, omit these things in their original rough draft or in their agreement with the builder. ' with the result thai tho bill of extras sometimes amounts to a third of the contractors " origiuril estimate, 'in tho undertaking o. the building of a homo, as in undertaking under-taking anylhinw of importance iuvolv-ingvniany iuvolv-ingvniany details ami a large expenditure expendi-ture of" money, well apnlied system al-v.-;i.ys means economy."" |