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A COMFORTABLE AND CONVENIENT HOUSE FOR THE SUBURBS OR THE COUNTRY
Published in The Craftsman, May, 1907.
VIEW OF THE FRONT, GIVING A GOOD IDEA OF THE EFFECT OF BRICK AND CEMENT WALLS WITH TILED ROOF.
BELIEVING as we do that the happiest and healthiest life is that in the country, we take especial pleasure in designing houses that are definitely meant to be surrounded by large grounds that slope off into the fields, meadows and orchards all around. Such a house has always the effect of taking all the room it needs, and this will be found important when we come to analyze the elements that go toward making the restful charm of a home. The sense of privacy and freedom from intrusion that is conveyed by English homes with their ample gardens and buildings placed well back from the street is a quality which we badly need in our American home life as a relief from the rush and crowding outside.
Although the form of this house is straight and square, its rather low, broad proportions and the contrasting materials used in its construction take away all sense of severity. The walls of the lower story and the chimneys are of hard-burned red brick and the upper walls are of Portland cement plaster with half-timber construction. The foundation, steps
32and porch parapets are of split stone laid up in dark cement and the roof is tiled. Of course, this is only a suggestion for materials, as the house would be equally well adapted to almost any form of construction, from stone to shingles. The coloring also may be made rich and warm or cool and subdued, as demanded by the surroundings. One feature that is especially in accordance with Crafts-man ideas is the way in which the half-timbers. on the upper story are used. While we like half-timber construction, it is an article of faith with us that it should be made entirely "probable" ; that is, that the timbers should be so placed that they might easily belong to the real construction of the house. In a building that is entirely designed by ourselves we adhere very strictly to this rule, varying it only when the taste of the owner requires a more elaborate use of timbers, such as is shown in the house illustrated on page 28.. Another feature of typical Craftsman construction is well illustrated in the windows used in this house. It will be noted that they are double-hung in places where they are ex-