First | Previous Picture | Next Picture | Last | Thumbnails
A CONCRETE COTTAGE DESIGNED IN THE FORM OF A GREEK CROSS TO ADMIT MORE LIGHT
Published in The Craftsman, February, 1907.
FRONT VIEW OF THE COTTAGE SHOWING THE TWO SMALL ENTRANCE PORCHES.
CONCRETE or hollow cement block construction were what we had in mind in the designing of this cottage. Therefore the form of it is especially adapted to the use of this mate-
rial, although, like the others, the general plan admits of the use of brick or stone, clapboards or shingles, if desired. As we have shown it here, the side walls are broken into panels by raised bands of concrete, which bind the corners and also run around the entire structure at the connection of the roof and again between the first and second stories. These bands are smooth-surfaced, but the walls are made very rough by the simple process of washing off the surface with a brush and plenty of water immediately after the form is removed and while the material is set but still friable. If this is done at exactly the right time, the washing-brush can be so applied as to remove the mortar to a considerable depth between the blocks, leaving them in relief and producing
a rough coarse texture that is very interesting.
The plan of this house is not unlike a Greek
cross, the rooms being so arranged that the
greatest possible allowance of space is made