CHAPTER XXI.

Cellar plan

The parlor is thirteen and one-half by seventeen feet in size. It is connected with a hall by wide sliding doors, so that about one-half of this side of the room may be open. The grate opposite the sliding doors in the parlor would present a very beautiful view from the hall and stairway. The sliding doors between the parlor and dining-room are placed there more in deference to custom than through any personal sense of their fitness. Sliding doors do not have the quality of excluding sound or odors that is desirable. The ordinary hinged door is better in this respect. This room which would commonly be called a parlor would really be used as a living-room, excepting by those who use the dining-room or one of the second-floor chambers for that purpose.

Our dining-room has an independent connection with the front hall, so that we do not have to go through the parlor or the sitting-room to reach it. A little extra money, say seventy dollars, would place a conservatory at one side, at one corner, or at the end of this dining-room. Fifty dollars would give abay window. As it is, we have two windows of the ordinary kind at one side of the room, and none at the end. A very good arrangement, when bay or conservatory is not used, would be to take one of these windows at the side and place it at the rear end, though near the outside corner of the room. This would give space between the windows and the china-closet door for a sideboard. The window at the side of the dining-room, if the other were moved to the end, should be in the middle of the wall space; that is, opposite the centre of the flue.

From the dining-room we go into the kitchen through the china-pantry, which is marked “passage.” This china-pantry has a little window at one side, and at the end a separate apartment for chinaware, which is closed from the passage by means of glass doors. The doors leading from the passage into the dining-room and kitchen should be hung on double-swinging hinges.

There are those who would say that there should be no door from the kitchen into the passage leading from the dining-room to the front hall. It would probably be well to retain this door in this position, and have a bolt on the side of the door toward the hall. Thus the mistress of the house can close it, and keep it closed at will. Another thing that might be done would be to place a strong spring on this door which would always keep it closed. The windows in this kitchen should be placed about three feet from the floor, so that tables may be placed under them. There is a place for a gas-stove between the two windows, or even under them if desirable. The porch at the rear of the kitchen may be enclosed with lattice work, or, what is better, coarse louvered slats, like those of a shutter. In either event, it could be covered with screen wire, and made a part of the kitchen in summer. In the plan, however, nothing of thiskind is indicated. The door which leads from the porch into the pantry is a small one, placed above the ice-chest, and is for the use of the ice-man.

Plan No. 12

The arrangement of rooms upstairs will be readily understood. Leading out of the hall is a store closet for bedding, etc. It is located so as to be accessible from all rooms. From the front end of the hall a door leads into the stair passage to the attic.

PlanNo. 12is the outgrowth of PlanNo. 11. In it there is a lift running from cellar to attic, as shown. The only important difference between it and No. 11 is in the size of the library. Cost, as per schedule “B,” $2,600.Fig. 14is an elevation: see page 147.

WHAT CAN BE DONE FOR $1,600?—THE CLOSET IN THE HALL.—A SMALL CONVENIENT KITCHEN.—CLOSETS IN THE BEDROOMS.

This house—PlanNo. 13—was finished at a cost of less than $1,600. This included, besides the house itself, a woodshed, well, and cistern. There is a cellar under the hall and parlor. The building has a brick foundation, and the wood-work begins two feet above the grade. The stud-walls of the exterior are lined, first with dressed sheathing, then with heavy building-paper, and finally covered with weather-boarding. The first and second tiers of joists are two by ten inches; the ceiling-joists of the second story are two by eight inches. All of the studding is two by four inches. The windows have box frames with iron weights and cotton cords. The first story is ten feet high, the second eight and a half feet. These details of construction are mentioned so that any one interested may know that it is a substantial, well-constructed building. The interior finish is of pine, part of which is varnished and the remainder stained and varnished. The front door and stairway are of quartered oak.

The front porch is 10½ feet wide and 7½ feet deep. It has a high roof over it, as will be seen by the elevation. The entrance, being at one side of the porch, gives more available space for uninterrupted use during the warm weather. The hall is 10 feet wide and 10½ feet long. The stairway has first two steps to a broad landing, and then a continuous movement tothe second floor. If this landing were reduced in size by making the approach more direct, say turning directly to the left as one enters the door and going through a landing the width of the stairway before making the general ascent, there would be more available room in the hall. It is shown this way in the drawing, because it is the way the house was built. There is a closet in this hall. There are many houses built without a closet on the first floor, but it is certainly better that one be provided.

Plan No. 13

As will be seen, there are three rooms on the first floor, and four and a bath on the second. It is an easy house to care for, because there is no waste space, and all the rooms are readily accessible without extra steps. Waste room means waste of energy and waste of money in more ways than one—waste notonly as to the unnecessary expenditure in the cost of building, but in carpets, and in the labor of sweeping and caring for them.

Fig. 14

In the parlor at the right of the hall are two windows and a grate; one window is in front and the other at the side. The dining-room is similarly equipped. It has a large china-closet which connects with the table in the kitchen by means of a slide. There is also a door between the kitchen and dining-room. Eleven by twelve and a half feet is not large for a kitchen. The availability of kitchen space is not entirely dependent, however, on its dimensions, but rather upon the disposition of the wall-space and the conveniences which have to do with a kitchen. It will be seen that there is a space for the kitchen-range or stove near the flue which does not conflict with the use of any other part of the kitchen. Also there is a space betweenthe door which leads into the pantry and an outside wall which gives place for a kitchen-safe, which may hold the kitchen utensils. It is out of the way and yet convenient to the range. The safe might be placed opposite the tables at the other end of the kitchen, if thought desirable. The kitchen window is placed about three feet above the floor. This gives wall-space under it. Where a safe is not used, a cabinet, to contain pots, kettles, etc., can be placed there.

Plan No. 14

The pantry is quite convenient to the kitchen. There is an enclosed cupboard on one side which has doors and shelves above and below, and in the recess next to the dining-room wall is a place for open shelves. Near the pantry window is a dough-board and a place for flour. Here, also, is the entrance to the cellar. It will be seen that there is a door between the pantry and hall, which makes it possible to pass from the kitchen to the stairway or from the kitchen to the front hall without going through other rooms. The enclosed cupboard in thepantry makes it possible to keep it always tidy. There is a glazed door in the rear of the kitchen.

Fig. 15

It may be noticed that there is not a large hall to be carpeted or swept on the second floor. This hall is well lighted by a window at the side. From here one can go into any of the rooms on the second floor. As to the bedrooms, there is a convenient place for bedroom furniture in all of them. There is at least a choice of two places for each bed, a space for a dressing-case where it will get the best light, and room for a wash-stand. There is a closet in each bedroom, of ample capacity.

The right-hand house in Fig.No. 10shows the exterior of PlanNo. 13.

PlanNo. 14is another edition ofPlan 15. The room lettered parlor is properly a sitting-room. By dispensing with the grate in the reception-hall this house could be built, as it was at one time, with a stairway meeting the one coming up from the dining-room and passing from thence to the second floor. The elevation of this house shows it with an attic, though the plan does not contemplate this arrangement. Without the attic and with a lower-pitched roof, this building, without appurtenances, can be finished for $1,500.

Fig. 15is an elevation of PlansNo. 14and15.

Plan No. 15

PlansNo. 13and15belong to the same class.No. 15is more elaborate in its details, and larger. From the sitting-room one passes to the landing where it meets a stairway coming up from the kitchen. From thence there is a common passage to the second floor. On this floor are four bedrooms,a bath-room, and a liberal supply of closets. One of the front chambers is supplied with two, and the hall with two. There is one in the bath-room, and each of the other rooms. The cellar and attic of this house are plastered. The building, without appurtenances, as per schedule “B,” cost $2,550.

Fig.No. 16is an elevation of PlanNo. 15.

Fig. 16

OUTGROWTHS OF ONE IDEA.—EVERYTHING COUNTS AS A ROOM.—ONE CHIMNEY.—CONVENIENCES OF A CONDENSED HOUSE.—COST FROM $1,600 TO $2,800.

PlansNos. 16,17, and18are all outgrowths of the same idea. It is the most economical general scheme for a house that is represented in this collection. InNo. 16there is not more than forty-eight square feet of hall space in the entire house. This is on the second floor. This plan was devised under an extraordinary pressure for a roomy house for a relatively small sum of money. Everything is made to count for a room. Twelve sets of plans of this general kind were made for as many different owners of houses during one season. This statement is made for the purpose of indicating its popularity. We will look throughNo. 16with some respect to detail.

It is a one-chimney plan. There are three grates with independent flues in the three principal rooms on the first floor, and two grates with their flues on the second floor. One among other points of economy is the stairway arrangement. It is a combination, front, rear, and cellar all in compact form. There are two doors between the kitchen and the landing of the main stairway. In this respect it is like other combination stairways which have been described. The front and rear stairway come to the same landing, and from thence to the second floor. The front stairway is provided with a railing, baluster, etc., and the one from the kitchen is within an enclosure. There may be portières between the landing and the reception-hall. Thus onemay pass from the kitchen to the second floor without coming into view from this room. The cellar stairway goes down under the main stairway. The combination idea is carried out again in the pantry and china-closet. This pantry and its arrangement in detail are fully described inChapter VI., and illustrated inFig. 4. The vestibule next to the reception-hall is the one referred to inChapter V.

Plan No. 16

On the second floor are four bedrooms and a bath-room, which is immediately over the kitchen. There is a straight run of pipe in a pipe duct on the inside wall.

Fig. 18 and Fig. 19

Plan No. 17

Fig. 17is a photographic view of the exterior. It is an ultra shingle design.

Fig. 17Figure 17

Fig. 18is an elevation of PlanNo. 17.Fig. 19of PlanNo. 18.

Plan No. 18

No. 17is the house in which the general plan was first worked out, and, in some respects, it shows that the idea was then in an experimental stage. However, it indicates a house of moderate size on this plan, whereas No. 16 is a large house. No. 18 is the small size of the same plan. It has been built many times as a rental house. With the furnace it is under lease, in one instance, for five hundred dollars a year. In other cases, without a furnace but including plumbing with the use of city water only, the rent is thirty-five dollars a month. Any of these plans can be worked into a double house by putting the bathroom on the outside, and adding to the amount of window spacefront and rear. The following is a list of costs, without appurtenances, as per schedule “B”:—

No. 16, as a shingle house, $2,800; No. 17, $2,200; No. 18, $1,600.

The latter figure includes soft-wood finish throughout. Other sizes of this house have been built where the general construction aggregated $2,400.

ONE-STORY PLANS.—DESCRIPTION OF FLOOR PLANS.—BATH-ROOM NEXT TO KITCHEN FLUE.—KITCHEN, PORCH, AND PANTRY.—THE EXTERIOR.—ENLARGEMENTS ON THIS PLAN.—OTHER ONE-STORY HOUSES.

This house—PlanNo. 19—has been built for $1,400. It is a one-story cottage, containing five rooms, a bath-room, and a pantry. Such a house is suited to young people of moderate means, or possibly to older ones, where there are no children, or where the housekeeper does her own work. It will be seen that it gives more of the conveniences of a larger house than are usually found in a cottage of this size.

From the porch we pass into a little vestibule, which might be made larger by throwing into it the closet which opens from the sitting-room. From the vestibule we go either into the parlor or the sitting-room. This parlor could be used as the living-room of the house, and the sitting-room as the dining-room, and still meet all the conditions of good housekeeping. Off from the sitting-room is a projection, which could be very comfortably arranged as a window-seat. It could be used as such during warm weather, and as a place for plants in winter. In the corner of this room is a closet, which may be connected with the kitchen by a slide. There are sliding doors between the sitting-room and the bedroom. In the front part of the bedroom is a large closet. It is possible that many would prefer to have a window at this point, and have a smaller closetelsewhere; say, in the corner next to the sliding-door partition. The placing of a closet next to the rear wall would leave no place for a bed as the rooms are now arranged. If the door from the parlor to the bedroom were omitted the head of the bed might be placed against the sliding-door partition, and the closet cut out from the rear bedroom, with an opening leading into the front bedroom.

Plan No. 19 and Plan No. 20

From the sitting-room, or from the front bedroom, we pass into a little hall; and from the hall into the kitchen, the bathroom, or the rear bedroom. Over each of the five doors leading into this hall there should be a transom; thus it would be well lighted. The placing of the hall in this way makes all of the rooms surrounding it independently accessible. The rearbedroom has a place for a bed, a large closet, and a wall space for necessary furniture. The availability of a bedroom is not always dependent upon its size. A room may be large, and yet not contain wall space for the furniture. A large bedroom may have a small closet. This bedroom has a large one.

The bath-room comes next to the kitchen flue. This is important when we consider that the kitchen flue is frequently the last one in the house to get cool. As here arranged, the pipe connections with the bath-tub would all be short; they would all be near this flue, and on the inside wall. Hence the conditions would be against freezing. There is a hollow thimble in the pipe connections between the kitchen flue and the bedroom. The bath-room might connect with the same flue or flue-stack. Connecting with the bath-room there is a large linen-closet, which is about the proper size and form for folded bed-clothes. It is near the bath-room window, so that when the closet-door is open the contents will be plainly in view.

There is a large window in one side of the kitchen, which should be placed three feet from the floor, so as to admit of a table being set under it. If the kitchen stove were placed next the wall separating the kitchen and sitting-room, it could be piped across to the kitchen flue, and in that way leave the wall space adjacent to that flue and near the bath-tub for the kitchen sink. This would bring all the plumbing work together. At one side of this sink could be placed a well-pump, and a cistern-pump at the other.

In the rear of the kitchen are a porch and a pantry. We go down cellar directly from the kitchen. Over the headway of the cellar stairs could be placed a closet for various stores, such as canned fruit. This closet, of course, would be connected with the pantry, as shown. The necessity for head room ingoing into the cellar would make it necessary to place the floor of this closet three or four feet above the pantry floor.

Fig. 20

On the side of the pantry opposite this closet are two cup-boards, with doors and shelves above and below. There is a place for a flour-bin or flour-barrel under the dough-board, and space for an ice-box next to it. This box should have a drain connecting with the outside. It is intended to have the cellar under the kitchen and bath-room, though it might be extended under the sitting-room also. This part of the cellar might be used as a fuel-room, and thus dispense with wood and coal sheds. With the fuel and water in the house, the housekeeper would be saved much work. Where a kitchen sink is provided, it would be unnecessary even to carry out the dish-water.

There are two flue-stacks in this building. A base-burner would warm the sitting-room and bedroom and temper the air of the parlor. A grate fire in the parlor would complete the work of heating that room.

The cut of the exterior,Fig. 20, tells its own story. The porch has turned columns, and a frieze decorated with scroll-work. The window seat may have a window at each end, as shown in the floor-plan, or panels, as indicated in the elevation. There is a gable at the side and over the window seat, which extends the full width of the sitting-room.

PlanNo. 20is a development of PlanNo. 19. Without appurtenances it cost $1,200.

Plan No. 21 and Plan No. 22

PlanNo. 21is an enlargement ofNo. 19. The pantryand china-room are arranged differently. The doors leading into the china-room are glazed in their upper panels with cathedral glass. This obscures the view, and gives sufficient light. These doors were hung on double-spring hinges, so frequently mentioned. Over the dining-room and chamber are two finished bedrooms. They are arranged in the high part of the roof, and, with dormers, would have only a small part of the upper corners clipped. There are two grates more than shown in PlanNo. 19. The stairway arrangement may be reversed, so that one goes to the second floor from the hall rather than from the kitchen. This house cost, with two finished rooms on the second floor, without appurtenances, as per schedule “B,” $1,700.

PlanNo. 22can be built and finished for $800. The gable arrangement would be about the same as in Fig.No. 20.

PlanNo. 23was built, including everything that went on to the lot, for $1,600.

Plan No. 23 and Plan No. 24

PlanNo. 24, as per schedule “B,” cost $1,100.

PlanNo. 25, without appurtenances, cost $1,400.

One-story houses cost more for the accommodations which they afford than two-story buildings, for the reason that it takes the same foundation and roof for a one-story house that it does for one of two stories of the same area on the first floor. In fact, it usually takes more foundation and roof for a one-story house than it does for a two-story, for the reason that it covers more ground space than would be required for the same or a larger number of rooms in the two floors.

Plan No. 25 and Plan No. 26

No. 26. This is a peculiar type of a one-story house. There is a servants room over the kitchen. It is a very comfortable arrangement. The bath-room stands between the two bedrooms. There is a grate in each of the rooms on the lower floor. The kitchen-sink arrangements are not altogether satisfactory. It is a plan which will never be very popular. It is designed to be finished with shingles for the outside wall. The structure will cost about two thousand dollars, as per schedule “B.”

SIDE-HALL PLANS.—PLANS WITH BEDROOM ON FIRST FLOOR.

PlanNo. 27is a side-hall plan with a bedroom on the first floor. The parlor and sitting-room have views directly to the front. The dining-room has a bay end, and a good china-passage to the kitchen. There is a rear side-hall which is desired by a good many people in building a large house. On the second floor are four principal chambers, which are entirely cut off from the rear bedroom, by bolting a door into the rear hall. The bath-room is measurably detached from the rest of the house, which fact will have the quality of satisfying people who are suspicious of all plumbing. This building, without appurtenances, according to schedule “B,” cost about three thousand dollars.

Plan No. 27

Plan No. 28

PlanNo. 28has over two hundred dollars’ worth of porch attached to it. It is a side-hall plan, with the entrance to the front. In it the combination stair idea is carried out in a way previously mentioned, but not before illustrated. The rear stairway is direct as to the servant’s room, and combined with the central stairway only for entrance to the main part of the house on the second floor. The arrangement of rooms on the first floor makes this plan suitable for use by people who entertain in a small way. This is the plan to which reference is made in the special kitchen article, excepting that there is a change in the position of the cellar stairway. There are two closets and a wash-stand in the hall which connects the kitchenand sitting-room. This building, without appurtenances, as per schedule “B,” cost between $2,800 and $2,900.

Plan No. 29

Plan No. 30

In PlanNo. 29the hall is in front, yet the entrance is at the side. The stairway is at the rear end of the hall. A little door is shown at the rear of the vestibule, leading under the stairway. The closet is not very high, yet it is high enough to use as a place to store a baby carriage or a small tricycle. The arrangement of the entrance and the stairs admits of the use of the hall as a room. In the house as constructed, there is a window seat in the octagon end. There is a double railing coming down into the hall. A part of the stairway is open on each side. Opposite is a grate. There are also grates in the parlor and sitting-room. By a little change in the kitchen arrangement, abedroom could be placed back of the sitting room, and the rear and cellar stairway would occupy measurably the same position as now. The kitchen would have to be a little narrower, and, if desired, might be longer. The pantry and kitchen could both be pushed a little to the left of where they now stand. In this way space for a bedroom could be provided back of the sitting-room, with possibly only a small projection to the right. The rear vestibule could be cut out of the corner of the bedroom. To prevent this from injuring the appearance of the room, a corresponding space, to the left of this vestibule, could be arranged into passage and closets for the bedroom and sitting-room. In this event the rear bedroom wall would extend past the rear kitchen wall. Attention is called to the size of theclosets on the second floor. By a slightly different arrangement of the bath-room an additional bedroom could be provided. There is a large attic over the front part of this house. The entire side walls are covered with shingles dipped in stain. There is a mild form of octagon tower over the front chamber. The building, as here planned, cost $2,600, without the appurtenances mentioned in schedule “B.”

Fig. 21

No. 30. Plans with bedrooms on the first floor are frequently wanted. This requirement makes an ugly problem. It increases the number of rooms on the first floor, and oftentimes leaves a less number to be provided on the second story. In this plan, including the bath and reception-hall, there are six rooms on the first floor and three on the second, hence a good deal of waste. There is a sink in the rear hall, second floor, with water supply over it, to obviate the necessity of carrying slops down stairs. Cost of building in brick, $3,000.

Fig. 21is an elevation.

Plan No. 31

No. 31. This plan is of the same general character asNo. 27, but is somewhat contracted. There is a wash-stand in the little room on the stair landing, a few steps above the reception-hall floor. This building, without appurtenances, cost $2,400, as per schedule “B.”

Fig. 22

Fig. 22is an elevation of this plan.

MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTION.—SHORT DESCRIPTIONS OF ELEVEN HOUSE PLANS.—VARYING COSTS.—SQUARE PLANS.—ONE-CHIMNEY PLANS.—REAR AND SIDE HALL.

A great many people like a side-hall entrance, as well as one in front. PlanNo. 32gives it. On the second floor there are a large number of bedrooms. The rear stairway comes up in a manner to separate the servant’s room from the front part of the house. A double store-closet is shown on the rear of the second floor. The front part of this closet may be left unlocked and the other portion made secure. The bath-room in the rear has direct connection with the water pipes as they come up from the kitchen. All the bedrooms have the proper plan for furniture. This house, without appurtenances, as per schedule “B,” was built for about $4,000.

Plan No. 32

PlanNo. 33was used three times in one season, in slightly differing forms, at a cost varying from $2,800 to $3,600, without appurtenances, as per schedule “B.” In the matter of floor space it is not an economical house. It makes a very pretty arrangement of rooms on the first floor. There are five good bedrooms and a bath-room on the second floor. The rear part is measurably separated from the front by a door. A projecting bay window from the family bedroom is shown.

Plan No. 33

PlanNo. 34. This is another plan that was made to order. It is an economical arrangement, and, in many respects, very convenient and satisfactory. The single stairway, passing fromthe dining-room, will be the least satisfactory feature about the whole house to the majority of people. However, the idea in this connection is a good one. It is economical in that it dispenses entirely with the hall. Furthermore, this stairway starts from a room which will be used less than any on the first floor. Few people will be inconvenienced by the use of the dining-room as a hall. Part of this stairway goes into a hall leading to the kitchen. The china-room and pantry arrangements in this house are very satisfactory. On the second floor are five bedrooms and a bath-room. The hall is lighted by a dormerover the stairway. This building, without appurtenances, would cost about $2,500, as per schedule “B.”

Plan No. 34

PlanNo. 35is a house with a side entrance for small boys, which is sometimes wanted. This plan meets such a requirement. In the rear hall a coat closet is provided; also a rear stairway. The vestibule in front of the reception-hall is sufficiently large to admit of the placing of hat rack and other vestibule furniture. The stairway is a pretty feature, though not satisfactory to all. There is a closet in connection with the music-room. In actual construction one was provided from the kitchen. The second floor is self-explanatory. It was built, as per schedule “B,” for $2,500.

Plan No. 35

PlanNo. 36. The requirements of the occupants of this building are peculiar. A large number of bedrooms are required. Other than bath and bedrooms, there are only the dining-room, parlor, and kitchen. There is no cellar. There is a combination stairway. One run starts from the front, and the other from the rear. The landing is in the centre on the second floor. Cost of this building, $2,000, as per schedule “B.”

Plan No. 36

InNo. 37the stairway is back of the reception-hall. It is distinctively in the centre of the house, and is accessible from all rooms. There is a passage through two doors from the kitchen to the front part of the house. There is also the usualpantry passage. On the second floor there are four good bedrooms, a linen closet, and a bath-room. The cost of the building, without appurtenances, would be about $2,100, as per schedule “B.”

Plan No. 37

PlanNo. 38is another square, one-chimney plan. The house is broad enough so that it gives a little better bath-room arrangement than is shown in some of the narrower plans. The great drawback to this house is that there is only one stairway, and that in front. If a cellar is wanted, the stairway can go down under the main stairs.

PlanNo. 39. This plan has six bedrooms on the second floor. The hall on the first floor has two closets in front. There is a projecting bay window from the first landing of the front stairway.

Plan No. 38

This house was built for a minister. The library room is shown. Projecting from it is a window-seat. On one side is a large fireplace. The dining-room is separated from the front part of the house by a hall. Both sitting-room and dining-room have bay ends of a form to give a view to the street in front. The side-hall communicates with the kitchen as well as the dining-room. In this hall is a closet, presumably for the boys. There is a liberal supply of closets on the second floor. The servant’s room is cut off from the other part of the house. The attic is plastered. This building, without appurtenances described in schedule “B,” cost $3,500.

Plan No. 39

Plan No. 40. The rear hall with the side entrance is the thing which will commend this house, as far as its floor plan is concerned. It is an old-style plan, and is wasteful of room. The building cost about $3,100, as per schedule “B.”

Plan No. 40

PlanNo. 41is an eight-room house with a simple stairway. The outside walls are of brick. It has a side entrance. The plan is a fairly good one. There are two closets on the first floor, opening from the hall. There is an abundant supply on the second floor. The building cost $3,400, as per schedule “B.”

Plan No. 41

Back to Index Next