The model village and its cottages

by William Alexander Harvey

BLOCKS, PAIRS, AND SINGLE COTTAGES.

PLATES XIV. AND XV.
BLOCK OF FOUR COTTAGES.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

In the ascending scale we now come to a block of four, containing houses of two classes. The cost of each is approximately the same, and the advantages are about equal. The outside houses have a side entrance with lobby and outer porch, thereby making the front room quite private, while in the inside ones the front door opens into the room, which has, however, the advantage of being more spacious.

Use of the Ingle Nook in Small Cottages.—The introduction of an ingle nook in this latter secures to it a greater degree of comfort, and privacy from the road is also gained by the extension of the screen. Complete privacy may be secured by attaching a rod from the screen to the outside wall and dropping a curtain. The ingle is lighted by borrowed light from the half-glass door, the light passing through the glazed wooden screen. In this case the ingle nook may be said to be the natural outcome of the plan. The staircase in these inside houses is at the side of the ingle, and affords space beneath for a cupboard, which is reached from the kitchen. The staircase in the outside houses is approached near the window of the living room, and admits of space in like manner for a larder, which is entered from the lobby.

Ventilation.—It will be seen that the larder, in the case of the two middle houses, is arranged within the house, between the coals and the living room. Larders, wherever possible, should have an outside window, but in this case ventilation is very easily obtained in the following manner:—An inlet of a 9-in. pipe enters the larder on the floor level from air bricks in the front wall, while in the coals at the back a concrete division is inserted at a height of 5 ft. 6 ins. or 5 ft. 9 ins. (the ground floor of the house from floor to ceiling being in this instance 8 ft. 6 ins.). Through a fanlight above the outside door of coals not only is light obtained, but, by means of a cord and pulley worked from the larder, through ventilation also, while there is no danger of the invasion of coal dust.

In both houses there is little space wasted. In the outside ones the living rooms are entered immediately from the lobby, and the bedrooms immediately from a small landing, while there is a useful closet over the stairs, entered from the front bedroom.

The projection in this block gives variety to the street, and is the natural outcome of the requirements of the houses. The type is self-contained, and privacy is secured to the householders by the introduction of the side entrance to the outside houses, and by the arrangement of the doorways to the middle ones at the remote ends.

Materials.—Brindled bricks, hand-made tiles, and casement windows of wood are here used, and the brickwork of the kitchen is pointed for whitewashing, with a 4-ft. dado of paint. In these smaller cottages it is advisable to employ papers for interior wall decoration in preference to colour-wash, the latter being very soon soiled where there are children. Picture rails should be used in all cottages, if only to save the plaster.

Accommodation.—The accommodation of the respective houses is as follows:—

Ground Floor.

		Outside Houses.	Inside Houses.
	Living Room	12 ft. 4 ins. × 13 ft.	15 ft. × 16 ft. 4 ins.
	Kitchen	10 ft. 6 ins. × 11 ft.	11 ft. × 11 ft. 3 ins.
	Tools, w.c., and Coals.

Bedroom Floor.

	First Bedroom	12 ft. 4 ins. × 13 ft.	13 ft. 3 ins. × 15 ft.
	Second Bedroom	8 ft. × 11 ft.	6 ft. 3 ins. × 14 ft. 2 ins.
	Third Bedroom	7 ft. 6 ins. × 7 ft. 10 ins.	7 ft. 9 ins. × 8 ft. 4 ins.
	Linen Closet.

PLATE XV.
BLOCK OF FOUR COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [25].

Total cost, including all extras and builder’s profit, £872 per block, or £218 per cottage. Laying out of gardens, £10 per cottage.

Cubical contents, 48,295 ft. at 4⅓d. per foot cube, £872, or £218 per cottage.[*]

FRONT ELEVATION BLOCK OF THREE COTTAGES.

The elevation shown in the accompanying illustration is of a block of three cottages, the two outside ones of which are similar to those shown on the foregoing plan. This is an example of how the same plan may be repeated with varied effect, or where there is not sufficient land for four.

[*]NOTE.—As most of the examples given have been built by the Bournville Village Trust, it should be noted that the figures stated include in all cases an addition to the net cost of 3¾% as builder’s profit.

Where there is any marked difference in the price per foot cube not accounted for by more complicated planning, or by the better quality of materials, this is due, not only to the fluctuation of building prices during the last few years, but also to the variation in the cost of building at different periods of the year.

The extras include fencing, garden gates, etc.

PLATES XVI. AND XVII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

Variation of Former Plan.—The plan shown in Plate [xvi.] and illustrated in Plate [xvii.], is of a pair similar to the outside cottages of Plate [xiv.] This again shows how it is possible to play on the same plan in the building of a village, and so gain the desirable variety of elevation. The roof is hipped and covered with pantiles. A bay window is introduced in both the storeys, with rough-cast between. A rainwater cistern to store all roof water is placed over the coals, which projects from the main block. A greater privacy is obtained by this slight projection, without interfering with the light at the back. The chimneys are grouped together in the centre, there being only one stack to both the houses, which is carried to the highest point of the roof.

PLATE XVII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [28].

Total cost of cottages built to this plan, including all extras, £230 per cottage.

Laying out of gardens, £10 per cottage.

Cubical contents, 22,000 ft. at 5d. per foot cube, £460, or £230 per cottage.

PLATE XVIII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

The plan and elevation shown on this plate are of an alternative arrangement to the last. The houses have an entrance at the front and an extended larder, owing to the staircases ascending from the lobby. The fireplaces are arranged in the corners of the rooms.

PLATE XIX.

PLATE XIX.
SEE PAGE [28].

The view here given shows three pairs of cottages built to the plan shown on Plate [xvi.], and illustrates how a variety of elevation may be gained by adding bays, dormers, etc., and by using differing materials.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATE XX.

PLATE XX.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

Variation of Former Plan.—This plate shows the development and variation of the inside houses of the block of four shown on Plate [xiv.], with a superior arrangement of larder, and with projecting coals. The long sloping roof has been hipped back to give a pleasing line, especially in perspective.

The Long Sloping Roof.—The long sloping roof, a feature frequently introduced at Bournville, has several advantages. If it were not employed, and the front walls were carried up level with the ceiling line of the bedroom, the proportions of the elevation would not be so happy, while an additional expense would be incurred by the extra brickwork. Such a height, moreover, would be wholly unnecessary. In the case of cottages with the long sloping roof the height of bedrooms to the point of intersection of roof and wall need only be 5 ft. 6 ins. Ample ventilation is obtained by the simple insertion of a 9 in. by 7 in. air-brick on the outside wall, and a Sheringham ventilator or Tobin tube within, about 5 ft. 6 ins. from the floor, the cost of the latter being about 3s., and of the former a little more. The long sloping roof can rarely be treated tastefully without boldly projecting the eaves. The projection gives a verandah in front of the house which affords a pleasant shelter. Wooden posts may be used as supports, and by training climbing plants up them, and allowing them to festoon, a really delightful summer bower may be formed. As the roof is broad, pantiles may be used with safety so far as good taste is concerned: bold roof, bold covering. By omitting the gutters at the dormer eaves a pleasing effect is gained, and gutters are quite unnecessary with an eaves projection. The cheeks of the dormers should be dressed with lead. The cottages in question are whitewashed, and have a tarred plinth of about 2 ft. to prevent the unsightliness of mud splashes.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

The Large Living Room.—In view of the gain to health of one spacious living room over the parlour plan, a number of these cottages has been built in varying design at Bournville, and no difficulty has been found in letting them. There has been, however, considerable discussion with regard to their convenience to the artisan in other districts where they have been introduced. Although cottages in the past had no third room, there having been, as here, one large comfortable room (often with the ingle nook) and a small kitchen at the back—all the accommodation really required—yet at the present time many artisans are not content without the useless parlour, which they appear to think adds dignity to the house, but which is used by them chiefly as a store-room for gim-cracks. There is, perhaps, a reasonable objection to a single large living room on the part of a particular class who let the front room to a lodger. Nevertheless, for a model village or a garden city it is strongly recommended that the plan should be adopted freely, and the preference for the useless front room in small cottages discouraged.

Total cost of the example given, including all extras, £268 per cottage.

Laying out of gardens, £10 each.

Cubical contents, 28,587 ft., at 4½d. per foot cube, £536, or £268 per cottage.

Instances of the last two types of cottages dealt with appear in the view given on Plate [iv].

PLATE XXI.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

PLATE XXI.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [32].

The smaller cottage shown here is planned on similar lines to the foregoing, but with the additional accommodation of an attic, and bay windows to the two storeys. This is an instance of how a smaller cottage may be joined to a larger one in treating a corner site, the larger one on the corner giving importance to each road.

PLATES XXII., XXIII., I. (FRONTISPIECE), XXIV., XXV., AND XXVI.
BLOCKS OF FOUR.

PLATE XXII.
BLOCK OF FOUR COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [32].

PLATE XXIII.
BLOCK OF FOUR COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [32].

PLATE XXIV.
BLOCK OF FOUR COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [32].

These plates show examples of cottages in blocks of four rather larger in size than the last type, and treated in different materials. Plate [xxvi.] shows the details of the cottages on Plate [xxv.]

PLATE XXV.
BLOCK OF FOUR COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [32].

PLATE XXVI.
DETAIL VIEW.
SEE PAGE [32].

PLATE XXVII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

Plate [xxvii.] gives the plan and elevation of a pair of cottages also having similar accommodation to those with the long sloping roofs shown on Plate [xx.] The cost, however, is here considerably reduced by each house having a side entrance, and by the omission of the ingle nook, verandah and bay, while the living room, though smaller, is not a passage room. By approaching the stairs from the lobby, not only is more privacy secured, but the space beneath is made available in the kitchen for a “Cabinet” bath, which is so placed as to occupy it when in use instead of projecting into the kitchen. The planning is simple and square, which, with the omission of bays and the introduction of plain casements, all helps to reduce the cost.

The accommodation is:—

Ground Floor.

Living Room, 12 ft. 4 ins. × 16 ft. Kitchen, 10 ft. 3 ins. × 11 ft. 6 ins. Lobby. Larder, w.c. and Coals.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 12 ft. 4 ins. × 16 ft. Second Bedroom, 7 ft. 8 ins. × 11 ft. 6 ins. Third Bedroom, 8 ft. × 8 ft. 3 ins. Linen Closet.

Total cost, including all extras, £250 per cottage.

Laying out of gardens, £10 each.

Cubical contents, 24,000 ft., at 5d. per foot cube, £500, or £250 per cottage.

PLATE XXVIII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

This plate shows the plan and elevation of a pair of cottages having the parlour in addition to the living room and scullery. The living room, which should always be the larger, is here the full width of the house. The measurements are:—

Ground Floor.

Living Room, 11 ft. 5 ins. × 16 ft. 6 ins. Parlour, 11 ft. 4 ins. × 13 ft. 3 ins. Scullery, Outside Larder, w.c. and Coals.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 11 ft. 4 ins. × 13 ft. 3 ins. Second Bedroom, 8 ft. 6 ins. × 11 ft. 5 ins. Third Bedroom, 7 ft. 8 ins. × 8 ft. 6 ins. Linen Closet.

Total cost, including all extras, £230 per cottage. Cubical contents, 33,918 ft. at 3¼d. per ft. cube. £460, or £230 each. (Built in 1899.)

The stairs in this instance descend to the entrance lobby, but they may be planned the other way about in order to avoid the necessity of traversing the parlour to get to the bedrooms, and to insure children crying upstairs being heard in the living room or the scullery. This, however, would necessitate the cutting of 3 ft. off the large front bedroom, while the respective spaces for the larder and the lobby below would be reversed, the position of the former being undesirable.

Ordinary roofing tiles and common bricks have been used. The living room is boarded, and the scullery quarried.

It might be pointed out that there is but little scope for variety of plan in these smaller cottages. The variations must be obtained in the treatment of elevations. As already stated, to build cheaply the main point is to get the walls as long and straight as possible.

FRONT ELEVATION

PLATES XXIX. AND XXX.
BLOCK OF THREE COTTAGES.

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

Plate [xxix.] and the accompanying scale-drawing give the plan and elevation of a block of three cottages, a sketch of which appears in Plate [xxx.] The inner one occupies an exact third of the land, and is double fronted. By putting the inner one with its axis to the front, an equal garden-space is given to all the houses without incurring a re-division of the land.

PLATE XXX.
BLOCK OF THREE COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [35].

The inner and left-hand houses have practically the same accommodation, but the right-hand has several advantages: there is a wider hall, the living room is not a passage room, while the kitchen is reached from the hall, and the wash-house is entered from the yard.

Accommodation of left-hand and inner houses.

Ground Floor.

Parlour, 11 ft. 4 ins. × 15 ft. 3 ins. Living Room, 10 ft. × 14 ft. 6 ins. and bay. Scullery, 10 ft. × 6 ft. and recess for Bath. Coals, Tools, and w.c.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 11 ft. 4 ins. × 15 ft. 3 ins. Second Bedroom, 7 ft. 6 ins. × 14 ft. 6 ins., and bay. Third Bedroom, 7 ft. 5 ins. × 11 ft. 6 ins. Fourth Bedroom, 9 ft. 6 ins. × 6 ft. (middle house only). Linen Closet.

Cost of left-hand and inner houses, including all extras, £293 per cottage. (Built in 1904.)

The right-hand house, owing to the extra conveniences, works out at rather more.

In the middle house the recess between the range and small window makes a very convenient space for a writing table, especially if curtains are dropped from a rod to screen it off, its proximity to the range making it a warm and cosy retreat in winter. There is a bay window to the living room of the outside houses.

Two of the houses in this block are fitted with Cornes’ Patent Combined Scullery-Bath-Range and Boiler, described on page 52, and the third with the “Cabinet” bath.

The elevation, with the forecourt formed by the projection of the two outside houses, may be made very pleasing. From the perspective it will be seen that the inner house is covered with rough-cast, making an agreeable contrast with the outer ones of plain brickwork. Rough-cast, while fairly economical, is very effective, and helps to brighten the forecourt. The projection of the outer houses affords a break, the abruptness of which does not attract attention, but which gives an opportunity of stopping the rough-cast, which would otherwise have to be carried round to the back of the whole block.

It is not advisable to introduce a variety of colour upon exteriors. Colour is best disposed in masses—that is, it should be treated broadly, not distributed in isolated portions, or in sharply contrasting tints. (See page [59].)

The roof of this block is of green slates of varying sizes, diminishing towards the ridge.

Aspect in the placing of the house is here studied as well as the site. The axis runs south-west and north-east, and the front commands a pleasing perspective of one of the principal Bournville roads, and an admirable view of the Lickey Hills in the distance.

DESCRIPTIONS OF PLATES XXXI.-XXXIII.

PLATE XXXI.
PAIR OF COTTAGES (SHALLOW SITE).

PLATE XXXI.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [38].

The view shown in this plate illustrates the treatment of a shallow corner site, the block being a pair of semi-detached, double-fronted cottages. The plan is similar to the middle house of the foregoing block.

PLATE XXXII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

PLATE XXXII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [38].

A pair of cottages also planned on the same lines as the middle house shown in Plate [xxix.] and the foregoing shallow-site pair, but placed at right angles instead of lengthwise, and occupying a corner position.

PLATE XXXIII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

PLATE XXXIII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [38].

An example of a pair of cottages treated in the Dutch style.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES XXXIV. AND XXXV.

PLATE XXXIV.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

The accommodation of the pair of cottages shown in this plate is as follows:—

Ground Floor.

Parlour, 11 ft. 4 ins. × 13 ft. 6 ins., and bay. Living room, 11 ft. 6 ins. × 14 ft. 5 ins. (French Windows). Kitchen, 10 ft. 8 ins. × 12 ft. 3 ins. Larder. Porch, Hall, and Clock Space under stairs. Tools, w.c., and Coals (Enclosed yard).

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 11 ft. 4 ins. × 13 ft. 6 ins. Second Bedroom, 11 ft. 6 ins. × 14 ft. 5 ins. Third Bedroom, 8 ft. 6 ins. × 10 ft. 8 ins. Bath Room (hot and cold water).

Height of rooms: Ground floor, 8 ft. 9 ins.; first floor, 8 ft. 6 ins.

Total cost, including all extras, £375 per cottage.

Laying out of gardens, £12 10s. each.

Cubical contents, 34,285 ft., at 5¼d. per foot cube = £375 per cottage. (Built in 1903.)

Materials.—Whitewashed common bricks are here used. Whitewash is cheap and may be used very effectively, especially where there are trees in the background. The roofs and dormers are hipped, and covered with Welsh green slates and blue half-round ridges; the chimney pots are buff-colour.

Sills.—The sills, as in many of the other houses, are formed of calf-nosed bricks set on edge in cement, with two courses of tiles beneath, which form a drip under the sill, and with a backing of slate in cement. By bringing the window-frame forward to reduce the size of the top of the sill, damp and the driving in of rain are prevented. This makes an inexpensive sill, and adds to the homely appearance of the cottage.

Interior Wall Decoration.—The interior wall decoration is Duresco throughout. Plain ingrain paper, of which there is a number of very cheap kinds now on the market, might be used with a frieze. A good effect is obtained by bringing down the white from the ceiling as far as the picture rail, which gives light to the room and improves its proportions.

The exterior woodwork is painted a Verona green.

Fireplaces.—Fireplaces suitable for this or any of the six-roomed cottages are as follows:—

Front Room: interior grate, slabbed surrounds, tiled hearth, and white wood chimney piece. Living Room: iron tiled mantel-sham. Kitchen: 3 ft. range with white tiled coves and York stone shelf and trusses. Front Bedroom: 30 in. mantel-sham and tiled hearth. Back Bedrooms: 24 in. mantel-sham and tiled hearth.

The total cost of the whole should not amount to more than £12.

The scullery is lengthened by a projection in the nature of a bay. The outbuildings, which are carried to right and left of the pair, give privacy to the garden near to the houses.

PLATE XXXV.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.

This plate illustrates one of several different treatments of the last plan.

PLATE XXXV.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [41].

PLATES XXXVI., XXXVII., AND XXXVIII.
SINGLE COTTAGE.

FRONT ELEVATION

SIDE ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

Plate [xxxvi.] gives the plan of a single cottage occupying a corner site. It contains:—

Ground Floor.

Drawing Room, 12 ft. 6 ins. × 13 ft. 6 ins., and bay. Dining Room, 13 ft. × 13 ft., and bay (French casements). Kitchen, 10 ft. × 11 ft. Scullery, 8 ft. × 10 ft. Larder. Porch and Hall, with Cloak Space under stairs. Coals, Tools, and w.c.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 13 ft. 6 ins. × 15 ft. 9 ins. Second Bedroom, 11 ft. 6 ins. × 13 ft. Third Bedroom, 10 ft. × 13 ft. Dressing Room. Cupboards. Bathroom, with w.c. and Lavatory (hot and cold water).

As will be seen, there is very little space wasted in the planning of the rooms.

The whole of the exterior is rough-cast. The front bedroom is enlarged and projects over the ground floor, giving a pleasant shade to the lower portion of the elevation, while the roof is continued over one side and carried down to form the porch. The gable is of half-timber framing.

The roof is covered with Hartshill hand-made tiles, which, while richly toning and colouring, have admirably stood the test of several years’ hard weather, and have proved much more durable than the pressed tile used for some of the other cottages at Bournville.

The plan of the cottage might be simplified by gabling back and front, the roof thus covering the whole building, and having no valleys. The bedroom accommodation could be then increased by the addition of attics.

Two views of the actual example appear in Plates [xxxvii.] and [xxxviii.]

PLATE XXXVII.
SINGLE COTTAGE.
SEE PAGE [42].

PLATE XXXVIII.
SINGLE COTTAGE.
SEE PAGE [42].

DESCRIPTIONS OF PLATES XXXIX.-XLII.

PLATES XXXIX., XL., XLI., AND XLII.
SINGLE COTTAGE.

FRONT ELEVATION

BACK ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

Another single cottage has accommodation as follows:—

Ground Floor.

Living Room, including roomy alcove, 13 ft. 5 ins. × 15 ft. 6 ins. Kitchen, 10 ft. × 13 ft. 5 ins. Scullery, Larder, Tools, w.c., Coals, and Enclosed Yard.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 13 ft. 5 ins. × 15 ft. 6 ins. Second Bedroom, 10 ft. × 13 ft. 5 ins. Third Bedroom, 9 ft. 6 ins. × 9 ft. 6 ins. Bathroom (hot and cold water) and w.c.

Spacious Attic (shown by dotted lines) and Boxrooms.

Total cost, in 1903, £540.

Cubical contents, 19,938 ft., at 6½d. per ft. cube, £540.

By hanging a curtain, the alcove shown in the plan may be made private for writing or studying, if required. It may also be used for meals; and if a door communicates with the hall, the table may be laid by the maid unseen by the visitor, and the curtains afterwards drawn apart. Thus one of the disadvantages urged against the larger-sized houses with one large living room may be overcome.

Materials.—The cottage is built of whitewashed common bricks, with tarred plinth, the roof being covered with Peake’s dark brindled hand-made roofing tiles. It is without decoration, apart from what is afforded by the semicircular hood over the front door, the wrought-iron brackets supporting the gutters, and at the back a semicircular arch to give importance to the living room. There are shutters to all the ground floor windows, which are made to bolt from within.

The view shown in Plate [xl.] is of the back.

PLATE XL.
SINGLE COTTAGE BACK.
SEE PAGE [44].

Plates [xli.] and [xlii.] show the staircase and dining room respectively.

PLATE XLI.
STAIRCASE OF SINGLE COTTAGE.
SEE PAGE [44].

PLATE XLII.
DINING ROOM—SINGLE COTTAGE.
SEE PAGE [44].

DESCRIPTIONS OF PLATES XLIII. AND XLIV.

PLATES XLIII. AND XLIV.
SINGLE COTTAGE.

FRONT ELEVATION

BACK ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

Plates [xliii.] and [xliv.] show the plan and view respectively of another type of single cottage, with the following accommodation:—

Ground Floor.

Dining Room, 13 ft. × 19 ft., and small alcove. Drawing Room, 13 ft. × 16 ft. 6 ins., and bay. Kitchen, 9 ft. 6 ins. × 15 ft.

Scullery, 8 ft. 6 ins. × 9 ft. 4 ins. Larder, Coals, Ashes, w.c., and Enclosed Yard.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 13 ft. × 13 ft. 4 ins. Second Bedroom, 12 ft. × 13 ft., and large bay. Third Bedroom, 9 ft. 6 ins. × 12 ft. Fourth Bedroom, 8 ft. 6 ins. × 13 ft. 4 ins. Bathroom, with Lavatory and w.c. Large Attic, extending over almost the whole of the four rooms.

Total cost, in 1904, £640. Cubical contents, 25,077 ft. at 6⅛d. per ft. cube = £640.

PLATE XLIV.
SINGLE COTTAGE.
SEE PAGE [46].

By the arrangement of the stairs it will be noticed that additional space is secured to the dining room, forming a pleasant arched alcove.

Materials.—The materials used are brindled bricks, Peake’s hand-made roofing tiles, hips and ridges covered with half-round ridge-tiles, 6 in. half-round spouts with ornamental stays, projecting hood of timber, covered with lead and supported by two wrought-iron stays, red tall-boy chimney pots, doors painted Suffield green, window sashes and frames ivory white, and eaves, gutters and down-spouts lead colour.

PLATES XLV., XLVI., AND XLVII.
PAIR OF THREE-STOREY COTTAGES.

BEDROOM PLAN
GROUND PLAN

FRONT ELEVATION
ATTIC PLAN

Plates [xlv.] and [xlvi.] give plans, and Plate [xlvii.] the view of a pair of three-storey cottages of about the same accommodation, the left-hand having the following:—

Ground Floor.

Dining Room, 11 ft. 6 ins. × 18 ft., with French window. Drawing Room, 12 ft. 6 ins. × 15 ft., with deep bay. Small Sitting Room, 7 ft. × 11 ft. 2 ins. Working Kitchen, 11 ft. 2 in. × 12 ft. 6 ins. Larder and China Pantry, Porch and Hall. w.c., Coals, Tools, and Enclosed Yard.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 12 ft. 6 ins. × 15 ft., and deep bay. Second Bedroom, 11 ft. 6 ins. × 16 ft. Third Bedroom, 10 ft. 6 ins. × 11 ft. 2 ins., with oriel. Bathroom, with Lavatory, w.c. Two Attics and Large Box Room.

PLATE XLVII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [47].

The accommodation in the two houses differs owing to the aspect. If the two plans were identical, a considerable portion of the right-hand garden would be shut off from the south, and the larder would not face the north. Stress has already been laid on the necessity of considering aspect.

The left-hand is a corner house, and the projecting out-houses answer the double purpose of screening the garden from the road and protecting the house from the north wind.

In the adjoining house there is no small sitting room, but an extra attic. The outbuildings are attached to the main building, and do not project into the garden; the principal room is thus left open to the south.

Materials.—The houses are built of common bricks whitewashed, with a tarred plinth. There are half-timber porches, and the spaces between the bays and under the dormers are covered with rough-cast and decorated with parquetry. The rainwater head in front is picked out in vermillion, the introduction of a very little bright colour giving a pleasant jewel-like effect. Peake’s hand-made tiles, of dark colour, are used for the roofs, with half-round ridging, and ornamental iron stays support the gutters, which are of 6 in. half-round iron.

A pair of houses erected to a similar plan to that of the right-hand house in 1904 cost £610 each. The cost of the examples given work out more owing to the fall in the land, which necessitates very deep footings, and also to the plans differing in order to suit aspect and site.

PLATE XLVIII.
PAIR OF THREE-STOREY COTTAGES.

PLATE XLVIII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [48].

Plate [xlviii.] gives the view of a pair of houses similar to the last, but somewhat reduced in size, and the treatment varied. Brindled bricks are used for the ground floor, and rough-cast for the upper storeys.

PLATES XLIX., L., LI., LII., LIII., LIV., AND LV.
TWO PAIRS OF COTTAGES.

These plates illustrate two pairs of cottages of two storeys each, almost identical in plan, but differently treated.

FRONT ELEVATION

GROUND PLAN

BEDROOM PLAN

PLATE L.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [49].

The accommodation of the pair shown in Plates [xlix.] and [l.] is:—

Ground Floor.

Dining Room, 13 ft. 6 in. × 16 ft. and bay. Drawing Room, 13 ft. 6 ins. × 16 ft. 3 ins., including ingle and bay window. Kitchen, 10 ft. 6 ins. × 12 ft. Hall, with storm doors, 12 ft. 6 ins. × 10 ft. Scullery, Larder, w.c., Coals, and Tool House.

Frontage, 15 yds.

Bedroom Floor.

First Bedroom, 12 ft. × 16 ft. 3 ins., and bay. Second Bedroom, 12 ft. 4 ins. × 13 ft. 6 in. Third Bedroom, 10 ft. × 10 ft. 2 ins. Fourth Bedroom, 9 ft. × 13 ft. 6 ins. Boxroom, 8 ft. × 10 ft. Bathroom, with Lavatory, and w.c.

The dining room is lighted by a small east window and a west bay window, the latter being covered by the roof of the verandah, which terminates in the bay window of the drawing room. Although the kitchen is a small one, it has the advantage of not being a passage room, the door from the hall to the kitchen and that from the kitchen to the scullery being arranged beside one another in the same wall. In these houses the windows have wooden frames and wrought-iron casements.

The principal rooms occupy the full width of the back, and the hall is therefore extended to admit of the doors of the two rooms being conveniently placed.

Ingle Nook.—The ingle which results from this arrangement has a beam with a shelf above continuing the line of the architrave, and the ceiling of the ingle is only 6 ft. 6 in. high. There is a small light on one side.

PLATE LI.
COTTAGE INGLE.
SEE PAGE [49].

PLATE LII.
DETAIL VIEW.
SEE PAGE [49].

The ingle nook is shown on Plate [li.], and a view of the oriel on Plate [lii.]

PLATE LIII.
PAIR OF COTTAGES.
SEE PAGE [50].

PLATE LIV.
PAIR OF COTTAGES—BACK.
SEE PAGE [50].

The pair of cottages shown in Plates [liii.] and [liv.] have outer porches, whereby the size of the hall is reduced. A separate view of one of them is given on Plate [lv.]

PLATE LV.
PORCH.
SEE PAGE [50].

In this example, as in the former also, the outlook at the back of the house is to be preferred to that in the front, and as should always be done when the aspect is favourable, the principal rooms are placed at the back. There is in this instance a west prospect, with a delightful view of undulating woodland and distant hills. The forecourt affords a pleasant outlook from within the house. The lowness of the eaves has the effect of giving the pair a very homely and cottage-like appearance. The height of the bedrooms in the former example is 8 ft. 3 in.

PLATES LVI. AND LVII.
SINGLE COTTAGE.

PLATE LVI.
SINGLE COTTAGE.
SEE PAGE [50].

Plate [lvi.] gives a single cottage of a plan similar to the last, with enlarged accommodation and somewhat different treatment, namely:—

Rough-cast from ground, with tarred plinth; oriel window to first floor, with the introduction of a little colour in parquetry, which is also applied round the small window over the entrance, and a half-timber porch glazed with leaded lights, having coloured centres of rich glass. The cloak space is here converted into a china pantry.

A separate view of the porch is shown on Plate [lvii.]

PLATE LVII.
PORCH OF SINGLE COTTAGE.
SEE PAGE [50].