Fig. 46.—PLAN OF FIRST STORY.
Fig. 47.—PLAN OF SECOND STORY.
Fig. 48.—“NOVELTY SIDING.”
Fig. 49.—SECTION OF OUTSIDE WALL.
DESIGN XII.
A HOUSE COSTING $1,700.
The plans here given are similar in many respects to [Design XI.], and are somewhat larger, but can be built for very nearly the same cost.... Elevation, ([fig. 50]).—The front is irregular, having an angle, which narrows the parts, supplies more vertical lines, and adds to their length comparatively. These are important features, imparting a graceful appearance, and influencing the entire character of the house.... The angle affords ample room for the piazza, which can be built for much less cost than when its three sides are exposed. The next attractive features of the front are the bay-windows below, and double windows above, with the balustrade and hood so proportioned and arranged that they conform with each other with pleasing effect.... Cellar, ([fig. 51]).—The Foundation Walls are of hard brick laid in mortar, 8 inches thick, and 7 feet high. In localities where the foundation rests on loose sand, care should be taken to provide a bedding, laid 4 inches below the cellar bottom, 16 inches wide, of brick, or better, of large flat stones. Still greater care should be bestowed on the bedding for the chimneys and girder supports, for they sustain the greatest proportionate weight, and any settlement of these parts will cause a depression of the floors, disarranging the whole house, and become an immediate and continuous source of anxiety and expense. The Area in the rear is built of hard brick and mortar, with blue-stone steps and coping. Blue-stone sills are provided for each of the cellar windows.... First Story, ([fig. 52].)—The interior arrangement of the plan will be appreciated as making the best possible use of the room. The Front Hall is wider than is usual in houses of this character. The Stairs are arranged with the “quarter circle” about midway of their hight, which brings the niche down where it becomes an important feature of the hall. The three principal rooms, the parlor, dining-room, and kitchen, can be entered from the hall. The latter two rooms have doors leading to the lobby. The Lobby is built of 4½-inch tongued and grooved ceiling-boards, with sashes made to swing. A Shelf, 1½ feet high, and another just above the sash, give sufficient frame-work to fasten the center of the boarding; the ends are nailed to the sill and plate; these shelves will be found useful for many purposes. Attached to the lobby, and built with it, is a good-sized Pantry (P), for the dining-room. The Kitchen is provided with a closet at the side of the chimney, a sink, with small closet underneath, and a direct communication to the cellar stairs under the hall stairs. The window in the side of the dining-room may be omitted, if the house is in a village and joins another, but this is desirable to give abundant light in this, which is really the living-room of the family.—The method of heating indicated in [Design XI.] is applicable to this plan.... Second Story, ([fig. 53].)—The peculiar manner of constructing the Stairs brings their landing nearly in the center, so that hall space sufficient only for four doors is necessary, leaving almost the entire floor to be laid off into rooms. The heavy lines show the most simple method of dividing this story into four rooms. Should another room be desirable, it can be taken off from two rooms, as shown by the dotted lines. In this case, another window may be inserted as indicated. Every one’s experience will suggest that there can not be too many closets, and we have added one to every room in the house, except the parlor.... Construction.—The bill of timber appended indicates a “regular” Frame. It is a great satisfaction and saving to have the timber properly “laid out,” and framed by, and under the immediate direction of a master mechanic, so as to be quickly and substantially raised. Four good carpenters would easily frame all the timber in this house in two days, and raise it the next day. At least one man of well-known ability and experience as a mechanic should be with and take charge of those employed to build a house. It is not economical for one about to build a home to trust such work to the caprice of an inexperienced man, who has “helped” around some job, until he has learned the name of tools, but who has no positive knowledge of the trade, and could not for his life “lay out” the corner-post for a two-story house, yet is shrewd enough to screen his deficiencies by suggesting “balloon,” or something indefinite, that requires little or no skill. It sometimes happens, in localities remote from large cities or large towns, that persons are obliged to do with make-shifts, to get a home at all. It was such a condition of things that led the well-disposed pioneer of the West to adopt the method called “Balloon framing,” which is really no framing at all, and required no skill to get up a kind of home acceptable under such circumstances. But wherever skilled labor may be had, it is ridiculous to see a gang of intelligent(?) mechanics standing up pieces of diverse lengths, and propping them in a vertical position with rods running every way as braces, not one of which can be removed until the upper ends are secured by ties of some sort. A good frame in a house is equivalent to a good constitution in a man, and is of vital importance; it need not be clumsy or overloaded, but should at least have the merit of being able to stand alone.... Painting.—The principal object in Painting should be to protect and preserve the materials used in construction, as also to give a good appearance. All exterior wood-work, though executed with the greatest care and in the most substantial manner, if left exposed to climatic influences, is very soon destroyed. It is economy to use only the best lead and linseed-oil in painting exterior wood-work. They will outlast all other compounds, present a better appearance, and in the end furnish a much better foundation for future painting. The difference in cost between the best materials and the imitations, for painting the exterior of a house built on these plans, would not exceed $12, and the cost of labor would be just the same in either case. The first coat or “priming,” should be put on with the greatest care, so as to thoroughly cover and close all the pores in the exposed surface. All window and outside door frames, corner-boards, window-caps, water-table, and stoop-flooring, should be primed before setting, especially their edges, where joinings require to be made, as it will be the last opportunity to do justice to these parts, where moisture is liable to collect and remain. When priming is well done, it is best to let the building stand until thoroughly dried, both inside and out, before adding the second coat. It must be evident to any one that much of the water used in the plastering must percolate through, and thoroughly saturate every part of a house. Sufficient time should be allowed for this moisture to pass off, and the whole house to become dried out.... The nails should then be “set,” which will tighten up permanently all the laps in the siding, after which the work should be properly puttied, and the second coat applied. Autumn is the best season to paint, after the extreme heat has passed, and insects have disappeared; the process of drying will be slower and more perfect, with less waste by evaporation, leaving a smooth, solid surface. I am often asked “what color to paint?” Notwithstanding much has been said against white for outside painting, and realizing that there are many cases where white would not be suitable, or thought of, yet I believe that for suitability and good taste, in nine cases out of ten, very light colors, or pure white, are indicated. I have known instances where much time has been spent to discover a suitable color for a house, where nearly all the different pigments were drawn from, and after much mixing and testing, the result has generally been an unknown and unnamed shade, as if everything depended on some sentimental “blending with the background,” or in other words, painting the house out of sight. As a rule, paint so as to best reveal the true character of the building, and this is best done when the colors afford the foundation for the natural shadows that result from the true and actual projections. For the body and trimmings are suggested a light “Dorchester” gray; roofs, graphite-black; sash, coach-black; blinds, “chocolate.”