Healthy—of course. Better not build at all than make our house the abiding-place of malaria. So we will carefully avoid marshy or ill-drained ground. Sandy or gravelly soil is good. Clay is bad. A side-hill has many advantages and affords opportunity for something picturesque. We need not fear it, for a broad trench dug deep as our cellar, and running obliquely back of the house, will leave us high and dry. If we are sensible rather than ambitious, we will not choose the summit of a hill. Sooner be a little lower down on the slope, securing shelter from the wind and a readier water supply. The question of site is an important one, and much depends on a wise selection. Even a small lot offers some choice, and a few feet in either direction may avoid damp cellars and future fevers.
But if we have a wider choice, let us exercise it well, and secure a position where we can study nature in her varying moods and enjoy her beauty. Let us be surrounded by meadows and flowers and trees. Trees by all means. Not too near, or we may shut out sunlight and secure dampness instead; but trees are good neighbors, and we owe them grateful shade in summer and shelter from winter storms. A stately oak and a few graceful maples, or perhaps some faithful evergreens, will take away the barren and forlorn appearance a house often presents when standing quite alone. A little terracing and grading, besides helping to shed the surface water, often give the building the appearance of being well and firmly placed.
Care will of course be taken to see that an abundant supply of pure water is obtainable; to decide its quality a few preliminary borings should be made.
Having roughly chosen the position and driven a stake in the site, we must decide in which direction our house shall face. The living rooms should look to the south or south-east, as they will be cooler in summer, receiving the southern breezes, and warmer in winter—and always cheerful. Next to a southern exposure an eastern one is best. We must consider how the grounds shall be laid out, the approaches to the house, position of the public road, and proximity of objectionable neighbors. Our friend Mr. Architect will want to know all this and more too. He will ask you from what directions come the prevailing winds, what is the character of the scenery, and whether there is any choice of prospect, or our pet view will stand in danger of being wasted on blank walls, or visible only from the kitchen. Then, after telling him how much we wish to spend, he will be in a condition intelligently to go to work and plan the house. A thorough understanding between architect and client is most desirable.
III.
“A history of house-planning is the history of civilization, one of the best means by which we can realize the social condition and family life of successive times,” says Stephenson in his interesting book on House Architecture. The gradual change in the arrangement of dwellings indicates most clearly the development of what we call civilized ideas.
In all important houses in the Middle Ages, the Hall, which was frequently an immense apartment, was the chief feature. To quote Stephenson again, “It was in reality the house, and hence (in England) country houses are still called Halls.” The ends were screened off by wooden partitions, the kitchen at one side, the private apartments at the other. The Hall was used as a dining-room and sitting-room, and the household would sleep there, both tables and beds being movable. Later, the tendency arose to have separate apartments for different purposes, and the number of rooms in a house multiplied. In modern planning strict privacy is essential, and each room must be accessible from the halls and stairways. As soon as a room becomes a mere passage to another, it loses its chief value. The arrangement of a house is, to a certain degree, influenced by considerations of exterior effect, but use and comfort are of prime importance. In the so-called “classic” houses, where symmetry was imperative, convenience of plan was often sacrificed.
A well-studied plan is characterized by compactness and the absence of any visible make-shifts or after-thoughts. Everything fits well and seems in its natural place.
A rectangular house is the cheapest and best, the octagonal and circular forms are better adapted for bays or projections only. Very irregular and straggling plans may produce picturesque results, but are sure to be comparatively expensive. A square house has always been a favorite with many practical-minded people. It is such a “sensible” shape and cuts up well into rooms. True, a given length of line, as a square, encloses a greater area than in any other rectangular form, so we get the most house for our materials and money. Still, we will probably find that, after arranging our plan, considering comfort and convenience alone, it will not result in a mathematical square; but, if it be compact and capable of being simply roofed, we need not reproach ourselves with undue extravagance.
All space occupied in passages and corridors, increasing the size but not the capacity of the building, is wasted.