Floor areas: Superstructure, 1,125 square feet Porches, 35 square feet.
This is a new type of low-cost house designed to provide five small single bedrooms or sleeping compartments and one bedroom of average size. The sleeping compartments are not very large, but to secure privacy and yet maintain economy of construction, something must be sacrificed. In this case it is unnecessary space.
The sketch showing the arrangement of bunks illustrates an interesting feature of this house. In the right-hand room the bunk is near the floor, and wardrobe and dresser space is obtained in the partition between the two rooms. In the left-hand room the bunk is 4 feet above the floor and projects over the one on the other side of the partition. Wardrobe space is arranged under the bunk. This room is especially suitable for a boy. A folding study table is provided under the window in each room. On warm nights air circulation would be obtained by opening the bedroom doors to the hall, which is ventilated by the windows above the lower roof. By omitting all but one of the partitions forming the five small bedrooms two good-sized rooms can be obtained.
The exterior appearance may seem, at first glance, unusually severe, but by omitting a pitched roof and the ornamental features of cornice moldings and trim decorations, the cost of construction is materially lowered. Here everything has been reduced to the simplest form possible.
With the heater room adjoining the kitchen, there is little need for a basement, thus an important item of expense is eliminated. The kitchen and workroom form a compact and very convenient unit along the driveway side of the house, while the large living room commands a good view of the highway. The living room and halls are lighted and ventilated by the small windows above the lower roofs. Closet space is provided in every room.
As in plan 6531 ([p. 40]), all dimensions are multiples of 31/2 feet so that the house can be either prefabricated or built in the ordinary way.
[24] Prepared by Albert Frey and R. G. Allen for the Bureaus of Agricultural Engineering and Home Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture.