Materials chosen to suit the local environment and type of house, effectively employed.
A pleasing color scheme for the house, in harmony with its surroundings.
Proper planning with relation to the natural features of the site, the other farm buildings, and the highway.
Grading the site and planting trees, shrubs, and flowers.
If the homes shown in this bulletin are carefully built according to the drawings, they will be satisfactory with respect to the first two points.
Proper location of the house is exceedingly important and must be worked out on the ground. Farmers' Bulletin 1132, Planning the Farmstead, and 1087. Beautifying the Farmstead, will be found helpful in this and in the planting of trees and shrubs around the house. Farmers' Bulletin 1452, Painting on the Farm, discusses kinds and uses of paints. Other bulletins on these subjects are available from several of the State agricultural colleges.
SAFETY
Safety in the farmhouse depends first on good construction for protection from damage by wind, fire, decay, and termites. Safety is promoted also by planning to avoid hazards from low beams, steep or unguarded stairways, or badly placed doors and windows. The working drawings for the houses illustrated herein embody good practice in these matters. The welfare and convenience of the occupants will be further permanently safeguarded through rat-proof construction, which eliminates "rat harbors", and denies easy entrance of the rodents to the building. Additional safety may be secured at slight cost by following the recommendations in Farmers' Bulletins 1590, Fire Protective Construction on the Farm; 1638, Rat Proofing Buildings and Premises; and 1649, Construction of Chimneys and Fireplaces; Leaflet 87, Wind-Resistant Construction for Farm Buildings, and Leaflet 101, Injury to Buildings by Termites.