Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-20
QUAINT OLD HOUSES
Homewood, the Shakespearean Village
Near New York.
COTTAGES LIKE THOSE At SfRAfFORD
Modern Improvements to Which
the Poet Was a Stranger.
IDEAL SUBURBAN VILLAGE

From the New York Commercial Advertiser.
There is a Shakespearean village of over
sixty houses rapidly taking form over in
the great borough of Brooklyn. 1t is the
most original and interesting thing in the
way of architecture and construction in or
around New York today. To be exact,
sixty-fcur houses are nearly finished. and
sixty of them are sold to families who are
to occupy them the 1st of December.
And this is only the beginning of the viii
lage, which will go on growing as fast as
the builders can build, until plot of $50
lots shall have been covered with houses.
Homewood is the name of the village.
name that was given to 1t by the projectors
and proprietary company, the City and
Suburban Homes Company. This corpora
ton has been heard of before, but chiefly
as the protector of an extensive system of
improved tenements in the more densely
settled sections of New York. The hand
OF the phflanthropist is seen in all its
works, and yet there is no word used in a
description of its work which it so dislikes
TO see or hear as that word philanthropy.
There are over $50 stockholders in all. I5
Per cent OF whom own 81 900 or less of the
stock and As per cent of whom own 800 or
less The shares are issued in denomina-
tons OF $40 and there are many provident
working people among the owners of one
two to ten or more shares. The company
pays dividends of 5 per cent on these
shares. and calculates to earn per cent so
as 10 allow OF 1 per cent for an annual con-
tribution to its reserve. All the stock save
few hundreds of dollars is already issued
and earning dividends, but the company
expects to issue another, million in the
spring, with which to extend its operations
into new fields. The company announces
as its object the building of good homes
Ior people of modest means in the Greater
New York"
About a wear ago tho coynDany r,,roh,.o,
a tract of $50 lots in the thirtieth ward of
Brooklyn. The tract is nearly level, on an
elevation which slopes gently toward the
southwest 1t had for generations been
under cultivation a farm. The forma-
ton is all that could be desired for a model
village such as Homewood is destined to
De. top layer of sandy clay and vege-
table mold of from eighteen inches to three
1eet rests upon stratum of coarse gravel
under which Is a deep stratum of clean
sand This insures a dry soil at all times
Old English Architecture.
Having the entire plot to improve, the
company was able to do something that
has never before been undertaken in this
vicinity-improve it upon a harmonious
architectural PLAN In adopting the old
English style Of cottage house for his gen.
eral plan. the architect has given tn tho
city most delightful example of the nos
slDiiltles OF variety in individual design
with harmony In general plan. The
result promises to be an exceedingly select
and picturesque settlement.
AT first glance at the settlement there
appear to be no two houses exactly alike
They vary III size and in external details
IN ,he most pleasing way, yet all are easily
seen to be of the same general style of
architecture. For the most part the first
stories are of brick, the second of timbered
framing. with walls finished in stucco; the
roofs all of slate. the chmneys all finished
with terra Gotta flues. Every house has a
veranda and most have bays in front or
rear.
The streets. which are permanently fin
1shed. on grade. are sixty feet WIDE thirty
feet of which is roadway, with fifteen feet
on each side for sidewalks and park areas
The streets are macadamized in the very
BEST and most permanent manner with
granite block cutters and bluestone curbs
The sidewalks are made with a deep Iayer
OF c'nders. topped out with fine broken
stone Between the sidewalks and the
curbs will be broad grass plots in which
shade trees are to be set in rows The
houses are all built fifteen feet back from
the street. and are nearly all detached
There are but two double or seni-detached
houses among the sixty-four now nearly
finished; all the rest are detached houses
each on its individual plot. Instead of
fences. hedges are to be planted to define
the lot lines. Between the houses the
hedges will come out only to the front line.
leaving the fifteen-foot space between the
houses and the building line for grass
areas, shrubbery and flower plots.
COnveniences.
The workmanship upon the houses is not
excelled in house construction anywhere in
New York. Nothing Is wasted in ginger
bread work or mere plastic ornamentation
The art and beauty of the building are ex-
pressed in the design alone, but that Is
quite sufficient The foundations are Of
brick. twenty-f inches thick, laid up in
cement mortar The cellars are all con-
GREETED. The framing and floor beams and
selected nhar nd
enough for a warehouse. The plastering
Is of kind seldom seen In houses that re
built on contract, being Of adamant plaster,
nard and thick. The trim in all the
houses is OF cypress, plain and neat The
upper stories are sheathed with expanded
metal hath. upon which thick coat of ce-
out perfectly smooth. No other finish is
attempted. but this is preferable in many
important respects to finish of shingle or
clap-boarling. Ii is tighter and more dura
BILE, in the first place imperyious tn wind
or weather, and therefore ~insures a warm
mousse III may be whitewaShed but need
NOT Pc: ana requires no painting other
expensive treatment to keep 1t from decay
The exposed woodwork Is all treated with
creosote and requires no painting.
In general, the houses are intended to be
heated by furnaces but there are a few Of
the larger ones in which the hot water or
steam system of heating will be used The
kitchens are furnished with ranges and
p I,.,T i sinks. The laundry tubs
.
Every house has a tiled bath room, with
porceiain-lined tub. ceramic closet and
washstand. The plumbing is of the most
substantial character. in keeping with the
high class Of materials and workmanship
throughout all the houses. And features
that are seldom seen In New York houses
are the deep windows and wide window
shelves common to all the houses They
suggest many bright pictures of domestic
comfort such as flowers and plants books.
magazines and papers. sewing baskets and
fine needlework. and faces expressive of
contentment and happiness.
Terms of Sale.
There are thirty-five different plans of
houses to choose from. ranging in size from
five rooms and bath to eleven rooms and
bath, the first on a twenty-fve-foot lot. the
last on 60 feet by 1OO and in price from
S2,iOv TO So.1Oo. 1t is safe to say that IL
the same houses were attempted to be sold
under any other auspices they would cost
the Duyer from % to IS 1-3 per cent more
the price includes all the cost of street and
sidewalk improvement and the laying of
water and gas.