Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-10

When designing a home, It has become
customary through habit to consider 1t as
being for a level city lot. The grade of
the lot Is seldom considered as having any
thing to tdo with the style or designs of the
house, much less debating what that style
should be. Still, it is a fact, that the grade
of a lot and it's situation reference to it's
surroundings often has considerable to do
with the planning and designing of it. Take
for a simple example, the mere fact that
a house is on the north, south, east or
west side of the s~treet-this has consider
able to do with the arrangement of the
floor plans. The living room should, of
course. in each case face either east or
south. and both ways IL possible. This is
why a house, facing north is the hardest
to plan. A house on a corner lot would, of
course, be planned somewhat different than
one on an inside lot since it has an open
view on two streets. A northwest corner
lot, giving a south and east exposure to the
house, is therefore the most desirable for
a city home. The size of the lot, more
especially its width, has considerable to do
with the arrangement of the plan and
right here the evergood advice might be
repeated. Never place a good house on a
cheap lot" Pay a little more for your
lot and then wait a year longer IL neces-
sary before building. No matter how COM
plete and comfortable you build your
home, you will in time become dissatisfied
will 1t II the surroundings are not in
keeping with 1t and your %neighbors unin-
teresting. No lot should be less than forty
five feet wide and fifty feet would be a
better minimum. Be sure the lot is wide
enough to get the house you want on it.
The foregoing remarks apply only to the
level city lot. There is another class of
lots found In suburban or fine residence
districts whose locations have much to do
with the planning OF the homer They can
be conveniently placed In four classes. The
lot which slopes forward to the street; the
lot which has a pronounced slope from one
side to the other; the lot which slopes
downward from the street and the com
paratively level lot at the top of a hill,
commanding a beautiful outlook over the
city or surrounding country. The hardest
lot to fit a house to of these four situations
is the lot which slopes downward from the
street. Many designers often give up in
despair when trying to design a home APP
propriate for their difficult location and
consider the design as being for a level
lot, merely letting the foundation be visible
for a greater distance in the rear than
at the front. The problem Is not. how
ever. a difficult one il the owner does not
express a decided preference as to what the
style of the house should be. for a colonial or
gambrel rooted house would never fit a To-
cation OF this kind in a becoming manner
The style NOSE appropriate is the English
domestic style, for this style can be more
easily varied and manipulated by a COM
petent designer than any other. The Eng
lish have reduced the appropriateness of a
home TO It's location to a fine art and
from them we can often obtain valuable
suggestions on the proper locations Of
homes. An E~nglishmah's home Is not alone
the house-it is the house and gardens
he needs no porch for he lives in his gar
den when out Of doors and both are de-
signed together, each experimenting the
! other. For these reasons. an English home
becomes the other two hillside locations
mentioned. more appropriately than any
other style. When tho lot slopes up from
front 10 rear and the incline Is not ex-
treme. a colonial home can be placed upon
II IL carefully sdesigned. OF course in
each OF these instances. a colonial home
can be placed upon the lot by artificially
terraeing It to make a level lot OF at least
a portion OF It, but the method should never
be adopted except where the owner de-
sires are imperative or the slope Is too
steep to consider any other expedient.
u The finest location for a house is a COM
paratively level lot at the crest OF a hill.
There are two things toward which tho
American seems to aspire more than any
thing else-one is to get as high in the air