The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-04-16

 BIRA1LNGHAMS FOREMOST ARCHITEC

| latticed and bracketted balconies. HoI | land continues it's tradition for good brick design in it's stepped-up gables
 and brick wall patterns In America, the legacy of colonial architecture. severe
 in New England rich but restrained in Virginia and sumptuous in the south At lantic and gulf states. is rapidly disap- bearing. The double porch plantation type developed in Alabama and Missis-
 sippi has a charm that is distinctly and characteristically American. The Pueblo
 and Aztec Indians developed an archi- lecture whose charm lays in large wall
 surfaces broken only by well proportioned windows and doors and the whole covered by a flat terrace roof-an excellent type to follow for fireproof concrete house with roof garden terrace over. In Cali
 fornia, the adobe Spanish missions left
 behind them similar type of architecture
 with plain wall masses, relieved only by richly framed doors and windows and double reverse-curve gables, a type that
 is at once appropriate to the lower Cali
 fornia climate.
 ''The aim of the cleverest architects of
 today is not to stupidly duplicate the ef- forts of others but to design houses that
 will reflect the personality and taste of its occupants, striving always for sim plicty, blending the house and its ap- purtenances decorations and furnshings) with grounds and terraces to maintain a suitable scale of parts, proportions and contrasted light and shade" Mr 1 Welton said.
 With the European and American example to draw upon, American archi- | tects have applied almost all types | to modern suburban house planning The California bungalow is a most ex- cellent outgrowth of the Bengalese and Swiss chalet architecture where it has been well adapted to the local eli mate. The architects of Philadelphia have brought out an interesting type of suburban house, using colonial de : tails in conjunction with rather short study columns, pergalos and piers. The walls of these houses are built of long split stone with very wide white mor- tar joints. The middle west architects are designing a kind of house with pronounced fiat horizontal lines, wide overhanging cornices, combination hip. and pitched gable end roofs, very wide low windows, and with porches, por-' l tions of which have roofs supported by characteristically large rectangular piers.
 Tn many sections of the country the | fireproof house is finding great favor. The increased price of suitable lum- Der brings the fireproof house nearer each day. The terra cotta tile house covered with cement or left with vitri- 1 fled exposed is an excellent opportuni- 1 ty for the designer" he said. "A brick specialist in New York has brought out 1 a hollow tile brick known as Fisk lock brick This brick is eight inches 1 thick in the wall and has two wire-cut faces without the necessity for fur ther covering. This material bids fair to add new interest to suburban house design. The fireproof house will prob ably reduce the use of fiat roofs to be used as pergola torrance. In the hill towns of Italy. this arrangement is already in satisfactory use. This type would readily lend itself to wall sur face Scraffito decoration which has been used With success in New Eng land"
 And with regard to economy" I
 suggested.
 Tn surburban house work, econo- my is of chief concern was the re- ply. Mere ornamental display is cheap though nice treatment of detail, of a i simple sort, in gables or doorways and hrep1aces, should be encouraged. Get along with as few rooms as possible, and have those few of generous size rather than tumble up the plan with | eight by eight-foot closes facetiously l called 'solariums, 'alcoves' and hooks 1 Make the living room, at least, of gen. erous size, even if a separate hall has ] to be done away with Available ma 1 terials of character for exterior use are l weathered field stone, graduated from