New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-12
New Town Will Last
F or Centuries.

Turn to the finished product, in
fact, a hundred years hence and see
what the guidebook of the day will say
about it. Like this:
"Well Hall. in the pleasant valley
of Ethan, Kent, which lies by the
arsenal Of Woolwich, at one time the
great munition factory of Great Brit
ain, is a lovely village Of the best
English type. The visitor who does
not know Of the upheaval which took
place in Europe in 1914 would not
realize that Well Hall is, in fact, a
munition village. For it seems to have
grown like another village. There is
no sign Of building.
although the houses are built in
sections Of from five to ten TO block,
the total effect is like that of any vii
lage in Sussex, Surrey or Essex. Here
you have the sacred quiet Of the old
English village; here you have the
winding roads and the crossings. The
trees and hedges, the numerous greens,
the wooden fences and little gardens,
the very materials from which the
houses are built, are all parts Of the
ordinary landscape of Southern Eng
land Here and there a bit Of Geor-
gian architecture strikes the eye, in
a pleasing contrast to the normal type
Of English cottage, with its sloping
roof, little doorway and low, wide win
dows. The ivy has trailed over the
roughcast and the weather boarding,
and the little village nestles in its
valley as if it were unconscious Of the
terrible struggle which called it into
being"
The guidebook Of the future will
not be wrong. The 1928 houses which
stand on the ninety-six acres of Well
Hall actually do form a little English
village which can compare with the
oldest and the best villages Of the
country.
Although the houses had to be built
in groups, the architect managed
to make each block look only like
an overgrOwn cottage. He varied the
houses in the blocks, so that one will
have two straight stories Of stucco, and
the next will have bit Of brick facing,
and the third will be half of wood and
half of stucco. He varied the positions
Of the gables and of the windows; he
gave each house a separate character,
/ so that no man coming home late at
night possibly could mistake any other
house for his own. And everywhere he
got the honey" effect which makes
people glad they are living in a house
and proud Of the way the house is
( kept.
/ have just returned from trip to
/ Well Hall. The description which |
/ have quoted from an imaginary book
( of the year 2O17 would do for my de-
scription of il to-day. Although the
roar of guns at testing time comes
down from Woolwich, there is no sug-
/ gcstion Of the war-town in Well Hall.
Little children play on the green, boys
and girls come trOoping out from school
az they do in any village of England or
Of America, for that matter. Except
/ for the fact that the shops are not
/ really in the village, nothing could set
| this place out for a special mark. 1t
/ looks like what il is-a place where
people arc glad TO live.
! -Four types Of houses were built at
/ Well Hall. The largest type consists
/ Of a sitting room, parlor, spare bed
/ room or dining room and scullery on
! the ground floor and three bedrooms
and a bathroom on the floor above. The
scullery contains the gas range for
sumner cooking and the dining room
has the coal range. why this Is so / will
/ tell YOU In a moment.) The other types
Of houses are much the same, except
! that the bedroom accommodation varies
and in some the bathroom is placed in
/ the scullcry. The smallest type Is a
/ fat. for married couples without chill
/ dren.