Evening star., 1924-03-29

good looking in every stage OF it's
! development as IL its builder had
contemplated nothing else. Such an
expandable house causes it's owner
no loss because il does not neces-
| state temporary but expensive
| equipment. 1t saves him money be-
cause he needs build no more today
and thus is spared interest charges
on unused rooms
At the same time, instead of in
juring its Heighborhood, the house
adds by it's present good appearance
and assurance OF the future in keep
ing with the present. So far ex-
pandable houses have been of the
| use the idea in planning group or
| row houses in cities where they
prevail provided that their plots are
wide and deep enough.
What this may mean in some Of
our older cities is Indicated by re-
Philadelphia In both cities it has
become almost an axiom that if one
would live in desirable neighbor-!
hood his choice lay between a large
mouse and an apartment. The apart
ment might be small. conveniently
arranged. equipped with every labor
saving device and certainly supplied
with heat, hot water and ianitor
service.
The house if in an old section of
the city, would be probably incon-
veniently arranged and partially
equipped, and surely supplied with
heat and hot water only on the in
ttiatiye of the occupant. Desire for a
home has led to the rehabilitation of
small old dwellings, on minor streets
near good downtown neighborhoods.
THESE, equipped with modern con-
Veniences, supplied with heat and hot
water from a central heating plant.
provided with janitor, gardener and
Watchman, are bringing high prices
and rentals from those glad to escape
from apartments. They are meeting
the desires of families who wish a
modest home downtown. These re-
habilitated downtown houses are an
answer to the apartment challenge.
Crowded City Centers.
They are city homes, but crowded
into the centers of great cities, where
the careless indifference of the past
generation permitted every foot of
ground to be covered with buildings.
they lack the gardens which the more
fortunate smaller cities have retained.
which make the appeal of the suburb.
In the old-time garden, as in the old
time rehabilitated house, we hnd
forgotten charm. Our newer develop
ments give open spaces, but they give
them to the world. not to us. The
old time garden had privacy, and that
privacy is again exerting its appeal
We may throw our front lawns
open to the street and its paSserby,
but after brief experience of life
in a gold fish bowl we prize more
highly a yard in which we can dig
or read or serve tea without feeling
that we are on exhibition. The gar
den wall the lot capable of support
ing a garden wall adds to the Sc
curity of the investment.
NeiShsorhood Changes.
But the house, be it ever so sound
ly constructed, ever so adaptable and
expandable, ever so pleasantly backed
by a walled garden, may still prove
a poor investment if the neighbor-
hood changes Against this 1t is not
the old but the new that gives us
assurance of security. The city plan
which directs the growth of the city,
the coming regulations which check
the invasion of residence districts by
injurious uses, although still in their
early infancies, are proving prodigies
as protectors of those who have in
vested in homes. They still have
much to do even in the best planned.
most carefully zoned cities. This ma
chine using age of ours with its au-
tomobile trucks and its flivvers has
given us new complications. They
demand, or rather they make the
nerve-racked home owner demand,
that the city plan provide great traf-
fic arteries which will tempt the
noise makers away from his street
regulations that will confine business
trucks to business thoroughfares.