Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-26
FINE TASTE SHOWN
IN ROW DESIGNING
Decatur Street Construction
Found Meeting All Tests
y of This Class.
BY LOUIS JUSTENENT.
ASchftect for the Model Row Houses at Fifth
and Decatur Streets.

the one which has been the most
popular with the buying public be-
-ause only in this type of construc-
Ion has 1t been possible for the man
pr moderate means to secure q brick
house.
A row house can be built or Il lot
ess than half the width that would
Va required for detached house. This
means not only a smaller lot but also
hat assessment for street improve
nents will be less than half those
)atd by the owner of the detached
house. But the greatest saving is in
he construction of the row house as
against the semi-detached brick house.
Each side wall or party WALL of a
roy house does doubls duty, serving
BIS 1t does for two houses, and only
he relatively short front wall has 10
ave face brick. whereas the detached
louse usually has face brick on all
sides. There are fewer windows in
ne row houses, less cornice work,
ever cutters. etc.
Appearance Is Improved.
Such criticism OF row houses as
khere has been has been directed en-
tirely at the appearance OF these
houses. and it must be admitted that
much OF this criticism is deserved.
Though it is perhaps not quite fair
to conclude that the operative build
er is entirely to blame for this situ-
alton. Primarily the blame lies
with the buying public. for the
operative builder tries, as a rule. TO
build what the public wants, and If
colonial porch columns are painted
chocolate color Il is in the belief
hat the prospective purchaser does
not have sufficient taste to prefer
white paint and that he is sufficiently
practical TO demand color which
will not soon need repainting.
If the buying public is made to
understand that the colonial style of
architecture is best interpreted in
terms of red brick. green blinds and
white woodwork, the builder will
E not be slow to provide this type OF
building.
In recent years the English coun-
TRY houses of the Tudor period have
served as inspiration for a number
of the finest residences in this coun-
4 TRY. These, in turn, have suggested
adaptations of this style for more
modest dwellings of brick and stone.
/ The row of houses now being finished
ION Decatur street, which Were de-
[signed for the CafritZ Construction
-. model house at Fifth and De-
Icatur streets. has been suggested by
both English and American adapta-
lions of English small house prece-
dents. 1t has, therefore. been CLASH
med as being in the English style.
though it must be remembered that
this does not imply that it is in
tended i'll any way to be a period"
design.
One of the greatest faults of mod.
Term speculative" building is the
tendency 10 use SNOWY" materials,
materials which are in reality only
poor substitutes for the articles they
initiate. Even good designs will be |
mediocre in appearance if these imi |
|tations are ured. Composition shin |
giles which initiate slate. for instance, |
ARE neither as attractive nor as dur |
able as slate. The slate used for |
these houses is an agreeable mixture !
of green and purple states which |
should improve rather than deteri- |
crate with age.
No Bluffing i'm Design. /
No dormers are used in these |
mansard roofs, as there is no third |
floor or attic and the use of dormers |
roof. A great many row houses have |
these dormers in the mansard roof |
purely for the effect of giving the i'm |
preston of a three story building. |
There should be no "bluffing" in de- |
signing a building. AS far as pos |
sible the design should be an honest !
expression Of the plan, and the house |
should be built of honest as opposed |
TO limitation materials.
If the most beautiful house in |
Washington We're copied exactly and |
repeated 30 times consecutively in |
the length of a city block on a slopinS /
street, with each house stepped down |
from the preceding one by exactly |
The same amount. the result would be |
abominable in spite OF the beauty of |
the individual house. Yet operative !
builders say that is what the public |
wants because, when they vary the de- |
sign, the purchasers invariably want |
to have their houses altered to Tesem- |
HE some other house in the row. If |
This is so then it would seem that too |
much emphasis cannot be placed on |
the fact that the taste of the buying |
public is responsible for the hideous |
appearance of some of our streets. If !
this demonstration sponsored by The |
Star can awaken appreciation on the |
part of the public as to what good |
architecture means, the result will UNI |
doubtedly be to stimulate hettcr de- |
sign on the part of the builders.
The most important factor in row.
house design is to break the long, |
monotonous series Of facadeS by a |
number of setbacks which have the |
effect of grouping from two to five |
houses in a given unit. This is particu- |
larly important on a sloping street, SO
that the changes in floor levels can be |
made to correspond with the groups
into which the row is divided. The
row of houses on Decatur street is an
example of how this may be done. A
glance at almost any row on Il Sloping
street will show how unsatisfactory
the usual method of stepping down
each house affects the appearance OF
the entire row.
Plans Are Standardized.
Nothing has been said about the
plan of row houses, because the plan
mas become fairly we'll standardized
and is economical and efficient in al
most all row. house construction. 1t
represents distinct advance over the
L-shaped plan of 20 years ago. Now
that the supply of building is catch
ing up with the demand it is to be
hoped that the public will show more
discrimination and insist that the
houses shall be we'll designed. If this
demonstration succeeds in educating
the buying public to Il better apprecia-
ton of design it will contribute in no
small measure to the Identification of
Washington.
The better types of home, whether
row or detached, are discarding the
front porch because it is lacking in
privacy and because it usually de-
tracts from the appearance of the
building. The solution for this prob
lem is twofold; in the first place the
use of the automobile makes it pos
sible to secure relief from the heat
in ways that were not possible a few
,-aarS apo and porcheS aro not az