Evening star., 1928-10-14
Army Housing Program to Be
DistinctiveIy American,
Says Authority.
PRACTICAL VIEW TAKEN
Designers to Give Men Ad-
vantage of Modecn Con-
struction Experience.

styles Of architecture predominant in
&iae sections in which they are to be To-
@n4ed will be followed generally in the
new buildings being erected at Army
posts for the officers and men, 10 re-
place the poor quarters which troops
have been forced to occupy since the
World War While each section will
be treated to meet the special require
ments of the units TO be quartered
nevertheless every effort is being made
In the designing to make the buildings
attractive and distinctively American
from the various types of Colonial in the
North and East to the Spanish mission
II the South and West
FOR the most part according 10 Lieut..
Col. Francis B. Wheaton. Quartermas-
ter Corps, chief of the engineering dl-
vision. construction service Of that corps,
In an article on THE Architecture of
the Army Post" in the current issue Of
the Quartermaster Review, the buildings.
particularly the barracks will be three
stories because troops can be economi-
cally ouartersd in this type, but at the
air stations where every effort must be
made to keep the buildings generally
icw, they will be of two stories.
Most in Colonial Area.
"A great ma aiority of the projects now
provided for by the Congress will be in
what we may call the Colonial area"
SAYS Col. Wheaton. which in general
way will include all that part Of the
country not truly influenced by the work
Of the early Spaniards. In other words,
the area in which Colonial architecture
originated, and that into which it spread
and developed and the remaining areas
where its influence has been marked at
least to degree equal to that OF any
other style
when we review this field we find
that the various coloniSts who started
the first settlements, individualists to
begin with. rapidly developed a more or
less individual architecture suited to the
particular climate and mode of life in
each class. This is exemplified by the
simple but refined details of New Eng
land, the so-called Dutch Colonial of
New York and its vicinity. and the more
opulent type found further south in
Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas and
Georgia
so in keeping with our Colonial ira
dition We can have 9 barrack in New
England designed in the Colonial OF that
section and one in Virginia designed in
the Colonial of that, both varied in
character while of the same general
style; moreover, with individual features
indicative of historic buildings in each
section. This is particularly we'll ex-
emplified in the design for barracks at
Fort Devens, Mass, which will at once
suggest to the trained eye the influence
o{ the older buildings in the yard at
Harvard and the barracks at Fort Leo
nard Wood, Md, which were inspired
by Doughoregan Manor. which has stood
for many years near Ellicott City, and
which was originally built by Charles
Carroll Of Carrollton
Practical Ideas Used.
1T must not be supposed" Col
Wheaton continues. that practical con-
siderations have been neglected in Sc
lecting these various styles for use In
different sections of the country. In
fact. these selections are eminently
practical because the styles selected are
first and foremost those developed
originally to take advantage to the
greatest possible extent of local ma
terials and methods. We have therefore
been able to gain architectural effect
coupled with economy, roofs covered
With tile or slate; walls of brick or of
stucco on tile or of concrete, are each
used because they ere local products In
ether words. the most successful and
truest design is that which takes the
AAAIoA4o az AAOA1u anu Hlp0uNNS O SneioAoN-
tory result"
Col. Wheaton says that in its incep-
ton it was wisely decided that the hous-
ing program should. during its earlier
years, be devoted primarily to the pro-
vision Of the necessary housing and hos
pitalization for the officers and men of
the Army who had been, ever since the
World War; compelled to exist under
most disheartening conditions in tempo
rary buildings and tent camps. There
fore at the present time the buildings
being erected are barracks. officers
quarters, hospitals and limited num-
Der of administrative and technical
buildings. which latter are being pro-
vided in most cases to take care of the
expansion in the Air Corps which was
authorized two years ago.
The quarters. he says, for officers and
non commissioned officers are. in gen.
eral, built with masonry outside walls,
but with wooden interior framing A
ma jority of the barracks SO far put ZIP
are battalion and regimental headquar-
tiers buildings for Infantry and Field Ar