Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-06-23
This Type of House Be-
longs to Second Period
of Style.
OFFERS FEATURES
FOR NEW OWNERS
Plan Adaptable to Modern
Living Conditions and
Present-Day Materials.
BY L. PORTER MOORE,

| PRESIDENT Home owners Institute, Inc.
So infreQuently is ones eye gratifiec
with the beautifully simple proportions
| of the real Dutch Colonial house that 9
plan having the authenticity of today:
design seems rich heritage of che past
come down through the years as touch
of history to set off the convenience OF
the modern home. 1t contains 22.50C
cubic feet. The plan number Is 3l3-S
Here is no false woodwork or root
| absurdly raised to accommodate a Sec
ond floor of dimensions which the
Dutch Colonial style was never meant to
contain. This type Of house belongs to
the second period in the development
Of the style, after the thrifty Dutch
burghers of the Hudson River Valley
where it first fiouriShed. had decided
that their formerly dark and useless sec
ond-fioor rooms deserved consideration
as sleeping apartments. After that
Dutch Colonial house appeared with
their Steeply Sloping roofSideS pierced
with plain but exQuisitely proportional
little dormers, such as those which
grace the plan on this page today. The
modern requirements of ample light and
ventilation are well met by this simple,
effective expedient.
All six rooms and bath are Of gen.
erous dimensions, all main rooms having
ample light and ventilation from win
dows on at least two sides.
Dutch Colonial Style.
The Dutch Colonial style, which Is
probably one of the most popular archi-
tectural types, offers many advantageous
features to the new home owner, not the
least important Of which is its adapta-
bility to modern living requirements and
present-day materials.
OF the sturdy Dutch burghers of the
Hudson River Valley, who first produced
the style as development of their ma
tive homes in Holland, Marcia Mead, an
acknowledged authority, says:
Their first buildings were crude, but
their unfailing energy steadily improved
their building craft. Their houses are
OF such materials as they had at
hand. Sometimes the walls were of
stone gathered from the fields in clear
ing the land: sometimes they were of
heavy tinlbers filled in between with
stone and the whole covered with stuc-
co: again, clapboards or shingles were
used. Sometimes in single house three
or four different materials were en-
ployed In the construction of the walls.
But because each material had a pur-
kNsSC oAA<A Noo o4APtS0 W as DSSt Use
these houses, so Structurally reasonable,
have not, as one might think, the ap-
pearance Of being thrown together.
Charm In Roof Lines.
"The principal charm of the old
Dutch houses is their subtle roof lines
not the stuck-up gambrels which we
see on every hand and which are
wrongly called Dutch Colonial but
long, graceful roof lines sloping softly
over the walls In wide projections, cast
ing deep shadows and protecting the
wall from the fury of the storm. They
VIII always be beautiful. Time can
never make them old-fashioned.
The roofs OF the earliest Dutch
houses had straight slopes, curving OUT
ward somewhat at the caves to make
deep projections. Later, to give more
storage room in the attic, the slopes
were lifted and slightly broken near the
ridge, which gave added beauty of out
line. Sometimes the cave projections
were carried out far enough to form
porches. When the space in the second
story was to be used for sleeping rooms
the roof was raised bodily, leaving the
porch roof or wide cave projection where
it was. so that a portion Of the house
wall showed above It. In this wall space
were inserted low openings, called by
some he-on-your -stomach windows.
These windows were Of little use for
light. but were valuable for ventilation
and were rather decorative on the ex-
terror"