Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-10-05
NEW HOMES SHOW
DESIGN ADVANCE
Rooms Now Dictate Outside
LineS-House Short
age Seen.

America today, because Of popula.
ton increase. forced neglect Of pres
emit houses during the depression and
the low volume Of building, faces a
physical shortage of homes unprece-'
dented In the country's history.
This Is the opinion Of the editors
Of the Architectural Forum, as ex-
pressed in the introduction to the
October issue, in which they present
i0l Of the outstanding examples Of
small house architecture In the United
States. The selection was made from
hundreds of houses submitted from
every section Of the country and from
nearly every regional office of the Fed.
eral Housing Administration. All Of
them have been built within the past
three years and range in price from
$3.50 to $4,000, the limit for F. H. A.
insured mortgages.
Because of the shortage in houses
and improved business conditions the
Forum editors show that building Is
already increasing and estimate the
number of new residences needed
within the next five years at between
2 and 10 million, at least half of which
will be modern in plan.
Fireproofing Seen.
The house Of the next five years.
according to the Forum. will be fire.
proof, conditioned and loaded down
with mechanical and electrical equip
ment, proving that Americans like as
much gadgetry in their houses as on
their automobiles. In presenting its
collection of 101 houses, the Forum
devotes two pages to each house, with
interior and exterior photographs,
floor plans, descriptive text and criti-
cal comment. cost data and full speci.
f1cations. which it is hoped will en-
able readers to study the problem Of
home building. organize their ideas
and tell their architect what they
want. The houses shown are OF con-
crete, brick, frame. stucco and steel.
From an analysis Of the houses 1t Is
apparent that American small house
architecture Is still in the transitory
period, with modern architecture
gaining in importance if not in num-
bers. A study of the houses in rela-
ton to their costs, shows clearly, ac-
cording to the editors. that the house
offered today is the finest thing of its
kind ever placed on the market. Not
only are the construction and the
equipment vastly improved over the
house OF 5, 10 or 20 years ago. but
o new high standard has been set in
planning and design.
Rooms Influencing Design.
Characteristics of the new planning
are that the square and rectangular
plans Of 10 or 200 years ago have been
discarded in favor of more open type
plan specifically adapted to the living
needs Of the occupants. The rooms
are arranged for maximum comfort
and ease and are not dictated by a
fixed exterior design. This defiance of
tradition, according to the editors, is
frequently accompanied by turning
around the house on the lot, placing
the garage and sometimes the kitchen
on the front and giving the living
room access to the garden areas in the
rear. Windows are placed where they
are wanted and not where the copy
books say they should be. first
noor terrace, separated as indefinitely
as possible for the house itself, and
second-floor sun decks are new items
on the planning check list. The fol-
lowing table shows the residential
building increase of 1885 over 1884
during the first eight months of this
year:
Total Residential Building.