Evening star., 1940-05-11
Much Better Design
Declared Possible
In $500 Houses
Trim, Windows and
Chimneys Offer Most
Chance for improvement,

Vastly better design is possible in
the $2,500 house, the Architectural
Forum magazine states in its Spe-
cial 1910 small house reference
issue. Declaring that better de-
sign can sell the low-cost house, /"
the building magazine publishes q
score of examples of existing prac-
tice in the low-cost field furnished
by the Federal Housing Administra-
tion and then shows how these
houses have been redesigned by
William Handy, New York archi-
tect, and Henry Wright, an Archi-
tectural Forum editor.
Main reasons for the improve
ment in appearance are the care
fully studied trim, larger and better
looking windows and a bigger Chin
ney," the Architectural Forum ex-
plains. There is no reason why
the back of the house cannot be
as attractive as the front.
"Chimneys are an exceedingly i'm
portant element in the design of
the low-cost house. Spiky Chin
neys may be avoided by cor
beling out just below the roof line
and the extra space utilized to
ventilate the attic, thus adding i'm
mensely to summer comfort.
Broad Stoops Advised.
"Stoops can make or break the
low-cost design. They should be
broad, of simple materials, not too
'blocky.' Basement areaways should
be kept away from the platform to
allow room for planting and in
order to prevent accidents.
Planting must be properly
planned for the low-cost house to
look its best. Avoid spiky, pointed
plants and concentrate planting. A
few larger, more spreading bushes
are much more effective than nu-
merous small plants, and a box
hedge a real asset.
"Low-cost houses are not all alike,
even those which have the same
number of rooms arranged in
much the same way. Some have
Easements and basement stairways,
some do not. Some are turned
sidewise to the street, some end
wise. The larger ones have stair
ways leading to future attic rooms.
Each scheme satisfies a specific set
OF requirements which the others
fail to meet.
"The smallest and simplest kind
have no stairways at all. Because
they are not very wide, this type is
almost always placed with its side
to the street.
Closets Often Small.
"End-to-the-street plans save
valuable lot frontage. They are
therefore much used for houses
midway in size between the small
est, basementless type and the
larger kind, which have provision
for attic rooms. Usually this means
separation of kitchen and bath, and
where a basement stairway is pro-
vided it is placed between the
kitchen and the back bedroom, with
the rear door opening into the
landing.
"A deficiency of this arrangement
Is that it leaves no natural place
for the bedroom closets, and these
are often tucked in rather careless
". Sometimes one Of the closets
Is located SO as to cut OF private
circulation between one of the bed
rooms and the bath.
Biggest problem in the design
Of this type is to keep the house
from looking too high out of the
ground. This may be done either
with areaways or by grading up at
the front Of the house, a particu-
larly good solution for the house
with money-saving partial base
ment.
Dormcrs Desirable.
"Aristocrat of the low-cost field
Is the type of house which pro-
vides for future finished bedrooms
IN the space beneath the roof
This means an attic stairway, pref
erably rising from the bath-bed-