Buildings and Yards. 



495 



large a proportion of our farm houses seem either to have been planned 

 while in process of building or not to have been planned at all. The fact 

 that every house should be planned as a separate and independent prob- 

 lem with special reference to the persons who are to occupy and use it, 

 taking into account their habits of life, temperament, and the work to be 

 done in the house, seems to have been entirely overlooked by the average 

 builder of the farm house. He seems to forget that he is an individual, 

 that his family is different in some respects from other families and has 

 different wants, that the house has not been planned to the best advantage 

 unless it is specially and peculiarly adapted to the needs of his family. 



If a house is a model of convenience it is very likely to be satisfactory 

 in other respects. The elements of convenience are usually directness 



Fig. 305. — An eastern type of farm house, necessitating a floor plan of its own. 



and simplicity, and if we have these we have the beginnings of an artistic 

 home in the truest sense of the word. A good house, convenient in its 

 appointments, and well arranged, is not necessarily a large house. On the 

 contrary, it is more likely to be a small house, if for a small family where 

 the women of the household do their own work. 



There may well be a difference of opinion as to the number of rooms 

 required on the first floor ; but probably the smallest of houses calling for 

 consideration here would have a family living room, a dining room, a 

 kitchen, and a pantry. The other rooms to be added in amplification might 

 be a reception room (or parlor), a laundry or wash room, perhaps a 

 separate library or study, and, in some cases, a bed room; the order of 



