The Livable Ho u s e 



The relation of the doorstep to the property line, however, is 

 dependent upon the location of the house, the choice of which five 

 important factors should influence. These are — exposure to sun 

 and breezes; second, drainage, natural and artificial; third, ac- 

 cessibility from the street; fourth, the amount of grading neces- 

 sitated; and fifth, a possible garden site. These factors have to 

 be weighed with one another and sometimes the less important 

 sacrificed for the more — but their consideration emphasizes one 

 point greatly to be desired, that of planning the house with refer- 

 ence to the type of land on which it is to be built, or putting it in 

 reverse order, the choice of a piece of property which will suit 

 the style of house one has decided to build. 



Formal symmetrical houses should not be built where they cling 

 precariously to steep hillsides or sit uneasily on inadequate and 

 specially created plateaux; an informal, picturesque style of archi- 

 tecture can be fitted comfortably into the uneven surfaces of hill- 

 sides; the classic house with its regular lines and balanced plan 

 should find a site on a level or gently rolling sweep of ground. 

 The important point is that house and land be considered together. 



But whatever the kind of house, and whether or not it suit its 

 particular piece of property, it is only sensible to place it so that 

 the main living rooms catch the greatest amount of sunlight and 

 summer breezes, and avoid dour shade and winter winds. The 

 latter consideration works out almost automatically, because sum- 

 mer winds are usually south winds, and those of winter, north; so 

 that the house which benefits by summer breezes thereby turns 

 its back to the north. Moreover, the question of sunlight does not 



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