CHAPTER III 



THE ARRANGEMENT OF AVERAGE SUBURBAN LOTS 



(LOTS 75 to 150 FEET) 



Among the owners of suburban homes are to be found many enthusiastic 

 amateur gardeners, and in many of our cities, at least in their newer sections, 

 there is evidence in plenty of such interest and of effort to make attractive yards. 

 In yards with frontages of from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty feet, and 

 with depths of one hundred and fifty feet or more, there is considerable oppor- 

 tunity. This opportunity, however, may be lost if the available space is not 

 used to the best advantage. The placing of houses, as well as their plans, should 

 be carefully studied in relation to the lots selected for them. Most lots of this 

 size are comparatively flat and level, and the problem of planning these is there- 

 fore largely concerned with the allotment of, and the effect of, space. The best 

 results require that plans for both house and yard be drawn up simultaneously. 



The designing of lots of this size differs from that of the narrower lots pre- 

 viously discussed most noticeably in that there is here some opportunity for the 

 development of interesting side yards. While it is pleasant to have ample space 

 on both sides of a house, without more frontage than the average suburban lot 

 affords, this is impossible. It is usually best to place a house as close to one side 

 boundary as will permit of a driveway and good light, thus saving all the re- 

 maining width on the other side for a garden or some gardenlike feature. Of 

 course houses with symmetrically designed fronts and central entrances will 

 have to appear to be in the center of their lots in order to look well, but probably 

 this type of house is less common among residences of moderate size. The 

 possibilities for developing interesting side yards depends, not entirely upon 

 the width of a lot, but also upon the width of a house, and even upon the prox- 

 imity of adjoining houses. One feels more free to place his house close to either 

 side boundary, or to lay out gardens in side yards, if the houses on ad joining lots 

 are not too close; or, in case of vacant lots adjoining, if the established restrictions 

 regulate the nature of all structures and their nearness to boundary lines. 



If it is feasible to have the greatest dimension of a house from front to back, 

 then space in the side yard may be gained. As the fronts of such houses must 

 necessarily be tall and narrow, and not always so pleasing in appearance as are 

 their longer side views, which emphasize their length rather than their height, it 

 is usually better to place the house broadside to the street. At times an L-shaped 

 house plan may be used, leaving a small, courtlike yard on one side, either toward 

 the front or toward the back of the house. Lot widths which would not otherwise 

 afford ample side-yard gardens, may, by some such forethought in planning the 

 house, allow a side-yard garden and at the same time produce the effect of the 

 broad side of the house toward the street. With these suggestions, or with 

 similar care in the planning of houses or in the placing of them, lots narrower 

 than seventy-five feet front may offer some opportunity for side-yard develop- 

 ments. In selecting a lot, one should take note of both its width and its depth, 

 and of its possibilities and its adaptibility to his requirements. 



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