CHAPTER THIRTY SIX 



COTTAGES 



N the planning of modern cottages under the guidance of the 

 general principles which have already been advanced in the 

 consideration of the plans of houses, it will be observed that 

 the problem is here much simplified by the absence of the 

 servants, while the increased rigour of economical restrictions 

 eliminates all but the absolutely essential. In seeking for a basis for 

 the plan, the essential fact to be borne in mind is that the cottage 

 household in most cases maintains but one fire and that fire fulfils 

 the twofold function of warming the kitchen and cooking the food. 

 It may be at once deduced from this that the cottage family lives in its 

 kitchen, and such will be found to be the case. In many modern cottage 

 plans this essential fact is hardly realised, and one finds a large living- 

 room, perhaps with a small kitchen attached, while others are sub-divided 

 into equally minute parlour and kitchen. In all these plans it is the kitchen 

 which will be lived in, and the parlour or living-room will be filled with 

 pretentious furniture and kept for show. And so as the villa apes the 

 mansion we shall find again the cottage struggling to attain the coveted 

 elegance of the villa. The possession of a parlour with its recognised appoint- 

 ments is in this case not an expression of the requirements, tastes, or habits 

 of the family, but rather the symbol of one of the degrees in that spurious 

 scale of excellence on which the modern social system is based. Just as to 

 the vulgar the term "carriage people " is used as a caste distinction, and the 

 possession of a carriage is held to be a sign of merit, so on a lower plane 

 the owner of a parlour acquires precedence over the family not ashamed to 

 admit frankly its custom of living in its kitchen. The central feature of the 

 cottage plan should thus be a roomy kitchen. If a parlour is added it 

 should be relatively small, and the kitchen should dominate the plan, while 

 an intermediate type of plan might, by including the parlour as a recess in 

 the kitchen, obviate the necessity of the second fire. 



In addition to the kitchen living-room it is desirable that a scullery or 

 back-kitchen should be added, where the washing of dishes and other work 

 may be done, and here, unless a separate washhouse is provided, there should 

 be a boiler. In addition to this accommodation, a coal-store and water- 

 closet are required, and these may often be placed in a detached position, 

 while the pantry is generally more conveniently placed in the main building. 

 The typical cottage should have at least three bedrooms, of which one should 

 be larger than the other two. 



The question of the bathroom as a feature in the modern cottage plan 

 is a somewhat difficult one. It must be frankly admitted that the average 

 cottager would have little use for it, and in such families it is often only the 

 children who enjoy a weekly " tub." A recent inspection of some model 

 cottages in which the greater part of the scullery floor-space was taken up 

 by a full-sized bath, left one wondering as to the probable uses to which 

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