292 LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



standing that the neighboring lots will be developed in a similar manner, 

 and if this understanding exists it should commonly be given legal 

 force by a clause in the deed of sale of each lot, or by some other legal 

 recognition by the development company. If certain land is unre- 

 stricted, or differently restricted from the rest, it should be plainly 

 so shown on the plan, that the purchaser may not be deceived. Some 

 restriction of the use of the buildings and land is essential to the char- 

 acter of any residential development. Commercial and manufacturing 

 activities, residential use of less desirable type, or anything which is 

 unsanitary, unduly noisy, unsightly, or in any other way a nuisance to 

 the neighborhood should be prohibited. Restrictions of this kind are 

 often made elaborate and comprehensive, and it is desirable that they 

 should be so, because upon them more than upon any other set of 

 restrictions the success of the neighborhood depends. 



A standard may be set for the value and appearance of the houses : 

 each house may be required to cost at least a specified sum or to be 

 constructed in a specified way or designed by certain approved archi- 

 tects, or — and this is common — to have its plans, however obtained, 

 accepted by the development company before the house may be con- 

 structed. The size and shape of the house may be restricted : it may 

 be allowed to cover only a certain percentage of the lot area, or to ex- 

 tend across only a certain proportion of the lot frontage, or to be only 

 so many feet or so many stories in height. The orientation of the 

 building and the elevation of the first floor may be fixed by the restric- 

 tions. The position of the house and of other buildings on the lot may 

 be restricted ; this Is perhaps the commonest restriction of all. The 

 house may be required to be set back a certain number of feet from the 

 street and a certain number of feet from the side lines and sometimes 

 from the back line of the lot. This same restriction may apply to 

 all buildings upon the lot, but often garages and perhaps other small 

 buildings and bay windows and porches on the main house may be 

 allowed to intrude to some extent into the areas restricted against larger 

 structures. Minor structures may have special restrictions of their 

 own. Garages may be prohibited within a certain distance of the 

 street; henhouses may be relegated to the area behind the dwelling 

 or prohibited altogether. Other structures like fences and walls may 



