iSS 



IT is an unusual 

 and rather 



c 



ur 



agreeable ex- 

 perience for a 

 mother of a fam- 

 ily to find her- 

 self so popular 

 that she is con- 

 stantly receiving 

 i n V i t ations to 

 take pleasant rides with gentlemen — real 

 estate agents. 



Without exaggeration I believe we have 

 been through hundreds of houses, and let 

 me tell you of some of the conveniences and 

 comforts we have found in these southern 

 California homes and see if you do not agree 

 with us. 



IIST the first place the California housekeep- 

 er in average circumstances, like your 



Avife, Mr. Subscriber, or me, apparently 

 realizes that a small, compact house can 

 hold more happiness than a large one, for it 

 enables her to have more time to enjoy the 

 wonderful climate and scenery with her 

 family. 



We have been through little bungalows 

 which cost a small fortune to build, exqui- 

 site and perfect in every appointment and 

 evidently designed for people who could af- 

 ford to gratify every whim but preferred a 

 house small enough to manage without a 

 resident servant. 



SUPPOSE yoii let me conduct you through 

 a typical' southern California bungalow, 

 moderate in price and yet complete and 

 convenient. We will take this frame, colo- 

 nial bungalow, painted ivory white with a 

 touch of gray green on the window screens 

 and with a dull green, shingled roof. We 

 might select a flat-roofed Spanish stucco, an 

 English cottage type of stucco with steep 

 gables or an Italian villa, also of stucco, 

 but when one must choose a moderate-priced 

 home I believe the good old substantial 

 frame house is safer. 



Notice it nestles close to the ground, but 

 the lawn is gently terraced down a few feet 

 from the house and at the street is terraced 

 down with bricks on which ivy is growing. 

 You see the effect is low although it is well 

 above the street level. Notice the view of 

 the distant mountains from the porch. 



The solid front door you see is 3^^ feet 

 wide, and I have seen them even wider. 

 While there is no screen to this door there 

 are screens to the long side lights, and many 

 cautious housekeepers open the side lights 

 and view the prospective guest through the 

 locked screen before opening the door. There 

 are also two pairs of French doors opening 

 on to the porch. 



■ The living room in this bungalow is about 

 14 by 23 feet with a beautiful fireplace at 

 one end, flanked by built-in bookcases which 

 fill the whole end of the room. The fire- 

 place is of dull finished tile in soft colors, 

 framed in ivorv woodwork, for that is the 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



The Small House of Southern California 



1 



CONSTANCE ROOT BOYDEN 

 (Stancy .Puerden) 



TU 



APBiii, 1922 



finish throughout 

 this house. The 

 paper, which is 

 alike in living 

 and dining rooms, 

 is of a light, 

 stippled effect 

 which will har- 

 monize with any 

 color scheme. 

 While we have yet to see a California 

 house without a fireplace we have seen very, 

 very few which show use. Sometimes a gas 

 heater is placed in the fireplace and often 

 an ugly little stove stands out in front of 

 it. Notice that this one has a fire of "bri- 

 quets." There is a gas "floor furnace" in 

 this room too, with a flue to carry the fumes 

 to the chimney. Many of the bungalows are 

 piped merely for gas stoves, and almost none 

 of the modern ones have real furnaces. 



Notice as you come into the dining room 

 that there are glass doors in the wide open- 

 ing between the two rooms. The high cost 

 of fuel in this state makes such doors quite 

 as much of a necessity as in the East. In 

 the dining room is one of the most charm- 

 ing features of California homes. It is the 

 built-in sideboard or buffet with ample china 

 closets on each side, the whole extending 

 across one end of the dining room or re- 

 cessed into the middle of one side wall. Thus 

 there is no cumbersome piece of furniture 

 to mar the fine oak floor when moved, nor 

 do you have to wield a daily dust mop under 

 it. I am told that during and immediately 

 following the war, when lumber was so 

 high, there was a tendency to omit the 

 built-in furniture, but the sensible, labor- 

 saving custom is apparently returning, for 

 some of the finest new houses we saw con- 

 tained exceptionally fine built-in sideboards. 

 Properly built they tend to make a small 

 dining room seem more spacious and sym- 

 metrical. 



The French doors, opening out to the little 

 pergola roofed patio, make the dining room 

 seem almost out of doors in warm weather. 

 That little patio is typical of southern Cali- 

 fornia homes, even the humblest, although 

 it is not always out of the dining room. 



NOW come out into the kitchen with me. 

 If you men can get some ideas for im- 

 proving the kitchens presided over by 

 your wives they will appreciate it. Notice 

 that the walls and woodwork of this kitchen 

 are spotlessly white with a pretty, inlaid 

 lineoleum on the floor. 



I never saw a California sink which was not 

 under a window or pair of windows, so that 

 the housekeeper may not only feast her eyes 

 on God's out-of-doors and breathe pure air 

 while she is at work, but listen to the music 

 of the mocking birds as well. In this kitchen, 

 between the windows, is a little cupboard 

 set into the wall. It is similar to a bathroom 

 medicine cabinet and in it is kept a supply 

 of soap, scouring powders, sapolio, brushes, 

 etc. The sink itself is built in with tiling 



