FARMHOUSE FACES 

 HIGHWAY ON WEST 



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simple in design, provides for each room 

 to be separated from the other by closet 

 space, permits a variable number of bed- 

 rooms, and can be reached from the out- 

 side. 



The Exterior 



The house exterior looks nice from 

 any direction and makes the most of- a 

 spacious setting. It should look equally 

 well constructed of stone, brick, wood 

 siding, shingles, plywood, or asbestos 

 sheets. The windows are large, in keef> 

 ing with the trend among homeowners 

 for sunshine and spacious views. The roof 

 projects to form a large overhang which 

 is attractive and practical. 



This house is based on the much dis- 

 cussed principle of modular planning. 

 The floor plan shown here is a checker- 

 board of squares. These squares are based 

 on a standard modular unit of four 

 inches, or multiples of four inches, in- 

 stead of fractional and odd dimensions. 



It can be built with a minimum of 

 cutting and waste when materials are alro 

 of modular sizes. The floor joist is 16 

 feet wide, for example. Windows also 

 coincide with modular lines. Manu- 

 facturers are now making modular-sized 

 windows. . ; , r 



Construction 



This farmhouse achieves simplicity be- 

 cause the rectangles of the farmhouse are 

 only one room wide (16 feet) and re- 

 quire only one span of 2 x 10 floor joints. 

 The house needs no center beams or 

 other supports in the basement since 

 interior partitions do not carry a load. 

 The roof is built of light-weight rafters. 



The cost of the house will vary with 

 locality and for a variety of reasons. 

 However, E. V. Stadel, farm adviser for 

 Jo Daviess county has asked contractors 

 for estimates. , 



Two contractors submitted bids averag- 

 ing from $7,000 to $8,000 for the house 

 complete with plumbing, heating, and 



wiring. Stadel says he feels that anyone 

 who is handy at all at carpentering could 

 do much of the rough work on a house of 

 this type himself. 



He says that he has had a lot of folks 

 in to talk about building a new house of 

 this type but they seem to shy away from 

 a one story house. 



"We seem to have the idea that a 

 farm house must be a big, square house," 

 he says, "when a one story house should 

 be much more efficient for a homemaker 

 as well as cheaper to build." 



Work Area 



One of the particular advantages in this 

 house is the well-engineered homemaking 

 area. The workroom contains a handy 

 wash-up space, an office with desk and 

 files, a laundry alcove, work space for 

 processing food and prepuring produce 

 for market, and storage cabinets for work 

 clothes. 



The kitchen provides a U-shaped area 

 for refrigerator, sink, range, cabinets and 

 efficient work counters. The kitchen also 

 provides a breakfast nook. It can also 

 double as a sewing room. 



Shower and toilet can be put in the 

 workroom also in case it is impossible, 

 because of drainage, to put them in the 

 basement. 



The one-story house with a partial 

 basement was selected because of today's 

 preference for one story houses. In 

 addition, most farmers want at least a 

 partial basement under their home. 



The house was made flexible because 

 of a difference in family size and to make 

 the building inexpensive in case only 

 a one-bedroom house was desired with 

 expansion to come later. 



The basement was designed to enable 

 farm workers to clean up before entering 

 the living areas. The basement also can 

 be built to include an all-purpose room 

 which can serve as a clothes-drying room 

 in case of wet weather, , 



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FARMHbUSE FACES 

 HIGHWAY ON EAST 



MODULAR PLANNING 



The house is designed along modwior 

 lines. Studs, room partitions, windows 

 and door openings are placed to fall 

 along 16-inch modular lines. SItetch 

 shows how the windows fit without cut- 

 ting because they are of modular di- 

 mensions. 



House must hove sufflcieni elevation so 

 basement plumbing fixtures can drain in- 

 to septic tank; 



BASEMENT PLAN 



lUNE, 1948 



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