CHAPTER IV 

 DETAILS OF PLANNING FOR AVERAGE CITY LOTS 



In starting a plan, it is highly essential that one school himself to see at first 

 only general outlines, relationships between main parts, and general propor- 

 tions. It was the purpose of the preceding chapter to emphasize the necessity 

 of studying these fundamentals before giving thought to details. One starts 

 with an outUne of his lot, drawn to a known scale. To suggest a house, its 

 position, and the approximate areas alloted to front, back, and sides, — in fact, 

 to tell the whole story, — a square or rectangular outline, also drawn to scale, 

 is cut from a piece of paper to represent the house, and this is placed somewhere 

 within the lot outline. The square representing the house is then shifted about 

 to different positions, until the proportions of the front and the back areas and 

 of the sides seem about right. 



Next, one may begin to think a little about the house itself. Considering the 

 points of the compass and the local physical conditions, the first-floor plans 

 for the house should be drawn accordingly. Some particular outline of the 

 ground plan may seem better than the others in view of the lot width, its 

 orientation, or the like. Thence one may proceed to plan the elevations of the 

 house and to arrange the yard, the subdivisions of the several areas, and, finally, 

 the details of the house and of the yard. It is highly important to plan thus by 

 a logical sequence of thought. If the general relationships are correct, the plan 

 will be convenient. If the proportions between the areas are good, the finished 

 scheme will be pleasing, even though the details may be crude. Details maybe 

 changed; but a house may not easily be moved, nor house plans altered, if the 

 original position or plans subsequently prove a handicap in the development of 

 the yard. If one is primarily interested in the house, he should yet remember 

 that a well-planned yard is necessary for the best appearance of the house; 

 and, of course, good style and a suitable arrangement of the house are equally 

 essential for the best development of the yard. It is absolutely necessary to 

 solve a plan in its fundamentals before one can have a point of view for the con- 

 sideration of its details. 



As has already been suggested, the allotment of space about a house should, 

 as a rule, provide the greatest amount for the recreational area — ^the gardens 

 and the private lawn. The front yard should be next in size, and the service 

 area the smallest. Variations of this apportionment are not only quite possible, 

 but often desirable, but in such instances a satisfactory appearance will require 

 careful attention to the use of architectural details and planting. There is no 

 rule for the precise proportions desirable. If approximately correct, neither 

 space, nor the opportunity for the apparent correction of proportions by careful 

 handling of detailswill be lost. Herein lies the opportunity for a good designer, 

 who may determine these fundamental proportions with great nicety, and there- 

 by add both interest and usefulness to the plan. A designer may formulate the 

 main lines of a plan with some general idea of its finished appearance; but 

 nevertheless he invariably works from generalities to details — -never from 



