398 New Yoek at the World's Columbian Exposition. 



from the buildings of tlie French agricultural colonies. In appear- 

 ance it resembled hundreds of the cottages one sees scattered through 

 New York and ISTew England ; white, with green blinds, little porch 

 with vines and hanging baskets, window boxes of green-pa,inted pine, 

 and flower beds filled with inexpensive but cheery flowering plants ; 

 brown Holland shades at the windows and a white muslin curtain at 

 the half-glass front door, to which led the graveled path. 



The house had a frontage of twenty feet and a rear depth of twenty- 

 eight feet. It would stand, therefore, on a twenty-five foot lot. The 

 accompanying cuts are reproductions of the working drawings, giving 

 the front and rear elevations, the fioor plans and the plans for framing, 

 followed by a "bill of material," prepared by Mr. John Coder, the 

 builder of the house. The demand for plans by the visitors was so 

 great that after the middle of July they were published in pamphlet 

 form and sold at twenty-five cents a copy. A second edition was 

 necessary. 



The exterior of the house was, to say the least, commonplace. Wijth 

 less haste it is probable that something which would have given more 

 pleasure to the eye could have been devised. But those interested 

 were unwilling to sacrifice necessity or convenience for mere beauty, 

 believing that after all fitness is the best of beauty. At the moment it 

 seemed that something must be sacrificed in order to come within the 

 money limit, and have that great desideratum, a bathroom. Tested 

 by the severe test of use, fewer, criticisms could be made on the 

 arrangement of the interior than the planner had expected. In the 

 first place, all available space was judiciously economized ; then there 

 was, considering the size of the house, ample closet room. " It is 

 entirely unnecessary and too expensive to give a laboring man so many 

 closets," said more than one careful builder. No housewife made this 

 criticism. The arrangement of kitchen, pantry, sink and stove, was 

 such as to save the steps of the housekeeper as far as possible. 



Windows and doors were so placed as to afford suitable spaces for the 

 necessary articles of furniture, and to permit easy and rapid airing of 

 all rooms. The sitting room fireplace was an additional and most 

 important means of securing ventilation, the only drawback being that 

 where the cost of fuel was so important an item, it would probably have 

 to be closed in winter when a stove would have to be used. 



In the arrangement of the rooms the placing of the bathroom was a 

 question which received considerable thought. It was finally located 

 as in the plans, because, first, the cost of plumbing was considerably less 

 where pipes were not carried to the second floor ; and, secondly, it was 

 not possible to put a hot water pipe into the bathtub and come within 

 the estimated cost. The proximity of the kitchen makes it easy for the 

 mother of the family to put her washboiler on the kitchen fire and 

 carry the hot water in pails to the tub. Finally, its position makes it 

 the warmest possible in winter, when the heat coming in from the 

 kitchen, supplemented by that of a central draft lamp, would raise 

 the temperature high enough for bathing. The bathtub itself was tin, 

 with wooden casing. The closet was of the most approved " washout " 

 pattern, with flush tank. The location of the kitchen sink on the oppo- 



