i6o 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



The small site on sloping ground has been well employed in the type of house chosen to fit it, as shown above 



other way. There are two new suburban developments 

 near one of our large cities. In one, the houses are not 

 prepossessing, the land has been grievously cut up and the 

 whole place has degenerated into a second rate asylum for 

 newly married and impecunious couples. One is in positive 

 danger while going along the sidewalks of being run down 

 by perambulators driven by squalid looking nursemaids. 

 A more unattractive place of abode could scarcely be 

 imagined. Yet from the very first the ultimate character 

 of this settlement could have been gaged from the methods 

 pursued by the promoters so that the unfortunates who sunk 

 their money therein deserve no special sympathy. 



The other development alluded to has been conducted 

 in a very different way and ks policy has been made clear 

 from the outset. Attractive sites have been set off con- 

 formably to the lay of the land and certain architectural 

 restrictions have been imposed upon prospective builders. 

 The result has been a wholesome and agreeable growth 

 and those who have settled upon sites near by independently 

 of the land company have been protected and warranted in 

 their choice. Now all this sounds like the "before" and 

 "after" of some quack medicine or like the story of the 

 good little boy who did and the bad little boy who didn't, 

 but it is true, and so clear that he who runs may read. From 

 this citation of dreadful things to avoid in the choice of a 

 site perhaps some positive deductions may have been drawn. 

 Let us hope they have. 



Turning from the monitory side we may catalogue some 

 of the features to be sought for in selecting the small house 

 site. Having an eye first to the practical side, insist that 

 drainage and sanitation be perfect. Avoid damp, rheumatic 

 places and insist that your site be dry. The damp spot may 

 look alluring, but beware of it. Another practical point 

 to be kept in mind in choosing the site is the probable initial 

 cost of improvement involved and the probable expense of 



upkeep. This applies particularly to grading and the build- 

 ing and repair of retaining walls or terraces. Of course 

 the matters of pleasant outlook and convenient privacy will 

 keep themselves in evidence without reminding. 



The available places for small sites are legion and it 

 needs only ingenuity and imagination to discern them and a 

 proper sense of discrimination with a reliable knowledge of 

 one's requirements and preferences to select them. The 

 proof of the pudding is in the eating, so we had better test 

 the truth of this assertion about the number and desirability 

 of small sites by examining some cases in point. We all 

 have a feeling that somehow where streets run crookedly 

 and cut into one another at all kinds of angles there ought 

 to be inviting points and protected, out-of-the-way corners 

 that would be just the very spots for unpretentious houses, 

 fascinating gardens. That our instinct in this respect is 

 trustworthy the examples submitted ought to prove. 



First on the list comes "Mermaid Lane Cottage," the 

 name itself refreshingly suggestive. At St. Martin, in 

 Philadelphia, Mermaid Lane comes to a point with a broad 

 driveway issuing from the Cresheim Valley at that spot. 

 This three-sided bit of land runs to a sharp angle and at 

 no place has much width. It did not form a desirable or 

 valuable adjunct to the next property, although there were 

 some fine old trees upon it. The angle seemed too long 

 and narrow to be turned to much account. By a happy 

 inspiration on the part of the architects, Messrs. Savary, 

 Scheetz and Savary, of Philadelphia, it was decided to 

 build almost on the property line of the widest portion of 

 the wedge turning the house endwise to the two roads and 

 setting its back to the point. Though this put the "front 

 door" in a side garden, almost on the boundary of the 

 adjoining place, it secured the utmost privacy, brought the 

 house where the occupants could get the full benefit of the 

 old shade and secured a delightful outlook in every direction, 



