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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 1906 



Some Well-Designed Suburban Houses 



By Paul Thurston 



|HE first consideration in 



building a suburban home 



is to select a design; the 



next to build a house in 



harmony with the site and 



its environments. A house 

 pleasing to the eye and designed in good 

 taste is oftentimes not capable of repro- 

 duction, for the reason that it instantly 

 loses its charm from the lack of proper 

 surroundings. The landscape has much to 

 do with the beauty of a suburban site. Se- 

 lect a house of ordinary type and place it 

 in a proper setting of trees anci shrubs, and 

 its value will be enhanced one hundred per 

 cent. Very few houses indeed can stand 

 alone without the proper setting. There- 

 fore, it is imperative, if the house is to be 

 built on a plain lot, to select a design to 

 which much care has been devoted, in 

 order to overcome the disadvantages of a 

 treeless site. 



The house built for Mr. Dean Alvord 

 in Brooklyn, N. Y., as shown in Figs. 1 

 and 2, can stand comparatively alone, for 

 it was designed with that purpose in view. 

 It has a charm about it, with its excellent 

 harmony of color, that helps to make up 

 for the lack of a large tree setting. The underpinning is of 

 red brick laid in red mortar; the chimneys are built in a 

 similar manner and of the same material. The wooden 



1 



-The Plans of a House Built for Mr. Dean Alvord of Brooklyn, Designed to Stand 

 Alone, without the Accompaniment of Surrounding Foliage 



The House Built for Mr. Dean Alvord of Brooklyn, N. Y., can Stand Comparatively 

 Alone, for it was Designed with That Intention 



superstructure is covered on the exterior framework with 

 matched sheathing, building paper, and shingles stained a 

 dark soft brown color, while the trimmings are painted 



cream white. The entrance to the 

 house leads into a large living-hall, 

 which extends across the entire 

 front of the house — a hall trimmed 

 with oak, and provided with a 

 paneled wainscoting and a beamed 

 ceiling. At one end of the room 

 is an open fireplace, furnished with 

 yellow tiled facings and hearth and 

 mantel. On either side of this fire 

 place paneled seats are built in, and 

 at the opposite end of the room the 

 wall space is filled with bookcases. 

 A handsomely designed staircase 

 starts from a broad platform with 

 circular ends. Inviting paneled 

 seats are placed in these circular 

 ends. The parlor has pink walls 

 and white enamel trim. An arch- 

 way opens into the hall under the 

 stairway, which is also duplicated 

 in the dining-room. 



This dining-room, trimmed with 

 oak, has a paneled wainscoting, a 

 wooden cornice, and a fireplace 

 with green tiled hearth and facings, 

 and a mantel. There is also a 

 china-cabinet built in, with leaded 

 glass doors. The butler's pantry 

 is fitted with sink, drawers, dressers 

 and a store-closet. The kitchen, 

 trimmed with North Carolina pine, 

 is provided with a range, a sink, a 



S£CO/1/7 ILOOR.. 



