224 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



June, 19 10 



-Folding couch, shut 



A special six-room cot- 

 tage, 24x39 feet, with 

 dormer windows and 

 porch, and having a nine- 

 foot ceiling, can be pur- 

 chased for $600. 



The making of portable 

 houses has become such a 

 large industry that methods 

 of construction, models 

 and floor plans differ 

 widely with various manu- 

 facturers. Let us examine 

 a few styles. In the houses 

 made by one firm the floor 

 consists of spruce floor 

 joists framed and fastened 

 together, over which 

 frame is laid a seven- 

 eighths-inch North Caro- 

 lina pine flooring dressed 

 and matched. 

 The floor is 

 made in sec- 

 tions, locked 

 together so 

 that the 

 tongue of one 

 section fits 

 into the groove 

 of the other. 

 This prevents 

 cracks in the 

 flooring. The 

 baseboard a t 

 the intersection 

 of the side- 

 walls with the 

 floor sections 

 is put up from 

 the outside 

 after the house 

 is erected. It 

 is s e c u r ely 

 screwed to the 

 walls and also 

 to the floor 



timbers, thus binding the whole firmly together. 

 The lower edge of the sidewall frame is rabbeted 

 to receive the base, forming a water table, so that 

 the water runs over 

 the outside instead 

 of behind the base- 

 board. All houses 



11x15 ^^^^ ^^ 1^^^ 

 with side-walls not 

 more than seven 

 feet six inches high, 

 are built with each 

 wall in one section 

 and each side of 

 the roof in one sec- 

 tion. Two men can 

 easily handle the 

 sections. 



The frames for 

 the side and end 

 walls are made of 

 t w o-inch cypress, 

 the studding being 

 placed fourteen 



Fig. 9 — An interior of a portable house 



Fig. 1 1 — ^Folding couch, open 



Fig 1 2 — Double folding bed open 



Fig. 1 3 — Double folding bed closed 



Fig. 1 4 — A five-room portable house. 



inches on centers. The 

 corner joints are so made 

 as to be perfectly air-tight 

 and waterproof, and are 

 fastened together with 

 three four-inch lag screws. 

 Over this frame is 

 stretched Neponsett Red 

 Rope Lining, and over the 

 lining is nailed the cypress 

 or red cedar siding. 



The frame for the roof 

 is made and covered just 

 like the frames for the 

 walls. Where the sections 

 meet at the ridge they are 

 capped with a 3x3 ridge 

 pole, which is milled out to 

 fit closely over the ridge 

 boards. This makes a per- 

 fectly water-tight joint. 

 The sides of 

 the roof and 

 the ridge-cap 

 are held firmly 

 in place by the 

 o rn a m ented 

 caps and fin- 

 ials. The raf- 

 ters of the 

 frame are 

 notched at the 

 lower end to 

 fit the plate or 

 top of the 

 side-walls, and 

 are fastened 

 two feet from 

 the top, inside, 

 with collar 

 beams as 

 truss-work. 



The gables 

 above the line 

 of the side- 

 walls are made 

 in one piece 

 and securely 

 fastened to the 

 walls with 

 screws. The roofs 

 drop over the gable 

 into a mortise and 

 tenent. The gables 

 are shingled or 

 clap-boarded as the 

 purchaser pleases. 



The window 

 frames are strong 

 and the sashes are 

 fitted tightly. The 

 windows slide up 

 and can be locked 

 with spring fasten- 

 ers. There is a 

 hinged sash in each 

 gable, which swings 

 in and which is 

 worked from the 

 floor with a pulley 

 and a cord. 



