328 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1910 



Messrs. Spencer 

 and Power, of Chi- 

 cago, 111., were the 

 architects of this in- 

 teresting house. 



The uppermost 

 thought in the 

 minds of the archi- 

 tects in designing 

 and planning the 

 group of houses il- 

 lustrated in the en- 

 gravings presented 

 herewith, was to 

 combine in each 

 one of them the es- 

 sential characteris- 

 tics which go to 

 make a house dis- 

 tinctive, and at the 

 same time meet all 

 the necessary re- 

 quirements of the 

 family who are to 

 live in it. 



A study of the plan of 

 each of these houses will 

 show that they have been 

 planned with this view 

 in mind. 



The architects, as well 

 as the promotors of 

 large suburban and 

 country properties, have 

 come to realize that 

 there are a great number 

 of small families of 

 moderate means, who 

 have the refinement and 

 good taste to appreciate 

 an artistic and distinc- 

 tive house; and are now 

 putting their best efforts 

 forward to meet this de- 

 mand. 



There are now greater 

 possibilities and an un- 

 limited scope in the 

 building of a mod- 

 ern house, for the 

 reason that there 

 are a large num- 

 b e r of materials 

 which can be used 

 in the construc- 

 tion of a home. 

 Every known type 

 of wooden construc- 

 tion, as well as brick 

 and cement are now 

 used, particularly 

 cement, and each 

 one of the houses 

 shown are built 

 partly of cement, 

 either as a whole or 

 in combination with 

 stone, brick or 

 wood. All of these 

 materials are plas- 

 tic in the hands of 



Fig. I 5 — An interesting house at Glencoe, 111. 



Fig. I 6 — First floor plan 



Fig. 1 7 — Another view of Fig. 1 5 



the designer, and 

 are easily construct- 

 ed by the builder. 

 Great care should 

 be exercised in the 

 use of these ma- 

 terials, either as a 

 whole or in com- 

 bination with other 

 materials, and when 

 this is done the re- 

 sults are such as 

 could not be at- 

 tained in any other 

 way. 



Individuality i n 

 the designing of a 

 house exterior is 

 quite as essential to 

 the success of an 

 estate as are the 

 planning and fur- 

 nishing of the in- 

 terior and the de- 

 velopment of the 

 home grounds. The 

 illustrations show how 

 interesting these dwell- 

 ings are, and they repre- 

 sent the good work be- 

 ing done in recent do- 

 mestic architecture. 



The most dangerous 

 menace in modern build- 

 ing has been the tend- 

 ency to over-ornamentation, but this is 

 being overcome by a closer study of the 

 work of the best firms in architecture, and 

 is now to a very large degree being elimi- 

 nated by the designers and builders of 

 the latest homes. 



The strong desire for the artistic is 

 here expressed in the house of modest 

 cost. It has been long felt, but fortu- 

 nately the determination of the suburban- 

 ite to succeed in having his home designed 

 so that it will be tastefully executed and 

 broadly distinguish- 

 able from his 

 neighbors' residence 

 is now easily ac- 

 complished. It is 

 expected that these 

 houses will furnish 

 numerous and es- 

 sential features of 

 form and plan to 

 that end. 



We have shown 

 some of the possi- 

 bilities, and by a 

 wise and sufficient 

 exercise of judg- 

 ment there is no 

 reason why he 

 should fail in hav- 

 ing around him de- 

 velopments such or 

 as fair as these 

 here selected and 

 illustrated. 



