A compact and orderly arrangement securing two doors between 
the kitchen and living quarters at both points of contact 
The refrigerator is built-in, filled from outside. A sliding door to 
pantry is a space saver; cross draught, with four windows 
The Essentials of the Modern Kitchen 
by James Earle Miller 
Illustrations by the Author 
“A Fat Kitchen Makes a Lean Will.”— 
HERE is a growing and altogether proper tendency to 
treat the kitchen as an integral part of the house, which 
was almost entirely absent in English and American houses of 
early times; in fact, until within the last twenty-five years very 
little thought was attached to it. A century ago it was regarded 
advisable to have the kitchen occupy a separate building some¬ 
what removed from the main building or located at a great dis¬ 
tance from the dining or living-rooms, ofttimes the whole length 
of the house, lhe principal reason for this was the primitive 
methods used in cooking and preparing foods which were very 
objectionable at close range. Odors, noises and unsanitary ap¬ 
pliances made the kitchen a place to be abhored and to be kept as 
far away as possible. 1 he present-day intelligent methods of 
dealing with the kitchen, particularly in America, have efifected a 
complete transformation in this old idea. Our modern successful 
architect of the home attaches great importance to the planning 
of the kitchen, with its ad¬ 
joining pantries, closets, 
storage rooms, etc.; and 
rightfully he should, as it 
goes more towards making 
for the convenience, help 
and comfort of the up-to- 
date household than possi¬ 
bly any other feature of 
the home. 
The modern English 
kitchen with its relation to 
the dining-room is interest¬ 
ing for comparison with 
those here in America, 
chiefly because the early 
English settlers constitute 
the original source from which we obtain our start in house-build¬ 
ing. The English kitchen's adjuncts practically comprise separate 
departments, such as the scullery, larder, wood, ashes, knives and 
boots, fuel, etc. This condition naturally requires the employ¬ 
ment of considerable help even in the smaller homes. On the 
other hand, the compactness so noticeable in American homes— 
requiring perhaps one-half the space, thus reducing the neces¬ 
sary help to a minimum and obtaining the maximum of con¬ 
venience—has brought our kitchen to a standard, nearly, if not 
entirely, approaching the ideal. The American architect has 
based his idea for this compactness upon the same reasoning as 
is exercised in fitting up a convenient workshop, for truly a 
kitchen is the workshop of the house. Again, the peculiar cus¬ 
tom of medieval times in placing the kitchen a considerable dis¬ 
tance from the dining-room still survives in the English homes, 
while in American homes a marked difference has long pre¬ 
vailed. The kitchen here is usually placed as near as possible to 
The kitchen end of a double house, where light and air can come 
from but two sides. The rear hall is lighted by a glazed door 
For a small house, without pantry, 
only one stairway is needed 
( 38 ) 
