A HOUSE IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 
Allen W. Jackson, Architect 
’VTOT since the earliest Colonial times has 
C ^ it been the custom in this country to 
plan a house and place it on its land, without 
considering that its appearance from the 
street was one important consideration. We 
are all familiar with the early type of farm¬ 
house, with its long stretch of roof, without 
dormers, sloping until it nearly reaches the 
ground towards the cold winds from the north, 
and with the plan inside arranged so that the 
living-rooms have been put along the southern 
side, with their windows opening towards the 
warm southern sun and breezes. That they 
should have presented their best side to the 
road, seems to have been the last thing to 
be thought of when so many other things 
had to be considered to make the house one 
to be lived in and 
enjoyed. 
In this special 
house we are 
illustrating, its 
designer, who is 
also its o w n e r, 
had to decide at 
the start whether 
he should follow 
the usual custom 
of putting the liv¬ 
ing side of his 
house towards the 
street, and setting 
it well back on the 
lot, with porches 
at the front and 
a lawn sloping to 
the sidewalk, or 
do the obviously 
sensible thing, 
and place the 
house with i t s 
back to the street 
and to the north, 
and build it as 
near the street as 
the laws of the 
city would allow, 
thus giving him 
the advantage of having the larger part of 
his land at the rear. 1 he lot of land to be 
built on, and on which entirely depended the 
plan of the house, is on Brattle Street, the 
famous old Cambridge turnpike, and has 
a width on the street of 95 feet and a depth of 
115 feet back from the street. In the centre 
of the lot was a most beautiful great black 
oak, which was one of the important consid¬ 
erations in planning the house, as it sug¬ 
gested such charming possibilities. 
On the western side of the land stretches 
the rolling country of a beautiful park with 
its stately trees, which at evening are sil¬ 
houetted against the sunset. 
As is seen by the plans, the halls and less 
important rooms are located on the north 
side of the house 
next to the street, 
which gives the 
principal living- 
rooms both on the 
first and second 
floors the advan¬ 
tage of the sun, 
and the additional 
advantage of 
opening on the 
quiet privacy of 
lawn and garden, 
and of being en¬ 
tirely protected 
from the noise of 
the street. The 
illustrations show 
how wise was the 
decision of the 
architect in mak¬ 
ing the great oak 
tree the keynote 
of the whole prob- 
lem, and how 
valuable it is in 
summer in casting 
its great shadow 
over the whole 
southern side of 
the house and 
THE ENTRANCE PORCH 
24I 
