The Small House Which is Good 
The Country Home of Mr. A. W. Lord 
By Samuel Howe 
I N these days the small country house is much 
talked of and much enjoyed, yet a really suc¬ 
cessful one is rarely built. This building of a 
house, small in its dimensions yet liberal in its accom¬ 
modation, is a rather difficult problem. Few approach 
it in a serious spirit. Many of the workers skilled in 
great affairs leave it alone trusting to luck, cutting 
down some stray plan, rehashing some larger set of 
working drawings, and letting it go at that. Once in a 
while a man takes hold. And the result is easily seen. 
That Mr. Austin Willard Lord, of the city of New 
York, found in the designing of a small cottage for his 
family an interesting problem a mere glance at the 
plans and elevations will reveal. It has paid to study 
the needs of the occasion, the every-day requirements 
of the family. There is in this house a certain 
modesty and a restraint without the humiliating 
discomforts of “features.” It is a healthy plan. 
There is so much in it. The entrance is at the back 
of the house, thus preserving the sacredness of the 
piazza from sudden intrusion. The piazza is of lib¬ 
eral dimensions; comfort is seen in the width of the 
approach and in the general construction. Note the 
scale of the piers; they are not make-believe pil¬ 
lars of any order except the old-world order of sim¬ 
plicity and of good taste. Fifty years hence may 
find it as it is to-day. It may be toned by age, creep¬ 
ers may partly cover the frame, shaping the shad¬ 
ows and softening the outline, hut they are not 
required to conceal the remains of a composition 
cap, or a decaying base-board. Look at the shingles, 
there are but sixteen courses from the ground to the 
eaves. This is just about the proportion of the cov¬ 
ering of the old Colonial houses and cannot well be 
improved upon. In this case the ordinary length of 
shingle is used, doubled at the butts and a quarter inch 
strip of wood nailed under so as to give a heavy 
shadow and emphasize the width of the shingle. The 
eaves project three feet, giving ample covering to the 
walls as well as a shade to the up-stairs rooms. 
1 here are three bath-rooms in the house, one of 
which is in the attic. Two bedrooms are also in the 
attic. All the walls of the house are tinted. 
The plans are figured, showing the all-important 
inches of the building, the proportion of the openings, 
how they center, and the seriousness of everything. 
The views portray its picturesqueness. 
The house was built some years ago when material 
and labor were much lower than they are to-day. The 
house is supposed to have cost about five thousand 
dollars. Built to-day it might well cost seven thou¬ 
sand dollars and be no better. 
A Modest Pasadena Home 
Seymour E. Locke, Architect 
T HE residence of Mr. E. H. May is character¬ 
ized by a severe yet agreeable simplicity of 
exterior design, a compactness and economy 
of plan, and a convenience of arrangement that are 
rarely secured in one of such moderate cost, viz: 
three thousand five hundred dollars. The house is 
twenty-eight by forty-eight in size with porches front 
and rear in excess of those dimensions. From the 
grade line to the first story window sill line the exte¬ 
rior wall has a slight batter and is covered with clap¬ 
boarding, showing five inches to the weather; above 
that line the walls are plumb and are covered with 
the same material showing three and one-half inches 
to the weather. The eave projection beyond the 
wa 11 li ne with the gutter and finish added is nearly 
four feet. I bis produces an effect of “sheltering 
protection” decidedly attractive. 
d'he soffit of the cornice is ceiled on top of the 
shaped rafter feet with tongued, grooved and beaded 
brash grained pine, finished natural. The rafter feet, 
gutters, windowframes and, in fact, all exterior trim are 
painted white. The roof and side walls were given two 
successive coats of stain dark brown in color, which is 
relieved by the dark green of the surrounding trees and 
the half circle of lawn in front. The window openings 
are small in number but large in size, the upper sash 
being cut up into small lights by wood muntins. 
By referring to the plans it will be seen how the 
house “opens up” and that vistas are secured in 
several directions. The woodwork of the parlor 
and library is painted ivory white. The halls, 
dining-room and second floor entire are trimmed 
with selected Oregon pine finished natural, having 
a dull surface. The floors of parlor, hall and 
dining-room were planed, scraped and sandpapered, 
stained and waxed. The floors of kitchen depart¬ 
ment and bath-room were filled and finished with an 
elastic floor varnish. The ceilings throughout the 
house are given a sand finish and are tinted to har¬ 
monize with the varying schemes of color in the sev¬ 
eral rooms. The walls of the halls, parlor and 
library are sand finished, while those of the dining¬ 
room and the bedrooms are papered to the height of 
the picture moulding, which in some instances is at 
the angle of ceiling and wall, and in others is on a line 
with the top of door and window caps. The plan¬ 
ning of the house was done with the family necessi¬ 
ties and habits fully in mind, and the result has been 
a satisfactory solution of the requirements imposed. 
The house has been furnished with excellent taste 
which has supplemented the efforts of the architect to 
a very gratifying degree. 
