A Problem in House Building 
BUILDING ON A HILLSIDE 
By ALICE M. KELLOGG 
F OR a country home the ideal situation is on an 
elevation of ground. Here, the sanitary 
advantages are obvious, with greater oppor¬ 
tunities for a picturesque architecture than is possible 
with a level piece of land. Yet with the numerous 
difficulties attending the utilization ol a hill site, 
which are not inconsiderable, the home builder is 
often deterred from selecting a situation of this 
type. 
In a design recently completed by Messrs. Free¬ 
man & Hasselman for an all-the-year-round resi¬ 
dence for Mr. Edward E. Haviland at Tarrytown, 
N. Y., the exigencies of a sloping plot have been over¬ 
come in a way to bring both positive benefit to the 
inside arrangements and distinct value to the exterior 
effects. 
The width of the lot was one hundred and fifty feet 
and the depth three hundred. In this space the rise 
was ninety feet. 
The extra expense of building on so marked a slope 
as this cannot be exactly estimated, but it would 
probably amount to the cost of making the cel¬ 
lar under the library and the extra length of eight 
to ten feet for the three stone piers under the 
piazza. As these items have produced an extra 
sitting-room and porch they need not be charged up 
un profitably. 
The cost of hauling material was something over 
the average as the distance was three hundred feet 
from the level; but this again was partially balanced 
by finding that the rock that was blasted away for the 
foundation was available for the stone work of the 
lower stories, and by utilizing the earth thrown from 
the cellar for the grading. 
Uncolored cedar shingles were used on the sides 
and roof of the building. The house was thoroughly 
braced, covered with tongue and groove siding, best 
building paper and shingles. Extra protection was 
given from rain and snow, which frequently drives in 
under the shingles during very high winds, by first 
covering the roof with tongue and groove boards, 
then papering and finally shingling. 
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III 
213 
THE EXTERIOR FROM THE FRONT 
