A single tree shades this house. Cross ventilation is provided for 
in left plan; in the right, is a fine living-room for seashore—three 
exposed sides shaded by the porch 
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June, 1913 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
457 
with a small cellar, large enough to contain a small heater or 
furnace, supplemented with two fireplaces and a good kitchen 
range. Then the house can be kept dry during a cold, rainy spell 
or made comfortable at the end of the season 
when the late autumn rains or early frosts 
make it decidedly chilly. 
One of the things you must see to is that 
the exterior walls and all floors are insulated 
with a heavy waterproof building paper be¬ 
fore shingling, clapboarding or stuccoing, 
and the interior walls should be sheathed 
or plastered, for it will make it both cooler 
and dryer. Composition wall board may 
be used instead of plastering and if put up 
according to the manufacturers’ instructions, 
good results can be obtained because it saves 
time and the litter and muss of plastering. 
To avoid hot, stuffy chambers, you must 
have large windows and ceilings at least 
8' 6" high. The chambers will be cooler if 
the roof has pitch enough to permit of a 
large air space or unfinished open attic with 
a window at each end. This allows air to 
circulate and become cooler as night falls. 
of the house — a cool arrangement 
a dining-room and above all a compact kitchen and pantry. No 
one will be happy or healthy if there is any failure or lack 
of efficiency at that end. Life centers on the porch and if 
it be wide and cooled by the prevailing 
breezes it will be thoroughly enjoyed. The 
dining-room should open onto the piazza, 
because a porch breakfast, luncheon or tea is 
both delightful and a common occurrence, 
and the service must be convenient. But we 
must screen it from flies and mosquitoes. 
Neat, screened frames, with large openings 
between the porch piers or columns are hard¬ 
ly noticeable; but they add considerably to 
the comfort, and in some places no comfort 
can be obtained without them. 
The living-room and dining-room should 
open into each other by a wide, cased open¬ 
ing. The living-room should occupy half 
the ground floor, with large wide windows 
on three sides, and French doors opening 
onto the piazza, which should extend 
across the front and perhaps one end. The 
location of the rooms will depend on the 
compass points and the prevailing winds 
Tin roofs should be avoided near windows, for flat roofs draw and the best view. The kitchen must be located so that the pre- 
and reflect heat and are very noisy in heavy rains. I have used vailing breeze will make a cross draft through it and take the 
odors away from the house. The summer 
kitchen can stand a northern exposure. A 
large kitchen porch should be built partially 
screened with lattice work, for here the iron¬ 
ing, peeling, shelling and other such operations 
can be done comfortably. The rooms will be 
cooler if arranged so that they extend the full 
depth of the house, thus obtaining a cross 
draft. Hot and stuffy passages can be dis¬ 
pensed with, with a little study and ingenuity. 
The planning of your piazza is important. 
Shall it be an extension of the main roof, thus 
obtaining additional chamber space and added 
coolness to the first floor rooms ? In some of 
the photographs you will see that this is a 
favorite method used in country house de¬ 
signing, and it produces a picturesque ramb- 
canvas where I had to have a flat roof and 
wished to avoid the heat and noise. Balcony 
floors should always be covered with canvas. 
The plan of the country house or cottage in 
general should be as open as possible to per¬ 
mit a free circulation of air and a good out¬ 
look through low, wide windows and French 
doors. To realize fully the essentials of the 
plan, we must stop and consider the present 
mode of summer life and its attendant require¬ 
ments. Probably your first mental picture, 
at the mention of a summer or country house 
contains a wide piazza, prettily furnished with 
willow or wicker furniture and animated by a 
number of well-tanned, healthy young people. 
Porch life is a distinct feature of the summer 
home, consequently rooms that have a well- 
known function in the city house are unnecessary in the 
summer house. We must, however, keep the large living- 
room, but it may combine with it the hall, and we must have 
./flowing attic air .space and 
receded porches. 
With this roof section there is more 
second floor space and a picturesque 
exterior 
ling type that is always interesting and economical. It does make 
cooler and larger rooms, it gives a good air space over the cham- 
(Continued on page 521) 
