June, I p I 7 
49 
at the rear of the dining-room. Often 
we find only one large room on one 
side of the hall, which has come to be 
called our living-room. In the smaller 
plans we find no porch at all, except at the 
front entrance or possibly a small one at 
the rear—but in the pretentious houses 
porches were placed at each end of the 
building, accessible from the reception 
room and library on one side and the 
parlor and dining-room on the other. 
The stairs were made the principal 
architectural feature of the interior, be¬ 
cause they were near the entrance door, 
and also admitted light to the lower hall 
from a window on the landing or at the 
top of the stairs. In some cases the stair 
is in a continuous run from floor to floor, 
and in others it is in a long run to a land¬ 
ing and a short return back. The balcony 
formed in the latter case is an attractive 
point on account of its balustrade. The 
more elaborate examples have either two 
sets of stairs, one against each wall, con¬ 
tinuing to a common landing and return¬ 
ing in the center; or a central flight to a 
landing, returning in two separate runs, 
either in the opposite direction or to right 
and left, respectively. 
However, many departures from any 
fixed rule are made by introducing inter¬ 
mediate landings where the stairs box in 
three side walls or graceful circular runs 
from a first to an attic floor. Still the 
type mentioned above may be called the 
usual one—a single stairway against one 
wall with a long run to a landing and a 
short return. The landing is placed high 
enough for passage under it to the rear 
door in the hall below by means of an 
arched opening. 
Second Floor Arrangements 
On the second floor there is a repetition 
of the first story hall in the center, with 
two bedrooms on each side over the rooms 
below. There is no bath, and rarely a 
finished attic story or a cellar. 
In adapting the Colonial plan to modern 
requirements, the small front entrance, 
narrow hall and single 
stairs have been main¬ 
tained, with a large 
living-room on one 
side, and a dining¬ 
room on the other with 
kitchen and pantry be¬ 
yond. A service stair 
is also introduced in 
connection with the 
second floor, or a short 
run to the main stair 
landing. A fireplace is 
usually located in the 
center of one side of 
the living-room with 
the chimney on the 
outside wall, and a 
corresponding chimney 
in the middle of the 
outside . wall on the 
opposite side of the 
house. This latter 
chimney is used for the 
kitchen flue, and pos¬ 
sibly for a corner fire¬ 
place in the dining¬ 
room. In the modern 
hoflse, there is general¬ 
ly a porch at one end, 
and an enclosed porch. 
A simple division of the upstairs rooms shows 
balanced bed chambers and one bath 
or sunroom, balancing it at the other. 
The second story contains, as in former 
times, the central hall and four chambers, 
with the addition of a bath at the front 
end of the hall. Sometimes a large owner’s 
chamber is located over the living-room, 
and an extra bath may be introduced be¬ 
tween two of the bedrooms by permitting 
one of them to be carried out in the rear, 
in case there is a kitchen extension. 
The Attic and Cellar 
Often the attic is finished with two 
rooms, one at each end, and a store closet 
or an additional bath arranged in a posi¬ 
tion similar to the bath below. In this 
case the main stair continues to the attic, 
either forming an open well to the first 
floor, or closed off at the beginning of the 
attic flight by a door and a partition. 
As a final improvement on the old type 
of Colonial house, the cellar is excavated 
for furnace or boiler, laundry, preserve 
closet and toilet. 
Throughout modern work, some general 
variations from the original plan are per¬ 
missible, variations made excusable by the 
fact that customs and conveniences have 
altered so materially since Colonial times. 
The requirements of good house planning 
today are in certain respects radically dif¬ 
ferent from those of three generations ago, 
and he would be an ultra-lover of the 
antique who would insist that they be dis¬ 
regarded merely for the sake of adhering 
line for line to the traditional examples. 
Yet it goes without saying that the 20th 
Century reproduction of a Colonial house 
may be varied only with extreme caution, 
else it will lose that atmosphere which is 
one of its architectural excuses for exist¬ 
ing at all. Too frequently we find this 
atmosphere sadly impaired in the com¬ 
pleted house, even though the original con¬ 
ception may have been virtually correct. 
Period reproduction of any sort can be 
successfully carried out only by one who 
has full knowledge and appreciation of the 
historical precedents. 
Comparatively few laymen have the time 
to attain such a mas¬ 
tery of Colonial archi¬ 
tecture, or the natural 
aptitude to apply it 
consistently. Special 
training in the funda¬ 
mentals of the plan as 
well as the details of 
its development is es¬ 
sential to success. That 
this training is seldom 
possessed except by a 
professional architect 
is no more than natural. 
(This discussion of 
“Defining Colonial 
Architecture” is to be 
continued in two other 
articles which will take 
up exterior design and 
interior treatment re¬ 
spectively. They will 
appear in the July and 
August numbers of the 
magazine.) 
The usual Colonial, stairs 
have a run to a landing 
and a short return, the 
landing being placed high 
enough for a door be¬ 
neath it 
Living Poiu:tt; 
The modern plan shows a pretentious entrance 
to the hall and wide openings between rooms 
