T HE constant 
increase in 
the number of 
persons engaged 
in indoor work 
would probably 
have drawn at¬ 
tention to the 
necessity of out¬ 
door sleeping be¬ 
fore this, even 
had it not been 
proved efficacious 
in the treatment 
of disease. Those 
who during the 
day are deprived 
of their necessary 
allowance of 
fresh air must 
obtain it during 
tbe night, and as 
this fact becomes 
more generally 
recognized, the 
number of sleep¬ 
ing porches con¬ 
stantly increases. 
In sleeping out, 
the best way to 
begin is to begin, 
though the beginning is attended with less discomfort in summer 
than in winter. In fact, with the protection of a sleeping bag, one 
can sleep out during most varieties of weather on any flat roof 
where the sleeper can be free from molestation. A sleeping bag 
on a flat roof is, how¬ 
ever, but a makeshift. 
What is correctly known 
as a sleeping porch exists 
only when it is roofed 
over, the roof forming an 
integral part of a larger 
structure. 
Should the porch be 
applied to the main house, 
recessed in it, or partly 
applied and partly re¬ 
cessed ? This depends on 
the season of the year in 
which the house is to be 
occupied, the recessed ar¬ 
rangement being the best 
for winter, when protec- 
tion against northerly 
storms is the main con¬ 
sideration. Fortunately, 
this condition generally 
obtains in town houses, 
where any other arrange¬ 
ment is out of the ques¬ 
tion. In summer, a re¬ 
cessed porch is apt to be¬ 
come stuffy, and the “attached” type is preferable. The exposure 
in this case is of less consequence. But southwest is generally the 
coolest. 
The left-hand cottage at the head of page 464 shows a pleasing 
treatment of the 
second-story cen¬ 
tral porch with 
side enclosures of 
the “cellar” type. 
The feature of 
the cottage beside 
this is the large 
central porch de¬ 
signed for the ac¬ 
commodation of 
several beds, its 
window enclos¬ 
ures being of the 
ordinary double, 
hung type with 
transoms over. 
The greatest 
difficulty is en¬ 
countered when 
the house is to be 
occupied for the 
entire year, i n 
which case the 
best results will 
be obtained by a 
combination o f 
tbe summer and 
winter arrange¬ 
ments. If the 
porch be located 
some where in the south wall, the summer breezes from the south¬ 
west, south and southeast can be caught by different adjustments 
of the projecting enclosures, while the recessed part will protect 
against storms from west, north and east, as well as from the 
rays of the rising sun. It 
is assumed that bedrooms 
will occupy the corners 
of the house, which 
should therefore be kept 
free from the shadowing 
effect of porch roofs. The 
accompanying sketch il¬ 
lustrates this plan (page 
494 )- 
As the sleeping porch 
is a newcomer in the 
architectural family, the 
problem of making it feel 
“at home” in its sur¬ 
roundings is not an easy 
one. In summer houses 
where it can be placed in 
the first story, its archi¬ 
tectural expression will 
naturally follow the lines 
that have already proved 
successful in sitting-out 
porches. With the sleep¬ 
ing-out porch in the sec¬ 
ond story, the ingenious 
designer can generally 
place it over a first-story porch, or.better, over a projecting room, 
thus giving it adequate support. I f no better method be possible, 
it may be bracketed from the wall, though much discretion must 
then be used if a “bird-cagey” effect is to be avoided. 1 he main 
The designer of this house has succeeded in making a sleeping porch which is an integral part of the house 
and does not spoil its architectural scheme 
The Problem of the Sleeping Porch 
A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF THE VARIOUS TYPES CONSISTENT WITH 
GOOD BUILDING—HOW TO MAKE PROPER ENCLOSURES—THE BEST 
PROVISIONS AGAINST STORMS AND WET 
by Frederick N. Reed 
Photographs by the Author and Others 
Awnings which slide up and down vertical iron rods serve the two-fold purpose of keeping out 
rain and sun. Such hammocks as this serve well for warm-weather sleeping 
(462) 
