Planning the Efficient Cellar 
THE ARRANGEMENT OF STAIRS, ENTRANCES AND WINDOWS THAT SAVES LABOR—WHERE TO 
PLACE THE LAUNDRY—COAL BINS AND PROVISION CLOSETS—HOW TO KEEP THE CELLAR DRY 
Helen Bowen 
T HE size and shape of the cellar must, of necessity, be 
determined by the house plan, as must also the important 
details of the location of the stairs and the furnace chimney. 
The outside entrance, known in New England as the bulkhead 
and elsewhere as the cellar door, the size and placing of the 
windows, the coal chute, drains and 
plumbing are affected, if not entirely 
settled, by the house plan and the slopes 
and general character of the lot; but 
much scope is left for planning in the 
cellar of even a very modest house. 
It is of first importance that the cellar 
stairs be easy of tread, broad, with good 
landings, not winders, if there must be 
turns, well lighted and provided with a 
stout railing to support the burden 
bearer. A stair with 9" treads and 8" 
risers is very good. Where there is 
plenty of space the still easier one of 
10" treads and 7 / 4 " risers may be used. 
These comforts are more a matter of 
forethought in planning than of expense. 
The placing of the stairs should be 
considered carefully. Placed under the 
back stairs they are usually more ac¬ 
cessible from the kitchen, and so con¬ 
venient for the cook and such delivery 
men, meter-readers and so on as use 
them. If the master or a son of the 
house manages the furnace he may, to 
avoid disturbing the cook and her friends in the kitchen in the 
evening, prefer the location under the front stairs. Perhaps the 
best arrangement is to have the back stairs and the cellar stairs 
in an entry off the kitchen but also accessible from the front of 
the house. The outside door may open into this entry at the 
ground level, with a few steps inside leading up to the kitchen 
level, thus doing away with the outside steps, which are so hard 
to keep free from snow and ice. The cellar flight is thus 
shortened. In some cases no other entrance to the cellar is' 
needed, from inside or outside the house. But in the ordinary 
house of the North, heated by coal, the 
housewife usually objects to having the 
ashes removed by these stairs and wants 
the usual outside entrance. If the 
ground slopes away at the back or side 
of the house this entrance may have an 
upright door with a few steps going 
down inside, instead of the heavy, slop¬ 
ing trap-doors, delight of no one but the 
sliding child. This vertical door is easier 
to use and to keep in repair, but is not 
desirable if an area is needed for it, as 
areas collect blowing leaves or snow 
which, on melting, seeps under the door 
into the cellar. This entrance may have 
a little porch roof of its own or be put 
in under a high veranda, in either case 
screened by lattices with vines or by 
shrubbery or hedges. The vertical door 
may also be used when the ground does 
not slope away by placing it at the head 
of a covered stairway running parallel 
with the housewall or at right angles 
to it. 
The floor plan of the cellar is next to 
be considered. Families differ in their needs, so that each cellar 
is an individual problem. Some want storage space for trunks, 
some want a room for work-bench and tools, others have no uses 
for a cellar but for the heater and fuel. Probably the most 
common requirements are space for the heater and fuel, for 
Entrance to the cellar through an outside vestibule estab¬ 
lishes a separate, private and convenient connection be¬ 
tween both parts of the house 
A recessed entrance of this type is decorative, unusual and practical, save that the 
open space between the pillars is apt to become filled with drifted leaves and paper 
Contrasting with the entrance opposite is this outside stairs, which is difficult to 
get to from the house and looks as though it were an architectural afterthought 
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