54 
House & 
Garden 
ORDER BELOW THE STAIRS 
The Basement is the Latest Section of the House to Jf hieh the Wise 
Householder 'Turns Her Attention 
WALLACE B. HART 
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While a shower bath for the garden worker is an essential, it could be 
made very luxurious if installed in a small swimming pool. The finish 
and decoration of the pool will only be limited by the confines of the purse 
i S order to meet the ser¬ 
vantless and costly living 
of this era it is essential that 
ever) - part of the house con¬ 
tributes its share of delight, 
convenience and efficiency. 
Especially is this true of the 
small house where space is at 
a premium. It is to the credit 
of American architects and 
manufacturers that a gradual 
improvement is being made 
all along this line. The attic, 
for example, is no longer 
merely a store room; it has 
been remodeled and finished 
as a guest room, a nursery, a 
quiet library for the busy 
man or a dormitory 
for the boys of the 
family. The bath¬ 
room also shows an 
amazing develop¬ 
ment and today is 
giving a maximum 
of sanitary comfort. 
Where space is limited the 
dining room has. been elim¬ 
inated, making a large living 
room possible. There remains 
one more section of the house to be improved, 
and the attention of up-to-date householders 
is being directed to it now—the cellar. 
The possibilities of most cellars are either 
not appreciated or not developed. Cleanli¬ 
ness and order, prime essentials in themselves, 
will not meet all the requirements. To make 
his cellar one hundred per cent efficient, the 
householder must study its shape and size and 
its relation to the rest of the house. He must 
find what equipment can reasonably go into 
his cellar, how much space can be devoted to it 
and how best it can be arranged. 
The Equipment 
There should be space for 
the following: the heater with 
its coal and wood supply, a 
laundry, a storage room for 
trunks and a preserve closet 
which will also afford room 
for extra supplies of canned 
goods, soaps, etc. A wine 
vault and an entertainment 
room, as suggested in the il¬ 
lustration, will depend upon 
the taste and good fortune of 
the owner. So will the swim¬ 
ming pool and the work 
bench. Such further equip¬ 
ment as a built-in incinerator 
for garbage, a vacuum clean¬ 
er and an ice machine should 
also find a place down here. 
Before installing these im¬ 
provements, the cellar should 
be divided into rooms with 
sealed partitions so that no 
dust or dirt can be conveyed 
from one to the other. 
The heating plant should 
be fully enclosed in a room by itself. The 
coal or fuel should be kept in an adjoining 
room, conveniently located for easy handling. 
It may be possible to adopt the coal bunker 
system of ships—a hopper arrangement which 
permits the coal to slide down to a narrow 
door in proximity to the heater. The wood, as 
shown in the illustration, can be kept under 
the lee of the coal bunker and reached through 
a door close to the heater itself. The handling 
of ashes can be reduced to a simple matter if 
an overhead system for hauling the cans is 
installed. This track can be attached to the 
ceiling and run to the outside door. Or a 
space can be excavated for 
an ash pit and the ashes re¬ 
moved in bulk at intervals. 
As for the heater itself, it 
need no longer be an eye¬ 
sore; already manufacturers 
have begun to beautify this 
very necessary piece of equip¬ 
ment. 
A Preserve Closet 
The requirements for the 
preserve closet are dry air, 
rat-proof shelves and a strong 
door. This closet should be 
located in the coolest section 
of the cellar. The shelves 
should be raised from the 
floor and all exposed edibles 
protected by wire netting. 
The old hanging shelf is not 
advisable unless one hangs it 
on strong cables. After all, 
the problem of the rat, which 
caused the hanging shelf first 
to be made, should be solved 
by cleanliness, order and good 
construction. A well-sealed 
cellar gives no excuse for 
rats. 
It is preferable that the workroom for the 
handy-man be located in the basement, where 
he can make all the dirt and noise he pleases. 
A shoulder of the wall often furnishes adequate 
bench space. This also might be used for 
garden tools. A little ingenuity in taking ad¬ 
vantage of odd corners and unusual construc¬ 
tion will afford plenty of opportunity for this 
kind of development. 
That there should be some water connection 
in the cellar is a fundamental. It will be 
needed for washing dowm the walls and floors. 
A floor drain should be on the house plans. 
If a shower bath is installed, the worker in the 
garden will appreciate it. 
The ultimate luxury would 
be a small pool, either of 
cement or tiles, set in the 
floor of the cellar. It could 
be finished as elaborately as 
the purse provides, with 
