July, 1921 
S M A L 
169311 
Some Plain Facts on the Planning and Building of Moderate Size Homes 
of Which the Owners Can Be Justly Proud 
10 
I T I E S 
HENRY C. TAYLOR 
T HE small house is 
the logical solution 
for the average man 
with the normal family and 
moderate income because it 
is the best sort of financial 
investment he can make. 
And since building is a 
dollar-and-cents problem 
that is the way he must 
finally look at it. The de¬ 
sire to have a home of his 
own, the desire for freedom 
vi from landlord and agent, 
the dream to build a place 
for himself and his family 
of which he can be proud— 
all of these ideals, beautiful 
E and necessary in themselves, 
- must eventually be crystal¬ 
lized in the mundane ques¬ 
tions of “What kind of a 
house shall it be?” and 
“How much will it cost?” 
In the majority of instances 
these two will simmer down 
to one—“How much of a 
house can I get for my 
money?” 
There was a time when 
the answer to this question 
meant poor plans and 
shoddy work. Today there 
is no excuse for either. 
Architects of standing have 
set themselves to solving the 
problem of the small house. 
Quantity production of 
good materials, standard¬ 
ized to facilitate erection, 
brings down the construc¬ 
tion cost. When a man to¬ 
day asks “How much of a 
house can I get for my 
money?” he can rest as¬ 
sured that it can, if he takes 
the trouble to study his 
problem, be both a good 
house architecturally and a 
house convenient and pleas¬ 
ant to live in, with a cer- 
The Georgian type of house presents many opportunities for small designs in that it is 
simple and dignified, its details are pure and can be given proper value. The entrance 
to the residence of Edward P. Fischer at Englewood, N. J., is an example of Georgian 
simplicity applied to a small house. The rectangular lines of the door are relieved by 
the circular brick platform. Balance is obtained by the windows above it and the two 
on either side. Simple lattice and a string course marked in the brick facade complete 
the surrounding elements. Aymar Embury 11 was the architect 
tainty of its standing for 
many years under reason¬ 
able use. He will also find 
that it pays him to build 
because, in the end, it is 
cheaper to build than to pay 
rent, even counting the nec¬ 
essary charges against the 
house for interest on loan, 
interest on his equity, insur¬ 
ance, taxes and cost of up¬ 
keep. 
Before he visualizes that 
house architecturally, he 
should understand this fact 
—that the architecture of a 
small house is a distinct and 
individual problem. The 
good small house is not 
merely the reproduction on 
a small scale of a good large 
house. The question of 
what sort of style it will be 
can very easily be settled by 
conferring with the archi¬ 
tect. The layout of the 
rooms should be settled first. 
As one recent publication 
on the small house puts it, 
“Don’t make the mistake of 
choosing your plan from 
the ‘outside in’. Reverse 
the procedure. Select your 
plan from the ‘inside out’. 
Study the room arrange¬ 
ments, their sizes, location 
of stairs, windows, step 
and labor-saving devices. 
See that the plan is basic¬ 
ally right to serve your 
needs. . . . 
“Don’t be influenced too 
much by style. Good pro¬ 
portions and beauty in 
the placing of the struc¬ 
tural features — the roof, 
chimney, doors, windows, 
porches, etc., will determine 
the style. . . . Because a 
house may look well from 
the outside is no indication 
