35 
December, 1921 
seem ever to have been ac¬ 
tually in the process of con¬ 
struction. It is as though 
they had crawled quietly to 
some shady spot which 
suited them and spread over 
the ground with a sense of 
pleasure and permanence. 
The higher the exposed 
foundation of a house, the 
more difficult it is for Na¬ 
ture to gather it down into 
her arms, and yet this con¬ 
tact can be managed if you 
will decide to have a deep 
excavation, and if you will 
plan the planting about 
your house so that it can be 
made the moment the house 
is finished. I know house 
lovers who had their vines 
and shrubs ready to trans¬ 
plant about their walls as 
the last workmen strode 
heavily away from the 
wreckage about the grounds. 
Consider well the knitting 
together of house and earth 
if you wish your home to 
look picturesque from the 
beginning. An illustration 
on this page gives an excel¬ 
lent idea for bringing to¬ 
gether house and garden by 
effective planting. 
The first thing to think 
about before starting a cellar is drainage; and 
here architects and builders disagree very con¬ 
siderably. One man will say ‘‘Do not use a 
drain pipe unless it is absolutely necessary, and 
then it may be dangerous”. Another will say 
“Now, while it is possible to waterproof a cel- 
(Continued on page 70) 
J. fA . R.05E. 
guaranteeing yourself that 
you will oversee the process 
of construction. It is com¬ 
paratively easy to gain in¬ 
formation about the walls 
and the roof and to oversee 
something of their develop¬ 
ment, but that is not enough. 
You will require, in addi¬ 
tion, a knowledge of the 
soil, drainage, how to make 
your cellar safe for occu¬ 
pancy and how to build the 
foundation; for the heat and 
burden of summer will come 
down upon these walls as 
well as the storm and stress 
of winter. The best build¬ 
ing materials and the most 
picturesque roofing, and the 
richest color scheme and the 
best selected house fittings 
will not avail against totter¬ 
ing walls and a leaky, damp 
cellar. Thus the beginning 
of building is a formidable 
matter, unless the architect 
or yourself is on the job. 
Of course a good archi¬ 
tect at a fair percentage of 
the cost can take over all 
your burdens. So can a 
good contractor. The lat¬ 
ter, however, sometimes 
adds to them. But some¬ 
body has got to “bring up” 
the house. In the old days when there were no 
unions and no graft in building materials a 
house could more or less grow up wild because 
a workman was not “called down” for think¬ 
ing well of himself and his job. But today, 
when money is the lode star of most enterprises, 
when men do the least for the most, and per- 
ln a great many houses the top of the 
cellar window is on a level with the 
surface of the ground and requires a 
bricked-in well or areaway. By raising 
these windows the cellar will have more 
light. This design, taken from an 18 th 
Century work on architecture, suggests 
a treatment that might be applied to 
cellar laundry windows 
To prevent rain water from seeping 
down to the foundations, the Italians 
lay a narrow paving against the wall. 
This treatment might well be applied to 
some American houses 
sonal pride does not often enter into 
day labor, you cannot hope for the 
creation of your home without put¬ 
ting into it some thinking and 
energy of your own. 
Every good architect tries, so far 
as it is possible and wise, to hide 
the presence of the foundation walls 
and cellar. The effect of a house 
about to hurry away on stilts, so 
common a few years ago in our 
transient, ready-made villages, is 
regarded today with horror. We 
want our home now to belong to the 
landscape, to sink deep down into 
the earth. One reason why we so 
often smile at Charlie Chaplin is, 
I think, because he wears a little 
hat too high on his head; and a 
house with foundation walls built 
too high above the earth has much 
the same humorous aspect. Friend¬ 
ly association between house and 
ground is most perfectly achieved, 
I think, in the old peasant houses 
of Bavaria, that have the effect, 
with their soft brown thatch roof, 
of relaxing upon the earth for rest 
and peace. These houses do not 
The purpose of foundation planting is 
to give the house the appearance of 
growing naturally from its site. In this 
residence, by W. G. Massarene, architect, 
evergreens are used 
