In attacking the problem of design the method of approach was
determined by the fact that school-girls and school-boys were to be
the architects and builders. House planning, home decoration, and
household management were important subjects of study on the part of
the girls and various forms of drawing and constructive work were
required of all the boys of this school; so they all felt that they
had a right to contribute something out of their study and experience
that might be of value in working out this problem. The design must
therefore be a composite of the best features of many studies.
_A Composite Design._--The rooms required for a house of this character
were thought to be a hall, a living room, a dining-room, a kitchen,
a pantry, a bedroom with a closet, a bath room, and a linen closet.
Nothing short of this outfit of rooms would satisfy the demands of
a house to be used to give practical training in all the essentials
of plain housekeeping and in the entertainment of guests. With these
requirements in mind and with full knowledge of all the limitations
of the problem, the girls of the junior and senior classes, who were
taking the course in household technology, entered into a lively but
friendly competition with each other to produce the most acceptable
design and draw the best plan. So many excellent plans resulted from
this competition that it was difficult to select the best. It was
therefore decided to combine in a new and final plan the best features
of several studies that seemed to meet the conditions of the problem
with equal success. Two of these were selected as having the greatest
number of good points. From these the final floor plan was developed
and the necessary modifications made in the original drawings to make
the general design of the building fit the plan.
[Illustration: Floor plan of the model house]
_The Hall._--It may be
of interest to note how some of the details of the problem of design
were worked out for the final plan. Beginning with the hall, it was
easily seen that economy of space required that the room should have
small dimensions. In fact, it did not need to be a separate room
at all. It could easily be a space between the living room and the
dining-room, separated from both by means of portières and joined
upon occasion with either room or with both, thus making possible
a reception room or a dining-room of good size, or one large room.
Of course, the central idea of a hall must not be lost sight of in
providing for a desirable extension of other rooms. It should suggest
a warm welcome to the guest; and here is where the fireplace may
fulfil the double function of giving the cheer of the hearth-stone at
all times and the comfort of fire when warmth is needed. The absence
of a stairway, since none was needed, was a favourable circumstance.
Appropriate decoration and furnishing in due time were to add a few
distinguishing marks so that the house could retain, without any
appreciable sacrifice of space, the dignity of an entrance hall.
_The Living Room and the Dining-room._--The relative positions of the
living room and the dining-room, as already stated, were determined
by the location of the hall. The purpose of each was distinct and
self-evident, and determined the features of design that lent
themselves most readily to appropriate decoration. In the living room
the floor, the wall spaces, and the ceiling needed consideration with
regard to their final treatment, to give pleasing proportions and
harmonious colouring. The same was true of the dining-room, though its
different purpose suggested a different design. An abundance of light
was important for both rooms, hence the large, multiple windows. Such
windows would also offer a good chance for pleasing drapery effects.
_The Kitchen and Its Appointments._--No room demanded so much study
as the kitchen. In the first place it was necessary to make provision
for a relatively larger kitchen than would ordinarily be needed in a
house of this size, because in this case it was designed to be used as
a practice kitchen and must therefore be large enough to accommodate
a considerable number of girls--at least eight--at one time. This
point assumed so much importance in the minds of the young designers
that they were constantly tempted to rob other rooms of the space that
was due them in order to get a "nice, big kitchen." But by clever
adjustments and combinations the necessary floor dimensions were
secured without unduly cramping other features of the plan. The range,
laundry tubs, and sink were conveniently located near each other with
the tubs at such a height that when not in use the cover was flush
with the top of the range, forming a shelf on which kettles and other
kitchen utensils could be easily placed as they were moved back and
forth from the range. It was thought that it would be very desirable,
if not necessary, to have this shelf covered with zinc or some kind of
sheet metal.
It will be noted as a possible fault in the plan that the range is
very near the door into the passageway leading to the bedroom, the
living room, and the hall. This point received due consideration; but
in view of the compensating advantages the arrangement was thought
allowable, inasmuch as the door into the passageway would be used
only occasionally. There seemed to be no more convenient location for
the passageway, which was designed to give privacy to bedroom and
bath room and, in cases of sickness or any emergency requiring it,
easy communication between the kitchen and the bedroom.
_Special Features._--The pantry was located between the kitchen and the
dining-room for obvious reasons--to give easy communication in serving
and to confine kitchen odours to their proper place. In place of a
kitchen closet a cabinet was provided for as being on the whole the
more serviceable of the two. It is always desirable to have an entry
or lobby, with a convenient part of it reserved for the refrigerator;
but the need of providing as much room as possible in the kitchen
itself seemed to justify the omission of the lobby. Another unusual
feature--this time not an omission--is to be found in the window of the
bedroom closet. Such a window, although not common, was thought to be
very desirable on sanitary grounds and as a possible protection against
moths.
_Early Plans for Decorating and Furnishing._--These were by no means
all the features of design that had to be considered. As already
suggested, there was much study given to the question of interior
decoration and furnishing, even at this early stage. This was simply
necessary forethought; for much of the attractiveness, restfulness,
and homelike atmosphere of any house is created by the architect, who,
in his arrangement of rooms, door-ways, and windows, disposes his wall
areas so that they may be divided symmetrically and lend themselves
naturally to colour toning, offering tempting spaces for a few choice
pictures and opening up beautiful vistas. Such house-planning, begun
with clear vision and followed with taste and delicacy in every detail,
may often lead to a harmony of effects as pleasing to people of
artistic temperament as a symphony is to those who enjoy a fine musical
composition. In fact, the parallel between sympathetic gradations of
form and colour and harmony of musical tones is a very close one, and
the appreciation of it is by no means rare. Any intelligent person,
on seeing a suite of rooms designed and arranged by a real artist,
though he may not understand why, will be impressed by the rhythm
of space divisions, the harmony of colours, the lack of any jarring
or discordant notes in the decoration, the simplicity, fitness, and
real beauty, not of any particular part, perhaps, but of the whole
combination. We often find ourselves using the same language whether we
are describing the work of an artist-architect or the work of a musical
composer.