In considering this part of the problem, the designer must begin at
the very outset to solve it. If the plot is level or capable of easy
conversion into terraces, then the character of the house itself may
be somewhat formal, symmetrical, and dignified; but it would be wrong
to build a house of this kind upon a rolling and rollicking site. This
latter kind of ground demands the picturesque type of house, and the
roof lines should be planned to carry up some of the curves of the
hillocks.
[Illustration: STUDIED PLANTING]
In all cases, however, it is generally recognized that the small house
can best be tied into the surroundings by making it low, say a story
and a half or one story, for one of two stories or even two and a half
offers an ungainly elevation for an architectural composition. In rare
instances have houses of this proportion been artistically finished.
At any rate, the house should be kept as low as possible in the front,
and the ugly, stilted foundations should not protrude above the level
of the lawn. Nothing is so effective in producing a feeling of intimacy
between house and grounds as to keep the level of the first floor only
about six inches above the grade. This, of course, makes it difficult
to light and ventilate the cellar, since any windows in the
foundation-walls would have to open into areas. A compromise can be
made by grading the lawn down at the back of the house, so that enough
of the foundation can extend above the ground to permit of well-lighted
cellar windows.
[Illustration: THOUGHTLESS PLANTING]
Another method by which an intimate connection between ground and
house can be produced is in the blending of wall materials and
foundation-stones. If the walls of the house are of stucco, and the
lower part of them built of rubble-stone, then a gradual transition
can be made from the stone to the stucco by carrying the stucco down
over certain parts of the stone work, so that it flows into the
mortar joints—like the waters of a lake flow into the little
indentations of a rocky shore. This will eliminate any sharp horizontal
line where the foundation-wall of stone ends and upper wall of stucco
begins. As the stone has a natural intimacy with the soil, it easily
makes the transition with the ground, and its effectiveness is very
marked where the site is hilly and parts of the foundation are built
upon little rocky juttings. This same easy transition can be made from
stone foundation to brick wall. It is not possible to do it with the
wooden wall, however.
But perhaps the most widely used method of producing an intimate
connection between ground and walls of the house is with foundation
planting. There is much abuse of this method. To surround the base of
the house with billowy clumps of shrubbery, so that it appears almost
as if it were springing from a bed of clouds, is not at all satisfying.
Nor should the owner have to be everlastingly kept at the job of
trimming down these plants or removing dead ones which refuse to grow
in the poor soil and bad drainage next to the cellar. And the house
should not be made to mourn behind a bed of evergreens, protected at
intervals with sentinel-like cedars, dark and foreboding, against the
wall and sighing and whining in the wind. Rather should a delicate use
be made of foundation planting by using vines, and now and then a small
shrub or little evergreen. The object should be to make a shading and
transition from the green lawn to the walls of the house by carrying
upward upon the walls or against them some of the climbing plants,
that the green of the ground may fade gradually into the white of the
stucco or the red of the brick wall. Public buildings need massive
and impressive foundations, but the small house should be nestled in
Nature’s lap.