Plan Ideas
[Illustration: ]
_The Study of Floor Plans_
The construction schemes we have discussed up to this point—for walls
and roofs—have to do with the obvious appearance of a house as it is
seen from the outside. But the floor plan of a structure is not such an
immediate and recognizable element. It is necessary to go inside a house
and wander about in it before one can begin to understand its plan. The
plan, however, was clearly in the mind of the builder as he worked; for
us, a clear image of the floor plan is important for a full
understanding of a building.
The reading of plans is a vivid, very real, architectural experience.
For example, let us look at figure 39, a simple one-room cabin. The
cabin is entered through one of the doors—doors are indicated by a break
in the contour line. The heroic character of the great fireplace is
sensed—the fireplace and masonry walls are shown by heavy lines.
Opposite the fireplace is found a window—windows are shown by a thin
segment of contour line. As one walks up the stairs, turning at the
corner, the lines fade away as the level of another floor is approached.
[Illustration: FIGURE 39.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 40.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 41.]
The above experience began with lines on paper and ended by “seeing” the
house in three-dimensional space. This happens in reverse when a house
is actually visited. As the rooms through which one moves become more
familiar, gradually the floor plan takes shape. This plan can be
retained in the mind and can easily be drawn on paper. When the plan is
known, much thinking and talking about a building can be done.
SIMPLE FLOOR PLANS
Figures 39 to 45 show a number of first floor plans found in North
Carolina colonial homes. Figure 39, which we have already “visited,”
begins the series with the simplest one-room plan. It is something like
the Blair cabin, already seen (figure 20), except for the chimney built
inside the house in the earlier example. Both plans have stairs, but
another cabin might have only a ladder leading to the loft.
Figure 40 is a simple two-room plan. The larger room, with the
fireplace, is for family living. The smaller room, for sleeping, would
be cold in winter, but would receive some warmth from the larger room.
Figure 41, with three rooms, is called the Quaker plan or the Penn plan
because William Penn, the famous Quaker founder of Philadelphia,
recommended it to his colonists. Quakers who came to North Carolina
brought the plan with them.
Figure 42 shows a center hall plan, a great advance toward privacy and
better living. The hall, as may be seen, permits entry and movement in
the house from one room to another without using any room for passage.
This is the plan of the brick Newbold-White house, previously discussed
(figure 33), and so is shown with thick walls. This design is called a
“primitive” example of the center hall plan, for two reasons: the hall
is quite narrow, strictly a passage, and not overly pleasant; and the
stairway, although entered from the hall, remains within space which
belongs to an adjoining room.
[Illustration: FIGURE 42.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 43.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 44.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 45.]
Figure 43 shows a developed center hall, a wide and pleasant place in
which to linger. The stairway, now within the hall, is not boxed in—as
in the example above, but stands in open space. It rises half a flight
to a landing which runs across the hall; the upper half of the stairway,
of course, is not shown in this first floor plan. Looking at the three
downstairs rooms, one recognizes the Quaker plan in grand, developed
form, with a fireplace in each room.
Figure 44 shows a four-room plan and also serves to suggest the small
variations and special features which may be incorporated into any plan.
The drawing represents the original plan of the Old Brick House, already
noted, (figure 35), and is based upon information from the present
owners. Reading from left to right, there are back-to-back corner
fireplaces on the left wall, both served by one chimney, thus
economizing on masonry costs. The central hall is wide, but no open
stairway is mounted there; instead, the boxed-in stair is located in
space stolen from a side room, as in plan 42, above. The main room at
right has a fascinating chimney wall; a storage space on one side of the
chimney is balanced on the other side by a closet with window. The
famous carving which adorned this wall will be shown later.
Thinking of the exterior appearance of this house, and remembering that
18th-century men admired symmetry, note how each entrance door is
centered on its façade, even though the hall is pushed slightly to one
side. And note the quiet symmetry of the two windows on the right,
serenely independent, yet obviously a determining factor in the
combination of installations along the interior of this wall. Further,
the flue to the off-center fireplace on this wall manages to work toward
the center of the wall as it rises, so that it can emerge in a chimney
properly centered to balance the chimney on the other side of the house.
[Illustration: FIGURE 46.]
Figure 45 shows a side hall plan. It is like a center hall house
deprived of one of its wings. This design was popular in fine late
18th-century city houses, where the hall was an important show-place in
the house. In our diagram the stair rises in a straight run.
The sketches above presented simple one-, two-, and three-room plans;
then center hall plans with two, three, and four rooms. All these
divisions of space were found within the basic rectangle enclosed by the
outside walls of the house. Further divisions were used, too. For
example, consider where the Palmer house (figure 14) fits into the plans
seen in this discussion.
HOUSES WITH LEAN-TO AND BIG PORCH—THE SOUTHERN HOUSE
Figure 46 shows a simple rectangular house on the left; on the right the
structure has sprouted a lean-to in the rear and a porch across the
front. These two sketches illustrate a common development in the
expansion of the simple rectangular house. A lean-to simply “leans
against” the main frame of the house. The porch, often a precarious
structure on its delicate posts, depends for its support upon the stable
frame of the main block of the house also.
While some owners of simple rectangular houses enlarged them by adding
the lean-to and the big porch, other colonists, seeing the
attractiveness of this plan, built the whole house, lean-to and porch,
at one time.
In driving through North Carolina one sees hundreds of houses similar to
the one on the right. It has been called the typical North Carolina farm
house. It became popular in towns as well as on farms. The big porch
sweeping across the front provided very welcome living space during the
hot summer months, and the porch offered a sheltered place for children
to play in during inclement weather.
It may be surmised that the colonists also appreciated a beauty in the
design of this house. Where the earlier house on the left is boxy and
stiff, the house on the right has a roof line that reaches out
pleasantly from the center ridge to the front and back. The front porch
looks inviting and friendly, like a room opening to the outside world.
The other house, with only a stoop at the front door, is really closed
to the world.
Consider the two houses as geometrical forms:—the first house is merely
a simple block. By contrast, the expanded house has a more complicated
geometrical nature for us to think about and enjoy. It can be described
as a central block which has two, paired appendages, one of which is
transparent.
Although the lean-to was found everywhere in the colonies, the big porch
is of Southern origin. It was employed first in the North Carolina
seacoast towns that conducted trade with the West Indies, where similar
colonnaded porches existed.
Turning now to the plans shown in figure 46, it may be seen how the
lean-to neatly adds two small rooms to the rear of the structure. The
main hall of the house continues through the lean-to, and front and back
doors give through-ventilation to this long “room.” It was often the
favorite place for family living during hot summer months. The stair in
our plan begins in the back. However, there were many variations in the
location of the stair and, indeed, in the use of this general design.
In figure 47 are shown some of the variations of the lean-to and porch
design in North Carolina houses of greatly differing aspect. In figure
47_a_, the basic house has a gambrel roof. This is particularly
charming, with three crisp roof planes on either side of the central
chimney. Beginning at front or back the roof planes fold up to the
center ridge and then fold down again.
[Illustration: FIGURE 47. A.]
[Illustration: B.]
[Illustration: C.]
[Illustration: D.]
[Illustration: E.]
Figure 47_b_ shows the whole house under one massive gable. It looks
particularly strong in contrast to the movement and delicate grace of
the roof in sketch 47_a_.
In sketch 47_c_ the center block of the house pops up for two full
stories, towering above the low porch and shed.
Sketch 47_d_ shows a gambrel house with a lean-to but without a big
porch sweeping across its front. This sketch is introduced to show that
either the lean-to or the big front porch alone may occur on a house.
Sketch 47_e_ shows two-tiered porches on both front and back. If one big
porch is considered desirable, two—or four—are better. Two-tiered
porches often are found on the great mansions and plantation houses.
Such porches were also a feature of inns, providing ample sheltered
space for guests and their friends. It is just one step from the
two-tiered colonial porch shown here to the great porches of the early
republican period (for example, Mount Vernon, of the 1780’s) where giant
columns or piers rose through two stories.
Having seen the sketches above, we now discuss a few actual houses which
incorporate the lean-to and big porch design.
Figure 48, the Hummock house, exhibits one of the porches inspired by
the West Indies which are characteristic of its town, the old port of
Beaufort. The group of visitors in our photograph reflects the fame of
this house which attracts sightseers to the town.
[Illustration: FIGURE 48. THE HUMMOCK HOUSE, BEAUFORT.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 49. DETAIL FROM A MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA,
1738.]
The house is called by several names: _Hummock_, _Hommock_, or
_Hammock_. These unfamiliar words are variants of, or are related to,
the common word, _hillock_; and the house does stand on relatively high
ground in the eastern part of present-day Beaufort. Years ago the house
was called the White House, as old inhabitants remember. Today it is
white for sure, its chimneys having been plastered over, it stands there
gleaming, its two great dormer eyes staring out to the sea as if
searching the horizon. And once, no doubt, pilots of ships at sea looked
toward the land, seeking this white house to guide them through the
narrow Beaufort channel.
Figure 49, a detail from James Wimble’s mariners’ map of “The Province
of North Carolina,” published in London in 1738, shows a ship lining
itself up with the “White house.” As recommended by Wimble whose purpose
was to show mariners how to avoid sand bars and shallow water in finding
their way to ports such as “Beauford,” the line of sight from a ship at
the point shown to the easily identifiable landmark leads over the bar.
If this White house shown on the map is, indeed, the White House of
present-day Beaufort, then it was built before 1738, the date of the
map.
Figure 50 depicts a fragment of the foundation of the house. At left the
great wooden sill rests upon a brick pier. A heavy cross beam is
inserted into the sill and is held in place by two large wooden pegs
with nicely carved heads. Out on the cross beam a joist is inserted, a
sliver of wood being driven under the joist to bring it to proper height
and snugness. This sketch evokes the vision of colonists with huge logs
and simple hand tools engaged in the heroic project of building a house.
Figure 51 is a diagram of the foundations of the house; dotted lines
encircle the fragment which was sketched above. Heavy lines show the
major floor beams; a few lighter, parallel lines indicate joists. The
heavy beams divide space in a way to suggest the lean-to design:—there
are two front rooms, each with a fireplace at the middle of its wall,
while the rear section contains a small room on either side of a hall in
the center. In the diagram a stairway is included in the hall also. This
is said to be the original stairway, since removed. Not shown in the
diagram is the back porch, which appears to be a later addition.
[Illustration: FIGURE 50.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 51.]
The Sloop Point house (figure 52) is another well known house with a
large porch. As much as any colonial house, it is filled with novelties
and mysteries. Also known as the MacMillan house for the family which
has owned it for well over one hundred years, the structure stands
facing the Inland Waterway, at Sloop Point, just east of Wilmington.
Construction is thought to date from the late 1720’s.
Our photograph shows the impressive profile of the house, all under one
great gable roof, the porch end resting on massive square piers. The
chimney serves fireplaces in two adjoining rooms and recalls the double
chimney previously seen in the Palmer house (figure 13). In the Palmer
house closets were constructed between the twin fireplaces, but in the
MacMillan house there are outside doors to first floor and to basement.
The present porch between the fireplaces is a recent addition. The
chimney is laid in Flemish bond and, as can be seen, the upper part of
the chimney, blown off by a storm a few years ago, has been replaced
with brick laid in our 20th-century fashion.
In figure 53 the single chimney on the other side of the house is shown.
Below, the ballast stone base reveals a fascinating collection of beach
stones and coral in many colors; above, the brick is laid in English
bond which, as mentioned earlier, contains alternating courses of
headers and stretchers. The different bonding systems used in the two
chimneys suggest that the chimneys were not built at the same time,
which is one of the mysteries of the house.
[Illustration: FIGURE 52. THE SLOOP POINT HOUSE.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 53. SLOOP POINT HOUSE CHIMNEY.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 54. PLAN OF THE SLOOP POINT HOUSE.]
Figure 54, a plan of the Sloop Point house, illustrates some of the
novelties in the house. The designs of a central block, plus a big porch
in front and a shed addition in the rear is readily apparent. The dotted
line through the main block represents a partition which was installed
during the 19th century to create a central hall. Before this addition,
three rooms existed in simple Quaker plan. The hall is intended solely
for service, being only about 3½ feet wide. When the partition wall was
added no attempt was made to reproduce the original cornice and wainscot
panelling of the big room.
Between the twin fireplaces unusual twin doors may be noted. They swing
in and out from the corners of the fireplaces in such a fashion that one
room at a time is opened to the porch. When both doors are swung out,
there is passage between the two rooms. The twin room toward the back of
the house has three doors along its rear wall; one leads to the hall;
the other two are believed to have led to closets in the past.
Now we present two diagrams to aid in discussion of the growth of the
Sloop Point house from an early, smaller structure (figure 55) to the
house of today (figure 56). The roof of the house was raised or “lifted”
in the early 19th century, according to one historian, but exactly what
changes were introduced at that time is not now known. The “before and
after” sketches are shown in order to demonstrate the extent to which
the house has evolved since its original construction. Almost every old
house shows evidence of changes; efforts to determine the reasons for
these modifications can tell the student much about the fashions of
times past and the character of the people who dwelled in the structure.
The smaller, earlier house is built over a low basement (suggested by
dotted lines) the masonry walls of which serve as the foundation of the
building. The light porch has delicate carved columns and a railing with
banister posts. At its outer side the porch rests on masonry piers; at
the inner side the porch’s floor beams are inserted into the foundation
wall of the house. Stucco, applied over the ballast stone foundations,
has incised lines in imitation of stone blocks, as suggested in the
diagram. Today fragments of this incised stucco may be seen here and
there on the front and side foundations.
[Illustration: FIGURE 55.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 56.]
The larger, present-day house with raised roof (figure 56) has
full-height second story rooms in the main block of the house and
additional space in front and back. Details _P_ and _R_ indicate parts
of the construction which use lumber salvaged from some previous
structure. _P_ shows where four carved porch posts are used as floor
beams. _R_ indicates three banister rails used as studs in the back wall
of an upper room. Both the posts and the banister rails could have come
from an earlier porch on this house. The present porch uses massive
posts to support the heavy roof. To support the porch on its house side,
brick piers have been added in front of the original ballast stone
foundations. There are other details of the house which suggest stages
in its development; we hope someone will study them someday.
To return to further examination of the curiosities suggested in diagram
56, dotted lines are shown to represent the flow of air through an
ingenious cooling system. Toward the back of the house a hole in the
floor allows air to rise from underneath to ventilate a bedroom. At the
front of the house, an opening in the porch ceiling allows air to rise
to a closet on the second floor front, and thence to bedrooms.
One last unusual detail is the stairway in the back hall, the banister
posts of which are set diagonally, that is, perpendicular to the hand
rail rather than the steps.
Figure 57, a drawing of a house from Brunswick Town, near Wilmington,
introduces an amazing new chapter in the story of colonial architecture
in North Carolina, a chapter which is just being opened up in our day.
This house, the Hepburn-Reonalds house, built between 1734 and 1742, is
of a type not seen before in this study. The structure had a family
porch without steps down to the street, rather like a balcony, a
protected place to sit and look at life on the street. Below, in the
basement was a shop, and in the illustration a man is seen about to
enter the street door of the shop.
Unfortunately, the house does not exist today; the drawing is
“conjectural,” that is, it is an estimate based upon study and analysis
of ruins (figure 58) at Brunswick Town. Knowledge of this kind of house
in North Carolina, and of the town is a dramatic development of the last
few years.
[Illustration: FIGURE 57. CONJECTURAL DRAWING OF THE
HEPBURN-REONALDS HOUSE, BRUNSWICK TOWN.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 58. RUIN OF THE HEPBURN-REONALDS HOUSE.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 59. DETAIL FROM SAUTHIER’s DRAWING OF
BRUNSWICK TOWN IN 1769.]
Brunswick Town, founded in 1726, was a thriving port town in colonial
times, as might be imagined from the map (figure 59), a detail from
Sauthier’s drawing of Brunswick Town in 1769. At the time of the
Revolution the town was burned and fell to ruins. During the War between
the States, many bricks and stones were taken from Brunswick Town’s
ruins for use in the construction of Fort Anderson, adjacent to the town
site. Our photograph of the ruins of the Hepburn-Reonalds house shows
this-one may see that many of the stones and bricks from the chimneys
have been removed. During the century after the war the remaining
foundations of the town’s buildings all but disappeared into the ground,
being covered by washes of soil and dense jungle of brush and trees.
Only the great brick walls of St. Philip’s Church (marked “A” in the
map) remained as a reminder of the once thriving town. In 1958, however,
the State Department of Archives and History began a project to clear
the land, dig out the foundations of houses, and search for objects left
by the colonists, all in order to recover an image of the town and the
way of life of its citizens.
Thus far some sixty ruins have been discovered by the archaeologist in
charge of the work. In digging around a ruin he works very carefully;
all the soil removed is sifted, thereby bringing to light coins,
buckles, broken pottery, door hinges, and other items. Some of the
richest finds have been uncovered in garbage and refuse pits.
While the work of the archaeologist continues, Brunswick Town has been
opened to the public as an open air museum—quite an unusual exhibit, one
found in few places in the world. As one walks down the streets there
are display cases at individual ruins. The cases contain objects found
at the site, as well as drawings of houses as they probably looked
before burning.
One of the most interesting of Brunswick Town’s houses is the
Hepburn-Reonalds house. According to Stanley South, archaeologist in
charge,
the second floor porch was an architectural feature borrowed from the
West Indies, where this style of architecture was popular. Many of the
homes in Brunswick were of this type, with a cellar partly sunk below
the surface of the ground and a garret above the main floor of the
house.
If the photograph and drawing are examined carefully, the steps which
lead down and the path to the basement door may be seen. The photograph
also reveals the remaining foundations for the posts which supported the
porch. The basement is divided into two rooms; the nearer room was a
kitchen which was entered from the rear of the house.
On the Sauthier map (figure 59) the Hepburn-Reonalds house is marked by
an arrow. Looking carefully at the map one sees indications of certain
details shown in the drawing, such as the fence running along the
street, the barn and garden, and the fence leading to the barn. The
drawing was made by Don Mayhew, staff artist of the Brunswick Town
project.
One question the reader may have in mind: how does one know the name and
date of this house? Very complete records of the sale of property in
Brunswick Town have been preserved in nearby Wilmington and Southport.
By careful study of these records and of the Sauthier map it has been
possible for the archaeologist to identify and date the various ruins in
the town.
[Illustration: FIGURE 60. WAKEFIELD, RALEIGH.]
Wakefield (figure 60) is the oldest house in Raleigh. It was built in
1760 by Joel Lane, who later sold the original tract of 1,000 acres of
land for the new state capital. The sale, it is said, took place in this
house on Joel Lane’s farm. The house was moved a few years ago to its
present site—not far from its original location—and now is owned and
maintained by the Wake County Colonial Dames.
As the photograph shows, it is a gambrel house with shed addition in the
rear, but, unlike houses we have just been discussing, it has only a
small porch in front. It is probable that the house originally looked
quite differently, for construction details in the vicinity of the roof
suggest that it once had a gable roof. Further, the smooth sheathing
over the front of the house (often found under the porches of colonial
homes) suggests that originally a shed porch ran across the entire front
of the house. With long porch and gable roof, Wakefield would have
looked like the typical farm shown in the sketch, figure 46.
In the Joel Lane house as it stands today, the porch, the chimneys, and
the modern shingles differ slightly in design from those elements seen
in old photographs and drawings of the dwelling. In the back of the
house, barely noticeable in the photograph, is an addition beyond the
lean-to. This later appendage was once attached to the left side of the
house; in its present relocation it is occupied by the caretaker of this
exhibition house.
Figure 61 shows plans, elevations and details of Wakefield. Such careful
drawings are the sort which present-day architects prepare for the use
of carpenters building a house. While the colonial architect or builder
did not make such elaborate drawings, the plans of important old
buildings, are today being made as an historical record. The drawings
shown are from a collection being developed at State College, Raleigh,
further explained at the end of this booklet.
[Illustration: FIGURE 61. WAKEFIELD, MEASURED DRAWINGS FROM THE
PROJECT IN HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH, STATE COLLEGE, RALEIGH.]
The first floor plan at lower right shows the porch, the main block of
the house, and a room of the lean-to in rear. In the main block are a
larger and a smaller side room, with a hall between. The entrances at
front and back of the hall are wide double doors, facilitating good
ventilation during hot summer days in Raleigh. The door to the larger
room is centered “as it should be”; but the corresponding door to the
opposite room has necessarily been pushed forward by the stairway. It
will be noted that whereas the outer framed walls of the house are
fairly thick, the walls which partition the hall are extremely thin—a
point which will be discussed presently.
At upper left in the page of drawings is a transverse section through
the hall. We see how the stairway folds neatly within the main block of
the house as it rises. The stair has a railing, but no procession of
banister posts, thus bespeaking an economy and rugged plainness—but a
visitor must watch his step. At the top, the stair ends in an upper hall
lighted by a dormer window. At the back is a corresponding dormer. As
our drawing is a section through these windows, it does not give an
immediately clear notion of the gambrel roof. However, just beneath each
window can be seen part of the lower plane of the roof.
Figure 62 shows the large front room of Wakefield, as restored and
furnished by the Colonial Dames. The room with one wall of plaster and
the other of wood, looks almost “modern.” The wood wall showed in the
plan as very thin, as we have noted. The similar wood partition on the
other side of the hall shows through the open door. To have covered
these partition walls with plaster would have been quite an additional
expense to the builder; and so one finds that the “modern” effect is in
reality a by-product of simple economy. Looking carefully at the open
door on the left, one notes the small wooden pegs which lock the
horizontal and vertical frame members together.
[Illustration: FIGURE 62. INTERIOR OF WAKEFIELD.]