Small Lot House Plans

¶ Suburban house designed for a small lot having wide frontage but little depth.

Small Lot Plan.
How the house looks with large grounds around it and a setting of trees for a background.

¶ This house was designed primarily for use in the suburbs and the plan was adapted to a lot with wide frontage, but small amount of depth. Of course, it would be better to have such a building surrounded by plenty of lawn, trees and shrubs; but if ground space were limited, a great deal could be made even of a small allowance for front and back yards.

¶ While the design admits the use of other materials which may be better suited to a given locality or considered more desirable by the owner, our plan was to have the house built of stone and shingles, the lower story and chimneys being of split field stone laid up in dark cement, and the upper story of cedar or rived cypress shingles, so finished that they are given a soft gray tone in harmony with the prevailing color of the stones. We have suggested that the shingle roof be stained or painted a soft moss green.

Entrance Porch.
Partially recessed entrance porch, so shielded by parapets and flower boxes that it may be used as an outdoor living room.

¶ We regard the arrangement of these verandas as being especially comfortable and convenient, for although none of them are large, they serve admirably to supplement the inner rooms by furnishing what are practically outdoor rooms for general use. The front veranda, which is partially recessed, is sheltered from the street by the parapets and flower boxes. As doors open from this veranda into the hall, dining room and living room, it is much more closely connected with the house proper than is the case with the usual entrance porch, and is well fitted to serve as an outdoor sitting room. The veranda at the back of the house opens from the dining room and is meant to be used as a dining porch in summer time. Another door opening into the pantry makes it easy to serve meals outside. In winter this porch can easily be glassed in and used as a conservatory or sun room, and if heated, would make a very pleasant place for the serving of afternoon tea or for any such use. A third veranda opens from the kitchen and is meant especially for the comfort and convenience of the servants.

Livingroom.
Corner of the living room, showing structural effect of fireplace and the built-in mantel bookcases set flush on either side so that the tops are practically an extension of the mantel.

¶ We would suggest here also that the openings from the hall into the dining room and living room be very much wider - a thing which could be easily done and which is now a feature of all the Craftsman houses. A glance at the floor plan will suggest the charm of such an arrangement as it would allow a long vista from one fireplace to the other and would add much to the comfort and charm of the house as a whole. As will be noted, the living room fireplace is flanked on either side by a built-in bookcase with a casement window above, and in the dining room the same arrangement furnishes two china closets surmounted hy casements set high in the wall. The chinmeypiece in the living room is tiled and the mantelpiece is on a level with the top of the wainscot, which runs around the room; but in the dining room the straight, massive brick chimneypiece runs to the ceiling, thus affording a pleasant variation in what otherwise might be too even a balance in the arrangement. The most decorative structural feature in the hall is the staircase, which is lighted by two casements set high above the lower landing and having wide sills, so that they afford an admirable place for plants.

¶ The hall and dining room are wainscoted and the wall spaces in the living room are divided into panels by broad stiles of wood. As the woodwork is so essential in the decorative plan, it should be selected with great care and finished in a way to bring out all its charm of color, texture and grain. The general arrangement and style of the house would seem to demand some strong fibred, richly marked wood, which always seems best suited to rooms intended for general use.

¶ The color scheme always is a matter of individual choice, but a safe rule to follow is to select some wood of rich and quiet coloring for the woodwork, and develop from that the color of the wall spaces, rugs and draperies.

Floor Plan