LIBRARY ANNEX iiiliiiiSiiliiii NA nssf C13 dtorttcU Hntoetaita SItbtarg Jfttjatii. New $avh BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 Cornell University Library NA7551.C73 The housing book; containing photor^^^^ 3 1924 014 903 953 ^^ Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924014903953 When Building a Home READ Bungalows, Camps and Mountain Houses, By William Phillips Comstock The Swiss Chalet Book, By William S. B. Dana Rumf ord Fireplaces and How They Are Made, By 6. Curtis Gillespie Two Family and Twin Houses, By William T. Comstock Garages and Motor Boat Houses, By William Phillips Comstock The Hollow Tile House, By Frederick Squires Wall Papers and Wall Coverings, By Arthur Seymour Jennings American Renaissance, a Book on the History of Domestic Colonial Archi- tecture in America, By Joy Wheeler Dow THE WILLIAM T. COMSTOCK CO. PUBLISHERS is WABREN STREET NEW TORE CITT THE HOUSING BOOK Containing Photographic Reproductions, with Floor Plans of Workingmen's Homes, One and Two Family Houses of Frame, Brick, Stucco and Concrete Construction; also Four, Six and Nine Family Apartments. Showing Single Houses, Groups and Developments that have been built in various parts of the United States Compiled by WILLIAM PHILLIPS COMSTOCK Editor of Architecture and Building From the Designs of Many Prominent Architects 150 Illustrations and Plans NEW YORK THE WILLIAM T. COMSTOCK CO. 23 WARREN STREET Ckipyright, 191& By The William T. Comstock Co. <9nv #arben There are spots of wondrous beauty In every clime and land, Some were fashioned by Old Nature, Some were made by Man's crude hand, Some lie in the wildest settings, Some adorn a mansion fair. Some, are massive in their beauty, Some are slight and light as air. But the spot of rarest beauty, Quite the fairest gem of all. Is that spot of verdant Nature Just within our garden wall. With our own toil have we built it. It has known our loving care. And naught can match the joy we feel When calmly seated there. PREFACE IN this present day when peace is hovering over the world, with all the questions of reconstructions and readjustments to be set- tled, among the all important problems facing the country is the one of industrial housing. The scarcity of suitable homes for working men is the starting point. What is true of one industrial center is true of the next, and so on through the whole chain of mill and factory towns, steel and mining centers throughout the country. A sporadic movement for better homes for working men started some years ago. Port Simlight, England, may be hailed as a pioneer and recently here and there in the United States employers of large nmnbers of men, reading the signs of the times, animated in part by a philanthropic spirit, and influenced by the economic side of the situation, have in- stituted small colonies for housing their help, near their industrial plants. "And then came the war" — ^a cry that for years to come will mark the ending and beginning of many things in our lives, customs and habits. The U. S. Government in order to facilitate war work came to the aid of private enterprise and the housing movement went forward with marvelous rapidity. We present in this book examples of the earlier order, initiated by the heads of large plants or corporations, and of developments car- ried out imder Government direction, which altogether will give a clear comprehension of the large scope embraced, and also give sug- gestions to those who may wish designs for small building projects or even single houses. No attempt has been made to give an estimate of cost in any of these operations; the present instability in prices of material, the difference in value of such in different localities, and the ever changing labor situation, making any fair or stable valuation impossible. It is a question that each community must solve for itself governed by lo?al conditions. William Phillips Comistock. August, 1919. List of Contributors Clarence Wilson Brazer 1133 Broadway, New York City. H. Errol Coffin 1123 Broadway, New York City Ailing DeForest Sibley Building, Rochester, N. Y. Albert F. Edwards 30 Church Street, New York City Hiss & Weeks 425 Fifth Avenue, New York City Electus D. Litchfield 477 Fifth Avenue, New York City Rossel Edward Mitchell Norfolk, Va. Geo. B. Post & Sons 101 Park Avenue, New York City Carroll H. Pratt 681 Fifth Avenue, New York City C. E. Schermerhorn 430 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. John F. Suppes Akron, O. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction 11 Eclipse Park, Beloit, Wis 17 George B. Post & Sons, Architects. Development at Cradock, Va 27 George B. Post & Sons, Architects. Westinghouse Village, South Philadelphia, Pa 37 Clarence Wilson Brazer, Architect. Harriman Townsite, Bristol, Pa 47 Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. Overlook Colony, Claymont, Del 65 H. Errol Coffin, Architect. Yorkship Village, West Collingswood, N. J 71 Electus D. Litchfield, Architect. Development at Erie, Pa 79 Albert F. Edwards, Architect. Development at Bridgeport, Conn 89 Hiss and Weeks, Architects. Firestone Park, Akron, 101 John F. Suppes, Architect. Development for Colored Workers, Truxton, Va 106 Rossel Edward Mitchell, Architect. Development at Donora, Pa 110 One Hundred Concrete Houses. Designs for Single and Double Houses of Moderate Cost 114 C. E. Schermerhorn, Architect. Small Concrete Houses 121 INTRODUCTION ONE need not turn back so many years to note the changes that have occurred in oiu* ways of living in village, town and city, not only in the homes of our native citizens but in the dwellings of our ever-changing body of immigrants. A little more than a quarter century but certainly not a half century, will cover this evolution. Take a typical New England town at a period after the Civil War, for then New England was the center or starting point of most of the industries, and Pennsylvania with its coal and iron and steel was still on the edge of the "far west." The operatives had no homes, according to the present understanding of the word. They dwelt mostly in the factory boarding houses built and maintained by the corporations for the accommodation of their "help"; while fore- men, overseers and higher employees whose positions were mostly of life tenure had the advantage of a village house, rented from some private party or often owned by themselves. According to standards of today those houses would seem unlivable, but were the best the times provided. The sanitation was primitive. Water might be supplied by well or pump or in rare cases, public water works had arrived and a cold water faucet in the kitchen sink was the advance guard of modern improvements. There was no heat except for a stove in the sitting room, and occasionally the parlor — the latter room being choicely kept for Sunday afternoon or evening callers. The bath-room was xmknown and a wash tub by the kitchen fire on Saturday nights, in the private house, was a high degree of comfort, but imagination can hardly picture the discomforts and privations of the heatless sleeping rooms of the corporation boarding house in the rigorous climate of New England. Mill operatives in those days were wholly drawn from the farming districts and smaller villages, where the old fashioned large family made the seeking of a new field of labor for some of its members a necessity. Low wages and content prevailed. The young people 11 INTRODUCTION married and settled into homes of their own but their children never went into the nulls, workshops or factories. Then immigration set in. The foreign women filled the great spinning and weaving rooms of the miUs. The foreign men worked in the forges and machine shops and in the public works, which were then installing gas and water systems, all this entailing much digging of ground and laying out of streets. Where did they live? Anywhere. They filtered into the vermin-infested frame buildings of the boarding house. They occupied the meanest houses in the outskirts, and who cannot remember in almost any town its noxious squatters' settlement. The American public, intent on improving its streets, its property, and putting its money out at interest and giving its children a high school education, looked on with indifference, sometimes with contempt, or saw not at all; but to the steady courage of these first immigrants is due, perhaps, the continuation of the strong foundations of our early common- wealths. A comparison is not to be drawn between these and the early settlers of the country, and yet they were pioneers in their way, coming from barren homes and meager possessions to this land for the betterment of their condition. The mill towns of New England are not the only type of these days. A little later the mines, steel mills and furnaces of Pennsylvania drew armies of the day laborers, and a picture of the living conditions in the towns and squalid hill villages and the poverty of the workers with the attendant epidemics of disease is woven into the history of the state. The flow of immi- gration kept up with an ever-changing nationality, and another phase soon appeared — unrest of the operatives. If not evinced in an actual strike, it was shown in the restlessness of the men employed — a chang- ing about from one job to another — always dissatisfied. The problem to the manufacturers was vexing, but as long as new men came along they were not much concerned, and did not seek a solution. It has taken many seasons, many changes, many minds before it has dawned upon some employers that the workman would be better contented if provided with better living quarters, and, moreover, would be more efiicient in his work. Pages of statistics have been prepared to show the cost to the employer of the constant changing of help with con- sequent damage to machinery, attendant overhead expenses, and waste of material, but specific mention is not needed here. The manufacturing companies and corporations have not been slow to provide an outward show of advancement and prosperity. 12 INTRODUCTION Splendid oflSce buildings and model factory buildings fitted with the most up-to-date machinery are evidence of the progressiveness of the owners. In many cases, clubs and reading rooms are established for the workers, a social welfare work vmdertaken with its "better babies," and milk stations and often optical and dental clinics. A district nurse is employed and the laboring man and his family taught the elements of personal hygiene — ^how to combat influenza and tuberculosis, but the great fundamental of improving his home con- ditions has been neglected. The coming of the war brought a sudden realization of faulty housing conditions and forced upon the manufacturing companies and owners of tenement property the conviction that the need of houses and better houses must be met and met quickly. The U. S. Govern- ment started a Housing Corporation, and private firms in many localities immediately began to buUd, not only houses but towns. Villages, complete in every requirement, sprang up as if by magic on land that but lately was meadow or field and are the product of quick, intensified work planned to meet the present need. As soon as a corporation or housing company takes a parcel of land to be developed, siu-veyors and engineers map out the streets and the architect and builder follow with plans for various types of houses. The chief consideration is the comfort and welfare of the pros- pective tenants, providing for sanitation, educational and religious opportunities, recreation centers and civic Hfe. Houses of different sizes, varying from three to ten rooms, meet the needs of different families; nmning water, sewerage systems, electricity and gas are provided. A hospital is often one of the first buildings erected, and schools, churches and amusement haUs follow. The houses are rented at reasonable rates or sold on easy installment terms. Around the shipyards and converted industries, where the inrushing workers were counted by the thousand, the demand was a serious problem and could not be supplied in season or in quantity to accommodate the tenants comfortably. With the sudden cessation of war industries, this demand has somewhat lessened, but it has been the awakening to a new era, to a new and better condition of housing facilities that must be fulfilled. One can see the economic advantage gained by the carrying out of these ideas and putting these plans into effect, but the moral aspect of the question is also pointed out, 13 INTRODUCTION Better homes, improved conditions of living for the working men of today, most of them foreign born, means better citizenship and a better foundation for the next generation. Another body of house and home seekers will be found in the men of our demobiUzed army. Many will not return to their former work or localities. The shifting about will settle many in different caUings and new scenes Many of these have seen a new light in the hygienic standards of their camps. Some came from the slums to which they never shotild return. Whether or not the powers that be acknowledge their re- sponsibility in this matter the working man is deciding it for himself and demanding that society gives him the thing he needs. The en- couragement to him of owning his home is a factor not to be overlooked. Secretary of Labor Wilson has recently said : "I have found that the man who owns his home is the least sus- ceptible to the so-called Bolshevist doctrines and is about the last man to join in the industrial disturbances fomented by the radical agitators. Owning a home gives a man an added sense of responsibihty to the national and local government that makes for the best type of citizen- ship." The demand for houses is general and not confined to any particu- lar locality as reports from the Department of Labor show. The scarcity is country wide and the time is at hand for the best efforts of each community to concentrate on a prompt solution of how to pro- vide good and sufficient housing. Those who are looking for a better day in the housing field for the wage earner and his family can be filled with gratification at the achievement already attained in this direction and which gives promise of greater development in the im- mediate future. 14 ENTRANCE TO ECLIPSE PARK, BELOIT, WIS. 16 Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects. EcHpse Park, Beloit, Wis. George B. Post & Sons Architects and Town Planners THE development at Beloit, Wisconsin, known as Eclipse Park, for the employees of Fairbanks, Morse and Company, a large manufacturing concern, employing thirty-six hundred men, is unique in the respect that the garden village which has been planned is composed entirely of single family, detached houses, designed for mechanics earning $20.00 per week and upwards. In laying out the streets the designers have avoided the rectangular system, the streets following the original contour of the land, conforming to the lines of least resistance in the easiest and most natural grades, and the whole tract being divided into blocks and parcels, each one quite different in area and shape. All streets except the main boulevard, which is 80 feet wide, are 50 feet in width. The sidewalks are 5 feet wide and space is left on each side for a grass-strip. Each house is set back at least 20 feet from the front line, giving space for grass and shrubs, and making a park like effect for the whole section. The house lots vary in size, according to the size of the house it holds, the smallest houses of foin* rooms being set on lots 40 feet front by 80 feet deep. These increase in size as the five, six, seven and eight-room houses are located, imtil a plot with frontage of from 50 to 55 feet and depth of from 100 to 110 feet is allotted to the eight-room house. All the houses have concrete cellars with 7 feet clear headroom under the entire first floor. The cellar is equipped with a special hot air furnace, with flues and registers to all rooms. The furnace has a hot water back connected with a boiler for winter use, and connections are provided for a gas heater to be used with the boiler in warm weather. Stationary wash tubs are furnished in the cellar of the larger types of houses. All the houses have a separate living room, dining room and kitchen on first floor, with the exception of a few of the smallest houses of four rooms, where the dining room and kitchen 17 THE HOUSING BOOK are combined. The living rooms have an area of 150 to 190 square feet in the smaller houses, and in the larger houses an area of 200 to 210 square feet. The dining rooms run from 100 square feet in the smaller to 140 square feet or more in the larger houses. The kitchens are a most appealing feature in the planning, no one of them having an area less than 90 square feet, increasing in some cases to 115 square feet. They are equipped with modem sink, drain board and dresser, a gas range and commodious supply closet with shelves for storage and kitchen utensils. In the four-room house, in which the kitchen and dining room are combined, buffet corner seats are built in. In others a dining room with alcove kitchenette, 6x10 feet, has been con- structed and space provided for a refrigerator. Special study has been given to a convenient and sanitary type of bedroom, ranging in size from 110 to 150 square feet. All bedrooms have two windows, arranged for cross ventilation. Every bedroom has a clothes closet, and each bedroom floor a linen closet. All houses are equipped with a bathroom with modern fixtures and the lighting is by electricity throughout. The houses are of frame construction with clapboard, shingle or stucco exterior finish, and the style is dis- tinctively colonial, though the treatment is so skilfully diversified that it is free from monotony and yet harmonious. The entrance square is to be made an attractive feature. Here it is proposed to erect a group of two-story buildings, irregular in outline — ^the first story to be treated as an arcade and extending continuously around the enclosed portions of the square. There will be accommodations for stores of different kinds, a motion picture theatre, branch library, club rooms and the like, while the second story will be used for apartments and offices. In looking through the plates illustrating this development, one is impressed by the diversity of styles, yet with an ease of treatment, combined into a harmonious entirety. There is a fascination about this assemblage of houses that prompts the wish that one might live in such a community. There is the cottage with the gambrel roof suggestive of early New England days, and the plain cement or stucco house with the Spanish Mission style as a motif. The variety of treatment in the numerous houses of simple cottage design will be noticed in the porches, the dormer windows and in the roof lines ; some with a straight slant, some with a sweeping curve and others broken at the eaves line for window space, scarcely any two being alike. 18 Plate 1. AN EIGHT ROOM HOUSE, BELOIT, WIS. Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects. First Floor. Second Floor. 19 . M,Xi«S^MiXt«i«i Plate 2. A BLOCK OF HOUSES, BELOIT, WIS. (Floor Plans of End House, Below.) Gso. B. Post & Sons, Architects. First Floor. 20 Second Floor. Plate 3. A SEVEN ROOM HOUSE, BELOIT, WIS. Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects. First Floor. 21 Second Floor. Plate 4. A FIVE ROOM HOUSE, BELOIT, WIS. Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects. First Floor. Second Floor, 22 Plate S. Plate 6. STUCCO HOUSES BELOIT, WIS. (For Floor Plans, See Next Page.) 23 G^o. B. PosL & Sons, Architects. u < o O H « P O K O 2 < a Bt O 2 Q. < Z. o > M. 1-1 M 24 ^ ^~-..^- — Ij-jL; I W o < o o E-i O PQ w" O O in < 1-1 « O O ►4 a < 2 O H > W 25 26 Development at Cradock, Va. George B. Post & Sons Architects and Town Planneri THE development of Cradock, Va., was the result of the urgent demand for houses in the Hampton Roads district, centering ahout Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., and the object was to provide homes for the employees of the Portsmouth Navy Yard, which is located nearby. The Bureau of Industrial Housing, orgamzed soon after the United States entered the World War, engaged the firm of G^o. B. Post & Sons, Architects, to plot out a town and design houses therefor, and entrusted to them the selection of a site. This done, and the Hegeman-Harris Co., Inc., selected as builders, the work was speedily begun. The topography of the site chosen called for rec- tangular sections and streets, which plan was followed with a few deviations to provide more direct and convenient access from one point to another. The town square is made a prominent feature and was planned with the idea of giving it the air somewhat of the town common or green which is found in many New England communities. Stores border one side and the town hall, fire house and library occupy the others. A careful survey of the existing needs was made and the blocks were subdivided into lots, which were made 50x100 feet for detached and semi-detached houses, and from 15 to 20 feet wide for those in rows or terraces. The general features of these houses that are similar to those planned by the same architects in other sections, are the provision of a clothes closet in every bedroom, linen closet on bedroom floors, a sup- ply closet in kitchen and coat closet in the entrance hall or living room. The kitchens are supplied with tubs and sink, dressers with glass doors and shelves above and drawers below, ranges with hot water boiler and provision for gas connection to boiler and ample space for a work table. Every house has a simuner kitchen, 8x10 feet, in the rear of 27 THE HOUSING BOOK the house, an unusual feature brought into the scheme by the char- acter of the land. This being low lying ground and water bemg found near the siu-f ace, the construction of cellars is impossible. The southern climate also would demand this, as a comfort if not a neces- sity. This summer kitchen allows for the storage of coal, a refrig- erator and a gas or oil stove. The heating plant in the single houses is a special hot water heater, which may be installed in the living room or kitchen as desired, with connections to radiators in all the rooms. Semi-detached and terrace houses are equipped with stoves with a water back from which a radiator in the bathroom is supplied. In these houses, where the stairway is open, the surplus heat ascends, and where the stairway is enclosed, an open work balustrade grill permits the heat to rise to the bedroom floor. The houses are mostly of clapboard or frame con- struction, a small proportion of them being treated with stucco lath or Bishopric board, either over the entire surface or first or second story. The standardization of details is a feature of special interest, as the general style adopted was a simple colonial treatment; the details therefore are of a colonial type. The architects have devised certain detail standards for doorways, porches, shutters, windows and other parts that could be standardized, so that the cost of producing the material was greatly reduced by the repetition of the same motif in scores of houses of the same type. All the houses are supplied with sewer connections, electric lights and telephones. This development has been given the name of Cradock and is a distinct town with its own post oflBce. The name was given it as a memorial to Admiral Cradock of the British Navy, who lost his life in battle with the Ger- man fleet off the coast of Chile early in the war. The street names are arranged in alphabetical system, though they are really names of famous admirals of the U. S. Navy. By a glance at the plates several types of houses and methods of treatment will be seen; although the general style is colonial, yet there is diversity enough to banish sameness or monotony. In Plate 10 three semi-detached houses are shown. These have six rooms each. The two houses in full view are the reverse of one another. The porches are treated differently, and in the high-posted verandas surmounted with a railing there is a slight suggestion of the gallery conmion to southern houses. In fact, the simple treatment of details, typical of the best southern domestic architecture, is apparent throughout. 28 THE HOUSING BOOK Plates 11 and 12 show cottages of pleasing design, and the plans show clearly the well-considered accommodations. Plate 13 gives a street view in perspective, rather bare at present showing, but giving promise of much attractiveness when nature has given her aid in the way of trees, vines and growing things. Plate 14 shows one model of a stucco house. It is severely plain, both in design and detail, but has the advantage of being a house that time will improve and will wear well to the eye and taste of the dweller therein. The floor plans show ample room and convenient arrangement. 29 w o < ft M O Ph (1h O O o Q W H a o o ft « O 3 ft 30 < > u o Q < u o W c 31 Plate 11. COTTAGE AT CEADOCK, VA. Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects. k^d^ :^ /,-JS 3^fe Si, /! '^ bed-eoom' I &^ E£l4 I [hall TT ^ j.!.- .:::::; (ijijv; yv i .p^cofy) -TtoaK ■ Plan ; D 32 Plate 12. COTTAGE AT CRADOCK, VA'. Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects. 33 Plate 13. A STREET VIEW, CHANNING AVENUE, CRADOCK VA. f:r'u,'-'.^. t -'II-'' 1 : - ijrr''^ll ' ^ ""*,"" ' \1^^:'- i f1 ■ I ■ ' ■i \t\^ '-fi^-%-fTSC.--.ATT«~~r-I i- II ,^ ^1. > I 1, ._ . I I! rgr-j Irl tJ E-P l-OOH =i=r3 U CtD iLo^M |i=i-E ^-^_-tii^_' ;i~;-V--r,4-JFr'n- r^LANS FOR END HOUSE SHOWN ABOVE. 34 ?ivecr isa-K IS CO. IMO. CO/fT/mcTom Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects and Town Planners. Wl-f iS^:^^"^ jy ■-^fi'^^h «e^^'-'- ft SIT fLa-ip, ■ Pl.'.h- (&l\ -.(A) jtCONV 7LaDR.?LAN (^•;. _:::._:] PLANS FOR END HOUSE SHOWN ABOVE. 35 Plate 14. A STUCCO HOUSE, CRADOCK, VA. Geo. B. Post & Sons, Architects. Ej-«)=-— -^iBO-a!-- r'^"l^':ix!fm:^'~ '^7tl^_ _t|i"™ Jsaa r 1 li: - ■. T Ft- OCR Plan i ^-hU^ ^^ >,.'----;.!: _| I |. Second ruooK PL ah 36 Westinghouse Village, South Philadelphia, Pa. Clarence Wilson Brazer Town Planning Architect SOUTH Philadelphia lies between the towns of Lester and Essington, on the Delaware River, about three miles north of Chester, Pa., near the locality of the large new marine turbine plant of the Westinghouse Electric and Mfg. Co., for whose em- ployees the town was projected. The tract of land comprises about 90 acres located in the open country some distance from any large settlement, but near several other large industrial centers. Therefore the development is intended to be a permanent one, and the planning and construction were all done with this end in view, and as planned will eventually provide 1,100 homes for 6,000 people. All the build- ings and the complete town plan were designed by Clarence W. Brazer, architect, but the actual work upon a section of 200 houses was under the supervision of the U. S. Emergency Fleet Corporation, which let the building contract to William Crawford, of New York. The streets are provided with a dual system of storm and sanitary sewers. There are numerous open squares and playgrounds and several churches and schools. A large recreation field is centrally located, with a boathouse, Y. M. C. A. building and school house near by. A trolley line toward Philadelphia runs through the site, and this frontage was naturally reserved for stores, banks, movies, etc., with apartments for shopkeepers and offices in the two stories above, these higher buildings making a shield for the housing district and giving privacy from the noise of the plant and railroads. The streets running north and south were specially designed for residences so that practically every room in the village gets direct sunlight some part of the day. The houses are built on sodded terraces in rows of Itwo, four, six and eight and are all of the highest grade of con- struction. There are no frame houses, most of them being built of brick with a few houses of hollow tile and stucco construction to give 37 THE HOUSING BOOK variety. All of the houses have slate roofs and concrete cellars. Six rooms to a house is the average, but there are a few larger houses and a number with five rooms. Inside, all the houses are excellently finished and provided with modern kitchens, bathrooms, furnaces, hot-water heaters and electric lights. A bird's-eye view of the town plan is shown on Plate 15, also a planting plan of more than usual interest showing a well laid-out scheme to have tree-lined streets and the variety of tree to be used, the quantity and size of these trees and the places in which to put them. Our forefathers were animated by sentiment when individually they planted a tree for the benefit of the coming generations, but the modern method dictated by a clear foresight accomplishes at once by wholesale planting, its purposes to lend an esthetic setting and to convey health and comfort to the town dwellers. On Plate 16 we have a group of houses with the air of an old New England village. The house to the left in appearance belongs to a century ago, but by observation of the fioor plans on the same plate it will be seen that this is but a section of a four-family house, the ground plan following irregularly an angular outline formed of two houses in the center with a wing house at either end. The interiors are ingeniously ar- ranged with every possible convenience. The house in the center of this group with piUared porch stands with dignity among its neigh- bors and with an air of bygone days. Instead of being a family mansion which it suggests it is designed for two foremen's famihes, which will be seen by the plans foimd in the text on page 40. These are snug quarters of five rooms and bath, well arranged and equipped with the modern improvements which lighten and brighten household work. The houses shown on Plate 17 are built in groups, with accom- modations for four and eight families and contain five or six rooms each. These show a changing style in porches and roofs, the house at the extreme left being one end of a group of eight houses, the plans of which are shown on Plate 18. The compactness of the arrangement, which also embraces all the conveniences of closet room and kitchen facilities, recommends itself. The adjoining house with pillared front is intended for four families, with a similar arrange- ment of rooms, but with a casual difference here and there which an inspection of the plans on the same plate will show. Plate 19 gives a view of a four-family house with plan annexed. A detail in plan to be noted is the separation of the entrances, giving 38 THE HOUSING BOOK a little privacy in approach not always attained in a block of houses. Two photographic reproductions of some of the houses after com- pletion are shown on Plate 20, These are of the type shown on Plate 17 in which the gambrel roof is conspicuous. The gambrel dormer gives an additional effect of quaintness. The plans on Plate 18 apply also to these houses. 39 flRjT rue CJ&R,- ?_ A« BB-(t«^>4) »KL1 fcOOf VLA/I FLOOR PLANS FOE PILLARED PORCH HOUSE SHOWN ON PAGE «. BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF TOWN PLAN, WESTINGHOUSE VILLAGE. ..•V Ni ■.. > ■ I 1^' \[ '"'-^^:/-!!f^J ""'"^a::: ;:: yv- ^^fcwr^^ , .--J/iI^j^lr^ ]:J d?fel;;;J-J"L; li>>:^c^J-/-: 111 J :Vi;a-:^- r Plate 15. [t r 1 ■ ', ' iTLLff ITTI Clarence Wilson Brazer, Town Planning Arrhitect. PLANTING PLAN, WESTINGHOUSE VILLAGE, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA, PA. 41 Plate 16. Clarence Wilson Brazer, Architect. GROUP OF HOUSES, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA, PA. FLOOR PLANS FOR HOUSE TO THE LEFT OF ABOVE ILLUSTRATION. 42 M fi .^ Xt Vl^^ViStiy*. .«*. Plate 17. Clarence Wilson Brazer, Architect. GROUP OF HOUSES FOR FOUR AND EIGHT FAMILIES. a ® ® K(?or Cla/j u ® IIj. I • • '«■>- Ll ,i»>. -- J ® ■'in J l|, FIFST FLOUK Pl.A/4 FLOOR PLANS FOR HOUSE IN CENTRE OF ABOVE ILLUSTRATION (PILLARED FRONT). 43 o < 15 O o 1-4 < « H U3 t3 1-1 1-1 HI O H >-l W O w tn 13 O M !^ O fa en < 1-1 h Pi O O 1-1 ■ ."jSr" 1 44 Plate 19. Clarence Wilson Brazer, Architect. GROUP OF 4 SIX ROOM HOUSES, SOUTH PHILADELPHIA, PA. F II13T f LOOK. P LAA J EC 0/lD rLOOt PLAfl 45 Plate 20. Clarence Wilson Brazer, Architect. PHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTIONS OF HOUSES SHOWN ON PAGE 43. (For floor plans, see page 44) 46 Harriman Townsite, Bristol, Pa. Carroll H. Pratt Architect and T»wn Planner UNDER the direction of the Merchant Ship Building Corpo- ration the great development known as Harriman Townsite at Bristol, Pa., was planned and rapidly got underway when the need of providing living quarters for the army of shipbuilders gathered there became an urgent necessity. Bristol contained few available houses for newcomers when the influx began, and it was necessary to provide quickly for the great number of men employed in the plant as well as the construction force employed in the erection of the houses. Appointing Mr. Carroll H. Pratt as designer of the buildings, the corporation here erected in record-breaking time a vast administration building which contained every facility required by the great office force of the company. Radiating from this building well leaved and sewered streets stretched forth, along which were built row upon row of detached and semi-detached houses of excellent construc- tion and design. The general plan laid out provided for all usual and necessary community facilities including stores, restaurants, schools, churches, playgrounds and parks, as well as different types of dweUings for housing bachelors and families, running from the common labor type, up through the skilled mechanics to foremen, superintendents and executives. This plan has been consistently followed and provides an equita- ble and appropriate disposition of the various grades of houses and buildings of public or semi-public character. To meet the varying needs the corporation built individual bachelor cottages, tiny family cottages, larger cottages for larger families and huge boarding houses for the single man who did not care to maintain a bachelor's hall. Then there were two-family houses, three and four- family houses and group houses containing accommodations for seven, eight and even sixteen families. All these houses were of the latest type of sanitary con- struction and equipped with every reasonable device for comfort, such as standard plumbing fixtures, electric lights, hot-air furnaces or 47 THE HOUSING BOOK steam heat. The architectural style is also sufl&ciently varied to avoid any suggestion of monotony, and while stucco appears to have been a favorite material, there were enough houses of brick or frame con- struction to effect a pleasing contrast. The buildings to house the bachelor laborers and mechanics were placed at the northerly end of the property nearest the plant, a number of them being erected for temporary occupancy, without interior partitions or finish but with weatherproof though temporary roofs and side walls and permanent foundations and permanent plrmibing and heating equipment. The blocks for bachelor houses were laid out with large buildings of the boarding house or mess hall and dormitory type, housing sixty men each, and at each end of the block, on the cross streets between, with smaller buildings housing twenty men each. South of this boarding house district and between these and the open parks and playgrounds are placed the apartment houses for families. These are of various types of exterior design, all two stories high, having sloping slate roofs and exteriors of brick, stucco, clap- boards or shingles. Apartments each have separate entrances and are of three, four and five rooms each. Care has been taken to plan all the rooms rectangular in shape, without irregular offsets or alcoves, well lighted, conveniently arranged and of good size and amply pro- vided with closets. Each family has access to a storage room in the cellar, and all apartments are heated from a central plant. On another side of the public space are placed the individual group houses for the occupancy of married skilled laborers and mechanics. These rows of dwellings offer an opportunity for considerable variation in exterior design which has not been lost, and the same variety in building materials previously mentioned gives the completed street an appear- ance not unlike that of a high-class suburban development. Finally, at the southerly end of the plan and surrounding a smaller park are placed the single detached houses of five and six rooms each, which have been provided for superintendents, foremen and executives and which are also of varying plan and exterior design. Along the main street east of the residential section are placed the administration building, commissary-stores with apartments over them, police station, fire station and other community buildings. Nearby is also to be built a hotel providing rooms for single men and married couples. A group of school buildings including rooms for elementary and high school grades, with assembly halls, etc., is a part of the plan and adjoining these is the athletic field affording opportunity for outdoor exercise and games, 48 THE HOUSING BOOK With this general outline of the plan of townsite and the dis- position of the various grades of houses, community buildings and open spaces, an examination of the plates which contain the illus- trations and plans of a good ninnber of these types will enable the reader to f uUy understand and appreciate the development as a whole and the units individually. Plate 21 shows one of the smaller types of cottages of frame construction, attractive in exterior, and the plans show arrangements for housekeeping on a small scale but complete in detaU. Nothing is left to a make-shift device, even in the smallest home. Plate 22 illustrates one of the smaller so-called boarding houses or dormitories of the bungalow type, designed solely for night lodging. The two wings have access to a central toilet room provided with tubs, showers and lavatories, and each wing is arranged to group the bedrooms around a central living room in which the lodgers may find rest and recreation other than sitting in the bedrooms. The three-family house is shown on Plate 23. The exterior is in stucco finish; the roof and porch shelter, set in broad angles, present a new note in the sur- roundings. The plans of five rooms each for the end houses and four rooms for the center show the same compact and sensible order with nothing for comfort or convenience omitted. The house illustrated on Plate 25 adds one more unit to the group and another change in type. This house, designed for four families, is of brick the first story and finished with clapboards above. The straight sloping roof with single dormer, the arched openings in two of the porches, the separation of the front entrances are the main points at variance from a commonplace design. The plans on the preceding plate show a uniform disposition of the rooms and the necessary conveniences in accordance with the general plan. On Plate 26 is another house of stucco finish but developed in this case into a seven-family group house. The style is simple without much modification, but the irregular frontage line breaks the flatness and gives in appearance all that is required for the part it occupies in the general scheme. The floor plans follow on Plate 27. Four rooms and bath is the number allotted to each family and the arrangement being similar to the other small houses needs no further comment. A four-family house appears on Plate 28 designed for two families on the ground floor and two on the floor above in "flat" style. This method of plan has its advantages, there being many who prefer a one-floor arrangement to a house where stairs add somewhat to the labor of housework. Each apartment has a separate entrance, giving 49 THE HOUSING BOOK the needed and desired privacy that each family seeks as its right. A second-story veranda gives the upper apartments equal advantage with the lower, and there is also a ^separate back porch and stairway. These apartments contain four rooms and bath each, but with every provision for a clean and sanitary way of living. The frame house on Plate 30 extends its units to eight. It strikes a new note in appearance yet is in harmony with the broad scheme of the development. This is arranged for complete living apartments on one floor, four below and four above; very simple and limited in scope yet giving means for one or two persons to have a cozy and complete home. The rear porch is also a feature of this group and the front entrances are mainly apart. Plate 31 illustrates another eight-family house of entirely different exterior. Stucco is again here made 4ise of and the angled roof and broadly arched openings into the verandas on both floors avoids the usual monotony often found in a long house row. The plans on Plate 32 are similar to the foregoing eight-apartment house, but this is a little more commodious, one more room having been allowed in the scheme. The sixteen-family house on Plate 33 provides for the accommodations of a large number of persons under one roof, yet without apparent crowding. The first story of this long row of houses is of brick with the upper part finished in stucco. The front alternates gables and sloping rooflines with dormers, giving again the varied appearance that has been universally maintained in this collection of buildings. The two floors of the interior are divided Into small apartments, some of three and some of four rooms and bath. There is no noticeable variation in the disposal of space or difference in convenient appliances. The same usual excellence prevails. Plate 34 shows a view of the larger boarding house type, housing sixty men. This is of frame construction, severely plain yet suitable for its intended purpose. The plans on page 63 show a long corridor running through the center of the building with the bedrooms opening on either side. The toilet rooms are installed on this floor, with bath- tubs, shower baths and lavatories. This floor also holds the messroom and a large kitchen. The second floor shows the same plan in regard to bedrooms and toilet rooms, but over the messroom the space has been used for a recreation room partly and the remaining space turned into store closets. Plate 37 closes the illustrations given with this development, showing a street view with a vista of further streets and houses suggestive of a busy little residential center, where com- fortable homes are the rule. 50 .1 iLRCHAtiT aHiPBUiLwrn-coBimffnori o&wS^!*»*r*^- Plate 21. A ONE FAMILY HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. IT fc.;d HI— J jfi». HP -* A First floor. Second i'loor. 51 Plate 22. A SMALL BOARDING HOUSE OR DORMITORY. Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. tLt''l'£M -^ ■> • 12-- "'"Stti ■ SL3M -,- ■ . --tx. i,zt^ ■; <■ r— — T — ' — r™^ LIVING- saw. 12 * ■ ;6-o % qo • li-c ElrH^* 1 "■ : .. ■ POS.CH FLOOR PLAN. 52 Plate 23. A THREE FAMILY HOUSE, BRISTOL. PA. Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. y- rz:~-' ^i: ,. 53 T — r^- t I FIRST FLOOR. r B E: i> W-O: V ip **i* Br:D «JX>M -::J ftr.t) HtDM 1 ir- -i;--,,^ SECOND FLOOR. ra RfL feajM. ( ir^ 53 e:-E:;] FIRST FLOOR. Plate 24. SECOND FLOOR. FLOOR PLANS, FOUR FAMILY HOUSE, TOP OF OPPOSITE PAGE. Plate 25 A FOUR FAMILY HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. (Floor plans, opposite page.; Plate 26. A SEVEN FAMILY HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. (Floor plans, see page 56.) 55 Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. FIRST FLOOR. SECOND FLOOR. Plate 27. FLOOR PLANS, SEVEN FAMILY HOUSE, BOTTOM OF PAGE 55. 56 Plate TH. A FOUR FAMILY HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. at LL^;-i FIRST FLOOR. 57 SECOND FLOOR. .XIK)!" FLOiE RLMi. Plate 29. FLOOR PLANS, EIGHT FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE, TOP OF OPPOSITE PAGE. 58 Plate 30. AN EIGHT FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. (Floor plans, opposite page) Plate 31. ANOTHER EIGHT FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. (Floor plans, page 60) 59 Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. IrU'y' ^ J ^ 144 F=T]-ratnr - i-^~iJ M O O J oi W!fli gwir»l tnw « o o Q 2; O O w Plate 32. FLOOR PLANS, EIGHT FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE, SHOWN AT BOTTOM OF PAGE 59. 60 Plate 33. A SIXTEEN- FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. (Floor Plans, Page 62) . ^.^^ -»-">'«^ Plate 34. A BOARDING HOUSE, BRISTOL, PA. (Floor Plans, Page 63) 61 Carroll H. Pratt, Architect. L_ LilJi ^: .-- — :-.- 4-1- .;,'r,v| ''mmr o ^ s .J q o o 3 m Plate 35. FLOOR PLANS, SIXTEEN FAMILY APARTMENT HOUSE, SHOWN ON PAGE 61 (TOP). 62 MC l.'OM III 1 -*- '"^*- - ' ■ ' ' ' ' " ' ■ ■iOLtlD'-' . r - JTCtT JT •i.t. 1' ~i\.7' eJc'«" •tn i,'-v. til t--'.' tpl: ,.•« 't 'i^ M".:' 1- >.f'L ».;.>■-,■-■, i,:^- kcAm ■ f i.r i.-'ow ^ [!:■ e.DJ^ i n L L - — I 2 ...i ^rM OliCONO VL.ai«, m.AN ... ".u^''"'^ cw Dp C.I '.' ^ / 1 1: : T El.il ■•'..r L J _ - J F t P/1 T H 1 a . L> J J I A r-j Plate 36. '\ tt'o "o!"' "1". r'ir "'.-.T.'" " "* ~~" -^ ^~~ ~^ U— >ii_J 1_ 1 —1-1 ■ i, FIRST AND SECOND FLOOR PLANS FOR BOARDING HOUSE, SHOWN ON PAGE 61. 63 • fLOOlL ELEVATION PLAN OF ABOVE HOUSES. 67 Plate 39. H. Errol Coffin, Architect. A GROUP OF TEN HOUSES, CLAYMONT, DEL. T] iiyT' 'r.Lo.oR.' P L AN= 'Floor.' PLAN.' TTLOUT IlLLVkTlOH •AT ■ 0VItt,l.OOK ■ C OLO NY JTL. .1. ^^.,nS .<1,X\,. ' ELEVATION PLAN OF ABOVE HOUSES. 68 Plate 40. A GROUP OF SEVENTEEN HOUSES, CLAYMONT, DEL. H. Errol Coffin, Architect. •n&ST'fLOOIi'FLAN ■TTriCAL'lNTERMLPIATL'(&'C0LNL]^'H0U^L3' (For second floor plans, see page 66.) ELEVATION PLAN OF ABOVE HOUSES. 69 ANOTHiiK VIEW IW HOUSES SHOWN ON PAGE 69 Wate 41. H. Errol Coffin, Architect. ANOTHER VIEW OF HOUSES SHOWN ON PAGE 68. 70 Yorkship Village, West Collingswood, New Jersey Electus D. Litchfield Architect and Town Planner THIS development is an instance of the rapid creation of dwellings in answer to the demand for the housing of workers so suddenly assembled in unusual places, where haste was im- perative in the completion of war materials. The U. S. Government has legally the controlling interest in the property, but it was fostered by the New York Shipbuilding Co. and built for the accommodation of their employees. As architect for the development the company selected Mr. Electus D. Litchfield, of New York, who is also responsi- ble for the general plan of the village, and the Tide- Water Building Co., of New York, as the general contractors for the erection of the houses. Originally a contract was given to the above company for 907 houses. Since the completion of these, 500 additional houses, 6 apartment buildings, hotel, community house, gymnasium, garage and three blocks of stores with lodge rooms above have been completed. The new village has been fortunate in its natural settings. The area selected comprises some 200 acres of moderately rolling land, through which flows a winding stream, and the site is sufficiently ele- vated to allow for cellars without the necessity of waterproofing. There are numerous fine old trees and hedge rows along the existing country roads which are being preserved with greatest care. Low-lying ground and wooded land is reserved for a park. By a study of the town plan it will be seen that both care and skill were exercised to make a convenient and liveable arrangement in the direction of streets and thoroughfares and parceling the house plots. The general layout is unusual. The central square, from which all streets radiate, is very attractive and the vistas obtained have a varied effect, to which the curved and winding ways of the main avenues lend further attraction. The streets are comparatively wide, ranging from 50 feet up to a maximum of 124 feet, which is the width of Broadway, the main axial thoroughfare. It will be noted that 71 THE HOUSING BOOK alleys have been laid out midway between the blocks. These are 12 feet wide and provide convenient access to the rear of aU houses in the community. The majority of the houses are in groups reach- ing a maximum of eleven units, while the smaller groups are de- signed for three families, with some semi-detached houses and a few single-family detached dwellings. The designs for these houses embrace about sixty separate schemes, some following the English rural style, others after the American Colonial, one idea in giving this variety being that the village might have the appearance and quality of growth and age instead of a new development. The majority of the houses are of brick treated in various ways as to bond and method of laying, so that no adjoining houses or sections of units are alike. A smaller proportion are buUt of hollow terra cotta block stuccoed in various styles and colors. The houses which divide themselves among the four, five, six and seven room classes are planned on the most straight- forward lines and nearly all are full two stories in height. Every house and apartment is equipped with the best type of plumbing. Each house has an individual hot-air heater and the apartment houses are heated by steam plants. Gas cooking ranges and water heaters have been installed, and in fact every visible need has been met with "modern appliances. Plate 44 shows a type of one of the smaller groups containing five separate units, or, if the word has not gone out of fashion, five tenements, which to the house-hunter expresses it more clearly. The architect may design and build in units, but the ordinary dweller will still look for a tenement, in the strict sense of the word, to live in. This group presents a pleasing front, showing the doorways of the three central houses, the outer domiciles having their entrances, with a wide porch, placed at the respective ends. A gable on each end breaks the monotony of a plain roof line. The elevation with the distinguishing labels of Ya, Yb and Yc, with the floor plans marked in the same way, give much help toward a plain understanding of the interior planning; the two houses on one end being the reverse of the two on the other end. The design on Plate 45 presents a street view, and the three-house group in the right foreground shows planning considerably out of the ordinary which for sake of distinction is called the 45-degree angle houses. The central house, with its plain old- fashioned porch, is of rectangular shape, as shown by floor plan Re. The other houses of this group are set at an angle of 45 degrees to 72 THE HOUSING BOOK the front line of the center house and give an uncommon, though attractive, appearance ; and the cutting off the street corner affords a wider space for shrubbery, light and prospect. The floor plan con- nected with these wings is shown in plan known as Type T and is of the house to the right of the center. The house to the left would be the reverse of this plan. The entire plan of the center house, with wings attached, shows roughly the shape of a crescent. On page 73 will be seen an elevation of the nine-family group house composed of typical imits; that is, the floor plans and general arrangements are the same as in the lesser groups, the only difference being in the number combined. The houses terminating the group at each end bear the same relation to the others and the long front is diversified by a variety of treatment in the porches and single and double windows. An elevation with plans of a double house, Type L and Type N (page 74), shows some variation, and the elevation and plans of a triple unit, Ra and Re, show still another method of han- dling the familiar problem. A mapped-out plan of the town is given on Plate 42, a study of which wiU enable the reader to visualize many of the possibihties and attractions of what appears to be a charming town. We are indebted to The Architectural Forum for the elevation and plan cuts shown on pages 73 and 74. ELEVATION OF NINE- FAMILY GROUP HOUSE COMPOSED OF TYPICAL UNITS. 73 ELEVATION OF DOUBLE HOUSE, PLAN BELOW TO THE LEFT. PLANS OF ABOVE ELEVATION. PLANS OF ELEVATION BELOW. ELEVATION OF THREE-FAMILY HOUSE, PLAN ABOVE TO THE RIGHT. ' CD ;! '33 CO [•' -^■ " Q ^ O W o en o g o u u < 5 O o r^' W O Plate 5b SIX-FAMILY BRICK HOUSES AT ERIE, PA. Albert F. Edwards, Architect. ' ¥--- §1 Pi o-I r M H <, w m f O.- M 2 5tcomrLooiiruifi- - THIK!) FIjOOR 5imui!- 'TiiairimfUn- Plate S2. FLOOR PLANS OF SIX AND NINE-FAMILY HOUSES. (See Opposite Page) 87 Plate 53. _^ Hiss & Weeks, Architects. GENERAL PLAN, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AT BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 88 Development at Bridgeport, Conn. Hiss and Weeks Architects AS the plant of the Remington Arms, brand new in every part, arose with the magic of an Aladdin Palace, so the housing development to accompany this great industry sprang into being. Every industrial center in the country felt the impetus of war work, but in no place was the great upheaval more apparent than in Bridgeport. An inrush of 75,000 people into a city whose housing capacity was already stretched, made the problem a mighty one. The Remington Arms Company had their plans well in hand, and where there was a barren tract of land some 35 acres in extent, a stretch of boulders and vacancy, there is now a living town with solid streets, terraced and graded grounds, and a lake some seven acres in extent, made possible by a concrete dam and the barren hillside is hidden by a park-like cover. And all was transformed in as many weeks as it would take years, ordinarily with the usual growth of a town. The firm of Hiss and Weeks, architects, made the designs and plans for the houses and the construction of houses, streets and town was carried out by James Stewart & Co., Inc., contractors and builders. A look at the plan of the development on Plate 53 will show somewhat irregular streets, and the situation and arrangement of the various types of houses which are illustrated in the plates, following. A row of small frame bungalows is shown on Plate 54> with the elevations and plans on the next page. These were hastily built for temporary housing, with no plumbing except running water in the kitchen, but they are to be made into permanent dwellings later with provision for proper sanitation and conveniences. They are fin- ished inside with natural wood, and heated by hot-air furnaces. Plate 56 shows houses designed for four famihes each, two on the ground floor and two on the floor above. These houses are of solid brick with concrete foundations. One front door for each house opens from the porch into the vestibule; two separate doors in the vestibule, lead, one 89 THE HOUSING BOOK into the private hall of the lower apartment and the other into the stairway for the upstairs apartment, giving a separate entrance for each family. The inside finish is stained cypress, floors are of ISTorth Carolina pine and hot air heating apparatus is provided, one for each family. The street view presents a trim and well kept appearance and the plans show that all the small details for a housekeeper's comfort have been well thought out, such as closet room in plenty, built in china closets, standard bathroom fixtures and complete kitchen equipment, including both coal and gas ranges. Referring to the town plan on page 88 there will be seen streets where the houses are synunetrically placed in groups called one, two and eleven family houses, designed each for a single family. On Plate 58 is presented a view of a row of houses for eleven families. These are similar in construction and inside finish to the four-family brick houses previously mentioned, and the interior arrangement gives it the name of the Philadelphia type house — that is, separate front and rear entrance for each family, party wall between the dwellings, and basement area entrance for the delivery of goods. The plans for six of these houses on pages 96 and 97 are easily read, some variation in the setting of the stairway ascending from living room will be noted and the general arrangement is simple and convenient. On Plate 62 will be seen one and two family houses in the same street, that border on the row of eleven houses. These are of frame construction with the side walls and roof covered with stained shingles, the inside trim being of cypress and the floors of hard pine. The plans for the two family house will be found on Plate 63 and the plans for the one-family house will be found on Plate 62. These show a cosy arrangement of rooms with the usual up-to-date conveniences. A front elevation drawing of these two-frame houses is given on Plate 61. These illustrations and plans show in part how the Remington Arms and Ammunition Co. met its share of the housing problem when the world sprang to war. That it is destined to be permanent there is no doubt, and the working man in coming years will live under conditions in a community which recognizes that it owes more to its workers than a place to work. This started as a private enterprise but the housing commission and the recreation commission in Bridgeport are carrying on the good work already well begun. 90 "A 2; o u St « '^ 03 1^ «"= ^ s o s. z ^ w S S "■ J > 1-1 ^ < w o o Pi 91 reai-.I-j'jm.JlnMmninrais' 93 Jr *■'' ,«- Zn riKST Floor Plah ■'".-'IH ll**-:* ii 1. i^ £ 2 3 ■— 1 1. 1 J Y ?^ Ui S 1" '^! v^ i «' JL' ■••>, Ba: Q^ /^ £S=^ 3eco/)ii Flodk Plah Plate 57. Fl ()<)1< J'l.ANS I'OK ITM'K |-A.-.;i:.^'.„;:-E^rilJLT ACHED HOUSES ON PACE 93. 94 =3 O U h" « O ft O SS; m -o c t« •» w « HH o^ H in > s w ^ M o (in h en J? o M o o 95 on w o < fit o PL, o M O W w w w M H o CO W en P O S w K O O -mimSWB, SEVEN AND EIGHT-ROOM HOUSES TX FIRESTOXE PARK. Plate 64. SIX-ROOM HOUSES IN FIRESTONE PARK. 103 John E. Suppes, Architect. Plate 65. A SIX-ROOM FRAME HOUSE IN FIRESTONE PARK. John F. Suppes, Architect. FIRST FLOOR. SECOND FLOOR. 104 Plate 66. John r. Suppes, Architect. COTTAGE EXTERIOR IN STUCCO AND SHINGLE, FIRESTONE PARK. FIRST FLOOR. SECOND FLOOR. 105 Development for Colored Workers Truxton, Va. Rossel Edward Mitchell Archilcc. IT is a far cry from the cabin in slaves' quarters on a southern plantation to the trim little colony solely for colored people at Tuxton, Va. In time and transition it is farther yet from the solitary mountain shack built of rough boards, with its outside chim- ney of field stones or like as not of sticks laid crib fashion and plastered with mud, to this model town. It is one of the amazing performances which this last year has accomplished. A few months ago, a field of waving corn ; today, by a wave of the magic wand, a complete village. Officially this is known as U. S. Housing Project No. 150 C. and is the only development exclusively for colored workers in the United States. The town comprising some 250 houses of five-room size was laid out with the idea of making a model town. The designing was done by Rossel Edward Mitchell of Norfolk, Va., and the Hegeman- Harris Co., Inc., of New York, were the builders. The houses are all of the same type as far as the interiors are concerned, but it has been possible to introduce variations into the exterior designs to pre- vent a monotonous appearance. The houses are all of frame with brick foundations and practically all are single houses, there being twenty-six double houses only in the group. Each house has a well- equipped bathroom furnished with vitreous ware, running water, standard sinks and wash bowls. To these conveniences are also added electric lights. The house lots are 28x100 for single houses and 40x100 for the two-family type. The streets are laid out with a view to ample expansion to meet future needs and attention has been given to parks and playgrounds. A school, Y. M. C. A. Building, stores, moving picture theatre and a church are included in the scheme. Two views given on Plates 67 and 68 show a variety of these houses. The street front presents a diversified arrangement in regard to porches and gables so that the eye is met with changing forms instead of tiresome repetition. The rear view of the same houses is neat and trim with a promise of gardens and vine-covered porches. The elevations and plans on Plates 69 and 70 further explain the comforts of these houses which mark a distinct advance in homes for colored workers. The town was named in honor of Admiral Truxton, U. S. N. 106 Plate 67, A ROW OF HOUSES AT TRUXTON, VA. Plate 68. Rossel Edward Mitchell, Architect. REAR VIEW OF HOUSES SHOWN ABOVE. 107 n S PORCH JJ KlTCHtN K 0"X to'-B" p^ iflo- DiiiNt ?» ' Kitchen -i Po«,f Livi«t CW Ded Rja 10 O'x lO 9' C[ 4L Plate 69. Rossel Edward Mitchell, Architect. ELEVATIONS AND PLANS FOR HOUSES SHOWN ON PAGE 107. 108 PO(^£H B1N1N6 Kn KjTcntN' 8 J"x I0-9' a y\ 10-9" --L 14 0"X I0-9" K N "^ Ul Plate 70. Rossel Edward Mitchell, Architect. ELEVATIONS AND PLANS FOR HOUSES SHOWN ON PAGE 107. 109 Development at Donora, Penn. ONE HUNDRED concrete houses have been recently built for the American Steel and Wire Company to relieve a housing shortage at their plant at Donora, Penn., and are intended for homes for a number of their skilled and semi-skilled employees. There are eight types of houses, consisting of four, five and six- room double houses and six-room single houses, numbering in all twenty double and sixty single houses. Monolithic concrete construction property reinforced was chosen on account of its superior building and fireproof qualities. The only exposed frame work on the interior is the window sashes, so there is practically no danger of fire spreading from one house to another. Such construction also reduces depreciation and maintenance to the lowest minimum. Steel forms constructed under the patents of the Ijambie Con- crete House Corporation, New York, were used, and are so designed that any part of the house may easily be properly formed. The con- struction was done by the Aberthaw Construction Co., Boston. One story at a time is formed and cast starting with the basement walls and following with the first and second stories in order, permit- ting each, however, to harden properly before proceeding. Basement walls are of solid concrete 9 inches in thickness and are not reinforced, and the first and second story walls are six inches thick, properly reinforced. A tower and chute was first tried for placing concrete but this was abandoned in favor of a small "Sasgen" derrick bolted to the forms — which hoisted buggies of concrete to the floors. The forms proved very satisfactory, giving perfect alignment and smooth sur- faces, so that the stucco originally specified was not really necessary, the walls true and smooth as they came from the forms, requiring verT little rubbing to give a satisfactory texture and color to the surface. Roofs are constructed of wood rafters, covered with wood sheet- ing and cement asbestos shingles, and the cornices are of reinforced concrete. The floors and ceiling for the second floor are of reinforced concrete of the beam type, which are tied into the side walls so that practically each floor and room resembles a concrete box. The floors are surfaced with wood flooring nailed to wooden sleepers embedded in the concrete when casting. 110 < < Pi o 2; o a H < o K w H W « U o u O H 2; o w w 5 E 111 . ■■AT a !r^"=Tii.' « 1 vl..^- " N.--^ V^^ *. iK > F" ; .^ c37" F L o o K - .XHMHHHHHHHI' - '^ -c o/i u f l o o r - FLOOR PLANS FOR RIGHT- END HOUSE SHOWN ON PAGE UL M I if IS l<|-r1:HC_N i.Tjj fei; "^! fei A- 1^ A. Vi^'tMC.TCoor^ 1| a_ 14' 0" I -U Plate 72. nesr FLOotj. ■jri.cc/-iDK'i_orK . TYPICAL FLOOR PLAN OF TWO-FAMILY TYPE OF HOUSE SHOWN ON PAGE HI (THIRD _, , ^. HOUSE FROM RIGHT). 112 The interior walls are furred, nailing strips having been placed in the concrete when casting for the furring strips, and nailing strips were also placed in the ceiling. Wall Board, % inches thick, is nailed to the furring strips and plaster- ing of side walls and ceilings is done directly on this board, the furring creating a dead air space which elim- inates the possibility of dampness. These concrete houses have been built complete in every respect including fur- naces, electric lights, bath rooms, ranges, cupboards, window shades, screens, swing hooks, etc. Reference to Plate 71 will show a street front of houses of both the single- and double-house type. The floor plans on Plate 72 (top of page) apply to the house at the right of this illus- tration which is of the one- family six-room type. The plans on the lower half of same plate are of a uniform type from which a number of the double- or two-familv houses were built. This is a design of the smallest type of the two-family house, containing, as will be seen, but four rooms, yet giving all the require- ments necessary for a small family. u >,h; p c« p O w W H W o Z o u o o in < <" O !z; o o H < w s o 1-1 M > Q O ►J < W w o 113 Designs for Single and Double Houses of Moderate Cost C. E. Schermerhorn Architect THE following plates contain designs for six houses of moder- ate cost and though not belonging to any development or in- cluded in any one building operation they strictly comply with the Government standards for war housing, as regards planning and construction but go beyond what the Government standards call for in artistic values. This is attained in a large measure by applying logical principles of the now available building materials to create a desirable home-like expression for the exterior. All of these houses show simplicity in design, planning and method of handling material and are such as might be built successfully in any small town or suburb. "I Plate 74 shows a five-rpom house of frame clapboard construc- tion, the gambrel roof with its slight overhang giving a mark of dis- tinction. \ Plate 75 llustrates a house of some larger dimensions with the exterior finished in stucco and shingles. Still another variety is shown on Plate 76. This has a shingled exterior and ample light is gained for the rooms by the two-story bay which merges into the roof, sug- gesting a tower. A twin house appears on Plate 77, finished in stucco and clapboard, and the floor plans show compact and convenient planning. Plate 78 contains another example of the double frame house, with clapboard ^nish, the plans showing a variation from the preceding design. Plate 79 shows still another design for the twin house. This is of frame construction with stucco finish and the plans are somewhat like those on Plate 77. These designs are so dissimilar that the matter of choice is quite wide. They are adapted to the needs and tastes of a goodty number of homebuilders, particularly those desiring a rmall house and at the same time one not too expensive. 114 Plate 74. C E. Schermerhorn, Architect. A FIVE. ROOM HOUSE, FRAME AND CLAPBOARD CONSTRUCTION. Plate 75. C. E, Schertnerhorn, Architect. A HOUSE WITH EXTERIOR IN STUCCO AND SHINGLE. nUST FLOOL /ECO/ID FLOOL - 116 Plate 76. A SIX-ROOM FRAME AND SHINGLE HOUSE. C. E. Schermerhorn, Architect. Yirzsr fi-ooR.' •JJecomd fLoOR.' 117 Plate 77. C. E. Schermerhorn, Architect. A TWIN STUCCO CLAPBOARD HOUSE ■TrsT fi.QOR. -'-i'ECOriO FA-OOta* 118 ^aUa^lt5 TlooR' -"fiRanrlLooR- 119 "M#^^f^ IP'" '*- ^v,^ ■'• Plate 79. C. E. Schermerhorn, Architect. A DOUBLE HOUSE OF FRAME CONSTRUCTION WITH STUCCO FINISH. •■JTrst fLOoie -v^ECOMD flOOR- 120 Small Concrete Houses ON plates 80 and 81 are representations and plans of three concrete houses, which may be caUed up to date in style and method of construction. These are good examples of the better class of industrial cottages, built to stand the wear of wind and weather, and being fireproof have a permanency not attained in frame construction. They are also an argument in favor of the small detached house as a housing unit. Home ownership is made at- tractive and possible, making provision for the workingman to hve independently and comfortably. It is by the courtesy of the publishers of "Industrial Houses of Concrete and Stucco" that we reproduce these excellent specimens. On Plate 80 is a house that might be called tiny, did not the floor plan show such an extent. It contains six rooms and bath, and the sun porch is arranged to be enclosed with screens in summer or glass in winter, affording an extra living room. The dining room and liv- ing room are arched together which lengthens the interior space. Natural wood finish and southern pine floors were used and with a hot water heating system and standard bathroom little else is to be desired for a comfortable way of living. On Plate 81 are two ex- amples of two-story houses of poured concrete. The upper one almost square in plan, of Craftsman style is compact and convenient. The porch is extended in the plan, making an out-of-door living room, that can be enclosed with wire or glass according to the season. All the exterior wood work is treated with creosote stain, being more durable and giving a more mellow appearance than paint. The lower house on this plate has much to recommend it in point of at- tractiveness. The broken roof line that forms the dormer gives relief from flatness yet does not suggest orn«,ment. The main roof slopes in its natural line below the eaves, roofing the porch, and allows a narrow deck on the second floor level. The interior walls are of white finish and the woodwork stained gray green. The floor plans show that there was a thought to save steps in house work and a dish closet between kitchen and dining room opening both ways will be a greatly appreciated convenience. These houses have been erected at Virginia Highlands, Va. 121 Plate 80. A SMALL CONCRETE HOUSE OF SIX ROOMS AND BATH, BUILT AT VIRGINIA HIGHLANDS, VA. PLAN OF HOUSE SHOWN ABOVE. J 22 A SIX-ROOM CONCRETE HOUSE. t— »==i^ -r+= HVTycouVi^rt •2^■»•f•x«w6•PiArt•. T^^ A TWO -STORY CONCRETE COTTAGE. f late 81. 123 ILLUSTRATION FROM "THE HOLLOW-TILE HOUSE.' By Frederick Squires, Architect. (See Page 131) 124 ADVERTISEMENTS 1^ Page Architecture and Building 132 The Bishopric Manufacturing Co 130 The Wm. T. Comstock Co 131 Hegeman-Harris Co., Inc 128 James Stewart & Co., Inc 129 Tide-Water Building Company 126 Stewart Willey Co 127 125 Designed by Electus D. Litchfield, Architect YORKSHIP VILLAGE CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY A Town for a Population of Ten Thousand Including Apartments, Hotels, Schools, Stores, Theatre, Bank, Garages, and Social Improvement Buildings This work was started May 20th, 1918, and completed at the average rate of a finished house every two hours. Refer to pages 71 to 78 for examples of the houses erected. Constructed by Tide -Water Building Company GENERAL CONTRACTORS 16 East 33rd Street, New York A. MILTON NAPIER, President H. STEVENSON, Vice-President J. P. RANNEY, Secretary-Treasurer E. W. HAMMER, General Superintendent 126 CONTRACTORS 1 1 £5 BROAPWAY BUILDERS OF OVERLOOK COLONY CLAYMONT, DEL. FOR THE GENERAL CHEMICAL COMPANY OF NEW YORK CITY SEE PAGE 65 OF THIS BOOK 207 HOUSES— DORMITORY— BOARDING HOUSES-COMMUNITY BUILD- ING—BUILT IN NINE MONTHS UNDER THE MOST TRYING CONDITIONS THE TRADE EVER SAW. WE INVITE COMPARISON OF COST BETWEEN OVERLOOK COLONY, AND ANY OTHER HOUSING PROJECT BUILT DURING SAME PERIOD. IF WE HAVE OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME— WE OVERCOME THEM. 1000 WORKMEN KEPT GOING WITH NO LOST MOTION OUR FIELD ORGANIZATION IS THE BEST PERSONAL ATTENTION GETS RESULTS WE GIVE PERSONAL ATTENTION IN THIS COLONY ALONE WE BUILT CONCRETE HOUSES-HOLLOW TILE HOUSES-BRICK HOUSES-FRAME HOUSES- CUJNl^iUiiii iiwuo METAL LUMBER HOUSES OUR RECORDS SHOW— THE BEST— THE CHEAPEST— THE QUICKEST TO BUILD CUE DATA ON THIS IS AT YOUR DISPOSAL rwTTo T7tTTMATTNr, DEPARTMENT WILL GLADLY FURNISH PRELIMINARY OR FINAL p^hrf^TnD THEY WILL BE ACCURATE. BARROW, WADE, GUTHRIE & CO. IN- StSd oSr IcCOUNTING SYSTEM. OUR CLIENTS KNOW WHERE THEY STAND ALL THE TIME. 127 Builders of GRADOCK, VA. See pages 27 to 36 TRUXTON, VA. See pages 106 to 109 DURING the conduct of extensive housing operations for the United States Government, we have built up an organization of experts in this comparatively new field of group house construction. In the course of our work we have gained experience not to be acquired except by direct contact with and the suc- cessful solution of the many problems which the work developed. Our experience covers every phase of multiple house construction in a large way. The service of this expert organization and our experi- ence are available for architects, municipalities, corpora- tions or others contemplating housing developments. Hegeman- Harris Company, Inc. Construction Engineers .33 WEST 42nd ST. NEW YORK CITY 128 ^Sr I il'^fiV'iTr' • -i^^SgW ^■■»"> WEST SIDE OF "A" STREET Project No. 10, U. S. Hnusing Corporation, Erie, Pa. A. H. Spahr, Architect, Pittsburgh On Pages 79 to 100 is illustrated and described in part, two housing projects constructed by us. The above illustration of the West Side of "A" Street, Erie, Penna., shows twelve houses of the United States Housing Corporation's Project No. 10, comprising six hundred and fifty-two houses. We have behind us a successful business career of seventy-flve years' duration. Our clientele number upwards of six hundred and it is with pride that we point to the great number who have returned to us from two to ten and eleven times with more work to be done. Out of forty-eight states in the Union, we have done work in forty, also in five out of the seven provinces comprising the Dominion of Canada, as well as in Great Britain and in France. Varied as the location of our work is, it is not greater than our experience in the different types of general contracting, which covers bank, office and mercantile buildings, hotels, complete fac- tory developments of many kinds, railroad construction, roadbed, bridges and buildings, canal construction, locks, dredging, dipper and hydraulic, and harbor development and shore protection con- struction. JAMES STEWART & COMPANY, INC. 30 CHURCH STREET, NEW YORK BRANCH OFFICES: Washington Chicago Cleveland St. Louis Salt Lake City Norfolk Toronto. Canada 129 Sixty employes' residences. Mesa Munition Works, Irvington, N. J. Bishopric Sheathing used. Architects : Strombach & Mertens, Irving- ton, N. J. Contractors: Essex Ccnstruction Co., Newark, N. J. BETTER HOMES FOR WORKMEN And a Better Proposition for Archi- tects, Builders and Manufacturers BISHOPRIC Board is made in two forms — a dovetailed key type for a Stucco and Plaster background and a square edge wood strip type for sheathing frame and brick houses. The former is a decidedly superior Stucco and Plaster background which holds the Stucco securely locked so it cannot crack or crumble and the Sheathing makes a more solid and more wind-tight wall than Ys inch wood sheathing — at a saving of 30 percent. The Workman, the Architect, the Builder and the Manufacturer all profit by the use of these products. They make a home warmer and more dependable, yet more economical, too. Bishopric Sheathing and Bishopric Stucco and Plaster Board repre- sent a combination of principles and ma- terials which have been successfully used by master builders for generations. "LOCKS THE PLASTER" SRIcamASTER Bishopric Board was used In con- nection with the housing de- velopment at Belolt, Wisconsin. Write for the full details The Bishopric Manufacturing Co. 947 Este Ave. CINCINNATI, O. 130 BUNGALOWS, CAMPS AND MOUNTAIN HOUSES Compiled by Wm. Phillips Comstock, with article by C. E. Schermerhorn, A.A.I.A. ■nils new revised and enlarged edition presents the thouglits and ideas of thirty-two different arcliitects, all reoopilzed designers of bungalows, and a special article on tiie "Planning of Uie Bungalow," witli detail sketches showing how to plan conveni- ences in the house, and a plate of twenty-two different schemes for laying out of floor plans. 200 illustrations, 80 11:9 flO designs ; 126 pages. Cloth. Price ip^.UU THE HOLLOW-TILE HOUSE By Frederick Squires. Architect A book wherein the reader is Introduced to hollow-tile in the making, is told how it is wrought into houses and is shown how these houses look and from what foreign, ancestry their appearance is an heritage. It says the laat word on the con- Ujo cn structiou of the fireproof home. Cloth; 7%xl0 inches. Price - ip^.e/v THE SWISS CHALET BOOK By Wm. S. B. Dana Giving the history of the Swiss chalet, its evolution and construction, showing numerous illustrations, diagrams, sections and plans. Also its adaptation in America. Contains many attractive designs. 150 pages, 250 illustrations and figures. fli9 Kfl Cloth. Price tpid.^iv AMERICAN RENAISSANCE By Joy Wheeler Dow. Architect A review of domestic architecture, with many Colonial examples. It is a carefully prepared history of American domestic archi- tecture from Colonial days and Illustrated in the most elaborate manner. 182 pages and 96 plates, with 139 illustrations. (CA AA Handsomely bound in cloth, gilt top. Price (p^.w TWO FAMILY AND TWIN HOUSES Edited by Wm. T. Comstock Consisting of a variety of designs contributed by leading architects in all parts of the country, showing the latest ideas la planning this class of dwellings in city, village and suburbs, together with very complete deacriptions, covering all the latest Improvements in sanitation, heating, lighting, etc Two detailed spe(^fications. Elaborately illustrated. Full desorip-tEO flfi tive te3ct. Price tp^-VU GARAGES AND MOTOR BOAT HOUSES GARAGE CONSTRUCTION— GARAGE EQUIPMENT Compiled by Wm. Phillips Comstock Comprising a large number of designs for both private and commercial buildings. Showing the latest ideas in their planning and construction. For the country, suburban towns and cities. Also motorboat houses. The designs are contributed