4 Capital Journal Building Sgcffon. Friday, March 10, 1950
HOW MODERN HOMES EVOLVED
By DAVID G. BAREUTIIER -
The evolution of the modern
American home from crude
shelter to today's planned com
fort is a story of "the pursuit
of happiness."
Today's homes are as differ
ent from America's first houses
as the new automobile is from
the Conestoga wagon. From
primitive log walls and a roof,
the American home has evolv
ed into its modern happy com
bination of indoor and outdoor
living because people want
much more than pure utility.
Ask any owner why he has
this or that embellishment on
his house and his honest answer
will be: "Because I like it."
Whatever it is, it makes him
happy.
Tiiis has resulted in many in
teresting architectural ctianges
in houses through the years. In
one generation it brought a
rash of Grecian columns. In an
other period only Gothic decor
ation was considered beautiful.
In later periuds houses had to
look like Mediterranean villas
or Tudor English mansions to
be rated up to date.
sometimes you n near houses
criticized for being copies of
historic prototypes. But even
the first houses in this country
were copies. Homesick early
settlers built their houses to
look like the homes they loved
la the old world.
New Englanders copied the
overhanging upper stories
which had added extra space
above crowded streets of Em!
lish towns, even though such
construction was not needed in
the wilderness. The Dutch of
New Amsterdam reproduced
atone homes of Holland and es
tablished a style that remained
in New York even after the
English took over.
Scandinavians knew how to
build log houses and found
rich supply of material in the
woods of Delaware. The French
set the architectural tone that
still prevails in Louisiana and
Quebec. In the southwest the
Spanish found native building
techniques that could be blend
ed with their own heritage.
Old world ties were so strong
in Virginia that the first build
ing of William and Mary col
lege in Williamsburg was erect
ed from plans by Sir Christo
pher Wren. Wren's Georgian in
fluence marked homes through
out the colonies. Until kiln:
could be built, bricks were im
ported from England. But wood
was so plentiful that even de
signs fur stone houses in Eu
rope were imitated in wood.
As prosperity increased
Homes became more ornate.
Fanlights appeared above door
ways. Pediments were added.
and by the time "the pursuit of
happiness" was written into the
Declaration of Independence
the influence of the Georgian
era was being replaced by clas
filcal trends.
In those days window panes
were small of necessity, but
such windows were happy ideas.
The panes were grouped so at
tractively that the idea has lived
through the centuries. Shutters
or blinds closed such windows
at night, for there were no win
dow shades or Venetian blinds.
The shutters survive today
merely as decorations. Many a
modern picture window is a
copy of a small paned Colonial
shop window.
After the American Revolu
tion, homes began to grow ele
gant. Greek columns caught
popular fancy by 1I1J0. Wealthy
plantation owners and northern
merchants liked homes that
looked like Greek temples. This
wave of Greek revival swept
the country until the 1860s. The
columned porticos of the south
and throughout the Finger
Lakes region of New York state
are relics of that period. The
stylo penetrated New England,
the midwest, and it remains to
day In old houses that face
Washington Square in New
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Then came a Gothic revival
with lung, narrow pointed-arch
windows extending to the floor.
High pitched roofs had gables
decorated with ornate wood
carvings. Intricate barge-
boards draped houses like
frosting on a cuke. Kven smoke
stacks of locomotives and river
boats blossomed with filigree
trimming.
Tii is style was becoming to
Victorian customs and dress.
Lace and ruffles were the
vogue, so houses were lacey.
Such gingerbread cost money
and served no useful purpose.
but it was considered cultured.
It was cultured to have a
home library. No bookcase of
that period was complete with
ou a copy of "The Last Days
of Pompeii," and when "Ben
Hut" was published in 1880 it
not only became a best seller,
bu did its bit to set the mood
for Romanesque architecture.
Chicago's lakefront grew up in
this massive pre tent ious sty le.
Italian villas were a logical by
product until the pendulum be
gan to swing toward stark sim
plicity. Mission furniture seemed to
incite this change, and before
World War I so-called Califor
nia bungalows followed the mis
sion fad. Almost any house with
a wide roof overhang was called
a California bungalow. But the
wide roof overhang proved to
be a real contribution that
Frills Were Cheap
In Good Old Days
If you have any doubt
about building costs influ
encing house design, consider
a "Builder's Portfolio" pub
lished in 1887, in the midst
of the gingerbread era.
You could get a big two
story house built in those
days for anything between
$3,230.10 and $3,510.74. Item
ized costs ranged from $i) for
excavation, and $37.50 for
foundation and basement, to
$25 for "kitchen wainscoted
and dresser built, materials
and labor."
A gorgeous bay window
cost $50 installed, complete
with trimming. And it meant
trimming, too. It was nothing
in those days to allow $100
for "20 carved brackets, 33
small brackets, and 100 ros
ettes." The plumbing estimate in
cluded "range boiler, sink,
tubs, bath, etc., hot and cold
water service, complete with
tank In attic, $375."
would be remembered by home
designers.
Through all these styles, bas
ic interior layouts changed lit
tle. Aside from the develop
ment of central heating, whicn
displaced the gorgeous coal
stoves in living rooms, you'd
have a hard time telling inter
ior of a house built in 1000 from
one built in 11100.
The early 20th century house
still had its front parlor, closed
off in reservation for formal
callers the minister, or funer
als. Many of those houses tnat
remain today have had parti
tion? knocked down to merge
parlor, front hall and sitting
room into one L-shaped living
room, setting the pace for mod
ern open planning.
But other forces soon revolu
tionized the house. The automo
bile knocked off the old front
porch. The automatic refrigera
tor and other electrical equip
ment remade the kitchen. Na
tional advertising and industrial
enterprise tiled the bathroom,
wired the house, and aided and
abetted the revolution in all design.
Architects and builders who
served in World War I came
home with ideas of cubistic de
signs they had seen in France,
Germany and Sweden. They
gave the flapper era its first
samples of modernistic houses.
At the same time the Florida
boom of the 1920s got under
way and Spanish styles, compet
ing with importations of Tudor
English and French provincial
thenes succeeded at least, in
proving that stucco could be
used satisfactorily.
" looked like a free-for-all
race for a while, but American
Colonial styles won out. During
the 1930s anything with green
shutters was labeled Colonial
wnen out oi me west rode a new
Lochinvar on a rodeo maverick,
introducing the ranch house.
This is not where we came in,
but everybody now seems hap-
py. The ranch house arrived in
Hi; nick of time to exploit broad
picture windows, double glaz
ing and all that, indoor-outdoor
gardens, city apartment conve
nience with all rooms on one
floor, scotching the basement
for new radiant heating.
Because of its true American
background, the ranch house
brought a combined heritage of
New England shutters that had
emigrated westward, a Spanish
patio that came up from Mexi
co, a corral fence picked up in
Te::as, colon from the Pacific
coast and materials from virtu
ally every state in the union.
And the modern home is still
evolving. Kitchens are veering
away from sterile white. You
can buy a pink refrigerator
Dining rooms which had shrunk
to dinettes with the loss of Dia
inond Jim Brady appetites, are
staging a comeback. Television is
luring the family back to the
ivmg room some architects
think it may displace the fire
place, ileal pumps can warm
your home in winter from the
bowels of the earth and, when
reversed, they can cool the
house in summertime.
Where do we go from here
in this pursuit of happiness?
Let's just stay home where we
ike it.
Color Favored
For Fixtures
In Bathroom
Demand for colored bathroom
fixtures has increased sharply
since the war, says American
Builder magazine.
"Not only are colored plumb
ing fixtures more popular today
than ever before but there has
been a decided change in color
preferences," the magazines says.
'Before the war, ivory was the
most popular color. Today, tans,
greens and blues are at the head
of the list."
American Builder explains
that the plumbing fixtures now
available do not differ radically
in design from those made be
fore the war. However, styling
and health-protective features
have been improved and faucets
and valves have been made
easier to operate.
"Attention has been given to
the ability of separate fixtures
to blend together and to fit
harmonizingly into any decora
tive scheme," the building maga
zine adds. "Furthermore, this
harmonizing of designs has been
stepped down to even the mod
erately priced fixtures."
A safety measure adopted in
recent years is the elimination of
china faucet handles which are
a hazard if they become broken
or chipped. New fixtures have
metal handles instead.
The preference for colored
plumbing fixtures in the bath
room does not hold true in' the
kitchen. American Builder says
plumbing dealers and builders
have learned that the white kit
chen sink is still favored.
Two-Way Switches
A two-way electric switch at
top and bottom of a flight of
stairs to control hall lights is a
convenience and reduces the
danger of falls on dark stairways.
Is It a Mans Castle?
By CHARLES IIONl'E
Girls, if you want to keep a man happy, one way is to
keep his home looking as attractive in the summer as in
the winter.
By an attractive summer home I mean this: One where
the rugs have not been rolled up and stashed away, and
where the window curtains and drapes are intact. One
where furniture covers, sometimes made out of old sheets,
have not obscured the beauty of your chairs, and where
windows have not been nailed down or dismally shut
tered. Most of the summer habitations I have seen, particularly
in the city, have the dreary appearance of wreckage left
by an atomic bomb.
No man I know likes it, but why he doesn't get up on his
hind legs and yell his head off is beyond me.
Of course I know why this atrocity is committed. The
woman of the house is afraid of the summer sun and of
dust.
But what of it?
Homes were made to live in, not to suffer in; and the
average man, after living ail summer in the barren wild
erness of a miniature Madison Square Garden, should be
ready for the dotty house.
I take pride in the fact that I have successfully resisted
any attempt to change the summertime appearance of my
home. I like it the way it is the year round and I would
suffer if it went the way of some summer homes I know.
Of course dust and dirt come in! But so does the air,
and air is far more important than dust. Anyway, why
not give up a bridge game occasionally in favor of the
dust cloth and broom?
As to sun fading, I think that point has been vastly over
stressed. The sua streams into my place all summer long
and I can't see that it does any appreciable damage.
I wouldn't be surprised that the main reason for the
summer blitz is the fact that in some quarters it is con
sidered fashionable. Mrs. Tom, Dick and Harry, wishing
to keep up with the Joneses, aren't going to be caught
with their rugs downl Then, again, it may just be habit.
Perhaps I shall rile the women folk with this heretical
program, but maybe also it will produce a declaration of
independence by a few more males.
I repeat: A home is a place in which to live, relax and
enjoy yourself.
It should be that way over twelve months and not Just
when the sun is Decemberly pale and windows necessarily
are closed to keep out the chill.
.York City.