8 Capital Journal Building Section, Friday, March 10, 1950
WHO
Are eastern architects lagging
behind west coast home de
signers by clinging to tradi
tional styles, such as the Cape
Cod cottage?
Are Californians and their
friends right in advocating in
formal rambling houses and
glass-walled solar houses for all
parts of the country?
Lines for a battle of the draw
ing boards over this East vs.
"West controversy were drawn in
Los Angeles recently when Paul
"Williams and Gregory Ain, ex
ponents of modern architecture.
accused eastern designers of be
ing reluctant 'to lead their cli
ents out of the wilderness of tra
ditional design.
Easterners, they said, "are
still coddling Cape Cod and Ear
ly American design as if this
were an only child."
Williams and Ain contended
that although 83 percent of all
new homes featured in national
magazines in the past year were
of contemporary or solar-house
styles, less than 1 per cent of
the houses built in the east were
non-traditional. On the west
coast, they said, the percentage
of modern was up to 15.
Because home buying is usu
ally a long term investment, and
no buyer wants his house to be
out of style long before it is
paid for, eastern and midwest
architects were invited to join
in a symposium on style trends.
In New York. Harold Sleeper,
president of the New York
Chapter of the American Insti
tute of Architects, said he did
not consider a comparison be
tween the west and east fair be
cause of the cost deferential for
construction.
In this part of the country.
bleeper said, "we have to insu
late fully, build more compactly
and heat efficiently. Departures
from time-tested rules, such as
window-walls and spread out
open planning must be carefully
planned to beat the climate ra
ther than to fit the climate. In
the west you can build a con
temporary house for the same
price as a traditional one."
Sleeper believes an architect
should not be confined to any
particular style when he begins
to design a house. He should set
out with the prospective home
owner s family requirements,
plus site factors, neighborhood
and climate. "If the answer to
this problem is' a Cape Cod
house, all right," he says. "If it
is a ranch type house, you have
fulfilled your responsibility. I
think the client's problem and
desires should be the major con
sideration."
On Long Island, Rudolph A.
Matern, an architect specializing
in the design of houses for large
scale developers, says the home
RESEARCH DEVELOPS
By WARREN ROGERS, Jr.
(Associated Press Staff Writer)
For $1.50 anybody anywhere
ean get blueprints for a S5.000
two-bedroom house that's so
simple you could build most of
. it yourself and save perhaps
$1,000.
It's called "the Great-Little
House" and was contrived by
the low-cost housing research
division, Louisiana State Uni
versity, at Baton Rouge, La. The
first one was built on the LSU
campus for $5,041. Living in it
now is O. J. Baker, division di
rector and his family.
"Just the other day," Baker
says, "a New Orleans contractor
told me he had built one there
for less than $5,000 and plans to
put up more of them."
About cutting corners a little
closer, he adds:
"If a fellow was reasonably
handy with tools, he could do
the job for about $4,000. He
could have contractors pour the
floors, put up the walls and roof
and get out. The inside work he
Tamer aTTninsett"
SETS THE HOME STYLES?
WEST IS WEST This design
is by Williams & Ain Los
Angeles.
buyer sets the stvle. Matern ad
mits that personally he is
champion of the California spir
it in both design and colors, but
he finds the buying public pre
fers it in small doses.
"If a design is too advanced
it will meet the same sales re
sistance as if it were an old
hat," he says. ' The balance In
public acceptance of new ideas
is so delicate that sometimes a
season or two will spell the dif
ference between a hit and a flop.
"For example, Iloor-to-ceiling
picture windows are now read
ily acceptable and encounter no
objections based on fears of cold
surfaces. Indoor-outdoor gar
dens capture the popular fancy.
And buyers . now understand
basemen tless construction
something they worried about a
year or two ago. But open plan
ning and flexibility by the use
of folding partitions are among
some of the features that many
buyers are not quite ready for.
They may accept them almost
overnight. That happens. It is
up to the architect to know."
In Toledo, Frank Sohn, archi
tect and consultant to the Lib-bey-Owens-Ford
Glass Co., who
is an authority on the solar-
house, said climactic prejudice
against indoor-outdoor blending
in designs is being overcome by
demonstrations that it can be
practicable.
"I agree with Architects Wil
liams and Ain that much of Cal
ifornia's contemporary design
can and should be adapted to
colder climates," Sohn said.
"The development of insulating
glass double window panes
with a dehydrated space sealed
between them has done much
to break down the climate bar
rier in house design."
Architect Sohn points out that
a solar-house or a home with
window-walls need not be rad
ical in design.
"Cape Cod houses were not
built originally with big win
dows because it was impossible
to get large panes of glass when
f '"'iUJIIIIII'IMIfWgt
Louisiana's "Great-Little House, ' built for $5 000.
The demonstration house at
LSU is a sturdy, neat cottage in
lake and pine tree setting.
Walls outside are of six-inch,
lightweight concrete blocks coat
ed with water-repellent paint.
Floors are of concrete and the
roof, supported solely by outside
walls is unpamted aluminum.
Window "frames" are" aluminum. -
I 3GG Mi 0 l i
rife j.'.'. JKftSlS'jMw ' , I .
East Is West, too This is how Rudolph A Matern uses
California ideas for New York's small Long Island homes.
that house design was evolved,"
he said. "Our New England
forebears would have found pic
ture windows more practicable
than their 'widow's walks' for
watching for their men who
were coming home from sea."
In Chicago, Bertram A. We
ber, authority in small house de
sign, said: I believe that as
much progress is being created
in architectural design in the
east as in the west. Homes do
not need to resemble machines
for living in order to be pro
gressive. Modern comforts can
be provided with a pitched roof
as well as with a flat roof, and
glass walls versus windows do
not alone constitute progress.
Comfort and convenience, beau
ty and charm, represent my tests
of progressive design, not whe
ther a house does or does not
look like anything that was ever
created before.
"There is a trend, however,
toward larger glass areas, and
properly so. Glass walls and pic
ture windows are in demand in
the middle west wherever they
can command a view or capture
sunlight.
A 'GREAT-LITTLE1 $5,000
There are a kitchen-dinette, a
spacious living room, two bed
rooms and a carport that dou
bles as a screened porch. Inside
walls are hollow, more than two
feet thick and provide ample
storage space.
"We've had inquiries from ev
ery state in the union," Baker
rsaysr "One- came -frem- South
mmmmmmmmm
mmMmmmmmmm.
"I do not agree at all with the
contention that the architectur
al design that is admirable in
the desert or on the mountain
top will fit equally well in a
settled suburban community in
the middle west or northern
part of our country.
"I am for individuality and
variety in design. 'It will be a
drab world when all our com
munities follow one type of de
sign, whether it be modern, co
lonial or whatever. I do not be
lieve architects ever will all get
on the same bandwagon and
whoop it up for any one style or
type of design."
Dusty Concrete
If your concrete floor "dusts,"
wet it down with a solution of
three pounds of zinc sulphate to
a gallon of water. Pour this on
and work it well into the con
crete. Let it dry, then brush
clean. This will bind loose par
ticles and harden the surface.
Griddle cakes are of the best
color and texture when baked on
a moderately hot griddle pan.
Avoid too high or too low heat.
America in Spanish."
He recalls that when the dem
onstration house was unveiled,
inquiries poured in at the rate
of 500 to 600 a day.
The $5,000 cost estimate does
not include a contractor's fee.
All the work was done by sub
contracting. But Baker says en
gaging an over-all contractor
wuld-add- only.' foveihead. .plus
I BCD ROOM "cDf " l
LlVftO ROOM
' BED ROOM -Tj '' l5'7" CARPORT OR .
IV 9'0" J" SCREENED
I J-
BORING TRICK
Boring a relatively large hole
in a small piece of wood often
causes the wood to split. A care
ful worker avoids this by put
ting the wood in a vise, but if
a vise is not available you can
Piece. Or Board
.Small Kole
do it this way: Drill through the
wood with a small two-groove
ground drill the type without
a screw on it having a diame
ter of about half the diameter
of the screw on the center bit
you plan to use. Then centering
your spiral bit m the smaller
hole, you can bore . your full
sized hole.
As soon as the point of the
screw shows on the other side
of the board, it is well to finish
from the other side. This will
avoid even the smallest splits at
the edge of the hole.
BROKEN NAIL SETS
When a nail set breaks off, ft
is unnecessary to throw it away.
When the break is near the tip,
square off the
end on an emery
wheel and round
it off to the de
sired diameter.
Then place a
mill file on a
solid support.
Hold the nail
set on the file
and strike it
sharply with a
hammer. Give
the nail set a
quarter turn and
hit it again. This
will produce a
neatly knurled
tip.
WARPED BOARDS
When repairing a building, it
is often necessary to straighten
a warped board or plank. If It
is pried into place, a joint may
be loosened. Carpenters have
exchanged the following idea
in the American Builder.
Nail a block securely against
the sill or frame about 18 inches
below the crooked board. Set an
automobile jack on the block
and jack the board firmly into
place again. Nail it firmly before
removing the jack.
Even vertical boards can be
straightened this way, because
the pressure will hold the jack
a horizontal position while
the work is going on.
HOUSE
approximately 10 per cent of the
cost."
A feature Baker likes is the
big roof overhang 3 feet on
the front and 2 feet on the
side and back.
"That keeps off the sun and
the rain," he says. "Only slant
ing, wind-blown rain hits the
sides of the house. In the deep
south, that's important." .rw
L S i
3