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Victorian City and Country Houses

Plans and Details

Dover Publications, Inc.

DESIGN A.

PLATES ONE TO EIGHT.

FIVE HOUSES ON ONE CITY LOT. 25 x 100 FEET.

IN presenting this design in the shape it is, several objects are accomplished.

The front elevation is an elevation not only for five houses having a depth of twenty-five feet, but for five houses having any depth required, and any plan of the same width may be adapted to each of the five houses in the elevation.

The elevation also may be adapted to a variety of purposes by changes in the basement story, and be made useful as a public building, library, hall, school, or hotel, being then treated as one entire building.

This design, therefore, in the hands of an ingenious architect or builder, supplies the suggestions for a large number of distinct buildings, giving one single house twenty feet front; two houses, three houses, four houses, five houses, and one entire building for any purpose.

This design for five independent small houses, to be built on one corner lot 25 x 100 feet, has frequently been carried out of late years in New York, and has accommodated a class unable to rent large houses, and unwilling to adopt the tenement and New York "flat systems." The independent house will always command owners or tenants not familiar with the "apartment" system, and the great objection to the arbitrary size of a New York City lot is that, without great loss, it cannot be made available in the construction of houses of moderate capacity.

DESIGN A.

PLATES ONE TO EIGHT.

IT can readily be seen by one with a good eye for adaptation, how easily this entire design can be converted for an "apartment" house. The entrance may be in the center of the street front, or at the avenue front, and a rear hall lighted and ventilated at both ends, giving independent access to every room; and as there will then be from three to four less stairways, front doors, halls, stoops, and areaways to construct, there will be a saving in the cost.

Corner lots for apartment houses are the most available and unobjectionable areas of 2,500 square feet for this purpose. Houses on inside lots, lighted only at front and rear, not only do not occupy the full lot, but all the inside rooms are usually dark and uncomfortable. The greatest success, therefore, in the apartment system, is to build small apartment houses on corner lots, and large ones on sufficient area to admit of large, well-lighted courts. It is, however, possible by the use of a court, to plan a house of this kind for an inside lot 25 x 100, that shall give a suite of four or five pleasant rooms on each floor, inclusive of all needed conveniences.

It is therefore apparent, on careful examination of this design, the great extent it is suggestive for an endless variety of combinations not only as dwellings in large cities, but for every possible use for which a block of buildings is required, even in the smallest towns. Almost all possible plans for stores, public buildings, and dwellings can be adapted to this elevation, or from elevations that can be combined from the use of a larger or smaller number of the separate houses, as shown.

DESIGN B.

PLATES 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13.

This design, with a French or mansard roof, is well adapted for erection in wood; brick or stone, and is a very attractive as well as a convenient house, and one that can be readily changed to suit any site or exposure. Drawings to scale of sixteen feet to an inch.

House built in wood, will cost about $6,000.

DESIGN C.

PLATES 14, 15 & 16.

For a convenient house of moderate cost this arrangement of rooms and style of architecture will be found well adapted, the first story to have a ceiling of 10 feet, and the second story nine feet. The plan is carefully figured, and all the drawings are to a scale of one-sixteenth of an inch to one foot.

House built in wood will cost about $3,000.

DESIGN D.

PLATES 17, 18, 19 & 20.

This design is in the ornamental German style, which is well adapted for a country house, and admits of being used for houses of almost every size and cost. Here are ample suggestions from which a large variety of designs can be made to suit any purse.

House built in wood and stone will cost about $8,500.

DESIGN E.

PLATES 21, 22, 23 & 24.

Here is a design for a village or suburban house, of a very attractive exterior and with two differently arranged sets of plans. This house would look well in almost any locality. The drawings are to a scale of sixteen feet to an inch.

House built in wood would cost about $4,500.

DESIGN F.

PLATES 25, 26, 27 & 28.

This design presents a great variety, especially in the several arrangements of the different groups of windows, which, in arranging another design of similar character, will be found of considerable service. Drawings to a scale of sixteen feet to an inch.

House will cost about $5,500.

DESIGN G.

PLATES 29, 30, 31 & 32.

For a roomy, low priced house, this design will be found very useful. The piazza, bay window and rear extension give a variety to the exterior, while the interior has a convenient arrangement and independent access to all rooms. Drawings to scale of sixteen feet to an inch.

House will cost about $3,000.

DESIGN H.

PLATES 33 to 40, INCLUSIVE.

This design for a block of buildings, is distinct from that given in Plates one to eight, although designed for the same object. The windows, doors and all details are entirely distinct. There is here, as in Design A, an endless variety of suggestions for every description of city houses, either single or in blocks, as apartment houses or hotels, and for libraries, schools, or public buildings for use in villages.

DESIGN K.

PLATES 57 TO 64, INCLUSIVE.

This design is for a city house with a rear extention, to be erected on a lot twenty-five feet wide. The Bay window in the rear is designed without inside shutters, the sash being intended to be heavily curtained, and the sliding doors will effectually shut off colds and draughts. The position of the Bay at the rear of the house will usually prevent much exposure to the sun, outside blinds or inside shutters can, of course, with slight modifications, be used. The rail on front steps can be made of any of the usual patterns ; it is left out of the drawing in order to show more clearly the front outline of the steps.

The details of Butlers pantry and the Bay window are very full and clear.

DESIGN L.

PLATES 73 TO 84, INCLUSIVE.

This design for a cottage in the country has so many good points to recommend it that we give the drawings in the most complete form as they are servicable for almost any house of a similar style of architecture. The detail of this house is of a character not found or used elsewhere, it is throughout of an entirely new design prepared expressly for the purpose, and in execution presents a varied and attractive effect.

This cottage will cost at present in the vicinity of New York, from $4,000 to $4,500.

DESIGN M.

PLATES 85 TO 88, INCLUSIVE.

This is a design for a double cottage built after our designs near White Plains, N. Y., it presents a fine effect, and the proportions and details are useful for other designs of a similar style of architecture.

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Excerpted from Victorian City and Country Houses by Geo E. Woodward. Copyright © 1996 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
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