THE COMING HOMES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17294, 18 October 1919, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE COMING HOMES.

THE IDEAL HOUSE DESIGN. BY MAUB.IOB HURST. "The air is full of talk about the housing problem," said the Mere Man, "but I see very little evidence of new houses, which are the only solution of the problem. What is more, in the discussion about the thousands of houses that are to be built by municipalities and thu State, I hear little about the much-needed revolution in home-building. Are we* going to continue the mad and bad methods that have for so long prevailed? Idiotic is a mild term for some of the inconveniences and work-making features that are perpetuated generation after generation in the construction of dwellings-" "Poof!" exclaimed the Lady of the. House. "What do you know about houses and housework? It's we women who know." "Granted ; but surely you'll allow that after spending half my life under a. domestic roof, I ought to know a little about the subject? At any rate, it's tha fresh viewpoint of the ordinary man— someone not a housewife and someone not an architect or builder—that is wanted to help overcome the common faults ofi house-architecture. The designer of the average dwelling follows the patterns of '.he past too closely ; he is in a rut, and doesn't think to question the habits of his craft; while the people who suffer froim those bad habits, the women-folk, are too busy or too docile to kick." "Don't be too hard on us," said the Architect. "Remember, we are merely servants, and if we are not sufficiently sane and original, it is because our chents want foolishness and the fashionable. I could design for you an ideal house, based on common sense, and the, desire for the utmost beauty, combined with a minimum of work, but the point is, would you be willing to build it. and own it? It takes a lot of moral courage t.-> tlout the ideas accepted by the majority." "What revolutionary ideas would you incorporate in your ideal dwelling?" Modern House-Architecture. "These would be some of the features, call them revolutionary or not, as you, please. I'll imagine an average family, neither rich nor poor, with an income, however, that won't stand servants. In the first place, I'd place the house so that the morning sunshine would strike the kitchen, also the bathroom nothing like sunlight to add joy to the morning bath. As for the house itself, it would not be merely a place of bare walls ; its contents would be an integral part of the design. Use and beauty should go hand in hand, and this can only be provided for when the chief furnishings are constructed at the time, the house iB built. By the way, i one of the chief reasons for, \ ugliness and inconvenience in most, I dwellings is that the rooms and the, j furnishings don't fit nor harmonise—very | little of the various moveable articles of j furniture are suitable for the places where I they are put. Therefore I would design j each room (or a certain purpose, and in- i clude in it as much as possible of the i furniture needed to make it useful and j beautiful. The floors throughout the I house would be thoroughly finished, and the builder would do whatever staining or finishing was desirable. All the inside walls would be slightly curved in tha corners, and where they meet the floors and ceilings, so as to avoid harbouring dust. No brasswork or painted doors or i walls, where the frequent polishing ofi i the metal would destroy or discolour the ' paint on the wood. I'd consider the j kitchen and thereabouts the most im- | nortant part of the house, and' I'd plan ! everything for simple efficiency. ! Compact kitchen and pantry, so ae to ! save steps; kitchen and breakfastroom or j livingroom close together, for the same | reason. Plenty of light where most of the '■ work is to be done, plenty of shelves and j cupboards at a handy height. I'd try to ' get a cooking-stove that did not demand ; stooping. Gas for all heating, even be- j neath the washhouse boiler. Or elec- , tricity may be better, when it's plentiful i and cheap enough. The only fireplace, ! would be in the livingrcom ; wood-fires j are too delightful to give up entirely. I • almost forgot to mention the sleeping j oorch ; we ought to be able to sleep in I the fresh air half the nights of the year, j to the benefit of both mind and body. I'd i do many other things, but those I've mentioned will do for the present." "That sounds hopeful,'' said the Mere Man. "You acknowledge that many improvements are possible ; and yet I supnose the old mistakes will still be made rver and over again. Even the rich folks' houses are often foolish. I seei many of the modern so-called bungalows smothered with useless gables and juttings, and kinks of various sorts; and others with tiny windows made of tiny, fancy panes if light and air were dangerous. Concerning Kitchens. "Invent a house without a kitchen, and | I'll begin to get enthusiastic," said the j Lady of the House. "My personal hous- ! ing "problem is the never-endingness of, I dinners and dishes." ■ "Cheer-up !" exclaimed the Traveller. ! 'Start a community kitchen in this town, i or else go to a place which has such a i thing. What's a community-kitchen? I Well, simply a large kitchen that cooks for a whole street, or a whole village. It's ! a kitchen on a factory scale ; it takes ! orders from its housewife-customer? three i times a day, and delivers meals right to ' the door on time 1 Instead of a street of; i2O homes having 20 amateur cooks at work over a score of stoves, there would bo one up-to-date cookery run by expert cvoks. . . Such schemes as that are already in operation in America and • elsewhere. Just as home spinning and , home weaving are things of the past, and : home fruit-preserving and cake-making i are fast waning, so home-made dinners 1 aro on the way towards abolition. The : wholesale cooking works admirably in connection with flats, or the modern bungalow-courts, which are really apartment houses divided into a number of separate cottages, with gardens and lawns between them. For example. in California there's a hotel that consists of a . large building together with seven acres •of bungalows adjoining. They are heated from one central plant, and their ten ants are served from the hotel kitchens. ■ which corks for the whole crowd of sepai rate households. That's the system need ,ed for our municipal and State hnusine- | schemes, when they are actually brought : into practical existence." i "It's too clever to be true : all the ! same, I want to do my own cooking at ; home. No community-cooking for me," i remarked the Lady of"the House. I Electricity—Everybody's Servant. I "Electricity is going to remedy all your I household troubles," declared the Archii tect. "Cheap electricity is going to be ! a general servant, maid and Dutler, too. Electricitv is clean, and makes no smoke ; nor smell; always at your service, you, | use just what you want and no more.. j Electricity will give you heat and power jas simply as it gives light—just by ; pressing a button. . . . Housing ; schemes are important; to have plenty of beautiful and simple individual homes is an ideal worth working for; but perhaps of even greater import to the country and the people is—cheap electricity. Electricity produced by water-power involves no destruction nor waste. "We hear much talk of revolutions, but the greatest social revolution will follow the linking of every home and shop and factory with the mighty unseen force of Nature, electricity. Now, tell your M.P.'s to inform the Government to hurry-up the national power schemes. Our good lady's household problems are poing to be greatly lessened by clever, j clear-headed engineers who are surveying; ] livers and lakes and transmission routes i away in the back of beyond. I ' then let's drink to'their health and 1 good luck," said the Lady of the Housa, | Supper* jeadyj'a * t^