BETTER HOMES FOR NEW ZEALAND

Ladies' Mirror, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 November 1922, Page 14

BETTER HOMES FOR NEW ZEALAND

HORACE L. MASSEY, a.r.lb.a., a.m.t.p.i.

Suggestions from England and America

TN no country has the art of build- •*■ ing a home arrived at such a state of excellence that it cannot benefit by the study of the ways in which, in other countries and amongst other peoples, the same matters are dealt with and similar or dissimilar results achieved. It is the home that we are to study, to gaze at with a critical eye, and this must be kept to the forefront in our thoughts through all schemes for improvement. It will be generally conceded that it is possible for a small house to be a home, as opposed to merely containing one, but few of the enormous number built will fulfil the necessary conditions. Home is largely formed of personal associations, but the actual fabric has more than a material bearing on the question, since it may add great enjoyment to life, and be a powerful influence in moulding our appreciation of the beautiful. From this point of view we can glance over some of the types of domestic architecture of the past; for example, those of the Victorian era. In those days Architecture and Art were at their lowest ebb in the face of the wave of industrial and mechanical activity which swept over England. The public lost all artistic sense and power of criticism, while among architects each man was striving for individuality with no definite aim in sight. Domestic service was cheap and plentiful, so the architects of that day were not compelled to give much thought to the economical planning of the house. The people for "™""——— whom houses were designed • did not worry so long as their dwellings had an air of importance, and met their standards of personal comfort. What mattered it to them if domestics had to work early and late to keep the unwieldy, and often inconveniently planned home in order. Looking at the internal arrangement of a house in those days we find long, narrow corridors often badly lit, and great waste of space. A room which would drive the modern housewife to despair was the kitchen, far away from the diningroom, with usually a passage between. Linked to the unnecessarily spacious and badly designed kitchen was usualy a scullery, now generally recognised as a useless feature in small homes. Ceilings were much too high, involving unnecessary expense in initial cost, and the decoration of rooms tended towards the cheerless, with uninteresting greens, greys and reds.

One room was set aside as sacred. This was the drawing-room, or parlour, to be used on special occasions merely, and filled with furniture which only a debased age could produce. The turning lathe was in evidence everywhere, and even the mantels were monuments to its reign. Table and chair legs bulged and diminished as though the turner had set out to produce as much dust collecting surface in their short length as possible. The mantel groaned under its load of strange ornaments and bric-a-brac, from the clock down to last year's Christmas cards, while to complete the miserable picture, the walls were covered with mediocre, sad-looking paintings and photos of relatives usually looking as sad as the room itself. Unfortunately, it was this worst period of English art and architecture that had so much influence on New Zealand architecture. But the tide has turned, and we may ask what are the essentials of the houses of the future? They must be well planned, designed in beauty and built with truth. Houses, in fact, in which things appear to be what they are, which, while quite simple, are a joy for ever, and to which we may apply Tennyson's lines—- " Through which the life-long day my soul did pass Well pleased from room to room." TOURING the last few years it has ■*-' been clearly shown that it is possible to build such houses to meet the requirements of small and very moderate incomes. Watching this development in both England and America, the need for careful selection of the good points, and elimination of the bad in these new types becomes apparent when we see some of the strange exotic buildings to be found for the most part in cheap American booklets got up by building companies. These for the most part illustrate only the poorest types of American homes or bungalows. One hears nearly every type of country or suburban home called a bungalow in these days, provided only that it is very slightly informal or picturesque in its lines. Someone has facetiously remarked that in the new dictionaries a bungalow should be defined as "a house that looks as if it had been built for less money than it actually cost." But before going on to the consideration of specific types we should consider the surroundings of our homes, because no matter how beautiful the house may be itself, it may be greatly improved if placed in a sympathetic setting, and for this we must look to the modern English garden village. Up to the present, England is far ahead of other countries in the charm and picturesque planning of its modern suburbs, and this is because it has been placed in the hands of men who by their training are able to take advantage of that beauty that Nature affords. For example, let us take any road in New Zealand which is limited to a minimum width of sixty-six feet between fences. We see d wide metal road with wide tarred footpaths, which being expensive and uninteresting, are extremely dusty and dirty. Let us contrast this with the latest ideas in garden city planning in England.

Here we have a road of just sufficient width to accommodate the tsaffic, bordered on either side by pleasant grass plots of, say, five to eight feet wide, with shady trees and flowering shrubs flanked on either side by flagged or concreted footpaths. We saw one charming road in California which was planted on either side with rose bushes. These were simply masses of bloom, and anything more delightful would be difficult to imagine. What a striking contrast these two types present, and how much more pleasant to have our homes situated in such surroundings. It is essential that, without delay, plans for the future growth of our cities and townships should be prepared by architects of repute who have given study to this branch of the profession, and suburbs should be encouraged to compete with each other for beauty of surroundings. Again, the individual setting of the house has been too frequently neglected by both owners and architects. How seldom has any garden been planned with any thought of the houses on either side. A GREAT deal may be said for the American system of omitting front garden fences, thus binding all the gardens into one, and encouraging everyone in the street to maintain a high horticultural standard. Another point to be observed while dealing with the gardens and their settings is the general design of the house, and selection of building materials which necessarily must harmonise with the surroundings. For instance, do not make the common mistake of erecting a home quite out of sympathy with those adjoining; nothing would be more distressing than to see a bungalow flanked on one side by possibly a pretentious palace of Gothic influence-, while on the other may be a restrained Georgian house, each doing its best to ignore its neighbour. With regard to the planning of the home itself there is great scope for improvement. The modern housewife will not put up with the drudgery which the old types of homes necessitated, as illustrated in the earlier part of this article. Here we must turn to America for the greatest improvement. America, having long been faced with the lack of domestic help has revolutionised the inconvenient home, and with the sympathetic help of manufacturers of labour-saving devices has evolved what is generally known as the la-bour-saving house. It is impossible to adopt the American home entirely, as it has been designed to meet racial and climatic conditions very different from ours, except perhaps in parts of California. The idea behind this type is the elimination of all waste space, and the convenient and economical disposition of the various units of the house. THIRST of all take the kitchen, which L is the workroom and laboratory of the house, and on the correct placing of which depends the success of the working of the home. It should be easily accessible to the front and tradesmen's entrances, and at the same time_ should have direct access to the dining-room by way either of service pantry or connecting lobby. It should be just large enough to take care of the efficient and easy preparation of food, the washing of dirty dishes, etc. It should be designed so that the food from the delivery at the door should proceed in an orderly and direct way through the stages of preparation and cooking to the table, and unnecessary steps reduced to a minimum. All fittings should be built in, avoiding dust catching ledges, and all metal work necessitating cleaning should be eliminated. Floor and wall surfaces should be faced with easily cleaned materials requiring the minimum attention, and ventilation should

be given due consideration. The result will be a bright easily worked kitchen, the pride of any housewife. ~ Of the reception rooms the diningroom should be used for meals only, and therefore should be as small as practicable, while the living or music rooms should be large and roomy enough to meet all needs. This should be the real heart of the home, decorated in a bright cheerful manner with well made furniture of good design. What pictures and ornaments there are should be of good taste, carefully placed to get the best effect, and in perfect harmony with the furniture and colour scheme. This room might be designed so that slidingdoors will give direct access to the dining-room, so allowing for any large function, and the same applies to the reception hall, if any. The bedrooms should be grouped so that while easily accessible from the reception part of the house, they will have the utmost privacy, and bathroom or bathrooms should be equally convenient to all bedrooms. Large roomy closets should open off each bedroom to obviate the necessity for bulky wardrobes, which usually do not fit into their surroundings. The decoration and the furnishing should be quiet and refined. Where expense will allow, a cloak room and lavatory should be placed in close proximity to the front entrance, for the use of guests. YS7ITH regard to heating, it is, prob- ™* able that one of the various systems of central heating, as used in the States, would be a great improvement on the old fireplace system, common to New Zealand, although in America it is usual to have, in addition to the heating system, a large cheerful fire-

place in the living rooms. The central heating system ensures uniform heat all over the house, and with our frame houses, which are extremely cold in winter, this would be a great advantage, especially as the cost of installation and upkeep is well within the average person's means. _ The success of the future Domestic Architecture of New Zealand lies in sound constructive criticism from the public, the co-operation of manu-

facturers and importers .of building' material, general publicity of 'the! latest developments of housing design ; of the various countries of the world, and annual exhibitions of recent architectural work executed in our own country. Public interest in architecture is of immense national importance, for architecture infallibly records the spirit of the community in which it is produced.