PLANS of four small places are herewith presented (see page 261), each showing exercise of judgment in the adjustment of buildings, roads and walks to special local circumstances. The problem in each case was to so manage the constructions necessary to convenience as to mar as little as possible whatever natural landscape advantages the situation possessed.

In the case of No. 1, outlooks to the west and south were limited by buildings and trees on the opposite sides of the streets. By placing the house, stables and yards near the streets, room was made for a symmetrical and comparatively spacious and sheltered lawn to the eastward. The more important rooms of the house look over a terrace upon this lawn.

In the second example the view northward toward the street is limited, while to the southward a superb distant prospect will be permanently commanded. The object has been to so place the stable, and the stable, kitchen and laundry yards, that they would not break in upon the southern outlook, while leaving the largest space of unbroken lawn in direct view from the principal rooms that could be reconciled with convenience. Walls overgrown with creepers keep the yards out of sight from the approach road.

The third case is that of a narrow lot between two streets not parallel one with the other. There is no distant prospect to be considered; but, again, the leading motive of the plan is to obtain as much unbroken lawn space as practicable, especially on the sheltered south side. The kitchen, kitchen-yard, stable and stable-yard, and the carriage-approach, are worked snugly into the north-west quarter of the place, and the principal rooms look upon pleasing, though confined, domestic, local scenes to the north-east and to the south.

The fourth sketch illustrates a cramped, tilted and otherwise difficult situation near the top of a steep hill, the lot being bounded on three sides by [132]

Plans for Small Places, May 28, 1890

[133]

Between the base of the retaining wall and the house there is a slight ravine, providing for surface drainage, the north side of which constitutes a bank covering the high foundation walls of the house. A walk, leading from the street on the south to the house, crosses this ravine upon an arch of field stone connecting with the stone of the retaining wall. Mosses, fern and creepers dress all this stone work, and the banks of the ravine are planted with shrubbery that will nowhere grow so high as to obstruct the outlook from the windows. Windows of the three principal rooms of the ground floor and the little terrace shown on the diagram all command the important view to the south-east. The upper windows look over the stable.

All these plans have been carried out with satisfactory results, and a more detailed account of the work on some of them may be given in a subsequent paper.