conditions, its neighbors, the soil, the climate and geographic location.
Exactly the same conditions confront the architect who would build a house to fit a particular plot of ground and on his ability to correctly interpret these peculiarities, will rest, in a large measure, his ability as a designer of houses.
The happy combinations of house and site, examples of which we all can recall, are very seldom just “happen so’s. ” They are the result of someone’s careful analysis and study. The designer received an inspiration that has gloriously materialized. He studied his plot, knowing that all other elements were subject to it and could, within certain limits, assume many positions or shapes. Thus, with the plot as his definite beginning, he based his whole design upon it. And rightly! One must start with something. What can be more definite than the plot of ground upon which the structure will stand? Further, it is individual in every case. It is rarely a misfit and is expensive to radically change.
So economics, too, arrays itself on the side of the man who says, “I’ll leave the plot alone as much as possible. ” The alteration of levels is expensive. When one tears down the existing site and builds a new one to fit a preconceived design for the house, he is confronted with the problem of making the new site harmonize with the neighborhood. This is not always an easy task. Further, it is costly, and,
unless there is some defect in the site as it exists, it is not advisable, however often demanded.
Even in this day a very large per cent of our house sites are forced to receive preconceived ideas of plan and form, ideas that were decided upon before the site was purchased. That this practice is harmful needs no jury decision.
The problem of fitting the house to site, like most other “problems, ” tends to solve itself, if we can bring our thought to bear upon it free of unbiased opinion and thus study and analyze it. By such careful study we recognize the various elements that tend to push the lines of the design this way or that; we learn to be swayed and guided by those existing elements and let the building grow into the plot, shaped by them. This is, after all, much the same process that the tree undergoes during its growth.
The trees of a western Kansas prairie are few; those that grow are low. They stay close to the ground. There are many natural reasons why this is so. Wouldn’t it be wise to listen to the argument of the trees in this case? Its logic is forceful, there must be something back of it. Suppose we change to another climate where the trees grow tall and broad. The forces of Nature, judging by the tree growth, will not destroy that which stands up from the ground. It may be well to make use of this hint in any house we build in such a location.
DESIGN FOR A HILLSIDE HOUSE
TO PLACE A HOUSE ON A HILLSIDE SO THAT IT SEEMS CONTENT REQUIRES THAT IN SOME MANNER IT GIVE VISIBLE EVIDENCE OF BEING FIRMLY ROOTED IN POSITION. IN THIS CASE TERRACES GIVE THE EFFECT DESIRED. THE ENGLISH COTTAGE TYPE LENDS ITSELF ADMIRABLY TO HILLSIDE LOCATIONS. THE STEEP-PITCHED ROOFS HERE SHOWN RECALL
THE SLOPE OF THE HILLSIDE
Exactly the same conditions confront the architect who would build a house to fit a particular plot of ground and on his ability to correctly interpret these peculiarities, will rest, in a large measure, his ability as a designer of houses.
The happy combinations of house and site, examples of which we all can recall, are very seldom just “happen so’s. ” They are the result of someone’s careful analysis and study. The designer received an inspiration that has gloriously materialized. He studied his plot, knowing that all other elements were subject to it and could, within certain limits, assume many positions or shapes. Thus, with the plot as his definite beginning, he based his whole design upon it. And rightly! One must start with something. What can be more definite than the plot of ground upon which the structure will stand? Further, it is individual in every case. It is rarely a misfit and is expensive to radically change.
So economics, too, arrays itself on the side of the man who says, “I’ll leave the plot alone as much as possible. ” The alteration of levels is expensive. When one tears down the existing site and builds a new one to fit a preconceived design for the house, he is confronted with the problem of making the new site harmonize with the neighborhood. This is not always an easy task. Further, it is costly, and,
unless there is some defect in the site as it exists, it is not advisable, however often demanded.
Even in this day a very large per cent of our house sites are forced to receive preconceived ideas of plan and form, ideas that were decided upon before the site was purchased. That this practice is harmful needs no jury decision.
The problem of fitting the house to site, like most other “problems, ” tends to solve itself, if we can bring our thought to bear upon it free of unbiased opinion and thus study and analyze it. By such careful study we recognize the various elements that tend to push the lines of the design this way or that; we learn to be swayed and guided by those existing elements and let the building grow into the plot, shaped by them. This is, after all, much the same process that the tree undergoes during its growth.
The trees of a western Kansas prairie are few; those that grow are low. They stay close to the ground. There are many natural reasons why this is so. Wouldn’t it be wise to listen to the argument of the trees in this case? Its logic is forceful, there must be something back of it. Suppose we change to another climate where the trees grow tall and broad. The forces of Nature, judging by the tree growth, will not destroy that which stands up from the ground. It may be well to make use of this hint in any house we build in such a location.
DESIGN FOR A HILLSIDE HOUSE
TO PLACE A HOUSE ON A HILLSIDE SO THAT IT SEEMS CONTENT REQUIRES THAT IN SOME MANNER IT GIVE VISIBLE EVIDENCE OF BEING FIRMLY ROOTED IN POSITION. IN THIS CASE TERRACES GIVE THE EFFECT DESIRED. THE ENGLISH COTTAGE TYPE LENDS ITSELF ADMIRABLY TO HILLSIDE LOCATIONS. THE STEEP-PITCHED ROOFS HERE SHOWN RECALL
THE SLOPE OF THE HILLSIDE