Page View
The craftsman
(June 1905)
Lampadius, J. G. H.
A Craftsman house modified to meet local conditions, pp. 395-399
Page 395
A CRAFTSMAN HOUSE MODIFIED TO MEET
LOCAL CONDITIONS. BY J. G. H. LAMPADIUS
F a man of moderate means wishes to build in a large city, he
is usually confronted by two problems-that of making both
ends meet, and the small size of the average city lot. The
latter condition is the more difficult to adapt to one's taste,
ideas, and especially the matter of adequate lighting, and when
therefore I took hold of the plans of THE CRAFTSMAN House
Number IV., knowing that I had only a twenty-eight foot lot on
which to build, I was at once confronted with these difficulties.
However, adaptation to local conditions is always possible, and here
is the result of one that I made to fit this case.
My lot being only twenty-eight by seventy-five feet, I found it
necessary to cut down the dimensions of the house to twenty-one by
thirty-two. I had therefore to abandon the idea of a seven-room
house and to content myself with six rooms. By putting the house
close to the east line I gained a six foot space on the west side, where
I needed light for the living and dining rooms. Also, by putting it
close to the street line, I gained room enough for a little garden in
the rear. The outside of this "modified Craftsman House" is very
simple in appearance, yet it has a homelike air about it, and visitors
are always surprised at the unlooked for space which the ingenious
arrangement of rooms makes possible within its walls.
As I wished to construct the house on the most economical plan
possible (especially with regard to heating), I decided upon a hol-
low wall as the surest way to attain this end. I built the walls of con-
crete, the inner wall being five inches in thickness, and the outer four
inches ;-the two walls bound together by iron ties. I now have a
house, the walls of which really represent two monoliths, and one very
satisfactory result of this arrangement has been that three and a half
tons of coal have kept the house comfortable all winter. A basement
seven feet high underlies the whole building, and contains laundry
conveniences, furnace, and space for a well-lighted workshop.
The front door leads into a small vestibule opening into the square
living room, the dimensions of which are thirteen feet six inches by
thirteen feet six inches, and from this room an open stairway leads to
the upper floor. A paneled seat fills out the corner joining the stair-
way, the back of the seat being finished above with a small shelf, and
both sides with arm-boards. Opposite the stairway is the fireplace,
395
Based on the date of publication, this material is presumed to be in the public domain.| For information on re-use see: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Copyright




