Farmhouse Plans

Part 1

Produced by Tom Cosmas compiled from images made available by The Internet Archive.

Transcriber Note

Text emphasis is denoted by Italics and =Bold=. Whole and fractional parts of numbers as 12-3/4.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

FARMERS' BULLETIN No. 1738

FARMHOUSE PLANS

The Farmhouse Plans presented in this bulletin were developed in connection with the Farm Housing Survey made in the spring of 1934 by the United States Department of Agriculture and the agricultural colleges of 46 States, with funds provided by the Civil Works Administration. These plans were selected from more than 100 prepared under the cooperation of the following agencies and persons:

United States Department of Agriculture: Bureau of Agricultural Engineering, S. H. McCrory, Chief; Bureau of Home Economics, Louise Stanley, Chief, and Director of the Rural Housing Survey.

Alabama Polytechnic Institute: J. B. Wilson, extension engineer, department of agricultural engineering.

University of Arkansas: Deane G. Carter, head, department of agricultural engineering.

University of California: H. B. Walker, head, division of agricultural engineering.

University of Georgia: R. H. Driftmier, professor of agricultural engineering.

University of Illinois: E. W. Lehmann, head, and W. A. Foster, assistant chief in rural architecture, department of agricultural engineering.

Purdue University (Indiana): William Aitkenhead, head, department of agricultural engineering.

Iowa State College: Henry Giese, professor, department of agricultural engineering.

Kansas State Agricultural College: H. E. Wichers, rural architect, department of architecture.

Massachusetts Agricultural College: C. I. Gunness, head, department of agricultural engineering.

University of Minnesota: H. B. White, assistant professor, division of agricultural engineering.

University of Missouri: J. C. Wooley, chairman, department of agricultural engineering.

Ohio State University: R. C. Miller, professor, department of agricultural engineering.

Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas: D. Scoates, head, department of agricultural engineering.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute: C. E. Seitz, head, department of agricultural engineering.

State College of Washington: L. J. Smith, head, department of agricultural engineering.

University of Wisconsin: S. A. Witzel, extension instructor, department of agricultural engineering.

At each of the cooperating institutions, home economics specialists were consulted by the designers in regard to the arrangement of the kitchen and other parts of the home.

Working drawings for building the houses shown in this bulletin are available from the extension services of the State agricultural colleges. In most cases a small charge is made for the drawings.

Washington, D.C. October, 1934

FARMHOUSE PLANS

Part 2

By Wallace Ashby, Chief, Division of Structures, Bureau of Agricultural Engineering

Acknowledgment is made of the extended collaboration of Louise Stanley, Chief. Bureau of Home Economics, in selecting and reviewing the plans presented herein; and of the helpful assistance of W. H. Nash, architect, Bureau of Agricultural Engineering, in the preparation of both the manuscript and illustrations for publication. Mary Rokahr, senior home-management specialist, Extension Service, and Eloise Davidson, director of domestic electric service program, Electric Home and Farm Authority, made valuable suggestions regarding arrangement of kitchens and other equipment. Helpful comments and suggestions have been received from many other persons. Many of the perspective sketches illustrating the house plans shown in this bulletin were drawn by C. W. Mead, Bureau of Agricultural Engineering,

CONTENTS

Page Farmhouse requirements 1 Size 1 Comfort and convenience 2 Relation to other buildings and highway 3 Appearance 4 Safety 4

Construction materials 4

Costs 5 Cellars 5 Superstructures and porches 5 Estimating by unit costs 6

Working drawings 7 Caution regarding changes 7

Plans for houses 7 One-story growing houses 7 Moderate-sized one-story houses 34 Houses of more than one story 45 Very small houses 60

The principal purpose of this bulletin is to supply plans A for low-cost farm dwellings designed to meet the requirements of the farm operator and his family. Some of the plans may be useful in eases where, in addition to the main dwelling, smaller homes are needed for relatives, tenants, or unmarried farm hands. Still others will be found useful in the construction of low-cost houses for temporary use.

A well-built farmhouse should last for 60 years or more. In the ordinary course of events at least two generations of children will be brought up in it. During these years the family operating the farm probably will have no other choice of dwelling. The builder should, therefore, think both of present needs and possible future requirements when selecting a plan for a new farmhouse.

FARMHOUSE REQUIREMENTS

SIZE

The first requirement of a satisfactory farmhouse is adequate size to provide needed working area, storage space, and living and sleeping quarters. For the average family at least three sleeping rooms are needed, one for the parents, one for the boys, and one for the girls.

Sometimes the living room must serve as one of the sleeping rooms.

All the space may not be needed at the time the house is built, but the chances are that it will be needed before many years. On the other hand, many families find that after the children have grown up and left home it is not necessary to use the entire house. For this reason it is desirable to have it arranged so that part of the rooms may be closed off or may be rented to tourists.

COMFORT AND CONVENIENCE

Adequate, well-used space for both the family and the furniture is a large factor in farmhouse comfort. The proper number, size, and placement of windows, doors, and stairs, and good construction are important. These matters have been carefully worked out in the plans shown in this bulletin. Comfort also depends to a large extent on good heating, plumbing, lighting, and screening. Information on some of these subjects is given in Farmers' Bulletin 1698, Heating the Farm Home; 1448, Farmstead Water Supply; 1426, Farm Plumbing; 1227, Sewage and Sewerage of Farm Homes; Department Circular 405, The Domestic Oil Burner; and in U.S. Department of Commerce bulletin, Insulation on the Farm, price 10 cents.

The convenient arrangement of the farmhouse begins with its relationship to the other farm buildings and to the highway. Unlike the city house, the farmhouse has its main line of communication through the back or side door. Therefore outside doors and porches should be located so as to give convenient entrance from the farm driveway and the path to the barn, and wherever possible should be on the sheltered side of the house.

If possible, there should be a convenient place near the rear entrance for men to leave their outer wraps and to wash before going into the house. These facilities are often provided in a washroom or in one corner of the workroom, but if there is no washroom or workroom in the house, there should at least be clothes hooks and a bench and washbasin for summer use on the back porch.

It is also desirable that the work portions of the house, where the housewife spends much of her time, look out over the farm buildings and the entrance roadway. Most farm women like also a glimpse of the highway from the kitchen window.

Preferably the traffic way from the rear entrance to the main portion of the house should not lead through the kitchen. If the kitchen must be used as a passageway, the doors should be so arranged that the traffic does not cross the work area. This not only decreases the possibility of interference with household activities but also makes possible a more compact and convenient arrangement of work equipment. An important factor is a workroom or porch, on about the same level as the kitchen, for laundry, canning, care of milk, and other farm activities and for supplementary food storage. This saves much clutter in the kitchen itself and contributes to more efficient arrangement.

At least one bedroom should be provided on the first-floor of the farmhouse, not too far from the kitchen, so that small children or sick persons may be cared for conveniently. The bathroom should be convenient to both downstairs and upstairs bedrooms, but preferably on the first-floor. A space for a bathroom is very desirable even if the fixtures cannot be put in at once.

Ample storage space should be provided for clothing, bedding and linen, wraps, food, dishes and utensils, cleaning equipment, toys, and fuel. In general, these needs have been met in the plans given in this bulletin by closets in halls and bedrooms, kitchen cabinets, shelves or pantries, and cellar storage. Closet, cabinet, and shelf space adds greatly to the convenience and comfort of a house and should not be omitted.

Plans for closets and storage spaces can be obtained from the Bureau of Home Economics.

In the smaller plans shown here, an alcove or an end of the kitchen is indicated for use as a dining area. In the larger plans, either a dining room or a space for dining in the living room is provided, and in most cases there is also space in the kitchen for "hurry-up" meals.

The following points have been kept in mind in planning the kitchens.

A sink in every house is recommended. Even when water must be carried into the house, the sink and drain add much to the convenience of the kitchen and may be installed very cheaply. Where running water is not available, a pump may be installed beside the sink. However, running water, hot and cold, adds more to the convenience of the farm-home than almost any other factor.

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