Part 3

The cookstove should be conveniently near the sink, preferably against the side wall, or across from it if the kitchen is narrow.

A small food-preparation surface, table or shelf, should be placed next to the stove at the same height as the cooking surface. There should be cupboard space near the stove for the storage of cooking utensils. A worktable should be provided for long mixing jobs; it should have knee space and toe space. Staple supplies should be stored near this table and, if possible, should be near the refrigerator and not too far from the stove.

The refrigerator should, for convenient use, be as near as possible to the worktable and stove; however, the higher the surrounding temperature the greater the cost of operating the refrigerator. If an ice refrigerator is used, a location near the outside door lessens the tracking of dirt into the house. A ventilated cupboard near the worktable is convenient for storing the less perishable foods and reduces the season during which ice is needed.

RELATION TO OTHER BUILDINGS AND HIGHWAY

A house designed for the south or west side of the highway should be reversed if it is to be built on the north or east. For example, plan 6521 (p. 24) would fit nicely on either the south or the west side of the main road. If it were south of the highway, with the drive as shown, the kitchen would be on the east where it would have the advantage of the morning sunlight and in most localities the screened porch would be sheltered from the coldest winds. If the house were on the west side of the road, the kitchen would still get morning sunlight, and the porch would protect it from the afternoon sun. On the other hand, if the house were to be built on the north or east side of the road, the kitchen would be badly sheltered and lighted, but reversing the plan so that the kitchen would be on the right instead of the left side of the house would remedy these conditions.

Before deciding to build any house the plan should be studied carefully to see how it will best fit the location and the arrangement of the rest of the farmstead.

APPEARANCE

Attractive appearance of a farmhouse is to be obtained by:

Good taste in its proportions and exterior design.

Materials chosen to suit the local environment and type of house, effectively employed.

A pleasing color scheme for the house, in harmony with its surroundings.

Proper planning with relation to the natural features of the site, the other farm buildings, and the highway.

Grading the site and planting trees, shrubs, and flowers.

If the homes shown in this bulletin are carefully built according to the drawings, they will be satisfactory with respect to the first two points.

Proper location of the house is exceedingly important and must be worked out on the ground. Farmers' Bulletin 1132, Planning the Farmstead, and 1087. Beautifying the Farmstead, will be found helpful in this and in the planting of trees and shrubs around the house. Farmers' Bulletin 1452, Painting on the Farm, discusses kinds and uses of paints. Other bulletins on these subjects are available from several of the State agricultural colleges.

SAFETY

Safety in the farmhouse depends first on good construction for protection from damage by wind, fire, decay, and termites. Safety is promoted also by planning to avoid hazards from low beams, steep or unguarded stairways, or badly placed doors and windows. The working drawings for the houses illustrated herein embody good practice in these matters. The welfare and convenience of the occupants will be further permanently safeguarded through rat-proof construction, which eliminates "rat harbors", and denies easy entrance of the rodents to the building. Additional safety may be secured at slight cost by following the recommendations in Farmers' Bulletins 1590, Fire Protective Construction on the Farm; 1638, Rat Proofing Buildings and Premises; and 1649, Construction of Chimneys and Fireplaces; Leaflet 87, Wind-Resistant Construction for Farm Buildings, and Leaflet 101, Injury to Buildings by Termites.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

The houses shown in this bulletin may, with slight changes, be built of wood, stone, concrete, brick, tile, earth, steel, or other materials. The choice depends largely on owner's preference, local availability and price, and the skill of local builders in using one or another. Many new materials for various purposes such as roofing, flooring, and insulation are on the market and deserve consideration.

The practice common among farmers of hauling their own stone or concrete materials, cutting their own logs where possible, having their lumber sawed at local mills, and doing part of the actual construction work, aid in reducing the cash outlay and in making possible a better house for the same money expenditure. This is especially true where lumber is sawed long enough before building starts to allow thorough seasoning. This seasoning of lumber is important and is too often disregarded.

COSTS

The most satisfactory way to learn the probable cost of a house is to obtain estimates from one or more local builders. Approximate costs may, of course, be obtained by comparing the proposed house with one built recently in the same community, or rough estimates may be based on the size of the house and typical unit costs for the locality.

Unit costs based on prices and wages prevailing in the spring of 1934 for houses suitable for the localities were obtained for about 300 counties by the Farm Housing Survey, A summary of the figures is as follows:

CELLARS

Costs for ordinary cellars were reported for most sections as varying from 50 cents to $1 per square foot of floor space. The cost per square foot is, of course, less for a large than for a small cellar, other things being equal. Easy excavation and low-cost materials also make for low unit cost. Costs of nearly $2 per square foot were reported in some sections where the ground-water level is high and cellar walls and floor must be carefully waterproofed. In sections where cellars are not ordinarily used the cost of the foundation was reported as part of the cost of the house superstructure.

SUPERSTRUCTURES AND PORCHES

Reported costs of one-story frame superstructures, including heating, plumbing, and lighting equipment ordinarily used in the locality, ranged from $1.25 to $2.25 per square foot of floor space in the South, from $2.25 to $3.50 in the West and Southwest, from $2.50 to $4 in the North, and from $3 to $4.50 in New England. Costs in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia and in a narrow belt along the east coast, including Florida, were reported from $2 to $3.25, and in the timber-producing sections of the Northwest at about $2 per square foot. Costs in any locality are influenced by local factors, generally being relatively high near cities and in thickly settled sections and relatively low in places where there are local supplies of lumber or other materials.

Differences in cost between the various sections are due to differences in the kinds of houses built, as well as to differences in material costs and wages. The typical house in the North is much more compact and substantial and provided with more expensive heating equipment than the typical house in the South.