Part 5

A good color combination would be white for the exterior, with all exposed woodwork, such as garage doors, stained tobacco brown. The terrace rail and the spiral stair should be tile red. Inside, the most restful finish would be flat paint in a pastel blue or green, which is easy on the eyes in a location where there is so much bright sunlight.

The owner’s bedroom, with dressing room and closet, and the bath adjoining, make a very convenient unit away from the rest of the house. A wide closet in the living room will hold one or more roll-away beds for extra guests. Also, note the spacious woodbox which can be stocked from the garage.

The dining terrace, with its decorative tree, is protected from the wind. From here the spiral staircase leads to the sun deck over the bedroom.

The fireplace is a rather necessary feature even in warm climates. It is of stucco over concrete blocks. The designer has suggested a novel idea in this connection: to insure a cool air space between the ceiling and roof in summer, a ventilator is run from the ceiling up the chimney stack.

a CABAÑA—MEXICAN TYPE

The inspiration for this charming little house has come down through the years from designs used so well by the early Californians, many of whom brought with them the traditions of their Mexican and Spanish ancestry. While the architect, Arthur L. Herberger, of Los Angeles, specified this as a stucco dwelling, a favorite medium for this type of house, it would be an ideal design to work out in adobe, such as the builders of other days would have used. As in so many of these old houses, the front entrance has an air of welcome, but the patio for private gatherings is placed at the rear, away from general view.

Adobe clay can be found in many parts of the West, and if your property happens to have a bed of this earth, the house can be built for very little if you do all the work. When all labor is hired, however, adobe is frequently more expensive than some other types of construction. Properly cured adobe blocks last for centuries.

Two treatments can be suggested for the front entry. It might be framed with brightly colored Mexican tiles set into the stucco or adobe, or the lintel and sides might be made of heavy hewn timbers.

Whether adobe or stucco is used, the roof should be of shakes or sun-baked tiles.

Inside, the early day spirit can be carried out by the use of rather rough plank walls, whitewashed, or oiled cedar panels. The living room should extend to the roof, with the rafters stained brown or painted with a gay Mexican design. Attention to details, such as the fireplace, which may be of adobe or other handmade bricks, and the choice of hardware, will add much to the charm of such a house.

CABIN for FOUR in HIGH SIERRA

Here is a big, comfortable cabin of no particular period of design—just a grand place to while away one’s leisure time in some secluded spot where the only sound is the music of the wind in the pines. The broad flagstone porch is just the spot to spend lazy afternoons, and the living room is large enough for entertaining but not so large that it would be hard to heat.

According to the original design, this cabin might be built with a board and batten exterior, finished with a preparation of linseed oil and rotten stone—or it would be beautiful covered, roof and all, with silver-weathered shakes or shingles. In either case, the trim should be in a bright color for contrast, and the chimney would be best if built of rough field stones.

Inside, the living room might be finished in knotty Western cedar vertical-channel boards, sanded until they feel like satin and rubbed with linseed oil. Here again, for contrast, the trim and doors might be painted some bright color. The designer suggested waxed vermillion lacquer for the floor, but if this sounds too bright, it could be left natural color, or perhaps covered with one of the tile patterns of inlaid linoleum.

The two bedrooms, just for variety, could be panelled in knotty pine, while the bathroom and kitchen would be nice in some gay color such as canary yellow.

The arrangement of the fireplace at the back of the house allows construction of a feature which is especially popular in southern California—an outdoor fireplace. A single chimney carries both flues. The inner fireplace may be used for heating purposes, while the outside one is ideal for barbecues on the terrace.

for BEACH or LAKESHORE

Here’s a thoroughly modern little cabin with very trim lines. It will fit into almost any sort of sloping site. Shown here, it’s a mountain cabin with stone foundations forming the walls of a garage for two cars. However, with only a few minor changes, the same plan could be used for a beach house, and the garage could be transformed into a boat house.

Construction details are quite simple. The foundations, stairway and retaining walls are stone, which can often be had for nothing on the site. The upper structure is wood frame, covered outside with milled siding. The studding is so planned as to make application of wallboard or plywood very easy, for the interior.

If the cabin is to be built in snow country, such a flat roof would have to be supported with unusually strong beams. The simplest covering would be composition roofing. To provide a serviceable walking surface, a wood floor raised on slats should go over this built up rooting. Another excellent—and cheap—roofing for a deck that will have considerable foot traffic is made by applying canvas over the matched roof boarding, just like the deck of a boat. If kept painted, this type of roofing is entirely satisfactory.

This is essentially a one-room structure, but it includes in a compact space all the conveniences of a much larger house. At one end of the living area is a small but complete kitchen, screened by a cupboard. On the reverse side of this cupboard is a hinged table that swings down at meal times.

Sleeping quarters include two double-deck bunks against one wall, with closet room at one end and the bathroom at the other. This entire area can be screened off with sliding curtains hung from a ceiling track. There is also room for a couch or day bed on one side of the fireplace. Wood storage is outside, but the small closet by the fireplace could be used for this.

Another interesting feature is the barbecue on the roof deck. It is built into the chimney, but if such an item adds too much to the cost, a portable barbecue would do quite as well.

a CABIN in the SANTA CRUZ

For anyone who wants to satisfy that inner urge to live in a real log cabin, no better guide could be followed than the plans shown here. A glance at the illustration really doesn’t give an idea of the roominess and comfort of the place that is apparent from a study of the floor plan. However, this cabin would be quite a task for an amateur builder to undertake.

The original of this cabin was built by the Hugo Eastmans on a knoll in the Santa Cruz mountains. The rustic idea is carried out in every detail, with real logs, a rough stone fireplace and rugged rafters, but inside are all the conveniences of a modern residence. A pergola of rustic poles shades the front entrance.

Because of the size of the cabin it is unnecessary to crowd the living room with beds. There is one, but it folds up and is concealed in a closet. There are two comfortable bedrooms, each with private bath. One of the baths opens into the kitchen also.

Since this is a real log cabin, every possible detail should be made of this material, including door and window trim, porch rail and possibly the living room furniture. The floor should be of random-width planks, pinned with wooden dowels.

Light is an important factor in a log cabin, so much care should go into planning the color scheme. If the cabin is of peeled logs, the most beautiful interior finish would be to give the walls a couple of coats of clear varnish. This brings out the whiteness of the logs and makes them easy to keep clean.

The bedrooms, for contrast, might be done in greenish blue and the kitchen in grey or tan.

here is a CABIN THAT GROWS

The building of any sort of a vacation cabin represents quite an investment for the average family, and it is sometimes necessary to omit or hold back on certain features in order to make the budget work out. The plan illustrated here is a splendid example of a charming cabin that started as a modest little place with just the minimum amount of room.

In its first stage, the owner can erect the central frame, which includes the living room, a bunk-room, kitchen and bath. This all fits into a 19- × 20-foot structure, and may be sheathed on the outside with board and batten, as above, or any type of material that fits the budget. A feature adding a great deal of charm is the pair of casement windows at the front.

This much of the house could be built the first year, with perhaps a temporary shelter for the car at the rear. The following season, or as soon as needed, two real bedrooms could be added on one side, utilizing the space formerly taken by bunks for closets. It will be noted in the plan marked “Second Stage” that a stairway to a cellar is indicated, but the cellar, of course, is optional.

On the opposite side of the house, the garage may be constructed, either attached directly to the house, or as shown here, with a small porch and a breakfast room in between.

Following the style of many of the recent houses, this design uses a nice combination of board and batten and fitted masonry.

This plan was designed by Howard H. Riley, Seattle architect, and was furnished through the courtesy of the West Coast Lumbermen’s Association.

RUSTIC CABIN for TWO FAMILIES

This plan of a two-family cabin is presented as a result of numerous requests from Pacific Coast families who want to enjoy their vacations together. The problem is somewhat more difficult than planning a single house, but the features illustrated here should make it possible to give two families a cabin at only slightly higher cost than an ordinary one.

The construction of such a cabin, in most cases, must be fairly reasonable. Therefore, the one here is built of wood frame covered with board and batten, on a low concrete foundation. Roofing may be of any type that meets the budget.

A large living room with a massive fireplace is the central feature inside. Here both families may gather, or they may find privacy on separate porches on either side.

Since meals would probably be eaten at the same time by both groups, the kitchen and dining alcove have been made common to both sides.

The most interesting feature, and one which should please everybody, is a separate suite of sleeping quarters, one at each end of the cabin, for each family. Two bunk rooms, holding either a double bed or a double-deck bunk, with necessary closet space, will accommodate four or eight persons in each suite. The bunk rooms open on a short hall connecting with the bathroom.

An interesting way to finish such a cabin would be to leave the rafters and beams exposed in the main living room, where a truly rustic atmosphere is most desirable. If these timbers are given a hewn surface and stained brown, they make a pleasing contrast to walls of natural-color knotty pine. The floor should be made of broad planks, to be in scale with the size of the room.

a CABIN on FOUR LEVELS

1^ST Floor 2^ND Floor

In a vacation area where life is maintained on a more or less civilized plane, this vacation home, with its very modern lines, would be quite attractive. By “civilized,” we mean that you could hardly imagine anyone loafing on the terrace in dirty old canvas slacks and a week’s set of whiskers.

The plan is intended for a sloping site, with floors on four levels beginning with the garage at the highest point. The roof is flat and may be transformed into a sun deck. Foundations are concrete, with wood frame covered with flush siding above. Inside, the walls may be covered with wall board, left natural color except in kitchen and baths.

The living room is two stories high, with a balcony occupied by two double bunks. The master’s bedroom and private bath, as well as a guest bath, are on this balcony level also.

Down a short flight of stairs from the living room is a dining alcove and the kitchen. The dining alcove opens on a spacious terrace.

This same plan, with a few minor changes such as the addition of a shower at the first floor entry, would make a fine beach house.

SIMPLICITY is the KEYNOTE

This quaint little cottage, with its low roof and wide porches, is another good example of what can be done with the simplest of floor plans. It really consists of just one big square room, with partitions jutting out to form the bathroom and kitchen. Anyone can go that far without the guidance of an architect or builder, but the added touches of an experienced hand, as evidenced in the porch rail, the little martin house on the roof and the stepped-back patio wall, are what give this cabin its distinctive charm.

As shown here, the walls are of board and batten, with hand-split shakes laid on the roof in an irregular pattern. The bird house is an attractive note frequently used on old-world houses. The quaint line of the chimney is achieved by extending the tile flues above the masonry and curving the concrete fill up against them.

Since this cabin has such inviting porches, we have shown only one double bunk inside. Most families will prefer to sleep outside, and since the porch is protected by the overhang of the roof on two sides, several beds could be put there and screened from view by sliding curtains. As a convenience for those who do sleep out, an outer door to the bathroom has been included.

The kitchen is unusually roomy for a place of this size. It has ample work room and a door opening on the patio for convenience when serving meals out of doors.

Another charming feature of this little cabin is the unusual treatment of the bathroom window. It is screened by small lattices.

SHELTER for TWO in high COUNTRY

For the man who likes to go back to his favorite trout stream or hunting country each year, yet who doesn’t want to go to the trouble and expense of a permanent cabin, this little log and stone shelter is just about perfect. Two men can build the whole thing in a few days, using only materials that can be picked up right on the spot. Even the roof shakes can be home-made.

Since a hunting lodge is used in cold weather, it would be wise to have the floor raised off the earth a few inches, either with an all-around stone foundation as shown here, or with a series of flat boulders. The latter, however, do not keep out much of the cold.

Hunters don’t demand many luxuries when they’re out in the wilds, so only the barest comforts have been provided here. By installing an iron grill in the fireplace, most of the cooking could be done over the coals, thus saving the space occupied by the oil stove.

There is just room enough for two single bunks or folding cots. To save the trouble of packing in a lot of bedding, it would be a good idea to use sleeping bags and air-mattresses.

for VACATIONS by the SEA

Proper construction is a most important point in a beach house such as the one above, because unless the house is well built, your vacation by the sea can be a pretty miserable affair. Cold damp winds have a way of finding chinks in the walls and sand _will_ blow under the windows unless they’re properly fitted.

The board and batten walls of this beach house are as satisfactory as any you can select. Moisture-laden atmosphere is not as likely to affect this kind of material, especially if it is well painted. Incidentally, when buying paint for your beach house, be sure to get the best, because salt air is very hard on paint. Pay a little more at first and save the work of a paint job next season.

A shake roof would look nice on such a house, and would be satisfactory if the shakes were stained. Composition shingles, perhaps, would be a good idea, too, but they do not make such an interesting roof.

The interior plan of this house makes it a good one either for week-ends or for semi-permanent use. Indeed, if you like to commute, it could be occupied all year ’round, since it has all the comforts of a modern city home. There’s one master bedroom, connected directly with the bath, and a large bunk room for guests. If bunks are used here, be sure to build them along the lines of a ship’s berth, just for a nautical atmosphere.

As a matter of fact, a beach house is just the place where lots of imagination can be used. Door knobs and other hardware of bright brass, a colored ship’s lamp over the front door, and perhaps a couple of real portholes instead of the small windows in the bunk room and the bath, would lend a very salty air. Such items can be bought at any ship chandler’s. The living room, for example, might have a “deck” of scoured oak, with linoleum in the other rooms inlaid with anchors and other seagoing devices. Lengths of fish net, complete with leads and corks, make fine window drapes—and above all, get a small ship’s bell to call all hands to meals.

FIVE ROOMS in a ONE ROOM CABIN

The amazing things that can be done in a limited space with a curtain or two and some careful planning with furniture, are nowhere better demonstrated than in this one-room cabin. The designer started with nothing but an 18 × 20-foot rectangle for a floor plan, yet he has evolved a comfortable week-end cabin for at least four persons.

The exterior walls of this cabin have been treated in an unusual manner which makes something quite unique out of what might have been just another cabin. The end walls, chimney and porch are constructed of rough-hewn stone, while the front and rear walls are board and batten. The roof could be shakes, shingles or slates. Of course, this same cabin could be built any one of a number of ways, using logs or shingles instead of the stone and wood combination. The front door, to carry out the atmosphere of simplicity, should be of planks.

The cabin, which was the inspiration for the one illustrated here, had an interior of cedar panels, uncolored except for a treatment with hot oil. This makes a good wall finish, although if you prefer them, plywood or wall board would be appropriate and not costly. Because of its limited size, perhaps a light interior of natural or tinted wall board would be most satisfactory.

Just inside the front door, at the left, is a kitchenette with two built-in seats and a drop-table to form a dinette such as many apartments have. Additional seats may be built on the other side of the kitchenette if desired.

At the far end of the room is a space for two double beds or bunks. The latter would be more pleasing, since they offer attractive lounging places during the day. Between the bunks is a washroom and two closets which form a partition and divide the space into two bedrooms. A sliding curtain conceals the bedroom end when desired.

Because this is intended simply as a week-end cabin, no provision is made for an inside toilet. However, it would be entirely feasible to add an adjoining room at the rear for a complete bathroom.

CABIN CONVENIENCES

Make your vacation home as comfortable as you can for the amount of money you have to spend. Remember that the four major comforts in any house are light, heat, water, and cooking facilities.

Proper lighting is one of the most important comforts. You can get water from a stream and boil it, if you have to; you can cook and warm yourself with a fireplace, but you will find it harmful to your eyes to depend entirely upon candles or ordinary kerosene lamps for light. If you are building within range of power lines, by all means install electric lights, even if it costs a little more than you had planned to spend. If you want primitive effects, you can get them very effectively by a proper choice of fixtures without sacrificing good lighting.

Next best to public utility power is your own private electric plant, operated by a gasoline engine. Such an installation, consisting of engine, generator and storage battery, may be had for as little as $75.00, not including wiring the cabin itself. This minimum-priced outfit will light a small cabin and operate an electric iron and toaster. You can go as much higher as you want up to a $1500 installation, which will supply almost enough power for a small summer resort.

If you must get along without electricity, the best portable devices are gasoline lamps and lanterns. You should have several of them. They burn with a mantle like old-fashioned gas but give an intense white light and use ordinary gasoline. Be sure, though, not to use gasoline treated with tetra-ethyl lead. These lights are satisfactory for reading, and you can take a gasoline lantern out in a storm without danger of its blowing out.

In most cases, if you use your cabin only in summer, the fireplace will provide sufficient heat, especially if you have the air circulating kind so located that the warm air can be utilized in adjoining rooms. If more heat is required, and it will be if you use the cabin in winter, investigate the oil-burning heaters that combine directed heat with heat circulation and heat radiation. Portable oil or electric heaters are also handy at any time of the year. Central heating is generally not necessary unless your cabin is to be used as a year-round home.

If you are going in for real cabin comfort, you will naturally have running water in the kitchen and bath. The next step in comfort is an adequate supply of hot water. Electric, gas- or oil-burning equipment will give you all the hot water you want.

With an insulated storage tank you can have automatic hot water with an electric heater. The cost will depend on your power rate and you must decide if it fits your purse. If you have one of the so-called “bottled gas” installations, you can use this fuel for your hot water. An oil burning water heater will provide an adequate supply of hot water at reasonable cost.

Water-heating coils in the back of the fireplace or in a wood burning stove provide inexpensive hot water, but not always timely or in adequate amounts. It is possible to connect these coils with a storage tank that is also heated by oil or gas appliances, so that you only use this fuel when the fireplace or stove does not supply enough hot water.

Probably one of the most neglected comforts in the average cabin is the kitchen in general and the cook stove in particular. If the cook is to have as good a time as the rest of the family, the cabin kitchen should be modern and conveniently arranged. A wood burning cook stove does not add to the pleasures of feeding the family and guests. But a possible point to consider: a kitchen range is an excellent added heater in a cabin that is to be used in cold weather.