Evening Star Newspaper, July 17, 1926, Page 13

A great amount of interest in The Star's* model ‘homes -demonstration ie being manifested by architects throughout the United: States.” The American Institute of Architects, the central organization’ of the profession in this country, in praising the under- taking-by The Star in its official ors gan, the Journal of the American In. stitute of Architects, gives a complete yexplanition of the undertaki The article, in part, follows ““The proposal of The Star. was st discussed Wwith a representative of the Washington, _chapter of the institute, who propofied, ‘the organization .of superviSory committee of thrée—one member representing -the architeots, oné the builders and the third the municipal . government.. The- proposi- tion was agreed to by The. Star, the committee picked and. the ‘modus openm‘l' developed in detail at a.se ries of luncheons, at which_the archi tects and the builders met first glter.’ nately and then together. “It may be said at this point tha: the builders in this instance renrc® sented a group of operative builder: who have gone through a long perioc of speculative work and who have és tablished themselves in the main with- out architectural - assistance. The work *produced - by * this - group hay shown a_ steady improvement of re cent years as a natfiral result of com: petitive selling, but’ ample, roem for {mprovement existed. “The committee. having the full confidence of the three groups in- volved—the publishers, the architects and the builders—was given. rather sweeping powers. The general con- tract was signed jointly by the archi- tect and the builder assigried to eacl project. s Nine Houses Built, “It weill dldo. be.'interesting. to note,, the sweeping way in which this dem- onstration was undertaken, 1t ‘was not limited to one home-or to bne house -of each type. - Nine projects were launched, representing -aimost every type of habitation except the apartment, and the omission- of- the apartjient was not because there were no appitcants for ‘thig sfype, but be- cause the publishers felt that™ the buildirig 9f homes should be encour- aged. ChAe £ ¥ “Fi¥e types of detached - houses were launched—two _suburbap.. colo- nials in. frame, one Duteh eolonial in brick and stueco, one..Géorgian in brick and one colonial in. stone—these projects ranging in cost. from- $9,000 to about $30.000. RRRER “Incidentally, it ‘was' riecessary- in order ta effect the demionstration . to, waive featuring the cost. eléiment. in- asmuch as the builders maintained, with justice, that if-a detailed. cost demonsrration were invojved the -pub- lic would net make allowances for the items of overheag. advertising, com- missions. etc:, which, with his profit, entered into a builder's selling -price. *“In addition toithe detac'® i houses, demonstrations were undertaken: with a semi-detached of an English type, a “community,” or three-unit group, in an_Italian type, and two row groups. one of 7 houses im. a Georgian and one of 14 houses in an English char- acter. : “In order to simplify operations, the chapter picked its representative on the committee of three and left wholly in his has.s the interests. of the architects, inciuding ‘the selection of architects to handle the projects. This chairman picked first certain architects ' who _had = -demonstrated. either special ability in certain styles or through understanding. of certain types or unquestioned ddaptability. “With this group as a nucleus and after much discussion of pros and cons, a selection was inade of the architects and their assignment to the different projects. These projects, it may be added, were picked from ap- plications made to the committee. of three by the bujlders after The Star had given widespread publicity to the proposal. It may also be stated that { "if the situation had not been thor- oughly canvassed in advance with the organization of the builders and their various objections met and satisfled, and if precaution had not been taken. %o obtain the support of the financial | interests, the project would undoubt- edly never have materialized. All Plans Passed On. “Having selected and assigned the architects to work with the builders, and having started each architect with his builder-client, the architects’ rep- resentative then asked various of the ablest practitioners in the chapter to serve without pay as the chapter's jury of control, and to. this jury all plans were submitted several times. “Every. effort was made to develop each scheme to the best advantage, and in particular to meet the buflders’ objections, whether or not they were regarded as important. Thus on the question of front porches, which have been the outstanding difficuity in ’l ARCHITECTS' ORGAN EXPLAINS Development of Idea Through Co-operation of ) ners and Builders and Erection’of Nine Typeés +of Houses Described in Magazine. = - ] Washington, althcugh dne builder was perfectly satisfied with'.a geries’ of small hooded entra; ¢ races, -another buflder’ type of project felt.that his.clientele would demand edch and every ohe his coveréd poreN, and so for h - and. every one -of his houses a porch was *| elations: i the United; States.have a The J&m bullding: and ‘Toan asso- femberahip ‘of 10,000,000 persons ‘and '60“.0‘-'.‘”7‘ -SSR % * Organization at M:nneqsolis s . e homes.. His report gives gome idea of. the- eqn:mclion industry, gained from recent fipjncial statements, and indi- cates-that moreé-than 11,000,000 of our - people are dependent for' their. I upan’the' construction industry, an 22°pér cent'of all skilled and unskilled’ labor of the country is éngaged in the e in such a way that.the usua i that ‘monotony did mof nnv‘qfi.’, 4 { | 23,,.,',:;""‘ AloTw somy 280.¢ g 2 2 0§ : 15 o y, g e 4 cars are required to handle “Those interésted are’ now nearing 2 JLoeal , - Bullding: maferfats in.one” year and entail the. the completion waf this préject. With 4 5 4 ¥ *of a large force of operators, possibly one oxmmm_eur,\funnb;:' and that the buflding bill is $200 per’ is. working out . satisfactorily;-. 1! year “for every family in the United architects. agd the, bllidera do perfeet States, s S eapect ot the’ GIRer's’ pont of il ¢ wi réspect the” er's’ point “of view. Unquestithably the way has been, paved for farther' felations and the -opening . up of an -entirely’ new |- field t. thé architects. . Officials ‘Are Sympathetic. “Two or “three ' additional points night be' mentioned. One_is that, un- erlying ‘this, whole structure of co- speration and . understanding of the yroblem to'be met has been the work' of the Architects' Advisory Council, which for three or four,years hasre- viewed, with the assistant engineer cominissionef, ‘Maj. Raymond Wheel- or, the chairman of the conmmittee of three. every plan:filed for a’building permit, and one‘these plans has made -onstructive ' recommendations to the suilders. This-<has given the archi- .ects an insight into the problem to he met, has shown the builders that the architects .are. disinterested and | willing: o give lp\eig services ‘for . the be jent of the eity, and“has not | own ‘the officials the value of the ice but has put .them in sym-: | pathetic undérstanding of the objec- tive and in sympathetic relationship with both architests and builders, * ‘wPhe ‘ actual “bringing together of architects and bullders on these proj- ects.has accomplished more in these few. months toward ‘actually getting vesuita. than the Advisory Counctl has accomplished in the same number of yetirs, and yet' the ‘Advisery Council was the start of the .whole project. '1ts work is'to continue and to"be aug- mented- by educatianal work throngh .the ‘citizens’ associations: as to its function. This general _educational work has been tremendously. helped by The Eyeping Star through its spe- clal” publicity. " ‘It “hds not only ‘re- talned Mrs. Gertrutle Morrison Fisher, with whom the schemé originated, but it hasassigned 4 special publicity man to-cqver the field, and if has been will- ing ‘to- publish, ‘wetk after week, afl the special write.ups which it could obtain, . “An. effort ha& been made to carry torward from week to week ‘the prog- ress .of- each ‘house, letting ‘the added details of construction form the ve- hicles for the gxtension of informa: tion_about. yarious. items which -the architects would Iike to have the pub- {le understand. 5 ” - ., “Decorators Lending Ald. ““An opportunity has been given to the loeal landscape architects and In- terior decorators to form co-operatine committees. The landscape architects have not played up to their opportuni- ties. The decaggfors are anxious, to to-operate, to prepare amy amount of publicity, and will_do so if arrange- ments can be/madeé with the furnish- ing houses for the staging of complete demonstrations. A number of the lo- cal furniture supply houses have un- dertaken to aid in the projects-and to furnish demonstration houses com- plete, in each-case, however, under the close supervision of the committee of decorators, giving their service on the same basis as the advisory archi- ects. “It is hoped that before the project is finished the landscape architects will .be able. to take-certain of the projects and to demonstrate that land- scape architecture is something moré than the mere planting of a few shrubs “ around the .entrance, It-is especially hoped that the garden sides and outdoor Jiving will be featured. “After the conclusion of the project, more or less complete files of The Star will be available, which the chair- man_of this committee has had re- "served. for the use of the chapters. He belfeves that it would be advan- tageous for almost any chapter to stage such a demgnstration, and he recommends that the institute either | ke, James roport predicts that by~ it . will - be " shown 4n Mr. James’ re- Be 100 .years old, the assets of the as- s’ | soctations "of .the country will have reachied - the sum of $10,000,000,000. Five States—Pennsylvania, Ohio, New &tia cost’ of Jersey,. Massachusetts and Illinots— 600,00” during 1925, Y 3 Lhave about $3,080,000,000 in assets. In @ reports he ‘recéived from the | these States the movement is hl‘h]g State leagues during the past year in- | developed; in another group it is wel dicate larger attendance, greater in- | developed; in another group it is mods terest and better organization and co- |erately developed, and in still another. operation than in any previous year. |it is just in its beginnings, o it would The league has gained in membership | seem the movement has unlimited pos- uring the past year 1,332,645 and in { sibilities for growth by 1931. $743.238.957.. DuringMr. James’ |; . Those going to_the convention. from term of office he has.attended buliding: ‘ashington are. Mr. and Mrs. W, 8. and loan meetings in West V . Quintsr,. Mr. and- Mrs, Edward Cs 1diaa, Delawaré, “North Caro- | Baltg, James :Berry, Mr. and Mra: lina, Chester, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, | Albert Schuiteis, Mr.and Mrs. Arthur. Cincinnati, New York City and Staten:| Carr and Mr. and Mrs. C. Clinton Istand. Co-omuonmhon%au ht |Janies., - Secretary” Hoover will make. Fabout between the league and the ta- (a short address. § i Sees S | HOMES EXPOSITION SPACE IS IN-DEMAND to,individuals who recélved interest or dividends 1 Show at Auditorium in October Al- vide: from , and joan as- soclatiops, which would have’ expired ready Is Attracting Applica- tions From Exhibitors. TMB: IiMES: _Wmm-;fia-nu. [Two More Model Houses Finistied - And Ready for Inspection Tomorrow 3 representation on the nationgl thrift committee of the B C. A., the National Educational Commission. and better building com- mittee of the Natiomal ition’ of Real Estate Boards and.on the uni- form mechanics’. llen act” commitiee .created by the Department of Com- ‘merce. He will call attention to the fact the great life nsurance com- panies of the country are inéreasing their invéstments in real estate mort- gage loans, and of late the, tendency hag been to invest in dwelling house securities of the type usually taken by building and loan associations. He ‘:fltlhlho Il::‘l-‘lald:i“ npllon to lbl'l:‘o fact that e len‘Pepper _bill becomes | Washington Auditorium. The entire 2 law .nearly $2,500,000,000 can be |auditorium has been engaged for this loaned by the national banks. of the | period. Every effort will be made.to country on real estate security for'a | make this an educational feature to period of five years. Mr. James will| the general public as well as those point out that each year $256,000,000.- | interested in the development of the 000 is pald in wages to our industrial| National Capital -from a real estate ‘workers and from $6,000.000,000 to|and construction standpoint. In a $7,000,000,000 is saved in various ways. | short while active solicitation will be- Mr. James will show that the 12,000 | gin for reservations. building and lean associations, with The executive qominittee of the Real nearly 10,000,000 members and $5,500,- | Estate ‘Board. headed by President 000,000 in assets, loaned for the pur- | Clarence F. Donohue, ‘together with :g:;z 'T- “e:z;sr::.u::n nr‘ ?;;; home: James P. Schick, executive secretary, ut $1,600,000,! n, ,*which | will in o show for rie ,crher:‘gy(z’he .v or the Since. the opening last week of the headquartgrs for the Better Homes and Building Exposition, to be heid | by the Washington Real Estate Board in October, approximately 25 applica- tions for exhibit space have teen re- cefved. ‘These, exhibits range from real es- tate and house exhibits to bullding materials and household equipment. Already.a number of well known mna- tional organizations have stated their ention of participating. The show Il be held October 16 to 23 in the Two more.of The Slar’s model Houses have been completed and will be on view tomorrow Tully furnished. This makes & toh‘l, of six of the nine projects that have been finished. All the houses will be-on display. from 10.am. to 10 p.m. every day including Sunday. The two additionalprojects completed are: The northwest row houses at Fifth and Decatur streets, built by the Morris Cafritz Con- struction Co., and designed by Louis Justement. ‘Thé Virginia model detached houses at Lee Heights, Va., designed by Ward Brown, and built by Ruby Lee Minar. 5 All except the Wesley'Heights house, the home at Thirty-fifth and (Mfimchmu:tu uvenuei' -:lndrlht community group at Fifth and Long- ellow s § are now fully furnished. The rout. the will be found on another page of'this lecuon.“ P e v U "lsfitorldm (1) - The living room. (2) The bedroom. Lower, left to right: (1) The Dreakast alcove. () The dinimk room. G . CAPITAL REMAINS SEVENTH _IN NATIONAL BUILDING LIST Activities for First Half of Year Show Upward Move- ment Near End of Period—Boston Drops . to the Ninth Place.. the first half of the year were a little above $516,000,000, a gain of about 11 per cent over the' first haif of 1925. Judging from the large volume of new. plans, bullding activities will continue to be_carrjed on in New York more intensely than In any of the other major;citiegeof the eountry. 12 Southern States showed a gain of 26 per cent during the first half of the year as compared with the séme months in 1925, and 11 per cent in June” compared with;last June. The chief centers of activity wére Florida, Texas and North Carolina. Plans filed in New York City during: nearly 500,000 - Améi boat ported permits of $412,770,125 for this year, as compared : with 7 4 % Wuth maintained its position a it : : éoh-.| June seventh ‘city in the -building’ con $383.851.634 for June & Year ago, & &ain of T% per cent. The significance f Gt p of the figures lies In the fact that Om lpt d ¥ L B N (| p ore moméntum, June permits were' just 19 of. ects that - were from the struction industry of. the .country for thé first half of the present year. Wlt.hfin total from January 1 fo June 30 of $34,864,115, the National Capi- tal was ahead of its nearest.compétl- tor, San “Francisco, by more than $2,600,000. ' New. York, Chicago, De- troit, Philadelphia ang Cleveland, all big_industrial . center¥, 'were ahead of Washiggton. Boston took a.con- siderable drop -to ninth piace. - | Building activities- throughout- the Tountry, as indicated by the volume of permits issued - and’ plans’ filed, begin the second half of the year on about thé same basis as last year. In the 457 citles reported in the na- there .is & this June spurt marks the beginning =54 SR sesS | THIS BEAUTIFUL NEW GROUP OF June. ' Since 1919 ‘this decl has ayeraged around 10 or 11 per cent. Last year, when building activities were proceeding with unprecedeénted of a perk building activity than'has ever'before been experienced in' the United iStates, or whether the figires repre- sent a considerable vr%m Pproj- defe Spring. months due to. unfavorable circulate these files from headquar- | tional monthiy bufld! be e ters or that the secretaries of the dif- w:“slnm_,": hlyc.,_:' "NMI;‘JI';.{'?"]"‘ retither conditions, are matters that Z S ferent chapters.apply for them. They should be of value at any time in the future in staging a similar demon- stration. « . “It may be stated frankly that there cannot now be determined. E An fmportant feature of the: semi annual ‘review :of the. national build: ing sftuatioh 1s the contiriued gain of 3 ponstruction . work ',throughout . the is a tremendous amount of work in- There - were “indications, however, | South, notwithstanding the spectacu- | volved in the co-ordination of any | just.at ‘the.end of the ‘half-year mwim« that have in prog-. e in years. 614,498 were issued for the six-month period, & loss of 1 per ‘cent as com- pared with the first half of 1925. .Upward Movement Seen. e been : such profect, and no architect should | period of a: rather pronounced.up- that section for the last three / o c 5 19 dertake to supervise it uniess fully | ward movement. ' The 457 cities re- The 100 leading “cities P ey i e Aliiou L the |~ R g e ot o / / : A ! wls = I should be compensated either by an honorarium from the paper or by a <hare in the proceeds.” 2 . 'Woodland Drive Sites [ REAL ESTATE BOARDS WORKING FOR MUNICIPAL An aviation field’ comprising 140 acres just a mile and a quarter from the heart of the city’s business dis- trict has just been provided for St. Paul, Minn., by a bond issue’voted by the city at its primary election. Alr mail service is already established. At the same time a bond issue was voted providing for river terminal fa- cilities for the city. The St. Paul Real Estate Board has been active in the study of lo- cation of a municipal landing fleld, and has actively advocated both the project for purchase of such a field and the project of river terminal im- provement. The 140 acres of land comprising’ the air field was acquired under option through a member firm of the board, giving the city the ad- vantage of a private purchase. The municipal landing field as a eivic project that will greatly affect & city's future growth is being studied by a number of .real estate boards National Association of Real Estate Boards. The Buffalo Real Estate Board has for several years advocated the estab- lishment of & municipal landing fleld, and made a study of the question of advisible location.. Purchase has re- cently been made by the city of a total of 412 acres to constitute sych a field. Detroit now has ing fields, one of which is muvicipally owned. These, real estata goards point out, are only a few of the recent addition to the 201 municipally owned landing flelds in the United States that were shown on the aerial-map of 1924. The establishment of a municipal landing fleld and the possible build- ing up of anwaircraft industry in Tacoma, Wash., is actively advocated by the Tacoma Real Estaté L The Santa Monica Bay District Realty Board of California has started & campaign to obtain -a municipal airport for Santa Monica. £ The growth in' importance of the landing fleld as a civic feature, the * warious boards, point out, accompanies the increase {11 the use‘of the airplane A demands upon his time, for which he i CLUT F 1 LANDING FIELDS contfol of commercial and civil avi- _becoming steadily more limited. - Washi gtonian‘s of long standing are continually amazed at the splendid growth in this] ation under the Department of Com || fine residential community, which includes all that remains of’ ——— T - — S sistant secretaryship to supervise aeronautics. The Secretary of Com- merce is given power by the act to regulate interstate and foreign aerial. BUILDERS URGE D. C. FOR ANNUAL MEET Local Convention Bureau Invites Builders Exchanges Here in Feb- ruary 1927 for Convention. The Triangle of Increasing Values —between Connecticut, Massachusetts and Cathedral avenues. “\‘fioded and rolling sites for individually designed _homes are now available. . As the firm under whose man: enif this restricted area has been | successfully develorrd into one of the city’s fine sections, we are singu- | larly l?reoned to furnish accurate information. bl 1 o ark Office: 32d street and Cathedral avenue. Middaugh & Shannon, Inc. h and Hamilton Sts. N.W. .. . Exhibit Home Open and Lighted Daily and Sunday Till 9 P.M. ; ! CONVENIENT ‘TO. BOTH CAR LINES / EXPOSURE—DISTINCTIVELY STYLISH The executive committes of the Na. tional Association of !ullda:; ?: A .| = board of governors that the annual convention be held 'in Washington, D: C., February. 21 to 24, 1927, as a result of an invitation from C. E. Le Vigne, director of the local conven- tion bureau,. If this arrangément is accepted the national executive office, now located in Washington, will begin work at once on the con pro- gram in the hope of making it the most notable gathering in the history of the assoclation. : The executive committee has recom- mended that William Chety of Balti. A of been t! ifen law to.the national uniform laws. ‘which in ‘eémmercial transportation. which 4in turn is recognized in the bill just Phassed by Congress which places the