Evening Star Newspaper, January 18, 1930, Page 13

REAL ESTATE WASHINGTON, D 70, WITR SUNDAY MORNTHO EDITH Ty ening Star, SATURDAY, JAN ARY 18, 1930. | HOME & GARDEN E—i Home-Owning and Building Section for Washington and Suburbs CONSTRUCTION FORECAST EARLY START PLANNED ON APARTMENT PROJECT Building, Largest of Its Kind in Greater Washing- ton Area, Will Embody Unusual Features. Construction will be started shortly on the first two units of fihnt is designed to be the largest single apartment house project #n Greater Washington, for which a 28-acre tract along Cathedral avenue in the section between Wesley Heights and the Washington Cathedral has been acquired, it w: as announced today by the West- chester Development Corporation, owners and builders. Financial arrangements and architectural plans have been made for the first two units of the proj ect, which will face on Cathedral avenue, and behind which it is projected to complete a great quad- rangle of similar buildings, it is reported by Gustave Ring, president of the new corporation. The project has many unusual features aside from its size. &t is planned to occupy but 15 pe: r cent of the entire 28-acre tract with buildings, the remainder to be devoted to gardens, lawns, walks and other landscape treatment. The buildings will have club fea- tures, including ball room, dining rooms and swimming pool. Buildings to Be Eight Stories. The completed development would provide housing for 1,500 families, and construction is to be carried forward over a period of years. The buildings will be of eight stories. Construction of the first unit is to be started shortly, and the second is to be started as soon as the first is under way. The project has been designed by Harvey Warwick, local architect, who is vice president of | the development corporation. | The tract, just acquired from Ed- mund D. Rheem, is known as the Ken- | nedy tract, once being a part of the estate of the late William Kennedy. Prior to its acquisition by Mr. Kennedy it was known as the Kengla tract. Mr. Kennedy had acquired it from the Ken- gla heirs and later added to his hold- ings by purchases of property from Elizabeth H. Hemphill and in the ex- change of property with the Glover family. On the tract stands an old colonial house, the Kengla homestead, which was the residence of Mr. Kennedy after he became owner of the property. It now is used as a private school. The tract, zoned for apartment house construction, lies along Cathedral ave- nue. and is bordered by Glover park- way, Tunlaw road and Thirty-ninth street. It is largely wooded. The ele- vation is high, and the site affords a wide vista of the Potomac River and contiguous territory. From the upper floors of the projected buildings there will be a broad view of the city. ‘The Westchester Corporation states that the property will be developed in keeping with its surroundings. The| natural contour of the land is to be/ preserved, and landscape architects are | 0 be employed to fit the buildings into | the site. Gardens will be planted with | domestic and foreign shrubs, and there will be benches, fountains and walks. | Effort will be made to preserve the| maximum number of trees on the site | in construction of the buildings. Plan Rustic Walks. Rustic walks will be provided for exit to Tunlaw road and to Mexico avenue. The buildings, of modernistic design, with some classical influence, will be grouped about the central quadrangle, and all but the first two units will be joined together. A central driveway will serve the entire group of buildings, and an auxiliary road will skirt the tract for service purposes. | To indicate the spaciousness of the| «quadrangle, officers of the corporation pointed out that the distance from the| entrance to the rear of the quadrangle | will be about two city blocks. Individual apartments, ranging in size up to four bed rooms and three baths, will be provided. Garage facili- ties will be available for all tenants. The design and architectural treatment of the nine units of the projected com- plete development will be harmonious. it is announced. A central unit will be, in effect, a| club building, with such features as a | ball room, dining room and swimming | ol POThe first two units, facing Cathedral avenue and set back about 100 feet from the curb line, will be of modern Romanesque style, with colonfal red brick and limestone trim in their con- struction. The front elevation designs show a facade ornamented with bal- conies and carved stone panels. The building is capped with an artistic cen- tral tower which is designed around | pent house and stairs. This tower is| crowned with an octagonal turret in | set-back style. Pylons flanking the en- trance add interest and architectural beauty. They are pierced with slit win- dows in alternating stories and crowned with octagonal turrets. The pylons are flanked by bays which include | graceful inclosed porches. | Parapet Is Diversified. | Small ornamental balconies occur on the seventh floor adding interest to the general architectural scheme. The parapet is_diversified to avoid a mo- notonous skyline. There will be orna- mental stone panels on the facades. All exteriors are equally well designed on all sides, there being no “backs” to any of the units. Connecting passage- | ways, two stories in height, will join all | units, and the completed profect will | thus be_one building. The Westchester Development Cor- poration is a syndicate compossd of Jocal men, headed by Mr. Ring, a na- tive Washingtonian, who has for the | past 10 years been active in building operations in the city. | Mr. Warwick, A. I. A. vice president, | has been working on the development of the property for more than a year. |He came to Washington 10 years ago | from California, after receiving his pro- | fessional degree there. The Westchester Corporation has | opened downtown offices in the Tower | Building and a branch office will be | established on the site. i There are nearly 20,000 islands in the Indian Ocean, only about 150 of them | being inhabited, most of the remainder ‘being unexplored. ! | the firm of Hooker & BULDERS O SEEK TRADE STIHULUS Contractors of Nation Will Discuss Means of In- creasing Business. Means of stimulating building con- struction throughout the United States will be one of the principal subjects discussed by the 1,000 or more mem- bers of the Associated General Con- tractors’ Association when that body meets for its eleventh annual conven- tion in New Orleans Monday. A survey of the association's pro- gram for the conference and for the fiscal year 1930 discloses that during the three days of the conference special stress will be placed on increasing the flow of money into State, Federal and public construction and building pro- grams in accordance with the program advocated by President Hoover during his business conferences in December. At the same time members of the association will impress upon delegates the necessity of taking active steps to recover markets lost in years past and to create new markets for their services so that the general contractor will be able to play a leading role in the carrying out of State and Federal l;’undmz programs urged by President oover. BUILDING ACTIVITIES WILL BE PRESSED Sixty Trade Associations Meet Here Tuesday to Consider Na- tional Construction Work. As a step toward carrying out the larger purposes of the business survey conference inspired by President Hoover, approximately 60 trade associations rep- resenting construction, equipment and supply industries will meet at the head- quarters of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States Tuesday to con- sider plans for advancing construction activities nationally. The meeting was called by Julius H. Barnes, chairman of the conference, at the request of executives of a num- ber of associations desirous of sys- tematizing the co-operative effort of their own and allied industries. Among associations invited are the American Institute of Architests, Amer- ican Federation of Labor, Associated General Contractors, National Associa- tion of Builders’ Exchanges and the National Lumber Manufacturers’ Asso- clation. C STREET PROPERTY BOUGHT FOR TRIANGLE George W. Building to Government for $31,441. The two-story brick building at the northwest corner of nth and C streets, in the great Federal building triangle south of Pennsylvania avenue, has been purchased by the United States from George W. Free, it is an- nounced by the office of Boss & Phelps, which handled the transaction. The consideration was $31,441. The property, numbered 300 ‘Thirteenth street, has a frontage of 32 feet and a depth of 72.5 feet on C street. GETS NEW QUARTERS. Real Estate Firm Locates in Tower Building. The real estate brokerage firm of . M. Hooker, formerly trading as Hooker & Jacob, has leased new quar- ters in the Tower Building, northwest corner of Fourteenth and K - streets, where he plans to do a business special- izing in residential properties, it was announced today. During the past year Mr. Hooker bought the interest of H. A. Jacob in have his sales and office force with him in the new location. Mr. Hooker has been in real estate business here 10 years. Beautify your home with DUPONT TONTINE Window Shades Made to Order at Factory Pric N.W, Samples and lm 13th St. . Estimates ——ml-mmmm— # s e e e Pe e Architectural History Shows Progress of 'Man‘ Struggle for Improved Housing Conditions Deserves Study. PROBLEM IS CHANGED Ranfe of Transportation and Reading Has Created New Demands. BY WADDY B. WOOD, F. A. L A. i The past. in architecture, represents | the struggle of human beings from the | dawn of history toward better housing conditions, and should be fairly well! known before we can judge from pre- cedent what the future is going to be | and how to work it out to the best ad- | vantage for mankind. . | ‘We find that as civilization progresses | the machine has more and more taken the place of the hand in building. This being the case, it is undoubtedly true that in designing our houses today we have to remember that a great many things we use, being machine made, are necessarily stock or duplicated parts. This was as true in Colonial days as it is now, although most people do not ap- preciate this fact. Crude Machine Used. The beautiful moldings around the doors, windows and so forth of Co- lonial work were done by a crude ma- chine, which was a bit in a plane pushed by the hand of man. The only | difference in the manufacture of that| molding and that of today is that now | the plane is pushed by machinery. Therefore, the fact that our moldings | are not as good now as formerly—which applies with equal force to the other parts of the design of the building—is not due to machinery, as so many peo- | ple_think, but to other causes. Our present civilization and its thou- sand and one inventions, added to the peculiar desires of the client drawn from scattered reading and travel, make the conscientious architect’s problem difficult. In fact, the serious architect who does not play to the theatrical in his designs is likely to lose out in his practice. It seems to be a hard thing to know how to solve this problem which begins with the client and, it might be said, ends with the decorator. Classic Trend Seen. It is perfectly evident that with our background of civilization the type of | buildings in their simplicity expressed | people with due regard for precedent, O | but with far more originality than we Free Sells Two-Story | Jacob and will | 870 house that suits us is Georgian, or our early Greek revival built on Georgian tradition, but leaning a little more to- ward pure classic. We know that at this time, when prices of material are so high, the Colonial type not only is undoubtedly the most economical we can’ use, but comes nearer expressing the simple bigness of our people. But, unfortunately, it is only done well in the houses of the rich and by a few big architects who really understand the Colonial. Their work, however, is not a drop in the bucket to the thousands of houses that are built all over the country, which, while they attempt to be_ Colonial, are very poor efforts. Looking back at our early work for inspiration and help, we find that the Colonial mantel is just as useful as 1t ever was and just as economical. Our window problem is different only in that we have window weights, which does not change the design at all and does not affect the brick work outside. ‘The solution is to return to those forms, and from them we will eventu- ally build up a modern style of archi- tecture, based not on revolution but on evolution, which has to rest. as all civil- ization does, on a foundation of prece- dent. Originality Attempts Failures. The present striving for originality for originality's sake has been a failure. ‘The house owner and the architect will find this out in time, although they do not think so now, Any one who studies our architectural progress for the last 200 years, and in studying takes into account the human element that has been expressed in this period, should know a great deal about the history of our country in other respects and what our chances are for the future, not only in our houses but in our souls. We first had the very severe, simple Colonial type, built under great difficul- ties by our daring first settlers. These the necessities and aspirations of the are producing now. After that, when the Colonials began to grow in power, there were built the larger and more magnificent houses, which still show great refinement and prove that they must have housed big people. Classic Revival Noted. | Following this period came the wave of classic revival, which produced the early Government buildings in Wash- ington and which was very fine. Un- fortunately. the type degenerated, as the people did, and civilization lost what should have been a wonderful develop- ment. After this came the awful Victorian era. The taste of the people then. was not unlike that of a boy in the gosling period of- his early manhood, when he thinks he is smarter than dad. It was our worst period in architecture, and was possibly one of our worst periods in other respects. We had not only fallen behind our Colonial ancestors in refinement but we had lost our love for tradition. We had got to a point when we thought that we were bigger than we were. Mental Attitude Reflected. This was brought about by the tact| that we were not educated up to our wth, both in riches and in mechan- fcal inventions. This period also re flected the mental attitude of our peo- ple in dress, as well as in houses. Everything was ugly. Our people had EXHIBIT HOME 4647 Hayes St. N.E. EMI - DETACHED, six- room homes, unusual in characte rdwood cellent kitchen, spacious porch . . . large front and rear yards. Convenient to stores, churches and- schools. Take H St. cars marked property. Representative on premi Open for Inspection Daily and Sunday Or Phone Nat. 4846 HARRY A. 1019 15th St. N.W. Upper: Residence of Howe P. Cochran, 2 Oxford street, Chevy Chase, Md., an example of a dignified treatment of a stone house. Lower: The Gardiner Booth house at Alexandria, exemplifying treatment of a house of moderate size, in brick with exterior painted. forgotten that not they but their an- cestors had made the country great. ‘Then Richardson came back trom his schooling in PFrance ethusiastic about Romanesque architecture and medieval civilization, Those who had become tired of the Victorian welcomed him with open arms. He created quite a vogue with & style that was beautiful when he did it, but absolutely inap- plicable to our civilization, which was ’l:in: proved by the fact that it did not Following this came the host of architects educated at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, who undoubtedly did a great deal of splendid planning and awakened us to our shortcomings. Un- fortunately, in addition they brought with them from France the bad taste of modern Europe. ‘Therefore, the French Renaissance influence passed rapidly away. Now we are returning to precedent and have been building on the good old lines constantly, changing them slightly to meet modern conditions. If we stick to this, it is hoped we will de- velop in our residepces a more beauti- ful style than has éver been known be- fore. However, there is one danger that we are facing, and that is the modern grasp for furniture that looks likes boxes and wall decorations that look like combinations of triangles and fishing worms. Skyscrapers Set Precedents. An architect can be forgiven in a great skyscraper for breaking away from tradition, because there is no tradition behind such buildings in their size and height. But he should not be REAL ESTATE HELD | ON FIRM FOUNDATION | Straus Looks for Better Business in 1930, With Money Re- ported Easier. The slower pace which has marked the building industry since the peak year of 1925 undoubtedly has taken up much of the slack in demand and sur- pluses have been greatly curtailed, it is declared today by S. W. Straus, on i}s:sbafls of a review of building in The fundamentals of the situation are sound, he declares. “With a favor- | able money market and the efforts be- ing put forth by industrial leaders throughout the Nation to keep general business on the go, it may reasonably be expected that a turn for the better in building operations will be forth- coming by midyear or possibly earlier,” the announcement states. —— Housing Shortage Threatened. Chicago faces a housing shortage that will probably see a new upward trend in home building, extending from the present year right up to the 1933 centennial, according to the Chicago Association of Commerce. forgiven for dragging these forms in | the home, for they will disappear just | as the blocky mission furniture dis- | appeared. We are great in our riches, in our power. We are great in modern inven- tions and our quantity productions and, I think, in our souls, but we are at a turning point. and a dangerous one. The future will be protected of we look back to the empire builders whence we came, and in their houses— our “frozen history”—learn that, al- though fewer in number, they were bigger than we are as individuals. 6510 7th Place N.W. Built Right—Priced Right Detached Artistically Finished Price 59,250 Terms J. Dallas Grady 1010 Vermont Ave. NW. Dist. 9179 ‘Open Daily Till 8:00 P.M. An extremely fine colored development ONLY *5,850 $45 Per Month Very small down payment. KITE, Inc. National 4846 from | | member of the firm of W. C. & A. MILLER WILL TAKE OFFICE NEXT WEEK District Man Is Chairman of National Real Estate Board Committee. W. C. Miller, former president of the Washington Real Estate Board and a N. Miller, will take office as chairman of the home builders’ and subdividers’ divi- sion of the National Association of Real Estate Boards at the annual Midwinter meeting of that organization next Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Phoenix, Ariz. Mr. Miller and other officers of the national body were elected at the convention of realtors last June at Boston. Mr. Miller at the forthcoming Phoe- nix meeting also will become a member of a committee on salesmen’s member- ships in the national association, serv- ing with Mark Levy of Chicago. Officers who will assume their duties at Phoenix are: Leonard P. Reaume, Detroit, president; Earle G. Krumrine, Chicago, treasurer; William H. Gardner, Winnipeg, Canada, first vice president, and W. W. Butts, St. Louis, Mo.,; Ste- phen W. Sleeper, Boston, Mass.; George W. Morse, Boonton, N. J., and J. Brad- ley Clayton, San Jose, Calif., vice presi- dents. Division chairmen in addition to Mr. Miller are: Mark Levy, _Chicago, brokers’ division; Harvey Rathbone, Lincoln, Nebr., farm lands division; George C. Smith, St. Louis, Mo, in- dustrial property division; J. Arthur Younger, Seattle, Wash., mortgage and finance division; Frank S. Slosson, Chicago, property management divi- sion; David V. Sutton, New York City, co-operative apartment division; Henry A. Babcock, Chicago, appraisal division; John N. D. Griffith, San Diego, Calif., relator secretaries division. As president-elect Mr. Reaume has made and received acceptances to the following appaintments to the execu- tive committee of the association: Henry G. Zander, Chicago; Walter S. Schmidt, Cincinnati, Ohio; Hal G. Hotchkiss, San Diego, Calif.; Walter C. Piper, Detroit, Mch, and Harry 8. Kissell, Springfield Ohio. . Luchs Named to Board. Morton J. Luchs was elected to the board of trustees of the Real Estate Title Insurance Co. at the annual meet- ing of stockholders of the company held this week. He fills the vacancy created by the death of the late Charles J. Bell. Mr. Luchs is vice president and treas- urer of Shannon & Luchs, Inc. Massacauserts Park West of Kalorama -Acvoss Rock Creek. Mass. Ave. entrance at 30™ St. One Square east of New British Embassy The National Cathedral on west Sites for Individual Homes Priced from *150 per sq.ft.up Within 2 miles of White House Location and contours can never be dublicated in heart of Washington again- Prices ana gnm ;:w‘:-g e MIDDAUGH AND SHANNON Ixc 1435 K St. Na8esgs s S e R — &mwmm%.MW51Mfiiflifiiificfi&fi%fi’»fi-fl.fi?fi%fiifi%%mwméfi‘ FROM ACTUAL PHOTO FURNISHED Model Home 1612 44th St. OPEN FOR INSPECTION. America's Smartest Colony of English Group Homes R AR R R AR AR AR R R AR AR AANFAF; | B Toxhall Y/ Ilaje FOXHALL VILLAGE is not suburb, being only seven 3 minutes from Dupont Circle. It is a VILLAGE IN THE CITY, adjoining on the west old Georgetown — nationally known for its century-old homes, occupied today by many of the foremost resi- dents of the Nation's Capi- tal. There is an atmosphere about the VILLAGE that has an appeal to a certain class. Only a short distance from the center of town, FOX L VILLAGE nevertheless is suffi- ciently far away from the con- fusion and haste of the city so that guests and villagers alike are ever impressed with the restful quiet that per- vades it. 3 BEDROOMS, 2 BATHS, TO 6 BEDROOMS AND_ 3 BATHS WITH SHOWER. $12,850 to $24,500 BOSS & PHELPS CREATORS AND DEVELOPERS OF FOXHALL VILLAGE. 417 K 8t Main 9300. rive West on Que St. to Wisconsin Ave., to Eervoir R\ West to ViRave: Sake Lerv:Hand Tur ot sith 8¢ R B D D D DD PAINTS BRIGHT PICTURE National Survey Finds Building Industry Is Optimistic Over Prospects for Good Business for Year. BY C. STANLEY TAYLOR, Director of Research, National Trade Journal, Inc. The optimistic forecasts of activity in the building field which have been made for and by President Hoover are entirely supported lby the 1930 building forecast just issued by the group of leading building publications operated by National Trade Journals, Inc. In building activity, alone, it is apparent that an expenditure of at least seven billion dollars will be reached and with the addition of en- gineering projects and public works, the total may run to over nine billion dollars. Summing up the general situation and considering the figures | of the national building forecast, facts arrayed for consideration: we find the following significant The general demand for new building construction is approxi- mately the same as it was at the beginning of 1929. - The trend toward a far greater supply of mortgage money is very definite. The deliberate program of construction which is being started by the Government, by States and municipalities will evidently as- sume large proportions. This combination of factors would seem to provide reasons for optimism regarding the building activities of 1930. It would seem that we can as- sume at least as much building con- struction during this new year as we had in 1929, and probably more. In fact, if mortgage money becomes really much easier and if the great schedules of public improvements are carried out, it would seem to be quite within reason that 1930 might exceed all building construction years. Industry Is Optimistic. For the past eight vears the Archi- tectural Forum, professional journal of the architectural field, has presented an exhaustive study of the work under way in the architectural offices of the country for the ensuing year. This building forecast has been based on in- dividual confidential reports received from architects all over the country and has made possible a picture of future building activity. The building industry, including its advance guard of architects, engineers and contractors, is looking forward to the year 1930 with rapidly growing op- timism. During the latter part of 1929 opinions as to what building activity may be expected during the year 1930 varied considerably and were so en- tangled in unusual economic develop- | In ments that there seemed to be no posi- tive average opinion as has been the case in previous years. The sudden in- terest of President Hoover in stimulat- ing construction activity as a means toward economic stabilizaf , er with the promising aspect of financing for building projects has led to an un- usually optimistic outlook. The three primary factors which will influence the building ’pmrnm of 1930 include the volume of projects which are contemplated: the availability of mortgage money and public financing for such projects; and the so-called Hoover program. The steps taken to Elrerna this forecast, therefore, have cluded first, the obtaining of indi- vidual reports from architects, engi- neers and contractors to gain some measure of the projects under planning or discussion for 1930 and, second, the obtaining of a cross-section of opinions from the leading mortgage companies as to the probable availabiiity of money fi(;s{)\nnnce the construction program of Hoover Sets Example. The Hoover program is well known to all because of the wide publicity given to it by newspapers within the past few weeks. President Hoover has nominated the construction industry as the most forceful potential factor to- ward the stabilization of prosperous conditions. He has set an example by stimulating Government, State, city and public utility construction. He has focused the interest of every one on the desirability to immediately start pro- grams of construction, including public buildings, roads, harbor projects and similar ' contemplated improvements. That this activity will provide a stimu- lus for construction- activity is obvious and with this as a foundation we can proceed to the general building forecast which is expected to swell the grand total of activity close to the nine bil- lion dallor mark, making 1930 the greatest of all construction years. A telegraphic survey was conducted at the end of December by the research department of National Trade Journals, iC. Questionnaires were sent to offi- clals of leading savings banks, building loan associations, title companies, in- surance companies, and other m lending institutions in every %.%: (Continued on Second Page.) FOR COLORED 605 Gresham Place N.W. Overlooking Re; Clase"to " Boidicre Home “Farx Brick _home containing 6 a “Complete” bath: entirely Tedecorated ind tlr.xn;xsell:m condition throughout: H s hbise 1L Exceptianall ception buy" And” shiould “Sen” Guickiy. "efione N| . 22 flonn..!Av!.' ¥ fiONNOIc“" An Invitation to Visit THE MODEL HOME Completely furnished by D. S. Pool, Inc. “Breuninger Built”’ in Shepherd Park 7514 14th Street (Near Corner of Iris) Sponsored by the Washington Times and Herald Open Every Day 10 A M. to 9 PM. Reached by way of 16th St. to Alaska Ave. to 14th St., turn left to Model Home 5 PBreuninger S Sons 211 Investment Bldg. National 2040 EXTRAORDINARY VALUES porches. evergreens. 1417 K st. LOCATE YOUR OFFICE HERE 15th ST. are given to the tenants. JAMES W. w FORT BAYARD PARK ington’s New Community of Early American Homes $9,950 AND $10,950 NEW DETACHED HOMES in a rapidly growin beautiful section of the Northwest, just off the L?ncnln gm;l;: way (Wisconsin ave.), near new public school. built, ultra-modern in equipment. throughout; six and seven rooms, with baths as fine as those in very expensive homes, each with shower, The kitchens will prove a joy to the housewife. Unusually well Open fireplaces; oak floors Big double rear and front Well sodded lawns, attractively- landscaped with DRIVE OUT WISCONSIN AVE, WEST INTO RIVER ED, ONE SQUARE TO BRANDYWINE ST. AND AND BRANDYWII Less than 15 minutes to center of city. Rl Open for Inspection Daily . BOSS AND PHELPS OWNERS. National 9300 THE INVESTMENT BUILDING This building offers conveniences that cannot be obtained elsewhere in ‘Washington. stores and shops afford accommodations equaled by none. The entire basement is a garage, and special attentions The ground floor GRAHAM