Evening Star Newspaper, December 12, 1936, Page 27

TASS BULDIG HELDPLSSBLE "Architect Declares Homes Cannot Be Produced Like Automobiles. Houses cannot be produced and| marketed like automobiles, declares Prederick L. Ackerman of New York | City, a member of the Housing Com- mittee of the American Institute of . Architects. Production and financial conditions are so dissimilar in the construction and automotive industries that a common pattern of mass manu- | facture is impossible, according to| Ackerman, discussing “Must We Have Trailers for Houses?” The turnover of cars involving | transfer from one garage to another and the shifting of habitations accom- panying the movements of income groups present a contrast which, Ack- | , erman points out, is an answer to those who urge architects and build- | ers to emulate motor manufacturers | in developing output on a popular| scale. “It has come about that whenever the subject of housing is discussed, particularly when it is proposed that the Government should take a hand in the matter, reference is made to the automobile industry,” says Acker- man, designer of notable structures, including a group at Cornell Uni- | ESTATE Officers of the Building Owners and Managers’ Association of the District are shown here as they inspected the apartment building at 2000 Connecticut avenue, just completed by the Cafritz Co. More than a score members of the association dined with Morris Cafritz, head of the build- ing firm, Thursday, and later visited the new apartment. of the association,; Stacy M. Reed, vice president, apartment division; James McD. Shea, presi- dent, and L. S. Mohler, vice president of the office building division of the organization. A num- ber of units in the new apartment have been furnished by the Peerless Furniture Co. what we call the housing problem. The production industry is faced with versity. “The automobile is held up | the problem of supplying all families as a shining example of perfect con- | With habitations, but its market for + duct in the industrial field, while con- | New habitations is limited to but a struction is referred to as the ‘Peck’s| Bad Boy' of the whole industrial| system. Building Costs Rise. “According to William J. Cameron of the Ford Motor Co. the price per: pound of automobiles has been falling through the years. Those of us who are connected with the building of houses know very well that the price per cubic foot has been rising. The general opinion apparently prevails | that if the construction industry would | pattern its program of action after the | automobile industry we could have| all the habitations we need, particu- | larly if we developed a second-hand market and treated the matter after L the manner of the automobile industry. “It may be well to consider in what respect these two industries differ and what radical changes would have to be made, not only in the production | industry, but in respect to the opera- | tion of our ecqnomy as well, if habi: tations were supply. “What would have happened during | \the last 30 years if the automobile | industry were under the surveillance of laws governing the building of au- tomobiles which imposed the lag, as do laws covering the erection of build- | ings, of a quarter of a century or more ‘ following the unfolding of an idea | before it could be applied? Cites Many Handicaps. “What would have been the history | of Ford, General Motors and Chrysler | had it been mnecessary for these in- dustries to assemble all cars in in- dividual garages instead of upon the assembly line? What would have ,happened to the rate of flow on the | assembly line had it been composed | of 40-odd well-established trades en- | gaged, most of the time, in jurisdic- tional squabbles over vested interests | in the use of materials and in tech- | | we attempt to do, and therefore we to be produced in ample | | else altogether—the habitations stay fraction of the population. This means that if all families are to have habi- tations, irrespective of character or quality, the number of houses supplied per annum to that group which can| afford to buy or rent new habitations | must be a multiple of the number re- | quired to maintain one house per fam- | ily in that group which can afford | the new. Extinguishment Necessary. “Since it turns out that the lower- income groups can pay no more than the operating costs of habitations in which they live, it follows that this limited market must be subject to a very rapid extinguighment of capital- ization if all families are to have hab- itations. A rapid extinguishment of valuation in this field represents as an aim exactly the opposite of what are confronted with an ever-increas- ing number of second, third, fourth nth-hand houses. Hence areas of blight, decay, slum. “These few points of illustration should serve to indicate quite clearly that about the only point in common as between the construction and the automobile industry is the fact that both cars and houses are sold. “There is still another difference which should be noted, for it has, in | the case of the production industry, | a very important bearing upon our | urban economy. The continual turn- over of cars from one income group | to another involves, in the physical | world, merely the transfer of cars | from one garage to another. But the | turnover of habitations from one in- 1come group to another is something put, but the users of them move from place to place. “So long as the present economic relationships which give rise to such & limited market for new habitations | paneling installation made it at least | isuch an installation has oftentimes il hold. we will be faced with a never- niques? So much for the production 1 £ X problems involved. Let us look now at | ending intraurban migration of in- come groups. The Ilower income the financial. | : = “What would have happened, in the | 8roups will follow in the wakg of ob-‘ case of the automobile industry, u!_solescenceandphyslcnldecaywhere\jer‘ practically every car produced carried | it takes place. whereas the higher in-| a first mortgage of 60 per cent of its | come group will seek new pastures. The value, which mortgage it was not | low income group will move into habi- customary, until quite recently, w‘tu\ons_!ll suited to their use, and amortize: every other car a 20 per they will arrive during that pcnod‘ cent mortgage, and say every third when the cost of manufacturing the car a 10 per cent mortgage? What obsolete units will be at maximum. would have happened if every year | Migrations on Display. ;r dsoge valuaklign “o; t;\:f}{o:;‘li E:\'] ’I’hef physiicall outcome of this turn- a n marke y = | over of habitations from one income | praisers and assessors so that the older | group to another and the social and | it got the greater became its valua- | economic consequences of these mi- ' tion? What would have been the |grations are on display in every course of technical progress in the ' American city of any size. Nothing| automobile industry? I will leave that | jn our entire economic scheme con- question for any one to answer. | tributes more definitely toward the » “My only comment, made f}'g& lnlth development of the random pattern :m:r exx‘aseri:hn‘oe w¥: 1h§e;:gersga:‘; of functions which characterizes our ustry, s: e | urban centers than this set of pecuni- the engineers in the construction in- | ary relationships within our economy. dustry have worked _belore the same | “Some time ago we sought by zon- background of scientific knowledge as |ing to stay the course of these mi- the designers and engineers of the au- | grations, but without -avail. The tomobile industry. They have worked | Jower income groups have to take with the same aspirations and with | their decayed, obsolete habitations the same urge to explore and apply. | The reason why they have not made where they find them; there is no help for that. Left to right: Rufus S. Lusk, secretary —Star Staff Photo. BY LAWRENCE CROLIUS, N SPITE of the hundreds of dif- ferent kinds of materials which have been brought out for home beautification few of them can compare with the softness and dignity of wood when used as a wall paneling | have been some spots which have been or wainscoting. For hundreds of years | ytterly abandoned during extreme cold wood has been a favorite material for | spells, you will welcome the water cir- luxurious decoration of lovely rooms, | culator, which shoves heat up to the and in recent years there has been a | coldest regions. definite increase in its use in small,| These compact little devices are the held in place in & highly miraculous mannnr, * Xk ¥ ¥ IF YOU want to enjoy even heat | inexpensive houses. Many people liv- | answer to any number of heating ail- | ing in old, unattractive homes would like to have had an elaborate wood- | one room such as a library or drawing | room. On the other hand the cost of been prohibitive due to the relative scarcity of fine woods and the beauty |, of wood has been lost to countless thousands of home owners. ) It is now possible to install a form | .L - of wood paneling whick. is extremely | reasonable in cost and requires a min- | ments, and you will be surprised to imum of bullding work in connection | fee] heat coming out of radiators which with its erectiocn. Instead of putting you thought had died permanently up a great thick piece of solid wood | years ago. Any good heating man or you install a veneered plece of com- | plumber can install one of these circu- position board the surface of which |lators in short order at a cost which is covered with the desired finish. | will more than likely be offset in a year or two of more economical opera- tion. It is merely necessary to cut the boilér supply and return lines and in- | sert the pump and automatic flow control valve. An electrical connection | is also necessary for the operation of | the small pump motor, together with a thermostat control wire which runs down to the basement from the ther- mostat located centrally in a room above. An electrical control located on the SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 stant, predetermined temperature in the boiler at all times. Only when heat is needed in the house above the through the sutomatic water control valve, which is opened by water pres- sure, and up into the radiators. Because the water is under pressure and does not have to rely on gravity heating for its circulation the hot water reaches radiators which were ineffective before. It also reaches them so much quicker than it formerly did that a more constant temperature can be maintained in the home at all times. This speed in circulation re- flects itself in lowered fuel costs also as the water is not given time to lose & lot of heat on its way up to the radiators. Perhaps the pleasantest result of in- stalling & pump is the large supply of domestic hot water which is made perature at all hours, a copper-heating available at all times. By maintain- ing the boiler water at a contant tem- coil submerged in the hot water will heat all the water you want at almost no cost. These coils can be of the instantaneous type, which heat the water as it passes through without any storage facilities, or you can keep a large tankful of water at the proper temperature by inserting a heating coil in a separate tank and passing hot water or steam through it you can also assure yourself of plenty of piping hot water when you desire to bathe, wash dishes or scrub your favorite dog. F. H. A-INSURED FUNDS EMPLOYED FOR REPAIRS Clubs and Hotels Use Major Part of Money for Structural Alterations. throughout your house this Win- | ter, even though in the past there | A’study of the uses to which funds insured by the Federal Housing Ad- ministration have been put shows that | clubs and hotels employ & major part | of the modernization volume in mak- | ing structural alterations and repairs, while restaurants use a large per- centage of such fungs for the pur- chase and installation of machinery | nd equipment. | More than 14,839 notes were in- | sured for this type of property, amounting to a dollar volume of | $11,621,060. A break-down shows that 3172 notes in the amount of | $3.024,938 were insured for hotels, 539 notes amounting to $411,670 for clubs, and 11,128 notes amounting to | $8,187,452 for restaurants. Contrasting Paints for Cabinets. | Attractive effects can be obtained | by painting the inside of cabinets | or niches a contrasting color. Chi- nese red, ultramarine, pale green, terra cotta, almost any color can be used that will harmonize with the | rest of the decorative schems | Nearing Lompletion 3935 Mass. Ave. [ 6 Bedrooms, 3 Baths First floor lavatory, large livi room, dining room, dinette and kitchen, recreation room. | Open Sunday || Harris ShapEro Builder and Owner. Adams 1539 hot-water riser pipe maintains a con- This board is available in a number of different woods, such as walnut and mahogany, and comes in standard pieces 6 and 9 inches wide by 8 and | 10 feet long. The material is only | one-quarter of an inch thick, hence it | can be installed in difficult places ex- isting in your present walls without | removing baseboards, moldings or| window casings. i A patented joint has been provided | so that it is possible to install the | planks of composition using ordinary nails, but still not nailing will be vis- | ible. In other words the strips cover up their tracks as you nail them up and the whole paneling seems to be Built by groups which bring on conditions of | blight and decay! | “There is perhaps an economic basis for Roger Babson's prophecy that America will take to the trailer. The lower income groups are continually| on the move from one area of decay and obsolescence to another. His/ prophecy may come true, but one may | JUST COMPLETED A NEW GROUP OF 11 ALL-BRICK HOMES MONROE WARREN 3530 to 3550 W PLACE N.W. Furnished Exhibit Home 3548 W PLACE N.W. PRICED AT @ Brain Twizzlers REAL ESTAT Planes Presented to China. Seventy alrplanes purchased with Pigeons to Aid Alps Climbers. Carrier pigeons are to be kept at “| popular contributions were presented{rest huts in the Japanese Alps to BY PROF. J. D. FLINT. SLW SLOCUM, owner of a stable of fine racing horses, died and left a will whereby he bequeathed his horses to his sons, John, James and William, in the following propor- tions John, the eldest, was to have one-half, James was to have one-third and Willilam was to have one-ninth. It was found, however, that there were Just 17 horses in the stable, a num- ber which is not divisible by two, by three or by nine. In their preplexity the three brothers consulted a clever lawyer, who hit upon a way to carry out the intentions of the will to the satisfaction of all parties. How did | | he manage it? L Yesterday'’s Answer. If it was a dark, cloudy night when the man was murdered, there was no light to be reflected in eyes which would create a glare. Anyway, human’s eyes do not reflect light. (Copyrigat, 1936.) A GREAT NEW HOME VALUE Glen Cove Model Home Model Home 5019 Saratoga Ave. Furnished and Heated Open Daily to 9 PM. S beautiful new brick home is built according to the Henderson high-class construction with Bangor Roof. furred walls. comnletely . weather-stripped and screened. Large living room with fire- place. & dining room and modern kitchen. 2 large Led rooms and tiled bath. with cas heat. laundry trays. Space in attic for > more rooms and bath: bix landscaped lot, detached sarage. paved street. Wis. Ave. River Rd. and left on Riv- er Rd. just be- yond = Western Ave. to our signs on left. GOSS REALTY CO. J.'S. EATON, SALES DEPT. 1405 Eye St. NNW. NA. 1353 to the nation at Nanking, China, on | maintain a pigeon post for climbers, the occasion of the 50th birthday of | who wlnlhohelerp:dbynnunher Generalissimo Chiang Kal Shek. of new wireless stations. 330 Ocala St. Will Be Your Home After You Inspect It It has the beautiful scenery of the park—in a community that is under control—and every house a real HOME. One of sev- eral types — Bungalow, Cottage, Cape Cod, etc. Built up to a standard— and many of them equip- ped with carefree comfort and modern gas ap- pliances. 330 OCALA ST. 2 to 4 bed 100ms, one and two baths; handy garages. Open all day Sot. Sun., other days, to 8 p.m. Come and See the Homes and Branwill Park $7150 to *94350 Terms You'll Like Directions From the traffic light on Geor. REALTY gia Avenue ot Silver Spring drive up pretty Colesville Road = pest Mrs. K.’s Tavern to Fronk- lin Avenue—then right 3 short blocks to Branwill Park. COMPANY “MEt. 1776 Evenings Sundays Only: 8264 Two Miller-Built homes located in the Miller- Controlled communi- ties of perpetual natural beauty. o o i 4817 Woodeone SPRING VALLEY second floor; 2 bedrooms and d bath on 3rd floor. 3106 Foxhall Road Hesley Heights 4 bedrooms and 2 baths on second floor; bed- room and bath on 3rd floor. You will like the plan and finish. W. C. & A. N. MILLER 1119 17¢th St. Dist. 4464 Beauty in a Woodland Setting is but a privilege of each home in BARNARBY WOODS Barnaby Woods Development Company, Builders Louis R. Moss, Architect And we observe, gen- erously, that it is the lower income ask: Precisely what problem is solved progress should be obvious from the if it does? contrasts just referred to. Has Applied Gains. e “Another contrast may be drawn | - that is equally significant. The auto- || F I R s T s H o w I N G mobile industry has, by and large, || sought to apply technological gains 3 not only in the plant which produced || the car, but in the car itself. The de- signers and the engineers of the pro- || duction industry have sought to ap- ply such gains as arose out of their || explorations in the technical field, but they run into a series of stone walls || when they make the attempt. | “Vested interests in materials and , vested interests of labor in 1ts technique, make the going difficult; and by and large, innovations in form and arrangement as well as the appli- || cation of materials do not meet with e ready response from leading insti- tutions, for it is well understood that || too wide a crepancy in respect to utility bet the old and the new would render investments in the obso- Jete of dubious worth. “Any one who has attempted to buy & comparatively new car has a very vivid idea of the rate at which its value is extinguished by the rules of obsolescence which the industry has |/} been able to put into force. This rapid ||} extinguishment has the effect of get- || ting old cars out of the way so that new ones may be produced. i1 “This serves to define the nature of 37,250 5408 lllinois Ave. N.W. FULLY DETACHED HOME OCATED in Brightwood Park, just off Georgia Avenue between Jef- nnedy Streets, ferson and has six nicely arranged rooms with ‘eross ventilation. glassed-in deen;gs . tiled bath. pretty hardw rs. front and back porches. hot- ‘water heat. light cellar; situated on lot 40 feet wide with pretty shrub- Bery. and_ extremely pandy to schools and two car lines. The prop- 18 modern and has just been com- 1y Teconditioned like " brand:new out {inage exirémely low ahd it should el ‘yery quickly. Open All Day Sunday and Daily 1 to 9 Tower Bldg. ME. 2663 OPEN DAILY AND SUNDAY To Reach: Out Wisconsin Avenue to W Place, west one block to houses. Phone EARLE M. DAWSON, Sales, Emerson 5744 Spend Christmas 1936 in This Kenwod Home o AR 6645 Barnaby Street N.W. Completely Furnished by Hilda Miller EVERY home buyer possessed of the keener appreciation of fine things in life has anticipated the unusual combination of beautiful surroundings and atmosphere with his “home ideal.” These rare home attributes are obtainable in Barnaby Woods. The reputation of quality construction has long been recognized and generously praised by purchasers. The ever pres- ent woodland scenes, rock walled gardens and a babbling brook tend to soothe the nerves of any seeker of quiet. THERE are 3 large bed rooms and 2 baths on the second floor of this Southern Colonial, in addition to living room, dining room and kitchen on the first floor. The interior has been harmoniously decorated in the Colonial manner. There are two large porches. You will find many reasons to purchase, but perhaps the chief incentive is the fact that you can own one of these delightful places for less than it costs to rent a first-class four- room apartment. Amazing, isn’t it? Why not? Make your inspection today. 7801 13th St. N.W. An Outstanding Home at Corner of 13th and Kalmia Sts. In Beautiful Shepherd Park Unusual recreation room, finished in knotty pine and having an open fireplace. Full attic; automatic heat, furred walls, insulated, screened and weather- stripped. Built-in ga- rage. Detached brick, cen- ter-hall plan, with large porches on each side. Six good-sized rooms and two baths; 1st-floor lavatory; complete elec- tric kitchen. 707 Dorset Ave. The visitor to Kenwood who enters the doorway of our exhibit home shown above is assured of viewing a home equipped with every modern convenience and many of the niceties not even found in the better houses built for sale. Drive out this week-end and inspect this home and learn the many advantages that Kenwood residents enjoy, in- cluding membership in the Kenwood G:l§' C‘l,ul;' OPEN DAILY 10 A. M. TO 8:30 P. M. C. H. JERMAN—S. H. MUMFORD—SALES ‘@1 -G\dml)er]in Deve]oPrnen% Ca KENWOOD, Ghevy Ghase, Md. Drive out Wisconsin or Connecticut Avenue to Brad- ley Lane, west on Bradley Lane to Kenwood, or out Dorset Avenue, and in both cases arrows placed at the entrance to Kenwood will direct you to the house. Open, Heated and Lighted Daily and Sunday Until 9 P.M. THIS 1S AN ELECTRIC KITCHEN _HEALTH HOME Open Daily and Sunday Until 9 P.M. H.G.Smithy Co. Realtors 811 15th St. N.W. Natl. 5904 Drapes by. Ligon Rugs by Manoukian Bros. 738 15t st THOMAS JFISHER&OMPY o' 6830 INCORPORATED