1908
Vertical file 3; drawer 15; folder 2
GUSN-252645
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This set of two drawings illustrates a $3000 country house, which won first prize in the 1908 Delineator contest: The set includes the following reverse brownprints:
1) 1st floor plan w/front and west elevations
2) 2nd floor plan with rear and east elevations
The judges of the competition reported the following on Mr. Brown's design:
"The First-Prize plan received the award for its smaller cubical area and its general excellence of plan and exterior. The house is as well adapted to a 50 ft. lot as for a lot of 80 ft., a consideration appealing to a client building on a limited area.
"A great amount of study is shown in the compact planning of the 1st floor, in the clever arrangment of the entrance hall and stairways. Great privacy is obtained for the Dining Room and service of the house from the front hall on entering the house. Both the Living Room and Dining Room are delightful rooms, having bays and ingle-nooks. The Sun Room with its entrance on terrace, which connects the Living Room and Dining Room is a pleasant feature, especially if it can face the South, and again makes the Dining Room secluded. The Terrace, if on South, is well placed, and with awnings in summer can be made to take the place of piazza, and therefore does not darken the interior. The Kitchen entrance is well placed.
"On the second floor the plan is well considered, giving Owner the large bedroom on front of the house. The two other rooms facing the garden are attractive. One of the admirable features of the second-floor plan is the division of stairs to give a separate entrance to the servants' bedrooms, thereby shutting off the room from the main part of the second floor.
"No points of compass are given on plan, but it is assumed the Terrace and Garden are to be on the South if possible. The exterior which while not so remarkable as the plan, still is admirably simple and homelike. Note the long lines without restless breaks. Note wide cheerful windows."
Source: The Delineator's Prize $3000 Houses. New York: B. W. Dodge & Co., 1909, pg. 8.
competition drawings
country houses
dwellings
architectural drawings (visual works)
1 set of 2 architectural drawings; reverse brownprints
AR003
Frank Chouteau Brown professional architectural collection
AR003.003.018
Brown, Frank Chouteau, 1876-1947 (Architect)
architectural drawings (visual works)
Domestic workers
Item
Vertical file 3; drawer 15; folder 2
"During 1908-09, The Delineator [magazine] conducted a competition for designs for a $3000 Country House. The contest, conducted by William Neil Smith, a well-known New York architect, had many points of distinction. It was limited to ten architects, who were allowed to compete only by invitation, and who had prominence in various parts of the United States for designing country houses. Every design submitted was bought by The Delineator, and the prizes awarded were additional to payment. The standing of the competitors and the encouragement given insured a high order of excellence."
The criteria were the following:
"The house is assumed to be in a small or suburban town. The lot is practically level, fronting eighty feet on the road and has a depth of one hundred and fifty feet. There are other cottages already built on each side of the lot. These houses are each on a lot eighty feet by one hundred and fifty feet and the fronts of the buildngs are forty feet back from the street line. They are set so there is an equal space on each side of the lot.
"The house is to contain sufficient rooms to accommodate a man, his wife, two children and a servant. There is to be but one bathroom.
"The body of the house is to contain between 25,000 cubic feet and 28,000 cubic feet, according to the material used, including excavated cellar but not including verandas, terraces, etc.
"The idea governing the competition is to secure designs for a building that can be truthfully built for three thousand dollars, and the prize awards will be made on this basis."
Source: The Delineator's Prize $3000 Houses. New York: B. W. Dodge & Co., 1909, pp. 7-8.
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