Monday, July 14, 2008

1917 Architectural Design for a $12,500 House

This is my favorite house plan ever! Scanned from one of my 1st edition architectural books. In the early part of the previous century the white pine council published bi-monthly booklets called The White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs ~ A Bi-Monthly Publication Suggesting the Architectural Uses of White Pine and its Availability Today as a Structural Wood. At the end of the year they were hard bound. I have hard bound firsts of volumes 2, 3, and 4. They must be very rare because I have never been able to locate the first volume. I do have a complete set of the modern reprints but nothing compares to the originals!

The house pictured above is one of the winners of a contest called: The Second Annual White Pine Architectural Competition for a House to Cost Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Dollars. It was judged at the Greenbrier in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia on May 17 & 18, 1917. My guy did not win any of the top prizes (1st ~ 4th) but he is the 5th mention for Design No. 194. I wonder if he became famous in his area? Let me know if you have heard of Benj. Schreyer, New York, N.Y. Don't you wonder if this home was ever built and if it is still standing? There are two enclosed porches on the first floor and two sleeping porches on the second floor. Oh, for a sleeping porch! The plot plan is lovely too.  I did not scan the detail sheet showing the fireplace side of the dining room, the front entrance, a couple of cornices, the north and west elevations. and the cross section.

Hopefully this design will inspire one of my readers and this home will be built again.

2 comments:

LIBERTY POST EDITOR said...

Hello from Canada! I would love a high res of this house. I love it. Your blog is so interesting. I'm a big fan of penmanship too.
libertypost@gmail.com
Thanks

Gloria said...

Greetings! I found your blog through another blog. I live in a pre-fab house myself! It is from Springfield, MA from 1908. I have the bill of sale that a relative of the first owners gave to my Mom. It's a tiny house and my mother and father purchased it in about 1971. We used it as a Summer home, and now my son and I live here full time. In 1908, they paid $500! So this one you found is a MANSION for $12,500 from 1917! I enjoyed this post a lot!
Best,
Gloria