MOST EXPERTS agree that if you want to get the maximum amount of living space for your building dollar, you should consider a two-story house. It can be built on a small plot. It requires less excavating and less foundation. It is more economical to build and generally costs less to heat. Because bathrooms generally can be located above each other and above the kitchen, plumbing can be installed more economically. The upper bedrooms are off the street level and therefore are usually more quiet and less subject to the glare of passing autos at night.
Here is a contemporary design that embodies many of the traditional attractions of the two-story house. It is virtually a square the most economical type of construction. It has an attractive living room- dining room combination, with windows facing the rear and sides for privacy; a streamlined corridor kitchen 14 feet long, with room for a breakfast nook overlooking the side-yard gardens; and convenient front and side entrances that make it possible to enter the house and go to the second floor without disturbing the occupants on the street level.
A common objection to two-level houses is that there usually is a formidable flight of stairs to climb. Many persons who would otherwise be attracted to a two-story house turn it down for this reason. In the Cape House, Mr. Pollman largely overcomes this objection by placing two bedrooms on the main floor level. One room could serve as the master bedroom; the other as a room for the baby or for an older child who may be ill and who requires constant attendance in the daytime.
Other interesting arrangements also are possible. The two bedrooms could be converted into a master bedroom. It would then become a mammoth 22-foot room with four exposures and the certainty of cooling breezes no matter how hot it got in summer. Or one of the rooms could be used as a quiet study, or television-game room.
There is space on the second floor for three large rooms plus one and a half baths. The studio has an unusual floor-to- ceiling window wall and provides excellent lighting. It would be a perfect spot for an artist, writer or photographer; if the latter, the adjoining washroom could be used as a photographic dark room. This large room also could be used as a children's room, a recreation area that would be bright and sunny the whole year 'round, as a television room, a master bedroom, or sewing room. Ample wall space for shelves.
The Cape House has an attractive brick front. An accent note is provided by the use of a different type of brick for part of the lower section by the entrance. A wide over-hang protects the front entry and there is an interesting full-length glass partition by the side of the front door. This arrangement throws light into the entry and keeps the stairs to the second floor well-lit. An interesting shadow-line effect is achieved by the wide roof overhang. All the windows are over-sized.
Photo at far right shows the well-lit stairway that is just off the front entrance. To further ease the problem of a full flight of stairs, an objection to the two-story house plan, mentioned earlier, is the use of the split stairwell. Designed in a compact U-shape, the landing breaks climb.
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