HERE is a home with heartwarming qualities and real character. Much of its charm comes from the easy look of hospitality it presents from the outside—a look gained from its picture window, protected entrance and the low sweep of overhanging eaves. Vertical and horizontal wood siding provide contrast, and shutters add a note of color.

This same simplicity of detail and air of informality are apparent inside the house. There are knotty pine walls in the hall and breakfast room; the dining room has papered walls with a knotty pine wainscot. One of the best ways to give an air of spaciousness to a relatively small house is to keep the living areas as open as possible, and the most effective way to achieve this is to combine the living and dining rooms without a partition. Another way to give an illusion of size is to use large windows. This plan employs both devices, and the result is a large and inviting living area with a floor-to-ceiling bay window overlooking the front lawn.

This house abounds with plus features. Note the number and generous size of the closets. There is even a walk-in pantry. The kitchen is U-shaped, an arrangement which is a proved time- and step-saver. The bath is centrally located and convenient to all areas of the house. Adjacent to the kitchen is a handy service porch.

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source: The Progressive Farmer – Distinctive Southern Homes | 1950

Gemini AI Rendering

THE large window area and wide, sheltering roof of this modern brick help to keep it cool during the summer. Yet the house is snug in winter, too, with its friendly wood-burning fireplace in addition to its gas-burning floor furnace.

Although it has a relatively small floor area—1,117 square feet—this plan is arranged so that normal family activities can be carried on without conflict or confusion. The kitchen is centrally located and has a window and door opening into the car port. Walls of closets keep the bedroom quiet and private. The study is convenient to the bathroom and has a large closet, so it can double as a guest room or nursery.

 The placement of the dining area separates it from the living room almost as effectively as a partition, yet it does not sacrifice the open effect and added spaciousness that come from combining the living and dining areas. There is a generous amount of storage space, with a coat closet near the entrance, twin closets in the bedroom, a closet in the study, a roomy hall closet, and a storage wall in the car port for garden tools and other equipment.

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source: The Progressive Farmer – Distinctive Southern Homes | 1950

Gemini AI Rendering

THIS pleasant two-bedroom cottage combines economy and convenience for the small family, with many of the extras usually found only in larger homes.

The recessed front entrance opens into a foyer, which is provided with a coat closet. The spacious living-dining area has windows on three walls to insure good ventilation. A well-placed fireplace adds to the attractiveness and comfort of the L-shaped room, and still leaves enough space for that inevitable large piece of wall furniture.

The kitchen is placed at the front of the house. A portion of it is partitioned off to serve as a laundry room, but there is an ample passageway from the kitchen proper to the terrace for ease in serving outdoor meals.

The covered terrace can be used almost the year round in the South. With entrances from the dining room, a bedroom and the utility room, it is centrally located both for convenience and privacy.

Located at the back of the house, away from the noise of household operation, are the bedrooms, each with triple exposure. The two bedrooms and the centrally located bath are connected by a hall which opens into the living room.

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source: The Progressive Farmer – Distinctive Southern Homes | 1950

Gemini AI Rendering

IN RECENT years the ranch-type house has firmly established itself as one of the South’s most popular and adaptable styles of architecture. The friendly informality of its exterior makes it equally at home in town or country, and experience has proved the livability of its spread-out floor plan.

Here is a plan which strikes a new note in exterior treatment of the ranch-style house. It retains much of the character of the original, yet has the neatness and simplicity of modern design. To achieve greater privacy and an unusually well-balanced appearance, it places small windows on the front elevation. The large windows are located at the back overlooking the garden.

A glance at the floor plan shows that this house was designed for easy management. The entrance foyer and hall provide ready access to the bedroom wing and the service and living areas. The bathroom is convenient to all parts of the house, and the kitchen, which has a large pantry, is centrally located.

The living-dining room and the adjoining porch—reached from doors in both the kitchen and the living room—are made to order for entertaining. The two window walls make one room seem like a continuation of the other, and together they provide an exceptionally large living area for a house of this size.

The focal point of the living room is the brick fireplace which, with a bookcase on one side and a woodbox on the other, takes up an entire wall. Adding importance to this end of the room is the large brick-paved area in front of the fireplace wall.

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source: The Progressive Farmer – Distinctive Southern Homes | 1950

Gemini AI Rendering

 THIS contemporary version of the Cape Cod cottage incorporates the advantages of modern planning while retaining the dignified simplicity to which the traditional version owes its charm. The family selecting this plan should never feel cramped for living space, for the rooms are larger than those of the average five-room house, and there is an abundance of closets.

Light and ventilation are well taken care of by a generous number of large windows (each of the bedrooms has three exposures) carefully placed to leave plenty of room for good furniture arrangement. A recessed entrance and a breezeway to the garage provide protection from inclement weather.

The foyer opens into both the living room and the dining-kitchen area, and the central hall connects all rooms. The bathroom is centrally located, the kitchen compactly arranged. The dining area is as convenient as the customary breakfast room, yet it is large enough for formal dining."

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source: The Progressive Farmer – Distinctive Southern Homes | 1950

Gemini AI Rendering

HERE is a plan that’s really out of the ordinary, with its distinctive exterior of redwood plywood siding, its extensive window area and its exceptionally convenient room arrangement. Wide eaves add to the attractiveness of the house, while a car port shelters the outside entrance and provides storage space for tools.

You enter the house through a foyer with a handy coat closet. From the foyer you can reach any part of the house without crossing other areas. The spacious living-dining room overlooking the garden offers countless possibilities for conversational groupings with its fireplace and picture windows. Since these window walls are at the back of the house, neighbors and passers-by can’t invade your privacy.

The bedroom wing is well separated from the rest of the house and has ample closet space. The compact kitchen is U-shaped, and the breakfast room has a large built-in china cabinet. Three windows make this area bright and cheerful.

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source: The Progressive Farmer – Distinctive Southern Homes | 1950

Gemini AI Rendering