Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/293

 1868.] Descriptions. 243 vestibule, is 6 feet 6 inches wide, for a depth of 30 feet back, and beyond, for a further depth of 1 2 feet, the width is increased to 8 feet, to obtain sufficient space for the main stairway, which con- tinues up to the attic story. On the right, leading in from the main hall through a pair of folding-doors, is the $G A F Second Story. Ground Floor. parlor, A, a fine, spacious room, 16 feet wide by 30 feet deep, having two win- dows in front, and communicating by means of sliding doors with an exten- sion beyond, B, 12 feet by 14 feet, hav- ing a window on the rear, with a door communicating with the rear hall, G. This shows all the arrangement of the ground floor of the front, or main build- ing. The remaining four stories have each two chambers, as marked in plan of second story, A A, with wardrobe - closets attached to each; P being the hall ; containing the stairway, E. We will now proceed with the back building : on tlie first story, proceeding through the hall, F, there is a side en- trance, G, leading into the side yard. We then come to the private stairway leading to the upper portions of the dwelling. Beyond this is the dining- room, C, 22 feet by 16 feet. Adjoining the last is the pantry, H. Through the dining-room, we pass into the kitchen, D, 16 feet by 17 feet, supplied with a range, sink, &c. ; and beyond — commu- nicating with the kitchen— in f o the summer-kitchen, L, 14 feet by 16 feet, in which is the stairway to the cellar. The second floor has immediately above the side entrance hall G, mentioned before, a bath-room, lavatory, &c, marked G, communicating with the rear chamber, A. Beyond, at the end of the hall, F, is the landing of the private stairs, passing which, we enter a fine, capacious sitting-room, B, having two side windows, with an oriel window between them. This room, at the rear, communicates with a conservatory, C, by a window, or a glass door, opening into it. The upper stories of the back build- ing have each two chambers, with a bath- room and lavatory. It may be remarked, that the floors of the back building are on a level with the half-landings of the main stairway. There is no way in which a dwelling planned with a variation in the height of stories between the front and back buildings can be made perfect, other than by making the rear floors coincide with this level. We have now described this particu- lar plan of Philadelphia dwellings ; and, in conclusion, will only observe, that we are happy to see that a change is gradu- ally, but surely, taking place in the tastes and views of our citizens, as to the mode of constructing our houses. In lieu of the long, narrow ranges of back buildings erected in such close and disagreeable proximity to one another as to be almost, if not quite within