A charming country cottage design with an admirably arranged cottage garden is featured from a late 19th century issue of The House Beautiful. The sensibly laid-out grounds on the small lot include the careful seclusion of the clothes-drying space and the concealment of the kitchen garden behind a hedge and currant bushes.

The cottage design contains seven rooms, hall, bath, and pantry. The cottage house plan provides for a suitable stone foundation and brick underpinning, spruce frame and covering boards, cedar shingles (first quality on roof and clear on walls), two gables with open timber work and rough cast, clear pine finish and gutters, and galvanized iron conductors.

The interior of the cottage is finished in pine or white wood for painting, and receives at least three coats of paint. The hall and parlor of the interior cottage design require four coats to look well. The plumbing includes a porcelain-lined cast-iron bathtub, slate or soapstone sink, and a two-part wash-tray in the cellar. A red brick fireplace in the dining room and a tile-faced fireplace in the parlor add much to the comfort of these rooms and to the interior cottage design. In the dining room there is a small china or crystal closet on one side of the fireplace and a buffet on the other; in the parlor there are low bookcases on either side of the fireplace. The stair hall in the cottage house plan is separated from the entrance hall by a screen of spindle-work to make the stairs less public, which is a desirable feature when only one staircase can be afforded.

The second floor interior cottage design is simple but charming. There is a large guest chamber to the front of the cottage overlooking the front lawn. This cottage bedroom features a fireplace and closet. The other bedroom has a large walk-in closet and a large walk-in store room. This cottage bedroom has a private door to the child's room or nursery. Across the hall is the family bathroom. Down the hall is another bedroom designated as the servant's room.

The cottage was designed for a small suburban lot, sixty by one hundred feet. A low brick wall and fence in front with hedges on either side and the rear encloses the property, giving that privacy necessary for the proper enjoyment of a cottage home. The somewhat formal cottage garden, with a sundial, walks, seats, and a teahouse, are features that add much to the attractiveness of the cottage, while the kitchen garden and yard are also secluded by hedges and grapevines on trellises.

The planting of the cottage garden is suggested on the plan and highlights a kitchen garden, flower beds, lawn, and a secluded clothes-drying space. All in all, this cottage design represents an inexpensive cottage on a rather narrow lot with the living rooms looking to the south and on the cottage garden, while the garden itself would be seen from the street.

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Old House Plans