Lectures on the small house by two architects of the Arts and Crafts movement: one large living room in place of several little parlours, every room planned for the sun, plain and honest building, and furniture made for the house.
Parker (1867–1947) and Unwin (1863–1940), who were related by marriage, practised together from 1896 and went on to plan the first garden city at Letchworth (from 1903) and Hampstead Garden Suburb (from 1907). The Art of Building a Home (1901) collected their lectures on the design of houses, illustrated with their own work.
They argued against the cramped Victorian villa with its front parlour kept for show: a house should have one generous living room where the family actually lives, open to the sun on more than one side, with the hearth as its centre and the other rooms grouped round it. The house should be turned to the sun and the garden rather than to the street.
The book, part by part
I The home and its plan
The living room as the heart of the house; the aspect of each room; the kitchen and the offices simplified for a household with few or no servants.
Rules: Plan for the sun