NEW FLOOR PLANS FOR THE POSTWAR ERA

This excerpt from a 1950 book of house plans illustrates several traits which are frequently seen in houses built in this period in the M-Street Area:

• The entry hallway is making a comeback.
  Entry halls had mostly disappeared from middle-class suburban homes of 1920 through 1945. (An entry hall was incompatible with the concept of the "right lifestyle" as embodied in the bungalow.) The concept of a "formal entry," apart from the living room, began to regain credibility in the early 1950's. It seems safe to assume that this reappearance of the entry hall is the result of two factors: the new affluence of the postwar era and the increase in family size.
• Living room and dining room are merging together.
  The wall opening between living room and dining area is getting bigger and bigger. In this plan the wall is completely gone, leaving one big opening between living room and dining room. This trend to merge living room and dining room continued for the next twenty years or more.
• A new multi-purpose room has been invented.
  In the space which might reasonably be occupied by a third bedroom, a new multi-purpose room has appeared. In this plan it is called a "study," but the promotional text explains that it might be used as bedroom. The multi-purpose room has one door into the bedroom hallway, another door into the kitchen, and another door into the back yard. This makes it easy for mom to watch over her small children in the so-called study, while keeping the living room fresh and clean. This multi-purpose room anticipates the arrival of the "family room" later in the decade.