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REAL ESTATE
AND
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 15, 1913
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BACHELOR APARTMENTS FOR WOMEN
Would it Pay to Build Them ?—What Experts Say—What is
Required—^A Kitchenette, Bathroom and Built-in Furniture.
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AN appeal has been made to the
Record and Guide in behalf of a
i-i-iovement for more convenient and at¬
tractive living accommodations for bach¬
elor -women in New York City. Refer¬
ence is made to that large class of
young ladies who are in receipt of good
salaries but who do not wish to lease,
furnish and maintain an apartment of
the ordinary type. They do not wish to
accumulate furniture or to burden them¬
selves with much housekeeping, but they
feel a genuine need for small but artis¬
tic homes amid congenial surroundings
—homes which can be rented almost
entirely furnished for a sum within their
means and yet sufficient to warrant the
investment on the part of builders.
That teachers, nurses and business wo¬
men in large numbers would welcome an
opportunity to exchange present cheer¬
less and inhospitable furnished rooms
and boarding houses for more attractive
homes, may be conceded, and the real
question turns upon the type of apart¬
ment most suitable and whether it would
pay as a business proposition.
The suggestion has been made that
such an apartment should consist of one
large room and a bathroom. There
would then be in the living-room a sink,
a gas or oil stove for cooking purposes
and certain built-in furniture, together
with all necessary cooking utensils; and
bed-linen, towels and tea towels coming
in weekly. This house should be situ¬
ated in a refined neighborhood and have
an artistic quality that would attract
congenial tenants. Conceivably the build¬
ing might also contain suites of two
rooms and bath for married coup'es,
without detracting from the qualities
which would please well-to-do single wo¬
men.
How She Would Like to Have It.
A young lady, when asked to describe
the sort of apartment she would like
best, said it would have a room about
twenty-five or thirty feet long, and about
fifteen feet wide, with windows on two
sides. At one end there would be two
doors, one opening into a large clothes
closet and the other into a bathroom. In
the living-room the bed would be built
into the outer wall, with a strong iron
frame folding up into the paneled siding.
When closed, it would look like a book¬
case or cupboard. She had seen this
successfully done in other cities, but if
it would not go in New York, then a
couch would suffice.
All around the room there would be
paneled wainscoting, topped with a shelf
for books, photographs, bowls of flow¬
ers and what not. The wainscoting would
contain a continuous set of shelves for
books and other things. Near a window
she would build a dainty desk, which
could be managed by having the paneling
drop forward on chains. The bathrooi-n
would be commodious, with a dressing
table built in at one end, a pier glass
above it and drawers beneath, and there
would be numerous other drawers for
collars, gloves, veils and other articles
of apparel. The suite would then be
complete with the exception of a table,
chairs and rugs.
As a Business Proposition.
The Record and Guide has made some
inquiries as to whether a house so
planned would be an acceptable business
proposition in the real estate field. The
best opinion obtainable inclines to the
negative, so far as the scheme relates
to building a special type of apartments
in Manhattan. In other boroughs, as in
Brooklyn, with cheaper land values to
contend with, and with possibly a more
liberal allowance for rent than most wo¬
men can afford, it seems to have been
proven by some experience in that direc¬
tion that the erection of bachelor apart¬
ments for single women having incomes
of twelve hundred to two thousand dol¬
lars a year would be a fairly profitable
business undertaking.
Hardly Possible in Manhattan.
The case was stated this week to an
architect, builder and owner who would
be most likely to understand its feasi¬
bility as a building proposition in Man¬
hattan. This gentleman only a year ago
completed the artistic duplex apartment
house at No. 1 Lexington avenue, on the
former site of the mansion of the lace
Henry W. Poor, fronting on Gramercy
Park, which is in a neighborhood well
known as an art center. This gentleman,
Mr. Charles Buck, is a member of the
Board of Examiners in the Building
Department, which is a sort of court of
last resort for architects and builders.
Mr. Buek's opinion was that bachelor
apartments for single women dependent
upon their earnings alone would not be
profitable in what would be considered a
good location in Manhattan.
"Kitchenettes would at once bring such
a house within the purview of the Tene¬
ment House law," he said, "with its limi¬
tations and restrictions, and it is well
known that apartment houses of the bet.
ter class cannot be built profitably even
now except on large plots one hundred
feet square or more; and in such build¬
ings, with elevator service, fifteen dollars
per month per room is about the lowest
profitable rate. And this presupposes a
liathroom to every three or four or more
rooms, instead of one to each living-
room as in the proposed building.
"I do not believe that a bachelor apart¬
ment house for women as a new struc¬
ture under existing laws could be made a
financial success in any central location
on Manhattan Island, such as women so
situated would naturally desire. The
many bathrooms, each required to have
an outside window, would use up all the
rentable space. The same difticulty is
encountered in the model tenements, but
it would be much more severely felt
in the proposed building."
Possibilities in Alterations.
Mr. Buek, however, added that there
are many old houses, built before these
laws were passed, in the older sections of
the city now unprofitable, which could
be readily adapted to these purposes
were it not for the fact that the require¬
ments of the Tenement House law make
any changes ii-npossible without entire
rebuilding. If such buildings could be
replanned and modernized under the law
applicable to hotels, with fireproof halls
and stairs, they could undoubtedly be
made to furnish cheerful, healthful and
acceptable homes of the kind mentioned,
which are otherwise impossible except
by going to the outskirts of the city.
Against Built-in Furniture.
Walter B. Chambers, architect, 109
Broad street, was found to be of the
opinion that a properly planned and
managed building for the accommoda¬
tion of bachelor women could be made
a paying investment, and that there are
neighborhoods in the Borough of Man¬
hattan, as well as in Brooklyn and The
BrQn.x, where such buildings could be
located to advantage.
"They must be fireproof, but I would
not advise built-in beds or other built-
in furniture," explained Mr. Chambers.
"Given the right size and location of
site, the planning of the building is sim¬
ple. The plan must be an elastic one,
capable of providing apartments of dif¬
ferent sizes, within certain limitations.
The 'large living-room, bedroom, small
kitchen, bathroom' type should be made
to predominate, and the building as a
whole, inside and out, should be given
an air of distinction, through refinement
of taste in decoration and absence of
showiness, which would appeal at once
to self-supporting women of refinement.
As to the cost, good taste costs less than
bad taste."
Possibly in Brooklyn.
The question of the feasibility of erect¬
ing houses for bachelor women in Brook¬
lyn was put to Mr. David Porter, real
estate broker and expert appraiser, of
189 Montague street, and it was found
that in Brooklyn the speculative builder
would find a different set of circum-
â– itances than in Manhattan. Mr. Porter
considered the scheme feasible. In fact,
something of the kind was already in be¬
ing. He did not think, however, it would
be a good proposition from a business
standpoint to furnish such houses. Mr.
Porter further said:
"Apartments of this kind should con-