Better Homes and Gardens and Hummel
The Earl Zimmerman Home at 200 Jantoni Drive in Boise is a simple 1,209 SF home designed by Hummel, Hummel, and Jones in 1950. Better Homes & Gardens featured this efficient floorplan in the October 1953 issue as Five Star Home No. 2310. Following WWII, housing demands increased the need for simple, efficient homes that could be built by local contractors. During the 1950s, Better Homes & Gardens magazine sold quality home plans through their Five Star Home Plan Service for only $5 per set (a complete list of building materials available for an additional 15 cents). Perhaps through a licensing deal, Hummel, Hummel & Jones was able to distribute their plans throughout the U.S. and Canada. It would be interesting to learn if this home was built elsewhere through this program.
The magazine article titled “It’s easier to live with a good small house,” describes Five Star Home No. 2310 as a home plan that provides convenient, comfortable living perfect for the 1950s, middle-class family. As constructed, this economical Boise home included a utility and kitchen area, a combined living and dining area separated by a fireplace, and two bedrooms each with family closets. The kitchen space is “ideally located” on the side of the house next to the carport “so that Saturday shopping bag doesn’t have a chance to get heavy” (1). This area expertly utilized space with its many cabinets, cupboards, shelves, and countertops. The combination of the living and dining rooms maximized space and created an entertainment area described as “more relaxing, knowing your living room doesn’t have to serve as a thoroughfare to other rooms” (1). The two bedrooms located on the opposite side of the home, one 13’x11’ and the other 13’x10’, complete this “well-planned, L-shaped unit”.
[1] Source: Better Homes & Gardens magazine, Oct. 1953