HOUSE OF THE DEMOCRAT
Will Price has been lauded in print for his prescient use of modern materials in commercial buildings such as railroad stations and hotels. But his residential building was progressive in a less obvious way: Even while designing egregiously luxurious mansions, he gave much thought to the housing needs of ordinary workers. He published Model Houses for Little Money in 1895. This little book contains several designs that may be seen as prototypes for “the House of the Democrat,” which was published in “Ladies’ Home Journal” before it was built in Rose Valley.

The idea of a democratic dwelling was popular among Arts and Crafts movement philosophers who realized that most of the population in the United States did not have the means to support households run by a corps of servants. They also realized that the housing developers were foisting on middleclass homemakers did not address the welfare of the residents. Price explained his attempts to engineer the home life of Everyman in an article published in a 1910 “Craftsman Magazine,” but he evidently didn’t consider that the smallest house in Rose Valley might need room for a maid just as his own huge house, built within spitting distance of “the House of the Democrat,” had. Our model adheres to Price’s original design and does not include the wing that was added later.

Order a House of the Democrat Model by sending $15.00 to:
House of the Democrat Model
Rose Valley Museum & Historical Society
P.O. Box62
Moylan, PA 19065
Please be sure to include model recipient's mailing address.
_________________________________Directions_________________________________
1. Cut all Parts from page removing as much of the solid black lines as possible. It is important to cut out the tiny diamond of white paper in the peak above the door in the front gable. Don’t forget to make the bushes marked “A” and “B” into tabs by cutting along the half in front of the dotted fold line.

2. Scoring the paper very lightly (dotted lines from the front of the paper, dash lines from the back) facilitates folding. Folds may be made sharper and more precise by pressing them with a fingernail along a straight edge.
3. Assemble the front gable. The small squares of red shingles (above the words “front” and “gable”) are meant to fold over the outsides of the balcony ends in order to cover exposed white paper.
4. Fold the grey step strip forward and down at the dash line over the words “Don’t cut” (you didn’t, did you?) Next fold the steps back against themselves, gluing the white surfaces together. The wide top tab glues under the porch floor.
5. Glue the front wall together so that the front door lines up with the darkened doorway.
Then glue the back dormer together by attaching window with tab “C” behind the other window. Use the dormer opening in the roof as a guide for the width of the dormer wall.
6. Insert the front gable into the roof above the porch by gluing the inside balcony railing to the outside balcony railing (part of the main roof.) Glue the two tabs under the gable roof to the to the main roof.
7.Insert the rear dormer and secure it in place by gluing the tabs above and below the windows and gluing the large tabs that join the dormer to the house sides under the main roof.
8. Join the back wall tabs to the side walls at the stone corner posts.

9. The tabs at the top of each side wall should be attached under the main roof behind the bargeboards.
10. Glue the porch ceiling tab to the inside (unprinted) side of the wall with the cute front door. The front edge of the porch ceiling rests inside the roof eves.

11. Now attach the bushes on the side walls to the bushes on the side porch rails marked “A” and “B.”

12. The long tab on the porch floor should be glued right under the front door—for stability the floor side tabs may be glued inside the railing on the sides of the porch. Now glue the step tab under the porch floor.
13. Neatly join the corners of the eves with glue and trim with scissors to suit.
14. A Q-tip is a helpful tool for applying pressure while gluing in tight spaces such as the chimney corner and beveled top. Pop the chimney into the roof so that it stands straight up.

15. EH, VOILA!