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it is wonderful how the two extremes of life do get on together
without the necessity of the old people having declined into what
is commonly spoken of as their ' second childhood.'
"I am afraid that if we are to have these houses near the centre
of the town we must build more than one storey, and this raises the
question of stairs; always a difficult problem. The stair treads must
be deep enough for old people to be able to stand firmly on each
stair, and the rises must be less than are commonly found in most
houses built to-day. I do think there should be not more than five
steps in any one flight, and then there should be a little landing
where there is room for the person, not only to stand firmly on two
feet, but to move about a little to get the feel of the feet. Incidentally,
hand rails should be on both sides of the stairway, and there is
something to be said for the stairway being narrow, so that a person
can use both hand rails at the one time. We do not want to overdo
this, however, because there may be occasions when people want to
be helped up and down stairs.
"So far as rooms themselves are concerned, what I believe to
be the greatest thing is to be able to maintain a background temperature
all the year round, and if this means we have to build a larger
number of one-roomed flats then I think we shall have to face that
problem, because on no account should these old people go out from
the living-room, which is relatively warm, to a bedroom which is
not warm. Exactly what this background heating should be for these
old people I do not know, and I would like to talk it over with you,
but I think it should be at least 65 deg. F.
"Arising from this question of background heating, we come
to ventilation. Quite frankly, if we have to limit the amount of
ventilation in order to achieve this background heating we shall
have to accept this as the necessary cost of providing the heating,
and, anyhow, elderly people, so it would seem to me, do not require
the same amount of ventilation in the rooms they occupy as younger
people do.
"The best height for the lavatory pedestal has, I believe, yet to
be discovered. They must not be too low; contrariwise they should
be rather on the high side.
"The problem of the bathroom has its own difficulties. Old
people should be encouraged to take baths, but only if it can be done
safely. To this end we have to decide what is the maximum height
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