_The Management and Work of a Five Bedroom, Three Sitting-room London House--A Labour-Saving Country House--A Labour-Saving Flat--One Visiting Maid instead of Two Servants--A Suburban House--A Cookless Household--A Labour-Saving Household in a Provincial Town._ CHAPTER VI OTHER PEOPLE'S EXPERIENCES OF LABOUR-SAVING HOMES I A Five Bedroom and Three Sitting-room London House. "I have been much interested in your labour-saving articles. I send you a description of our new house. We have adopted many of your ideas. "The family consists of myself and husband and two just-grown-up daughters. "It so happened that some months ago we lost a little money, and we also came to the conclusion that we had been for some time spending more than we should have spent. Our house was rather expensive for our means; we kept five servants, entertained considerably in a simple manner, and lived easily. Finally, we decided to sell the house and take one which was smaller and possible to run with a lessened staff, and, at the same time, if the servant difficulty became more acute, such a house as would attract domestics by reason of its labour-saving arrangements. A house was found, light, airy, quiet, in the required position, of suitable size, but absolutely lacking in modern improvements. As it stood it consisted of: "_Basement._--Large front kitchen, back room (dark), lavatory, good wide shallow front area, easy stairs up to first floor, a washhouse built out from back room, two cellars, small wine cellar, no larder. "_Ground Floor._--Dining and back dining-room (double doors), fairly wide hall, and passage out to garden at back, and lavatory (very old-fashioned). "_First Floor._--Front and back drawing-rooms--total length, 28 feet; width of front room, 18 feet; back room, 12 feet. "_Second Floor._--Two bedrooms. "_Third Floor._--Two bedrooms, large cupboard on top landing. "Neither electric light, bathroom, nor hot water. A satisfactory lease could be had, and owner would put in new drainage and put house in outside repair. Rent only £100 a year if tenant would spend a certain sum on the house. "For convenience I will call ourselves Mr. and Mrs. A. After much consideration Mr. and Mrs. A. came to the conclusion that they would take the house and spend £350 in structural alterations. "After this had been decided, and the work begun, the war broke out, and Mr. A.'s income fell (at all events temporarily) to about £1,100 a year. He was, however, still in a position to spend £350 owing to the sale of the first house, for which a good premium had been obtained, and, being a person of some wisdom, he realised that the £350 would certainly swell into £500, though of that sum a part would be spent on decoration and moving expenses. "The arrangement of the house was to be as follows: