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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
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 https://archive.org/details/villascottagesseOOvaux_0 
 
FAMILY COTTAGE TN THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 A SERIES OF 
 
 Designs prepreb far ®renrtian in tlje Snite^r Stntes. 
 
 BY CALVERT VAUX, 
 
 AUCIIITECT, 
 
 110, BROADWAY, NEW YORK, 
 
 LATB 
 
 DOWNING t VADX, NKWBUROII, ON THE HUDSON. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 370 ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SAMPSON LOW, SON, & MARSTON, 14, LUDGATE HILL. 
 
 NEW YORK : — HARPER AND BROTHERS. 
 
 1864. 
 
Jnsrribcii, 
 
 WITH SINCERE RESPECT, 
 
 TO 
 
 CAROLINE E. DOWNING, 
 
 AND 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF HER HUSBAND, 
 
 ANDREW J. DOWNING. 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 VERY American who is in the habit of traveling, 
 which is almost equivalent to saying every Amer- 
 ican, must have noticed the inexhaustible demand for 
 rural residences that is perceptible in every part of 
 these Northern States. Nothing like it has ever yet 
 occurred in the Avorld’s history ; and although hard 
 times undoubtedly occur in America, as well as else- 
 where, at occasional intervals, it would seem that the 
 profits which are missed by one man, contrive, some- 
 how, to slide into the pockets of other more successful 
 operators; for the carpenters and masons appear to be 
 always getting a full percentage of the floating capital, 
 and the ball is kept merrily rolling under all changes 
 of individual circumstances. 
 
 Such being the fact, whatever may be its philoso- 
 phy, it seems evident that the season must come when 
 the importance of the whole subject of domestic arch- 
 itecture will be fairly and fully recognized. It can 
 not be possible that the energetic vitality which per- 
 vades this branch of home manufacture will, for an}^ 
 great length of time, remain satisfied to expend its in- 
 tensity on meagre, monotonous, unartistic buildings, 
 or that it will continue to pay out millions of dol- 
 lars every year without perceiving the propriety of get- 
 ting, habitually, something worth having for the mon- 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ey. In an intelligent age and country like this, ugly 
 buildings should be the exception : not, as hitherto, the 
 almost invariable rule. 
 
 The accompanying designs have been prepared with- 
 in the last few years to respond to the varied require- 
 ments of different parties who have asked for them, 
 and it is conceived, therefore, that they may possibly 
 represent, to some useful extent, to those who are 
 about to build in the country, the accommodations 
 and arrangements for convenience that appertain to 
 such buildings. They are not brought before the pub- 
 lic as model designs, to lessen the necessity for the ex- 
 ercise of individual taste, but, as far as possible, to in- 
 crease its activity. Such books are needed as step- 
 ping-stones ; for no general popular progress can be 
 made in any art without ample and cheap opportuni- 
 ties for comparison and criticism ; and the chief value 
 of illustrated works on such topics as domestic archi- 
 tecture must always lie in the fact that they are calcu- 
 lated to rouse into active life the dormant capacity for 
 individual preference, which all possess more or less, 
 and which is absolutely necessary for a just artistic 
 opinion on any subject. It is for this reason, and with 
 the hope of being more generally intelligible and pop- 
 ularly useful, that the engravings are arranged, in the 
 present volume, in a condensed, regular manner, so 
 that they may be examined with little trouble and 
 with but slight reference to the descriptions ; the eye 
 thus being enabled to glance from one to the other 
 briefly and easily. 
 
 In this collection of studies there are many marked 
 “D. and V.” that have a special interest as the latest 
 over which the genial influence of the lamented Down- 
 ing was exercised. Several of the plans were in prog- 
 
PKEFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 ress when the tidings of his sudden and shocking 
 death were mournfully received by his family and 
 friends, and almost as mournfully by thousands, who, 
 knowing him only through his books, still felt that he 
 was to them a dear and intimate companion. Mr. 
 Downing was on his way to Newport, to superintend 
 the execution of Mr. Parish’s villa, on the day when 
 the loss of the Henry Clay in an instant struck out his 
 name from the roll of living men, and thereby inflict- 
 ed an irreparable injury on his country ; for Andrew 
 Jackson Downing was not only one of the most ener- 
 getic and unprejudiced artists that have yet appeared in 
 America, but his views and aspirations were so lib- 
 eral and pure that his artistic perceptions were chiefly 
 valued by him as handmaids to his higher and diviner 
 views of life and beauty. It is for this reason that 
 his loss is so severely felt; for his character being 
 moulded on this large scale, and his capacity to appre- 
 ciate whatever is beautiful in nature or art being pro- 
 portionately great, he had both the will and the power 
 to exercise a marked influence for good over the taste 
 of his countrymen. He readily saw that the contempt 
 of art which the early Puritans had shown with the 
 best intentions, and which in their age of imperfect 
 toleration was entirely intelligible, and perhaps nec- 
 essary, exists now only as a chronic, unmeaning prej- 
 udice ; he also perceived that the proper time had ar- 
 rived for the exercise of a better state of feeling, and 
 for a general popular advance in taste, and he ad- 
 dressed himself to the furtherance of this good work 
 with quiet enthusiasm. He used every effort to break 
 down the foolish barrier that ignorance had set be- 
 tween the artist and the moralist, and strove to make 
 manifest in all his works the glorious truth that the 
 
 i 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xii 
 
 really “beautiful” and the really “good” are one. 
 This conviction is indeed the key-note to all his teach- 
 ings. “/? hello e il huono^'" was the motto engraved on 
 his seal and on his life ; and the everyday increasing 
 improvement that is now visible in the popular taste, 
 so far as regards the subjects on which he wrote, and 
 Avhich may be directly traced to his books, is ample 
 evidence that his modest, earnest words must have 
 sunk gently and convincingly into the hearts of many 
 worthy readers. He was fortunately not a man of 
 promise only, but of ricli performance ; and although 
 cut off in the very prime of a hearty, active, ever-ex- 
 panding life, he had already lived and labored to such 
 good purpose that he can scarcely be said to have left 
 his work unfinished. He has set his mark fairly and 
 broadly on the spirit of his age, and it is to be hoped 
 that the love for grace and beauty that he so vigor- 
 ously aroused in America will in future be always ad- 
 
 A few of the studies submitted have been made es- 
 pecially for this work, to illustrate particular views ; but 
 the greater number are reduced from working plans 
 of designs that have been either executed or prepared 
 for execution, and whenever practicable, the particulars 
 of contract or expenditure are supplied. Some of the 
 designs, it will be observed, are marked “V. andW. 
 
 * Some time after the loss of the Henry Clay a private subscription was raised 
 for the purpose of erecting, in the grounds attached to the Smithsonian Institute 
 at Washington, some fitting memorial of Mr. Dooming, who was engaged by the 
 government, at the time of his death, in carrying into execution a comprehen- 
 sive plan for landscape gardening that included the Smithsonian grounds, and 
 also the whole of the public park proposed to connect the President’s house with 
 the Capitol. The design ultimately determined on for this memorial, which is 
 now being erected at Washington, on the site appropriated for the purpose, is il- 
 lustrated by the vignette on page xii. It is simply a large, white marble vase, 
 carefully modeled from a chaste but highly enriched antique example, and 
 mounted on an appropriate pedestal. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 these were prepared during my three years’ partner- 
 ship with Mr. F. C. Withers, to whom I am indebted 
 for much valuable assistance in the preparation of this 
 work. . 
 
 It is not unfrequently said that architects’ designs 
 cost, in execution, more money than their employers 
 are led, in the first instance, to believe will be neces- 
 sary ; but these assertions are for the most part ill- 
 grounded, and arise from there being, here as else- 
 where, a class of employers who profess to want much 
 less than they really require, and Avho positively assert 
 that they need about half of what they are determined 
 to have. Such persons easily find a corresponding 
 class of designers, and, of course, are ahvays disap- 
 pointed, as they richly deserve to be ; but reasonable 
 men, Avho are prepared to bring to the subject of spend- 
 ing their money the same good sense that has enabled 
 them to realize it, find no difficulty in arranging their 
 outlay in accordance with their wishes. For exam- 
 ple, some of the houses in this volume have been very 
 handsomely finished, and have cost not only much more 
 than the outlay originally proposed, but much more 
 than was necessary to complete them in a simple, 
 rural manner. In no case, however, Avas the addi- 
 tional expenditure a source of dissatisfaction to the 
 parties interested; such designs Avere carried out un- 
 der the immediate inspection of their OAvners, and the 
 desire for finish and refinement in detail increasing as 
 the work proceeded, these gentlemen Avere Avell satis- 
 fied to enlarge, by degrees, their original intention as 
 to cost. Some of the plans, on the other hand, have 
 been executed for the exact sums specified in the con- 
 tract ; in these cases the proprietor, having approved 
 of the draAvings and specifications, has entirely ceased 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 to interfere in the matter, except to pay the contract- 
 or’s instalments when they have become due from time 
 to time ; and it may be stated, ■without any hesitation, 
 that there are no insurmountable barriers to exacti- 
 tude of estimate except loose instructions from the em- 
 ployer to his architect, and indefinite arrangements 
 between the employer and his mechanics ; both of 
 which a proper amount of care at starting can readily 
 prevent. 
 
 THE DOWNING MEMORIAL 
 
 ERECTED AT 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 \ new edition of this volume being called for at the 
 present time, the opportunity has been taken to 
 make some slight changes and omissions, and to intro- 
 duce a few additional illustrations, with the descriptive 
 text necessary to make them intelligible ; but it has 
 not been thought advisable to attempt any thing be- 
 yond this, as the work is essentially of a fragmentary 
 and transitional character, and it would be impossible, 
 with any amount of labor in revision that the author 
 could now bestow, to give it a more satisfactory or per- 
 manent form. 
 
 A thoroughly comprehensive text-book on the sub- 
 ject of Rural Art, conceived and executed in the true 
 spirit, would be a valuable addition to American liter- 
 ature ; but some time must, in all probability, elapse 
 before such a work can be successfully attempted, and, 
 in the interim, its place must be, to a slight extent, 
 supplied by works like the present, that merely seek 
 to embody, in a shape fit for general reference, the 
 thoughts and experiences for the time being of indi- 
 vidual architects. 
 
 The six years that have passed away since this 
 work was first published have not been of a character 
 to suggest any rapid advance in popular taste with 
 regard to the fine arts, and yet, even during this short 
 period, marked at its commencement by wide-spread 
 
XVI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 financial embarrassment, and closing in the midst of a 
 terrible and exhausting civil war, some advance in the 
 right direction seems to have been made. There is an 
 increase in the demand for works of art of a superior 
 class, and an important social idea has been developed 
 in the “Artists’ Receptions” that have now become so 
 popular. Large public pleasure-grounds, such as the 
 Central Park and the Baltimore Park, have been suc- 
 cessfully established, an American Institute of Archi- 
 tects has been formally organized, and art papers of 
 some special interest, such as the “Greek Lines,” have 
 found their way into the current popular literature. 
 
 There is, on the other hand, so far as Architecture 
 is concerned, much cause for discouragement, and im- 
 mense sums continue to be lavished with careless in- 
 ditference on ugly, ill-planned buildings in every part 
 of the country. In the course of the next decade, 
 however, some more decided progress may be looked 
 for; and among the refreshing signs of the present 
 time is the fact that an association of young men has, 
 during the past winter, been formed for the advance- 
 ment of '■'‘Truth, in ArV'' The members hold that “all 
 great art results from an earnest love of the beauty and 
 perfectness of God’s creation, and is the attemj)t to tell 
 the truth- about it.” They also believe that, in all times 
 of great art, there has been a close connection between 
 Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting ; that Sculpture 
 and Painting, having been first called into being for 
 the decoration of buildings, have found their highest 
 perfection when habitually associated with Architect- 
 ure ; that Architecture derives its greatest glory from 
 such association ; therefore that this union of the arts 
 is necessary for the full development of each. And 
 this brief extract from their articles of organization in- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XVll 
 
 dicates the spirit in which these artists expect to work, 
 and is sufficient to show that much good may result 
 from their earnest efforts in behalf of the good cause 
 they advocate. 
 
 “ We stride the river daily at its spring, 
 
 Nor in our childish thoughtlessness, foresee 
 What myriad vassal streams shall tribute bring. 
 How like an equal it shall greet the sea. 
 
 “Oh, small beginnings, ye are great and strong. 
 Based on a faithful heart and weariless brain 1 
 Ye build the future fair, ye conquer wrong, 
 
 Ye earn the crown, and wear it not in vain.” 
 
 New York, March 2Zd, 18C3. 
 
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 STUDY FOR rnON TERMINAL, CENTRAL PARK, N.Y. 
 
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CONTENTS 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Remarks on the Employment of Architects 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for the Downing Memorial at Washington 
 
 PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. 
 
 On the Design, Construction, and Detail of Country Houses, 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Village School-house 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Country Church 
 
 DESIGN No. 1.— (V. & W.) 
 
 A simple Suburban Cottage Study 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Log-house Study 
 
 • DESIGN No. 2. 
 
 A small rural Double Cottage Study 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Hooded Door Study 
 
 DESIGN No. 3. 
 
 A Suburban Cottage Study 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a partially inclosed Veranda Newburgh, N. Y. 
 
 DESIGN No. 4. 
 
 A Rural Cottage Fishkill, N. Y..., 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Rustic Outbuilding Newburgh, N. Y, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ix 
 
 xiv 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 118 
 
 120 
 
 128 
 
 130 
 
 132 
 
 134 
 
 138 
 
 140 
 
 144 
 
 1 
 
XX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 DESIGN No. 5.— (V. «S= W.) 
 
 A Suburban House Newburgh, N. Y 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Double Suburban House Study 
 
 DESIGN No. 6. 
 
 A Model Cottage Study 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Farm-house Study 
 
 DESIGN No. 7. 
 
 A Cottage Residence Goshen, N. Y 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for an Artist’s Studio Rondout, N. Y 
 
 DESIGN No. 8. 
 
 A small Country House with Kitchen Wing Newtsurgh, N. Y. 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Garden Outbuilding Study 
 
 DESIGN No. 9. 
 
 An Irregular Brick Country House Yonkers, N. Y. .. 
 
 VIGNETTE. — (v. & AV.) 
 
 Boat Landing in the Central Park New York City 
 
 DESIGN No. 10.— (V. & W.) 
 
 A Suburban House with Attics Newburgh, N. Y. 
 
 VIGNETTE. — (V. & W.) 
 
 Design for a Garden Fence New'burgh, N. Y. 
 
 DESIGN No. 11. 
 
 A nearly square Suburban House Rondout, N. Y 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Square House New Hayen, Conn 
 
 DESIGN No. 12. 
 
 An IiTcgular House without Wing Springfield, Mass 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a small Country House Orange, N. J 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXI 
 
 DESIGN No. 13. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Wooden Villa with Tower and without Attics-.-RAVENSAVOOD, N. Y 192 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Fence and Gate Eavensavood, N. Y' 19C 
 
 DESIGN No. 14.— (D. & V.) 
 
 A Symmetrical Country House Neavbukgu, N. Y 198 
 
 VIGNETTE. — (d. & V.) 
 
 Design for a Coach-house and Stable Neaa’bckgu, N. Y' 202 
 
 DESIGN No. 15.— (V. & W.) 
 
 A Brick Villa with Tower and without Attics.... Study 204 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for an Observatory Middletoavx, N. Y' 208 
 
 DESIGN No. 16. 
 
 A Picturesque Symmetrical House Neavbukgu, N. Y 210 
 
 \aGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Suburban Garden Neavbukgu, N. Y'. 
 
 DESIGN No. 17. 
 
 An Alteration of an Old House Neaa’BUKGh, N. Y”. 
 
 214 
 
 210 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for altering a Common Cottage Roof Neavbukgu, N. Y 222 
 
 DESIGN No. 18.— (D. & V.) 
 
 A Picturesque Square House NEAAmuRGii, N. Y' 224 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for an Ornamental Garden Neavbukgu, NY’ 230 
 
 DESIGN No. 19.— (D. & V.) 
 
 A Suburban Villa Georgetown, D. C 232 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for an Oak Mantle-piece 
 
 ...Fishkill, N. Y 
 
 230 
 
 DESIGN No. 20.— 
 
 •(D. & V.) 
 
 
 A Villa Residence with Curved Roof 
 
 ...Study 
 
 238 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Stable and Coach-house 
 
 ...Study 
 
 
xxn 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 DESIGN No. 21.— (V. & W.) 
 
 ' ' PAGE 
 
 An Irregular Wooden Country House Woecester, Mass 246 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Gable Termination Newburgh, N. Y 250 
 
 DESIGN No. 22.— (D. & V.) 
 
 A Suburban House with Curved Roof Newburgh, N. Y 252 
 
 VIGNETTE. — (d. & V.) 
 
 Design for a Dormer-window Newburgh, N. Y 256 
 
 DESIGN No. 23. 
 
 A simple Picturesque Country House Moodna, N. Y 258 
 
 VIGNETTE. (V. & W.) 
 
 Design for a small Rural Cottage New Windsor, N. Y 268 
 
 DESIGN No. 24.— (V. & W.) 
 
 An Inegular Brick Villa Study 270 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Chimney with Ventilating Flues Staatsbueg, N. Y 274 
 
 DESIGN No. 25.— (V. & W.) 
 
 A Suburban House with Curvilinear Roof. Study 276 
 
 VIGNETTE. (V. & W.) 
 
 Design for a Square House Study 280 
 
 DESIGN No. 26. 
 
 A Wooden Villa with Tower and Attics Study 282 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for an Entrance-gate and Piers Newburgh, N. Y 286 
 
 DESIGN No. 27. 
 
 Family Cottage in the Mountains Study Frontispiece. 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Rustic Bridge Central Park, N. Y 288 
 
 DESIGN No. 28.— (F. C. W.) 
 
 Stone Country House with Brick Dressings Clinton Point, N. Y 291 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Shaded Seats Central Park, N. Y 292 
 
CONTENTS. xxiii 
 
 DESIGN No. 29. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 Wooden Villa with Curved Roof Greenwich, Conn 294 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Square Villa with Curved Roof Staatsbceg, N. Y 296 
 
 DESIGN No. 30.— (D. & V.) 
 
 A Villa of Brick and Stone Study 298 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Designs for Window-hoods Study 302 
 
 DESIGN No. 31. 
 
 Picturesque Stone Country House Staatsbueg, N. Y 304 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Farm Cottage Staatsbueg, N. Y 310 
 
 DESIGN No. 32. 
 
 An Irregular Villa without Wing Study 312 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Design for a Boat-house Study 
 
 DESIGN No. 33.— (V. & W.) 
 A Picturesque Villa with Wing and Attics Study 
 
 VIGNETTE. (V. & W.) 
 
 Design for the Kitchen Wing Study 
 
 DESIGN No. 34.— (V. & W.) 
 
 A Town House New York City, 
 
 VIGNETTE. — (v. & W.) 
 
 Design for a roomy Country House Study 
 
 DESIGN No. 35.— (D.& V.) 
 
 A Marine Villa Newport, R. I.... 
 
 VIGNETTE. (d. & V.) 
 
 Design for a Coach-house and Stable Newtort, R. I.... 
 
 Irregular Stone Villa 
 
 DESIGN No. 36. 
 
 Highbeidge, N. Y. 
 
 316 
 
 318 
 
 320 
 
 322 
 
 326 
 
 328 
 
 330 
 
 332 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Highbeidge, N. Y 334 
 
 Coach-house and Stable. 
 
XXIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 DESIGN No. 37— (D. & V.) 
 
 An Irregular Stone Villa with Tower Study 33G 
 
 VIGNETTE. (v. & TV.) 
 
 Design for a small Country House Study 340 
 
 DESIGN No. 38. 
 
 Marine Villa with Tower Newport, li. 1 342 
 
 VIGNETTE. 
 
 Coach-house and Stable Newport, 11. 1 344 
 
 DESIGN No. 39.— (D. «& V.) 
 
 A Villa on a large Scale Study 340 
 
 VIGNETTE. (V. & \V.) 
 
 Design for a Grave-stone Newburgh, N. Y 348 
 
 PKESUYTBEIAN CIIUEOU, NEWEUEGU. F. O. W IIUEEB, AECUITECT. 
 
VILLAGE SCHOOL. 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTA&ES. 
 
 \ LTHOU GH there is a cheering prospect for Amer- 
 ican architecture in the good time coming, its pres- 
 ent appearance is in many ways far from satisfactory. 
 Over the length and breadth of this country' are scat- 
 tered cities and villages by thousands, and public and 
 private edifices innumerable ; and yet we may fairly 
 say. There are the buildings, but where is the architect- 
 ure? There is the matter, but where is the manner? 
 There is the opportunity, but where is the agreeable 
 result ? Is it in the churches ? A few really creditable 
 specimens may be pointed out, but the large majority 
 are unquestionably deficient in truthful dignity and 
 artistic beauty. Is it in the public buildings ? Several 
 fine works of art may at once occur to the mind, and 
 although a floating doubt somewhat questions the 
 Americanism of their expression, still, as they are no- 
 bly conceived and do not shrink from the ordeal of the 
 artist’s pencil, it is granted that they are successful. 
 Then comes the question of the great majority again. 
 
26 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 Does the memory linger with pleasure over the remi- 
 niscences of a provincial tour, and delight to recall 
 the pleasant impression left on the mind by each elm- 
 shaded town, with its tasteful hall, school-houses, li- 
 brary, theatre, museum, banks, baths, courts of jus- 
 tice, and other buildings cheerfully erected and grace- 
 fully arranged by its free and enlightened inhabitants 
 — for their own use and pleasure, of course, but with 
 a wise regard for mutual advantage and individual en- 
 joyment, that insures the sympathy of every passing 
 stranger ; the more readily, too, as each discovers that 
 he, even he, has been thought of, and that some study 
 has been expended to give him pleasure? No, this is 
 not the result to be looked for at present. Does the 
 secret of beauty lie in the private buildings, the stores, 
 the warehouses, the mansions, the villas, the hotels, 
 the streets, or the cottages? There are probably as 
 magnificent hotels and stores in the large cities of 
 America as any where in the world. Architecture, 
 within the last ten years, has managed to get a genu- 
 ine foothold in this department of building ; it has be- 
 gun to pay, and that is an excellent sign, and one that 
 offers food for reflection and solid encouragement ; yet 
 it is the few and not the many, even here, that speak 
 of refinement, and a love of grace, which is as averse to 
 meretricious display as it is to ungainly awkwardness. 
 Among the private residences a great number are ex- 
 cellent ; but still the mass are unsatisfactory in form, 
 proportion, color, and light and shade. What is the 
 reason of all this ? Why is there comparatively so lit- 
 tle beauty in American buildings? Some will say 
 America is a dollar-loving country, without taste for 
 the arts ; others, that expense is the obstacle, and that 
 the republican simplicity of America can not aflbrd 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 27 
 
 the luxury of good architecture. The latter of these 
 solutions is clearly incorrect, for it is knowledge, and 
 not money, that is the chief source of every pleasura- 
 ble emotion that may be caused by a building. In- 
 deed a simple, well-planned structure costs less to exe- 
 cute, for the accommodation obtained, than an ill- 
 planned one ; and the fact of its being agreeable and 
 effective, or otherwise, does not depend on any orna- 
 ment that may be superadded to the useful and neces- 
 ^ sary forms of which it is composed, but on the arrange- 
 ment of those forms themselves, so that they may bal- 
 ance each other and suggest the pleasant ideas of har- 
 monious proportion, fitness, and agreeable variety to 
 the eye, and through the eye to the mind. All this is 
 simply a matter of study before building, not of addi- 
 tional cost in building. The other solution of the 
 problem, that Americans do not appreciate the beau- 
 tiful, and do not care for it or value it, is a more spe- 
 cious but equally erroneous one. There are, doubtless, 
 many obstructions that have hindered, and do hinder, 
 the development of correct taste in the United States. 
 The spring, however, is by no means dry, although 
 these obstacles prevent its waters from flowing freely ; 
 and there is, in fact, no real difficulty that earnestness 
 and ordinary patience may not overcome. One im- 
 portant evidence of a genuine longing for the beauti- 
 ful may be at once pointed out. Almost every Ameri- 
 can has an equally unaffected, though not, of course, 
 an equally appreciative, love for “the country.” This 
 love appears intuitive, and the possibility of ease and 
 a country place or suburban cottage, large or small, is 
 a vision that gives a zest to the labors of industrious 
 thousands. This one simple fact is of marked import- 
 ance ; it shows that there is an innate homage to the 
 
28 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 natural in contradistinction to the artificial — a prefer- 
 ence for the works of God to the works of man ; and no 
 matter what passing influences may prevent the per- 
 fect working of this tendency, there it exists ; and with 
 all its town-bred incongruities and frequently absurd 
 shortcomings, it furnishes a valuable proof of inherent 
 good, true, and healthy taste. Moreover, the greater 
 includes the less. An actual love for nature, however 
 crude it may be, speaks clearly of a possible love for art. 
 
 Till within a comparatively recent period the fine arts 
 in America have been considered by the great bulk of 
 the population as pomps and vanities so closely con- 
 nected with superstition, popery, or aristocracy, that 
 they must be eschewed accordingly, and the result is 
 not altogether undesirable, though it has appeared to 
 retard the advance of refinement and civilization. The 
 awakening spirit of republicanism refused to acknowl- 
 edge the value of art as it then existed, a tender hot- 
 house plant ministering to the delights of a select few. 
 The democratic element rebelled against this idea in 
 toto^ and tacitly, but none the less practically, de- 
 manded of art to thrive in the open air, in all weath- 
 ers, for the benefit of all, if it was worth any thing, and 
 if not, to perish as a troublesome and useless encum- 
 brance. This was a severe course to take, and the ef- 
 fects are every where felt. But, after all, it had truth 
 on its side ; and candor must allow that no local, par- 
 tial, class-recognizing advance in art, however individ- 
 ually valuable its examples might have been, could, in 
 reality, have compensated for the disadvantage that 
 would have attended it. Now, every step in advance, 
 slow though it be, is a real step taken by the whole 
 country. When we look at the ruins of old Rome, we 
 say. What a great people ! what temples ! what mighty 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 29 
 
 works ! and undoubtedly Rome was really great in in- 
 dividuals ; very great in a strong and clever minority, 
 who spent with marked ability the labor of the weak 
 and ignorant majority ; but the plehs, the unlettered, 
 unthought-of common people, the million, were not 
 great, nor were they taught to be so, and therefore 
 Rome fell. 
 
 During the last hundred years there has been a con- 
 tinuous effort to give to the American million the rudi- 
 ments of self-reliant greatness, to abolish class' legisla- 
 tion, and to sink the importance of individuals. ‘■‘•Aut 
 America aut nullus " — “America or no owe,” has been, 
 is, and will probably ever be the practical motto. It is 
 not surprising, then, that the advancement in the arts 
 has been somewhat less rapid than the progress in 
 commercial prosperity and political importance. The 
 conditions were new, and, it must be confessed, rather 
 hard. Continuous ease and leisure readily welcome 
 art, while constant action and industry require time to 
 become acquainted with its merits. To the fonner, it 
 may be a parasite and yet be supported ; to the latter, 
 it must be a friend or nothing. The great bulk of 
 money that is laid out on building in the United States 
 belongs to the active workers, and is spent by them 
 and for them. The industrious classes, therefore, de- 
 cide the national standard of architectural taste. 
 
 The question then occurs. How is this universal taste 
 to be improved ? There is the sound, healthy material, 
 unprejudiced, open to conviction, with a real though 
 not thoroughly understood desire for what is good and 
 true — there is plenty of prosperity and opportunity, 
 plenty of money and industry, plenty of every thing 
 but education and the diffusion of knowledge. This 
 language may seem inapplicable to America, to whom 
 
30 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 humanity is indebted for the successful introduction of 
 the common school system, which lies at the root of 
 every healthy idea of reform now at work in the world, 
 but is, nevertheless, true. The genius of American art 
 may, with justice, say of the genius of American edu- 
 cation : 
 
 “If she be not so to me, 
 
 What care I how fair she be !” 
 
 Education must be liberal and comprehensive as well 
 as universal and cheap, or the result will remain in- 
 complete. To secure any thing permanently satisfac- 
 tory in the matter of architecture, professors of abil- 
 ity, workmen of ability, and an appreciative, able pub- 
 lic are necessary. It would seem that the architects 
 practicing in America are not at present, in the ma- 
 jority of cases, born or bred in the United States. 
 They have, therefore, to learn and unlearn much before 
 the spirit instilled into their designs can be truly and 
 genuinely American. There is no good reason now 
 why this state of alFairs should continue. Architect- 
 ure is a profession likely to be in considerable request 
 here for several hundred years at least, and the de- 
 mand is steadily increasing. Why, then, should not 
 parents speculate for their sons in this line? Why 
 should not the article, as it is for home consumption, 
 be raised at home? It is an honorable calling; not 
 certainly offering such splendid fortunes as the mer- 
 chant may realize, but it is a fair opening, and the 
 only capital that it requires, beyond brains and indus- 
 try, is the expense for books and an education. When 
 a fair share of Young America enters upon this study 
 heart and soul, as a means of earning an independent 
 position, we may expect a rapid, natural development 
 of the architectural resources of the country, and that 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 31 
 
 the present meagre facilities for artistic education will 
 be gradually increased ; the schools and colleges, also, 
 will probably be induced, after a time, to include in 
 their course of study subjects calculated to discover 
 and foster, in the rising generation, such natural gifts 
 as have a bearing on these and similar matters. 
 
 To insure workmen of ability, a reasonable chance • 
 to improve is the chief thing wanted. So long as the 
 general demand is for monotonous, commonplace, ste- 
 reotyped work, the average of ability will necessarily 
 be low ; but with opportunity, good, cheap, illus- 
 trated works, and a spirited weekly paper devoted to 
 the special discussion of the subjects interesting to arch- 
 itects, engineers, carpenters, masons, and all the other 
 trades connected with building — a paper that would 
 diffuse sound theoretical and practical information on 
 the art in general and in detail throughout the whole 
 country, the advance would be rapidly felt ; for wher- 
 ever there is an American, there at least, be he rich 
 or poor, is a reader, a thinker, and an actor. Self- 
 supporting schools of design for painters, decorators, 
 modelers, carvers, paper-stainers, etc., must follow in 
 due course, for the positiveness of the need would soon 
 become evident, and the object would then be almost 
 gained. With reference to the appreciative and able 
 public, the press is the improving power that is to be 
 mainly looked to. Cheap popular works on architect- 
 ure in all its bearings, popular lectures, popular en- 
 gravings — and hundreds of them, and yet all good — 
 these are the simple, truthful, and effective means that 
 are to influence the public, by supplying a medium 
 through which it may see clearly, and thus be led to 
 criticise freely, prefer wisely, and act judiciously. 
 Every year offers proofs of an advancing interest in 
 
32 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 this subject, and shows an increasing desire to respond 
 to it in newspapers, magazines, books, etc., while the 
 public is certainly not slow to buy and read. 
 
 The truth is, not that America is a dollar-worship- 
 ing country, with a natural incapacity to enjoy the 
 arts, but a dollar-making country, with restricted op- 
 portunities for popular, artistic education, as yet; but 
 when this want is freely ministered to, in the spirit 
 that it may be, and it is hoped will be, ere long, there 
 is every reason to conjecture that correct architectural 
 taste may be as generally diffused throughout the 
 United States as we at present find the idea of a re- 
 publican form of government. We shall then hope for 
 genuine originality as well as intrinsic beauty in Amer- 
 ican buildings ; and this interesting subject of original- 
 ity is, perhaps, worthy of a separate analysis and con- 
 sideration. 
 
 In the United States it would seem that diversities 
 of style and strong contrasts of architectural design 
 are a perfectly natural occurrence, when we take into 
 account the early history of the nation and the circum- 
 stances under which it sprung into its present promi- 
 nent position. Differences of manner should, therefore, 
 be contemplated without any troublesome sense of in- 
 consistency being awakened, for such a charge would 
 hardly apply with justice to results so clearly inevita- 
 ble. The art of building faithfully portrays the social 
 history of the people to whose needs it ministers, but 
 can not get beyond those boundaries. We must re- 
 member, therefore, that principles of action, percep- 
 tions, convictions, habits of thought, and customs are 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 33 
 
 the directors of all architectural design, and that 
 wherever and however it may exist, it is one of sev- 
 eral national exponents, not an independent affair with 
 a cut-and-dried theoretical existence. Good architect- 
 ure of some kind must spring up in any society where 
 there is a love of truth and nature, and a generally 
 diffused spirit of politeness in the ordinary habits of 
 thought. Wherever, on the other hand, there is a 
 wide-spread carelessness as to the development of the 
 refined and gentle perceptive faculties, there inevita- 
 bly must be a monotonously deficient standard of ex- 
 istence, and very paltry architecture as a necessary con- 
 sequence ; for the senses being deadened by inaction or 
 abuse, poor seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and feel- 
 ing, naturally result, and are reflected in the art of 
 building, which exists entirely by supplying the de- 
 mands of the bodily organs, and always shows wheth- 
 er they are vulgar, uncontrolled masters, galled serfs, 
 or gay, active workmen. It is, moreover, an art so 
 constantly before us, in some form or other, that it 
 can not help being a friend or enemy to the improve- 
 ment of civilized beings all the days of their lives. 
 
 The individuality of the American people does not 
 appear to depend extensively on derivation or tradi- 
 tion, but on the character of the institutions by which 
 it is surrounded, and on the elasticity of action that 
 ensues. It is a people composed of many differing 
 elements, but these are all exposed to a fusing power 
 so strong, and so incessantly at work, that a single gen- 
 eration is often sufficient to bring into marked promi- 
 nence the latent sentiments and springs of action that 
 constitute the individual part of the national charac- 
 ter. The settler may, to the last, be somewhat di- 
 vided in his opinions, but the settler’s son is sure to 
 
 C 
 
34 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 be an American, as far as politics are concerned, ab 
 though at this point the active influence on him of 
 the new country may appear to cease, leaving social 
 assimilation to come about much more slowly. 
 
 Each of the European nations that have contributed 
 to the population of this country, has, in its religious 
 and domestic character, distinctive peculiarities and 
 preferences, harmless in themselves, so far as others 
 are concerned, and of comparatively private interest. 
 These take their chance of life in the new country un- 
 molested. The press having, of course, a gradual in- 
 fluence over them, while the national habit of travel- 
 ing, by offering opportunities for tacit observation and 
 change of opinion, without loss of self-complacency, is 
 constantly at work rubbing down the rough edges of 
 egotism, and rounding off the hard angles of prejudice. 
 This influence every day enlarges its sphere of action, 
 and will, doubtless, help a good deal to clear away the 
 obstructions that at present hamper the social progress 
 of the spirit of republicanism. Here lies the root of 
 the matter ; for whenever this spirit is permitted to 
 flow freely into its natural channels, without being 
 dammed up into an exclusive political mill-stream, 
 it must lead to considerable social unity, and we may 
 then, hut not till then^ look for the exercise of a power 
 of fusion in manners and arts equal in its grasp to the 
 one now almost omnipotent in politics. 
 
 The religious convictions of every country have, 
 necessarily, a highly important influence over its so- 
 cial advancement ; and America, so far as art is con- 
 cerned, has received, till lately, nothing but blows from 
 this quarter. Meagre sectarianism and private intol- 
 erance, under the names of religious freedom and uni- 
 versal toleration, have been serious drawbacks. How- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 35 
 
 ever, the respect hitherto paid to mere formalism is 
 now on the wane, and something more life-like is de- 
 manded — loudly at intervals, silently always. Besides 
 the generally prejudicial effect that has thus been pro- 
 duced, there exists, here and there, a more distinct op- 
 position to artistic grace and elegance on the ground 
 that they are useless luxuries ; but this sentiment is 
 so impious, and the punishment daily inflicted on it 
 is so- sad, that it ought to be thoroughly exploded. 
 Every sect agrees that there can be but one Creator, 
 therefore all our created organs, sensations, and capac- 
 ities must emanate from this fountain-head, and be in- 
 tended for use ; for if they have another source, there 
 must be two first causes ; and if they are not intended 
 for use, the power exercised in their construction must 
 be absurdly employed. Of course, either of these asser- 
 tions would be highly irreverent. The fact is, that the 
 evil influence at work in the world can mar many 
 things, but make nothing ; it can invert opportunity, 
 misapply means, overdo or leave undone, and thus 
 produce unpleasant, because unnatural results, but it 
 can originate absolutely nothing:, all its lying is 
 spoiled truth, all its ugliness spoiled beauty ; it can 
 not help being in every instance secondary and nega- 
 tive : therefore, the moment we arrive at any thing 
 so distinctly positive as a sensation or perception, we 
 may know at once that it is irrational on any pre- 
 tended ground of morality to “hide the talent,” or op- 
 pose its healthy exercise. Earnest vitality is the so- 
 cial and artistic need in America. Every good thing, 
 originality included, may be anticipated from that, foi- 
 wherever it exists it bears fruit a hundred-fold ; and 
 the results of its influence on commerce show what 
 may be expected when it pulsates as vigorously in the 
 
36 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 heart as in the pocket of this great republic. Cash 
 mil then assume its proper position, and money-spend- 
 ing will become the test of a man’s ability instead of 
 money-making. The arts generally, and architecture 
 particularly, may then look with confidence for a bet- 
 ter, because more natural era. It is not uncommon 
 to hear it asserted, without much dissatisfaction, that 
 in America one generation makes a fortune, the next 
 squanders it, and the third or fourth, beginning afresh, 
 at the lowest round of the ladder, amasses, by perse- 
 vering industry, a new store of wealth, which is again 
 run through as before. This melancholy fact is sup- 
 posed by some to be agreeably connected with the abo- 
 lition of the laAv of primogeniture, or the healthy ac- 
 tion of political freedom and equality ; whereas it is 
 entirely contrary to the progressive spirit of true re- 
 publicanism, and exists as a wholly unsatisfactory re- 
 sult of sheer neglect, ignorance, and waste. It has 
 been reiterated over and over again, and tends to en- 
 courage the very incorrect and crude notion that a man, 
 to be worth any thing, must begin with nothing, and 
 make his own way by dogged perseverance at one idea 
 for twelve or fourteen hours a day, through a series 
 of years. Now, although such a man will probably 
 be successful (for it would be hard if he were to miss 
 his “pile,” considering the sacrifice that has been made 
 for it), yet money, being only condensed mechanical 
 labor, can neither buy the capacity to enjoy the work 
 it represents, nor the wisdom to spend one cent well. 
 This is another affair altogether, depending on the ex- 
 ercise of a natural birth-right that may easily enough 
 be parted with, but which it really seems poor policy 
 to sell for a mere mess of dollars. Industry, energy, 
 and perseverance make excellent servants, and deserve 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 37 
 
 the respect due to good tools when sensibly exerted ; 
 but the unconditional acceptance of the stereotyped 
 idea that man is a hack, and life a tread-mill, is cer- 
 tainly no mark of either wisdom or virtue. 
 
 There can not, indeed, be a more unpleasant specta- 
 cle than to see active, intelligent men, with long faces 
 and knit brows, incessantly sacrificing time, health, 
 home, and peace of mind to the one old “Moloch” — 
 business^ as if perpetual imprisonment were too good 
 for reprobates, and business must, therefore, be con- 
 verted into a portable bastille for the use of honest 
 men. Every father, whatever may be his position in 
 life, should undoubtedly use his best endeavors to en- 
 rich his children, but not chiefly with money. He 
 should rather aim to start each one from a higher 
 point of industrious, liberal civilization than he him- 
 self commenced at, and strive to relieve him from the 
 difficulties that obstructed his own path. The exer- 
 cise of such a spirit of foresight and progress Avould 
 soon lead to artistic results worthy of the nineteenth 
 century. It is worth remembering, too, that no occu- 
 pation need be undignified, no labor graceless. Adam 
 Avorked as a gardener, Franklin as a printer, Paul as 
 a rope-maker, ^sop as a slave of all Avork, and Jesus 
 Christ, at Avhose name it is said that every knee shall 
 bow, as a carpenter. It is clear, therefore, that hard, 
 manual labor is in no Avay removed from the highest 
 developments of social philosophy and intellectual ad- 
 vancement. Every artisan, cultivator, or trader, may, 
 if he think fit, not only be an honest, industrious re- 
 publican, but a thoughtful, noble, and refined worker. 
 All is within his easy reach. He has but to put forth 
 his hand and pluck the fruit. The tree that bears it 
 was planted by his ancestors, and is now daily tended. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 ;)8 
 
 though perhaps unconsciously, by himself ; and this 
 wide-spread appreciation of the possibilities that are 
 within reach of every class, this all-encircling civili- 
 zation, or an approximation to it, is absolutely neces- 
 sary before art can take another healthy stride in ad- 
 vance. Galvanized action is worthless, however smart- 
 ly it may be got up ; there must be genuine life-blood 
 flowing through all the members, freely and vigorous- 
 ly, or nothing good will be achieved ; for the whole is 
 made up of all its parts, and the parts of architecture, 
 for instance, are, practically, the trades directly con- 
 nected with it. The resources, therefore, of each of 
 these must be well developed in detail before a really 
 complete result can be arrived at. It is, moreover, 
 well Avorth while to consider the large number of pur- 
 suits connected with this art. All the quarry- workers, 
 lime-burners, brick-makers, lumber-merchants, glass- 
 manufacturers, sawyers, masons, stone-cutters, plaster- 
 ers, carpenters, joiners, tin-men, gas-fitters, plumbers, ' 
 glaziers, iron-mongers, painters, carvers, gilders, mod- 
 elers, decorators, architects, live by the constant de- 
 mand for the exercise of this art of building; and 
 whatever may be the pressure from Avithout, it is only 
 as these trades improve that the art improves. 
 
 In this country the Avages of mechanics are good, 
 and it is to be wished that they may ever remain so ; 
 but it is not equally desirable that the style of labor 
 performed for those wages shall continue the same. 
 On the other hand, it is to be hoped, and reasonably, 
 when the subject becomes one of steady public interest, 
 that the intelligence, skill, and taste of mechanics may 
 be constantly heightened and improved, so that in time 
 to come average ability may do easily and cheaply 
 what is now considered superior out-of-the-way work. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 39 
 
 All would be the gainers and none the losers by this 
 advancement ; for without the increase of wages each 
 man would be able, with the same amount of personal 
 effort as formerly, to purchase from his neighbor more 
 positively valuable results. It is palpably evident, 
 indeed, that a high standard of life can be quite easily 
 attained by the working-classes in America, that is to 
 say, by all whose circumstances render it necessary 
 that they should do something for a living. Still 
 there is another section of the community to be pro- 
 vided for — the born rich. Individuals in this predic- 
 ament, in some parts of the world, have a gratifying 
 position at once accorded them on account of their 
 property, but this is far from being the case in Amer- 
 ica. There is a great deal of toil and consequent 
 wealth in the United States ; still, it is money-mak- 
 ing, not money made, that commands respect. The 
 science of spending is imperfectly understood, and the 
 unsatisfactory results are apparent enough ; but the 
 idea of a moneyed aristocracy is every where repelled 
 at heart with a scorn so contemptuous that it can 
 scarcely be called indignant. A dilemma springs up 
 from this state of things. Idleness is abhorred by suc- 
 cessful men ; they insist, therefore, on their sons be- 
 coming lawyers, or doctors, or going into business. 
 Then follows a failure, in the majority of cases; for the 
 spur to exertion that makes such pursuits satisfy men, 
 is, in these instances, entirely wanting, as pecuniary 
 circumstances do not, in the least, require the effort. 
 Rich Americans fear lest their offspring may be looked 
 on as useless members of society, and the instinct that 
 leads them to do so is well enough as far as it goes, 
 but the natural independent comment on it all is. Why 
 spend so much time in making and saving money if it 
 
40 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 is to be rather an incumbrance than otherwise to the 
 next generation. The real difficulty, and it is a serious 
 one, is the limited range allowed by custom to intel- 
 lectual energy. It is neither fam to the individuals, nor 
 to the society of which they are responsible units, that 
 the sons of rich men should be tied doAvn to one or two 
 money-making pursuits ; they ought to be in every de- 
 partment of literature, science, and art, not as dilettan- 
 ti connoisseurs, but as earnest laborers, striving boldly 
 for a higher national excellence than has yet been 
 achieved. This is their proper post. Poor men can 
 scarcely afford to occupy it. It is a glorious position, 
 the only proper one for them to assume ; and so long 
 as they neglect it, so long will wealth be misunder- 
 stood and misapplied. The rich should study to be 
 practical theorists, so that the less rich may be theoret- 
 ical practitioners. Every young republican of means 
 in America should aim to be aristocratic in its literal 
 sense ; that is, to be aristos '"' — ^the very best. He has 
 advantages which his comrades have not. He can af- 
 ford to give ample, unembarrassed study to any subject 
 that suits his powers, and to work out its resources qui- 
 etly and steadily. He should be one step in advance 
 of the rest of creation, a leader in the foremost rank of 
 the foremost band. The value of a class of men thus 
 occupied would be unquestioned, and it would not be 
 so unnatural then for a parent to labor for money, so 
 that his son might enjoy the rightful opportunity to 
 live an easy life of elevated action and noble exertion. 
 
 The nature of the pursuits men follow should be ex- 
 amined into and tested. As we are not good, we need 
 preachers ; as we are not straightforward, we must 
 have lawyers ; as we are not natural, we want doctors ; 
 and we are much indebted to all these gentlemen ; but 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 41 
 
 as we are virtuous, we ask for something besides, that 
 shall be less negative and more actual. We demand 
 poets, mechanics, philosophers, men of business, art- 
 ists, authors, sailors, inventors. Possessing the capac- 
 ities of all these in embryo, we ask, not that we may 
 blindly admire the individual, but that we may fairly 
 appropriate the spirit of his work, and be, when not 
 laboring at our own specialty, at small cost, and in a 
 quiet, general way, what each professor is in an indi- 
 vidual, troublesome, and particular way. This seems 
 to be the scope and intention of life with such a basis 
 as American freedom ; and exactly to the extent that 
 it is recognized and acted on is the advance in art and 
 science, and in all that makes the best part of life. 
 
 It is only in a state of society in which things are 
 valued intrinsically, and not for what they will fetch, 
 that any art can begin to progress or hope for a chance 
 to become vital or original ; and so long as the enjoy- 
 ment of a purchase depends much on the opinion of 
 others, and but little on its own merits, artistic inven- 
 tion is likely to remain at a stand-still. Taste must 
 be real, unborrowed, and individual, to accomplish any 
 thing; and even a small allowance of earnest percep- 
 tive conviction is better than any amount of follow- 
 my-leader opinion. If excellent architecture can give 
 innocent pleasure, it is certainly worth having, and 
 all Americans ought to have it with as little delay as 
 possible ; not for the sake of gratifying any petty spirit 
 of rivalry, or indulging any national or local pride, but 
 simply because it is worth having ; on the same prin- 
 ciple that every healthy man ought to enjoy dining- 
 daily, not on account of his being able to atford richer 
 food than his neighbors, or because he happens to 
 know a dozen people who live poorly (for if he can de- 
 
42 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 rive any ajipetite from such facts he is no true man), 
 but solely because his, good constitution requires regu- 
 lar sustenance. 
 
 In America perfect liberty, that absolute essential 
 for healthy life, has been, in due course, talked for, 
 fought for, legislated for, and, in these Free States, de- 
 cidedly realized ; and it seems, therefore, scarcely fair 
 now to train all the best men to be lawyers and politi- 
 cians, because the talent is more wanted somewhere 
 else. The sensation of freedom is nothing more than 
 the felt certainty of non-interference, and, however 
 complete it may be, it can neither supply the will to do 
 any thing, nor suggest any deed to be done ; it is like 
 light, only perceptible when reflected from an object; 
 it oflers a solid rock on which to build, but not one 
 idea for the superstructure adapted to it. In America 
 this rock commands a boundless prospect, and no fit- 
 ting or enduring edifice can be erected on it that does 
 not include the most liberal manners, the most gener- 
 ous aspirations, the most noble institutions, and the 
 most pure and beautiful arts that unfettered humanity 
 is capable of conceiving. There has not, indeed, been, 
 from the commencement of the world till this moment, 
 an opportunity for the advance of the fine arts so re- 
 plete Avith the material of true success as now exists 
 in America ; this advance is a question of choice, not 
 time ; of purpose, not ability ; of direction, not force ; 
 there is capacity enough spread over all the country, 
 and being wasted daily : it is conviction and will that 
 are needed. 
 
 When the talent and energy that are fostered by 
 American institutions are distributed with tolerable 
 fairness, we shall, among many other things, be justified 
 in expecting to find in every architectural efibrt, not 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 43 
 
 something so new that it is unintelligible, but some 
 distinctive characteristics that show it to be a genuine 
 American invention. These, however, can hardly be 
 expected to depend much on the employment of really 
 new forms. Webster and Clay were orators of origin- 
 ality, but their words were all old. Their stock in trade 
 is common property in the form of a dictionary, and 
 the boundary lines, over which neither ever ventured 
 to pass, are fairly set forth in a good grammar. Any 
 desire on their part to invent a brand-new language 
 would have been, of course, absurd, and any wish to 
 produce a brand-new style of building is, without doubt, 
 an equally senseless chimera. 
 
 All previous experience in architecture is the inher- 
 ited property of America, and should be taken every 
 advantage of. Each beautiful thought, form, and mode 
 that is not unsuited to the climate and the people, 
 ought to be studied, sifted, and tested, its principles 
 elucidated, and itself improved on ; but the past should 
 always be looked on as a servant, not as a master. 
 
 Individual sentiment and education should be en- 
 couraged to act freely in every instance, and by de- 
 grees that important fact, a genuine public taste, will 
 be fairly unfolded. The authority of precedents will 
 then be unneeded, for actual ideas, such as “fitness,” 
 “unity,” “variety,” will give the critical standard to 
 the general taste. Every individual of sound mind 
 will then help to improve the national architecture, 
 for each will resolutely refuse to admire any structure 
 that does not seem agreeable to him or her individu- 
 ally, and all will freely insist on a right to call good 
 whatever coincides with their untrammeled, but not 
 uncultivated natural perceptions. Emerson says for- 
 cibly on this point, “Why need we copy the Doric 
 
44 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 or the Gothic model? Beauty, convenience, grandeur 
 of thought, and quaint expression are as near to us as 
 to any, and if the American artist will study with 
 hope and love the precise thing to be done by him, 
 considering the climate, the soil, the length of day, 
 the wants of the people, the habit and form of govern- 
 ment, he will create a home in which all these will 
 find themselves fitted, and taste and sentiment will be 
 satisfied also.” 
 
 In a country like this, where the printing-press ac- 
 companies each stride that is made into new localities, 
 and where every step is marked by a building of some 
 sort, it seems inconsistent that there should be but 
 little popular literature on architectural matters ; yet 
 such is undoubtedly the fact, and although Americans 
 are certainly diligent readers and energetic builders, 
 their habit of reading has scarcely had so much influ- 
 ence for good on their habit of building as might natu- 
 rally be expected, when we coilsider the practical char- 
 acter and universally recurring interest of the subject 
 of domestic architecture. 
 
 It has not, certainly, till within the last few years, 
 been an easy matter to place before the public the nec- 
 essary illustrations in a convenient form, and as mere 
 verbal descriptions of plans or designs are seldorn thor- 
 oughly intelligible, this difficulty has probably retard- 
 ed the diffusion of popular architectural information. 
 Now, however, with the present rapid development 
 and general application of the art of wood-engraving 
 in the United States, this hindrance no longer exists, 
 and a fair field is open for the free communication of 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 45 
 
 ideas among American architects, and for the profita- 
 ble interchange of hints and suggestions. 
 
 The study of what has been done by other nations, 
 though useful as a help, will never, by itself, lead to 
 much result in America, where the institutions, the 
 needs of the climate, and the habits of the people, have 
 a distinctive character that requires special considera- 
 tion; and this remark applies particularly to rural 
 architecture. Thus the Greek mode, though complete- 
 ly beautiful when contemplated from a proper point 
 of view, has for its leading characteristic a passion- 
 less repose that is not heartily sympathized with ei- 
 ther by the American atmosphere or the spirit of this 
 locomotive age ; and, consequently, no architectural 
 effort imitated from the Greek can help being, to a 
 great extent, a mere lifeless parody. The failure is 
 generally very conspicuous, but even in the least un- 
 satisfactory instances some absurd inconsistency is sure 
 to assert itself. Common sense will insist on chim- 
 neys and verandas, and the pure classic outline in due 
 course suffers grievous mutilation, being thus pun- 
 ished for its intrusion into a locality where it had no 
 business to be attempted. 
 
 Styles like the Chinese or Moorish assist us but lit- 
 tle, though each exhibits isolated features that de- 
 serve careful examination. The Moorish, for exam- 
 ple, shows what magical effects may be produced by 
 light, recessed arcades, and gives some good sugges- 
 tions for verandas. The Chinese again, with its trel- 
 lises and balconies, is interesting in detail ; but neither 
 of these phases of architectural taste is of comprehen- 
 sive value. They are very deficient in compactness 
 and completeness of plan, and in artistic design they 
 depend too much for their effect on delicate and elabo- 
 
46 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 rate ornamentation ; such decorations as paneling, carv- 
 ing, painting, and gilding, may be readily enough ob- 
 tained where a clever, industrious, efficient pair of 
 hands can be hired for a few spoonfuls of rice per 
 diera^ but not so easily in a country where every one 
 is as good as his neighbor “and better,” and where 
 ordinary mechanics ask and get two or three dollars 
 for a day’s work. The irregular Italian, and the later 
 modifications of the Gothic, are the most useful types 
 to analyze ; but the flat-terraced roofs of the first have 
 to be avoided on account of the snow, and the latter 
 has to be adapted to the use of verandas before it can 
 be acceptable. Nor is this all: there is in this country 
 a perpetual necessity for compactness of plan, how- 
 ever large the house may be, because, as it is invaria- 
 bly difficult to get efficient servants, it is desirable to 
 save labor in every possible way. In this particular 
 neither the Italian nor the Gothic examples help us 
 materially ; they delight too much in halls and pas- 
 sages, long corridors and wide vestibules, galleries, and 
 staircases. This sort of rambling arrangement does 
 not answer here — the difficulties of heating and service 
 render a closer attention to concentration desirable — 
 nevertheless, a sufficient privacy, and a freedom from 
 any appearance of meanness, is the right of every 
 house, however small its scale. The English country 
 houses and cottages have undoubtedly claims to our 
 best consideration ; but it is from an examination, by 
 means of illustrations, of what is going on at home, 
 called forth by the actual needs of people, more than 
 from a study of foreign examples, that the general 
 taste for architectural comfort and beauty in countr}- 
 houses is likely to improve. Any genuine step in ad- 
 vance will be responded to at once by the sympathetic 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 47 
 
 perceptive faculties of individuals who may notice it, 
 and the result, so far as it bears on their needs, will 
 remain daguerreotyped in the memory. Whatever, 
 on the other hand, has no reference to local habits 
 and experience, will be passed over without receiving 
 much consideration. Every active-minded man is in 
 a position to understand and criticise such examples, 
 and though they may have little of the pretension or 
 extent that specimens of villa architecture in other 
 differently constituted countries would atford, they 
 will have the practical advantage of olFering definite 
 starting-points for farther improvement at home. 
 
 This would hardly hold good if there was very little 
 doing; but such is not the case. There has been latter- 
 ly an immense number of buildings of this nature go- 
 ing up in all parts of the United States ; numberless 
 villages have sprung into existence, and much thought 
 has been given to the subject. A very transient visit 
 into any part of the country shows, however, that 
 most of the villas and cottages are erected without re- 
 gard to artistic propriety, and at considerable loss to 
 their owners from the useless outlay incurred by adopt- 
 ing ill-considered plans, and the subject, as well as the 
 majority of the houses, would be improved by a little 
 more ventilation. Square boxes, small and large, are 
 springing up in every direction, constructed without 
 any attempt at proportion, or the slightest apparent 
 desire to make them agreeable objects in the landscape. 
 These tell their tale simply and unceremoniously : they 
 are the natural result of the migratory, independent 
 spirit pervading the industrious classes in America, 
 and offer interesting evidences of the genuine prosper- 
 ity of the country, for they show not only that the 
 landlord and tenant system is disliked, but that al- 
 
48 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 most every store-keeper and mechanic can contrive, 
 even when quite young, to buy his own lot and live 
 in his own house. On the other hand, however, they 
 demonstrate that the capacity for enjoyment, and the 
 appreciation of what is really desirable in life, that 
 should naturally accompany this active and successful 
 industry, are wanting. Each of these bare, bald, white 
 cubes tells its monotonous story of a youth passed 
 with little or no cultivation of the higher natural per- 
 ceptions, and of a system of education in which the 
 study of the beautiful in its most simple elements is 
 neglected and apparently despised. The lack of taste 
 perceptible all over the country in small buildings, is 
 a decided bar to healthy, social enjoyments ; it is a 
 weakness that affects the whole bone and muscle of 
 the body politic ; and it is a needless inconsistency, for 
 a full exercise of freedom of speech and action should 
 naturally result in a full, free exercise of the innocent 
 enjoyment that unfettered industry renders possible, 
 and a refined propriety and simple, inexpensive grace 
 ought habitually to be the distinctive marks of every 
 habitation in which a free American dwells. 
 
 Unfortunately, however, this is not the case. Even 
 the village school itself, in which the earliest and most 
 active germs of progressive thought are commenced, is 
 almost universally a naked, shabby structure, without 
 a tree or a shrub near it, and is remarkable chiefly for 
 an air of coarse neglect that pervades its whole aspect. 
 The improvement of the village school-house is proba- 
 bly the most powerful and available lever that can be 
 applied toward effecting a change for the better in the 
 appearance of rural buildings generally : all see it, all 
 are interested in it, and all are more or less influenced 
 by its conduct and appearance. It is placed under the 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 49 
 
 control of the leading men in each place, and it might 
 easily be made the most cheerful and soul-satisfying 
 building in the neighborhood, instead of, as at pres- 
 ent, a God-forsaken, forlorn-looking affair, that is cal- 
 culated to chill the heart and insult the eye of every 
 thoughtful beholder. The cost would be utterly in- 
 commensurate with the advantage to be obtained. An 
 extra hundred or hundred and fifty dollars at first 
 starting would do much. The roof might then have a 
 good projection, and be neatly finished. Some sort 
 of simple porch might be added, the chimney might 
 be slightly ornamented, and the rest would then de- 
 pend on jiroportion, color, and surrounding the build- 
 ing from time to time with shrubs, creeping vines, and 
 young trees. These, in after years, would offer a wel- 
 come shade, and give an air of domestic comfort and 
 liberal vitality to the whole effect. A similar result, 
 through precisely similar means, would probably, in 
 course of time, be arrived at in the small cottages in 
 its vicinity, and, as success would be cheap and invari- 
 able, the example would have a fair chance of spread- 
 ing. Such a simple, unpretending style of building 
 as is sketched on page 25, admits of endless variety of 
 design, and is within the reach of every civilized com- 
 munity. 
 
 Our subject having thus led us to the consideration 
 of school-houses, it may be worth while to add a few 
 words as to the schools themselves. 
 
 True and intelligent republicanism clearly points to a 
 state of society in which the private possession of great 
 pecuniary wealth ought to be a comparatively unim- 
 portant matter, because it should yield to its possessor 
 but little more real comfort, or even luxury, than can 
 be readily acquired by every industrious man. Corn- 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 plete protection from the weather in healthy, well- ven- 
 tilated, comfortably-appointed, and tastefully-arranged 
 apartments ; good food, scientific cookery, and an am- 
 ple supply of artificial light; appropriate clothing, 
 pretty furniture and draperies, delightful books, en- 
 gravings, and works of art, may all be obtained at lit- 
 tle cost by a skillful combination of liberal economy 
 ’and wise management; and it will be found that the 
 richest man in the world can scarcely realize more 
 than this, though he may, of course, carry out the 
 idea on a very magnificent scale. But even here the 
 man of small means may be almost on the same foot- 
 ing as the millionaire, for public baths, gymnasiums, 
 theatres, music-halls, libraries, lecture-rooms, parks, 
 gardens, picture-galleries, museums, schools, and every 
 thing that is needed for the liberal education of an in- 
 telligent freeman’s children, can easily be obtained by 
 the genuine republican if he will only take the trou- 
 ble to want them. All, and more than all, of these 
 sources of gratification lie folded up in his industri- 
 ous palm. He may either clench his fist and fight his 
 way through the world without allowing the treasure 
 he holds to see the light, or sell it to his brother for 
 a mess of pottage on the old aristocratic plan ; or he 
 may keep his birth-right himself, and cultivate it, as 
 nature intended he should, for his own and the public 
 enjoyment. A correct general choice in the matter 
 must be the work of years, and can only result from 
 a refinement in popular education that will urge the 
 unspoiled, pliable young minds of the rising genera- 
 tion to the study of the beautiful as well as to the ac- 
 quirement of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The 
 leading principles of good taste should go hand in 
 hand with the multiplication table, and every com- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 51 
 
 mon school class should have its artistic as well as its 
 literary and oratorical book of selections from the best 
 authors for every day public reading. 
 
 One especial disadvantage that rural art labors un- 
 der in America is, that the plans of country towns and 
 villages are so formal and unpicturesque. They gen- 
 erally consist of square blocks of houses, each facing 
 the other with conventional regularity; and this ar- 
 rangement is so discordant with the varied outlines 
 characterizing American scenery, that Dame Nature 
 refuses, at the outset, to have any thing to do with 
 them, and they never seem afterward to get any bet- 
 ter acquainted with her. Except, perhaps, in a very 
 large city, there is no advantage gained by this in- 
 tense monotony of arrangement, and it is much to be 
 regretted that in the many new villages that are being 
 erected the same dull, uninteresting method is still 
 predominant. 
 
 The great charm in the forms of natural landscape 
 lies in its well-balanced irregularity. This is also the 
 secret of success in every picturesque village, and in 
 every picturesque garden, country-house, or cottage. 
 Human nature, when allowed a free, healthy scope, 
 loves heartily this well-balanced irregularity, and longs 
 for it in life, in character, and in almost every thing. 
 It is the possession of this same quality, even when 
 the balance is incompletely kept, that makes the stir- 
 ring, unconventional, free-spirited man so much more 
 interesting and agreeable than the cold, correct, and 
 somewhat unsympathetic gentleman who never does 
 any harm to any one, and whose equanimity is never 
 disturbed. We want far less formality and restraint 
 in the plans of our new villages. The roads should 
 wind in graceful, easy curves, and be laid out in ac- 
 
52 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 cordance with the formation of the ground and the 
 natural features of interest. A single existing tree 
 ought often to be the all-sufficient reason for slightly 
 diverting the line of a road, so as to take advantage 
 of its shade, instead of cutting it down and grubbing 
 up its roots. In a case that recently occurred near a 
 country toAvn at some distance from New York, a road 
 was run through a very beautiful estate, one agreeable 
 feature of which was a pretty though small pond that, 
 even in the dryest seasons, was always full of water, 
 and would have formed an agreeable adjunct to a 
 country-seat. A single straight pencil-line on the 
 plan doubtless marked out the direction of the road ; 
 and as this line happened to go straight through the 
 pond, straight through the pond was the road accord- 
 ingly carried, the owner of the estate personally su- 
 perintending the operation, and thus spoiling his sheet 
 of water, diminishing the value of his lands, and in- 
 creasing expense by the cost of filling in, without any 
 advantage whatever: for a winding road so laid out 
 as to skirt the pond, would have been far more at- 
 tractive and agreeable than the harsh, straight line 
 that is now scored like a railway track clear through 
 the undulating surface of the property ; and such bar- 
 barisms are of constant occurrence. Points of this na- 
 ture deserve the utmost attention, instead of the reck- 
 less disregard they generally meet with. When once 
 a road is laid out, its fate is settled, and no alteration 
 is likely to be made : it is, therefore, the more desira- 
 ble that its direction should be well studied in the first 
 instance. 
 
 If we now attempt to take a general view of the sub- 
 ject of domestic architecture, we shall find, in the first 
 instance, that every residence intended to be satisfac- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES 
 
 53 
 
 tory must be comfortably planned^ pleasantly designed^ 
 and soundly constructed. 
 
 In any design that is intended to be used by an in- 
 telligent human being, the general distribution and 
 detailed arrangement of the accommodation to be fur- 
 nished, or what is called the plan., is the first point 
 that should occupy our attention ; for the most sim- 
 ple idea admits of a good or a bad arrangement. Let 
 us take, for example, a house that is to consist of but 
 one room, as in plan A. The door opens 
 immediately opposite the fire-place : a cold 
 draught is, therefore, likely to be constant- 
 ly traversing the whole length of the floor 
 of the apartment from the door to the fire, and as the 
 chimruey is placed in the outer wall, a great deal of 
 heat will be lost. Moreover, the bed, C, and the sink, 
 S, are entirely exposed to view, and thus privacy and 
 cleanliness are scarcely possible. Now a man may, 
 with comfort and decency, make his kitchen his living 
 room ; but he will find it disagreeable if he has, in 
 addition, to use it as a bedroom and sink-room. It 
 is therefore desirable to improve on this 
 plan. The diagram B shows a different, 
 and, in every way, a more sensible and con- 
 venient arrangement of the same space. 
 
 Here the door and chimney are so placed 
 with reference to each other, that the minimum of 
 draught occurs in the room when the door is opened. 
 The chimney is built in the body of the house, so that 
 as much heat as possible is saved. A few feet of 
 board partition set at the back of the chimney sup- 
 plies a somewhat private recess for a bed, and also an 
 entrance lobby with room for the sink ; and the prin- 
 cipal room and both recesses may communicate by 
 
54 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 means of tin pipes through the ceiling with an air 
 flue carried up alongside the smoke-flue, thus thor- 
 oughly ventilating the whole building. The two clos- 
 ets are placed at the other end of the room, so that a 
 window seat, that may also be a locker to contain a 
 supply of coal, can be arranged between them, thus 
 rendering the interior appearance of the room more 
 agreeable ; and a strip of curtain, or, if thought worth 
 while, a light door hung on each side of the chimney- 
 breast will give privacy and an air of snugness to the 
 whole arrangement. Now, this plan in execution 
 would cost perhaps $10 more than the other; and 
 taking the interest of this $10 at 10 per cent., the cash 
 difference to the occupier would be $1 a year, while the 
 comfort difference to any one with the slightest taste 
 for that blessing would be incalculable — the one resi- 
 dence being inconvenient and vulgar, while the other, 
 so far as it goes, is commodious and comparatively 
 elegant. 
 
 This sketch of a plan is introduced merely for the 
 purpose of illustrating the difference between an ill- 
 considered and well-considered mode of working out 
 on a very small scale the simplest jDossible idea of a 
 decent human habitation ; but the principles involved 
 in its arrangement apply with equal force through 
 the whole range of domestic architecture. The first 
 thing that is needed is a kitchen ; the second, an in- 
 closed lobby. A separate bedroom is the next step 
 for comfort; and we then advance to a plan that pro- 
 vides a living room separate from the kitchen, a hall 
 with a staircase in it, and bedrooms up stairs. A 
 house with this amount of accommodation should 
 have a veranda attached to it. A separate staircase- 
 hall and a second living room would be the next ad- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 55 
 
 dition to comfort, and we may then proceed upward 
 in the scale of accommodation to any extent that is 
 required, adding separate rooms for special purposes, 
 a servants’ staircase, bath-rooms, etc. But before leav- 
 ing this part of the subject, it seems desirable to say 
 a few words as to the proper scope for the plans of 
 country residences of moderate size. 
 
 By far too many of the villas that are built are ex- 
 tensive and costly, and many persons in easy circum- 
 stances are deterred from building a home in the coun- 
 try, because they are impressed with the idea that they 
 must erect a large house or none at all. This preva- 
 lent feeling prevents a great deal of enjoyment of rural 
 life that might otherwise be realized, and requires to 
 be looked into and criticised. 
 
 All that appears to be necessary for real comfort in 
 a villa or cottage residence, exclusive of the bedrooms 
 and offices, is a parlor of tolerable size, which shall 
 be the general living-room of the family, and another 
 apartment contiguous to, or connecting with it, to be 
 used as a breakfast and dining room. If a third large 
 room, to be called either library or drawing-room, is 
 required, the whole scale of the house is materially en- 
 larged, and its cost much increased. 
 
 It has been, and is too much the custom, both in 
 town and country houses, to consider the dining-room 
 as a part of the house to be used solely for eating and 
 drinking purposes, and to give it but little attention for 
 that reason. It is, indeed, quite common to find, even 
 in comparatively large houses, a meagrely-furnished 
 apartment in the basement set apart as the scene of 
 whatever daily festivity is carried on in the house. 
 
 If a country residence is built on sloping ground, so 
 that the basement rooms on one front are entirely un- 
 
56 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 obstructed, and are supplied with windows overlook- 
 ing the garden, this objection is not so strong. But 
 even then, the trouble of going up and down stairs to 
 and from the sitting-room is annoying, and it is far 
 preferable to have both rooms near together on the 
 principal floor. But when, as is generally the case, 
 the house is built on level ground, and the lower 
 rooms are lighted solely by area windows, nothing 
 can be more entirely opposed to the idea of freedom 
 that is suggested by life in the country than a base- 
 ment dining-room. It is in this apartment that the 
 different members of the family are sure to assemble 
 several times a day, though they may be almost com- 
 pletely separated at other times by circumstances, or 
 the various pursuits that occupy their attention, and 
 it is highly desirable that such a room should fitly and 
 cheerfully express its purpose, and be one of the most 
 agreeable in the house, so as to heighten the value of 
 this constant and familiar reunion as much as possi- 
 ble, and to encourage in every way, by external influ- 
 ences, a spirit of refinement and liberal hospitality. 
 The fact is, that the art of eating and drinking wisely 
 and well is so important to our social happiness that 
 it deserves to be developed under somewhat more favor- 
 able circumstances than is possible in a basement din- 
 ing-room. There is no necessity in any country house 
 that such a room should be restricted in its use to one 
 purpose. If fitted up with book-cases, and enlivened 
 by engravings, it will be constantly used as a family 
 room, for, with proper pantry arrangements, it can be 
 left entirely free in a few minutes after each meal. 
 
 Design No. 6 was prepared especially to illustrate 
 these remarks. 
 
 When the plan proper is perfected, and all the ac- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 57 
 
 commodation determined on is arranged in the most 
 economical and agreeable manner, there are still two 
 main points that need attention, if the house, however 
 small, is to be healthy and sweet. These are ventila- 
 tion and drainage. Many volumes have been written 
 on the subject of ventilation, and much rhetoric has 
 been expended on the effort to show that lungs require 
 fresh air. But although this is a self-evident propo- 
 sition to any man, woman, or child who will give the 
 subject a moment’s consideration, it is lamentable to 
 perceive that this moment’s consideration is seldom 
 given, and that the common practice of ordinary house- 
 building is in opposition to plain sense so far as ven- 
 tilation is concerned. Yet the leading points may be 
 briefly stated. Any apartment, to be a healthy one, 
 needs a current of air always passing through it, wheth- 
 er the windows are open or shut ; and to insure this, 
 every one must see that it is necessary to have an in- 
 let and an outlet. Now an inlet is commonly pro- 
 vided by the warm air register from the furnace, which 
 should be left open as a cold air register in summer, 
 and is always insured more or less by the opening and 
 shutting of doors. But the outlet requires special at- 
 tention. It should be an orifice suited to the size of 
 the room, opening into a flue that is not a smoke-flue, 
 near the ceiling, for summer ventilation, or for use in 
 colder weather when the apartment is croAvded ; and 
 an orifice opening into a similar flue near the floor for 
 ordinary winter ventilation : this latter great desider- 
 atum is provided to some extent in every room that 
 is furnished with an open fireplace, whether a fire is 
 ever lighted in the grate or not, and for this, if for 
 no other reason, it is desirable that the open fire- 
 place should never be omitted in rooms that are in- 
 
58 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 tended to be occupied either as living or sleeping apart- 
 ments. 
 
 The objection that is generally raised against venti- 
 lation is, that it is uneconomical in winter, more fuel 
 being needed to keep a room warm if there is a free 
 escape for the air, than if its circulation is impeded; 
 and this is granted at once, as far as the expenditure 
 of fuel is concerned, but not as regards economy in any 
 proper sense of the word. It would, of course, be a 
 saving in money if a family should acquire the habit 
 of eating spoiled meat, as such stuff could probably be 
 bought cheap ; but it would be very poor economy ; 
 and it is equally senseless for human beings to feed 
 their lungs with spoiled air, on the plea of saving 
 money by it. 
 
 Efficient drainage is an equally important part of 
 any plan for a residence in the country, and some 
 means of getting rid of the sewerage and waste water 
 must be provided. A complete connected system of 
 pipes communicating with a common sewer is not to 
 be had in the country, and we must, therefore, resort 
 to the plan of a cess-pool or manure tank. This should 
 be placed at some distance from the house, and as far 
 as possible from the well. If the premises are small, 
 and it is necessary that the well should be nearer than 
 100 feet to the cess-pool, the latter must be cemented 
 and rendered thoroughly water-tight, and emptied from 
 time to time, or evil consequences may ensue. This re- 
 ceptacle should be connected with the house by brick 
 drains, or, what is better, by four-inch or five-inch earth- 
 en pipes, if they can be readily procured. All these 
 communications require to be properly trajiped, so that 
 there may be no continuous air-passage from the cess- 
 pool to the house, or noxious gases will certainly rise 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 59 
 
 HC-T 
 
 through the pipes, and be extremely offensive in every 
 way. 
 
 A water-closet, or its equivalent, is an absolute ne- 
 cessity in any house that is proposed to be a conven- 
 ient and agreeable residence ; but as there is some- 
 times a difficulty, and always an expense, in arranging 
 a regular water-closet, it is desirable to invent some 
 simple plan which shall approximate to its advantages 
 at little cost. A necessary abutting on the house, or 
 communicating with it by a covered way, if properly 
 arranged, will answer the purpose. The diagram shows 
 a plan that I have prepared and 
 adopted with advantage in sev- 
 eral cases. The idea is to form 
 a comparatively small receiver, 
 with a circular cone in the cen- 
 tre, immediately under the floor 
 of the closet, both cone and re- 
 ceiver being of brick coated with 
 asphalt, or some cement that 
 will not be affected by frost. On 
 one side this receiver is connect- 
 ed with a rain-pipe from the 
 building, and through a proper trap on the other side, 
 with a drain leading to the regular cess-pool. By this 
 arrangement we have but a small surface exposed to 
 the action of the atmosphere, and this is changed when- 
 ever there is any rain. The object of the cone is to 
 reduce the surface and increase the effect of the wash, 
 Avhile the rain-pipe acts as a ventilator, carrying any 
 gas that may be generated uj) to, and above, the roof 
 of the main house. If the outlet on the roof is near a 
 dormer-window, and it is consequently objectionable to 
 ventilate at this point, the pipe may be constructed as 
 
GO 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 shown at C, and the ventilating tube carried up under 
 the rafters into a chimney, where it 
 can do no harm, while the increased 
 height will insure a draught in the 
 right direction. 
 
 When we consider the trouble- 
 some, unhealthy, indelicate, ugly ef- 
 fect of these outbuildings, as usual- 
 ly constructed, it is certainly worth 
 while to consider this simple plan, 
 which is applicable to any house in 
 any situation, and can hardly get out of order practi- 
 cally, for when the exposed surface freezes up in win- 
 ter, no harm is done, as there is nothing to burst, and 
 no evaporation takes place in very cold weather; 
 while, on the other hand, if a long drought occurs in 
 summer, a few pails of water poured in from time to 
 time will set matters right till a shower comes. Every 
 water-closet, either external or internal, should have a 
 fair-sized window in it, so hung that the upper half, at 
 least, will move up and down. 
 
 It is a peculiarity of warm, soapy wash-water, that 
 it very readily deposits its greasy particles in passing 
 along a cold drain-pipe ; and to avoid the inconven- 
 ience that otherwise ensues at short intervals of time, 
 both from foulness and stoppage, it is desirable to 
 construct a small, tight cess-pool near that part of the 
 house in which the wash-trays or sink are situated — 
 say three feet in diameter and twelve feet from the 
 main wall, with a trap and overflow into the main 
 drain, arranged as shown at D, on the opposite page, 
 and with a piece of straight pipe into it that can be 
 cleaned its whole length from the inside of the house 
 by taking out an air-tight stopper and inserting a long 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 61 
 
 Stick and old cloth. It must also have a cover-stone 
 
 ^4. 4-1-1 /-I 1+ 1 Cl Txr/^l 1 
 
 water, where it cools and coagu- section 
 
 Section 
 
 and into the main drain. Once a 
 
 cess-pool should be cleaned out; 
 
 but it will be readily seen that this is a simple and 
 
 short operation. From the omission to take some 
 precaution of this kind, families are frequently an- 
 noyed both by bad smells from their drains (for this 
 greasy, soapy deposit is more foul than any other) 
 and by the inconvenience and expense of taking up 
 and relaying long lengths of stopped-up drain-pipe ev- 
 ery now and then. 
 
 Having thus briefly remarked on the plan or con- 
 venient arrangement of the accommodation, we pro- 
 ceed to the artistic design of rural buildings, particu- 
 larly of their exteriors, and we must take care, at the 
 outset, not to be deceived as to the true principles 
 and laws that regulate this important part of the 
 subject. 
 
 Architecture is entirely the invention of man, and, 
 as it expresses his needs and his nature, it must neces- 
 sarily be regulated by the laws to which he is subject. 
 At the same time, it is equally clear that it can have 
 
62 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 no independent laws of its own, simply because it has 
 no independent existence. As it seeks to please the 
 eye, its forms and colors should be carefully designed 
 in accordance with the laws of the eye, or it will be a 
 failure, so far as this organ is concerned. As it ad- 
 dresses itself to the intellect, it ought to be orderly 
 and without any appearance of accident in its concep- 
 tion, or it will appear unintellectual. As it appeals 
 to the heart, it requires to be forcibly and artistically 
 true in its expression, or it mil remain a lifeless col- 
 lection of mere building materials; and as it ministers 
 to the soul, it must be beautiful and pure in its inten- 
 tion, or it will be ugly and baneful in its influence. 
 It is always the mirror of its age, accurately reflecting 
 the customs, morals, and science that prevail in any 
 nation at a given period ; and as these have been dis- 
 similar at different times and places, architecture has 
 naturally crystallized in various parts of the world into 
 what we call separate styles. Still, we must never for- 
 get that the elaborate divisions that have thus sprung 
 up, expressed by such words as Grecian, Roman, Goth- 
 ic, or Hindoo, belong to the history^ not the art^ of 
 architecture. The self-same geometry shows itself 
 transparently in all styles, fashions, and orders. The 
 prismatic colors are permanent facts. Human nature 
 is to-day what it always was, and always Avill be, till 
 man ceases to exist as man. There is, therefore, open 
 to us, if we choose to adopt it, one broad, natural, open- 
 air standard of criticism belonging to all architectural 
 works, irrespective of style or fashion. And as this 
 standard is simple and intelligible, it is to be preferred 
 to any narrow, sectional rules dependent on the laws 
 of this style, or the regulations of that order, or the re- 
 quirements of some special professor. We may each. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 63 
 
 if we choose to take the trouble, go to the fountain- 
 head and decide for ourselves. 
 
 The points of climate and atmosphere require, in 
 all countries, careful local analysis before the interior 
 arrangement of any habitation can be successfully 
 adapted to its purpose as a healthy, convenient resi- 
 dence. And they certainly demand no less study, 
 though in another way, if its external appearance is 
 to be judicious and tasteful. In the plan, indeed, each 
 sense, in turn, has to be duly considered, while, in its 
 artistic etfect, but one is appealed to. Yet this one is 
 the most important of all; for the light of the body is 
 the eye, and it is to the eye, with the infinite host of 
 progressive ideas, to which it acts as the mysterious 
 portal, that the design of every building has the op- 
 portunity of artistically ministering. 
 
 Throughout the whole of nature we perceive a strong 
 love for balance, every appearance of repose depending 
 entirely on an equilibrium of antagonistic forces ; and 
 as this state of sensitive balance is the only natural 
 condition of true life and joy in any exercise of the 
 human faculties, the eye partakes of the universal de- 
 sire, earnestly seeking for it in all examples of form 
 and color, including light and shade, in all their va- 
 rieties. 
 
 We may with propriety, so far as our subject is con- 
 cerned, call this balance proportion when speaking of 
 form, and harmony when speaking of color. - Still, it is 
 not sufficient that the various parts of a building should 
 be in proportion to each other, or that it should be, as 
 a whole, harmonious in its actual coloring. It must 
 also possess these qualities when considered with refer- 
 ence to climate, scenery, and surrounding objects. One 
 peculiarity of the American climate is an absence of hu- 
 
64 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 midity in the atmosphere. The weather is generally 
 clear, and the pure, dry air is so transparent, that it 
 permits a distinctness of outline to objects even at a 
 considerable distance from the eye. This habitual 
 freedom from moisture is not confined to any season 
 of the year. We have, undoubtedly, misty, and even 
 foggy days, and these occur not unfrequently in the 
 transition from winter to spring; but for the greater 
 part of the summer, and during the fall and cold 
 months, the bright sun shines out week after week 
 with little intermission. In Italy or the East the air 
 also allows remote objects to be very clearly seen; but 
 it is, at the same time, so sufiused with an attenuated, 
 almost imperceptible, hazy medium, that the direct, 
 glaring rays of the sun are subdued and softened be- 
 fore they meet the eye, and a delicate gradation of 
 perspective distance, with an agreeable variety of har- 
 monious half-tints, is the natural result. In America 
 this seldom occurs. The supply of light is usually 
 free from any mellowing veil : it is, therefore, color- 
 less or white, and very decided in its pictorial charac- 
 ter. A few Indian Summer days in November give 
 us, indeed, some exquisitely-beautiful opportunities for 
 the study of vaporous, dreamy efiects ; but these are 
 soon enjoyed, and pass away, leaving the ordinary, 
 translucent, unclouded character of the atmosphere 
 more apparent than ever. 
 
 The light in America being, therefore, powerful and 
 somewhat trying to the eye, it seems desirable to se- 
 lect arrangements of form and color in rural architect- 
 ure that will rather relieve than increase this fatiguing 
 eflect. It is a well-known fact that, if a person looks 
 steadfastly for a length of time at any decidedly red 
 surface, the next object that occupies his attention will 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 65 
 
 have in it a tinge of green, no matter what its real 
 color may be. Nature thus seeks to restore the equi- 
 librium, and the strained organ is somewhat refreshed ; 
 but it will naturally be much better satisfied if the ob- 
 ject happens to be of a cool, green tint, for the bal- 
 ance will then at once be rapidly and agreeably re-es- 
 tablished. If we apply to form also the optical lesson 
 we thus learn with regard to color, it would seem that 
 we ought to avoid square, monotonous masses, and 
 regular, unbroken extent of surface in American rural 
 architecture, because the climate rarely supplies the 
 shifting, mellow light in which such simjile forms ap- 
 pear to advantage. 
 
 The sky-line of a building should undoubtedly be de- 
 termined, in a great measure, by the scenery in which 
 it is to be located, and it may be either subdued or 
 picturesque, according to the circumstances of each 
 case. But the plan^ which regulates the general de- 
 sign of the mass, and fhe details^ may, with advant- 
 age, be picturesque in almost every situation ; for, in 
 this climate, the eye will be more likely to take pleas- 
 ure in a rural composition that consists of a group of 
 forms well connected and massed together into one in- 
 dividual whole, than in a study characterized by sym- 
 metrical uniformity, however complete it may be ; for 
 the former suggests, at the very outset, a freedom from 
 effort, and offers the opportunity for a gradual exam- 
 ination, if preferred, whereas the latter must be grasped 
 in all its completeness at once, and can only be truly 
 enjoyed as a whole : and this naturally involves a 
 more decided and continual effort on the part of the 
 eye than is required in the other case. If the design 
 is small, or on an economical scale, it may be incon- 
 venient to have any breaks in the plan of the walls ; 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 but some degree of picturesqueness can always be ob^ 
 tained by the treatment of the roof-lines, or by the use 
 of verandas, porches, or bay-windows ; and these feat- 
 ures, if well arranged, are very valuable in any case, 
 for they help to supply the variety of light and shade 
 which is so much needed. The introduction of circu- 
 lar-headed windows, circular projections, or verandas, 
 and of curved lines in the design of the roof, and in 
 the details generally, -will always have an easy, agree- 
 able effect, if well managed ; and curved roofs especial- 
 ly deserve to be introduced more frequently than has 
 
 hitherto been the prac- 
 tice here. The accom- 
 panying sketches. A, B, 
 C, and D, show a few of 
 their varieties. 
 
 The question of color 
 is a most interesting one 
 in any design for a coun- 
 try house, and seems at 
 present but little under- 
 stood in America, by far 
 
 the greater number of houses being simply painted 
 white, with bright green blinds. By this means each 
 residence is distinctly protruded from the surrounding 
 scenery, and instead of grouping and harmonizing with 
 it, asserts a right to carry on a separate business on 
 its own account ; and this lack of sympathy between 
 the building and its surroundings is very disagreeable 
 to an artistic eye. Even a harsh, vulgar outline may 
 often pass without particular notice in a view of rural 
 scenery, if the mass is quiet and harmonious in color ; 
 while a very tolerable composition may injure materi- 
 ally the views near it if it is painted white, the human 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 67 
 
 eye being so constituted that it will be constantly held 
 in bondage by this striking blot of crude light, and 
 compelled to give it unwilling attention. 
 
 When a palace, like that of Versailles, is erected in 
 the midst of formal gardens and terraces on a very 
 large scale, and so arranged that it is the principal 
 feature from every point of view, it is not inappropri- 
 ate that it should be of white marble. There is no- 
 thing more interesting for the eye to rest upon than 
 the building, and the light and shade of the architect- 
 ural decorations, together with the general magnifi- 
 cence of the composition, are set forth to advantage; 
 for pure white, even in large masses, is only disagree- 
 able to the eye when it forces into prominent notice 
 objects of secondary importance. 
 
 In country houses the design has to be adapted to 
 the location, and not the location to the design, for it 
 is undesirable, and generally impracticable, to make 
 the natural landscape subservient to the architectural 
 composition. Woods, fields, mountains, and rivers 
 ivill be more important than the houses that are built 
 among them ; and every attempt to force individual 
 buildings into prominent notice is an evidence either 
 of a vulgar desire for notoriety at any sacrifice, or of 
 an ill-educated eye and taste. The colors of rural 
 buildings should be carefully varied. They should be 
 often cheerful and light, sometimes neutral, seldom 
 dark, and never black or white ; and there is, fortu- 
 nately, no end to the combinations of tints that may 
 be used in painting a house. The constant recurrence 
 of about the same requirements will, of course, lead to 
 much similarity in plan, particularly in small build- 
 ings; but the monotony that this would occasion may 
 be agreeably relieved by variety in color, both in the 
 
68 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 interior and exterior. Different patterns of paper will 
 make two rooms of the same proportions no longer 
 look alike, and the same result will be obtained on the 
 exterior by adopting different tints for the walls and 
 the wood-work. Another important point to be con- 
 sidered is, that it is entirely insufficient to use only 
 one or two shades of color for each house. Every 
 rural building requires four tints to make it a pleas- 
 ant object in the way of color ; and this variety costs 
 but little more than monotonous repetition, while it 
 adds much to the completeness of the effect. The main 
 walls should be of some agreeable shade of color ; the 
 roof-trimmings, verandas, and other wood-work being 
 either of a different color or of a different shade of the 
 same color, so that a contrast, but not a harsh one, 
 may be established. The third color, not widely dif- 
 ferent from the other wood-work, should be applied to 
 the solid parts of the Venetian blinds, and the mova- 
 ble slats should be painted of the fourth tint. This 
 last should be by far the darkest used on the prem- 
 ises, for the effect of a glass window or opening in a 
 wall is always dark when seen from a distance ; and 
 if this natural fact is not remembered, and the shut- 
 ters are painted the same color as the rest of the 
 house, a blank, uninteresting effect will be produced, 
 for when the blinds are closed, which is generally the 
 case, the house, except to a person very near it, will 
 appear to be without any windows at all. This error 
 is often fallen into, and requires to be carefully guard- 
 ed against. It is, however, a very simple and easy 
 matter thus in a few words to lay down common-sense 
 rules that may be advantageously followed in painting 
 all country houses, but it is a very different affair to 
 overcome the difficulties of ignorance and prejudice. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 69 
 
 In some cases the house-painters themselves show a 
 laudable desire to escape from monotonous repetition; 
 but, on the other hand, they are often very trouble- 
 some opponents to reform in this matter. And this is 
 not to be wondered at ; for a mechanic who has been 
 brought up on a chalk-white and spinach-green diet 
 ever since he was old enough to handle a brush, can 
 hardly help having but little taste for delicate variety, 
 because a perpetual contemplation of white lead and 
 verdigris is calculated to have the same effect on the 
 eye that incessant tobacco-chewing has on the palate : 
 in each case the organ is rendered incapable of nice 
 ai^preciation. 
 
 Any person who may wish to have his residence ju- 
 diciously painted will do well to depend on himself to 
 make the selection of colors : and if he will but study 
 the matter simply and fairly, trusting to his real natu- 
 ral instinctive taste, and will regulate his decision by 
 his private feeling for what is agreeable or otherwise, 
 instead of by what he finds next door to him, he will 
 at once cut loose from conventional absurdity, and 
 probably arrive at a result that will be artistic and 
 pleasing. 
 
 It is highly satisfactory that, in this matter of color, 
 which is so important to rural art, there is constant op- 
 portunity for improvement. The necessity for re-paint- 
 ing every two or three years fortunately compels the 
 question to remain always an open one. Ill-planned 
 roads and ugly houses are troublesome to alter; but 
 improved taste may readily satisfy its craving for har- 
 monious color, which will give, in every instance, a 
 most liberal return for whatever outlay of thought or 
 money may be judiciously bestowed on it. 
 
 After the plan and general design of the house are 
 
70 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 decided on, and its prominent features are adapted to 
 the peculiarities of the site, the point of construction 
 yet remains to be settled, and it is one that affects both 
 the comfort and the pocket of the party interested in 
 a very decided manner. 
 
 Houses may be built of wood, brick, or stone, and 
 each of these is well adapted for special purposes. 
 Wood is undoubtedly an unsatisfactory material in 
 one point of view, because it fails in expressing per- 
 manent durability; but there are many positions in 
 which it may be used with advantage for out-build- 
 ings or small cottages, or for larger buildings that are 
 required for temporary purposes. 
 
 Circumstances, indeed, may arise, in which it is de- 
 sirable to construct quite good houses of wood. Thus, 
 if the rough stone of the neighborhood is absorbent 
 of moisture, the lime inferior, the brick porous, and 
 good timber easily obtainable, a house built of wood, 
 and filled in with common brick, will be the most com- 
 fortable and durable residence that can be erected with- 
 out sending an inconvenient distance for material. It 
 is, therefore, quite necessary to study the capabilities 
 and varieties of wooden construction, although it is 
 unquestionably inferior to a more solid and substan- 
 tial method of building. One plan is to use vertical 
 boarding, with battens to cover the joints, for an ex- 
 ternal covering. This mode has some advantages, and 
 its appearance is often preferred. It is well suited 
 for barns or small buildings, where the battens are 
 relatively large enough to form part of the design; 
 but when used on a larger scale, it is apt to give a 
 striped, liny appearance to a house that injures its 
 broad, general effect, and to draw particular attention 
 to the fact that it is built of wood. This fact should 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 71 
 
 not in any way be denied ; but it is not desirable to 
 make it especially prominent, as if it was something 
 to be particularly proud of. It is for this reason that 
 the ordinary mode of horizontal siding seems prefera- 
 ble in most situations. It offers a simple, fair sur- 
 face, that can be broadly treated both in form and col- 
 or, for the slight projection of one board over the oth- 
 er does not give sufficient variety of light and shade to 
 interfere with the general effect as a whole. Another 
 method is to groove and tongue the boards together, 
 and bring all to one smooth surface. This plan has 
 nothing to recommend it; it is more costly, more like- 
 ly to get out of order by expansion and contraction, 
 and is scarcely more agreeable in appearance. It is 
 possible, instead of using siding, to cover a building 
 with shingles, and to cut them into ornamental pat- 
 terns. And this was often done by the Dutch set- 
 tlers ; but the projection is so slight, that not much 
 additional effect is gained, except, perhaps, in quite 
 small buildings, for the impression that a residence of 
 tolerable size makes on the eye depends very little on 
 such merely superficial detail. 
 
 There is a very picturesque mode adopted in Europe 
 of building what are called half-timbered houses ; that 
 is, heavy frames of wood filled in with brick, and plas- 
 tered on the outside on the same face as the framing- 
 pieces, This plan is, I think, scarcely admissible here, 
 except in particular localities, because the alternations 
 of heat and cold are so great that, in time, the plaster 
 is likely to separate from the wood, and the cracks thus 
 formed must be fatal to the soundness of the building. 
 In the neighborhood of Boston, however, I am told 
 that there are some specimens of this mode of con- 
 struction that seem to stand fairly. 
 
72 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 One main thing that has to be attended to in wood- 
 en buildings is to make the corner-boards, the facias, 
 the architraves, and base-boards broad and heavy ; for 
 unless this is done, the house, however strongly con- 
 structed, must inevitably look mean and contemptible. 
 A double corner-board may be introduced in some 
 cases with manifest advantage. 
 
 Pine is undoubtedly a better material than hemlock, 
 yet the latter is much cheaper, and, if of fair quality, 
 is nearly as good for constructive purposes as pine. 
 It is, therefore, quite sufficient in all ordinary build- 
 ings to construct the frame, joists, partitions, and roofs 
 of hemlock, using clear pine for the external and in- 
 ternal fittings and finish. Oak is the best, and, in the 
 end, the most economical material to use for heavy 
 timber across wide ojoenings. Chestnut, in short 
 lengths and well supported, is well suited for rough 
 joists or sleepers required for boarded floors close to 
 the earth ; and locust-wood, though costly, is invalua- 
 ble in moist situations for any posts, furring strips, or 
 other wood-work that comes in direct connection with 
 damp basement walls. For covering roofs of houses 
 in the country there is scarcely any good material so 
 generally available as shingles, if the pitch is not too 
 flat. Slate forms an excellent covering, if of superior 
 quality and well put on, so as not to be loosened or 
 blown off in fierce storms. Tin expands and con- 
 tracts, and has a tendency to get out of order, but 
 still is a very good roofing material when properly 
 put on. Zinc is worthless. Thick canvas is good for 
 flat veranda roofs or small surfaces, being preferable 
 to tin, inasmuch as it suffers less by alternations of 
 temperature, reflects less heat, makes less noise in 
 rainy weather, and takes less time to put on. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 73 
 
 It has been the practice hitherto to depend on the 
 Welsh slate almost entirely, and as this is but of one 
 uniform gray tint, nothing is gained by its use as far 
 as appearance is concerned. But lately, new Ameri- 
 can quarries, supplying slate of different colors, have 
 been opened in various parts of the country, and 
 worked with success. The slate that comes from the 
 Eagle quarries in Vermont is of two tints: the one a 
 rich purple-gray, the other a delicate green. This 
 slate, when arranged on a roof in stripes or patterns, 
 so that the colors are equally represented, has a very 
 agreeable effect, and one that is far superior to that 
 produced by any shingle or metal roof Whenever 
 slate is used, precautions should be taken to prevent 
 any drift of fine snow under the slates. The joints 
 should be laid in mortar, the boarding should be 
 matched, and the pitch of the roof should not be at 
 all flat. In some cases tarred paper is laid over the 
 boarding as an additional safeguard from drift. 
 
 The great advantage of a shingle roof is, that it is 
 scarcely possible for it to get out of order till the wood 
 absolutely rots ; and this takes many years to accom- 
 plish if the shingles are tolerable and the work well 
 done. It also allows of considerable expansion, con- 
 traction, and even settlement, without the slightest in- 
 jury to its efficiency. It is agreeably varied in sur- 
 face, and assumes, by age, a soft, pleasant, neutral tint 
 that harmonizes with any color that may be used in 
 the building. A shingle roof in cities, or even close- 
 ly-built villages, is objectionable in case of fire, be- 
 cause the loose, lighted chips from an adjacent burn- 
 ing building will be likely to inflame it. But this ob- 
 jection does not amount to much in a detached build- 
 ing in the country, the plain fact being that there is 
 
74 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 a risk ; but, all things considered, it is worth while to 
 incur it. 
 
 There are several methods of making wooden build- 
 ings capable of resisting the cold and heat, but none 
 seem so good as filling in with common brick nearly 
 the full thickness of the studs, and then lathing and 
 plastering on the inside. This mode is simple, cheap, 
 and, besides answering its more immediate purposes, 
 it serves to keep out the rats and mice which are 
 apt, after a time, to scramble noisily about a wooden 
 house, or, what is worse, die and be disagreeable in 
 some undiscoverable, out-of-the-way place behind the 
 plastering. 
 
 Hard brick s.et in good mortar is an admirable ma- 
 terial for building the walls of a country house, and is 
 a mode that admits of considerable variety in con- 
 struction and finish. An eight-inch solid wall may be 
 used if the building is of moderate size, but it ought 
 not to be weakened by building floor joists or furring 
 timber into it. The wall should be a solid brick wall 
 throughout. The floor joists should be supported on 
 iron rests affixed to them, and built into the wall as 
 the work proceeds. The furring strips should be the 
 thickness of a mortar joint and half the width of a 
 brick, so that, in the event of their decay, the walls 
 will remain thoroughly sound. An attention to this 
 important point in the construction of all walls is 
 highly necessary. 
 
 In city architecture the joists are commonly built 
 into the walls story after story, thereby materially 
 weakening the brick-work, and causing a result in 
 case of fire that is truly disastrous ; for when a hole 
 is burned in any of the floors, the unsupported joists, 
 acting as powerful levers, very soon heave over the 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 75 
 
 walls into which they are built, and then utter ruin 
 of the building of course ensues. 
 
 In a range of stores, called Commercial Block, that 
 we designed for Mr. Milton J. Stone, and which is 
 now erected in Quincy granite on Commercial Wharf, 
 Boston, the joists are supported on heavy stone cor- 
 bels jutting out from the walls ; and in a warehouse 
 lately finished in Washington Street, New York, for 
 Messrs. Robins and Co., the projections are of brick. 
 The iron rests described above are thus rendered un- 
 necessary; but in domestic buildings it is generally 
 desirable to preserve an uninterrupted cornice line, 
 and for this reason the iron rests, as they take up 
 very little room, may be introduced with advantage 
 in ordinary houses. One great point that is thus 
 gained is to keep the timbers entirely clear of the 
 damp external wall. Common sense can not fail to 
 see the propriety of taking some precautions on this 
 point ; but if any other authority is asked for, we need 
 not be at a loss, for biblical authority shows that it 
 was considered in the construction of Solomon’s Tem- 
 ple. In 1st Kings, c. vi., v. 6, we are told that he 
 made narrowed rests round about, that the beams 
 should not be fastened in the walls of the house. 
 
 Design No. 16, which is not a small house, is built 
 in this manner, with iron corbels. The proprietor was 
 perfectly willing that the brick-work should be one foot 
 thick ; but as the plan is so arranged that the walls 
 assist each other, and are, moreover, strengthened with 
 buttresses, the extra four inches of brick-work seemed 
 a waste^f material, and the house is accordingly built 
 of eight-inch brick-work throughout, and appears to 
 be, to all intents and purposes, a strong and substan- 
 tial building. 
 
76 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 Solid walls require to be furred olf on the inside to 
 receive lathing and plastering; and this applies as 
 forcibly to a wall eight feet thick as to one that is 
 eight inches. A wall one foot thick will be strong 
 enough for almost any country house ; and all the re- 
 marks that have been made with regard to eight-inch 
 walls apply also to those that are thicker. 
 
 Hollow brick walls have many advantages. They 
 are fire-proof, they keep out cold and heat very efii- 
 ciently, they leave a good place for boxing or sliding- 
 shutters, and are very firm and substantial if well con- 
 structed. A wall eight inches thick, with a hollow 
 space of three, four, or five inches, and an inner wall 
 of four inches, is the thinnest hollow wall that can be 
 properly built, and it must be a very large building 
 indeed to require any thing thicker. A course of slate 
 laid in cement should be built in thoroughly the whole 
 thickness of the wall on the line of the base-course, to 
 prevent capillary attraction taking place between the 
 foundation wall and the inner thickness of four-inch 
 brick, on which it is proposed on each floor to plaster 
 without lathing. The bond between the outer and in- 
 ner wall should be of strips of iron, painted or tarred ; 
 for if brick bond is used, there will be a slight connect 
 tion at intervals between the two walls, and in driving 
 storms some damp may possibly get through. The 
 two thicknesses of brick must be entirely and totally 
 distinct if a satisfactory result is to be arrived at. In 
 this trying climate one thing, also, must be borne in 
 mind, that brick is a readier conductor of heat than 
 wood, and, consequently, that a brick inner wall will 
 absorb more of the heat of a room than a wall that is 
 furred off. It will, however, retain the heat longer, 
 and thus, when the house is once thoroughly warmed. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 77 
 
 it will appear to be the warmer mode of construction 
 of the two. The fact, however, that the brick wall is 
 so good a conductor of heat may operate prejudicially 
 if the house is shut up and unwarmed for a lengthened 
 period, because the moisture in the air being warmer 
 than the wall will be apt to condense on its surface 
 like frost on a window-pane, and the wall may possi- 
 bly give signs of dampness, and even injure a delicate 
 paper, when it is in reality as impervious to moisture 
 as the frosted glass already referred to. This is an 
 objection to hollow walls that it does not seem possi- 
 ble to overcome, and which has to be considered be- 
 fore deciding on their adoption in a house. 
 
 Many houses are built with hollow walls, and then 
 furred off on the inside ; but there is more labor in con- 
 structing a hollow wall than a solid one, and the ad- 
 vantage is not very apparent when furring is used, ex- 
 cept sliding-shutters are required. 
 
 The outside surfaces of brick walls may either be 
 left in their natural state, or covered with a coat of 
 boiled oil, or with a lime- wash, or painted or cemented 
 either with or without a subsequent painting. When 
 the materials are good and the color not over red, or- 
 dinary brick-work in its natural state, if pointed with 
 dark mortar, has a very good effect for country houses, 
 and it might with advantage be more generally left un- 
 touched than it is. Creepers Avould then grow on it 
 without being interfered with, and the annoyance and 
 expense of lime-washing or painting every year or two 
 would be avoided. A coat of boiled oil has a good ef- 
 fect where more expensive face-brick are used, both in 
 hardening the surface and equalizing the tint. A lime- 
 wash in two coats is a cheap and effective mode of cov- 
 ering brick-work, and several agreeable tints may thus 
 
78 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 be obtained. Painting a wall three or four coats of 
 good oil-paint is a better, though, of course, more ex- 
 pensive method. The lime-wash sometimes acquires a 
 mouldy look on the stormy side of the house. This is 
 avoided by the use of paint, and any shade of color can 
 thus be arrived at. Cement may be used with advant- 
 age when the quality of the brick is poor ; but it is un- 
 desirable to conceal a good brick wall which is a genu- 
 ine, solid, and permanent piece of construction, under 
 a coat of cement, which offers a less durable surface. 
 It is not often, indeed, that cement stands perfectly 
 in this climate. It is liable to scale off after a year 
 or two ; and although numbers of instances might be 
 cited in which it has been quite successful, covered 
 with a projecting roof and thoroughly painted, it is 
 in no way, that I can see, superior to a good, hard, 
 well-constructed brick wall. A cement surface may, 
 indeed, at a considerable expense, be lined, tinted, 
 sanded, and scored up and down till it becomes a tol- 
 erably fair portrait of free-stone for a few months ; 
 but although some persons may consider the result 
 handsome and satisfactory, it will not fail to convey 
 to others the same disagreeable impression that is pro- 
 duced by seeing the human countenance dressed up 
 with rouge and false hair. 
 
 For covering walls of porous brick or inferior stone 
 cement is available enough ; and those who are con- 
 stantly engaged in its manufacture and use speak high- 
 ly of it as a material for general external work, even 
 without painting. Still, I should always prefer a good 
 brick wall. Yet circumstances will arise in which it is 
 desirable, to try the experiment of cementing ; and I 
 therefore transcribe a portion of an interesting letter 
 I lately received from Mr. Tompkins of the Rondout 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 79 
 
 cement quarries on the subject. There can, indeed, be 
 no doubt but that the success of the work depends 
 quite as much on the way in which it is done as on 
 the material used. 
 
 “First, saturate the surface to be operated upon 
 with water used abundantly (a force-pump and hose 
 is the best method). Secondly, make a wash of liquid 
 cement, as for inside brick walls, applying it with a 
 brush, so that all small cavities may be entirely filled. 
 Then spread on the finishing coat about a quarter of 
 an inch in thickness, and made in proportions of two 
 of sand to one of cement. During the ojieration of 
 putting on this second coat, the first coat of liquid ce- 
 ment should be kept quite damp by frequent sprink- 
 ling. After the cement is upon the wall, it is im- 
 portant that it should be sprinkled with water, so as 
 to keep it damp for a week or two. 
 
 “In making the mortar care should be taken to 
 have none but clean, sharp sand, free from loam and 
 quick-sand. If taken from the sea-shore it should be 
 very thoroughly Avashed with fresh Avater before using. 
 All the cement required is just so much as Avill be sui- 
 ficient to coat each particle of sand. The sand and 
 cement should be thoroughly mixed before Avater is 
 applied, and Avater should be applied to only so much 
 as will be used immediately. The above method was 
 adopted in stuccoing the walls of a house about ten 
 years since, and they are noAV as perfect as Avhen first 
 coated.” 
 
 When thoroughly trustworthy cement can be found 
 that does not require painting, some agreeable and 
 honest effects may be produced by stamping it Avith a 
 pattern ; but till then it is a material that had better 
 be used but sparingly. In England the use of cement 
 
80 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 for surface-work has exercised a most pernicious effect 
 on architecture. “Compo” fronts now swarm in town 
 and country. Cheap materials cheaply run up, and 
 smeared over with Portland or Roman cement, impose 
 for a year or two, perhaps, on the passer-by. But the 
 day of reckoning soon comes, and the peeling, crack- 
 ing, spotty complexion that the false stone assumes 
 proclaims the whole affair a worthless sham and con- 
 temptible failure. Fortunately the use of external ce- 
 ment has made no great progress in America at pres- 
 ent, and it is to be hoped that the more genuine modes 
 of construction will continue to be preferred. 
 
 A very agreeable and superior method for rural 
 buildings is to combine stone of some quiet color, like 
 brown stone, with brick of any color, oiling the brick 
 once for all, but leaving the stone intact, as one coat 
 of oil will utterly destroy its texture and appearance. 
 Wrought stone being an expensive material, this meth- 
 od is not likely to be adopted except in large houses ; 
 but it is well worth while to consider that a great ul- 
 timate saving may be sometimes made by a compara- 
 tively small increased outlay in the first instance, and 
 it certainly does seem unsatisfactory in a house of any 
 pretension that it should every now and then require 
 to be covered all over with some superficial coating to 
 make it agreeable. 
 
 The simplest method of building with stone is to 
 use the gravel wall. This is a wall made of concrete, 
 and is a method of construction of considerable an- 
 tiquity, and common in various parts of Europe. It 
 is described in detail in Mr. Fowler’s work on the sub- 
 ject. Under favorable circumstances it may be cheap- 
 er than brick ; and as it makes as good a wall when 
 thoroughly executed, there are many situations in 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 81 
 
 which it must be desirable to use it. But it is not 
 much in demand at present, and has no perceptible 
 advantage over a rough brick wall. It, moreover, re- 
 (juires to be plastered or cemented on the outside sur- 
 face, which is troublesome. 
 
 Rough stone walls for cottages and country houses 
 have a good effect if the situation and accessories are 
 consistent : and a very sound and picturesque-looking 
 wall may be constructed by using small, rough stones 
 for the body of the work, and red brick for the angles 
 and Avindow-dressings. It is uncommon, hoAvever, in 
 this country to find a taste suited to this bold, uncon- 
 ventional treatment, and undoubtedly for a year or 
 tAvo, till the creepers have groAvn up, it may look 
 rough ; but the ultimate result is most agreeable and 
 country-like, and such a surface Avill require no paint- 
 ing or lime-Avashing, and Avill mellow and improve ev- 
 ery year. 
 
 Houses that are built of squared broAvn stone have 
 a melancholy, dingy, monotonous, and uninteresting 
 look, and it is a material that ought not to be used in 
 large, flat masses. Marble is too Avhite to be agreea- 
 ble in the country. Squared blue stone is cold, pris- 
 on-like, and repellant for ten or tAveRe years, but it 
 then begins to be affected by the Aveather, and, by de- 
 grees, assumes a very beautiful, soft, golden-gray tint. 
 Ten or tAvelve years, hoAvever, is a long time to wait 
 in America. Granite is still colder and more expres- 
 sionless than blue stone, Avith the additional disad- 
 vantage that it is Avholly uninfluenced by time. Stone 
 from Caen, in Normandy, has lately been introduced 
 into Ncav York, and is used to some extent. It is a 
 beautiful material, and very delicate in color, but un- 
 equal in quality, unless specially imported from ivell- 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 known firms. It seems, however, a little unnatural 
 for a continent like this to seek building materials in 
 Europe, and there can be little doubt but that a strict 
 geological examination will, after a time, supply us 
 with many new varieties of building-stone. A capital 
 free-stone, of a pleasant, soft tint, has lately come into 
 use, brought from the Dorchester quarries, Westmore- 
 land County, New Brunswick. 
 
 As it is only proposed in these remarks to give a 
 cursory view of the more prominent building mate- 
 rials and modes of construction, it is scarcely neces- 
 sary to pursue this part of our subject into all its va- 
 rious branches, and we may take leave of it with the 
 general recommendation to those who are about to 
 build, to spare no pains to obtain the services of hon- 
 est, intelligent master-mechanics, as deficiencies of con- 
 struction and execution, and heavy bills of extras, are 
 more frequently the result of dull incapacity and stu- 
 pid neglect than of a grasping disposition, or of a will- 
 ful intention to deceive. 
 
 It only remains now, before entering upon the gen- 
 eral description of the designs that form the staple of 
 this volume, to take a passing glance at the principal 
 features of detail that occur in country residences ; and 
 the 'porch., or entrance, suggests itself as having the 
 priority of claim to our notice in this respect. This 
 part of the design is the first that appeals to the at- 
 tention of a visitor, and admits of much character and 
 expression. A large house may be spoiled by a mean 
 porch, and the interior effect of a small, compact house 
 will appear dwarfed and contracted if it is approached 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 83 
 
 through a pretentious entrance-porch. Experience has 
 developed several marked varieties of design in this 
 prominent feature of every attractive rural home, and 
 each has its distinctive peculiarity of plan or purpose. 
 The simplest and most economical way to obtain the 
 temporary shelter from heat, cold, or storm, that it is 
 the office of a porch to provide, is to shut off a recess 
 from the interior of the hall, or passage-way, by an in- 
 ner door. This method is shown at 
 A, and answers in practice fairly 
 enough, but it does not express its 
 purpose of shelter very decidedly. 
 It suggests the idea of an easy, con- 
 venient entrance to the interior of 
 the house, but, in many situations, 
 we want more than this. We need 
 something that shall indicate the protection from the 
 weather that the porch offers, and 
 give life, and light, and shade to 
 the design. This result may, in 
 a measure, be obtained by putting 
 a boldly-projecting hood over the 
 opening; and an instance of this 
 method is illustrated at B. The 
 sketch of an elevation given at 
 
 C may serve to explain a variety of 
 porch design that deserves much more 
 attention in this climate and country 
 than it has yet received. It is intend- 
 ed to be constructed of timber, framed 
 and braced, and may be either put to- 
 gether in a rough, rude way, and cov- 
 ered with vines and creepers, or elab- 
 orated with any amount of decoration 
 
84 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 that may be considered suitable. It should project 
 
 eight or ten feet from the 
 building, even in small cot- 
 tages, and have a bold, over- 
 hanging roof. This style of 
 porch almost supplies the 
 place of a veranda on the 
 side of the house where it 
 occurs, and may be fitted 
 with glazed frames and an 
 outer door for winter use, 
 if preferred. The porch 
 shown at D is also of wood, 
 but in a somewhat different 
 style. In this case it is proposed to supply an inclosed 
 vestibule at all seasons of the year, but the outer doors 
 Avould probably be unhinged and put away during the 
 summer months. Sometimes a veranda, such as E, 
 
 may supply the place of a j)orch, and serve as a pro- 
 tection to the front entrance. It will not jjrobably be 
 convenient to inclose entirely a veranda-porch at any 
 season of the year, but the open end^ or ends, can eas- 
 ily be shut up during the cold months ; and if this 
 precaution is taken, it will make a considerable differ- 
 ence in the value of the shelter afforded in stormy 
 weather. It is not an uncommon practice to provide 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 85 
 
 a little plain box-porch, the size of the front door, for 
 winter use under verandas ; but 
 this arrangement is sure to be un- 
 sightly, and to have a meagre, in- 
 complete look. Where a veranda 
 runs the whole length of a front, 
 and the porch occurs in connec- 
 tion with it, it may with propri- 
 ety be either of brick or stone. F 
 shows a simple arrangement 
 for brick, and G a more elab- 
 orate study for stone con- 
 struction. Another method 
 is to inclose a projection, 
 and put a balcony over the 
 entrance -arch. This plan, 
 as will readily be seen, ad- 
 mits of considerable varie- 
 ty of design, and its prin- 
 ciple may be understood by 
 
 means of sketch H. The most 
 complete arrangement is to pro- 
 ject the porch clear of the build- 
 ing, and arrange a carriage-way 
 through it. But this plan is 
 scarcely suitable to any but large, 
 handsome residences, not alone 
 on account of its cost, but be- 
 cause the minimum size actually 
 required for the convenient ad- 
 mission of a carriage is not like- 
 ly to be in good proportion with 
 the other parts of a villa of 
 comparatively small dimensions. 
 
86 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 An example of a porte cochere of this sort, with a sin- 
 gle arch on each side, is shown 
 at I ; and another, with three 
 openings in front, and one ellip- 
 tical arch at the side, is shown 
 at K, 
 
 Porches may be fitted up with 
 permanent or movable seats; 
 but these should be of wood in 
 preference to iron, as the latter 
 is a very cold, unyielding, and unsatisfactory material 
 for such a purpose. They may be floored with wood, 
 or paved with stone or marble, in two tints, or with a 
 
 simple pattern of ornamental tiles. The latter are not 
 expensive, and have as cheerful and pleasant an ap- 
 pearance as any thing that can be used ; but they need, 
 in laying, much more care than is usually bestowed by 
 country masons, as they are liable to get loose and 
 crack with changes of temperature, if the surface is at 
 all irregular or uneven. The pattern should be very 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 87 
 
 simple, as, otherwise, an expectation of richness and 
 elaboration in detail may be raised on the threshold, 
 to which the interior of the house may fail to respond, 
 and a disagreeable inconsistency will thus be apparent, 
 which the remembered beauty of the paving will in 
 no degree help to reduce. 
 
 Entrance-doors may be divided 
 into three principal varieties : the 
 single door, shown at A, whicli 
 may be either solid or glazed, with 
 an iron grating — the double door, 
 
 B, and the door with side-lights, 
 
 C. When the door is glazed the lights may, if pre- 
 ferred, be hung on hinges from a centre rail, so as to 
 let air into the hall without opening the door. The 
 side-lights should always be hung as sashes. In some 
 cases a sliding or folding inner solid door is construct- 
 ed for protection, but the iron grat- 
 ing answers all the purpose, and the 
 glass may be ornamental, so as to 
 give the light required without ex- 
 posing any view into the hall from 
 the porch ; and it is always worth 
 remembering that a glazed door il- 
 luminated from the inside has at night a much more 
 agreeable and sociable appearance to any one apjiroach- 
 ing than a solid hall-door. 
 
 The porch leads into the^9rmc2^aZ hall^ which should 
 connect easily, and, to some extent, symmetrically, with 
 the rooms. It materially lowers the character of a hall, 
 especially of a large one, if the positions of the various 
 openings, etc., are unstudied and irregular; two doors, 
 perhaps, clustering together at one spot, while a third 
 lonely one is penned up tight in a corner, with insuf- 
 
88 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 licient room for the casing round it. The result in 
 
 such cases is an appearance 
 of carelessness^ not of free- 
 dom^ in design. A shows 
 a sketch for the end of a 
 hall of but moderate dimen- 
 sions, in which are many 
 doors. By this plan two 
 doors are grouped togeth- 
 er, with a panel and solid 
 bracketed shelf between them, thus avoiding the mo- 
 notonous effect of a series of doors of the same height, 
 the sides being 
 treated in a sim- 
 ilar manner, and 
 tilled in with pic- 
 tures in the pan- 
 els. B shows the 
 side of a larger 
 hall, in which the 
 blank space that 
 Avould otherwise occur between the two doors is fitted 
 Avith an arched recess and seat on one side, and with 
 console-table, looking-glass, hat-pegs, and clock on the 
 other. C illustrates an open hall, with a staircase be- 
 yond. In this plan the 
 upper flight of the prin- 
 cipal stairs is supported 
 on the arcade, and the 
 tAVO halls being thus 
 connected together, a 
 light, airy effect is pro- 
 duced, that is free from 
 any practical objection, 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 89 
 
 if a servants’ staircase is also provided for on the plan. 
 
 D illustrates a method 
 of getting over the dif- 
 ficulty of an opening at 
 the extreme end of the 
 side of a hall. A light 
 screen marks the passage- 
 way, and gives regularity 
 and some individuality to 
 the design Avithout mak- 
 ing it less light or airy. The 
 plan of a hall in which this 
 arrangement is introduced 
 may be seen on the princi- 
 pal floor of Design No. 12. 
 
 E is a similar example, but 
 of a less expensive and more 
 open character. 
 
 From the hall we may 
 proceed to the library^ Avhich is an apartment in ver}- 
 general demand in most country houses. It need not 
 be of large dimensions under any circumstances, but 
 should be so arranged that, even Avhen occupied b}' 
 only one or tAvo j)ersons, it may have a cheerful, do- 
 mestic look. It may be adapted to its special pur- 
 pose in various Avays. The simplest mode is, per- 
 haps, to recess book-cases, 
 as shown at O, on each 
 side’ of a door, fitting each 
 Avith a dAvarf closet for 
 papers or magazines, and 
 these recesses should be 
 prepared for Avhile the 
 house is being constructed. 
 
90 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 P shows another somewhat similar arrangement, but 
 
 with glazed doors and 
 without the dwarf closets 
 underneath. In a library 
 the book-cases fill it up 
 considerably, and some- 
 times a door of commu- 
 nication is needed where 
 it will occupy valuable 
 space and be unsightly. 
 This difficulty may be overcome by having one of the 
 book-cases hung on hinges, and made to answer the 
 purpose of a door; or an imitation book-case, with book- 
 backs corresponding 
 with the other vol- 
 umes, may be used. 
 
 Q illustrates an ex- 
 ample that has been 
 used in a small, sym- 
 metrically-planned li- 
 brary, the only visible 
 approach to which is 
 from the principal hall by sliding-doors ; but two of 
 the book-cases are hung and fitted with an inconspicu- 
 ous catch, so as to swing Avhen needed, books and all, 
 and a private communication is thus afforded with a 
 boudoir on one side, and with the staircase-hall on 
 the other. 
 
 In a really large library the books should occupy 
 the whole wall space, except a range of wide, inclosed 
 shelves all round for unbound books, etc. If an ex- 
 tensive library is needed to a house of but moderate 
 dimensions, it seems desirable to divide it by projec- 
 tions into compartments, so that its height may not 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 91 
 
 appear out of proportion to its length and width. 
 Such an arrangement is 
 shown at plan R. The 
 library proper is thus di- 
 vided, so far as its ap- 
 pearance to the eye is con- 
 cerned, into four separate 
 parts; but it is neverthe- 
 less, to all intents and pur- 
 poses, practically one large 
 
 room. Plan S shows the design 
 of the ornamental, ribbed ceil- 
 ing, which is so arranged that 
 there are many transverse lines, 
 and but few in the direction of 
 the length of the room, the eye being 
 thus drawn to the separate compart- 
 ments as much as possible. T shows 
 an elevation of the end of this room, 
 which has lately been erected, in con- 
 nection with other improvements, for J udge Kent, at 
 Fishkill Landing, and now contains his valuable library 
 
 of eleven or twelve thou- 
 sand volumes. The gen- 
 eral appearance of the 
 exterior of this library, 
 with the rooms over it, 
 as finished, is shown at 
 U.* 
 
 * This study m.ay also serve as a further illustration of the remarks made 
 with reference to alterations and additions in describing Design 17. The house, 
 as purchased, was a fairly-proportioned, square country residence, with a kitch- 
 en wing so injudiciously arranged that it obscured the most attractive view 
 from the windows of the principal rooms. The existing wing building was, 
 therefore, taken down entirely, and the new library was designed in its place. 
 
 R. 
 
92 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 V illustrates a design, made for my own use, for a 
 small book-case that can be screwed to 
 the side of a room. The doors are 
 glazed, and the whole affair takes up but 
 little space, and is suited to a small li- 
 brary or study, as it allows of a table to 
 be set against the wall beneath it. Such 
 a book-case, made of black walnut at a cost of $25, 
 holds about eighty or ninety ordinary 
 volumes. W shows a sketch of a some- 
 what larger movable book-case, planned 
 by Mr. Withers, for a recess beside his 
 fire-place. The upper central space is 
 uninclosed, and filled with shelves for 
 the reception of small objects of inter- 
 est. The compartments on each side 
 are glazed for books. The central com- 
 partment below is for bound volumes of journals. 
 The side spaces are fitted up with shelves and doors 
 as lock-up closets for papers, etc. This book-case is 
 made of oak, with the introduction of black walnut 
 
 so that a wide veranda now commands the extensive prospect that before was 
 lost, and the kitchen offices were rebuilt to the north of the library, so as to 
 shield as much as possible this unusually large room from the winter storm. 
 The staircase was planned anew, and an inclosed veranda (so arranged as to 
 protect the otherwise exposed northwest corner of the library from the cold) 
 supplied large pantries and other useful accessories on the principal floor. In 
 other respects the old house was left intact, except that a bath-room and water- 
 closet were provided for in the chamber plan, and proper provision was made 
 for warming and ventilating. In the new building several other bedrooms were 
 provided over the library, and the house, at an additional cost of about $11,000, 
 was made as complete in every way as the circumstances of the case admitted. 
 The result, I am led to think, was satisfactory, as Judge Kent, in a note of the 
 12th January, 1855, in which he speaks of the great advantage derived by his 
 servants in extremely cold weather from boarding up temporarily the veranda 
 to the north of the kitchen wing, adds, “ I beg to say that, on my part, I am 
 much pleased with the result of your labors. My house is very much to my 
 taste. The exterior is, I believe, generally admired, and the interior arrange- 
 ments make it the most comfortable house I ever lived in.” 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 93 
 
 for the mouldings, and cost $55. X is a little sketch 
 for a hanging book-shelf, suited to a bed- 
 room or small study. Such designs, how- 
 ever, come, perhaps, more under the head 
 of furniture than architectural arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 In the dining-room several useful feat- 
 ures may be architecturally managed. The 
 side-board, for example, may be arranged 
 in a recess, as shown 
 at A, with a door to 
 a private closet on 
 one side, and a pan- 
 try, or service-room, 
 on the other. This 
 idea admits of num- 
 berless modifications, 
 and has always a rich 
 effect if well managed. At B is illustrated the end of 
 a dining-room opening on to a plant cabinet, or small 
 
 conservatory. The 
 glass doors of com- 
 munication are fitted 
 with slightly - orna - 
 mented glass, so as to 
 decrease the monot- 
 ony of effect that 
 would otherwise oc- 
 cur, while enough 
 clear glass is left to 
 give a good view of the flowers, etc., when the sliding- 
 doors are closed. And it may be worth while to re- 
 mark here, that such a conservatory should be ar- 
 ranged for the display of flowers rather than for their 
 
94 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 cultivation, which may be more conveniently attended 
 
 to elsewhere. C 
 is an elevation of 
 the side of a din- 
 ing-room designed 
 and executed for 
 Mr. H. W. Sar- 
 gent. The three 
 woods, black wal- 
 nut, oak, and yel- 
 low pine, are used 
 in combination, and the result, in execution, shows how 
 valuable these woods are for internal decoration when 
 used in their pristine simplicity and merely oiled. This 
 effect of color, which is a principal part of the design, 
 is not, of course, to be understood from the annexed 
 sketch, which is a mere indication of the general idea. 
 In this room the left hand panel slides up easily, and 
 discloses a large dumb waiter, or lift, communicating 
 at once with the cooking kitchen. On the opposite 
 corner of the room is a self-balanced trap-door in the 
 floor, which supplies, by an easy staircase, the only 
 means of access to a small, private brick cellar, prop- 
 erly ventilated. This door can be lifted up, by a lit- 
 tle key fitting into a patent lock, at any time, the car- 
 pet being suitably arranged, and the cellar is conse- 
 quently under complete and convenient control by the 
 master of the house at any moment. The butler’s 
 pantry is close to the dining-room, but a passage in- 
 tervenes, which connects with a lavatory and water- 
 closet, and also with a garden and conservatory en- 
 trance. These latter are all close to the dining-room, 
 without connecting directly with it. The wall panels 
 are filled in with a richly-embroidered material, and 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 95 
 
 the ceiling is paneled in plaster, and tinted, to har- 
 monize Avith the rest of the design. Permanent side- 
 boards, introducing the three woods, and suitable in 
 style to the room, are put up ; and the chimney-piece 
 has also been specially designed for this apartment. 
 It is illustrated as a vignette to Design No. 19, 
 
 The pleasant and harmonious result that may ahvays 
 be obtained by a judicious treatment of unpainted ma- 
 terials in the interior of a house is Avell deserAung of 
 consideration. Ceilings and floors may be decorated in 
 this manner as well as side-Avalls ; and D may serve as 
 
 D 
 
 a hint for a simple floor in two tints, adapted to an 
 entrance-hall or small study. 
 
 The drawingroom^ or best parlor, next suggests it- 
 self to our notice. This room, although intended to 
 be a strong point in every American liouse, is often 
 made its least satisfactory feature. I have noticed 
 one style, for example, Avhich, in all probability, most 
 of my readers have also seen. The Avails are hard-fin- 
 ished white, the wood-Avork is white, and a Avhite mar- 
 ble mantle-piece is fitted over a fire-place Avhich is never 
 used, as there is a stove in the room or a furnace in 
 the house. The floor is covered' witli a carpet of ex- 
 cellent quality, and of a large and decidedly sprawling 
 pattern, made up of scrolls and floAvers in gay and 
 vivid colors, A round table Avith a cloth on it, and a 
 
96 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 thin layer of books, in smart bindings, occupies the 
 centre of the room, and furnishes about accommoda- 
 tion enough for one rather small person to sit and 
 write a note at, A gilt mirror finds a place between 
 the windows. A sofa, by courtesy so called, occupies 
 irrevocably a well-defined space against the wall, but 
 it is just too short to lie down on, and too high and 
 slippery, with its spring, convex seat, to sit on with 
 any comfort. It is also cleverly managed that points 
 or knobs (of course ornamental and French polished) 
 shall occur at all those places toward which a weary 
 head would naturally tend, if leaning back to snatch 
 a few moments’ repose from fatigue. The sofa is, in- 
 deed, the “representative” man of the room, and con- 
 centrates in itself the whole spirit of discomfort that 
 reigns unmolested in every square foot of the apart- 
 ment. There is, also, a row of black walnut chairs, 
 
 • with horse-hair seats, all ranged against the white 
 wall. A console table, too, under the mirror, if I re- 
 member rightly, with a white marble top and thin gilt 
 brackets. I think there is a piano. There is, cer- 
 tainly, a triangular stand for knicknacks, china, etc., 
 and this, with some chimney ornaments, completes the 
 furniture, which is all arranged according to stiff, im- 
 mutable law. The windows and Venetian blinds are 
 tightly closed, the door is tightly shut, and the best 
 room, that I am now thinking of, is, in consequence, 
 always ready for — what? for daily use? Oh, no; it is 
 in every way too good for that. For weekly use? No, 
 not even for that — but for company use ; and thus the 
 choice room, with the pretty view, is sacrificed, to keep 
 up a conventional show of finery that pleases no one, 
 and is a great, though unacknowledged, bore to the 
 proprietors. Such is one style of best parlor to be 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 97 
 
 found in America ; and though it is by no means uni- 
 versal, it is far too general for comfort. A drawing- 
 room like this becomes a sort of quarantine in whicli 
 to put each plague of a visitor that calls ; and one al- 
 most expects to see the lady of the house walk in with 
 a bottle of camphor in her hand, to prevent infection, 
 she seems to have such a fear that any one should step 
 within the bounds of her real every-day home life. 
 All this is absurd. No room in any house, except, 
 perhaps, in a very large mansion, ought to be set 
 apart for company use only. If a reception-room for 
 strangers is needed, it should be a small, unpretending 
 room, certainly not the most agreeably situated apart- 
 ment in the house, which should he enjoyed daily^ for 
 it is not the having any good thing, but the using it, 
 that gives it its value. A friend of mine, when mak- 
 ing arrangements to rent a small suburban house, hap- 
 pened to remark that he should occupy the back par- 
 lor as a dining-room, and the landlady seemed really 
 quite overwhelmed with the idea, which she evidentl}' 
 thought an unwarrantable innovation. “All the best 
 families,” she said, “lived in the basement. Why use 
 such a beautiful parlor merely for an eating room ?” as 
 if eating was a degrading occupation. Let us return, 
 however, to our dramng-room. A best parlor ought 
 to express, in its proportions, colors, and arrangement 
 of furniture, an agreeable, hearty, social welcome. The 
 lady who studied her room when her guests had de- 
 parted, after a lengthened and agreeable visit, so as to 
 learn how the furniture had accommodated itself, as it 
 were, to suit the social convenience of her friends, and 
 who then modified her previous ideas accordingly, had 
 the true artistic eye for beauty of arrangement, and 
 certainly deserved to have a pleasant circle of acquaint- 
 
98 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 ance. There are but few strictly architectural features 
 in a drawing-room that call 
 for illustration. Good pro- 
 portions can be supplied ; 
 but the lady of the house is 
 the most important archi- 
 tect here. A bay-window 
 is a very desirable addition 
 to such a room, as it breaks 
 up the monotony of outline, and gives a more free and 
 
 open effect. Studies for inte- 
 rior arches to such windows 
 are shown at A, B, C, and D. 
 
 As we have now passed 
 through the principal rooms, 
 we may 
 
 glance at the chamber plan. 
 The staircase is a very char- 
 acteristic feature in a house, and a convenient adapta- 
 tion of the height of risers, 
 breadth of treads, height of 
 railings, plan of landings, 
 and finish of newel posts, 
 adds more than would, at 
 first sight, be supposed, to 
 the general comfort of the 
 house ; for this part of the 
 
 design is common to all of 
 the residents, and is, more- 
 over, sure to be in constant 
 use. A simple and econom- 
 ical arrangement is to have 
 a plain turned newel post 
 and turned baluster. This 
 
 proceed to take a 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 99 
 
 plan also admits of much ornamentation, and an en- 
 riched specimen is shown at L. M illustrates an oc- 
 
 tagonal newel post. N shows a staircase of higher 
 character for a large hall, with continuous string and 
 newel post at each landing; and such a staircase has 
 a fine effect Avhen well constructed of hard Avood, par- 
 ticularly if it is fitted Avith a skirting, or dado, and 
 half hand-rail against the Avail, folloAving the rise of 
 the stairs on the same line as the 
 main hand-rail. O shoAvs a design 
 of still higher pretension, in Avhich 
 the balusters are dispensed Avith, 
 and the space filled Avith open tra- 
 cery. In this idea of a design all 
 the forms are made to adapt them- 
 selves to the general upAvard line 
 of the staircase, and a more easy and graceful effect 
 can be arrived at in this Avay than in any other. It 
 involves, hoAvever, like most superior arrangements, an 
 increase in cost, and can, therefore, only be adopted 
 occasionally in large houses. 
 
 On arriving at the chamber floor Ave naturally ex- 
 pect to find a bath-room and ivater-closet. Some per- 
 sons have a prejudice against planning these tAvo con- 
 veniences in the same apartment ; but my oaati expe- 
 rience is in favor of placing them together in a house 
 
100 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 of moderate size, as the advantages of saving of space, 
 free ventilation, and plenty of room to move about in, 
 more than compensate, in practice, for the slight in- 
 convenience that must certainly occur now and then, 
 if both bath and closet happen to be required for use 
 by different members of the family at the same time. 
 It may be well here to advise any one who fits up a 
 water-closet inside a house, to ventilate the basin with 
 a half-inch pipe carried behind the furring into a flue, 
 as well as to ventilate the room by a register near the 
 ceiling. A house-maid’s sink saves a good deal of 
 trouble if properly managed ; but it should not be in 
 the bath-room, but near the attic stairs, or wherever 
 it can be most privately located, so as to be well light- 
 ed and available for constant use. A speaking-tube, 
 with whistle attached, should be fitted to connect this 
 floor with the kitchen department ; and a dust-shaft, 
 if well placed and judiciously planned, is a labor-sav- 
 ing addition to the accessories, as is also a lift for coal- 
 hods, or to send down clothes for the wash, if it can 
 be cleverly managed so as not to waste valuable space. 
 A linen-press is a universal requirement ; but, with 
 the exception of a roomy closet for towels, etc., this 
 convenience, in a moderately-sized house, may just as 
 well be provided for in the attic, where there is likely 
 to be more room to spare. Any superior room or 
 press for woolens or linens should be supplied with 
 cedar shelves. 
 
 We have now fairly arrived at the bedrooms. A 
 bedroom for a lady’s use, to be complete, should have 
 two windows on one side, so that a looking-glass and 
 dressing-table may be placed between the two lights, 
 and, if possible, a window on one of the other sides, 
 so as to obtain a thorough draught through the room 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 101 
 
 whenever it may be required. Each bedroom should 
 have a ventilator in it, and 
 one or two closets. These 
 may be arranged in connec- 
 tion with the windows on the 
 sides or ends of the room, if 
 
 and give a recessed bay 
 and seat. Q and R show two studies for this sort of 
 arrangement, which, as will be seen in the designs to 
 be hereafter described, I take every fair opportunity 
 of introducing. 
 
 preferred, so as to improve th( 
 appearance of the apartment. 
 
 Attic bedrooms may be so planned as to alFord a 
 valuable addition to the accommodation of a country 
 house. A more extended view is generally to be ob- 
 tained from these rooms than from the rest of the 
 house, and as they may be made quite as comfortable, 
 though not, of course, so symmetrical, as the .second 
 floor chambers, they deserve a fair share of considera- 
 'tion; and the economical advantages they offer have 
 frequently led me, in practice, to advise the use of a 
 high-pitched roof, Avith a flat on the top. The acute 
 angle of the roof precludes the possibility of any large 
 surface being exposed to the vertical rays of the sun, 
 and the flat on the top, being furred down some three 
 or four feet, supplies an air-chamber above the attic 
 
102 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 ceiling that acts as a satisfactory shield from the heat, 
 g This space can be floored and fitted with 
 ^ staii’case, and used as a lumber garret, 
 if thought worth while. This plan of ar- 
 ranging the roofs, so as to increase the 
 - value of the attic rooms without loss of 
 exterior effect, has been so generally ap- 
 ^ proved, that I can, with confidence, rec- 
 ommend it to the examination 
 of all who intend to build coun- 
 try houses of moderate size. The 
 flat is not noticeable from below, 
 as the ridge lines alone are ap- 
 parent ; and many to whom I 
 have explained the principle of 
 arrangement by an actual visit to executed houses, 
 have expressed their surprise at finding a large, near- 
 ly level space, on the top of a house that showed no 
 sign of any thing of the sort to a passer-by. Some 
 further remarks are made on this subject in describing 
 Design No, 7, Studies for arranging attic windows 
 and closets are shown at G and H, 
 
 The roofs and gables of a country house may be de- 
 signed in many different ways, and some of their prin- 
 cipal varieties may be seen on reference to the accom- 
 
 panying little sketches. Fig, 1 is a high-pitched gable, 
 with verge-board. Fig, 2 shows a similar gable hipped 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 103 
 
 back, which entirely alters its character. The eaves 
 may be curved, as here shown, if preferred. Fig. 3 
 
 shows a gable of flatter pitch, with cantilevers. Fig. 4, 
 a corresponding gable, with pendant flnish. Fig. 5, a 
 
 curved gable, with pendant finish. Fig. 6, a roof with 
 a single convex curve. Fig. 7, a concave curve. Fig. 
 
 8, an ogee curve ; and Fig. 9 another form of ogee 
 curve. Each of these forms is available in one situa- 
 tion or another, and I believe all are introduced in the 
 accompanying designs. 
 
 Dormer-windoivs are of several sorts, according to 
 the style of the house. They are often made too 
 small, and considerable comfort and effect is thereby 
 lost, for a small one costs very nearly as much as a 
 large one, and is not half so available. A dormer 
 is a capital feature in a country house, and never need 
 
104 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 be ashamed of itself, or try to shrink out of sight. 
 
 A shows a study for a single large window. B, 
 another one, hipped back, with curved eaves. C, a 
 study for a dormer with double win- 
 dow; and D a picturesque arrange- 
 ment for bringing a dormer forward, 
 and making it a more important part 
 of the design. The perspective effect 
 of this latter arrangement may be seen 
 in Designs No. 4 and 31. A dormer 
 in a different style is shown as a vig- 
 D nette to Design No. 22. 
 
 Verge-hoards and finials admit of endless variety of 
 design, and some studies for these details are shown at 
 E and F, and in the vignette to Design No. 21. 
 
 Rain-water pipes, as generally planned, are most 
 unsightly accessories to a country house. They need 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 105 
 
 never be so. On the contrary, they may often be made 
 valuable helps in design, as they can be used to mark 
 a vertical line in the composition where there is no 
 projection in the plan. Instead of being circular, 
 as generally made, they should be semi-circular, so 
 that they may rest flat against the wall surface ; and 
 they should also be fitted with heads, and the pipe 
 that conveys the water from the roof should be car- 
 ried into them with a curved line from the level of 
 the gutter, instead of being cut through the cornice in 
 the common, slovenly, broken-backed way that disfig- 
 ures nineteen out of twenty country houses in Amer- 
 
 ica. G and H are illustrations showing the foot of 
 verge-board and construction of gutter in a roof with 
 curved eaves. The mode of continuing the gutter to 
 the rain-water head applies also to any roof in which 
 the gutter is cut out of the rafters. Some designs for 
 heads are shown at I and K. 
 
 Chimneys are the very first 
 things that catch the eye, 
 and the last to escape from 
 observation. They should, 
 therefore, be well studied. 
 
 and have a substantial, hos- 
 pitable look. All clay pots^ 
 pretty or ugly, should be 
 
106 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 fJyTTMirPTIirrT 
 
 faithfully eschewed, for they are the most mean, shab- 
 by, dwarfish features that can be added to a house. A 
 plain brick shaft, without any relief whatever, is to be 
 preferred to the most fanciful pot that money can pur- 
 chase. But there is no need to make the brick chim- 
 ney so very plain ; the flues may be grouped together 
 in many different ways, and set-offs may easily be made 
 in the brick-work. A shows a stack of six flues, sim- 
 ply finished with a blue stone 
 on the top. Chimneys should 
 always seem to stride the ridge, 
 and never appear to sit on it 
 side-saddle fashion, for a very 
 disagreeable monotony of line 
 will be the result if this point 
 is not attended to. Where a 
 case of this sort occurs, it is 
 best to work out to a square or cross before leaving 
 the roof, such as B. A plan is shown as a vignette 
 to Design 24, in which, as there are many flues intro- 
 duced, the ventilating openings are arranged at a low- 
 er level, to reduce the heaviness of effect that would 
 otherwise ensue. A stone 
 and brick chimney-stack is 
 shown at C, and an elabo- 
 rate stone shaft at D. As 
 a general rule, it is prefer- 
 able to plan the interior of 
 a house so that the chim- 
 neys may start from the 
 ridge, as it saves heat and 
 prevents any chance of the chimneys smoking. But 
 circumstances alter cases, and it is now and then al- 
 most necessary to plan them in the outer walls. A 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 107 
 
 few specimens of this style of chimney may be seen in 
 the perspective views hereafter submitted, such as in 
 Designs No. 3 and 37. 
 
 Ventilators are often useful both for convenience 
 and artistic effect. Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 show some 
 
 of their varieties of design that have occurred to me 
 in practice. They can conceal an Emerson’s venti- 
 lator, if preferred ; but if the air-pipes are brought to- 
 gether at this point near the ridge of the roof, the 
 simple outlet will, in most situations, be found suffi- 
 cient. They need to be planned with a proper escape 
 for the water that will find its way into them in rain^■ 
 weather, or the practical result will be unsatisfactory. 
 
 Hoods to ivindoivs in American country houses are 
 features that seem to spring naturally from the pecul- 
 iarities of the climate, and the needs they give rise to. 
 The upper sashes of windows with hoods can always 
 be left a little open without any chance of the rain 
 beating in ; and even when of small size they protect 
 the glass from the direct vertical rays of the summer 
 sun, and receive the first blows from the winter storm. 
 They also add much to the artistic effect of a rural 
 building, and deserve, I think, a more full apprecia- 
 
108 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 tion of their merits than has hitherto been accorded 
 
 them. A few examples 
 
 A. 
 
 B. 
 
 are shown at A and B, 
 and as vignettes to De- 
 sign No. 30. It is to be 
 observed that, in summer, 
 a small window is in one 
 
 respect most comfortable, as a wall is a better pro- 
 tection from heat than glass or Venetian blinds, and 
 most of the Italian and Eastern villas are planned 
 with small openings. But, on the other hand, large 
 Avindows are desirable to throw open for the summer 
 evening breeze, and to let in plenty of cheerful light 
 during dull winter and spring days. The hood, in a 
 measure, connects these two opposite needs. A ve- 
 randa all round a house is delightful for a month or 
 two in the heat of summer ; but most healthily-con- 
 stituted persons like to have the opportunity to admit 
 a stream of glorious, warm, genial sunlight into their 
 rooms whenever they feel inclined to enjoy it, and this 
 can not be obtained if the veranda entirely encircles 
 the living apartments. The hood, on the other hand, 
 defends the window from the powerful rays of the 
 mid-day sun without shutting it out entirely. 
 
 The balcony is a feature that can now and then be 
 introduced to advantage ; and a specimen that tells 
 the whole story, and scarcely needs any further de- 
 tail, is shown in the illustration to Design No. 24. 
 
 The hay-window is the peculiar feature next to the 
 veranda that an American rural home loves to indulge 
 in. There can, indeed, scarcely be too many for the 
 comfort of the house, or too few for the comfort of 
 the purse, for I regret to add that they are expensive 
 features. The simplest form is a plain semi-octagon, 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 109 
 
 with simple shed-roof, shown at L. This sort of bay 
 is very commonly finished with a roof 
 ininning up to a point against the wall; 
 but the effect thus produced is always 
 mean and disagreeable, and a straight 
 line for some distance, as shown on the 
 sketch, gives the appearance of the win- 
 dows belonging to the house much more u 
 
 than the other mode. M shows a plain 
 bay with a balcony over, so that the oc- 
 
 i l IDI Iff] room above may be able 
 
 j II to step out and see the view, or attend 
 _j_' i88 Jj I to a few choice plants. The square bay 
 shown at N gives much more additional 
 room than the octagon, and if connected 
 Avith a continuous balcony and arch beneath, as there 
 shoAvn, has a handsome architectural effect; but the 
 
 □ tm 
 
 Other form is generally to be preferred. Circular bays 
 are effective, but more expensive than any others. In 
 the design of a bay-Avindow a great deal will ahvays 
 depend on the arrangements made for the shutters or 
 blinds. A Avant of forethought often leads to the al- 
 lotment of so scanty a space for the piers at the an- 
 gles, that the shutters are found to be in the way, ex- 
 (^ept Avhen closed, Avhich is, of course, annoying. A 
 
no 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 large bay window, with smaller bay above, is shown 
 at O ; and P shows a bay with a covered balcony over 
 
 it ; and the effect of this combination, which admits 
 of much variety of design, is, in execution, very airy 
 and elegant, if properly designed and solidly con- 
 structed. 
 
 Recessed arches and arcades will always produce a 
 capital contrast of light and shade if introduced with 
 any judgment, and deserve, I think, more attention 
 than they seem to receive. They differ materially, 
 both in accommodation and artistic effect, from ve- 
 randas. The arcade being inclosed on three sides, 
 affords much more shelter from the weather, throws 
 a deeper shadow, and is more secluded from observa- 
 tion ; while the piazza, Avhich is always exposed on 
 two sides, and generally on three, is more open to 
 the cool breezes in hot weather. Arcades should, 
 therefore, be introduced in connection with, and not 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 instead of verandas, 
 Avhich, however, can 
 scarcely be judged of 
 in mere outline. De- 
 sign No. 35 may serve 
 to give the perspec- 
 tive idea more justly. 
 
 These sketches show merely the geometrical design. 
 It is a good plan so to arrange an arcade that it may 
 be inclosed during the winter with glazed frames. 
 This will make the house very much warmer during 
 the cold months, and will help materially to protect 
 the work from decay. 
 
 The veranda is perhaps the most specially Ameri- 
 can feature in a country house, and nothing can com- 
 pensate for its absence. It may be 
 constructed of lattice in the common 
 way, or Avith a little more elabora- 
 tion, as shoAvn at A. A handsome 
 veranda may always be made by using 
 posts seven or eight inches in diame- 
 ter, and fitting between them brack- 
 
 A 
 
112 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 ets, or arches ; and specimens of this style are shown 
 at B and C. Another example, somewhat more elab- 
 
 orate, is shown at D. The veranda may, if preferred, 
 be of more solid construction, an instance of which is 
 sketched at E. An agreeable effect can be produced 
 by turning the columns of some suit- 
 able pattern, and perhaps enriching 
 them with a little carving. A very |- 
 simple study for a veranda of this ^ 
 sort, lately designed for execution, is | 
 drawn at F. Wooden balustrades are I 
 of several sorts, as may be seen on the 
 drawings of verandas just described. 
 
 They may be constructed with turned 
 balusters, or composed of a flat surface, pierced with 
 a pattern. A third method that may be adopted is 
 somewhat of a combination of the other two. Its ef- 
 fect is produced by using flat balusters, 
 as shown on parapet to C. Another 
 sort is shown on the parapet to porch 
 G, described already a few pages back, 
 and endless opportunities for variety in 
 design occur in treating this part of a 
 country house. 
 
 Windoivs are either single, double. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 113 
 
 or single with side-lights. They may be fitted with 
 outside shutter-blinds, which is the plan commonly 
 adopted, as the cheapest and least liable to get out of 
 order; or with inside Venetian blinds, or inside shut- 
 ters, partly solid and partly filled in with slats, which 
 is a very good way, or with altogether solid shutters. 
 Inside shutters may be arranged either to slide or to 
 shut up in boxes, as may be thought most expedient. 
 French casements are troublesome if they have to 
 open outward, and inconvenient, as far as curtains 
 are concerned, if they open inward; but they have a 
 pleasant effect in warm weather. In a room eleven 
 feet high and over, almost the same advantage may 
 be gained by sliding the lower sash up to the meeting 
 rail, and inclosing it with a rough box and follower 
 above, for the available height for exit will be five 
 feet ten inches. The most perfect, and, of course, the 
 most expensive arrangement, is to prepare a case in 
 the wall sufficiently large to contain the sash, the Ve- 
 netian blind, and the solid shutter, and then to slide 
 each of these into this recess. All such Avork requires, 
 however, to be very nicely fitted, and the blinds must 
 be so planned that the slats Avill never be in the way. 
 But these are matters of construction that it is scarce- 
 ly worth while to go into very minutely here. 
 
 A few sketches of tin ventilators for bedrooms are 
 drawn at M, N, O, and P. These are one tenth the 
 
 price of registers, answer all the purpose (for a venti- 
 lator should never be closed), and look as well 
 
 H 
 
114 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 R S 
 
 Some studies for ornamental plaster ceilings^ that 
 may be carried into execution by 
 clever mechanics without much 
 trouble or expense, are added at 
 R, S, and T, and with these I con- 
 clude the illustrations and explan- 
 atory remarks that belong to this 
 section of the work. 
 
 A point that requires much attention in the study 
 of details is, to make the ornament secondary to the 
 construction^ and not the construction secondary to the 
 ornament. This is the fatal rock on which so many 
 a good conception for a house has been split. An 
 inexperienced man, for example, may conclude to 
 have an ornamental plaster-ceiling in his parlor, and 
 in his desire to have it good of its sort, he may so 
 load it down with decoration that it will be much 
 more disagreeable to look at than the plain ceiling 
 was before it was touched. And so it is throughout 
 the whole subject of domestic architecture : it is al- 
 ivays as easy to spoil a house hy overdoing it as hy un- 
 derdoing it. 
 
 Having thus taken a passing glance at the most 
 prominent points of detail that are likely to occur in 
 the building of a country house, we may proceed to 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 115 
 
 explain the various designs. But before doing so it is 
 proper to remark, as so many different circumstances 
 are likely to affect the arrangement of actual designs 
 for country houses, that it would be useless for any 
 architect to publish plans with the idea that they 
 could be completely followed on any other site than 
 the one for which they are specially designed. But 
 this is not the object proposed to be gained. The 
 principles they involve, and the individual peculiar- 
 ities they possess can be combined, modified, and im= 
 proved in many different ways. They are to be con- 
 sidered merely as hints or suggestions. 
 
 The vignette at page 25 illustrates a design for a 
 village school-house, of which the plan is here sub- 
 mitted. It is not requisite that it 
 should be of any particular dimen- 
 sions, provided that the proportion 
 shown between the different parts 
 is duly observed. The outline of 
 its plan is a simple parallelogram 
 covered by one roof. The accommodation embraces a 
 veranda porch, a lobby for hats and coats, a school- 
 room, a recitation-room, a necessary, a loft overhead 
 for storage of benches, etc., and a partially-excavated 
 basement for a stove or furnace. A ventilator is pro- 
 posed to be constructed on the ridge of the roof com- 
 municating with the school-room. The recitation-room 
 would be ventilated by a spare flue alongside of the 
 furnace smoke-flue. Such a building ought to be con- 
 structed of brick or rough stone, for it seems a pity to 
 erect a school-house of wood, particularly in a coun- 
 try where whittling is almost an institution. Still, 
 the design could be easily constructed of wood if it 
 were thought advisable. A school-house of this sort 
 
IIG VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 could be erected for from $500 upward, according to 
 size and finish required. 
 
 The vignette that closes this chapter shows a gener- 
 al view of a study made for the Associate Reformed 
 Church proposed to be erected in Newburgh. This 
 design is adapted for execution in brick and dressed 
 brown stone, or the wall surface may be built with 
 small, neatly-pointed, rough stones, and the window- 
 dressings, angles, etc., may be of hard Jersey stone, 
 fairly worked. The spire is proposed to be construct- 
 ed of wood, above the octagonal portion of the tower. 
 A more varied outline is thus obtainable ; and as the 
 main building is to have a roof and external cornice 
 of wood, a similar principle of construction is thus 
 carried out in the tower also. In the interior, which 
 is designed without columns or galleries, a collar-beam 
 roof is proposed to span the whole width of the build- 
 ing, and to show its construction in the arrangement 
 of the panels of the plaster ceiling, each principal raft- 
 er being stiffened by a semicircular moulded arch 
 springing on each side from a projecting stone corbel, 
 prepared to receive it when carrying up the walls, 
 which are intended to be strengthened at these points 
 by buttresses, as shoAvn on the sketch. 
 
 The want of taste that has been exhibited in the 
 majority of designs for country churches in America 
 has had a very prejudicial effect on the general ap- 
 pearance of villages and provincial towns ; and many 
 years must elapse, even under the most favorable cir- 
 cumstances, before a material change for the better 
 can take place, for these structures are, in most cases, 
 strongly built, and have cost much money. A wood- 
 en caricature of a Grecian temple has been the most 
 popular form adopted, and this is repeated in a thou- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 117 
 
 sand meaningless, ugly ways all over the country. 
 Here and there some slight appreciation of the beau- 
 ty and appropriateness of the spire has been shown, 
 but the examples are few and far between, and, when 
 they do occur, are generally painted a glaring white 
 from roof to base-board. It is the soaring, heaven- 
 ward-pointing spire, bold in outline and quiet in col- 
 or, that is the true architectural type of the spiritual 
 Christian worshijD. This is the feature that should be- 
 long specially to the religious edifice, and thereby dis- 
 tinguish it at once from the secular buildings in its 
 neighborhood. Its value and beauty, in connection 
 with natural landscape, is, perhaps, unexplainable ; 
 but it is none the less real because we may be unable 
 to trace in words the delicate process by which the 
 mind perceives the propriety of its expression. 
 
 Since the first edition of this volume was prepared 
 for publication, at Newburgh, on the Hudson, a church 
 of considerable size, and with a lofty spire, has been 
 built on one of the principal streets from the designs 
 of my friend Mr. F. C. Withers ; the whole exterior of 
 the church, including the spire, is built of stone, and 
 the general effect is shown in the vignette introduced 
 at the end of the Table of Contents of the present edi- 
 tion. The body of the work is constructed of a gray- 
 ish bluestone, the dressings and the spire are of a light 
 olive freestone, and the roof is covered with two tints 
 of slate ; the color is thus diversified, although the con- 
 trasts are not so marked as to interfere with the gen- 
 eral impression, which should always depend more on 
 picturesqueness of line, and depth of light and shade, 
 than on variety of local color in the materials used. 
 
 The question of an alteration in the appearance of 
 country churches generally, is one in which we are all 
 
118 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 personally interested, exclusive of sect or denomina- 
 tion ; for we are compelled to look at their outsides, 
 although we are perfectly free to attend or stay away 
 from the services that are held within them. And it 
 is to be earnestly desired that the improving taste for 
 good proportion and color that is perceptible in Amer- 
 ican villa and cottage architecture may soon reach this 
 subject of country churches in the rural districts ; for 
 the building which we set apart for the service of re- 
 ligion, and in which we dedicate our best hours to the 
 praise and worship of the good God who has created 
 and preserved us, should surely be the purest, the no- 
 blest, and the best architectural work our minds can 
 conceive and our hands execute. 
 
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DESIGN No. &\V.) 
 
 PERSPECTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF CHAMBERS. 
 
TILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 121 
 
 DESIGN No. 1. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 A SIMPLE SUBURBAN COTTAGE. 
 
 No. 1 illustrates a design for a simple rectangular 
 cottage intended to be built on a twenty-five feet lot 
 by Mr. Ryan, plumber, of Newburgh. This house is 
 proposed to be constructed of wood filled in with 
 brick, and to cost about $1500 or $1600, according to 
 the amount of interior finish that may be decided on. 
 It will be perceived by the plan that the house is ap- 
 proached by a veranda-porch, the principal floor being 
 occupied by an airy parlor fitted with recessed book- 
 cases in the walls on the side of the fire-place ; a 
 small living or dining room, and a kitchen communi- 
 cating with a back porch, in which is a sink. The 
 chimney-stack being designed in the centre of the 
 building, all the heat from the fire-places will be saved 
 to the house in winter. By this arrangement that ob- 
 jectionable feature of any plan for a house — a base- 
 ment dining-room — is avoided, and the lowest floor is 
 used for cellarage only, and not finished off. It would 
 probably be convenient in the summer, however, to 
 use a portion as a wash-room, and if so, a stove could 
 easily be fitted up temporarily for the j)urpose. The 
 chamber plan shows three bedrooms and a large linen- 
 closet with a window in it. This, if preferred, could 
 be used as a bath-room or a child’s bedroom, and then 
 it would probably be desirable to connect it by a door 
 with the principal bedroom. The gable introduced at 
 the side is for the specific purpose of getting a proper 
 headway to the attic staircase. 
 
122 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 It is not proposed, at present, to finish off the attic 
 chambers ; but the roof is of such a pitch that two 
 light, airy bedrooms could at any time be obtained at 
 a little additional cost, and without occupying the 
 whole of the garret space. The house, having a twen- 
 ty feet front, allows of two feet for projection of roof 
 on one side of the lot, and of a three feet passage-way 
 on the other. Another side-entrance at the head of 
 the cellar stairs could be arranged, if thought worth 
 while, for this three feet passage-way, but it is not in 
 the present instance thought necessary. In fitting up 
 the parlor of such a cottage as this, good taste would 
 seem to indicate that the carpet should be of small 
 pattern, and rather quiet in color, so as to give an air 
 of repose to the whole room. The wood-work might 
 be either stained and varnished, or painted in light, 
 cheerful tints. The walls should be covered with a 
 pretty, fanciful paper, harmonizing with the wood- 
 work, and not large in pattern, or it would appear to 
 decrease the size of the apartment. The mantle-piece 
 may be of wood, of some simple, tasteful design, corre- 
 sponding with the rest of the room, and yet look far 
 better than a cold, costly white marble affair, that will 
 run away with much money to no purpose. The cen- 
 tre-table should be a sensible, substantial piece of fur- 
 niture, at which three or four people will be able to 
 sit and read comfortably. A well-made chintz-covered 
 lounge, although a much more economical, and a far 
 more comfortable piece of furniture than a modern 
 rose-wood sofa, will be found to have an equally agree- 
 able effect in the room. Two or three tables of fanci- 
 ful design and trifling expense, that can be moved 
 wherever they may be wanted at a moment’s notice, 
 will give life and animation to such a parlor ; and an 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 123 
 
 easy-chair or two for tired visitors, besides the regu- 
 lar half dozen, will be found very acceptable. Some 
 pretty, simple engravings on the wall in neat frames, 
 and an oil-painting or two, can be obtained at a very 
 moderate cost. Pretty casts for the mantle-piece, or 
 to be placed on brackets here and there on the walls, 
 may be obtained for a mere trifle. I purchased one, 
 for example, the other day, in New York, for twenty- 
 five cents, full of grace, beauty, and artistic thought. 
 A bird-cage, or a basin of gold-fish, or a hanging-bask- 
 et for flowers, if there are any young girls in the fam- 
 ily, will also help to give an air of vitality to the whole 
 room, which should be the central point of attraction 
 for all the inmates. It is possible, however, if we lay 
 much stress on these minor accessories, that some Mr. 
 Blank may say, “This will never do. We can’t have 
 our girls fussing around with flowers, and birds, and 
 gold-fish. They have their duties to perform, and their 
 studies to attend to.” We will, therefore, stop here, 
 merely venturing to remark, with all due deference, 
 that although duties must, of course, be performed, 
 yet innocent pleasures ought also to be encouraged, 
 and that no study will insure so rich a reward to all 
 concerned as the study of simple, quiet, domestic grace 
 and elegance. 
 
 The vignette is intended to show a simple method 
 of obtaining, in a new clearing, a comparatively com- 
 fortable and somewhat homelike family residence with- 
 out much trouble or expense. This design does not 
 illustrate a log-ca6m, or single room, in which a fam- 
 ily of men, women, and children eat, drink, sleep, wash, 
 
124 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 dress, and undress all together. It is a plan for a 
 very simple house for a well-to-do settler and his fam- 
 ily. The principal apartment, 16x20, is proposed to 
 communicate at once with the open air through a door 
 under a veranda-porch in the summer, and to be ap- 
 proached through a small wash-room at the side in 
 the winter, the veranda being then used for storing a 
 supply of wood under cover. In the wash-room is a 
 flight of ladder steps leading to the loft. The family- 
 room has two windows in it, and is connected with 
 two small bedrooms and a store-room, each supplied 
 Avith one window. The house is intended to be con- 
 structed in the ordinary manner with rough logs ; but 
 as much neatness as is compatible with proper econ- 
 omy is supposed to be exercised in the selection of the 
 material and in the execution of the work. It is the 
 common practice to cut down all the trees near the 
 site of a log-cabin ; but this custom is far more hon- 
 ored in the breach than in the observance, and a little 
 judicious forethought will certainly preserve a few fine 
 specimens round the family home for shade and enjoy- 
 ment. This study has been made on a small, simple 
 scale, so as to be more generally available, but the 
 mode of construction proposed to be adopted admits 
 of considerable artistic treatment in a rural way ; and 
 if a log-house were required on a more extensive plan 
 altogether, the style might be raised in character ac- 
 cordingly, without sacrificing in any way its primitive 
 expression. Log-houses are frequently occupied, for 
 years together, by well-educated, active, energetic men, 
 who are the pioneers of civilization in the thinly-in- 
 habited districts in which they take up their abode ; 
 and much good Avould result if such men would set 
 the example of devoting some thought to the beauty^ 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 125 
 
 as well as to the utility of the homes they erect for 
 themselves and their families. 
 
 We are all aware that a decided distinction is com- 
 monly drawn between the two words I have just used, 
 viz,, beauty and utility; and yet every useful object 
 should be beautiful, and every beautiful object must 
 be useful, or its alleged beauty is hollow and unreal. 
 The misconception arises from the shallow material 
 tests with which we are apt to content ourselves. A 
 glorious sunset, for example, has nothing whatever to 
 do with eating, drinking, sleeping, or locomotion, and 
 it may, therefore, be said by some to be an entirely 
 useless affair ; but the fact is, that, if we are wise 
 enough to appreciate it, the beautiful sunset is of 
 great use to our higher, although it is of no use to 
 our loiver capacities of conception. A horse may be 
 made to lead a life of hard work, and may enjoy his 
 warm coat, his victuals and drink, and his sound 
 sleep, as well as a man ; and a human being who de- 
 votes his life solely to obtaining these acknowledged 
 necessaries of his existence, Avill never be any thing 
 better than a rather sujierior specimen of a beast of 
 burden. But no beast of burden has yet evinced any 
 special partiality for sunsets, or has shown any natu- 
 ral craving for beauty for its own sake. Here, in 
 fact, we arrive at one of the main characteristics that 
 especially distinguishes the man from the brute. Up 
 to this point, all the enjoyments his five senses are ca- 
 pable of he shares with the inferior animals. But the 
 capacity to see and fully appreciate the beautiful, and 
 to discover the charm and wonderful excellence of 
 loveliness, is restricted to the human race. Man alone, 
 of all living beings on the earth, has been made in the 
 image of his Maker, and man alone can experience the 
 
126 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 delightful sensation of sympathy with the divine attri- 
 butes of grace and beauty. How debasing, then, must 
 be that leveling, rational, utilitarian spirit, that seeks 
 to cut out from the desires and aims of men all that 
 is useful to them as beings who are pronounced by 
 their Creator only a little lower than the angels, while 
 it insists on an almost sleepless attention to those ma- 
 terial cravings that are useful to them, simply because 
 they are active, energetic animals. All this eating, 
 drinking, sleeping, and working for means of subsist- 
 ence is not “life,” although it is a needful prepara- 
 tory step to it, and may be made an enjoyable part 
 of it. It is to life what the foundation is to the build- 
 ing: it may be excellent in itself, and deserves, un- 
 doubtedly, the most careful attention, because a flaw 
 in this part is fatal to all that may be done afterward. 
 But what opinion should we form of that man who 
 spent all his time and money in building foundations'? 
 The true way to live, says the prudent economist, is 
 to pay as we go : and this rule is of thousand-fold ap- 
 plication. If we wish to realize our existence, we 
 must pay as we go, not only our debts to the body, 
 but what we owe to our higher, purer, better, and 
 more ideal nature, or we accumulate a heavy debt that 
 drags us down in after life. Some people form a no- 
 tion that they can devote five, ten, fifteen, or twenty 
 years to the accumulation of means to purchase enjoy- 
 ment, and can then sit down comfortably and enjoy it. 
 But the order of nature is entirely averse to any such 
 investment of time. She permits nothing of the sort. 
 Pay as you go, says Nature ; clear up accounts every 
 day with your good genius, and cheerfully subscribe 
 something to your ideal life, to your taste for the 
 beautiful, to your domestic happiness, or, when the 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 127 
 
 ten years are passed, you may find yourself with a 
 large account at the bank, but with very little capac- 
 ity to enjoy any thing that your money can purchase. 
 And it is not for ourselves alone, but for the sake of 
 our children, that we should love to build our homes, 
 whether they be villas, cottages, or log-houses, beauti- 
 fully and well. Men and women can go abroad and 
 take their pleasure elsewhere. They can gratify their 
 desire for variety and excitement in a hundred differ- 
 ent ways ; but the young people are mostly at home ; 
 it is their storehouse for amusement, their opportu- 
 nity for relaxation, their main resource ; and thus they 
 are exposed to its influence for good or evil unceasing- 
 ly; their pliable, susceptible minds take in its whole 
 expression with the fullest possible force, and with 
 unerring accuracy. They soon learn thoroughly to 
 enjoy every possibility of enjoyment it possesses, and 
 their unspoiled instincts for the good and true are 
 perpetually seeking in it for a gratification of their 
 nascent perceptions of the beautiful. It is only by 
 degrees that the young, hungry soul, born and bred 
 in a hard, unlovely home, accepts the coarse fate to 
 which, not the poverty^ but the indifference of its pa- 
 rents condemns it. It is many, many years before the 
 irrepressible longing becomes utterly hopeless ; per- 
 haps it is never crushed out entirely ; but it is so stu- 
 pefied by slow degrees into despairing stagnation, if a 
 perpetually recurring blank surround it, that it often 
 seems to die, and to make no sign ; the meagre, joy- 
 less, torpid home atmosphere in which it is forced to 
 vegetate absolutely starves it out ; and thus the good 
 intention that the all-wise Creator had in view, when 
 instilling a desire for the heautiful into the life of the 
 infant, is painfully frustrated. It is frequently from 
 
128 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 this cause, and from this alone, that an impulsive, 
 high-spirited, light-hearted boy will dwindle by de- 
 grees into a sharp, shrewd, narrow-minded, and self- 
 ish youth ; from thence again into a prudent, hard, 
 and horny manhood, and at last into a covetous, un- 
 loving, and unloved old age. The single explanation 
 is all sufficient : he never had a pleasant home. 
 
 DESIGN FOE A LOG-HOUSE. 
 
 
DESIGN No. 2. 
 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 131 
 
 DESIGN No. 2. 
 
 A SMALL EUEAL DOUBLE COTTAGE. 
 
 No. 2 is a design for a cottage for two small fam- 
 ilies. Under the farmer’s living-room is a basement- 
 kitchen, with the windows considerably out of ground, 
 and under the coachman’s kitchen is a cellar : the en- 
 trances are, as will be perceived, quite distinct. Up 
 stairs the farmer has three bedrooms ; the coachman 
 but one, according to instructions. Such a cottage 
 would cost about $1800, neatly finished. 
 
 Such a plan would not be unsuitable for a lodge, 
 in which the families of a gardener and gate-keeper 
 could live, or it might be fitted up a little more com- 
 pletely, and otfer convenient accommodation to two 
 friends who felt inclined to build it on some agreea- 
 ble rural lot for a few months’ quiet residence in the 
 summer. 
 
 It seems strange that this idea should not be more 
 frequently acted on than is the case at present. Far 
 away from the fashionable watering-places, but easily 
 accessible from the cities — in the heart of Vermont, 
 for instance — may be found bold, beautiful scenery, 
 pure air, and a pleasant neighborhood. Land is 
 cheap, timber cheap, living cheap, and all of the best. 
 These are the spots that should attract the attention 
 of heads of families who wish to give their young 
 people the benefit of country life in the summer. A 
 long trip of three months may, in this way, be taken 
 at a less cost than will be incurred for a brief, glitter- 
 ing three weeks at Saratoga or Newport, and with 
 
132 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 real, instead of nominal, advantage to the health of 
 the juniors who join in it. 
 
 This cottage is proposed to be constructed of wood, 
 filled in with brick, and covered with clap-boards. The 
 upper view shows a rear addition to the coachman’s 
 part of the house, which is not indicated on the plan, 
 and which might be included in the design, if thought 
 worth while, although the house is complete without 
 it. The verge-boards and porch are proposed to be 
 slightly ornamented, and a hooded door, adapted to 
 the arrangement shown on the ground plan, is illus- 
 trated in the vignette below. 
 
 DESIGN FOR A UOODED DOOR. 
 
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 W\ 
 
 
 
 
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 ^ 
 
DESIGN No. 3. 
 
 rERBPECTIVE VIEW. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 135 
 
 DESIGN No. 3. 
 
 A SUBUEBAN COTTAGE. 
 
 This design for a suburban cottage on a small scale 
 was prepared for a situation on a street lot, in which 
 the house would have been generally seen among 
 trees, and in connection with the other houses adjoin- 
 ing. The proportions were, therefore, made some- 
 what higher than would have been thought desirable 
 if the site had been larger and more open. This 
 point of relative proportion is worth much consider- 
 ation in suburban houses, for it may easily happen 
 that a particular design shall have a decidedly dwarf- 
 ish appearance if built in one situation, a high, stilted 
 effect in another, and be quite satisfactory in a third — 
 the result on the 'eye being dependent as much on the 
 objects immediately surrounding the house as on the 
 house itself The force of this remark may be tested 
 
 convincingly in any large city by an examination of 
 the architecture of its shops and warehouses. It fre- 
 quently happens that a block of stores, which for years 
 
136 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 has presented a tall, massive, dignified appearance, sud- 
 denly shrinks into stunted, second-rate insignificance, 
 simply because other buildings two or three stories 
 , higher are erected on each side of it. 
 
 In accordance with instructions the dining-room was 
 planned in the basement. It connects with the kitch- 
 en through a pantry that is arranged under a balcony 
 on the principal floor, and is supplied with a large 
 china-closet. A sink-room is attached to the kitchen, 
 and the remainder of the basement is occupied with 
 cellars and store-room. 
 
 The principal floor shows a veranda-porch commu- 
 nicating with a hall, in which is a cloak-closet and 
 door to back veranda. The stairs are in a side hall, 
 in which is an entrance to a bedroom of moderate 
 size ; and a parlor, connected with a general living- 
 room, and opening on to a balcony, completes the ac- 
 commodation on this floor. The chamber plan shoAvs 
 three bedrooms fitted up with closets, etc., and a lin- 
 en-press in the hall. If preferred, the other end of 
 the open hall could be inclosed and fitted up as a 
 bath-room, for there would still be sufficient light for 
 the hall and staircase. The attic provides tAvo bed- 
 rooms and store-closet, and an open garret. The rain- 
 water cistern, it Avill Jbe observed, is so placed that it 
 may be sunk in the upper part of the linen-press, which 
 is not available for its special purpose more than six or 
 seven feet high. By this means the water is received 
 from the eaves, and pumping from beloAV is saved. 
 
 In this plan, as it interfered Avith convenience to 
 arrange the chimneys in the body of the house, they 
 are placed in the outside Avails, and are intended to 
 improve the appearance of the design, although per- 
 fectly simple in execution. The chimney is a most 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 137 
 
 expressive feature, and deserves to be brought prom- 
 inently into ‘notice in domestic architecture. As a 
 general rule, it is desirable in this climate to build 
 the chimneys in the body of the house, and not in the 
 outside walls. But exceptions often occur in large 
 houses, and sometimes in small ones, where the gain 
 in so doing is greater than the loss, and in such cases 
 the opportunity to give a definite character to the 
 chimney-stacks should be taken advantage of This 
 design has not been executed. It was estimated by 
 Newburgh mechanics at over $4000, in 1852 ; but as 
 it is not nearly so large a house as Design No. 7, 
 which was built, to the satisfaction of the proprietor, 
 for $4200, complete, about twenty miles from the site 
 on which this design was proposed to be erected, it is 
 presumed that, under favorable circumstances, the es- 
 timate would be within that amount. It was proposed 
 to be built of brick, furred off on the inside, and paint- 
 ed a soft cream color externally, the verandas and 
 trimmings being finished a rich brown. 
 
 In arranging the tints for the exterior of a coun- 
 try house it is better to make them a little Avarmer 
 than will be entirely satisfactory at first, because the 
 pigments must certainly fade more or less in a few 
 months, and the permanent effect is what should be 
 most thought of at starting. 
 
 The vignette shows a design for partially inclosing 
 a veranda which was made for J. J. Monell, Esq. 
 The country house to which it belongs is planned on 
 a side-hill overlooking a picturesque glen ; and the 
 kitchen in the basement being, in consequence, entire- 
 
138 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 ly out of ground in the rear facing the garden, these 
 offices were somewhat too freely exposed to view from 
 the ornamental grounds in the vicinity of the house. 
 The simple plan here sketched was therefore made and 
 carried out ; and as the vines, already grown over the 
 old supporting-posts, were trained to the new trellis- 
 work, and showed to even better advantage than be- 
 fore, no harm was done in this respect, while a great- 
 er degree of privacy was certainly arrived at with but 
 little sacrifice of light. The sketch is introduced as 
 similar cases often occur, and a little ingenuity can 
 readily arrange new varieties of pattern to embody 
 the same general idea. 
 
 DESIGN FOE PAETIALLV INCLOSED VEEANDA. 
 
DESIGN No. 4. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 141 
 
 DESIGN No. 4. 
 
 EUEAL COTTAGE. 
 
 This design, erected by Dr. de la Montagnie, of 
 Fishkill Landing, is situated amidst quiet, agreeable 
 home scenery, and commands several beautiful views, 
 both of the Hudson and of the noble hills that rise 
 up at this point from its eastern shore. The approach 
 road near it is picturesquely wooded on both sides, so 
 as to seem more like a wide lane than a common high- 
 road ; and all the circumstances suggested an unpre- 
 tending, but really rural house. 
 
 As the accommodation required was not extensive, 
 there was no necessity for attic bedrooms, and the cot- 
 tage is, therefore, planned a story and a half high, as 
 it is called, the roof coming down a foot or two below 
 the ceiling line, not, however, so as to interfere with 
 the occupation of the rooms in any way. Although, 
 by this arrangement, the ceilings of the bedrooms are 
 less elegant than they would be if finished off square, 
 as usual, there is one decided advantage attending it. 
 
 which was fairly illustrated in the case under consid- 
 eration. The ground in the immediate vicinity of the 
 building site was, as is often the case, somewhat bare 
 
142 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 of trees, and the proprietor, with great care and pains, 
 moved a number of healthy specimens, of larger size 
 than usual, from the neighboring woods. Fortunate- 
 ly these have thriven well for the most part, and the 
 consequence is, that although they are small, and have 
 had only a year or two’s growth in their present situ- 
 ation, they have quite an important effect in connec- 
 tion with the house, because it is kept loiv, and with 
 overhanging eaves that still further take away the ef- 
 fect of height. 
 
 This design was built in a hollow, but the earth 
 taken out for foundations was so arranged that the 
 house, as now finished, stands on a gentle eminence, 
 and the natural impression of a stranger to the facts 
 would be that Nature kindly provided a little bluff 
 for the specific purpose of building the doctor’s cot- 
 tage on. The general effect was materially assisted 
 by sodding the surface in the vicinity of the house, in- 
 stead of trusting to grass seed. This process is, of 
 course, the more expensive of the two, but if Avell 
 done, it yields, what is really of importance in a new 
 house, an immediate reward. 
 
 The entrance is through a wooden porch, that serves 
 for a veranda on that side. The hall is of liberal size, 
 and is almost as useful as another room, having a Avin- 
 dow in it commanding a pretty vieAv. 
 
 The parlor and dining-room communicate with the 
 veranda. A roomy pantry and lock-up closet are pro- 
 vided in connection with the dining-room, and a lobby 
 is shut off at the head of the basement stairs : in this 
 is a Avash-stand, etc. Up stairs are four bedrooms. 
 There is a large garret of good height overhead. The 
 kitchen accommodation, etc., is in the basement. 
 
 In the arrangement of the chamber plan it Avill be 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 143 
 
 seen that a projecting dormer-window is introduced in 
 the upper hall at the head of the stairs. This sup- 
 plies a pleasant recess for a chair and table at a win- 
 dow that looks out on a cheerful view ; and as it 
 stands out from the main hall some little distance, 
 being supported on heavy brackets, as may be seen 
 on the upper illustration, it casts a deep shadow, even 
 when the sun is high, and gives some additional indi- 
 viduality to the design. 
 
 The house is constructed of wood, filled in with 
 brick, and the carpenter’s and mason’s contracts were 
 taken at $2900 ; the architect’s commission for draw- 
 ings and details, without superintendence, being 3^^ 
 per cent, on that amount, viz., $101 50. 
 
 One advantage that is offered by wooden construc- 
 tion is, that picturesque breaks in the plan may be 
 made for less money than they will cost in brick- 
 work, because it requires considerable time and care 
 to make a brick corner plumb and true, while a wood- 
 en angle can be easily worked. 
 
 The exterior is painted in quiet, neutral tints, the 
 main body of the work being of a rather warm gray, 
 while the corner-boards, verge-boards, window-dress- 
 ings, veranda, and porch are also of a grayish tint, 
 but considerably darker than the other, and with some 
 brown added to it for the sake of contrast. The stiles 
 of the Venetian blinds are rather lighter than the win- 
 dow-dressings, while the slats and the panels of the 
 verge-boards are of a cool dark brown. The chimney 
 is painted in two tints, to correspond ; and as the 
 house is covered with shingles, which soon become 
 soft and pleasant to the eye, the whole effect is free 
 from either startling contrast or wearisome monotony. 
 
 In painting a country house the aim should be to 
 
144 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 give it a cool effect in summer, and a warm effect in 
 winter; and this is not so difficult as might at first 
 be supposed, because all combinations of colors are 
 mutually dependent on each other, and the marked 
 contrast in the appearance of the surface of the soil, 
 the trees, and the sky, at different periods of the year, 
 gives an opportunity, when choosing the tints for a 
 house, to select a happy medium that shall be suited 
 to more seasons than one. 
 
 The vignette shows a sketch for a rustic outbuilding 
 . proposed to be constructed with a rough frame covered 
 ■with bark, and with a shingle roof. 
 
 STUDY FORAN OUTBUILDING 
 
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DESIGN No. 5.— (V. & W.) 
 
 l^IiRSPECTlVE VIEW. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 147 
 
 DESIGN No. 5. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 SUBURBAN HOUSE. 
 
 This is a design for a suburban residence for Rev. 
 E. J. O’Reilly, of Newburgh. It seeks to supply the 
 accommodation of an ordinary three-story brick house 
 in a form that shall have a less high-shouldered and 
 stilted appearance than usually distinguishes buildings 
 of this class. 
 
 In the plan a recessed lobby is arranged, with outer 
 door for shelter, instead of a projecting porch. The 
 principal floor shows two parlors and a small study ; 
 or, if another arrangement is preferred, a parlor, a li- 
 brary, and a spare bedroom, the back rooms opening 
 on to a veranda. In the basement is the dining-room, 
 kitchen, coal-cellar, and pantries, with a side entrance 
 communicating with the same. This arrangement is 
 to be preferred to the more common plan of putting 
 the kitchen door under the area steps, as it gives more 
 privacy, and uses up less space in the basement for pas- 
 sage-ways. The bedroom plan supplies two large and 
 two small bedrooms, one of which may be fitted up as 
 a bath-room. The arrangement of the attics is some- 
 what similar to the chamber plan, two roomy bed- 
 rooms being supplied over the principal apartments, 
 and garret and store-rooms* over the remainder. These 
 latter are lighted by small windows under the eaves, 
 the other two by the windows in the gables. The* 
 roof projects two feet six inches all round, and is fin- 
 ished with a simple eaves moulding and brackets. 
 The pitch of the roof is so high that there is a consid- 
 
148 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 erable space between the ceiling of the attic rooms and 
 the flat overhead, and thus these rooms are not open 
 to the objections that often apply to attic rooms in 
 the hot summer weather. The front is paneled in 
 brick, the panels being painted of a tint some shades 
 darker than the rest of the house, to avoid monotony, 
 and to give value to the brick projections. This house 
 was built in a substantial manner, the carpenter’s and 
 mason’s contracts being taken at $3000, including two 
 coats of paint, but exclusive of plumbing and mantles. 
 
 The vignette shows plans and a view of a double 
 cottage proposed to be erected on a fifty feet lot. No 
 advantage whatever results from building two small 
 detached cottages, with the same amount of accommo- 
 dation in each, on two twenty-five feet lots ; and by 
 building them back to back one wall is saved, and 
 both houses are rendered much drier and warmer. 
 
 The roof is simpler, and offers better attic rooms. 
 The passage-ways at the side of each house are wider, 
 and the whole effect is more dignified and agreeable. 
 The plans are so drawn on the illustration that the 
 entire accommodation is set forth, the jDrincipal and 
 chamber floor being of one house, and the attic and 
 basement of the other. This will require a little care 
 in examination, to be thoroughly intelligible. Each 
 house corresponds exactly with the other, except that 
 the plans are reversed. 
 
 The accommodation provided may be thus described : 
 A recessed porch, covered with a hood, leads to a hall, 
 in which a staircase to the upper rooms is planned in 
 the usual way. The parlor, which faces the front gar- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 149 
 
 den, is lighted by a bay-window, and communicates 
 with the dining-room, which has windows to the floor 
 opening on to a veranda. In this room a recess is 
 prepared for a deep side-board, and a door at the far- 
 ther end connects Avith a pantry. This is shut off 
 from the main hall by a lobby at the head of the base- 
 ment stairs, and is fitted up with closets, in connection 
 with which a lift may be contrived, if required. Some 
 few steps doAvn this inclosed staircase is a landing, 
 from Avhich a door opens from the passage-Avay at the 
 side of the house, thus securing a separate kitchen- 
 entrance, and a convenient side access to the premises, 
 without any sacrifice of space in the passage-Avay, and, 
 at the same time, avoiding a servants’ entrance doAvn 
 area steps, Avhich is an advantage, as an area is likely 
 to get filled Avith snoAv in the winter. 
 
 In the basement Avill be found a kitchen, with sink- 
 room adjoining, the kitchen being provided Avith a 
 large pantry, and a door to the furnace-room and coal- 
 cellar. There is also a store-room and provision cellar. 
 
 In the chamber plan are two large bedrooms and a 
 smaller one. The principal chamber communicates 
 with a bath-room, Avhich has another door from the 
 hall ; and near the bath-room is a Avater-closet, Avith a 
 separate external AvindoAV and a linen-press. In the 
 attic three large bedrooms are planned, and a space for 
 lumber is marked on the plan ; but this might be used 
 as a clothes-room, if preferred, and the space OA'erhead 
 betAveen the attic ceiling and the flat could have a step- 
 ladder to it, and be used as a lumber garret. 
 
 These houses might be built of eight-inch brick, 
 furred off above the basement, the party wall being 
 sixteen inches thick, so as to contain all the ventila- 
 ting flues that may be required. 
 
150 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 This block of two might be built of brick for $5000, 
 with a simple internal finish ; and it is much to be re- 
 gretted that some attention is not bestowed on this 
 class of buildings, as it is a more economical, and far 
 preferable arrangement to erecting small, detached 
 buildings within a few feet of each other, as is gener- 
 ally done on village streets. In this design the rooms 
 are supposed to be of good size, and the whole arrange- 
 ment is adapted to the requirements of a man of busi- 
 ness in comfortable circumstances, who requires to be 
 not farther from his office or store than the immediate 
 outskirts of the country town in which he resides, and 
 Avhere, consequently, extra land will be both more val- 
 uable and of less use than it would be farther away 
 from his neighbors. The same idea might, if preferred, 
 be developed on a smaller and cheaper scale. 
 
 DESIGN FOK A DOUBLE COTTAGE. 
 
DESIGN No. fi. 
 
 PLAN OPPRINCIPAL FLOOR 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 153 
 
 DESIGN No. 6. 
 
 MODEL COTTAGE. 
 
 This design has been prepared to illustrate the 
 views set forth in the opening chapter with regard 
 to the real needs of a small family home in the coun- 
 try, and may be supposed to be arranged for the use 
 of a man of simple habits, with some refinement of 
 taste. Such a man would be a lover of hospitality, 
 fond of fresh air, free space, and an easy life, and 
 willing to take advantage of all reasonable modern 
 improvements in the art of living comfortably; but, 
 from choice as much as necessity, being economical in 
 his requirements, he would have as strong an aversion 
 for empty display as for scanty baldness in arrange- 
 ment or detail. 
 
 The plan shows an entrance-porch and small hall, 
 in which are hat and cloak closets. All the family 
 accommodation provided on this floor is a parlor com- 
 municating with a dining-room, and both opening on 
 to a wide veranda. The parlor has a large bay pro- 
 jection, with seat round it, and the dining-room is fit- 
 
 ted up with a book-case, B, a side-board recess, R, 
 and connects with a roomy pantry, in which is a lift, 
 L, a sink, S, a china-closet, a row of shelves, and a 
 
154 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 hanging-table. The dining-room also communicates 
 with a garden entrance-lobby, fitted up with a wash- 
 stand, and connecting with a water-closet. The stair- 
 case-hall is shut off from the main hall, and the base- 
 ment staircase, opening on to the pantry, is partitioned 
 off from the principal staircase ; thus all necessary pri- 
 vacy is insured. The basement plan explains itself, 
 cellarage being obtained by excavating under the ve- 
 randa. The chamber plan supplies a family bedroom, 
 with dressing-room, large closets, and bath-room at- 
 tached : it also connects with a small bedroom that 
 has an entrance from the hall. A water-closet is pro- 
 vided close to the bath-room ; and one other guest’s 
 bedroom, as will be seen on the plan, and a linen-room 
 under the roof of pantry building completes the accom- 
 modation on this floor. In the attic are two good bed- 
 rooms, a store-closet, and a large garret. Another bed- 
 room might be finished off, if preferred. 
 
 The wooden outside porch is proposed to be finish- 
 ed with an open timber roof, the rafters being planed 
 smooth and chamfered on the edge, and the boarding 
 being matched and beaded. Provision is also made 
 here for fitting sashes in the panels, and for hanging 
 an outer door when required. Such a porch should 
 be paved in preference to being boarded, and as per- 
 manent seats are planned on each side, and the pro- 
 jection from the house is ten feet, an arrangement of 
 this sort will be found by the inmates a very tolerable 
 substitute for a veranda when the sun is shining on 
 the opposite side of the house. 
 
 The large bay projection in the parlor is proposed 
 to be constructed of the same materials as the walls 
 of the house, with three sash-windows fitted into it. 
 The ceiling is intended to be of the same height as the 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 155 
 
 room, and to have a balcony over it accessible from 
 the chamber above. By finishing the bay projection 
 without an interior arch, the apartment will be much 
 increased in apparent dimensions, as the eye is natu- 
 rally apt to judge of the size of a room by the bound- 
 ary lines of the cornice. There are several methods 
 of treating such an arrangement of a bay projection 
 in a satisfactory manner internally. 
 
 The other living-room, which should be library and 
 dining-room in one, might appropriately be finished 
 with Georgia pine, unpainted, and a moulded skirt- 
 ing, or wainscoting, about two feet three inches high 
 round the sides, would connect the various openings to- 
 gether in an agreeable and not very expensive manner. 
 
 The exterior of this house is simply designed. There 
 is no attempt to make it “all corners and all gables,” 
 or to evade the fact that it is a straightforward, rectan- 
 gular house ; but, at the same time, an effort has been 
 made to give it a somewhat picturesque character in 
 the arrangement of the roof and dormer-windows. The 
 slight curve at the eaves (of which the method of con- 
 struction has been explained in the introductory chap- 
 ter) helps materially to reduce the hardness and angu- 
 larity of line that would otherwise be somewhat prom- 
 inent in such a simple arrangement of roof. It will 
 also be observed that, as the principal gable is wider 
 than the entrance hall, the parlor window, which is 
 naturally planned in the centre of the room, would 
 appear one-sided on the exterior elevation, if some 
 precaution were not taken to avoid this disagreeable 
 effect. A slightly-projecting pier, arranged to receive 
 the rain-water pipe, is therefore introduced at the an- 
 gle, and the balance is thus restored, as the windows 
 appear now to be planned in the centre of the panel 
 
156 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 thus formed, and a corresponding arrangement is, of 
 course, ado23ted on the staircase side of the hall, so 
 that the necessary uniformity may be preserved. 
 
 Such a house as this could be fairly built for $3500 
 in ordinary building times, and is equally fitted for a 
 brick, wood, or stone construction. The same general 
 jdan may be amplified so as to include a kitchen wing 
 with back staircase, and may be adajited to a flatter 
 pitch of roof. An example of such a modification, 
 which was j^repared for a site in the neighborhood of 
 Shrewsbury, L. I., is illustrated below. 
 
 CHAMBER PLAN. 
 
 ATTIC PLAN. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 157 
 
 The vignette shows a study for a farm-house intend- 
 ed to be built of brick or stone. The aim here has 
 been to design a building that shall be domestic and 
 simple, and yet not unsuited in artistic effect to take 
 its place in a rural landscape. One disagreeable pe- 
 culiarity that is often noticeable in American farm- 
 houses is, that they are too full of windows, and have, 
 in consequence, an undignified, mean effect. Breadth 
 of surface has been sought for in this study, and no 
 more windows have been introduced than entire con- 
 venience requires, the j^lan being arranged accordingly. 
 Thus, though there are four openings under the front 
 veranda, only two are inserted in the next story ; for 
 if two more windows were added on the chamber 
 floor, the whole effect of repose would be destroyed, 
 without any advantage being gained in interior com- 
 fort. The accommodation in the main part of the 
 house consists of a hall with a staircase in it, a parlor 
 communicating with a general living-room, and a bed- 
 room connecting with this apartment and the kitchen 
 wing. It is not thought necessary to provide a sep- 
 arate passage to the kitchen from the front door, and 
 it is calculated that the family-room will be used as a 
 dining-room. It is the custom with some farmers to 
 make a constant practice of taking all meals in the 
 kitchen ; but this habit marks a low state of civiliza- 
 tion. The occupation of farming is the natural em- 
 ployment of a human being, and it ought to be made 
 a refined and noble pursuit, not a mere way of earn- 
 ing a rude subsistence. It is among the sons and 
 daughters of the farmers that the pith and marroAV of 
 a country are to be found, and every grace that be- 
 longs to rural life should find its highest examples in 
 the home and family of the intelligent American farm- 
 
158 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 er. The wing building in the design under considerar 
 tion contains a side entrance, with veranda-porch, sev- 
 eral pantries, a roomy kitchen, a wash-room, and a 
 wood-house. The chamber plan in the main building 
 contains three large and two small bedrooms, a linen- 
 press, and a staircase to an extensive open garret. 
 The kitchen wing contains four secondary bedrooms, 
 approached by a flight of stairs in the wood-house, 
 and accessible also from the main building through 
 one of the bedrooms, as it is not thought worth while 
 in a farm house to sacrifice the space that would be re- 
 quired for a separate communicating passage between 
 the upper hall in the main house and the wing rooms. 
 
 DESIGN FOE A FARM-UOU8B. 
 
 CHAMBER PLAN. 
 

DESIGN No. 7. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 161 
 
 DESIGN No. 7. 
 
 COTTAGE RESIDENCE. 
 
 This design illustrates a cottage residence built for 
 Mr. Wright, of Goshen. It was required that the 
 kitchen and its accessories should be on the same 
 floor as the living-rooms, but the house was not pro- 
 posed to be of such a size as would warrant the erec- 
 tion of a separate wing for this purpose. The whole 
 building is, therefore, under one roof, and the kitchen 
 is so placed that its contiguity to the principal rooms 
 does not interfere with the privacy that jiroperly be- 
 longs to the apartments in constant use by the family. 
 
 A porch of brick, communicating by arched open- 
 ings, with verandas on each side of it, forms the prin- 
 cipal entrance, and opens on to a hall 8x15 feet six 
 inches. This porch is so arranged that the arched 
 openings at the sides can be closed with glazed frames 
 in winter, and the central opening fitted witli a frame 
 and door, thus making a double hall, that is a great 
 
 advantage in severe weather, as it prevents the ingress 
 of a draught of cold air whenever the front door is 
 opened, and offers a protection from storm to visitors 
 while waiting for the servant to attend to the bell. 
 
 The parlor and dining-room open from the hall b}' 
 •L 
 
162 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 doors opposite each other. The parlor has a bay-win- 
 dow and a door opening on to a small jirivate veran- 
 da that is not overlooked by any one ajiproaching the 
 house. The dining-room is 15 0x18 6. It is unde- 
 sirable that any dining-room, and more particularly 
 one that is used as an ordinary living-room, should be 
 directly connected with the kitchen, for various evi- 
 dent reasons ; and it is equally inconvenient to have 
 the halls and passages that belong to the other apart- 
 ments occupied several times a day by the servant 
 whose business it is to prepare the table for meals 
 and to clear away afterward. In the present instance 
 the difficulty has been overcome by constructing a one- 
 story inclosure corresponding in design with the pri- 
 vate veranda on the other side of the house. This is 
 of wood, and, at small cost, adds much to the con- 
 venience, and something to the appearance of the 
 house. Its effect is shown on the lower perspective 
 view. A pantry between the kitchen and dining-room 
 is thus obtained, communicating with both ; and by 
 this means convenience of access, without loss of pri- 
 vacy, is secured. A store-room for the kitchen is also 
 supplied in this little outbuilding, and also a sink- 
 room ; tliis latter, having two small windows on op- 
 posite sides, is well ventilated, and renders the kitch- 
 en a much more pleasant apartment for servants to 
 live in, as it relieves it of the most disagreeable part 
 of the work. The kitchen is 12 0x15 6, and has a 
 door close to the back entrance and to the cellar stairs. 
 If preferred, this back entrance might be shut off en- 
 tirely from the principal staircase by a door across 
 the hall on the same line as the cellar door, thus dis- 
 connecting the kitchen still more complete]}’’ ; but it 
 is not shown so on the plan. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 163 
 
 The staircase hall is entered from the main hall, and 
 communicates with a bedroom, 12x 14, on the princi- 
 pal floor. This room could, of course, be used as a 
 library or study, if preferred ; but it adds much to the 
 convenience of a country house to have one bedroom 
 that, in cases of sickness, can be approached without 
 the labor of going up and down stairs. It is worthy 
 of consideration in a cottage residence that, at seasons 
 of festivity, the rooms may be required to hold an un- 
 usual number of persons ; and though it is not desira- 
 ble to sacrifice any family comfort in the plan on this 
 ground, it is as Avell to bear it in mind. In this de- 
 sign, in the event of an entertainment, the rear en- 
 trance should be used by visitors ; the bedroom would 
 thus be close at hand, and could be used as a cloak- 
 room, while the parlor and dining-room would make 
 one suite with the front hall and porch, the doors of 
 communication being thrown open. Additional room 
 could be easily gained for a summer entertainment by 
 temporarily inclosing the front veranda outside with 
 calico, or any similar material, lightly affixed ; and if 
 the veranda posts are covered with creeping plants, as 
 they should be, the effect of such a leafy gallery as is 
 thus obtained when lighted up at night is very cool 
 and elegant. 
 
 The chamber plan contains four bedrooms and a 
 small study or sewing-room, 8x 11, opening by glazed 
 doors on to a balcony over the porch. A flat of this 
 sort offers a good opportunity to the ladies of the 
 house to cultivate flowers in pots with little trouble, 
 and when thus used, it is a useful and agreeable acces- 
 sory. In this country, either from climate or some 
 other cause, ladies generally find it either too hot or 
 too cold for gardening.; and as it devolves on the 
 
164 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 feminine portion of the household to attend to these 
 minor matters where a regular gardener is not en- 
 gaged, it is worth while to take advantage of any op- 
 portunity like this to keep the flower vases filled with 
 finer and better-tended specimens than will be likely 
 to be found in the flower-beds on the lawn. 
 
 The attic plan contains two servants’ bedrooms and 
 a roomy garret. 
 
 The plan of the roof of this house will illustrate the 
 general arrangement that experience seems to show is 
 the most desirable for the roofs of country houses ex- 
 posed to a climate so peculiar as that of these North- 
 ern States : it is suited, indeed, for any climate, but is 
 especially called for here. 
 
 The main requirements in a roof are, that it shall 
 keep off the wet ; that it shall ofier no opportunities 
 for snow to lie where it can thaw, and freeze, and be a 
 nuisance ; and that it shall suj^ply cool and commodi- 
 ous attic rooms, if needed. By projecting the roof 
 two feet six inches or three feet, and cutting the gut- 
 ter into the rafters, the walls will be well protected 
 from the wet, and by invariably avoiding solid para- 
 pets and horizontal gutters between gables, the snow 
 will be no inconvenience. A flat connecting the va- 
 rious ridges supplies free room in the attic, and is in 
 every respect a complete mode of construction, while 
 any plan that requires gutters between the gables is 
 sure to give trouble at some time or another. The 
 snow that falls on a flat of this sort is generally blown 
 off at once, as it is so much exposed to the wind. If, 
 however, it should happen to lie, and thaw and freeze 
 for a month together, it can not do any harm, as it is 
 unrestricted on every side, and drips away down the 
 roof as it melts. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 165 
 
 Very much depends on the appearance of the roof 
 in a country house, for it is the first and last feature 
 that impresses the eye, and it should be made an im- 
 portant part of every design. It is for this reason 
 that so many plans of roofs are inserted in this work, 
 and I hope that the casual reader may be induced to 
 give some attention to their arrangement. For this 
 design the plans, specifications, and working drawings 
 were furnished without superintendence; and as the 
 house has been erected several years, I lately wrote to 
 the proprietor, asking him as to its ultimate cost, and 
 if a personal residence in the house had suggested to 
 him any improvement on the plan. He replies, “As 
 near as I could get at the cost of the house, for which 
 you drew plans, it was $4200. With reference to al- 
 terations in the plan, I know of none that I would be 
 willing to advise, although others of more knowledge 
 of construction might.” 
 
 The vignette illustrates an artist’s studio, designed 
 for Mr. Jervis M‘Entee, landscape painter, of Ron- 
 dout, and built by him of wood, fitted in a substan- 
 tial, simple way, for $400. It is finely placed on an 
 elevated site, and commands an extended view of the 
 Kaatskills and the Hudson. On the plan it is one 
 simple room : the ceiling line follows the line of the 
 roof and collar beams, so as to give height and a more 
 airy effect to the interior. All the rafters are left vis- 
 ible, the plastering being fitted between them. Some 
 time after the design had been built and occupied, Mr. 
 M‘Entee added a portion of a simple cottage residence 
 in corresponding style, the studio still remaining in 
 
166 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 use for its original purpose. The complete effect aimed 
 at is shown on the lower view and plan. 
 
 As the parlor, the veranda, and the porch are not 
 yet built, a somewhat disproportioned result is ob- 
 tained for the present, as the wing looks larger than 
 the house ; but its accommodation and cost, as it 
 stands, is all sufficient for the immediate needs and 
 circumstances of its proprietor, who has judiciously 
 preferred to run the gauntlet of his neighbors’ criti- 
 cism for a time, and to plan his house as he will want 
 it, carrying it out by degrees as ojDjiortunity offers, 
 rather than t6 adopt a snug arrangement complete 
 in itself, which, although suitable enough for to-day, 
 would, in all probability, be in a few years inconven- 
 iently small for his OAvn needs ; and if he wanted to 
 sell at any time, could hardly fail to prove an unde- 
 sirable investment on a site constantly improving in 
 value, and that might, in all probability, be disposed 
 of to advantage at any time, with a roomy house on 
 it, or a building that could easily be made a good 
 family residence, without pulling down the existing 
 building or injuring its general appearance. The 
 house as it at present stands, with hall, dining-room, 
 pantry, small bedroom, and studio, on principal floor, 
 three bedrooms and a little bath-room above, and base- 
 ment kitchen, with cellars below, has cost $2000; and 
 Mr. M‘Entee calculates that another $1000 would ren- 
 der it complete, as sho'wn, giving a second kitchen be- 
 low, a best parlor and a best bedroom over, in addition 
 to the accommodation already provided. 
 
 The scenery in the neighborhood of this cottage is 
 of the most striking and varied descrijition, and the 
 eye looks over a range of country extending from the 
 North and South Beacons at Fishkill, on one side, to 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 167 
 
 the lofty Round Top and Woodstock Peak on the 
 other. A white, isolated speck, visible in the gra}’ 
 distance, marks the situation of the Kaatskill Mount- 
 ain House, and calls to mind the many beautiful spots 
 in its vicinity, one of which, “The Falls,” I have 
 thought it worth while to speak of more particularly 
 here, because its pictorial effect is much injured by 
 the un architectural treatment it has received at the 
 hands of those who have attempted to make the ac- 
 cess to it more satisfactory to tourists. This beautiful 
 fall of water is so picturesquely grouped in connection 
 with the trees and the rocky precipitous sides of the 
 mountain, that its upper edge, or lip, seen through the 
 spray from below, would appear to be at a great height 
 from the eye, if it were not for a clumsy boarded 
 structure that has been erected just on the brink of the 
 descent to afford visitors a view clear down into the 
 valley. This square mass in a great measure destroys 
 the effect that Nature has attempted so successfully to 
 produce, and is one among very many unfortunate in- 
 stances of harm done to picturesque scenery through a 
 lack of a little architectural knowledge in a rural way. 
 The practical advantage gained is at once alloAved ; but 
 the important point is, that an equaUy satisfactory and 
 convenient result might have been attained, not only 
 without any sacrifice of picturesque effect, but with 
 even some advantage in this respect. For example, 
 the boarded structure might have been omitted alto- 
 gether, and a rough stone wall built up in great blocks, 
 and without mortar, to the requisite height in a bold, 
 irregular manner, could have received a platform at 
 the required level, and a small, picturesque building 
 might have been placed on this platform, if needed. 
 In a year or so, by this arrangement, the rude new 
 
168 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 wall would have been covered up with vines and 
 creepers, so that it would have added an actual twen- 
 ty feet to the real height at this point, and an appa- 
 rent height, when seen from below, of thirty or forty 
 feet. As the building stands at present it dwarfs the 
 appearance of the fall, and can hardly fail to strike the 
 eye as a decided blemish, obtruded on the attention at 
 the most interesting point of view in the whole land- 
 scape in Avhich it occurs. 
 
 DESIGN FOR AN AETIST'S STUDIO. 
 
 N.E.VIEW. 
 
 SHOWING TIIE COTTAGE COMPLETED. 
 
DESIGN No. 8. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 171 
 
 DESIGN No. 8. 
 
 A SMALL COUNTEY HOUSE WITH KITCHEN WING. 
 
 This design was prepared and executed for Mr. R. 
 L, Case, of Newburgh ; and the general idea of the 
 plan includes so much that is called for by the Amer- 
 ican climate and habits of life in the Northern States, 
 that it will probably be better worth the attention of 
 those who wish to build a moderate-sized cheap house, 
 with a kitchen above ground, than many other plans 
 of more pretension. It possesses one convenient qual- 
 ity, which some other styles of plans can not be ar- 
 ranged to include, for it admits of many modifica- 
 tions, without sacrificing its advantages. It may be 
 completely altered in outside appearance, and doubled 
 in extent of interior accommodation, and yet be in 
 reality the same plan. It can be adapted to almost 
 any situation by a proper arrangement of the roofs. 
 Thus, for example, on an elevated and somewhat open 
 site, such as the one that Mr. Case’s house occupies, a 
 
 roof of only moderate pitch is desirable. On level 
 ground, or in a valley, a high-pitched roof should be 
 preferred. It is also an economical plan for the ac- 
 commodation atforded, as will be seen by tlie particu- 
 
172 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 lars or cost that are annexed. The house, as now fin- 
 ished, is constructed with an eight-inch brick wall, 
 furred off outside, and covered with clap-boards in the 
 ordinary way followed in a wooden building. This 
 plan of construction was adopted in accordance witli 
 the special request of the proprietor, who preferred it 
 to any other method. Its advantages are, that it se- 
 cures to a certainty a perfectly dry interior wall. On 
 the other hand, it seems undesirable to have a brick 
 house, and to give it the appearance of a wooden one, 
 as brick is the superior and more durable-looking ma- 
 terial. The accommodation maybe thus described: A 
 veranda-porch on the east provides a covered approach 
 to the front door. The principal hall, 11 6x 10 feet, 
 gives access to the parlor and library, both of which 
 are on the south of the house, and also to the dining- 
 room. Another door opens on to a staircase-hall, 
 which is easily accessible either from the principal 
 rooms or from the kitchen wing. This is desirable, 
 as the scale of the house would not warrant a second 
 staircase. An east and a south veranda are supplied 
 to the principal rooms, but each has windows that are 
 unobstructed by any veranda. The dining-room con- 
 nects through a pantry with the kitchen wing, which 
 is also approached from the main body of the house 
 under the staircase. A lobby opens on to a kitchen 
 veranda, facing south, that provides a servants’ en- 
 trance, and is convenient for hanging out clothes un- 
 der cover in rainy weather. A kitchen, 17x13, fitted 
 up with closets, wash-trays, and store-room, completes 
 the accommodation on the main floor and wing. By 
 this plan the disadvantages of living in the basement 
 are entirely avoided, and the lady of the house can 
 superintend her servants with ease and comfort. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 173 
 
 In the chamber plan will be found five bedrooms, 
 and a bath-room and water-closet; and in the wing 
 two bedrooms, a linen-press, and a house-maid’s sink. 
 All these rooms are supplied with registers near the 
 ceiling that communicate with foul air flues separate 
 from the chimney-flues. In the garret over the bath- 
 room is a large, well-lighted linen-room ; and as this 
 is planned on the half-landing, it is very easy of ac- 
 cess from the chamber floor. A large store-room, the 
 size of the bedroom over the dining-room, is finished 
 ofl* under the roof in a common way, and is secured 
 with a door after being inclosed from the stairs by a 
 plastered partition. The remainder of the space is 
 open and unplastered. It makes a very roomy gar- 
 ret, with plenty of headway all over it ; but the win- 
 dows in the peaks are, of course, close to the floor, 
 and it was never intended that any bedrooms should 
 be fitted up here. The roof is covered with shingles, 
 the flat being floored and covered with canvas. In 
 the basement are cellars and furnace-room, the kitch- 
 en-wing foundations not being carried down farther 
 than was necessary to keep clear of frost. In this 
 house special precaution was taken, by Mr. Case’s re- 
 quest, with regard to the plumber’s work. All the 
 pipes, hot, cold, and waste, were inclosed in a tin en- 
 velope fitted tolerably closely to the pipes. As the 
 work proceeded this tin case was soldered up every 
 here and there, and particularly where the pipe is led 
 through the wall, in the first instance, and whei^e it 
 starts from the boiler. By this means the little insects 
 that work their way from below, and are often found 
 about water fixtures in rooms, are prevented from 
 crawling up and down, and breeding among the warm 
 pipes, as they are tempted to do in many situations. 
 
174 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 The carpenter’s contract for this house was taken at 
 $3500 ; the mason’s at $2500 ; the remainder of the 
 work was done by the day. 
 
 After the contracts had been made the proprietor 
 left the work entirely in the hands of the architect; 
 and, with the exception that hard walls were substi- 
 tuted for brown walls throughout, and that some tri- 
 fling alterations were made in the arrangements for 
 the linen-press, the plans, as signed, were faithfully 
 executed for the contract amount, without any diffi- 
 culty whatever. The carpenter’s and mason’s extras, 
 which amounted to $350, included the change from 
 brown wall to hard finish, and all the work apper- 
 taining to a large outbuilding at some distance from 
 the house. 
 
 The vignette illustrates an unexecuted study for a 
 garden outbuilding, and is supposed to be located in 
 a situation where it must be seen more or less. 
 
 PlfKH 
 
 DESIGN FOR AN OUTBUILDING. 
 
V 
 
DESIGN No. 9. 
 
 RKAK VIEW 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 177 
 
 DESIGN No. 9. 
 
 AN lEKEGULAR BRICK COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 In this design, which was made for Mr. J. Robins, 
 of Yonkers, a brick porch, connected with a veranda, 
 and so arranged that it can be inclosed in winter, leads 
 to a roomy, well-lighted hall, in which is an open stair- 
 case to the chamber floor. A staircase of this sort 
 may be made quite an agreeable feature in an open 
 front hall, if there is a back stairway to the bedrooms. 
 This is provided in the present case, so that the serv- 
 ants need not use the principal stairway when attend- 
 ing to the chambers. The library is a pleasant room, 
 15x18, unconnected with any other apartment, and 
 with windows opening on to the veranda. It is en- 
 tered from one side of the hall, and the parlor, 17x21, 
 from a door opposite. This room is supplied with a 
 bay-window, and connects with the dining-room, which 
 also communicated directly with the main hall, and 
 with a pantry, or service-room, that has a private ac- 
 
 
 1 BEDROOM 1 
 
 
 1^ 1 — 
 
 BEDROOM 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 PLAN OF CHAMBERS. 
 
 PLAN OF ATTICS. 
 
 PLAN OF ROOFS. 
 
 cess from the kitchen department. Both the parlor 
 and dining-room open on to a wide veranda. The 
 kitchen is 15x17, and has an entrance-porch, with 
 sink and larder. The lower floor is occupied for cel- 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 lars and furnace-room, and is not finished off. In the 
 plan of second floor will be found five roomy cham- 
 bers, a bath-room, and a linen-press under attic stairs. 
 One of these, which would probably be a spare room, 
 occurs over the kitchen, and has a ceiling following 
 the line of roof and collar beams, which makes it more 
 airy and agreeable, and improves its appearance, with- 
 out sacrifice of space, as there are no attic rooms over 
 the kitchen department. In the attic of main build- 
 ing three bedrooms are finished off. It also provides 
 a large garret, and a skylight to main stairway. The 
 plan of the roof is deserving of some attention, as it 
 covers a large space, without occupying much room in 
 the flat. The rear of this house looks down a some- 
 what steep hill, at the foot of which runs the princi- 
 pal approach road; and the roofs are, therefore, hipped 
 back on this front, so as to prevent them from appear- 
 ing in too acute perspective when viewed from below, 
 as would otherwise undoubtedly be the case. 
 
 This house is built at Yonkers, of brick, the venti- 
 lator and dormer-window shown on the drawing being 
 subsequent additions. 
 
 BOAT-LAJJDING IN THE CENTRAL PARK. 
 
TfM- ,r 
 
 - v 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
DESIGN No. 10.— (V. & W.) 
 
 PEESPECTIVE VIE\r. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 181 
 
 DESIGN No. 10. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 SUBURBAN HOUSE WITH ATTICS. 
 
 This is a study for a simple suburban brick house 
 of moderate size, square on plan, with the exception 
 of a small central projection ; and it depends almost 
 entirely on the roof lines for any jiicturesqueness of 
 character that it may lay claim to. It has been de- 
 signed and executed for a gentleman residing in 
 Newburgh. The plan has been slightly modified in 
 execution, the bedroom on the principal floor being 
 finally arranged as a second parlor ; but as this does 
 not improve the plan for our present purpose as 
 an example of peculiar arrangement of accommoda- 
 tion, the original design is adhered to in the illustra- 
 tions. 
 
 The house is entered by a recessed porch, with a 
 covered balcony overhead. This upper balcony being 
 also recessed in the brick-work, and inclosed at the 
 sides, is always in shadow, and materially helps to re- 
 lieve what would otherwise be a monotonous front. 
 This space is fitted with a glazed frame in the winter, 
 the porch being inclosed with folding-doors as soon as 
 the cold weather sets in. The hall extends through 
 the house, and communicates with a parlor and bed- 
 room, a dining-room, and a veranda in the rear. The 
 main stairs are in this open hall, and on the half-land- 
 ing is a connection, through a French casement-win- 
 dow, with a balcony over the veranda, from which a 
 pretty view is gained. The parlor has a large bay- 
 
182 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 window in it, the cornice of the room being carried 
 round the recess that it forms. There is a private 
 door from this room to the bedroom adjoining. 
 
 It is not generally a desirable plan to give up the 
 space necessary for a bedroom on the principal floor ; 
 but circumstances occur in which it is a very great de- 
 sideratum, and this study may serve to show how, in 
 a simple house, the idea may be developed. It will 
 be perceived that a portion of the veranda is inclosed 
 for a small dressing-room to this bedroom, thus mak- 
 ing it a far more commodious sleeping apartment than 
 it would otherwise be. The dining-room connects with 
 a pantry, and is also supplied with a large china-clos- 
 et. The pantry is fitted up with hanging-shelf, draw- 
 ers, and closet, and connects with the kitchen, which 
 is thus shut off from the living-rooms, although under 
 the same roof as the rest of the house. An inclosure 
 of the veranda, similar in size to that on the opposite 
 side, supplies a space for a pantry and sink-room. 
 The servants’ entrance is quite convenient of access 
 from the road, but, at the same time, is shut off by 
 its position from interfering with the privacy of the 
 veranda. A door, where shown near the hall door 
 to veranda, incloses the basement stairs for the use of 
 the kitchen, and a compact flight of stairs from the 
 kitchen itself provides a separate access for the serv- 
 ants to the bedrooms above. This staircase occupies 
 a very small space, and is a great addition to the con- 
 venience of the house. In the basement is a wash- 
 room under kitchen, with an outer entrance, close by 
 servants’ entrance, for convenience in carrying out 
 clothes to dry. The remainder of the space is not fin- 
 ished off, and furnishes cellars and furnace-room. 
 
 A straight veranda inclosed on both sides would 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 183 
 
 not, perhaps, be thought sufficiently airy, and a pro- 
 jection is therefore made, as ■will be seen on reference 
 to the plan, to increase its size and give it a more open 
 effect. This arrangement also adds some'what to the 
 external appearance of the design, at but little addi- 
 tional expense, while it is calculated to insure privacy 
 in a suburban house; and in common houses the no- 
 tion is carried out frequently, in a simple way, by 
 lathing up the ends of verandas, to prevent them 
 from being overlooked by next-door neighbors. Such 
 a veranda as is here shown will be almost <as retired 
 as any of the rooms inside the house. 
 
 Up stairs are three full-sized bedrooms, and a small 
 bedroom, or dressing-room, a bath-room, and water- 
 closet, a linen-press, and two servants’ bedrooms, the 
 latter disconnected with the other apartments. This 
 arrangement is made with the idea that the attics are 
 to be left entirely unfinished for a time, the house be- 
 ing occupied by a small family ; but the plan has 
 been, from the first, so arranged that three or four 
 airy, well-lighted rooms can be fitted up at any future 
 time, and if this should ever be done, the two serv- 
 ants’ rooms shown on chamber plan might be convert- 
 ed to the use of the family, and the servants’ rooms 
 arranged above. 
 
 In the actual execution of this design the owner 
 determined, during the progress of the work, to throw 
 the two small bedrooms into one, and to finish off a 
 portion of the attic for the use of the servants. 
 
 It seems desirable, in planning a country house, to 
 locate the principal rooms in such a manner that they 
 may court the pleasant southerly breezes in summer, 
 and the southerly and easterly sun in winter. In 
 some situations it so happens that this can not be 
 
184 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 done, except at an entire sacrifice of the pleasantest 
 views, and the general idea of the plan in such cases 
 may require to be modified accordingly ; but under 
 ordinary circumstances an architect will so manage 
 matters that the inferior rooms and offices will quietly 
 slide into the uninviting north or northwest corner 
 of the house, and thus occupy that portion of it which 
 can best be spared from the living-rooms. There is, 
 however, a disadvantage in this natural arrangement 
 which, if not guarded against, may give trouble, for 
 the water-fixtures, being on the north side of the 
 house, may be affected by a severe frost; but this 
 may be avoided in several ways. One plan is to keep 
 all the pipes on the inside partitions of the house, and 
 to protect them from any exposure by casing round 
 them, and filling in with sawdust or other non-con- 
 ducting material. This is all that can be done in a 
 house without a furnace, except to carry the kitchen 
 flue through the cistern ; but where a furnace is used 
 the remedy is easy and complete. A two-inch tin 
 pipe communicating with the hot-air chamber should 
 be carried up with the water-j)ipes, and after being 
 continued through the bottom of the cistern, should 
 be coiled once round it on the inside, and then be left 
 with an open outlet just above the level of the over- 
 flow pipe. If the cistern is afterward covered with a 
 partially air-tight lid the result will be found entirely 
 satisfactory, as it has proved in the house illustrated 
 on page 180, and in others over which I have had the 
 control. 
 
 The roof of this house is covered with the purple 
 and green slate from the Vermont quarries, arranged 
 in stripes, as shown, and the effect, as executed, is 
 very soft and agreeable. The cost was scarcely more 
 
VILLAS ANP COTTAGES. 
 
 185 
 
 than for a shingle roof of good quality, the slate be- 
 ing provided and put on with mortared joints at $7 50 
 a square. Circumstances, however, were favorable in 
 this instance, and $8 per square is as little as this slate 
 can be generally laid for. 
 
 It will be seen that a special arrangement is made 
 for the carr}dng otf of the rain-water, the pipes being 
 fitted with ornamental heads, and connected with the 
 gutters by brackets brought down on to the brick piers 
 at the angles. Some additional individuality is thus 
 given to the external appearance of the house, and at- 
 tention is requested to this part of the design, as it re- 
 fers to a point that is very generally left unstudied, 
 many designs being, in consequence, marred by an 
 awkward, obtrusive arrangement, or rather want of 
 arrangement, of the rain-water pipes. 
 
 The cost of this house, including the fence shown 
 in the vignette, and a moderate-sized stable and coach- 
 house, was as follows : 
 
 Mason’s work $1921 02 
 
 Carpenter’s work 3278 71 
 
 Stone-cutter 380 00 
 
 Furnace 201 50 
 
 Gas-fitting 85 54 
 
 Plumbing and tinning 945 49 
 
 Painting 041 32 
 
 Bell-hanging 40 40 
 
 Architect’s commission (5 per cent.) 375 00 
 
 Total $7874 98 
 
 A recommendation by an architect to his client to 
 build a larger house than he or his family require for 
 comfort, would seem, at the first glance, to be invari- 
 ably bad advice to give to a prudent person ; but ex- 
 perience shows that it is sometimes the best course to 
 pursue. If, for example, a gentleman, whose require- 
 ments are comparatively small, purchases a valuable 
 
186 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 lot in the neighborhood of a thriving country town, 
 he will certainly damage the selling value bf his prop- 
 erty by erecting on it a house that can not be easily 
 converted into a tolerably roomy family residence. It 
 is, therefore, in such a case, a better investment for 
 him to expend somewhat more at first, and arrange his 
 design so that further accommodation can, without 
 much trouble, be obtained, than to cut and pare his 
 house down to the exact measure of his own imme- 
 diate needs, without reference to its probable market 
 value. Some men spend, while others spare, extrav- 
 agantly, and either habit is found to be inconvenient- 
 ly unprofitable in the long run. 
 
 ELEVATION OF FENCE. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 187 
 
 DESIGN No. 11. 
 
 A NEAELT SQUAKE SUBUKBAN HOUSE. 
 
 This design has been executed in brick by a gen- 
 tleman in Rondout, on a site overlooking an ample 
 stretch of the Hudson River. It contains about the 
 same amount of room as the design last described, but 
 
 SIDE ELEVATION. FROnT ELEVATION. 
 
 CHAMBER PLAN. 
 
 arranged in a somewhat different manner. The exte- 
 rior outline is more picturesquely broken, and the 
 whole design is on a somewhat more extensive scale. 
 The smaller piazza is so arranged that it can be readi- 
 ly converted into a plant cabinet in winter, and a bay 
 window is introduced into each of the principal rooms. 
 
 The cost of this house, including painting and plumb- 
 
188 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 ing work, and a coach-house and stable of liberal size, 
 was about ten thousand dollars in 1862. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a design carried into execu- 
 tion in the neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. 
 The special requirement in this case was the introduc- 
 tion of a parlor much larger than the dining-room or 
 library, into a square house that should have the kitch- 
 en under the same roof with the rest of the building, 
 but shut off from the principal rooms. 
 
 FRONT ELEVATION. 
 
 BIDE ELEVATION. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 189 
 
 DESIGN No. 12. 
 
 AN IRREGULAR HOUSE, WITHOUT KITCHEN WING. 
 
 This design, which is in process of execution, was 
 prepared for a somewhat peculiar site in the vicinity 
 of Springfield, Mass. The ground descends rapidly to 
 the south, and the entrance to the house, on account of 
 the shape of the property and the situation of the ap- 
 proach-road, was of necessity made on the north front. 
 
 Attic bedrooms throughout were not desired, but 
 
 PLAN OF PBINCirAL FLOOR. 
 
 CUAMBER PLAN. 
 
190 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 some accommodation for servants was needed over the 
 bedroom floor. 
 
 The main body of the house is only two stories high, 
 but the block inclosing the kitchen is really four sto- 
 ries high, as is shown in the engraving. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a house erected in Llewellyn 
 Park, in the neighborhood of Orange, New Jersey. 
 
 FEONT ELEVATION. 
 
 SIDE ELEVATION. 
 
 AITIO PLAN. 
 
 EASEMENT PLAN. 
 
 PLAN OF PEINOIPAL FLOOE. 
 
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VERANDAH 
 
 DESIGN No. 13, 
 
 PERSPECTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 193 
 
 DESIGN No. 13 
 
 A WOODEN VILLA WITH TOWEE, AND WITHOUT ATTICS. 
 
 This design was prepared and executed for Mr. C. 
 H. Rogers, at Ravenswood, Long Island, and as it 
 is built on a situation which commands a good view 
 of the East River, more or less intercepted from the 
 lower stories by buildings and trees, it was thought 
 desirable to arrange some point of view from the up- 
 per part of the house which should admit of the 
 whole extent of prospect being conveniently seen. A 
 tower three stories high, finished above with an octag- 
 onal observatory, easily accessible from below, has, 
 therefore, been included in the design, as will be seen 
 on the sketch. By this plan an interesting view is 
 obtained, clear of the roofs in every direction. The 
 observatory was made of an octagonal form, with a 
 projecting balcony round it, so as to reduce its per- 
 
 PLAN OF ROOFS 
 
 PLAN OF CHAMBERS 
 
 spective dimensions, and give a more light and airy 
 effect to the upper part of the design ; for if a square 
 tower four full stories in height, even though it may 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 be quite small on plan, is grouped in connection with 
 a villa of but moderate size, the probabilities are that 
 it will appear to have an undue preponderance over 
 the other features, and will thus compel the more 
 strictly domestic parts of the house to seem of second- 
 ary importance. This result is, of course, undesira- 
 ble ; for although the observatory room is intended 
 to be both useful and ornamental, it is far less neces- 
 sary to the real comfort and enjoyment of the inmates 
 than the living rooms that are in occupation all the 
 time. The lower story of the tower is occupied as a 
 front porch, which is connected with a veranda, and 
 communicates with an entrance hall. The angles of 
 this hall are finished octagonally, so as to improve its 
 general effect. The drawing-room is 18x20:6, and is 
 finished with a large bay-window at one end. It also 
 communicates, through side windows, with a semicir- 
 cular veranda and a balustraded terrace on the river 
 front. The library opens from this room and from 
 the hall. It is furnished with recessed book-cases and 
 a square bay, and, like the drawing-room, communi- 
 cates with the veranda and terrace. The dining-room 
 on the other side of the hall instead of a bay-window 
 has a conservatory, or plant cabinet, attached to it, as 
 will be seen on the plan. It is also provided with a 
 roomy pantry that has closets and a sliding hatchway 
 immediately connecting with the kitchen. The main 
 staircase is in a second hall, and under the upper land- 
 ing is a large cloak-closet and an entrance to the gar- 
 den, A little dressing, or lavatory room, is planned 
 near to this hall, and the servants’ staircase and pas- 
 sage-way to the offices connects with the main build- 
 ing at this point. The kitchen is in a wing on the 
 same level as the other part of the house, and has a 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 195 
 
 sink-room, pantry, and wood-house attached. It also 
 contains a small separate stairway to two upper rooms 
 for men-servants. 
 
 This house was built of wood filled in with brick, 
 the principal rooms being provided with sliding-shut- 
 ters ; and the carpenter’s and mason’s work for this 
 building, and a coach-house, etc., including painting, 
 was done for about $10,000, which, with architect’s 
 commission at five per cent., amounted to $10,500. 
 
 An illustration of the river front is shown above, 
 drawn to a somewhat larger scale than tlie perspective 
 view, so that the arrangement of gable and mode of 
 finish may be intelligible by a reference to the plan of 
 principal floor on previous page. The formal square 
 appearance it presents, compared with the actual effect 
 of tlie villa in execution, or the other illustration of 
 the same house already given, will serve to show how 
 incomplete an idea is likely to be formed of an archi- 
 tect’s design, if it is judged of from elevation only, and 
 yet it is by no means uncommon to find this mode of 
 
196 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 illustration adopted in architectural works in prefer- 
 ence to any other. If a study for a house is proposed 
 to be so drawn out that it may be used by builders for 
 working purposes, it is absolutely necessary that plans, 
 elevations, and sections should be furnished, because 
 no measurements can be taken from a perspective 
 drawing, however neatly it may be done ; but if the 
 study is submitted with a view to show what sort of 
 artistic effect may be produced, in execution, from a 
 certain arrangement of ground plan, nothing but a per- 
 spective view will convey an accurate idea fro the mind ; 
 and as the intention in this volume has been to give 
 suggestions, rather than to supply cut-and-dried de- 
 signs, the perspective mode of illustration has been ad- 
 hered to as much as possible. 
 
 The vignette shows a design for a fence and gate 
 executed in connection with the above design. 
 
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DESIGN No. 14.— (D. & V.) 
 
 PERSPECTIVE VIEW. 
 
 CHAMBER PLAN 
 
 PLAN or P_RINC1PAL FLOOR 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 199 
 
 DESIGN No. 14. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 A SYMMETRICAL COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 This design was prepared and executed in the vicin- 
 ity of Newburgh, Avith the exception of the ventilating 
 turret, which Avas a suggestion otfered at the time the 
 building Avas erected. This prominent feature has 
 not, however, yet been carried into execution, as the 
 gentleman for Avhom the plan Avas prepared pre- 
 ferred to omit it ; still, it forms an integral part of 
 the design, and is introduced in the sketch, as the 
 composition appears to be someAvhat incompletely 
 represented Avithout it. There Avere some special re- 
 quirements made by the proprietor in this instance 
 that are, perhaps, with some readers, calculated to 
 give additional interest to this plan. The house dur- 
 ing the summer months Avas to be, to all intents and 
 purposes, a Southern house ; ample circulation of air 
 
 ROOFS 
 
 was to be provided, with plenty of veranda space; 
 and a cool, open arrangement of rooms was especially 
 asked for, as the house would be required to accom- 
 modate agreeably many residents and A^sitors during 
 the hot weather. On the other hand, the plan was to 
 
200 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 be SO arranged that during the colder part of the 
 year the house should be suited to the changed needs 
 of its fewer inmates, for it was the intention of the 
 proprietor to occupy his residence during the winter. 
 A completely fitted up and somewhat decorative prin- 
 cipal floor was also a point of importance with the 
 proprietor, who did not propose to exj^end any large 
 amount on his house, and whose instructions were for 
 rooms of but moderate size, and for a basement kitch- 
 en, so as to avoid the extra expense of a kitchen wing. 
 In the plan it will be observed that a brick porch, con- 
 necting two verandas, and forming with them one con- 
 tinuous piazza, opens on to the principal hall, which 
 is 14x18. This hall communicates, by sliding doors, 
 with the drawing-room on one side, and the dining- 
 room on the other. Each of these rooms has a bay- 
 window at the end opposite the hall entrance, and 
 thus, when the doors are thrown open in summer, an 
 agreeable vista effect is produced, and a free circula- 
 tion of air is provided for. The upper end of the 
 hall is traversed by a light, ornamental, open, arched 
 screen, which is introduced so as to give a definite 
 character to a passage-way, or vestibule, as shown On 
 the plan. Beyond this arched screen is an entrance, 
 with sliding-doors, to the library, and at the opposite 
 end of the latter room is a large square bay-window, 
 with open screen-work and seat in connection with it. 
 Thus another extensive vista is obtained in summer 
 evenings through the house in this direction, and 
 when the doors are open, any one sitting in the li- 
 brary bay can see the river view framed, as it were, 
 in the outer arch of the porch. A little boudoir, or 
 ladies’ morni«g-room, with a private veranda entirely 
 shaded during the whole of the forenoon, is planned 
 
• VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 201 
 
 close to this library and to the drawing-room, and a 
 similar space is inclosed on the opposite side of the 
 house for water-closet and pantry, which has a lift in 
 connection with the floor below. It will thus be 
 seen, by an inspection of the plan, that it would hard- 
 ly be possible to have a more airy and open arrange- 
 ment for summer ; for, standing in the hall when the 
 rooms are thrown open, one can see clear through the 
 house, north, south, east, and west; and the porch, 
 hall, vestibule, library, dining-room, drawing-room, 
 and veranda, are converted, as it were, into one con- 
 nected apartment. All idea of the moderate size of 
 the single rooms, the largest of which is but 18 x 20, 
 is thus done away with, and the house necessarily 
 seems roomy, open, and ample in its accommodation. 
 
 So much for the summer arrangement. In winter, 
 on the other hand, the first step should be to inclose 
 the arches of the porch with glazed frames, and the 
 next to close the sliding doors for the season, entering 
 in future each of the separate rooms from the ordi- 
 nary-sized doors which are provided to each of the 
 principal apartments for this purpose ; the library be- 
 ing approached through a book-case door, already il- 
 lustrated and described in the opening chapter (see 
 page 90). The furnace may then be started, and the 
 house will be found to be a warm winter house, suit- 
 ed to a severe climate. All the thorough draughts are 
 shut off, and the separate rooms are small, readily 
 warmed, and easy of access from the chambers. The 
 bedroom floor in this house contains an upper hall, 
 lighted by a skylight, four full-sized bedrooms, a dress- 
 ing-room, and a bath-room with water-closet. The 
 attic contains two spare bedrooms, shut off entirely 
 from the apartments for domestics on the same floor. 
 
202 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. ’ 
 
 and it also provides an open hall, two servants’ bed- 
 rooms, a garret, and lumber room. 
 
 In the basement will be found the kitchen, wash- 
 room, milk-room, furnace-room, and cellars. The car- 
 penter’s and mason’s contracts for this house were 
 taken at $7230, and the painter’s, and plumber’s, and 
 decorator’s accounts, with some ornamental ceilings, 
 and other carpenter’s work inside the house, not con- 
 templated in the original contract, made the amount 
 expended, and on which five per cent., architect’s com- 
 mission, was charged, $9326 51. The stable, which 
 contained accommodation for three horses, a coach- 
 house, a harness-room, a coachman’s living room, with 
 bedroom over, and a hayloft in the roof, was built of 
 brick for $1700. It is illustrated in the vignette below. 
 
 PSbIQN FOB eXABLB, BTC. 
 
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 • f. 
 
DESIGN No. 15.— (V. & W.) 
 
 PEfiSPECnVE VIEW. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 205 
 
 DESIGN No. 15. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 BEICK VILLA WITH TOWEK, AND WITHOUT ATTICS. 
 
 The working plan of this design has been prepared 
 for Mr. Walker Fowler, of New York, and the house 
 is designed to be erected by him on an agreeable site 
 at Limestone Hill, in the neighborhood of Newburgh. 
 The location has much individual character, and the 
 whole property is well adapted for a country seat. 
 Such a spot, however, is scarcely appreciated in the 
 vicinity of the Hudson River, for an extended water 
 view is, under such circumstances, thought an all-im- 
 portant consideration ; consequently a situation like 
 this, in Avhich undulating hills intercept the river 
 view from the lower rooms, appears to much less ad- 
 vantage than it would if it happened to*be in another 
 
 PLAN Of ROOES. 
 
 part of the country altogether. The site for the house 
 is on an elevated space of table land. On the veranda 
 front the hillside descends abruptly and picturesquely 
 some sixty or eighty feet within full view of the drive 
 
206 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 road, and as this steep hillside is well covered with 
 healthy evergreens and fine deciduous trees, it will 
 form, as it were, a broad and handsome base for the 
 house, part of which, especially the observatory, would 
 be visible from below. On the other side the forma- 
 tion of the ground is such that the house will be ap- 
 proached without any sudden ascent, as Nature has 
 kindly made ample preparation within the boundary 
 line of the property for an easy Avinding road up to 
 the top of the hill. ’ On .the south side is a stretch of 
 fine Avoods, on the edge of Avhich is just the spot for a 
 stable, and scattered here and there among the trees 
 are large boulders of stone, grouped, by accident, three 
 and four together, quite artistically, and forming pleas- 
 ant natural seats and nestling-places for ferns and Avild 
 floAvers. One mammoth boulder, that looks like a 
 sleeping monster, some tAventy or thirty feet long, has 
 been split in a peculiar manner by a tree groAving into 
 a fissure beneath it, and thus presents a very curious 
 appearance. .Large stones like this are often found 
 in quite unaccountable places, and it is supposed that 
 they must have been borne to the spot, and dropped, 
 by melting icebergs, ages ago. This solution, Avhether 
 true or not, is certainly ingenious. But to return to 
 our more immediate business, Avhich is a description 
 of Mr. FoAvler’s plan. A recessed porch, large enough 
 to serve as a morning veranda, provides access to the 
 principal hall, Avhich is only of small dimensions, but 
 it is provided Avith cloak-closets, and contains the doors 
 to the three principal apartments, and to the staircase. 
 The library is in the loAver story of the tower, and the 
 design is so arranged that this tOAver can be omitted 
 entirely Avhen the first contract is made, Avithout a dis- 
 agreeable appearance being the result; and although 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 207 
 
 the interior accommodation and the exterior effect of 
 the house would be materially reduced under those 
 circumstances, the design would still be fair and com- 
 plete, and the addition could be made at any time. 
 A parlor and dining-room open on to a veranda. 
 Near the dining-room is a pantry, a garden entrance, 
 and door to the kitchen, which is in a wing building. 
 
 The chamber plan supplies four bedrooms, and a 
 fifth in the upper story of the tower, also a bath-room 
 and water-closet, a linen-press, and two servants’ bed- 
 rooms. The observatory is conveniently reached by 
 continuing the staircase that leads to tower bedroom. 
 The roof is arranged as shown on the plan. The in- 
 tention in this design is to insure, as far as possible, 
 an irregular picturesque effect, without any sacrifice 
 of convenience or a large outlay of money. As the 
 house is to be built on somewhat of a highland, it 
 seems undesirable to use an acute pitch for the roof, 
 for the trees that surround the site proj^osed for the 
 house, although vigorous and well shaped, are some- 
 what scattered, and of no great magnitude. They 
 would, therefore, scarcely take their projier share in 
 the general composition, if the roof were made too 
 prominent a feature. In designs like that for Mr. 
 Willis’s house, on the other hand, the rear view is so 
 enveloped with hardy evergreens, omitted for the most 
 part in the drawings, that it is preferable to use a 
 high-pitched roof, as the house would otherwise be in 
 a few years entirely shut out from view. Considera- 
 ble judgment is needed in settling on the exact posi- 
 tion for a house like this, so as to realize all the ad- 
 vantages that the site affords. It must not seem to 
 overhang the descent, or the effect will be crowded, 
 and will give the idea from the road of a small, re- 
 
208 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 stricted property. Neither should it retreat very far 
 from the brow of the hill, or the house will be shut 
 out of sight, and altogether lost on a tolerably near 
 approach to the premises. A happy medium, both in 
 the location of the site and in the pitch of the roof, is 
 the desirable point to aim at under such circumstances. 
 
 The vignette shows a design for an observatory to 
 be erected at Hillside Cemetery, Middletown, N. Y. 
 
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DESIGN No. Ifi. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 211 
 
 DESIGN No. 16 . 
 
 A PICTUEESQUE SYMMETKICAL HOUSE. 
 
 This design was prepared and executed for Mr. W. 
 E. Warren, of Newburgh. It is situated in Mont- 
 gomery Street, which is a straight road running par- 
 allel with the river, at a considerable elevation, com- 
 manding beautiful views of West Point, the High- 
 lands, and the Hudson. From this level the cross- 
 streets descend with a steep pitch to the shore, and 
 the building sites, in consequence, slope considerably. 
 
 EOOF PLAN. 
 
 As Mr. Warren’s house was to be built on a comer 
 lot, this peculiarity of position became very conspicu- 
 ous, and required to be considered with some care, 
 when preparing the plans, so as to avoid a stilted, 
 
212 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 disagreeable effect. The entrance front of the house 
 faces on Montgomery Street, and is seen in the ordi- 
 nary way on a level with the street. The design is 
 therefore made with gables accordingly. The rear, 
 on the other hand, is conspicuous, chiefly from the 
 lower streets and from the river ; and as it provides a 
 basement story entirely out of ground, on account of 
 the rapid descent of the hill, the whole front is, in 
 consequence, of an altered proportion, and required a 
 different treatment. The roof in this part of the de- 
 sign is hipped back, without gables, as will be seen on 
 the lower view, and dormer-windows are introduced 
 to give light to the attic bedrooms. The apparent 
 height of the rear elevation is materially reduced by 
 this arrangement, and the general effect is altogether 
 made more easy than if gables had been introduced 
 corresponding with those on the opposite side. 
 
 A recessed porch opens into a hall tAvelve feet 
 square, in which are cloak-closets, and the doors to 
 the princijial apartments and staircase. The room 
 called study is fitted up with wash-stand, etc., in a 
 closet, so that it may be used as a bedroom or sick- 
 room at any time ; and the small room by the stair- 
 case is well-suited, and is at present used for a private 
 office instead of a sleeping apartment, as at first pro- 
 posed. The doors in the hall are grouped together, 
 with a panel for a picture between each pair, as sho^vn 
 and described on page 88. There are two parlors con- 
 nected by sliding doors, and opening on to a piazza 
 twelve feet mde. This last feature of the composition 
 is made very roomy, as it commands an extended view 
 of the river, while the ornamental plot of ground at- 
 tached to the house is but of small dimensions, and is 
 at a much lower level. This veranda, therefore, is 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 213 
 
 sure to be the chief summer resort of the inmates, and 
 is made of large size, with a balcony over, which, as 
 it faces east, is in shadow during the evening, and af- 
 fords an agreeable accessory to the bedrooms connect- 
 ing with it. 
 
 The chamber plan contains four bedrooms, bath- 
 room, water-closet, and linen-press. The attic provides 
 several spare rooms, as shown. In the basement is 
 the dining-room, with a door on to the veranda, and 
 also a roomy kitchen, with other offices. The neces- 
 sary shown on this plan is arranged as described on 
 page 47. 
 
 This house is built with an ei^ht-inch wall through- 
 out, above the level of water-table, and the beams are 
 supported on iron rests, as described in the opening 
 chapter. The interior has been well finished through- 
 out under the superintendence of the architect, and the 
 work was done by the day, in the best manner, and of 
 the best materials, the cost being as follows ; viz.. 
 
 Carpentei^s bill $2,191 08 
 
 Lumber 1,428 58 
 
 ■ Doors 237 45 
 
 Mouldings 40 99 
 
 Bell-hanging 45 00 
 
 Glazing and canvas 285 26 
 
 Mason’s bill 2,266 45 
 
 Brick 426 15 
 
 Cut stone and paving 940 63 
 
 Cartage 88 50 
 
 Iron castings 54 23 
 
 Tinner’s work and plumbing 1,184 37 
 
 Gas-fitting 75 21 
 
 Painting 895 23 
 
 Furnace 204 78 
 
 Mantles 614 50 
 
 Architect’s commission (5 per cent.) 569 88 
 
 Total $11,967 60 
 
 The mason’s bill in a contract often covers the tin- 
 ner’s work in connection with leaders, which is not 
 
214 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 here charged to him, as that and the plumbing were 
 in one account. The bill for paving, on the other 
 hand, includes considerable work that would scarcely 
 belong to a mason’s contract. The cost of grates and 
 range is not taken into the account. 
 
 The particulars furnished above may be of some in- 
 terest to any one about building such a house, as they 
 show the relative amounts of the various bills ; but 
 there is so much variety in the style and consequent 
 expense of interior comforts, appliances, and finish, 
 that a detailed estimate of this sort is not so valuable 
 as might at first be supposed. 
 
 The vignette shows a plan adopted for laying out 
 the grounds. By this plan two entrances are planned 
 on Montgomery Street, and one on the side-hill, while 
 a space large enough for a cart to get to the garden 
 with manure, etc., is arranged on the left hand side. 
 A piece of ground of this size should not at any time 
 be filled -with very large trees, for flowering shrubs, 
 evergreens, and a few fruit trees would be all sufficient. 
 
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DESIGN No. 17, 
 
 SOUTH-EAST VIEW AS ALTERED. 
 
 SOUTH-EAST VIEW BEFORE ALTERATION. 
 
 NORTH-WEST VIEW AS ALTERED. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 217 
 
 DESIGN No. 17. 
 
 ALTEKATION OF OLD HOUSE. 
 
 This design, which is for alterations and additions 
 to the residence of Mr. Thomas Powell, of Newburgh, 
 was planned some few years ago from the instructions 
 of his son-in-law, Mr. Ramsdell, the president of that 
 gigantic American fact, the Erie Raih’oad, and it is 
 selected for illustrating this part of our subject from 
 several studies for alterations, executed from time to 
 time in the same neighborhood and elsewhere, because 
 it seems to show with clearness the leading points 
 that require attention in such improvements. There 
 are to be found in different parts of the country many 
 families who have been settled for several generations 
 on the same spot, and their old, simple wooden home- 
 steads, mended and patched every few years, hold their 
 own with commendable pertinacity. They have no 
 idea of falling to pieces, and are altogether too solid 
 and substantial to be pulled down. Now this qual- 
 ity of durability is, of course, in the abstract, an ex- 
 cellent virtue for a house to possess ; but it must be 
 confessed that, in such very awkward and ungainly 
 structures as often fall to the lot of these well-settled 
 families, its presence could be cheerfully dispensed 
 with, were it not for the many interesting associa- 
 tions and family reminiscences that linger round the 
 old house, which lias been, perhaps, the home of tlie 
 father’s and grandfather’s childhood. These associa- 
 tions are so valuable, and so little fostered by tlie or- 
 dinary course of events in American families, that they 
 
218 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 deserve to be cherished in every possible way ; and it 
 may therefore, now and then, be more wise to do the 
 best that can be done with an old house, even at some 
 sacrifice of external completeness of design and inter- 
 nal convenience, than to demolish it entirely and build 
 anew from the foundations on a better plan. It does 
 not often occur that a design can be altered so as to 
 be entirely satisfactory; but much may be done to 
 compromise matters without an uneconomical expend- 
 iture. The error generally fallen into in such cases 
 may be thus described: Alterations are commenced 
 without any very definite idea as to where they will 
 end. One thing is done after another ; partitions are 
 pulled down, floors taken up, ceilings heightened, new 
 windows and doors inserted, till the house is a com- 
 plete labyrinth of mixed-up work, the clew to which 
 is wholly undiscoverable by either proprietor or me- 
 chanic, and the natural result is, that, after many mis- 
 takes, and a severe trial of the patience of the owner, 
 the workmen get through somehow, and are paid up 
 and dismissed, while the house, although somewhat 
 more convenient, is almost as ugly as before, and the 
 proceeding, from first to last, has cost four or five 
 times as much as the proprietor had an idea of lay- 
 ing out on it. This question should always be asked 
 and answered fairly before commencing operations, 
 viz.. Is the house worth altering at all? Sometimes 
 it is not. The frame may be decayed, the sills rotten, 
 the floors out of level, the ceilings altogether too low 
 for comfort ; and as points like these can not gener- 
 ally be meddled with economically, it seems useless 
 under such circumstances to spend much money on 
 alterations and additions. If, on the contrary, the 
 house is in a sound, substantial condition, and has no 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 219 
 
 radical defect of interior arrangement that must al- 
 ways make it an objectionable residence, it becomes 
 worth while to consider hoiv much alteration and ad- 
 dition the house will bear profitably, and the whole 
 plan and intention, from first to last, of the work to 
 be done, needs to be studied and determined on be- 
 forehand more exactly and minutely than would be 
 required for a new design altogether, for each part 
 must be, as it were, dovetailed into the other, so as 
 to get the advantage aimed at without awkwardness 
 of appearance or undue sacrifice of the work already 
 in existence. The fact is, that altogether too much is 
 generally attempted. The best way is to do as little 
 as possible beyond obtaining the leading features of 
 arrangement and appearance that the alteration or 
 addition is designed to procure. I remember once be- 
 ing called upon to pay a professional visit to a gen- 
 tleman who wished to alter his house, which was a 
 wooden one. I examined it, and found it had man}’ 
 serious defects, and advised him not to spend. a cent 
 upon it, but, if he was dissatisfied with the accom- 
 modation it afforded, to sell his present house and 
 lot, purchase a fresh piece of ground, and start anew. 
 He wanted to heighten all the ceilings to begin with, 
 a process which would, of course, throw every door, 
 and window, and beam out of position. Then the 
 doors and windoAvs must be made larger, and the 
 frame must be new-sided, and the roof neAV-shingled, 
 so that it became evident that what was really want- 
 ed was the old knife with the simple addition of a 
 new handle and new blades. My advice seemed to be 
 somewhat unsatisfactory to the proprietor, who evi- 
 dently expected some encouragement, and perhaps an 
 alteration was ultimately made; if so, I am certain 
 
220 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 that the result must have been even more unsatisfac- 
 tory than the advice. In Mr, Powell’s house the 
 whole construction was in good preservation, and the 
 addition shown on the sketch of the unaltered house 
 had been executed substantially some years ago for 
 the sake of the room it contained, without reference 
 to its effect on the external appearance of the de- 
 sign ; and the chimney of this wing being below the 
 other roofs, a large cowl was required to prevent the 
 chimney from smoking. All that was wanted in the 
 way of interior enlargement was a study with bed- 
 room over, which I planned in a square projection at 
 the rear of the house, as shown on the lower view, 
 and an enlargement of the parlor, which was arrived 
 at by a square projection in front of the depth of the 
 veranda, shown on the upper view, the old wall above 
 the level of parlor ceiling being carried on iron sus- 
 pension rods. Some of the windows and doors were 
 shifted along a foot or two one way or the other, so 
 as to bring the arrangement of openings into a form 
 that would admit of projier treatment on the exterior. 
 Small alterations, also, were made here and there to 
 improve the internal convenience of the plan ; but 
 still nothing was done of sufficient magnitude to ren- 
 der it necessary for the family to leave the premises, 
 even for a day, and the house was more or less occu- 
 pied during the whole period required for the execu- 
 tion of the improvements. The chief alteration was 
 made by taking a slice off the top of the original stiff 
 old roof, and then bringing up the fiat roof of the 
 wing to the new ridge level. The smoky chimney 
 was thus carried out at a proper elevation, and the 
 whole appearance of the exterior of the house was 
 by this means much enlarged ; two of the other chim- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 221 
 
 neys, after being taken down as far as was necessary, 
 and tied together with an iron band, were arched over 
 in the garret, and grouped above the ridge into one 
 double stack, as shown on the upper view. The roof 
 was projected all round, and fitted with brackets. 
 The ventilator was placed where shown, hoods were 
 arranged over a few of the windows, the verandas 
 were somewhat improved, and the addition of a plant 
 cabinet to the library completed the work as far as 
 carpenters and masons were concerned. Both new 
 and old parts were then painted and sanded in quiet, 
 neutral tints, so that all appearance of alteration was 
 at once avoided. Thus it will be perceived that, 
 without much tearing to pieces, a new character may 
 be given to a house, if it is only well built at first ; 
 and this design is a proof that such a result may be 
 gained at a cost that shall not be unsatisfactory to 
 the proprietor, for on making some inquiries for the 
 purpose of this work from Mr. Bamsdell some years 
 after the house was altered, I received from him a let- 
 ter which touches on this point among others, and 
 Avhich I take the opportunity of introducing here : 
 
 “Office of the New York and Erie Kailroad Company, 
 “New York, September 2\th, 1855 . 
 
 “Dear Sir, — You are quite at liberty to introduce 
 the design made for remodeling our homestead into 
 your proposed work. I do not know how far a sin- 
 gle instance of this sort is calculated to bear on the 
 general subject of altering old houses, but our own ex- 
 perience is certainly satisfactory. We have now an 
 agreeable arrangement of rooms, with all the minor 
 conveniences that so materially help to make a coun- 
 try house enjoyable, and should be unwilling to undo 
 any thing that has been done. The exterior of the 
 
222 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 house, which, I think, looks better than in your en- 
 graving, suits us very well, and, I dare say, may serve 
 to show how much can be done in the way of altera- 
 tion by very simple means. I can not readily give 
 you the particulars of cost you ask for, as no contract 
 was made, and the accounts include much other work 
 that was being executed by our mechanics at the same 
 time, but have no hesitation in saying that the gen- 
 eral result is well worth the outlay incurred. The 
 most important part that I feel to be gained is, that, 
 with all its alterations, it is still the old homestead of 
 the family (my father-in-law, Thomas Powell, Esq., 
 has resided there for nearly fifty years), and we are 
 thus enabled, without any sacrifice of enjojonent, to 
 retain the pleasant associations that are connected 
 with a home that has been in the family for so great 
 a length of time. 
 
 “Very truly yours, etc., 
 
 “Homer Pamsdell. 
 
 The vignette shows a method of altering a common 
 and awkward looking form of cottage roof that is very 
 easy of execution, and has been found, in practice, to 
 add much to the light and shade, and general pictur- 
 esque character of an old house. 
 
 STUDY FOE COTTAGE EOOP ALTERATION. 
 

DESIGN No. 18.— (D. & V.) 
 
 PEE8PECTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF CHAMBERS 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 225 
 
 DESIGN No. 18. 
 
 (D. &V.) 
 
 PICTUKESQUE SQUAEE HOUSE. 
 
 This house, which now belongs to a gentleman re- 
 siding in Newburgh, was planned for another party 
 in the first instance, and was partly executed with the 
 idea that it was to be very simply and economically 
 finished. It was commenced without any intention 
 of constructing the dormer-windows, the projecting 
 hoods, or the covered balcony over the lower bay, all 
 of which, as may be seen on reference to the sketch, 
 help materially to give individuality and completeness 
 to the design. The main outline of the plan is a sim- 
 ple parallelogram, without any break in the walls, and 
 the study may, therefore, be interesting to those who 
 like a generally picturesque effect in a house, but who 
 wish to avoid irregularities in the internal arrange- 
 
 ment, or uneconomical projections in carrying up the 
 brick-work. During the progress of the work the 
 building changed hands, and came into the possession 
 of its second owner, Mr. D. Moore, and in accordance 
 with his instructions the design was improved in many 
 
 P 
 
226 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 important points. The additions already referred to 
 were made, another bay-window was introduced, the 
 roof to the veranda, also, was curved, and finished 
 with a balustrade. 
 
 The plan may be thus described: An inclosed wood- 
 en porch, shown to a larger scale at page 72, leads 
 into the principal hall, which is paved with red, black, 
 and butf encaustic tiles in a simple but effective star 
 pattern. This hall communicates with the library, 
 which is a handsomely-finished room, containing two 
 book-cases recessed in the walls on one side, and a 
 third arranged between the windows on the other 
 side. The architrave mouldings of the doors, win- 
 dows, and book-cases being boldly relieved, and so ar- 
 ranged that they may group together in several dif- 
 ferent combinations. The drawing-room extends the 
 whole length of the house. The southern part was 
 originally proposed for a bedroom, but when the prop- 
 erty came into Mr. Moore’s possession it was connect- 
 ed with the parlor by an ornamental wooden arch, 
 without folding doors. From this drawing-room the 
 windows open on to a wide, spacious veranda, com- 
 manding an extensive view of the Hudson. In the 
 staircase hall is a garden entrance, and a door to a 
 small private room or office. The dining-room is in 
 the basement, but the ground falls off so rapidly that 
 the side of the room which looks out on to the orna- 
 mental garden, and the river beyond, is entirely out 
 of ground, and communicates with a brick piazza sup- 
 porting the veranda above. It has not, however, been 
 thought necessary to give a separate plan of this floor, 
 which contains kitchen and other offices, cellar, vaults, 
 and furnace-room. Conveniently situated underneath 
 the pavement of side-entrance is an outhouse and nec- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 227 
 
 essary, approached from the basement through a vine- 
 covered veranda passage, and arranged on a similar 
 plan to that already described in the opening chapter, 
 and in the description of Mr. Warren’s house. Mr. 
 Moore’s house was, however, the first in which this 
 plan was tried, and it was while endeavoring to over- 
 come the difficulties suggested by his needs that the 
 idea occurred to me. The filling up and grading 
 about the house was thus made more satisfactory, and 
 the outbuildings were entirely concealed from view, 
 which could not, in any reasonable time, have been 
 done by trees or evergreens on account of the contin- 
 uous fall in the ground, which made it necessary that 
 the principal rooms and veranda should look doAvn 
 on to the lawns and garden ground surrounding the 
 house. 
 
 The chamber plan will be found to contain four 
 bedrooms, Tvith a linen-room, bath-room, and water- 
 closet, all easy of access, but planned with a special 
 regard to privacy. An open and airy stairway to the 
 attic leads into a roomy, well-lighted upper hall, com- 
 municating with four large bedrooms and a store- 
 room. Above this again is a well-ventilated garret 
 four or five feet high, that affords convenient stowage 
 for trunks, and furnishes a complete shield from the 
 heat and cold. The attic rooms in this house are as 
 convenient, and almost as agreeable, as the principal 
 bedchambers below them ; and as they naturally com- 
 mand a more extensive view than can be obtained 
 from the rest of the house, they have this one great 
 advantage over the other rooms. A reference to the 
 plan of roofs will show how, by the arrangement of 
 the flat on the top, the whole composition is simply 
 treated, so as to offer as little resting-place as possible 
 
228 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 for the snow where it is likely to do any harm. This 
 house is painted in soft, quiet tints. The walls are 
 very light huff, with a tinge of green in it, that, al- 
 though scarcely noticeable, materially improves the 
 general effect, as it makes the contrast between the 
 house and its surroundings less decided. The wood- 
 work is in various shades of brown. I feel, however, 
 that it is useless for me to attempt, by words, to con- 
 vey an accurate idea of any delicate effects of color 
 that may be used with advantage in rural architect- 
 ure. One might as well try to describe an Irish mel- 
 ody or a fantasia on the violin. All varieties of form 
 may be explained, to a considerable extent, by simple 
 diagrams and descriptions, but minute refinements in 
 color refuse to be penned down, and must be seen to 
 be understood and appreciated. This house, which 
 was built by the day, and under the superintendence 
 of the architect, from the time it came into Mr. 
 Moore’s possession, has been very carefully and com- 
 pletely fitted up throughout with all the modern im- 
 provements of gas, water, speaking-tubes, furnace, and 
 ventilators, under the direction and instructions of the 
 proprietor, who took a personal and constantly active 
 interest in the work from the time he commenced his 
 improvements till the whole was completed to his sat- 
 isfaction ; and it affords a fair example of what may 
 be done in this style with a simple, straightforward 
 plan, although it is difficult in so small a drawing to 
 convey any very complete idea of its actual effect, 
 which depends a good deal on the care bestowed in 
 working out the details. 
 
 In this case the locality in which the house was 
 built had already been provided with gas-works, and 
 the pipes were therefore introduced as a matter of 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 229 
 
 course. But in a majority of the situations in which 
 country houses are built there are no gas-works at 
 hand, and no likelihood of any being erected. It is, 
 however, in any plan of moderate size, well worth 
 while to introduce the pipes, as the expense is small, 
 and the improvements that are constantly taking place 
 in the machines invented for making gas on a small 
 scale for home consumption, lead us to hope that ere 
 long it may be both easy and economical to light a 
 single house in this way with some simple apparatus 
 that can be put up and readily attended to on the 
 premises. This is, indeed, already done to a greater 
 extent than may, perhaps, be supposed. When put- 
 ting in the pipes it is, of course, necessary to prepare 
 a notch in the beams to receive them ; and unless 
 proper care is taken this notch will, in many cases, be 
 made by cutting an inch or more out of the very mid- 
 dle of the upper edge of each of the beams that occur 
 between the side of the room and its centre (where 
 the chandelier is suspended), although this plan is the 
 most foolish that can be adopted, as it weakens the 
 beam at the most important point merely to save a 
 few feet of pipe and a little trouble on the part of the 
 gas-fitter. The pipes should always be so planned 
 that the notch, or recess, may be cut into the beam 
 not more than a foot from the wall, where it will do 
 no harm, and the connection to the centre of the room 
 should invariably be made between the beams, and not 
 across them. 
 
 The architect’s commission for Mr. Moore’s house 
 was calculated on $12,000, which was about the cost 
 without mantles, range, and grates. Sixty dollars was 
 also charged for laying out the grounds, and the gar- 
 den plan adopted may be gathered from the vignette 
 
230 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 below. It will be seen that the house appears to be 
 considerably on one side of the lot. This occurred 
 from necessity, originally, as the foundation was com- 
 menced on a piece of ground only half the size finally 
 occupied ; but the efiect is, in execution, quite satis- 
 factory, and it does not now appear at all desirable 
 that the house should have been planned on the cen- 
 tre of the lot on which it at present stands, for the 
 ornamental garden shows to good advantage, and the 
 stretches of open lawns that are rendered possible by 
 placing the house on one side have a much better ef-) 
 feet than small plots intersected by gravel walks. On 
 the grass in front of the house a pretty fountain is in- 
 troduced, and the gates are made somewhat ornament- 
 al. The principal entrance gate is shown on page 286, 
 and the side gate is sketched on one of the outside 
 pages at the commencement of the present edition. 
 
 PLAN or GROUNDS. 
 
DESIGN No. 19.— (D. & V.) 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 233 
 
 DESIGN No. 19. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 SUBURBANT VILLA. 
 
 This study for a villa residence illustrates two va- 
 rieties of the same leading idea of plan and elevation 
 that were executed some years ago in Georgetown, 
 Dist. Col. The upper one was prepared for Mr. R. 
 P. Dodge, and the lower one for Mr. F. Dodge. 
 These gentlemen commenced their houses about the 
 
 PLAN 0 E CHAMBERS PLAN OE CHAMBEBB 
 
 same time, and each desired to obtain the particular 
 distribution of the rooms shown on the plan, and 
 wished for a general similarity in the two designs, al- 
 though the situations on which the buildings were to 
 be erected differed somewhat in their local require- 
 ments, By reversing the plan, and altering the posi- 
 tion of the library, the necessary change was made, and 
 the details also were varied as much as possible, the 
 windows in one design being square, and covered by 
 projecting wooden hoods, while in the other they were 
 made with circular heads and stone label mouldings. 
 Minor modifications were also introduced throughout 
 
234 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 the whole of the exterior and interior ; and thus, al- 
 though these two houses have their principal features 
 in common, neither is a servile imitation of the other. 
 The plan of principal floor shows a porch that occu- 
 pies the lower story of a tower, and forms a continu- 
 ation to veranda on the principal front. The main 
 hall, lighted from this porch, is of liberal dimensions, 
 and leads to a drawing-room that is provided with 
 windows opening on to the front veranda, and with a 
 handsome bay at the farther end. There is also a 
 means of access from this room to a more retired piaz- 
 za, or ombra, on the other side of the house. The 
 dining-room, which communicates with the ombra, is, 
 as shown, entered from this parlor as well as from 
 the outer hall, and has a large pantry, or service-room, 
 attached. Another door leads to the staircases and 
 garden entrance ; and as the library is also furnished 
 with a second door, all the principal rooms can be 
 reached, as may be seen on reference to the plan, from 
 the upper floor, without its being necessary to trav- 
 erse the principal hall. An arrangement of this sort 
 is calculated to add much to the privacy of the in- 
 mates of any country house, and is well worth secur- 
 ing when it can be obtained, as in the present case, 
 without sacrifice of convenience in other respects. An 
 easy, well-lighted principal staircase is provided, and 
 a separate flight for the domestics. This latter com- 
 municates with the kitchen and offices, which are 
 planned, according to instructions, in the basement. 
 On the second floor will be found one large bedroom, 
 with a dressing-room attached, three other roomy 
 chambers, one smaller bedroom, and a bath-room, wa- 
 ter-closet, and linen-press. Another pleasant spare 
 room in the upper part of the tower is reached by 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 235 
 
 continuing the private staircase into the attic, which 
 affords a large open garret space, lighted from the ga- 
 bles. When these houses were first planned it seemed 
 to be the intention of both proprietors to carry them 
 out in a very simple and economical way ; and as the 
 season was a good one for building, it was roughly cal- 
 culated that they might cost about $8000 or $9000. 
 Such a plan, under ordinary circumstances, and with 
 a perfectly plain finish, might now be fairly executed 
 for $10,000, but not in the thoroughly complete and 
 handsome style that was ultimately adopted by Messrs. 
 Dodge, who were led to introduce, as the work pro- 
 ceeded, a good deal of cut stone into the exterior de- 
 tails of the design, and who appear to have spared no 
 expense, either in labor or materials, to develop the 
 whole idea of the plan in an entirely satisfactory man- 
 ner. As the distance from Newburgh was so great, 
 the works were not superintended by the architects, 
 and I therefore wrote to Mr. F. Dodge, when contem- 
 plating the publication of this work, and requested 
 him to furnish me, if jDOssible, with some particulars 
 as to the actual cost of these houses, and also with 
 any suggestions for improvement that had occurred 
 to him after a year or two’s jDersonal occupation of 
 his own residence. In his reply he says, 
 
 “I have received your letter of the 31st ult., and 
 will comply with pleasure with your request. The 
 plans are with our builders. I will get them, and 
 send by express or mail in a day or two ; I mean my 
 brother’s as well as mine. We find the cost of our 
 houses to be much beyond what Mr. Downing led us 
 to expect — say about $15,000 each; yet we have fine 
 houses, and very comfortable and satisfactory in every 
 respect.” 
 
236 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 The vignette gives a slight sketch of an oak mantle- 
 piece, introduced into a design for a dining-room, ex- 
 ecuted at Fishkill Landing, It required to be simply 
 planned, so that it could be easily executed in the 
 country by a clever carpenter. 
 
 FOR OAK MAjS'i‘LK>lUKCK. 
 

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DESIGN No. 20.— (D. & V.) 
 
 1-EB8PEOTIVB VIEW. 
 
 PF EBINCLRAL CLOOfL 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 239 
 
 DESIGN No. 20. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 VILLA RESIDENCE WITH CURVED ROOF. 
 
 This design was prepared for an agreeable site in 
 the vicinity of Newburgh. The accommodation pro- 
 posed consists of a recessed porch opening on to a hall 
 eighteen feet square, on one side of which is a hand- 
 some morning -room isolated from the other apart- 
 ments. There is also a drawing-room, a library, and a 
 dining-room, so arranged as to form a suite of three 
 principal rooms, all connected together by doors, but 
 at the same time furnished with separate entrances 
 from the main hall. These three rooms face south, 
 which is the pleasantest aspect in the Highlands ; and 
 as they command in this direction a remarkably fine 
 view over the Hudson, which adds much to the value 
 of the site, each is provided with a large bay and win- 
 dow seat, placed so as to overlook the river. Both the 
 parlor and morning-room open on to a large veranda, 
 and the dining-room is connected with a more retired 
 piazza, as shown on the plan. A large pantry is pro- 
 vided close to the dining-room and servants’ staircase, 
 while a private office and water-closet are arranged 
 near the garden entrance. An ample kitchen, with all 
 other necessary offices attached, is provided in the base- 
 ment, and a convenient chamber plan and attic are in- 
 cluded in the design ; but it has not been thought nec- 
 essary to give here more than the general view, and 
 the disposition of rooms on the first floor. 
 
240 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 The design illustrated below has been executed near 
 West Point, on the Hudson. In accordance with in- 
 structions, a veranda was carried all round the princi- 
 pal suite of rooms, and was so arranged as to connect 
 with the entrance porch. The octagonal projection 
 faces south, and commands an extensive view of the 
 river. 
 
 PEESl’EOTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF OUAMUEES. 
 
 The vignette shows a sketch of a stable and coach- 
 house, with cattle stable in the basement, proposed to 
 be erected in Westchester County, NeAv York. It has 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 241 
 
 no very fanciful features, and is not expensively con- 
 structed, but is given here as a carefully-studied de- 
 sign for a simple, straightforward, roomy country 
 barn that need not be ashamed to take its proper 
 place in a home landscape. It is always disagreeable 
 to see such a building, if injudiciously located, where it 
 will be in the way of the view from the house, or have 
 an awkward appearance from the road, or be incon- 
 venient of access, or be so prominent that it attracts 
 an undue share of attention. But, on the other hand, 
 it is very agreeable to catch a view of the inferior 
 buildings belonging to a rural home whenever they 
 happen to be picturesquely designed, and groujied 
 with a due regard to retirement among the trees sur- 
 rounding the house. A clever and amusing chapter 
 about “Barns” was written some little time ago for 
 Putnam's Magazine^ and the ideas are presented in a 
 manner so likely to be entertaining and instructive to 
 the readers of any work on rural architecture, that I 
 take this opportunity to make a few extracts : 
 
 “Nothing is more essential than good impressions 
 in childhood, and nothing secures them like a good old 
 barn. I speak well of my mother, who was formed in 
 a large mould, but I insist on my grandfather’s barn, 
 and I am sure that I had more pleasure in it than I 
 have had in the new opera-house, and I would not 
 exchange the recollections of the one for the other. 
 My grandfather’s heart was as large as his barn, and 
 the kingdom of God was within him (I hope he is 
 now beyond the reach of evil and selfish influence) ; 
 and he knew well how necessary it was for us children 
 to play on his hay, and he let us do it. Every Satur- 
 day afternoon my sister and I, with two other boys, 
 played there, and on Sunday afternoon we went (she 
 
 Q 
 
242 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 and I) to look for the eggs — for that was a work of 
 necessity^ and we did not then play much, for we were 
 religious and knew the catechism. But Saturday af(> 
 ernoon was our high tide, and we sailed free. My sis- 
 ter could not climb as well as I could, but she was sa- 
 gacious in discovering hens’ nests, and in the art of 
 hiding unequaled ; and as she was a capital sympa- 
 thizer and peace-maker, she kept her equality, and we 
 thought her a very good fellow, if she was a girl. 
 True, we were sorry for her, but then we said she 
 could not help it. There was no floor but the ‘thresh- 
 ing’ floor (as in a barn built for children there should 
 not be), but on either side of it the deep bays extend- 
 ed, and high up the dusky light filled the roof, through 
 which a pencil of sunshine showed the dancing motes. 
 In that dim space the swallows wheeled, and we 
 watched them, hoping to scatter salt on their tails ; 
 but may be our salt was poor, may be our aim was 
 bad, for we never caught one. We wondered what 
 their mud nests up in the very high ridge-pole con- 
 tained ; sometimes young ones we knew, but eggs we 
 always hoped, and we sighed that we could not reach 
 them, though the old swallows took a different view 
 of it. It was hard to climb up to the great cross-ties, 
 and my sister could not do it; so she did not enjoy, 
 as we did, the suspended breath of long jumps into 
 the hay, nor the imminent peril of walking that beam. 
 From tie to tie there were lofts, where grain was 
 stored, made by loose poles. There was every reason 
 to expect that we should slip through these, and fall 
 prone twenty feet ; but we never did ; and this very 
 danger gave a charm to all that was very delicious. 
 Moreover, it stimulated oim daring and educated our 
 nerves, and was a security against the greater dangers 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 243 
 
 of becoming ‘ spooney’ good boys (not real good boys), 
 which are apt to result in long legs, long coat-tails, 
 long nails, and long hair, in after life — the immediate 
 precursors of — early marriage, and other spooney good 
 children. To be sure we always tore our clothes, and 
 we always hurt ourselves, but we never got killed; 
 children never do, if Providence is allowed to see to 
 them, for the Providence of children, when they are 
 about to fall, always tilts them into the hay, not on 
 to the floor. Pious parents would do well to have a 
 little more trust in Providence. Scapegraces are apt 
 to overdo that, and to forget their own duty. My 
 mother looked upon the injuries to our legs and pan- 
 taloons in quite a different light ; and it was natural 
 too, for the last she had to mend, and the first would 
 ‘get well.’ However, we went on bravely till the shad- 
 ows of evening stole upon us ; then new revelations 
 came to us, and we could not tell what large thing 
 might not be sitting in the peak, nor what might not 
 be lurking in the dark places, nor what those rustling- 
 noises might be, for we could hear something. Then 
 the germ of imagination was stimulated to life, and 
 the sublimest capacity of man — wonder — was wrought 
 up to action; and who can tell but a poet was begun? 
 Just at this critical moment we rushed out into the 
 evening sky, where we found Jane milking the quiet 
 old cow in the first lio-ht of the evening star. About 
 
 O O 
 
 my grandfather’s cow there was nothing pokerish but 
 her horns, which she sliook at us now and then, so we 
 stood by Jane and Kitty very quietly, watching the 
 yellow milk as it streamed down into the foam (which 
 we knew was cream) ; and then we walked home with 
 J ane, not because Ave Avere afraid, but because Ave Avere 
 good children, and Avanted our suppers. Such Avas 
 
244 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 the end of many a delicious Saturday afternoon in 
 that old barn, and I am old enough to love its mem- 
 ories. Now, in conclusion, I hope for three things. 
 First, that when our litany is revised, immediately 
 after famine, pestilence, and sudden death, we may be 
 allowed to say, ‘ From small Gothic barns good Lord 
 deliver us ! ’ Secondly, that all good mothers will be 
 sincerely sorry for Avhat they have done, if they have 
 supplied their boys Avith fringed pantaloons, a small 
 cane, kid gloves, and long curls, instead of country 
 air and a good barn. Thirdly, that fathers of fami- 
 lies will read this paper, and at once begin to build 
 roomy, ruinous old barns somewhere for their chil- 
 dren and the swallows, and so insure good consciences, 
 manly boys, and — my blessing.” 
 
 DESIGN FOE STABLE, ETC. 
 
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DESIGN No. 21 
 
 rERBPEOTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 247 
 
 DESIGN No. 21. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 IREEGULAK WOODEN COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 This design was prepared for a gentleman resid- 
 ing at Worcester, Massachusetts, and has been exe- 
 cuted by him, under his own immediate supervision, 
 on a valuable site in the vicinity of that thriving city. 
 The house was located on the edge of a beautiful pine 
 wood that forms part of the property ; and a few fine 
 deciduous trees, that had been fostered and pictur- 
 esquely grouped by the liberal hand of Nature, sug- 
 gested the exact position to be selected. They now 
 form a valuable help to the architectural composition, 
 when viewed from a little distance, and, as anticipa- 
 ted, add very much to its rural, home effect. A coun- 
 try house built under such favorable circumstances as 
 this may at once take its appropriate place .in the land- 
 scape; and if it is agreeable in color, and designed with 
 even an approximation to good proportion and pictur- 
 esque arrangement of light and shade in its outlines, it 
 will appear to be an old resident directly it is occupied. 
 The leading idea of the plan was suggested by the 
 wife of the proprietor, and the disposition of the 
 rooms on the principal floor, Avith a few slight modifi- 
 cations, is in accordance with a pencil-sketch of ar- 
 rangement furnished me, as expressing her Avishes on 
 the subject. It possesses, as will be seen, many ad- 
 vantages, and an explanation of it may, I hope, in- 
 duce other ladies Avho may look over this volume to 
 take some personal interest in the plans of the villas 
 or cottages that are to be built for their occupation 
 
248 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 and enjoyment. The mistress of the house is, in real- 
 ity, more interested than any one else in the conven- 
 ience and completeness of its interior arrangement, for 
 this part of the design is entirely under her control 
 and regulation, and it is evident, therefore, that she 
 must be the best judge of what will suit her individ- 
 ual requirements. It is well known that the daughter 
 of Erwin Von Steinbach materially assisted her father 
 in the design of that stupendous triumph of Gothic 
 architecture, Strasburg Cathedral, and a sculptured 
 memento of this interesting fact is preserved within 
 its walls. Both father and daughter are represented in 
 stone as consulting together on the plan of the cathe- 
 dral, which Steinbach holds in his hand, together with 
 a pair of measuring compasses, and the gently earnest 
 and confiding expression that is to be traced on both 
 faces is delightfully rendered. There can be no doubt 
 but that the study of domestic architecture is well 
 suited to a feminine taste, and it has, moreover, so 
 many different ramifications, that it affords frequent 
 opportunities for turning good abilities to profitable 
 account ; for if we even allow the objections that 
 might be raised by some against the actual practice 
 of architecture by women, such as the necessity for 
 their climbing ladders, mingling with the mechanics 
 and laborers during the progress of the works, and 
 having frequently to attend to the superintendence 
 of buildings in disagreeable weather, and at all sorts 
 of different levels, we must, nevertheless, see at once 
 that there is nothing in the world, except want of in- 
 clination and opportunity, to prevent many of them 
 from being thoroughly expert in architectural draw- 
 ings, or from designing excellent furniture, paper- 
 hangings, draperies, carpets, or decorations, or from 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 249 
 
 drawing or engraving on wood, or from coloring arch- 
 itectural perspectives in water-colors, or from model- 
 ing ornaments in clay. I do not, it will be perceived, 
 include in the difficulties to be overcome want of nat- 
 ural ability, for this certainly does not exist. The 
 tasteful and delicate needle-work that comes from the 
 hands of women is amply sufficient proof that there is 
 a supply of inventive capacity and artistic feeling la- 
 tent among them that deserves, in civilized countries 
 and liberally-educated communities, a much wider out- 
 let than can be furnished by the point of a needle. 
 To return, however, to our plan. A porch under the 
 tower opens into a principal hall, and contains an out- 
 side door to a business office that is accessible from 
 the staircase hall in the interior of the house. A ve- 
 randa, extending round three sides of the drawing- 
 room, also connects with this porch, so that a prome- 
 nade of considerable extent is provided by the design. 
 The hall and principal staircase are so designed that 
 they form one symmetrical composition, and a light, 
 open, airy effect is thus produced. The drawing, or 
 summer room, is a handsome apartment, with windows 
 on three sides ; two of them, at opposite ends of the 
 room, open on to a veranda, and the third is a bay, 
 commanding an agreeable view of the distant land- 
 scape, and fitted up with a permanent settee, or lounge. 
 The library is supplied with book-cases recessed in the 
 wall, and has a door to the dining-room, which is sup- 
 plied with a pantry and china-closet. The servants’ 
 wing is above ground, and contains kitchen, back 
 kitchen, pantry, and store-room. In the basement are 
 cellars and a furnace-room. The second floor plan 
 provides in the main body of the building one bed- 
 room, with dressing-room attached, also a large room 
 
250 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 used as a study, and three other chambers of moder- 
 ate size, and all furnished with closets. In the wing 
 will be found a bath-room and water-closet, a chil- 
 dren’s bedroom, a linen -closet, and a servants’ bed- 
 room. The attic is not finished off at present, but 
 several agreeable rooms can be arranged here when- 
 ever they are needed. 
 
 The house was built of wood, filled in, and the in- 
 terior has been fitted up carefully and completely, the 
 work being done by the day under the proprietor’s 
 supervision. The cost has been somewhat over what 
 was at first proposed, and an extra $5000 or $6000 
 could easily be spent on such a house as this by in- 
 creasing the value of the external and internal work 
 and decoration accordingly, while preparing the plans 
 and specifications. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a termination to a gable 
 which was used in a residence at Newburgh, described 
 at page 225. 
 
 VERGE-BOAED. 
 
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DESIGN No. 22.— (D. & V.) 
 
 PEE8PECTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF CHAMBER FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 253 
 
 DESIGN No. 22. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 SUBURBAN HOUSE WITH CURVED ROOF. 
 
 This design was prepared to answer the require- 
 ments of a suburban residence for a physician, and is 
 occupied by Dr. Culbert, of Newburgh. As it is situ- 
 ated on a corner lot facing the main street in the up- 
 per part of the town, it was necessary to pay as much 
 attention to the side as to the principal elevation, and 
 the plan has been so made that a symmetrical arrange- 
 ment is arrived at on both these fronts. The house is 
 built of brick and brown stone, the panels being re- 
 cessed in the brick-work, while the pilasters and cor- 
 nices are of stone. The roof is curved and covered 
 with tin — the porch, the veranda, the railings, and the 
 work on the roof being of iron. The plan may be 
 thus described: A hall, 17x10, communicates with 
 the parlor and staircase hall, and also with a lobby 
 that leads directly to the consultation room. Any 
 lady, therefore, who may inquire at the front door for 
 the doctor, can be shown into his room at once, 
 through this vestibule, without traversing that part 
 of the house which is in use by the family. This lob- 
 by has also an external entrance covered by a porch, 
 and is provided with a bell to the office, so that the 
 greater number of those who call professionally go to 
 and from the private room without entering the resi- 
 dence at all. The consultation-room communicates 
 with the library, and this again with the inner hall, 
 and also with the drawing-room, which is provided 
 
254 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 with a bay-windoAV, A veranda, accessible from both 
 rooms, is located in the angle formed by the library 
 and office. The staircase is made circular to suit the 
 peculiarities of plan and site, and has a good effect, 
 as it runs continuously from the basement to the 
 chamber floor. In Paris and other Continental cities 
 the circular, or elliptical, staircase is in great request, 
 and the plan offers, undoubtedly, many advantages, as 
 it takes up less room than any other that Avill provide 
 treads and risers equally easy of ascent. But I do not 
 often introduce it in country houses, as it requires a lit- 
 tle more care in going up and down, and stair carpet- 
 ing does not adapt itself satisfactorily to the form. 
 The extra labor needed for steps and hand-rails is also 
 more expensive than the room and material required 
 for other simjiler styles of staircase, and no advantage 
 is therefore gained by using it, except under peculiar 
 circumstances. But in a design like this it may be 
 very profitably introduced, as it enables an architect 
 to obtain results in the internal arrangement that 
 could not otherwise be arrived at without the occupa- 
 tion of valuable space. In this case, moreover, the 
 angles supply several useful closets, Avhich could not 
 conveniently be dispensed Avith or otherAvise located. 
 
 The chamber plan shows four bedrooms and a bath- 
 room; and several fine bedrooms, protected by the 
 curved roof, are arranged in the attic. The dining- 
 room and kitchen offices are planned, according to in- 
 structions, in the basement. 
 
 This house has been built on the upper level of 
 NeAvburgh, in Grand Street, Avhich is at present the 
 handsomest thoroughfare that passes through the 
 toAvn. It offers a drive of ample Avidth, and thor- 
 oughly Avell constructed, high up above the river, and 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 255 
 
 on a parallel line with it. It is lined on both sides 
 with fine flourishing trees, most of which have been 
 planted within the last twenty years, and many of 
 them considerably within that time. The last four or 
 five years’ growth has wonderfully improved the ap- 
 pearance of this vista ; and the beautiful elms and 
 maples, with their wide-spreading and interarching 
 branches, promise ere long to produce an effect that 
 may equal the far-famed Hill-house Avenue in New 
 Haven. Grand Street is thus naturally becoming the 
 principal promenade of Newburgh, and the often-re- 
 curring glimpses of the Hudson, with its gleaming 
 and ever-shifting freight of sails that one catches at 
 intervals framed in the foliage of the trees on the side- 
 streets, give it a charming pictorial character that is 
 very rarely attainable. 
 
 This design was built some years ago, at an outlay 
 of about $10,000; but I am unable to furnish the ex- 
 act particulars of cost. This house has been painted 
 in quiet, agreeable tints, but, in the first instance, was 
 finished, according to the design, with a fair quality of 
 red brick, that contrasted in color so richly and artist- 
 ically with the brown stone and brown wood-work 
 that I was very sorry indeed to see the painters at 
 work covering it all up one fine day. There can, I 
 know, be little doubt but that red brick, unrelieved by 
 any other material, is altogether too vivid in color to 
 please in an American climate; but when, as in this 
 instance, it is used in conjunction with a good deal of 
 stone, like the Little Falls or Connecticut brown, the 
 effect is altogether too harmonious and satisfactory to 
 need any attempt at improvement, and it is certain 
 that the house will look much larger and more valua- 
 able if the work is left in its pristine state than if the 
 
256 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 surfaces are painted, although the Avork may be done 
 by the best painters, and Avith the best colors that 
 money can procure. FeAv persons take the trouble to 
 calculate the real cost of paint, Avhich seems a much 
 more economical material to use than it is in reality. 
 If the sums spent in external painting Avere added to 
 the value of the brick or stone used in the building, 
 they Avould often procure materials that Avould need 
 no painting at all. And the same rule applies in the 
 interior. Well-grained Avhite pine costs as much as 
 oiled Southern pine, and the latter is a really beauti- 
 ful material Avhen oiled or varnished, Avhile the grain- 
 ing is but a sham and pretense, hoAvever Avell it may 
 be executed. 
 
 The vignette illustrates one of the dormer-AvindoAvs 
 to a larger scale. 
 
 OOFLMER WINDOW. 
 

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PANTRY 
 
 DESIGN No. 23 . 
 
 PEESPECTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF I’BINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 259 
 
 DESIGN No. 23. 
 
 SIMPLE PICTURESQUE COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 This design, which is fully illustrated on a subse- 
 quent page, Avas carried out in a simple manner a 
 few years ago for the residence of Mr. N. P. Willis, 
 at Idlewild, his beautiful country place on the banks 
 of the Hudson (Avith the omission of the bell turret 
 and a few minor features that may possibly be added 
 at some future time). The position selected, while it 
 commands a full vieAV of NeAvburgh Bay, is on the 
 edge of a Avood, and on the verge of a plateau that al- 
 most overhangs a deep ravine. The rocky sides of this 
 gorge are clothed with sturdy pines and hemlocks, and 
 thus often shut out from the eye, but never from the 
 ear, a turbulent mountain stream that roars through 
 the long, narrow pass, and falls some tAvo hundred 
 feet in a series of rapid, successive leaps within a short 
 distance of the house. There is also a quieter brook 
 that winds its way through the property, and yet an- 
 other smaller rivulet, both of which, after fraternizing 
 Avith their more noisy and energetic companion, flow 
 into Moodna Creek, Avhich almost at the same point 
 empties itself into the Hudson. The site for the 
 house is therefore very picturesque, and is peculiar in 
 many respects, overlooking, as it does, the Hudson and 
 three or four of its tributaries. These latter, Avith the 
 ravine and inland scenery, lie far doAvn on one side. 
 Beautiful views of the bay and the Highlands are 
 gained from the south and east fronts, and a thick 
 pine wood encircles and protects the remainder. 
 
260 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 When the building had been entirely erected on pa- 
 per, and before the foundations were laid, all the lines 
 of the plan were set out under the special direction of 
 Mr. Willis, who seemed to take more interest in ac- 
 commodating the house to the fancies of the genius 
 of the place than in any other part of the arrange- 
 ment. And the whole design was so fitted among the 
 evergreens, and adapted to every peculiarity of the 
 site, that it appears to be almost surrounded by tall, 
 flourishing trees, although broad stretches of distance 
 in every direction, and extensive views of the river 
 and mountain scenery are gained from the various 
 windows, each view being a separate picture set in a 
 frame of unfading foliage. The advantageous result 
 arrived at by this careful study of the exact position 
 for such a house, although more negative than posi- 
 tive, is incalculable. The new house was made to 
 look not new, points of view were not sacrificed, and 
 time was not lost in waiting for young trees to grow 
 in place of old ones that would have had to be re- 
 moved for the sake of a prospect, if less foresight had 
 been exercised at starting. In such cases it is the 
 foot or two one way or the other that makes or mars, 
 and when once the contractor is fairly at work, alter- 
 ation is next to impossible. 
 
 Mr. Willis’s house looked like an old familiar settler 
 almost before the roof was on, and it can easily be un- 
 derstood that, under such circumstances, every subse- 
 quent stroke in the way of improvement will yield its 
 fullest value. 
 
 From the upper approach road on the level of the 
 plateau and principal entrance the house appears to 
 be, what in actual fact it is, a plain, roomy cottage 
 residence, comfortably sheltered among the trees ; but 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 261 
 
 from the lower road along the river bank, at the mouth 
 of the gorge, its situation gives it a less ordinary effect. 
 High up among the trees, and apparently on the very 
 edge of a precipitous ascent, it seems to peer over the 
 topmost branches of the dark pines, and to command 
 the whole valley below. The position is exactly such 
 a one as a medieval knight would have selected for his 
 strong-hold, and a little imagination may easily trans- 
 mute the simple domestic cottage into the turreted and 
 battlemented castle. We sometimes hear a regret that 
 the shores of the Hudson are deficient in interesting 
 buildings, and that they lack the poetic associations 
 that cling to the Rhine, with its thousand picturesque 
 old ruins. This is perhaps true ; but if so, it might 
 easily be remedied, if the poetic spirit were encouraged 
 to be active in the life^ and not passively dependent 
 on the memory^ for picturesque and artistic beauty be- 
 long to whoever can realize them. It is, moreover, a 
 little inconsistent for any true lover of freedom to take 
 much pleasure in contemplating old castles for the sake 
 of their associations. There are surely much more 
 beautiful associations connected with free, peaceful in- 
 dustry, whenever it is generous and joyous. Dark 
 dungeons, spiky, picturesque portcullises, and artistic 
 machicolations for pouring down hot pitch on unin- 
 vited visitors, may, undoubtedly, have a somewhat 
 mysterious and romantic air about them; but the sen- 
 timent they express is not, in reality, either touching 
 or true. A nobler phase of poetic thought, and a 
 more courteous chivalry projierly belong to this freer 
 country and more civilized era. 
 
 It would scarcely, for example, have been a very 
 easy matter to explain to any middle age Front de 
 Bceuf the propriety of the sentiment embodied in the 
 
262 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 following remarks of Mr. Willis when speaking inci- 
 dentally of the visits of strangers to the interesting 
 country place he has discovered and rendered enjoyable: 
 
 “To fence out a genial eye from any corner of the 
 earth which Nature has lovingly touched with her 
 pencil, which never repeats itself — to shut up^a glen 
 or a water-fall for one man’s exclusive knowing or en- 
 joying — to lock up trees and glades, shady paths and 
 haunts among rivulets, would be ah embezzlement by 
 one man of God’s gift to all. A capitalist might as 
 well curtain off a star, or have the monopoly of an 
 hour. Doors may lock, but out-doors is a freehold to 
 feet and eyes.” 
 
 The day for castles, or even magnificent mansions, 
 has never yet dawned in America ; and as its arrival 
 must necessarily be accompanied by a return of feud- 
 alism in some form or other, any wish for the advent 
 of such a day should be at once rejected by even the 
 most art-loving republican. And yet, although we at 
 once give up all hopes of this sort, no real sacrifice 
 need be made in so doing, for a beauty of outline and 
 color, and a picturesqueness of grouping fully equal to 
 that which was realized by the barons of yore in their 
 moated strong-holds, or the noblemen of the olden 
 time in their splendid palaces, may undoubtedly be 
 reproduced in the rural architecture needed by Amer- 
 icans of the nineteenth century whenever it shall be 
 properly developed. The effect must be produced in 
 a different way, of course, and with a different spirit 
 to guide it, but it may, nevertheless, be equally at- 
 tractive and equally poetic, if viewed from the proper 
 point of view. In America the stranger will never, 
 probably, be much struck with the architectural re- 
 sults of wealth concentrated through a series of gener- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 263 
 
 ations ; but if art flourishes as is to be hoped, he will 
 be still more surprised and delighted by the constant 
 recurrence of beauty and grace in the residences of the 
 large body of the people, and the impression made on 
 the mind will, on the whole, be more striking and 
 more lasting than if it were excited by a compara- 
 tively few large objects of interest rearing themselves 
 proudly up from a low general level of unprogressive 
 poverty and wearisome monotony. 
 
 The plan provides a brick porch that may be in- 
 closed, communicating with a veranda and with a 
 principal hall of moderate dimensions. This hall 
 opens into a parlor, a dining-room, a library, and a 
 bedroom, each purposely disconnected with the other. 
 It also leads through a door into the principal stair- 
 case hall, and a back staircase provides a private gar- 
 den-entrance, and communicates with the dining-room 
 through a pantry, in which is a rising lift connected 
 with the kitchen. The windows that open on to the 
 verandas are glazed to the floor, and the dining and 
 drawing rooms have bay-windoAvs. It was at first 
 proposed to have a projecting window to the library, 
 and to carry it up two stories, for this point com- 
 mands a vieAV clear down into the very heart of the 
 glen, and in the early summer presents to the eye a 
 Avonderful Avaving sea of vividly green tree-tops, among 
 which it is difficult to distinguish a single bough or 
 trunk ; but this part of the architectural arrangement 
 had to be given up as too costly. Fortunately, hoAv- 
 ever, the inexpensive green gulf, Avhose books are the 
 running brooks, floats on Avith a glorious disregard 
 of more conventional libraries, and never refuses to be 
 enjoyed because it does not happen to be contempla- 
 ted from an appropriate bay-window. i 
 
264 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 The dining-room was at one time designed where 
 the bedroom is now placed, but more mature consid- 
 eration located it in its present situation, so that it 
 might receive the benefit of the afternoon sun, which, 
 as the house is proposed to be occupied all the year 
 round, is a desirable addition to enjoyment during the 
 colder months in a room so much occupied by a fam- 
 ily as the dining-room. 
 
 The library contains book-cases recessed in the walls, 
 and, as well as the parlor, or drawing-room, opens on 
 to a veranda more private than the one communica- 
 ting with the entrance-porch. All the rooms on this 
 floor were finished simply, the walls being prepared 
 for papering. The casings to the doors and windows 
 are unmoulded, and the wood-work is painted in plain 
 tints, a liberal supply of room and plenty of fresh air 
 being preferred throughout to any elaboration of de- 
 tail. 
 
 The bedroom plan provides two chambers, with 
 dressing-rooms attached, two other good-sized sleeping 
 apartments, and a smaller spare room, all furnished 
 with permanent closets. These, together with a bath- 
 room, water-closet, and linen-room, complete the ac- 
 commodation on this floor. The upper hall is open 
 and airy, and communicates with the back staircase, 
 which is continued to the attic story. As the roof is 
 of a high pitch, and a large flat is designed on the top 
 to connect the various ridges, this attic is roomy, and 
 provides several available spare bedrooms besides what 
 are necessary for the use of the servants ; and the free, 
 uninterrupted, uppermost hall being cheerfully lighft 
 ed and well ventilated, offers an available play-room 
 for children. This is a desideratum in a family house, 
 as the active pattering of feet that in early years ac- 
 
KORTII-EAST VIEW. 
 
 CIIAAlliEIt PEAK. 
 
 ATTIC PLAN. 
 
 UOOF I'LAN. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 267 
 
 companies the healthy development of any new growth 
 of possible Presidents is not less beneficial in its influ- 
 ence when removed a story from the ceilings of the 
 principal living-rooms. The rain-water cistern being 
 sunk in the floor over the bath-room, allows a large 
 proportion of the water from the roof to be collected 
 in it, the remainder being carried by rain-water pipes 
 into brick cisterns sunk in the ground near the house. 
 
 The two windows stioAvn at A A not being abso- 
 lutely necessary, were omitted in execution, but they 
 would, of course, make the two attic rooms in Avhich 
 they occur more agreeable, and they can be introduced 
 at little cost, if it is ever thought worth while to in- 
 sert them. 
 
 The general arrangement for the roof and the posi- 
 tion for the proposed bell turret are shown on the roof 
 plan. A rope could thus be arranged to pass from the 
 bell down the side of the bath-room to the pantry be- 
 low, where it would be most easily accessible when 
 Avanted. 
 
 The basement jDlan shows a kitchen, Avith windows 
 almost entirely out of ground; a sink-room, several 
 pantries and store-closets, a milk-room, a Avash-room, 
 a provision-cellar, a coal-cellar, and furnace-room are 
 also provided, and an open hall communicating with 
 an outer entrance at the loAver level. This entrance 
 is shown on the side of the plan, and was after- 
 Avard covered by a porch and rendered more com- 
 modious. 
 
 The house was built of brick, covered with a lime- 
 wash. The general plans and specifications only were 
 provided by the architect, Avho Avas not required to 
 furnish the detail draAvings or to superintend the 
 Avork. The contract for carpenter’s and mason’s work 
 
268 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES 
 
 was taken at $7700, painting, plumbing, and other et 
 CEcteras not included. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a small cottage executed in 
 the same neighborhood. The plan is simple, but sup- 
 plies an amount of accommodation that is frequently 
 in request. A timber porch leads to a principal hall, 
 Avhich communicates with a parlor and dining-room, 
 and both these apartments open on to a veranda. The 
 dining-room has a roomy pantry attached, that is ac- 
 cessible privately from the kitchen department. The 
 chamber floor contains two large and two small bed- 
 rooms. Kitchen offices are supplied in the basement ; 
 and the contract, including painting and all items nec- 
 essary to prepare the house for actual occupation, ex- 
 cept grates and mantles, was taken at $3470. 
 
 N.E.VIEW. 
 

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DESIGN No. 24.— (V. & W.) 
 
 PEE6PECTIVI; VIEW. 
 
 PLAU OP PEINCIPAL FLOOE. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 271 
 
 DESIGN No. 24. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 IKREGULAR BRICK VILLA. 
 
 This study has been prepared for execution for a 
 gentleman residing in Newburgh, and is designed to 
 suit a very agreeable site commanding an extensive 
 view of the Hudson River. No contracts have at 
 present been made, and I am therefore unable to give 
 particulars of cost, but should estimate it at from 
 $10,000 to $12,000, if the house is built of brick, and 
 the attic left unfinished, as projjosed. 
 
 The plan provides an entrance-porch opening into 
 
 PLAN OF ROOFS. 
 
 a large hall, in which is a wide, open staircase leading 
 to the upper story. Where there is no second stair- 
 case in a country house, this plan of arranging the 
 
272 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 principal flight in the main hall is attended 'with sev- 
 eral disadvantages, as the servants have to he con- 
 stantly traversing it backward and forward when at- 
 tending to the upper rooms. In a house like this, on 
 the other hand, where there is a kitchen wing and a 
 back staircase, a well-proportioned, handsome, open de- 
 sign, with newel posts and solid turned balusters, may 
 be made to add much to the dignity of the hall, and 
 to give a special character and individuality to the 
 whole house. The owner, when giving his instruc- 
 tions in regard to the design now under considera- 
 tion, laid much stress on this feature of the plan, and 
 was desirous that it should be both easy of ascent and 
 liberal in its general appearance. I have endeavored 
 to avoid one inconvenience that is often felt in houses 
 that have the staircase leading directly from the main 
 hall to the chamber plan above. I refer to the want 
 of domestic privacy that is likely to be experienced by 
 this arrangement, if not guarded against in the plan, 
 for the upper and lower halls being, in such cases, gen- 
 erally open one to the other, any conversation going 
 on above stairs, or any slight noise that may be made 
 is heard distinctly even at the front entrance, and this 
 is oftentimes undesirable. 
 
 It will be observed in the chamber plan of this 
 house that the upper hall is shut off from the stair- 
 case landing by a door, and lighted separately by a 
 skylight. The bedrooms are thus divided off eflectu- 
 ally from the lower rooms without losing the free, 
 airy effect that is aimed at in the open staircase. The 
 stairs to the attics commence from the landing, and by 
 this means the privacy of the principal suite of bed- 
 rooms is rendered still more complete. Two bedrooms, 
 a linen-closet, bath-room, water-closet, and house-maid’s 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 273 
 
 closet, with sink, are provided in the wing, and provis- 
 ion is made for obtaining four or five large bedrooms 
 in the attic whenever it is thought desirable to finish 
 them off. The roof plan is added, and it will be seen 
 that although the house is irregular in plan there 
 would be no practical difficulty in so arranging the 
 lines of the roof that the snow would have no chance 
 of lodging in any part of it. The basement plan ex- 
 plains itself. The three principal rooms communicate 
 with each other, and it will be seen that the veranda 
 which commands the river view is expanded into a 
 semi-octagonal pavilion opposite the dining-room win- 
 dows, so that the tea-table may be prepared there, 
 when preferred, in the summer, and a small smoking- 
 piazza is arranged so as to be easily accessible from 
 the dining-room, which has a large pantry attached to 
 it, connected with the kitchen, etc. The library, it 
 will be observed, is, as it were, embayed at the end, 
 so that book-cases may be recessed in the angles, and 
 some variety obtained both internally and externally. 
 The porch, with the gable over it, thus acquires the 
 prominence that properly belongs to it. A large pro- 
 jecting gable over the end of the library would have 
 had a tendency to make the entrance of secondary im- 
 portance, especially as it would have occurred at the 
 most prominent angle in driving up to the house, and 
 the design Avas therefore arranged Avith a hipped roof 
 as shown on the perspective. 
 
 A projecting balcony is arranged to be entered from 
 the room over the library. This addition to a design 
 is not very expensive, and helps materially to give 
 picturesque character to a front ; it casts a deep shad- 
 ow, and serves someAvhat as a hood to the lower Avin- 
 doAvs. This house, Avhich has not yet been contracted 
 
 S 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 2 <4 
 
 for, is proposed to be built of brick, painted in quiet, 
 neutral tints, the cornices, verandas, etc., being of 
 wood ; and if a plain finish is used throughout, the 
 carpenter’s and mason’s estimate should be about 
 the amount mentioned above. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a design prepared for a 
 chimney for the residence shown on page 304. As 
 the stacks had each to contain many smoke-flues and 
 several ventilating-flues, they would have worked out 
 rather larger than seemed desirable for external effect 
 if all the flues had been carried up of equal height, 
 and the ventilating openings were therefore brought 
 together, so as to finish on the ends of each stack at a 
 lower level than the other flues. By this means the 
 design of the chimney is somewhat modified from the 
 ordinary every-day form, and a square outline avoided 
 in a situation where it Avould have been inappropriate. 
 
 UESIGN FOK CHIMNEY WITH VENTILATING FLEES. 
 

 A-' rH'f 
 

 DESIGN No. 25.— (V. & W.) 
 
 i'i:usrEOTiVE view. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 277 
 
 DESIGN No. 25. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 SUBURBAN HOUSE WITH CLTIVILINEAE ROOF. 
 
 This is a preliminary study made for a gentleman 
 in Worcester, and although it is not, and probabl}- 
 will not, be executed by him, the plan is one that 
 offers an amount of accommodation that is often asked 
 for ; and as it is, moreover, a variation of the simple 
 rectangular form, and has some peculiarities in the 
 bedroom arrangement, it seems worth while to sub- 
 mit it. Almost any character of roof may be adapted 
 to a house of this plan, and the ogee form that is il- 
 lustrated in the view is effective in some situations, 
 and has been carried into execution in a design I pre- 
 pared for new roofing a square house for another par- 
 ty in the same neighborhood. The attic rooms in a 
 roof of this sort are nearly as symmetrical as those in 
 
 the second story, and are entirely protected from the 
 heat. The accommodation provided by the plan of 
 principal floor consists of a projecting veranda porch, 
 which gives access to a hall, a reception-room, library. 
 
278 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 drawing-roora, and dining-room in the main body of 
 the house, ■while a pantry, with dumb waiter, plate 
 and china closets, and also a private entrance, with 
 dressing-room and water-closet, are arranged in a one- 
 story projection. Two of the principal rooms have 
 bay-windows, and two communicate with a veranda. 
 It will thus be seen that the apartments, though sim- 
 ply planned, are liberal in size and easy of access. 
 The same arrangement might be adopted either on a 
 larger or smaller scale. In the bedroom plan it was 
 wished to provide a suite of rooms connected one with 
 the other, and with dressing-room and bath-room at- 
 tached. This, it will be perceived, is arranged for, 
 and two spare bedrooms and a linen-press, with an 
 easy stairway to the upper rooms, are kept distinct, 
 with direct access from the principal flight. The attic 
 is proposed to contain six bedrooms, a large garret, 
 and an open hall. In the basement will be found a 
 servants’ entrance and well-lighted, airy corridor com- 
 municating -with kitchen, sink-room, wash-room, store- 
 room, provision-cellar, coal-cellar, and furnace-room. 
 As the study was made for a house proposed to be 
 erected on sloping ground, there is a brick piazza in 
 front of the kitchen, and accessible from it. This 
 might be convenient on some occasions for drying 
 clothes ; and as it would be unseen both from the en- 
 trance front and from the interior of the house, it 
 might be thus used without any annoyance. Such a 
 house as this, and of the scale illustrated, would cost, 
 under ordinary circumstances, about $10,000. It was 
 proposed to be erected of brick, with brown stone 
 quoins at the angles. . 
 
 This design, it Avill be observed, is very simple in 
 its plan, and a suburban house must generally be ar- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 279 
 
 ranged in a compact, regular form, because the size of 
 the lots available for this class of residence is almost 
 always much more limited than for dwellings required 
 to be erected in more completely rural situations. The 
 external appearance of such a house should, I think, be 
 somewhat symmetrical, if it is proposed to harmonize 
 agreeably with the other buildings in its neighborhood, 
 and with the regular and unavoidably formal line of 
 the paved avenue, or street, that passes in front of it. 
 
 In a fine open, undulating site, well planted with 
 trees, a symmetrical house can hardly appear to ad- 
 vantage, however carefully it may be designed ; and 
 in a busy thoroughfare, an irregular, picturesque plan 
 must be equally difficult to manage satisfactorily, be- 
 cause the whole aspect of its surroundings will be 
 likely to suggest the idea of precision and accuracy, 
 and the artistic eye can hardly fail to jierceive the 
 propriety, under such circumstances, of a Avell-defined, 
 self-contained expression in each of the buildings that 
 attracts its attention. 
 
 In the suburban house an opportunity is offered to 
 attempt a combination of both the city and the coun- 
 try residence ; and although the plan may need to be 
 plain and unbroken, the details may be so managed as 
 to give any desirable degree of picturesqueness to the 
 general comjiosition. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a study prepared to show 
 what may be done to give a picturesque character to 
 an exactly square house, without any break whatever 
 in the plan of the walls. A recessed porch leads to an 
 open hall and stairway on the principal floor, which 
 
280 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 contains a library, drawing-room, dining-room, pantry, 
 and small bedroom, also a water-closet near a garden 
 entrance under the half-landing, the basement stairs 
 being shut off at this point. The perspective view 
 shows the veranda, or garden front. The bedroom 
 plan gives four bedrooms, a dressing-room, bath-room, 
 linen-press, and attic stairs. The other plans are not 
 drawn out, as the object is sufficiently gained from the 
 two submitted. It will thus be seen that even a sim- 
 ple square, which is the most absolutely formal plan 
 that can be selected for a house, may be rendered, in 
 a measure, picturesque, if some study is given to the 
 arrangement of the roof lines and the spacing of the 
 windows. 
 
 It is a common error among those who intend to 
 build economical, straightforward houses in the coun- 
 try, to suppose that there is no need to consult a pro- 
 fessional man about their plans. The fact is, that a 
 simple design requires to be drawn out very carefully 
 for execution, so that its internal and external pro- 
 portions may be agreeable, because, in a plain house, 
 its proportions are all that it has to depend on to re- 
 lieve it from absolute unsightliness. 
 

 
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DESIGN No. 26. 
 
 i’ERSrECTIVE VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 283 
 
 DESIGN No. 26. 
 
 WOODEN VILLA WITH TOWER AND ATTICS. 
 
 This design belongs to a gentleman in Worcester, 
 Massachusetts, and has been adapted to a fine situa- 
 tion about a mile from that thriving city. The pro- 
 prietor of the site has no very immediate intention of 
 erecting his country house, but, unlike many of his 
 countrymen, has preferred to have his plans before 
 him for a yeat* or so, prior to breaking ground, so that 
 all the minor points of internal convenience and exte- 
 rior detail may be fairly and completely discussed and 
 studied out as opportunity offers. This is a mode of 
 proceeding much more likely to lead to a satisfactory 
 result than to leave the whole matter to the last mo- 
 ment, and then hurriedly instruct an architect to pre- 
 pare plans, specifications, and contracts in the course 
 of a fortnight, that shall be warranted to supply all 
 the accommodation required by each member of a 
 family, in exactly the artistic form that will suit every 
 body, and at exactly the price that the owner has con- 
 cluded it will be quite convenient for him to lay out. 
 Such requests are not unfrequently made by employ- 
 ers in perfect good faith, and without any apparent 
 perception of their impracticability, and yet it must 
 be evident, on consideration, that if a design is wanted 
 in a very short space of time, only a limited amount 
 of study can properly be given to it, and the natural 
 result is likely to be that the house will not be com- 
 pletely adapted to the requirements of those who pro- 
 
284 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 pose to occupy it, simply because the architect has had 
 no fair opportunity to consult the well-weighed in- 
 structions of his employer. 
 
 The plan shows a porch, Avhich occupies the lowest 
 story of the tower, and forms part of a front veranda. 
 The principal hall connects with the principal rooms. 
 The library and parlor communicate with each other, 
 and with another and more private veranda. The 
 dining-room is kept separate from the other rooms, 
 and has an access to the kitchen wing. In the stair- 
 case hall is a door to a bedroom on this floor. The 
 kitchen wing is arranged with pantry, store-room, etc., 
 and servants’ bedroom, that might be a wash-room, if 
 preferred. The upper floor provides five bedrooms in 
 the main body of the house, and a bath-room, or child’s 
 bedroom, or nursery, in the wing, witli a private door 
 opening from the family bedroom, so as to be conven- 
 ient of access without traversing the hall and passage. 
 A servants’ bedroom is also arranged in the wing. A 
 pleasant little bedroom, or study, is prepared for in 
 the tower, and a number of rooms may be finished off' 
 in the attic, if thought advisable. The house is pro- 
 posed to be built in a situation where it will have a 
 background of fine trees, as seen from the main road ; 
 and wliile the home scenery is pleasantly varied, an 
 extensive panoramic view is obtained from the upper 
 part of the house. A tower has therefore been intro- 
 duced to command this outlook ; and to give a more 
 marked character to the design, its roof has been some- 
 what curved, so that it may group easily with the trees 
 in its vicinity. A two-story bay-window, it will be 
 seen, is introduced in the design. This is illustrated 
 in detail in the opening chapter. This study admits 
 of many changes, without altering its main features. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 285 
 
 and it could be easily made to suit a stone or brick 
 construction, if preferred. 
 
 To any one who is interested in the progress of ru- 
 ral architecture, it must be encouraging to remark how 
 universal is the tendency now to build comfortable res- 
 idences in the environs of all our large towns and cit- 
 ies. The love of peace and quietness, and of unaffect- 
 ed domestic life, that is indicated by this increasing 
 taste for suburban houses and cottage residences, shows 
 that it only requires a little more progress in artistic 
 perception, and a little more appreciation of the very 
 great advantage, to all parties, that attends study and 
 forethought in buildino;, to enamel the surface of this 
 country with really beautiful rural homes. And a 
 not distant future is, I hope, destined to show that all 
 the liberal arts may flourish in this free republic at 
 least as well as under the more despotic governments 
 of the elder continent. This great step in advance 
 might be taken in the New England States, perhaps, 
 more easily than in any of the others ; for the indus- 
 try, the thrift, and the almost universal prosperity 
 that are such leading characteristics of the people, all 
 point distinctly to genuine refinement in private life, 
 and to a progressive spirit of unpretending elegance 
 that, in an enlightened Christian community, should 
 preside habitually over every thing that appertains to 
 the idea of “home.” 
 
 The vignette shows a design for an entrance gate 
 and piers prepared for Mr. David Moore, of New- 
 burgh, and erected by him a few years ago. The plan 
 of the grounds is illustrated in the vignette to Design 
 
286 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 No. 18, and as the lot occurs at the intersection of two 
 cross-roads, this gate was therefore placed at the an- 
 gle, as shown on the garden plan, for several reasons. 
 In the first place, it gave a more easy access to the 
 property from every direction ; and in the second, it 
 brought the gate into such a position that a large tree 
 on the sidewalk grouped with it agreeably, and added 
 to the importance of the entrance. It also prevented 
 the crowded, awkward appearance that a gate at the 
 extreme end of one side would have had, 'and gave the 
 angular view, which was, of course, the longest one, 
 across the grounds to any one passing or entering the 
 property. The gate is a simple design of wood and 
 iron work, a combination which I am led to think 
 may often be used with more advantage in rural arch- 
 itecture than iron alone, which, in simple, economical 
 forms, has a very thin effect, and, when elaborated, is 
 too suggestive of the town house to be agreeable in 
 the country. 
 
 DESIGN FOR ENTEANCE-GATE. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 287 
 
 DESIGN No. 27. 
 
 (SEE FRONTISPIECE.) 
 
 FAMILY COTTAGE IN THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 This study has been prepared with reference to a 
 particular site, and appears to be sufficiently well 
 adapted to the present purpose of illustrating the gen- 
 eral ideas of design that are applicable to houses or 
 cottages built in mountainous districts. The plan is 
 simple, and yet is not entirely symmetrical, as decided 
 formality even in plan would be out of character with 
 the situation. The roof, on the other hand, is both 
 simple and symmetrical, although not formal, the break 
 in the plan being nearly sufficient to give an impres- 
 sion of variety to the general effect of the whole de- 
 sign. 
 
 SECTION. 
 
 BASEMENT ATTIC. 
 
288 
 
 VILLAS and cottages. 
 
 It is not desirable that the leading outlines of a 
 house in such a position should be much broken ; an 
 impression of breadth and strength ought to be given 
 by the general plan and by the walls, and an over- 
 shadowing, sheltering effect should be presented to tlie 
 eye by the roof. Self-reliance, liberality, simplicity, 
 and humility must be prominent characteristics in any 
 family that spends even a few summer months suc- 
 cessfully in a mountain home ; and if such a residence 
 is to be specially adapted to its surroundings, it must 
 in some way or other be suggestive of these ideas. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a design for a rustic bridge 
 tliat has been carried into execution in that part of the 
 Central Park in NeAv York which is called the Ram- 
 ble. 
 
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DESIGN No. 28.— (F. C. W.) 
 
 KITCHEN 
 
 IZ.0X15.6 
 
 
 |||n 1 DINING ROOM 
 
 > 
 
 
 1 24.0X 17.0 
 
 0 
 
 ( \ i DRAWING ROOM 
 
 
 
 1 || 22,OXIJ.O 
 
 HALL 
 
 
 PLAN OP PEINOIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 291 
 
 DESIGN No. 28 . 
 
 (F. C. W.) 
 
 STONE COUNTRY HOUSE WITH BRICK DRESSINGS. 
 
 This design illustrates, so far as can be done by an 
 engraving, the etfect that may be produced by the use 
 of rough stone for the general building material, and 
 of brick for the quoins and dressings generally. 
 
 Not having yet had an opportunity to construct a 
 country house in this manner, although an admirer 
 of the combination and often recommending it, I have 
 requested my friend, Mr. Withers, to allow me to intro- 
 duce into this work the accompanying picturesque ex- 
 ample, which was built a few years ago, in accordance 
 with his plans, for a gentleman residing at Clinton 
 Point, on the Hudson River. 
 
 PLANofCHAMBERS. 
 
392 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 The vignettes show two designs for shaded seats 
 that have been executed in the Central Park, New 
 York. 
 
DESIGN No. 29. 
 
 rSlNCIPAL FLOOR PLAN. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 295 
 
 DESIGN No. 29. 
 
 WOODEN VILLA WITH CURVED ROOF. 
 
 The design for this house is shown in elevation on 
 the accompanying page, which also contains the plans 
 of principal and bedroom floors. 
 
 In execution the efiect is of course irregular and 
 picturesque, but the geometrical drawing will show 
 more accurately than a perspective view the true pitch 
 that should be given to a roof of this sort. 
 
 ATTIC PLAN. 
 
 The basement and attic plans are given above, and 
 the design adopted for the carriage-house and stable 
 is shown below. 
 
 This house was built of wood for a gentleman re- 
 siding in Greenwich, Conn., and contains an amount 
 of accommodation that is in very general request. 
 
 FB02<T ELEVATION. 
 
 PLAN. 
 
 END ELEVATION. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 29{; 
 
 The vignette illustrates a design for a square house 
 executed at Staatsburgh, on the Hudson Hiver. The 
 arrangement of roof is somewhat similar to the one 
 just descii’ibed. This house contains five rooms on 
 principal floor. The bedroom accommodation is lib- 
 eral, a portion of the attic being used for guests’ rooms, 
 and the remainder, which is entirely distinct from the 
 other part, being set apart for servants. The kitchen 
 is in the basement. 
 
 SIDE ELEVATIO’. 
 
 FRONT ELEVATION. 
 
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DESIGN No. 30.— (D. & V.) 
 
 PERSPECTIVK VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF PEliiCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 299 
 
 DESIGN No. 30. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 VILLA OF BEICK AND STONE. 
 
 This design was prepared for Mr. Matthew Vassar, 
 of Poughkeepsie, and proposed to be erected at his 
 country place, called Springside, a little to the south 
 of the city. This estate, being full of easy sweeps and 
 gentle undulations, is someAvhat secluded and park- 
 like in its character, fine healthy trees being scattered 
 in groups and masses over its whole extent. These 
 have been sparingly and judiciously thinned out by 
 the proprietor, and the arrangement of the roads and 
 general distribution of the grounds has been adapted 
 to the peculiar features of the situation. The effect 
 is very rural and homelike, although a great deal 
 of rough work has been done, and it is only a few 
 years since the hand of improvement was first laid 
 upon it. 
 
 The buildings of minor importance that have been 
 put up on various parts of the property interfere less 
 than is often the case with the general result, each 
 having been studied with some reference to its posi- 
 tion and artistic importance in the landscape, as Avell 
 as to its more immediately useful purpose. A roomy 
 coach-house and stable illustrated in the last edition 
 of Downing’s cottage residences, also a cottage for a 
 farmer and gardener, an ice-house, an aviary and poul- 
 try-yard, an entrance-lodge, summer-house and arbors, 
 and an extensive conservatory and vinery have been 
 erected from time to time, and the whole property 
 
300 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 has been thoroughly drained, the surface being en- 
 riched wherever it was thought necessary. 
 
 Although the property lies at some distance from 
 the river, agreeable peeps of the gleaming Hudson 
 and its beautiful white sails are gained here and there. 
 Still, it is the bold horizon lines, and the broad, free 
 stretches of richly-wooded intermediate distance con- 
 trasting, and yet in harmony, with the home land- 
 scape, that gives the peculiar charm to the place. It 
 can, indeed, with difficulty be separated from its sur- 
 roundings, and a mutual understanding advantageous 
 to both seems to have sprung up between Springside 
 and the scenery in its vicinity. 
 
 In country places of this size it is sometimes thought 
 necessary to aim at increased artistic effect by a copious 
 introduction of architectural ornaments at the salient 
 points about the grounds ; and as the result is seldom 
 agreeable, I take the opportunity of extracting from 
 the “Suburban Gardener” a few remarks on the sub- 
 ject that seem to be worthy of attention: “Architect- 
 ural ornaments, such as vases, statues, etc., water in 
 different forms, pieces of rock-work, and other objects 
 of the like kind, form sources for varying the views 
 from the walks of a country place ; but architectural 
 ornaments ought to be very sparingly introduced at a 
 distance from the house, in gardens in any style, but 
 more especially in such as are laid out in the irregular 
 or modern manner. When mixed up with groups of 
 flowers and shrubs, they divide the attention between 
 the beauties of art and the beauties of nature ; and as 
 the mind can only attend to one sensation, and experi- 
 ence one emotion of pleasure at a time, it becomes dis- 
 tracted among so many. The true situation for stat- 
 ues is on an architectural terrace, or in an architect- 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 301 
 
 ural flower-garden adjoining the house, the conserva- 
 tory, or some other structure in which architecture and 
 sculpture are the main features, and flowers and vege- 
 tation are altogether subordinate.” 
 
 The house is approached through a porch connect- 
 ing two verandas, which thus afford a lengthened cov- 
 ered promenade. The principal hall, seventeen feet 
 square, Avith windows commanding an agreeable view, 
 is intended to be somewhat more than a mere hall, 
 and is designed with recesses on three sides, in Avhich 
 easy, simple lounges might be fitted, so that this hall, 
 Avhich is on the westerly side of the house, could be 
 used as a cool morning-room in summer, if desired. 
 The drawing-room opens from the hall, and is con- 
 nected by folding doors with the library, Avhich has a 
 separate approach from the inner hall, and thus, Avhen 
 the folding door^ are closed, is private and retired. 
 The dining-room is disconnected with the other apart- 
 ments, and communicates with the servants’ offices 
 through a roomy pantry. There is a private garden 
 entrance, with a gentlemen’s dressing-room and Avater- 
 closet in close proximity to it. The bedroom accom- 
 modation is liberal, but it has not been thought neces- 
 sary to give the other plans. 
 
 This house has been estimated, Avith simple interior 
 finish, to cost about $16,000. It is designed to be 
 built of brick, Avith a free use of brown stone for the 
 angles, the copings, and the AvindoAvs and other open- 
 ings. The most harmonious arrangement of colors 
 Avould be a soft, reddish brick, and a broAvn stone of 
 as gray a tint as could be obtained. The^ roofs are 
 intended to be covered Avith greenish-gray slates, and 
 the eaves, veranda, and other outside wood-Avork should 
 be painted of a warm oak color. There Avould tlius be 
 
302 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 sufficient variety of color to accord with the irregular 
 outline, and the red would have a refreshing effect in 
 a situation secluded and sheltered among rich green 
 trees. 
 
 The vignettes show two forms of window-hoods, the 
 one adapted for stone construction, and the other for 
 wood. I am not aware of any existing example in 
 the United States of a window-hood constructed of 
 stone ; but there does not seem to be any sufficient 
 reason why this method of obtaining a picturesque 
 variety of light and shadow should be executed only 
 in inferior materials, and in Design No. 33, prepared 
 for a gentleman residing in Worcester, it is proposed 
 to construct the window-hoods of brown stone, in ac- 
 cordance with the study here illustrated. 
 
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DESIGN No. 3i 
 
 PERSPECTITB VIEW. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 305 
 
 DESIGN No. 31. 
 
 PICTURESQUE STONE COUNTRY HOUSE. 
 
 This design has been carried into execution for a 
 gentleman residing at Staatsburgh, on the Hudson 
 River. The estate is of considerable extent, the drive- 
 road, as it passes the house, being perhaps a third of 
 a mile from the entrance to the grounds. Still the 
 actual building spot is somewhat limited in size, be- 
 cause it was necessary to select an elevated situation 
 commanding the best views, and this happened to oc- 
 cur in a part of the property which was not only very 
 varied in surface, but entirely covered by a handsome 
 growth of trees, which it was desirable to preserve 
 uninjured as far as was compatible with a convenient 
 arrangement of the plan. After much examination 
 of the different parts of the property, and due deliber- 
 ation pro and con^ for there were many points to be 
 
 ATTIC PLAN 
 
 discussed, the site that seemed the most appropriate 
 was ultimately determined on, and it then became a 
 question how to suit the design of the house to the 
 formation of the ground, and, so far as might be nec- 
 essary, to adapt the site to the house. It seemed 
 proper to make the plan nearly square, and without a 
 
306 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 wing, for several reasons. In the first place, a suffi- 
 ciently extensive arrangement for kitchen offices above 
 ground would have rendered it necessary to cut down 
 several more of the trees, and this, as above remarked, 
 was to be avoided, if possible. In the second place, a 
 wing must have blocked up the west or north views, 
 which command the river, and are in every respect 
 delightful ; or otherwise, as it could not come on the 
 south or entrance front, it must have been placed on 
 the east, which is the first seen, and the most promi- 
 nent at all times from the approach road. The ground 
 was so irregular and broken, moreover, that it seemed 
 judicious to aim at a varied outline and picturesque 
 effect in the immediate vicinity of the house, rather 
 than to attempt smooth extents of lawn on a level, or 
 nearly so, with the principal floor, for this would have 
 still farther increased the expense for filling in and 
 grading, which must, under any circumstances, be 
 large in such a situation. Taken altogether, it would 
 probably be difficult to find a building spot better 
 suited to illustrate the propriety of sometimes design- 
 ing a country house with a basement kitchen. Mere 
 economy is always in favor of this arrangement ; but 
 on level ground, unless the principal floor is stilted 
 up some distance from the surface, the rooms in the 
 basement will be dull, dark, and cheerless. 
 
 This house is built of blue stone taken from a quarry 
 a few hundred yards from the building site, the stones 
 being of various sizes and comparatively rough — the 
 quoins, the dressings to the windows, the porch, and 
 some few ornamental features being carefully executed 
 in brown stone, all laid on its natural bed. The point- 
 ing mortar used in this building was specified to be 
 of a dark red, so that by means of this warm color in 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 307 
 
 the mortar joints, the cold and sombre tint of the blue 
 stone should be modified as far as possible, and made 
 to harmonize with the cheerful character of the rest 
 of the house. In ten or twelve years this blue stone 
 will begin to change its hue, and then every month 
 will add new beauty to its color. This kind of stone 
 is undoubtedly most harsh and monotonous in appear- 
 ance when first taken from the quarry, but after about 
 fifteen years of exposure it assumes a delicate, lumin- 
 ous gray tint, each stone difibring just so much from 
 the one next to it as to give life and brilliancy to the 
 general effect in the sunlight. When this point is 
 once arrived at, it is unrivaled as a building material, 
 being as durable as granite, and, in connection with 
 landscape, far more beautiful in color than any brown 
 stone, marble, or brick. 
 
 The plan may be thus described : A porch connect- 
 ing two verandas opens on to a vestibule and hall 
 Avhich gives access to library, drawing-room, dining- 
 room, billiard -room, and principal staircase. The 
 rooms are all disconnected in accordance with the in- 
 structions of the proprietor. The vestibule is fitted 
 with permanent seats, and a terrace extends round 
 two sides of the house. This terrace is covered by a 
 large hood extending over it some eight or nine feet 
 in front of one window in the billiard-room and one 
 in the drawing-room, and reaching down to within 
 seven feet of the floor. The shade that would be af- 
 forded by a veranda is thus obtained on this side of 
 the house without there being any posts to interfere 
 with the view from the windows. In the dining-room 
 is a large bay-window recess, and the ceiling is so de- 
 signed that this recess forms part of the room, and 
 adds much to the apparent length of the house in this 
 
308 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 direction ; it also increases very materially the avail- 
 able space for attendance on the dinner-table. The 
 pantry is of large size, and is fitted with various con- 
 veniences, including a lift from the kitchen, several 
 closets, and a sink. 
 
 The billiard-room is so planned that a full eighteen 
 feet is obtained in the clear of the fire-place and walls 
 in the narrowest part. The two side windows open 
 to the floor, so as to alFord access to the terrace, and 
 there is a closet for cues, etc. The drawing-room is a 
 handsome apartment, 18 x 24, opening on to the ter- 
 race and veranda. The library was originally designed 
 to be finished with book-cases in the angles, and sub- 
 sequently, at the owner’s request, I furnished him with 
 a plan for an ornamental ceiling, and a suitable de- 
 sign for furnishing the whole room with continuous 
 book-cases and oak fire-place, thus carrying out the 
 original intention in a more complete manner. There 
 is a side entrance under the landing of principal stair- 
 case, and connected with this is a dressing-room and 
 water-closet. A cloak-closet is also planned near here, 
 and a lift to bring coal, etc., from the basement to this 
 floor and the floor above. The plan is so arranged 
 that the flue of the kitchen fire-place, which is under 
 the dining-room, is carried away behind the closet in 
 pantry, so that it may not heat the room unpleasantly 
 during the summer months. A servants’ staircase was 
 thought unnecessary by the proprietor, as the principal 
 flight is inclosed from the main rooms. 
 
 In the chamber plan will be found two large bed- 
 rooms, a dressing-room, a linen-closet, a house-maid’s 
 sink, a bath-room and water-closet, and a nursery 
 14x18. The upper hall opening on to these rooms 
 is amply lighted, and is roomy and open, which is a 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 309 
 
 great desideratum in the country, provided it can be 
 obtained without a sacrifice of privacy. 
 
 In the attic will be found two spare bedrooms, en- 
 tered near the head of the stairs, and shut off from 
 the attic hall, which communicates with three serv- 
 ants’ rooms and a garret. 
 
 The greater part of the basement is finished olF, and 
 supplies kitchens, sink-room, servants’ bedroom, pan- 
 try, wine-cellar, coal-cellar, and furnace-room. 
 
 A contract of $13,200 was made for this house com- 
 plete, ready for occupation, and with a simple, sub- 
 stantial finish throughout. This, however, is exclu- 
 sive of the cistern and drains, the hauling and the 
 right of quarry, all of which were furnished by the 
 owner, and not calculated for in the estimate. All 
 other items, such as painting, ranges and grates, fur- 
 nace, etc., are included. 
 
 The vignette represents a study for a simple cot- 
 tage, designed as a residence for men employed on the 
 farm and in other operations about the estate. The 
 cottage is in full view from the principal drive-road, 
 and it therefore seemed worth while to consider it as 
 an accessory in the landscape as well as a convenient 
 home for those who were to live in it. The other 
 side of the house showing the veranda would probably 
 have offered a more picturesque view, but the vignette 
 will serve to give a general idea of the simple effect 
 aimed at. The basement, entered from a door on the 
 outside, as shown on the sketch, was designed to be 
 fitted up, for the use of the family, as a wash-room, 
 and to be provided with drying-closet, ironing-room. 
 
310 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 etc. The principal floor explains itself, the two bed- 
 rooms below being for the housekeeper’s use, and the 
 chamber plan above, containing three roomy bedrooms, 
 being set apart for the use of the men. Such a cot- 
 tage, with the basement finished off, should cost about 
 $1400 or $1500. In this instance the outlay was in- 
 creased, from various causes, to $1800. 
 
 DESIGN FOR A FARM COTTAGE. 
 
 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
DESIGN No. 32, 
 
 PEEBrECTIVE VIEW. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES 
 
 313 
 
 DESIGN No. 32. 
 
 AN IRREGULAK VILLA WITHOUT WING. 
 
 This study has been prepared in detail for a gentle- 
 man residing at Millville, Mass., and is proposed to 
 be erected in Connecticut on a beautiful suburban sita 
 several acres in extent, on the outskirts of Middletown, 
 which is unquestionably one of the most pleasant and 
 attractive neighborhoods in which to build a country- 
 seat to be found in the Eastern States. Middletown 
 is not a remarkably large place, but it possesses a 
 cheerful and very fascinating rural character, that is 
 to be attributed, in a great measure, to the attention 
 that has been bestowed, from time to time, to plant- 
 ing in the streets and avenues. Fortunately, also, 
 a judicious selection of specimens has been made in 
 the first instance, which is not always the case, and 
 
 the result is that the transient visitor can hardly fail 
 to be struck with the number of fine, flourishing speci- 
 mens of the different varieties of shade trees that court 
 his attention when passing through the various ave- 
 nues. It is related of Coleridge, that once, when he 
 
;U4 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 happened to find, in a small house in an out-of-the-way 
 place in the country, a well-thumbed copy of one of his 
 poems, he held it up and said, with real satisfaction, 
 “This is fame;” and the first planters of trees on a 
 liberal scale in Middletown might, with equal satisfac- 
 tion, rejoice in the paljiable evidence afforded by the 
 present aspect of the place of the success of their in- 
 fluence, for they have, without doubt, been mainly in- 
 strumental in giving to the whole town that refined 
 rural character that makes it now so desirable a jilace 
 of residence. 
 
 The site on which this villa is to be erected is a 
 choice sjiot in the pleasantest part of the suburbs, and 
 consists of several acres commanding beautiful views 
 of richly-wooded hill and dale. The drawing-room 
 side of the house looks over a dip in the intervening 
 ground to the Connecticut River in the distance, 
 which will also be seen from two or three other points 
 about the house, and will come in pleasantly in con- 
 nection with the home landscape in walking about 
 the grounds. Still, the principal river view, when the 
 trees are grown, will always be from the drawing- 
 room windows. The owner has interested himself for 
 a year or two past in grading and preparing the site 
 for the house, and, in accordance with a carefully con- 
 sidered plan, has laid out the roads and lawns, and 
 planted fine young thrifty trees where they will be 
 required to help the general effect. A wide high-road 
 passes in front of the property, and there is a section 
 of open ground in front of it of irregular shape, bound- 
 ed by a more private road that branches out of the 
 main avenue to several country places, and then, after 
 making a circuit of a few hundred yards, returns again 
 into the highway. This plot of ground will probably 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 315 
 
 be planted at some time or other, by subscription, as 
 a little park for public accommodation ; and if this is 
 done, it will add another marked feature of interest to 
 this improving neighborhood. 
 
 The plan consists of a large open porch, that is de- 
 signed in connection with the principal gable of the 
 elevation, and is so planned that it forms a continua- 
 tion to a wide veranda on the dining-room side of the 
 house. The hall, which is arranged to have recesses 
 for sculpture or casts on each side of the main en- 
 trance, opens on to the morning-room, the drawing- 
 room, the library, the dining-room, and the principal 
 staircase hall. The morning-room is a handsome 
 apartment, eighteen feet wide, with an ornamental ar- 
 rangement of the corners of the room, and a bay-win- 
 dow. It also communicates, through folding-doors, 
 Avith the drawing-room, so that the tAvo rooms can be 
 thrOAvn open together in the, summer, if preferred. 
 The draAving-room has also a large bay-AvindoAv and 
 door to the library. Both the morning-room and the 
 draAving-room open into a large veranda, or pavilion, 
 that is a principal feature in the design, and one, it is 
 thought, that Avould add much to its desirability as a 
 summer residence. The library is a room of moderate 
 size, Avith recessed book-cases and a bay-AvindoAV, de- 
 signed to group in connection Avith the drawing-room 
 bay. This part of the design is illustrated in detail at 
 page 97 of the opening chapter. 
 
 The dining-room is a large room, entered from the 
 principal hall, and also from the main staircase. A 
 circular plant-cabinet, with an external access for the 
 gardener, is arranged to be entered from this room 
 through sliding glass doors, the glass being a little or- 
 namented, but not so much so as to obscure the view 
 
316 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 of the various-colored flowers from the interior of the 
 apartment. There is also a door to a butler’s pantr}' 
 that communicates with the kitchen ofllces, the arrange- 
 ment of which will be readily understood from the plan. 
 
 In the chamber plan will be found a range of bed- 
 rooms and dressing-rooms, with bath-room and water- 
 closet, servants’ staircase, and two servants’ bedrooms 
 over the kitchen. In the attic are two or three bed- 
 rooms, but the larger part of the space is proposed to 
 be occupied as an open garret. 
 
 This house is proposed to be built, by the day, of 
 brick, painted, the verandas, etc., to be of wood; and 
 it is calculated to cost about $14,000 or $15,000, fin- 
 ished in a simple but substantial manner. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a design for a small bath 
 and boat house made for Mr. C. H. Rogers, and pro- 
 posed to be executed by him at his country place at 
 Ravenswood, Long Island, the lawn of which contin- 
 ues from the house to the water’s edge, with a some- 
 what rapid fall as it approaches the river, so that 
 probably a portion of the roof only of this little build- 
 ing would be visible from the house. 
 
 
VERANDA 
 
 DESIGN No. 33 — fV. & W.') 
 
 l^ERSPECTI^E VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOrl 
 
 terrace 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 319 
 
 DESIGN No. 33 
 
 (V. & .W) 
 
 PICTUKESQUE VILLA VTITH "WING AND ATTICS. 
 
 This design has been fully prepared in detail for a 
 gentleman residing in Worcester, Mass., and it is to 
 be executed, by day’s work, in brick and brown stone, 
 with wooden trimmings to the roofs, bays, verandas, 
 etc. The roof is intended to be covered with green 
 and purple slates, arranged as shown on the perspec- 
 tive view. The plan, which is on a liberal scale, may 
 be thus described: The principal entrance is formed 
 by a recessed porch, which has been designed in con- 
 nection with a gabled projection and a hooded bal- 
 cony over the main arch, so as to give due prominence 
 to this part of the design. The hall connects with a 
 drawing-room, a library, a dining-room, a reception- 
 room, and a main staircase. The principal rooms 
 communicate with each other. The library and draw- 
 ing-room have access to a plant-cabinet and terrace, 
 and the library and dining-room open on to a veranda. 
 The pantry arrangements are more than usually roomy 
 and complete, as the proprietor was desirous that this 
 part of the plan should not be in any way cramped or 
 restricted. There is a small veranda over a garden- 
 entrance, which has a dressing-room near it, and Avhich 
 can be reached from the principal staircase hall. A 
 large kitchen and wash-room, with a store-room and 
 pantry, complete the accommodation on tliis floor. 
 
 The chamber plan supplies five large bedrooms, a 
 dressing-room, a bath-room, and a linen-closet in the 
 
320 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES, 
 
 main body of the house, and three inferior bedrooms 
 are provided in the wing. The attic may contain quite 
 a number of chambers, if required, but it is not pro- 
 posed at present to finish oflF more than one or two 
 bedrooms for servants. In the working plans the li- 
 brary is shown to be divided, by a partition, into li- 
 brary and study, in accordance with particular instruc- 
 tions, but the more simple arrangement shown here 
 would, I think, be preferred by most persons. 
 
 The vignette illustrates the kitchen wing and the 
 rear of the house, and will serve to show the way in 
 which this part of the design is intended to be com- 
 posed. 
 
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DESIGN No. 34.— (V. & W.) 
 
 ri.AN OF PBINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AiSD COTTAGES. 
 
 323 
 
 DESIGN No. 34. 
 
 (V. & W.) 
 
 A TOWN HOUSE. 
 
 This house, which is introduced as a contrast to the 
 other designs in the book, has been executed in Fifth 
 Avenue, New York, on a valuable lot, 25 feet wide, ad- 
 joining the grounds occupied by the Church of the As- 
 cension. The situation for the house being thus unin- 
 closed on three sides, it is more open and airy than is 
 the case in the majority of house lots of ordinary width 
 in New York, and it is, at the same time, free from the 
 exposure and the extra expenses, such as paving, etc., 
 that are involved in the occupation of a corner lot. 
 It, of course, overlooks the green sward and shrubbery 
 that have been laid out round the church, and thus, 
 in connection with its own front garden, it may be so 
 arranged as to avoid, in some measure, the stiffness 
 and formality that are characteristic of most town 
 houses, and the design may, without impropriety, aim 
 at some picturesqueness of effect in the arrangement 
 of the roof lines, which will come prominently into 
 view from the other side of the street. 
 
 The house is proposed to be executed in brown stone 
 and brick. The basement will be of brown stone, the 
 walls of the principal floor being carried up with courses 
 of brick and stone alternately, and the walls above prin- 
 cipal story being of Philadelphia face-brick of superior 
 quality, with brown stone window architraves, hoods, 
 string courses, and chimney-caps. 
 
 The principal floor contains a vestibule, hall, stair- 
 
324 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 case, drawing-room, library, and dining-room, with pan- 
 try, and back staircase to the basement and chambers. 
 
 The dining-room is proposed to be terminated by a 
 large recess, which is to be glazed and fitted up with 
 a stand for flowers, or a handsome vase and small 
 fountain, if preferred. There is a peculiarity in the 
 arrangement of this part of the design which may be 
 mentioned here. The pantry, as well as the recess, 
 projects from the main body of the house, for a valu- 
 able addition to the convenience of the principal floor 
 accommodation is thus gained at a comparatively small 
 cost; but the windows on the north, or pantry side of 
 the semicircle would, by this arrangement, be blocked 
 up altogether, unless some plan like the one illustrated 
 had been adopted. This sash and the one opposite 
 to it is glazed with ornamental glass, the two central 
 openings being left with clear plate-glass, as there hap- 
 pens to be a pleasant vista view of adjoining gardens 
 from the rear of the house. A partition is set up in 
 the pantry at an angle of forty-five degrees opposite 
 the sash, and a glazed opening is introduced in the 
 outer wall of pantry in the triangular space thus shut 
 off, as shown on the plan. The inner face of the par- 
 tition is to be covered with bright tin, and the result 
 will be that ample light will be reflected into the din- 
 ing-room recess through this sash, and no disagreeable 
 effect will be produced on the design by the convenient 
 extension of the pantry. 
 
 The bay-window in the library, which is shown on 
 the drawing, is not included in the working plans of 
 the house, but can be added at any time, if approved. 
 It would give a desirable relief to the straight, unin- 
 teresting wall adjoining the church lot, and would fur- 
 nish the middle room with a little extra width and a 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 325 
 
 pleasant angular view of the avenue. The principal 
 staircase is designed with a landino; in the middle of 
 the first flight, so as to make the ascent more easy and 
 agreeable ; and a staircase shut off by a door under- 
 neath this landing leads to a fine room in the front 
 basement that is intended to be used as a study. 
 
 The kitchen and other offices are on the basement 
 floor, and there is a sub-cellar under the whole house. 
 
 In the chamber plan an effort has been made to get 
 clear of lobbies and passages, and dark entrances to 
 bedrooms ; and it will be seen that by giving a curved 
 line to each end of the partition that is planned in the 
 central part of the house, a much larger landing than 
 can otherwise be obtained is supplied at the head and 
 foot of the staircase (where it is most needed), and the 
 three principal bedrooms are entered through doors 
 opening directly from the main hall on each floor. 
 There are two bath-rooms on this floor, and two in the 
 floor above, which is nearly the same in plan. The 
 attic supplies a number of roomy chambers, and a 
 large skylight to the main staircase. This house was 
 carefully built throughout by day’s work, and cost 
 about $30,000 properly finished. 
 
 The vignette shows a design for a country house, 
 for which the cellar is now being excavated, and which 
 will probably cost about the same amount as the town 
 house just described. It has been prepared in detail 
 for execution by a gentleman in Orange County, New 
 York, and is to be built on a site commanding extens- 
 ive views of the Hudson. A carriage porch leads to a 
 vestibule and octangular hall, which gives access to the 
 
326 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 drawing-room and dining-room, and to a billiard-room 
 and library, which are separate from the other rooms. 
 The kitchen wing is roomy, and the bedroom accom- 
 modation is on a liberal scale, as will be seen from 
 the chamber plan. The exterior is quite simply de- 
 signed, as it must necessarily be in a house of this 
 size that is to be built for a moderate estimate. The 
 house is proposed to be constructed with hollow walls, 
 faced with a fair quality of brick, and relieved by a 
 sparing introduction of brown stone where it is most 
 required to carry out the idea of the design. 
 
\ 
 
DESIGN No. 35.— (D. & V.) 
 
 ENTRANCE FRONT. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 rif ''IB 'B 'H 
 
 
 
 
 HhSU 
 
 1 W' 
 
 
 
 li 
 
 nilriBii 1 i| 
 
 
 Miali;d=r.j:ri ^ 
 
 
 FRONT FACING TUE SEA, 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 329 
 
 DESIGN No. 35. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 MARINE VILLA. 
 
 This design was erected for a gentleman residing at 
 Newport, E-hode Island. It was built of brick and 
 brown stone, and contracted for, including painting and 
 plumbing, at a little under $20,000. 
 
 It was jDrepared for a fine situation, commanding an 
 uninterrupted view of the sea, and including several 
 acres of ornamental ground, that have been well laid out 
 and planted under the superintendence of an experi- 
 enced landscape gardener. A carriage-porch, of which 
 
 a larger drawing is given on page 74 of the opening 
 chapter, leads to a vestibule and main hall, that con- 
 tains a door to a private morning-room, and that also 
 irives access to a suite of three other rooms of liberal 
 
 O 
 
 size, consisting of drawing-room, cabinet, and dining- 
 room. These apartments are connected with each 
 other, and communicate with the lower portion of a 
 double arcade that is introduced on the front that 
 faces the sea. This arcade is illustrated in detail on 
 page 99 of the opening chapter. There are bay-win- 
 dows to tlie dining-room and drawing-room, and the 
 latter opens on to a large veranda, or pavilion, that is 
 
830 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 one of the principal features of the design. It is 
 thought by some that in the cool and geniifl climate 
 of Newport a country house is preferable without ve- 
 randas, and it is certainly desirable to admit the sun- 
 shine into all the rooms ; but if a veranda is arranged, 
 as in the present plan, so that every room that opens 
 on to it has also another Avindow through Avhich the 
 sunshine can be freely admitted, the objection to its 
 introduction seems to be avoided, and its manifest ad- 
 vantages are secured Avithout making the house dark 
 or cheerless. 
 
 A bedroom is introduced on the ground floor of the 
 Aving near a side entrance, and the chamber plan con- 
 tains a number of bedrooms and dressing-rooms, the 
 servants’ rooms being contained in the kitchen Aving. 
 
 The vignette illustrates a design for the coach-house 
 and stable, which was erected at some little distance 
 from the house. 
 
 DESIGN FOR A COACU-HOUSE AND STAliLE. 
 

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DESIGN No. 36. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 333 
 
 DESIGN No. 36. 
 
 IRREGULAR STONE VILLA. 
 
 This house has been erected at Fordham, near High- 
 bridge, in the neighborhood of New York ; it is con- 
 structed of stone quarried on the immediate site of the 
 building, and the quoins and other dressings are ex- 
 ecuted in New Brunswick stone. 
 
 The building material found on the place is of a 
 cool gray, and the New Brunswick stone is of a soft 
 olive tint ; the woodwork is painted to correspond 
 with the latter, and as the roof is covered with Sus- 
 quehanna slate, the whole elfect of color is subdued, 
 and yet pleasantly varied. 
 
 The principal floor contains four large rooms en 
 suite, and opening on to verandas and terraces ; the 
 dining-room also connects with a plant cabinet or con- 
 servatory. A school-room and children’s dining-room 
 are provided on the other side of the house, in a con- 
 venient position with regard to the kitchen wing. 
 
 The design made for the lodge, which is also the 
 gardener’s house, is illustrated below. 
 
 PRINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
 FRONT ELEVATION. 
 
 CUAMBEB PLAN. 
 
334 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 A design made for a coach-house and stable that 
 has also been erected near Highbridge, but for a dif- 
 ferent owner, is illustrated below. The coach-house is 
 24 feet by 30 feet, and is so arranged that carriages 
 may be driven through it Avhen necessary. Stablin 
 for five horses is provided, with a passage in front ot 
 the horses’ heads as Avell as in the rear. A living 
 room is provided for the coachman on the main floor, 
 and tAvo bedrooms on the floor above. An ample hay- 
 loft is included in the design, as indicated on the plan. 
 The materials used Avere rough gray stone and NeA\' 
 BrunsAvick freestone. 
 
 PLAN OF i’RINCIPAL FLOOR 
 
 n.AN or LOFT8. 
 
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 V* 
 
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DESIGN No. 37.— (D. & V.) 
 
 PEESPECTIYE VIEW. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 337 
 
 DESIGN No. 37. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 lEREGULAR STONE VILLA WITH TOWER. 
 
 This design, proposed to be executed on a handsome 
 country place that overlooks the Hudson, was com- 
 menced by Mr. S. D. Dakin some years ago, but the 
 foundations were only partially laid when the sudden 
 death of the proprietor put a stop to the works. The 
 house was to be built of rough stone, with cut stone 
 dressings to the windows, and wherever else it was 
 needed, and the whole plan was to have been carried 
 out in a handsome and expensive style. The same 
 general arrangement would admit of considerable va- 
 riety in artistic treatment, and the exterior design 
 might be entirely changed, without, in any way, alter- 
 ing the plan, which may be thus described : A car- 
 riage-porch provides a covered entrance to the main 
 hall, which is twenty feet square. This hall is divided, 
 architecturally, by an open, arched screen, from a wide 
 corridor that traverses the centre of the house, and 
 leads to the various rooms, and to the principal stair- 
 case, that is lighted from above, and is planned on a 
 liberal scale. 
 
 The principal floor contains a library opening on to 
 a veranda, and fitted with recessed book-cases, and it 
 it also supplies a suite of three rooms, consisting of 
 drawing-room, parlor, and dining-room, and a large' 
 bedroom, with dressing-room and bath-room attached. 
 In the wing will be found a butler’s pantry, a house- 
 keeper’s room, and the kitchen offices. The chamber 
 
 Y 
 
338 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 floor contains bedrooms and dressing-rooms, the ar- 
 rangement of which will be readily understood from 
 the plan. 
 
 Such a country residence as this, economically fin- 
 ished inside, would cost about $30, 000 ; and this esti- 
 mate might easily be doubled in carrjdng out the plan 
 of such a large house by adopting an elaborate and 
 expensive style for the external detail, and for the in- 
 ternal fittings and finish of the various apartments. 
 
 The vignette shows the plan of principal floor, and 
 the chamber plan of a square house, that would admit 
 of varied treatment in exterior design. This study has 
 been carefully worked out in detail, and the plans and 
 specifications have been prepared for Mr. John W. 
 Burt, of New York. A recessed porch opens on to a 
 hall, 8x18, that contains cloak-closets, and that gives 
 access to the parlor, the dining-room, the library, and 
 the staircase-hall. The parlor and dining-room can be 
 throAvn into one large Toom at any time, as there are 
 sliding-doors of communication, and both these rooms 
 open on to a veranda that is octangularly arranged 
 opposite the parlor windows, so as to give more space; 
 at this part, and to add picturesqueness to its exterior 
 outline. The library is on the opposite side of the 
 hall, and is disconnected with any other apartment ; 
 it is planned, however, with a door opening on to the 
 garden-entrance lobby, which is inclosed from the hall 
 under the first landing of the staircase; and as this 
 lobby also contains a door to the kitchen, the library, 
 which has a pleasant aspect for a winter room, may, 
 if preferred, be used as a breakfast-room during the 
 colder months. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 330 
 
 The dining-room pantry occurs between the dining- 
 room and the kitchen, which is in the main body of 
 the house, but arranged, as will be seen on the plan, 
 to be quite shut olF from the living-rooms. 
 
 On the bedroom floor will be found four chambers 
 of good size, and one smaller sleeping-room, that may 
 be used as a dressing-room, if preferred; also a bath- 
 room and water-closet, and an inclosed staircase to the 
 attic, in which is provided a linen-press, a servants’ 
 bedroom, and one or two agreeable spare rooms. 
 
 The chamber windows communicate with the ve- 
 randa roofs, which are nearly flat, and are furnished 
 with a continuous railing, so as to secure an open 
 promenade for the second floor rooms on each side of 
 the house. 
 
 The exterior is treated picturesquely, in a simple, 
 unpretending manner, and the house is to be built of 
 wood, at Orange, New Jersey, on a pleasant site that 
 forms a portion of Llewellyn Park, an estate of about 
 five hundred acres, which has been lately taken in hand, 
 and judiciously laid out with lawns and drives by its 
 original proprietor, Mr. Haskell. This gentleman, aft- 
 er reserving in his plan about fifty or sixty acres for 
 an ornamental park, has divided the remainder into 
 building lots of various sizes ; and as the whole area is 
 inclosed by a boundary fence, there will be no actual 
 necessity for separate gates to each section of the 
 property, for the private roads that will lead from 
 the main drive to the various country houses can be 
 planned so as to commence in each case with a curved 
 line running through a .close plantation for a short 
 distance, so as to insure entire seclusion, and thus the 
 trouble of opening and shutting gates may be avoided. 
 
 I have already received instructions to prepare two 
 
design No. 38. 
 
 PEE8PECTIVB VIEW. 
 
 PLAN OF PRINCIPAL FLOOR. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 343 
 
 DESIGN No. 38. 
 
 MARINE VILLA VP^ITH TOWER. 
 
 This house has been built of brick, Avith Nova Scotia 
 stone dressings, at Newport, Rhode Island, on an agree- 
 able site overlooking the sea. The general arrange- 
 ment Avill be readily understood from the plan on the 
 opposite page, Avhich provides on the principal floor a 
 suite of five rooms, opening from a large central hall, 
 
 BASEMENT PLAN. 
 
 EOOF PLAN. 
 
344 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 and connected with verandas and terraces, and also 
 with a conservatory. In the chamber plan, two bed- 
 rooms, with dressing-rooms, a bathroom, and two other 
 bedrooms, are grouped together, and separated from 
 the rest of the accommodations on this floor ; the lob- 
 bies and passages, that would otherwise be dark, being 
 lighted from skylights above by wells marked L on 
 attic plan. The third story contains four pleasant 
 bedrooms and a bathroom, and six rooms (entirely 
 separate from the main hall and guests’ apartments) 
 are arranged for servants. The kitchen accommoda- 
 tion is in the basement. 
 
 The plan adopted for the carriage-house and stable 
 is illustrated below. 
 
 GE^IEEAL PLAN. 
 
DESIGN No. 39.— (D. & V.) 
 
 PERSPECTIVE VIEW. 
 
VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 347 
 
 DESIGN No. 39. 
 
 (D. & V.) 
 
 VILLA ON A LAEGE SCALE. 
 
 This plan was prepared in detail some time before 
 Mr. Downing’s death, in accordance with instructions 
 we received, but it has not been executed. It is more 
 extensive than is usually called for in the United 
 States, but may serve to close our examples of Amer- 
 ican villas, and to show how a large amount of ac- 
 commodation may be arranged and combined. It was 
 intended to be built of stone, on a site commanding an 
 interesting prospect, and that sloped off considerably 
 on one side. The garden was therefore proposed to be 
 terraced, as shown on the perspective view, so as to 
 do away with this sloping appearance in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the house, and to furnish a level pla- 
 teau on Avhich to build. It will be seen, on reference 
 to the plan, that a carriage-porch gives access to an 
 inclosed lobby, in which are cloak-closets. This in- 
 closed lobby leads into the principal hall, which is 
 open on both sides, to a wide corridor, and contains a 
 fountain in the centre. There is also an open arcade, 
 or veranda, in connection with this principal hall. 
 
 The dining-room, parlor, drawing-room, and library 
 are designed so as to form a continuous suite of large 
 rooms, entered from the main hall; and a boudoir, 
 that does not connect with the other apartments, is 
 also provided at one end of the corridor. A large par 
 vilion is planned at the side of the boudoir and li- 
 brary, and a veranda and terrace, that are accessible 
 
348 
 
 VILLAS AND COTTAGES. 
 
 from the three other principal rooms, are designed on 
 the front that commands the best view. The pantry 
 arrangements are on a liberal scale, and the kitchen 
 offices are extensive. In the wing of principal floor 
 will be found a large family 'bedroom, with dressing- 
 room and bath-room attached, and easily accessible 
 from the principal staircase hall and from the serv- 
 ants’ department. It has not been thought necessary 
 to give the other plans of this design, which was cal- 
 culated to cost about $60, 000 without any elaboration 
 of finish. 
 
 The concluding vignette illustrates a design for a 
 grave-stone erected in Newburgh Cemetery. 
 
 DESIGN FOB A GRAVE-STONE. 
 
No. 1. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 c. sq. foot. c. laid. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 c. sq. foot. c. laid. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 c. sq. foot. 
 
 c. laid. 
 
 c. sq. foot. 
 
 c. Laid. 
 
 No. S. 
 
 c. sq. foot. c. laid. 
 
 No. S. 
 
 c. /oo/. c. /aid. 
 
 
 FOR SALE BY 
 
 lva:iLI.ER Sb COA.TES, 370 ST., NTEW 'YO'RTC. 
 
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