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 LIBRARY 
 
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 University of California, 
 
 GIF^T C)l- 
 
 Accession ^(iJ.99 . ^^^^ 
 
 't^55 
 
 C. CHESTER, 
 
 11 
 
THE HOUSE: 
 
 A MANUAL 
 
 |l H ni 1 ^ r c Ij i t c c t II r e : 
 
 OR, HOW TO BUILD 
 
 COUNTRY HOUSES AND OUT-BUILDINGS ; 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 riiK 0KI6IN AND MEANING OF THE HOUSE; THK ART OF HOUSE- BUILDING, INCLUD- 
 ING PLANNING, STYLE AND CONSTRUCTION; DESIGNS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF 
 COTTAGES, FARM-HOUSES, TILLA8 AND OUT-BUILDINGS, OF VARIOUS COST 
 AND IN THE DIFFERENT STYLES OF ARCHITECTURE, ETC., ETC. ; AND 
 AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING RECIPES FOE PAINTS AND WASHES, 
 STUCCO, ROUGH-CAST, ETC.; AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR ROOFING, 
 BUILDING WITH BOUGH STONE, UNBUENT BRICK, BALLOON 
 FRAME?, AND THE CONCRETE OR GRAVEL WALL. 
 
 By 1). IT. JACQ.TJl'S. 
 
 ArxiioR OF "I'he Garden," "The Farm," "Domestic Animals," " How i^ 
 Do Business," " IJow to Write," "How to Talk," etc. 
 
 Until oomnioii M.Mise linds iu way into arcliit-jcture. there o.tn be little hope for It. — Rubkin. 
 
 AMEEICAN NEWS COMPANY, 
 
 39 & 41 Ch.'VMBers Street, N. Y. 
 

 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year I66d. by 
 
 D. H. JACQUES, 
 
 iB the Cerk's Office of the District Court of the United States tor IM 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
 y 
 
 /\ 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 RUSSELL BROTHERS. PRINTERS, 
 17, 19, 21, 23 ROSE ST. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In this countiy everybody builds a bouse — perhaps several of 
 them. Everybody, then, should know something about domestic 
 architecture, in order to build to the best advantage— to secure 
 the largest amount of convenience, comfort, and beauty in his 
 dwelling which his means and materials will permit. It has been 
 our object, in the preparation of this manual, to promote the dif- 
 fiision of this needed knowledge among the people. 
 
 The works of the lamented Downing, with all their acknowl- 
 edged imperfections, have done much to enlighten the under- 
 standings and improve the tastes of our people on this subject. 
 Much of the improvement which has taken place in the rural 
 architecture of this country, within the last fifteen years, is due 
 to their influence. But their size and cost have been a bar to 
 their circulation, and confined their direct action upon the public 
 mind within a comparatively narrow circle. The same remark 
 will apply with more or less force to the excellent works of Cal- 
 vert Vaux, Wheeler, Cleveland and Backus Brothers, and other 
 recent architectural writers.. 
 
 We have aimed heie at a wider, if not a stronger, influence. 
 We have condensed into this little volume all that the great ma- 
 jority of readers will care to find in it, and all that they are pre- 
 pared to appreciate and profit by ; and have placed the whole 
 within the reach of every man in America who will ever have 
 occasion to erect a house, a barn, a stable, or a piggery, by placing 
 it at a price which no one will be too poor to pay. We aim, by 
 these means, at a universal circulation and almost unlimited 
 usefulness. 
 
 S6i;J9 
 
71 Preface. 
 
 The plan and execution of our work will speak for themselves 
 Wo are fully aware of its imperfections, but hope a generous pub- 
 lic will not allow them to blind their eyes to the merits wliich it 
 will, we trust, be acknowledged to possess. "We leave it, with 
 full confidence, in their hands. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. -ORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 The Wtgwam and the Tenf— The Hut of the African— Origin of the Tent— Thfl 
 Ancient Log Cabin — Hall of the Saxon Thegne— How it was Constructed— 
 Norman Novelties— Origin of Chimneys and Glass Windows— The Castle, 
 etc. — Significance of the House- Meaning of the Various Styles— Expression 
 of Individual Character Page 9 
 
 n.- HOUSE-BUILDING 
 
 Fundamental Principles-Fitness or Utility— Expression of Purpose— Expres- 
 sion of Beauty — Considerations Influencing Choice of Site-Healthfulness — 
 Convenience of Access— Suitableness of Ground— Altitude— Aspect— Trees, 
 etc. — Adoption of a Plan — Importance of having a Matured Plan — Adapta- 
 tion of Plan to Site — Pecuniary Means as Influencing a Plan — "Wants and 
 Tastes of the Family to be Considered— General Form— Economical View— 
 The Circle and the Octagon— Square Houses— Advantages of Irregularity- 
 Aspect of Rooms — Arrangement of Eooms — Labor-Saving— Convenience— 
 Comfort— Provision for Guests— Using the Best Eooms Recommended — 
 Sleeping Apartments- Bath-Eoom — Pantries, Closets, Passages, etc.— Chim- 
 neys and Stairs— Style of Architecture— Should be the Natural Outgrowth of 
 the Character, Institutions, etc., of a People- Nu American Style yet Origi- 
 nated Reasons "Why — Promise of the Future-Classification of Styles Cir- 
 cumstances which should Guide in the Choice of a Style- Climate as Influ- 
 encing Architectural Style— Southern and Northern Houses Contrasted— Sit- 
 uation to be Considered -Plan and Size Materials in their Eelation to Style 
 -A Hint in reference to Local Truth— Materials— "Wood— Stone— Brick- 
 Concrete— Miscellaneous Details— Cellars — Chimneys — Modes of Warming 
 Houses - Tiie open Fire-place - Grates— Stoves — Hot-Air Furnaces, etc. — 
 Ventilation Exterior Color, Interior Color, Wall Paper, etc.— Roofing- 
 Stucco - Rough-Cast Drainage— Trees, Vines, etc.— Errors and Absurd- 
 ities 14 
 
 m.- COTTAGES OF ONE STORY. 
 
 Preliminary Eomarks-A Log Cabin— A Hexagon Plan— Plan for Three Eooms 
 etc.— A Souihtm Cottuge— Another Cheap Cottage Plan— Plan for Additions 
 —An Extempore- House — Estim;ites— Verandas — Plans— The Scale— Doors, 
 etc.— Eats in CeiliiJ^ -Outside Painting— Balh-Eooms 45 
 
viii Contents. 
 
 IV.-STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES. 
 
 Preliminary Remarka — Plans for a Small Cottage — An Italian Cottage— An 
 English Cottage Plan— Building for Show— A Suburban Cottage— A Gothic 
 Cottage — Attic Rooms — Architectural Finery — A New Method of Ventila- 
 tion—Cedar Closets— A Symmetrical Cottage— A Semi-Southern Cottage — 
 Sinks— Chimneys— Speaking Tubes — Beauty and Economy Page 57 
 
 v.— HOUSES OF TWO STORIES. 
 
 A Gothic Cottage— A Country Parsonage—" Fruitland" Cottage -Mr. Mann' 
 Octagon Plan— A Southern House— A Square Cottage— A Stone Country 
 House— Cement for Stopping Joints— A Circular House — Ornamental Roofs 
 — A Swiss Cottage — Importance of Arrangement— A Double Cottage ... 73 
 
 VI.— FARM-HOUSES. 
 
 What a Farm-House Should be— Mr. Graef 's Farm-House — A Farm-Houso 
 Plan 99 
 
 VII.— ViLLAS. 
 
 What is a Villa? Downing's Definition— What it Should be— A small Villa in 
 the Italian Style— A Brick Villa— A Gothic Villa— A Picturesque Villa— A 
 Southern Villa— An Octagon Villa 105 
 
 VIII.— BARNS, AND OTHER OUT-BUILDINGS. 
 
 Preliminary Remarks — Lewis F. Allen's Barn — Mr. Chamberlain's Octagon 
 Barn — Shelter Cheaper than Fodder — Elevators in Barns — Mr. Beckwith's 
 Octagon Bam— A Circular Barn— A Side-Hill Barn— Stables— An Octagon 
 Poultry-House — A Piggery — An Ashery and Smoke-IIouse — An Ice-House 
 —An Apiary — A Play-House— A Rustic Garden-House 129 
 
 IX.— CHURCHES AND SCHOOL-HOUSES. 
 A Village Church— A Choice of Elevations— A School-House— Remarks.. 158 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Building with Rough Stones— Hollow Walls- -Building with Unbumt Brick— 
 Dr. Buchanan on Cellars— Recipes for Paints, etc.— Roofing— Concrete or 
 Gravel Walls— Specifications— Balloon Frames— How to Build Cisterns- A 
 Cheap Ice-Room 158 
 
THE HOUSE 
 
 ORIGIN AND MEANING OP THE HOUSE. 
 
 Huch of the character of every man may be lead in his house. — Downing. 
 
 L— THE WIGWAM AND THE TENT. 
 
 S "tlie groves were God's first tem« 
 pies," so, undoubtedly, were they 
 the earliest dwellings of man. The 
 (len.se foliage of the trees afforded 
 protection against tlie too fervid 
 ays of the noonday sun, and their 
 lollow trunks, and the caves among 
 the rocks which they overhung, 
 served as a shelter from the fury of 
 the storm. By twining together 
 the tops of saplings growing near 
 each other, and filling in the spa- 
 ces between them with branches 
 broken from other trees, arbors or bough-houses were readily 
 constructed. These, m the Eden -like climates of the Ea.^t, 
 where the race is supposed to have originated, probably sat- 
 isfied the Avants of the men of tlie first ages. 
 
 At a later day, and in a le.ss genial climate, dwellings were 
 constructed by cutting down trees and placing them, in a circu- 
 lar form, with their tops leaning against eacli otlier and fasten- 
 ing them together, branches being interwoven and the inter- 
 utices filled with clay. Of this descri[)tion is the wigwam of 
 
 1* 
 
10 
 
 The House. 
 
 the North American savage. In other cases a frame-work of 
 poles was covered with strips of bark or skins of animals. The 
 dome-like mud huts of some of the African tribes, with holes 
 two or three feet high for d^ors, through which one must enter 
 "on all-fours," advance in point of architecture one step further. 
 Out of the necessities of a pastoral life grew the invention of 
 tenti, which were at first made of the skins of animals and af- 
 terward of felt and various kinds of cloth. On each green and 
 chosen spot these portable habitations could be spread in a 
 moment, and as readily removed. Even at the present day, 
 
 The Arab band, 
 
 Across the sand, 
 Still bear their dwellings light, 
 
 And 'neath the skies 
 
 Their tents arise, 
 Like spirits of the night 
 
 II.— THE LOG CABIN. 
 
 The inventor of the rectangular log-house should have been 
 immortalized; but, alas! he is unknown, and the date of the 
 
 
 Kig. l.-TiiK Anciknt Loa Cabin. 
 
 first dwelling of this kind is nowliere recorded. However 
 long jigo that event may have occurred, tl-e foundations of the 
 
Okigin and Meaning. 11 
 
 art of domestic architecture were then securely established. 
 The first oblong house, covered by a sloping roof, whether its 
 walls were constructed of logs placed horizontally one above the 
 other, in the American backwoods style, or of upright posts, as 
 shown in the foregoing engraving, contained the germ of the 
 cottage, the mansion, and the villa of to-day. 
 
 III.— THE SAXON HALL. 
 
 Speaking of the Saxons, Turner, in his " Early History of 
 Domestic Architecture in England," says : 
 
 " Without mechanical skill to work the quarries made by 
 the Romans, and while the habitations of the mass of the peo- 
 ple were mud or wooden huts of one room only, in the middle 
 of which the fire was kindled, the Saxon tliegne built his hall 
 from the woods of his demesne by the labor of his bondsmen. 
 It was thatched with straw or reeds or roofed with wooden 
 shingles. Its plan was little more than its name implied — a ca- 
 pacious apartment, which in the daytime was adapted to the 
 patriarchal hospitality of the owner, and formed at night a sort 
 of stable for his servants, to whose rude accommodation their 
 master's was not much superior in an adjoining chamber. The 
 fire was kindled in the center of the hall, the smoke making 
 its way out through an opening in the roof immediately above 
 the hearth, or by the door, windows, and eaves of thatch. 
 The lord and his ' hearthmen' — a significant appellation 
 given to his most familiar retainers — sat by the same fire at 
 which their repast was cooked, and at night retired to share 
 the same dormitory, which served them also as a council 
 chamber." 
 
 The Normans introduced little change in the general plans 
 of dwellings, the chief room and single bedchamber still pre- 
 vailing, even in regal residences. It was in details chiefly that 
 architectural novelties betokened French influence. Chimneys 
 were generally unknown till the fifteenth century, although a 
 few examples occur earlier. Shutters and canvas, instead of 
 glazed windows, continued in general use in dwelling-house* 
 
12 The House. 
 
 to the reign of Henrj III., notwithstanding painted glass foi 
 churcli windows was not uncommon in the twelfth centurj. 
 
 Of the castles, monasteries, and moated granges of a later 
 day it is not necessary to speak. Their general forms are 
 made familiar to all by means of .pictures and engravings of 
 all descriptions, scattered through our picture-galleries and 
 books. The manor-house and the villa of the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries form the basis of many a modern design. 
 
 IV— SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 "We have hinted at, rather than described, some of the changes 
 through which the dwelling-house has reached its present ex- 
 ternal form and internal arrangement ; but our brief statement 
 will serve to indicate the fact, that each change has resulted 
 from a corresponding change in the habits, wants, and tastej 
 of the builder. The house of each epoch forms a chapter in 
 the world's history. In the wigwam of the savage we recog- 
 nize an expression of the rude life of the forest-born hunter, 
 lacking the refinement which would require, as well as the 
 skill which might provide, anything beyond a mere shelter. 
 The tents of the nomadic tribes are not less significant of 
 their habits and modes of existence — 
 
 While ou from plain to plain they led their flocks, 
 In search of clearer spring and fresher field. 
 
 So have the log cabin, the hall of the Saxon thegne^ the feu- 
 dal castle, the monastery, the grange, the manor-house, the cot- 
 tage, and the villa, their readily comprehended meanings. 
 Each was called into existence by the exigences of the social 
 period to which it belongs, and reveals the principal features in 
 the life of its first inhabitants. 
 
 "The different styles of domestic architecture," as Downing 
 truly remarks, " the Roman, the Italian, the Swiss, the Vene- 
 tian, the Kural Gothic, are nothing more than expressions of 
 national character which have, through- long use, become per- 
 manent. Thus the gay and sunny temperament of tlie south o^" 
 
Origin and Meaning. 13 
 
 Europe is well expressed in the light balconies, the grouped 
 windows, the open arcades, and the statue and vase bordered 
 terraces of the Venetian and Italian villas; the homely yet 
 strong and quaint character of the Swiss in their broad-roofed, 
 half rude, and curiously constructed cottages; the domestic 
 virtues and the love of rural beauty and seclusion can not 
 possibly be better expressed than in the English cottage, with 
 its many upward pointing gables, its intricate tracery, its spa- 
 cious bay windows, and its walls covered with vines and 
 flowering shrubs." 
 
 Domestic architecture is not only capable of expressing the 
 characters and customs of nations and epochs ; individual di- 
 versities of opinion, feeling, taste, and modes of life may be 
 and are also clearly embodied in the human dwelling. Mere 
 utilitarianism expresses itself in a square or oblong box-like 
 house, with walls and roof built only to defend the inmates 
 against cold and heat ; windows intended for nothing but to 
 admit the light and exclude the air; and chimneys constructed 
 only to carry oif the smoke. A love of ornament and show, 
 unguided by either sound judgment or cultivated taste, give us 
 all sorts of absurd and incongruous combinations of styles ; 
 build cottages in the form of villas and villas like castles of the 
 middle ages ; and set all the laws of fitness and order at defi- 
 ance. Good sense, a true love of the beautiful, refinement, cul- 
 ture, and domestic habits are equally sure, under favorable cir- 
 cumstances, to make their impress upon the walls of the dwelling- 
 house. Hospitality smiles in ample parlors; home virtues 
 dwell in cosy fireside family rooms ; intellectuality is seen in 
 well-stocked libraries, and a dignified love of leisure and repose 
 in cool and spacious verandas. 
 
 Much of the character of every man, it is truly said, may be 
 road in his house. If he has molded it-; leading features from 
 the foundation, it will give a clew to a large part of his charac- 
 ter. If he has taken it from the hands of another, it will, in its 
 internal details and use, show at a glance something of the daily 
 thoughts and life of the family that inhabits it. 
 
14 
 
 The House- 
 
 11. 
 
 HOUSE-BUILDING. 
 
 He who Improves the dwellings of a people, in relation to their comforts, habits, and morai*, 
 makes a beiiiguant and lastinK reform at the very foundations of society.— FtHofie and farm 
 OMaoes. 
 
 I.— FUNDAMENTAL PEINCIPLES. 
 
 AVING traced the chvelling-house to its 
 origin, and pointed out the significance of 
 its various forms, we shall now, before 
 presenting the designs and descriptions 
 which form the main body of our work, 
 \^lii^ C^^v C P'*oc^6<i to lay before the reader a few 
 
 ~ ■ ' practical hints and suggestions on the 
 
 general subject of house-building. These 
 
 hints and suggestions will necessarily be 
 
 briefly expressed ; but their importance 
 
 /m ^-- '\ ' .&*^i must not be measured by the space they 
 
 111 !• '' '^'^ ^kk '"'"''"P^'" 
 
 il'ltr. '. u,_--,;^fiiwvr \^Q have little to do here with the 
 
 theoi-y of architecture; but there are two 
 or three fundamental principles involved in house-building 
 which we wish, at the outset, distinctly to impress upon the 
 reader's mind. 
 
 1. Adaptation to Use. — In erecting a building of any kind, 
 the first thing to be considered, and the last to be lost sight o^ 
 is the use to which it is to be appropriated. Adaptation to this 
 use must not be sacrificed to anything else. The plan and con- 
 struction of a dwelling-house, for instance, must be quite dif- 
 ferent from those of a church edifice or a barn ; because its pur- 
 pose and uses are difi'ereiit. For the same reason, a country 
 residence should not resemble a city dwelling, and a farm 
 
H0USE-I5UILDING. 15 
 
 house should be unlike the cottage of the mechanic. And the 
 law of fitness applies to all the details of a house as well as to 
 its general form. It should be our guide in the arrangement 
 of rooms; in the disposition of doors, windows, stairs, and 
 chimneys ; and in the provisions made for warming and venti- 
 lation. Adaptation to climate, situation, and the condition and 
 means of the proprietor falls under the same head. Let it be 
 remembered, then, that tliia principle of Jitness^ or adaptation 
 to 'me^ lies at the foundation of all satisfactory liouse-'building. 
 It will be more fully illustrated as we proceed. 
 
 2. Expression of Purpose. — But it is not enough that a build- 
 ing be planned with strict reference to the uses to which it la 
 to be devoted. Truthfulness, which should run through all our 
 works, as well as our words, demands that its purpose shall be 
 expressed in its construction — that a church, for instance, shall 
 not require a label to inform us of its ecclesiastic character, and 
 that a dwelling-house shall be known a? such at a glance. This 
 principle, strange as it may seem, is frequently violated. 
 Church edifices are made to look like barns, dwelling-houses 
 are built on the model of a Grecian tem.ple, and we sometimes 
 see stables which may be mistaken, at the first glance, for farm 
 cottages. 
 
 " The prominent features conveying expression of purpose in 
 dwelling-houses," Downing says, " are the chimneys, the win- 
 dows, and the porch, veranda, or piazza; and for this reason, 
 whenever it is desired to raise the character of a cottage or a 
 villa above mediocrity, attention should be first bestowed on 
 those portions of the building." Loudon says: "In every 
 human habitation the chimney-tops should be conspicuous ob- 
 jects, because they are its essential characteristics. They dis- 
 tinguish apartments destined for human beings from those de- 
 signed for lodging cattle." First, then, bmld fitting habitations 
 for yourself and family ; and, second, let this fitness he clearly 
 expjvessed in their external features. 
 
 3. Manifestation of Beauty. — A b.onse may be strictly 
 p.dapted to its uses and clearly exj)ress its purpose, and yet be a 
 
16 The House. 
 
 very unsatisfactory dwelling for a person of taste and culture, 
 and a perpetual blemish in the landscape. It may have com- 
 fortable rooms, well distributed in relation to each other and 
 their uses ; windows, doors, chimneys, etc., of the proper size 
 and in their proper places; and air, water, and warmth well 
 provided for, and yet make a very unsatisfactory impression. 
 The sentiment of beauty may find no expression in it. The 
 windows may be mere holes in the wall, closed by glazed sashes, 
 and the chimneys unsightly heaps of brick. This lack of all 
 Bentiment — this devotion to mere literal utility — is too frequent- 
 ly displayed in rural house-building in this country. It will 
 disappear as taste and culture advance, and the love of the 
 beautiful, inherent in every man and woman, is called out and 
 developed. Let the reader bear in mind, then, the fact, that 
 every house, however humble, should and may be character- 
 ized by these three qualities — 
 
 1. Adaptation to Use; 
 
 2. Expression of Purpose; and, 
 
 3. Manifestation of Beauty. 
 
 II.- CHOICE OF A SITE. 
 
 In selecting a site for a country house, many circumstances 
 should be taken into consideration. First among these, in 
 point of importance, is 
 
 1. Healthfulness. — No combination of advantages can com- 
 pensate the lack of a salubrious atmosphere. Such a defect, 
 unless its causes come clearly within the purchaser's control, 
 should be considered fetal. The vicinity of stagnant swamps 
 and marshes; the borders of sluggish streams; and all situa- 
 tions where the soil is too retentive of moisture and can not be 
 easily and thoroughly drained, should be carefully avoided. 
 A house in such a situation is no less uncomfortable than un 
 healthful, being continually damp and chilly. 
 
 Elevated grounds in the immediate vicinity of extensive 
 swamps and marshes, especially if in tlie direction of prevail 
 ing winds, are liable to be quite as much atfected by the mala- 
 
HOUSK-BUILDING. 17 
 
 rious air as the low grounds themselves, and should be shunned 
 for the same reason. 
 
 I^ext in importance to good air is pure water ; and one should 
 never adopt a site for a dwelling-house without having satisfied 
 himself that an abundant supply of this essential element can 
 be readily procured. The importance of this point, in its bear- 
 ings upon health and comfort, are sadly underrated by the great 
 majority of our people. It should be universally known that 
 many serious and dangerous diseases may be traced to the use 
 of impure water. In regions where the w^ater is universally 
 "hard" or limy, rain w-ater properly filtered should be used 
 for drinking and cooking, as well as for washing. 
 
 2. Convenience of Access. — In many cases nearness to one's 
 place of business, or to the railway station or steamboat land- 
 ing, has naturally considerable influence in determining the 
 choice of a lot. This circumstance should not, however, have 
 too much weight. An additional quarter of a mile added to 
 the tri-daily walk of a man of sedentary employments may bo 
 an advantage rather than otherwise ; and often a much better 
 site can be obtained for the same amount of money by fore- 
 going the slight advantages of a more central locality. 
 
 Where mere business motives may be left out of the account, 
 the tastes and habits of the family will have a controlling in- 
 fluence. One will seek the frequent*d street or highway, 
 while another will choose a quiet lane or an out-of-the-w^ay 
 nook. 
 
 It is not necessary, as many seem to suppose, that a farm-house 
 or the residence of a man of leisure should be close to the 
 highway. A sufficient distance from it to avoid the noise and 
 dust, and secure privacy and quiet, is far preferable ; but at 
 the same time, unless one desires to cut himself off from all in- 
 tercourse with the world, his house should be easy of access. 
 
 3. Suitableness of Ground. — The cost of building, digging 
 cellars and wells, etc., is greatJy influenced by the nature ot ihe 
 ground, which must, therefore, always enter into the account. 
 It sometimes costs more to prepare the grounds for building 
 
18 The House. 
 
 thaa to build the house. This is well enough when advant- 
 ages are secured which really warrant the outlay; but the cir- 
 cumstance should have its due weight in determining one'a 
 choice. 
 
 The adaptation of the surrounding soil to the purpose of cul- 
 ture and the growth of trees may be considered under the 
 same head. A good garden plot in the vicinity of the house is 
 very desirable, but we find little soil in this country that may 
 not easily be brought to the desired state of fertility, although 
 originally what is called poor. 
 
 4. Altitude. — A somewhat elevated site has many advant- 
 ages — beauty of prospect, salubrity and dryness of air, facilities 
 for drainage, etc. — but is generally comparatively difiicult of 
 access, and unless sheltered on the north and west by higher 
 grounds or by belts of trees, bleak and uncomfortable in win- 
 ter. Some valleys, however, are equally bleak, the wind sweep- 
 ing through them with a power unknown even on the hill-top. 
 Loudon says, that of all varieties of hilly surface, the most de- 
 sirable site is where a prominent knoll stands forward from a 
 lengthened ridge, and where the latter has a valley with a river 
 in front and higher hills rising one above another behind. . One 
 of the worst sites is the steep uniform side of a hill, closely sur- 
 rounded by other hills equally high and steep. 
 
 The style of building you propose to erect (if first decided 
 upon) must be considered with reference to this point. A 
 plain, lovr cottage very properly nestles in some quiet nook at 
 the base of a hill or ridge, while the more pretending orna- 
 mental villa may with equal propriety crown its summit. 
 
 5. Aspect. — The choice of an aspect should be determined 
 mainly by local and climatic considerations ; a free play for the 
 cooling breeze being essential in one place, and a shelter from 
 wintry winds exceedingly desirable in another. In all climates 
 we should, if possible, secure a barrier either of higher grounds 
 or thick belts of trees (evergreens are best) on the side of the 
 house looking in the direction from which violent storms most 
 frequently come. The north side of a high hill or ridge, where 
 
House-Building. 19 
 
 tlie direct rays of the sun would be excluded for a large portion 
 of the time, is entirely unfit for a building site, sunlight being 
 everywhere essential to health and comfort. In a northern 
 climate, a southern or southeastern exposure with sheltering 
 hills on the north is generally preferred. 
 
 In reference to the main points from which it is seen, and 
 the avenues by which it is approached, a house should be so 
 placed, if practicable, as to present an agreeable appearance, 
 being neither too closely screened nor too much exposed. 
 
 6. Trees^ etc. — A grove or belt of well-grown forest trees, to 
 serve as a shelter and a basis for future operations in planting, 
 adds greatly to the value of a site ; indeed, so important do we 
 consider this point, that we should make it an essential one in 
 our own case. But such situations are not always readily 
 found, and some would, doubtless, prefer to plant their own 
 trees, even when they can not hope to live long enough to see 
 them in their fully developed beauty. 
 
 There are many other objects which it is desirable to in 
 elude in one's grounds, when practicable, without sacrificing 
 other and more important considerations, such as a clear run- 
 ning stream, a sheet of water in repose, a picturesque ledge of 
 rock, a shaded, naiad-haunted ravine, etc. ; but these are not 
 generally included in a village lot, and do not come within the 
 reach of aU. Let each secure whatever of beauty and comfort 
 he can in his house and its surroundings, and " learn therewith 
 to be content." 
 
 III.-ADOPTION OF A PLAN. 
 
 No man should commence the erection of even the sTuallest 
 cottage without having previously adopted a well digested and 
 fully matured plan. It is not enough that he may have a gener- 
 al idea of the form and size of the building he purposes to erect. 
 All the details of its internal arrangement — the size and sit- 
 ^ation of the various rooms, halls, closets, pantry, etc., and the 
 exact place of stairs, chimneys, doors, and windows, should all be 
 determined before the first stake is driven to mark its outlines 
 
20 The Housk. 
 
 npon the groimd If this course be not adopted, serious and 
 expensive mistakes are almost sure to be made, and money 
 wasted in needless alherations. If you do not know what you 
 want, you are not prepared to build, and should wait till your 
 necessities and tastes have assumed definite forms. "While your 
 house is yet only a paper cottage or viUa it may easily be 
 changed to meet your changing whims; but when your thought 
 has once shaped itself in brick and mortar, it has become a 
 matter of enduring record. See to it that it be such a record 
 as you are willing should be read by posterity. 
 
 Adopt no plan hastily, whether conceived by yourself or of- 
 fered by another. It should be carefully studied, examined in 
 every light, looked at from every point of view. There are 
 many things to be taken into considei-ation. 
 
 1. In the first place, your house must be adapted to the site 
 you have chosen. A plan may be admirable in itself, and yet 
 unsuited to a particular spot. It must be looked at, then, in ref- 
 erence to the ground it is to occupy ; or if the plan be adopted 
 first, the site must be selected in accordance with it. Not 
 merely the style and general character of a house are influenced 
 by the contour and aspect of the features of the landscape 
 around, but its outlines upon the ground, its arrangement in 
 masses, is equally subject to the great law of fitness.* 
 
 2. If one's pecuniary resources are limited, the amount of 
 money which he can appropriate to building will greatly in- 
 fluence the character of his plan. Reception-rooms, drawing- 
 rooms, libraries, boudoirs, and so on, are certainly desirable; 
 but if yon have but seven or eight hundred dollars to expend 
 in building, it would be folly to put them all into your plan. 
 You must be content with a small number of rooms, making, 
 if necessary, several of them serve two or three distinct uses. 
 
 Consider first what accommodations are absolutely essential 
 to your comfort, and then what appliances of convenience or 
 luxury you can add. Do not jjlan too largely. Depend upon 
 
 * Gervase Wheeler. 
 
House-Building. 21 
 
 it, you will enjoy a much larger sum of happiness in a small 
 house wholly paid for, than in a large one which has involved 
 you in debt. 
 
 8. Having decided what sort of a house is best adapted to 
 your site, and what amount of aocommodations the sum you 
 purpose to appropriate will secure, consider next how you can 
 make that amount of accommodation best subserve the particular 
 wants and tastes of yourself and family. No two households 
 are exactly alike in their domestic habits, and a house wiiich 
 your neighbor Brown finds "just the thing," would require 
 considerable modification probably to adapt it to your purpose ; 
 so in making a plan, or in studying those which we offer in this 
 work, with a view to the adoption of one of them, keep the 
 requirements of your particular household constantly in view, 
 and adopt, modify, or reject accordingly, remembering that the 
 first grand requirement of every dwelling-house is fitness or 
 adaptation to its uses. 
 
 The fact that individual wants and tastes are infinitely va- 
 ried, renders it impossible for us to give either directions or 
 plans that w^ill exactly suit individual cases ; but Ave will here 
 briefly advert to some general principles which should govern 
 in the development or choice of a plan. 
 
 1. General Form. — The largest space in proportion to the 
 extent of the wall may be included in the circular form, but, 
 although round houses have been built, as we shal] show fur- 
 ther on, this shape is not a desirable one. The octagon ap- 
 proaches the circle in shape and in economy of outside wall. 
 This form is, in our view, open to serious objections, but to 
 give our readers an opportunity to judge for themselves in ref- 
 erence to its ad>"'antages and disadvantages, we give plans of 
 octagon houses in another chapter. 
 
 O. S. Fowler, in his " Home for All," has advocated this form 
 with an earnestness w^hich could only come from thorough 
 conviction of its superiority over all others. To that work we 
 
22 The House. 
 
 raust refer those who may desire to see what can be said in its 
 favor. 
 
 Of the common forms adopted in house-building, the square 
 is the most economical in point of outside wall, and allows the 
 most compact arrangement of rooms. Many prefer it to all 
 others. A square house can not easily be made picturesque, 
 but need not be, as such houses too often are, a mere character- 
 less box. The advantages of the winged form, in its various 
 modifications, are a more perfect adaptation to the high-pitched 
 roof, greater picturesqueness, and more varied aspects. One 
 part can also often be so projected as to shelter another and 
 more important one from prevailing winds and storms. 
 
 2. Aspect. — With regard to the aspect of a dwelling-house, 
 and the disposition of its various rooms in reference to the 
 points of compass, the principal objects to be kept in view are: 
 1. Shelter from prevailing winds and storms ; 2. Enjoyment of 
 particular views afforded by the situation ; 3. Exposure to or 
 protection from the sun. In cold and temperate climates a 
 southern or southwestern exposure is most desirable for the 
 principal rooms. In the Northern and Middle States generally, 
 a northeastern aspect is, if possible, to be avoided, our most 
 disagreeable storms coming from that quarter. In hot climates, 
 a northern exposure is sometimes chosen on account of its 
 coolness. 
 
 3. Arrangement of Eooms. — But other considerations be- 
 sides those mentioned in the preceding section should of course 
 have an influence in deciding the disposition of the various 
 apartments of a dwelling. The convenience of the house as a 
 whole must not be sacrificed to promote the comfort of a single 
 apartment. The end to be secured is the most perfect adapt- 
 ation possible of the entire structure to the purpose for which 
 it is erected. This purpose, in its details, being almost infinitely 
 varied, of course the arrangement of rooms, in common with 
 the architectural features, mode of construction, etc., will vary 
 accordingly, no two families requiring precisely the same ac- 
 commodations. We can only ofler a f3w hints for general appli* 
 
House-Building. 23 
 
 cation. Our ideas on this point, togetlier with those of other 
 persons, will be found elaborated in the plans presented in 
 other chapters. 
 
 Having utility constantly in view, labor-saving must be 
 made a prominent idea in our arrangement of rooms. This is 
 necessary in the habitations of the rich as well as of the poor. 
 The difficulty of getting good servants, and the cares and vex- 
 ations attending the employment of bad or indifferent ones, ren 
 Jer it desirable for even the wealthy to employ as few of them 
 is possible. To promote the saving of labor, and convenience 
 in performing the domestic labors of a household, we should 
 study compactness, avoiding, so far as other important consider- 
 ations will permit, extended wings and long passages. The 
 rooms, too, most closely related in their uses should be brought 
 near each other ; the dining-room, for instance, being so placed 
 as to afford easy ingress and egress from the kitchen, while at 
 the same time it is desirable that the one should not open di- 
 rectly into the other. To the same end, a pantry, sink-room, 
 closets, etc., should be provided for in connection with the 
 dining-room and kitchen. When there is a basement, some 
 will prefer to place the kitchen and its offices in that, and the 
 dining-room on the principal floor. This is a more elegant but 
 a less convenient arrangement than having them on the same 
 floor. A dumb waiter, however, will obviate, in part at least, 
 the objections to this plan. The entrance hall should generally 
 be central in position, and if possible furnish access to every 
 room on the first floor. In some plans, however, in order to 
 economize space, it is advisable to deviate from this rule. It 
 should open toward the south, east, or west, if possible, and not 
 toward the north. 
 
 When it is practicable, there should be at least one room on 
 the first floor provided with the means of warmth and venti- 
 lation, which can be used as a sleeping-room in case of sick- 
 ness or other need. 
 
 The duties of hospitality should not be neglected, and pro- 
 vision must be made, in every plan which will admit it. for 
 
24 The House. 
 
 spare chambers, a parlor, etc.; we do not, however, or at 
 least we should not, build our houses for our guests, but for 
 ourselves and families, and we protest against the sacrifice of 
 family convenience and home-comfort, often made, for the pur- 
 pose of entertaining occasional visitors more elegantly. Would 
 it not be well for our very utilitarian people to consider 
 whether it really " pays" to provide an elegant and comfortable 
 parlor — ^perhaps the only handsome room in the house — to be 
 used, as is the case in many country dwellings, scarcely a 
 dozen times in a year ? Take our advice, and if you have a 
 peculiarly handsome, agreeable, and comfortable room in your 
 house, whether it be called parlor, saloon, or drawing-room, 
 furnish and adorn it in the best n)anner your means will per- 
 mit, and then use it — avail yourself of its benefits by throwing 
 it open for daily family occupancy ; and when guests arrive, 
 welcome them also to all its advantages. They will feel much 
 more at home there than in a room which has been opened on 
 their arrival for the first time in a month or two. 
 
 Sleeping apartments should be of good size, well-lighted, and 
 well-ventilated, and each should have separate means of access 
 to a hall, corridor, or passage. Their distribution will gener- 
 ally be suggested by that of the rooms below. 
 
 Every house should have a bath-room. In assigning it its 
 place, reference should be had to ease of access, facility of con- 
 veying water, and security against damage from any accidental 
 leakage. A water-closet, either in connection with the bath- 
 ing-room or in some other convenient situation, is very desir- 
 able, and should be provided for wherever the pecuniary means 
 at the command of the builder will permit. 
 
 4. Miscellaneous Hints. — A pantry convenient to the din- 
 ing-room, and if practicable opening from it, should be provided 
 for in every house. A sink-room and closets must be thought 
 of in the same connection. Every sleeping room should also 
 have a closet if practicable ; but we would not sacrifice the pro- 
 portion and beauty of a room by cutting off closets where they 
 can not conveniently be made without violence to the design. 
 
House-Building. 26 
 
 The situation of the chimneys should be made the subject of 
 careful consideration. They give most warmth when placed 
 In the inner walls, but in some styles of building are more 
 picturesque on the exterior. 
 
 Stairs should generally be central in position, broad, and not 
 too high. A back door should be provided, both for conveni- 
 ence and for the purpose of ventilation, of which more anon. 
 Windows on opposite sides of a room are generally to b< 
 avoided, on account of their unpleasant " cross lights." 
 
 IV.- STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 The domestic architecture of a people should be the natural 
 outgrowth of its character, institutions, customs, and habits, 
 modified by the climate and scenery in the midst of which it is 
 built up. In this way originated the English cottage, the 
 Swiss chalet^ and the Italian villa. Having in this country 
 institutions differing from those of any other, together with 
 many peculiarities of character, habits, and climate, we can 
 not consistently adopt in full the architecture of any other 
 people or country. We should have a style, or perhaps sev- 
 eral styles, peculiar to ourselves ; and no doubt we shall have 
 them in due time. Thus far we have been content to build 
 in every style, ancient and modern, and, most of all, in no 
 style ; covering the whole face of the country with incon- 
 gruous and unsightly structures. There are various causes for 
 this state of things, the principal of which are the necessary 
 devotion of our people to the rough work of subduing a new 
 country ; the consequent lai'k of thought and culture in the 
 right direction ; and the want of true home-feeling, growing 
 out of our migratory habits. These causes are becoming yea* 
 by year less operative, and our domestic architecture is improv- 
 ing in the same ratio — exceptions to the general ugliness of our 
 buildings growing more and more numerous as leisure, culture, 
 and love of home and home-life increase among us. This im- 
 provement will go on ; the modifications which our climates and 
 modes of life suggest in existing styles will assume definite, and 
 
 2 
 
^6 i II E H O U S E . 
 
 artistic, and j ermanent shape, and the new American style or 
 styles will receive their birth. In the mean time, we must 
 borrow and modify as best we may. 
 
 The various modes of building now in use, so far as they are 
 susceptible of classification, may be referred to two original 
 styles of whicji they are modifications — the Grecian, in which 
 horizontal lines prevail, and the Gothic, in which vertical lines 
 prevail, ^o the former class belongs the Italian, the Swiss, the 
 Flemish, and other continental European modes, in their various 
 modifications ; and to the latter the old English styles of various 
 periods, as A\ell as the modern rural Gothic mode. 
 
 In adopting any mode for imitation, our preference should be 
 guided not only by the intrinsic beauty which we see in a 
 particular style, but by its appropriateness to our uses. This 
 will generally be indicated by the climate, the site, and the 
 wants of the family which is to inhabit the house. In high 
 northtn-n latitudes, where colonnades and verandas would be 
 unsuitable, the Grecian or Italian styles should not be chosen ; 
 and in a tropical one, the warm, solid, comfortable features of 
 the old English architecture would be neither necessary nor ap- 
 propriate.* 
 
 1. Taking the climate alone into consideration, a Southern 
 should ditfer in many respects from a Northern house. The 
 broad halls, airy rooms, cool ombras, and spacious verandas or 
 arcades and balconies, required by the former, seem to indicate 
 a modification of the Italian style ; while the compact arrange- 
 ment of apartments, the provisions for fireside comfort, and the 
 protection against heavy snows which must be insisted upon 
 in the latter, point to the various forms of the Gothic rural 
 
 tyle. In the middle region of our country, either style may 
 appropriately be adopted, as other conditions may require. 
 
 2. The next consideration is fitness to the site we have 
 chosen, or harmony with the scenery around. "Eural archi- 
 tecture,'' it has been truly said, " is rhe creation of a picture 
 
 * Downing. 
 
Housp:-Buildin(*. 27 
 
 of which the landscape is the background/' We must design 
 the principal object in the picture to correspond with its ac- 
 cessories. "The ultimate test of rural architecture and its 
 kindred art, landscape gardening, is landscape painting. Does 
 a literal view of a building and its environs from a well-chosen 
 point, or from several points of view, make a good picture? 
 Does it, as artists say, compose well ? Does it seem of a piece, 
 as if the building might have grown out of the ground ? Then, 
 but not otherwise, the design is good."* 
 
 The principle here laid down is \iolated by erecting a Swiss 
 chnUt in alow, flat country; a small, plain, unpretending cottage 
 on an elevated and commanding situation ; or an Italian villa 
 with a lookout tower in a secluded valley. It should also be 
 understood that rustic features look well only in the midst of 
 rural simplicity, and that architectural elegance should be re- 
 served for cultivated scenes. Again, where tlie features of the 
 landscape are wild and grand, irregularity and picturesqueness 
 in the forms of buildings may appropriately be introduced. 
 A cottage which would seem fitting and beautiful on a village 
 street would be incongruous with its situation and appear evi- 
 dently misplaced on a rough hillside, in the midst of the wild- 
 ness of nature. 
 
 3. The plan of a house, as we have already said, should be 
 made with reference to its site. The style and character of the 
 elevation are influenced in some measure by the plan. Some 
 plans, however, are adapted to various styles of elevation, 
 while others are well suited to only one. The size determined 
 upon will also modify the character of a house, and must al- 
 ways be taken into the account. 
 
 4. The materials to be used in construction will also neces- 
 sarily influence one in the choice of a style ; for although a 
 given design may perhaps be executed in either wood, brick, or 
 stone, it will not be eijually adapted to each. Variety of form 
 and profusion of ornament are attained in stone and brick only 
 
 * Gervase Wheeler. 
 
28 The House. 
 
 at great expense. Rural cottages of these materials should 
 therefore generally be simple in form, and depend for their 
 sftect upon proportion, symmetry, and what artists call 'breadth^ 
 rather than upon variety and picturesqueness of outline and 
 high finish. In wood, greater variety of form and more elabo- 
 rate embellishment may be secured at a given expense ; indeed, 
 so great is the facility of producing architectural ornaments in 
 this material, that they are too often applied unmeaningly, use- 
 lessly, and to a most absurd extent. 
 
 5. One hint more on this head for the especial benefit of 
 those who have spent most of their lives in cities. Do no* 
 carry your cockneyism into the country. Leave your town 
 house where it is. It is, no doubt, a very good t(.<\vn house; 
 but nothing can be more absurd than to attempt to reproduce 
 it in the midst of orchards and cornfields. Downing speaks of 
 a suburban villa which he saw on Long Island in the shape of 
 "a narrow, unmistakable 'six story brick,' which seemed in 
 its forlornness and utter want of harmony with all about it, as 
 if it had strayed out of town in a fit of insanity and had lost 
 the power of getting back again." " A word to the wise," etc. 
 
 V.^MATEEIALS. 
 
 1. ^Yood. — No other material is so extensively employed 
 in rural architecture, in this country, as wood. This arises 
 mainly from its abundance and cheapness ; but an additional 
 reason for its use may be found in its suitableness for the 
 kind of buildings mostly wanted, and its truthful expression of 
 the unstable and migratory character of our people. Tempo- 
 rary shelters, rather than permanent homes, have been in 
 demand. Young men expecting soon to be able to build villas 
 or mansions, have not cared to erect cottages of stone or 
 brick, to be pulled down or sold in the course of a few years. 
 Wood is just the thing required. And when the time arrives 
 for building the villa or the mansion (for these castles in the 
 air, in many cases, ultimately assume a tangible shape on tho 
 solid ground), the projector is perhaps no longer young 
 
IIoUSE-BriLDING. .29 
 
 Wood will still serve his purpose. Why should he seek a 
 more enduring material? He Avill need the building but a 
 few years ; and his sons, perhaps, have all '' gone West" — at 
 any rate, they will sell the paternal mansion so soon as it shall 
 come into their possession and build for themselves. It has 
 for them none of the sacred associations of home. It is haunt- 
 ed by no memories of their childhood. It is only their father's 
 grand new house ! 
 
 So it has been in the past, and so, to a large extent, will it 
 continue to be for a long time to come ; but there is a tend- 
 ency, as we have before hinted, toward a better state of things. 
 In the older parts of the country, at least, families are acquir- 
 ing local permanency, and a love of home and all that pertains 
 to home-life and home-scenes is beginning to be fostered. 
 These circumstances and sentiments will gradually find ex- 
 pression in a more solid and enduring style of domestic archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 But w^hile wood is abundant and comparatively cheap, it 
 will necessarily continue to be employed by those who must 
 build cheaply or not at ah. Eent-paying is dista?teful to our 
 people, who choose rather to live in houses of low cost owned 
 by themselves, than to go and come at the beck of a landlord. 
 They are right ; and while we would gladly see them give place 
 to better and more permanent ones, we are proud of the flimsy, 
 unsubstantial structures, so sneered at by foreigners, which 
 dot the whole face of the country. They are the homes of the 
 people, who will by-and-by build and own better ones. 
 
 For all wooden cottages. Downing recommends vertical 
 boardin^jcith inch or inch and a quarter pine, tongued and 
 grooved at the edges, nailed on, and covered with neat bat- 
 tens. We think, however, that filled-in walls are to be ])re 
 ferred. These are made by filling-in a course of an}' cheap 
 bricks f-om bottom to top of the whole frame. This will make 
 a wall four inches thick between the weather-boarding and the 
 lath and plastering of the rooms. The cheapest mortar, made 
 with a small proportion of lime, is used for this filling-in ; somo 
 
30 The House. 
 
 place the bricks on edge and build them flush with the insid« 
 of the timbers or studs (or, rather, projecting a quarter of an 
 inch forward). This leaves a hollow space between the weather- 
 boarding and the brick wall, and renders lathing unnecessary, 
 the plaster being applied directly on the inner face of the fill- 
 ing-in. 
 
 2. Stone. — Where permanence is required, and the style of 
 architecture adopted will admit it, stone is undoubtedly th< 
 best of all materials for building. In some parts of the country 
 hoAvever, it can not be procured ; and even when it is abund- 
 ant, the expense of quarrying, shaping, and laying it up, gener- 
 ally renders the first cost of a stone house much greater than 
 that of a wooden one. But where the cost of preparing the 
 stone is small, it may often be advantageously used in building 
 houses of moderate cost. 
 
 The inner face of the walls of stone houses should always be 
 "furred oflf," leaving a space of two or more inches between 
 the solid wall and the plaster. The stratum of air thus inter- 
 posed will effectually prevent dampness, and render the wall 
 cooler in summer and warmer in winter than it could other- 
 wise be made.* 
 
 In damp situations it is also necessary to build the foundation 
 walls of hydraulic lime mortar, to cut off the access of moist- 
 ure from the ground. TVith those precautions, houses built of 
 stone will be as free from dampness as any other. 
 
 3. Brick. — Brick, when made of good clay, rightly tempered 
 with sand, and well burned, makes an excellent material for 
 building, either in city, village, or country. It is suitable for 
 designs in which stone can not, without great expense, be 
 wrought into the required forms. 
 
 Hollow walls are best for brick houses, their advantages 
 being: 1, A considerable saving of materials ; 2. The preven- 
 tion of dampness; 3. The saving of all the cost of lathing and 
 Btudding for the interior walls ; 4. The great security afforded 
 
 • For an excellent method of building with unhewn st*)ne, sue Appendix (A). 
 
House-Building. 31 
 
 against fire ; 5. The opportunity they afford for thorougli and 
 easily controlled ventilation.* When not built hollow, brick 
 walls should be ' furred off" in the same way as those of stoiie. 
 
 When timber and stone are both scarce, as on the prairies 
 of the West, cottages and farm-houses are frequently built of 
 unburnt brick. In our Appendix will be found can account of 
 their construction, condensed fi'om a Report on the subject 
 made by Mr. Ellsworth while Commissioner of Patents. He 
 bears the strongest testimony to their cheapness, warmth, and 
 durability.f 
 
 4. Concrete. — Much attention has been directed of late to 
 walls of concrete for country houses. These walls are said to 
 combine in a high degree durability, cheapness, warmth, an^ 
 dryness. They are composed of lime, sand, gravel, and frag- 
 ments of stone. A considerable number of houses have been 
 built of this material within the last few years, with varying and 
 seemingly contradictory results. In some cases perfect success 
 seems to have been attained, the walls assuming and retaining 
 a stone-like consistency and promising great durability,- while 
 in others expensive failures have been the result, the structure? 
 crumbling to powder within two ye^irs. 
 
 Our own opinion, formed after a thorough examination of 
 the subject, is, that where all the requisite materials abound, 
 walls of concrete may be put up far more cheaply than those 
 of stone or brick, and that a durability nearly equal to that of 
 marble may be universally secured by a strict compliance with 
 the following conditions: 
 
 1. The various materials entering into the composition oi 
 the concrete must be well selected and rightly compounded- 
 the lime being of a good quality, the sand clean and sharp, and 
 the gravel well screened, and each of these ingredients, as well 
 as the rock fragments, being used in the proper proportion. 
 
 2. The walls must be built at the proper season of the year, 
 to insure their perfect hardening before being affected by frost. 
 
 ♦ See Appendix CBi t See Appemlix (C^ 
 
32 The House. 
 
 3. The building must be covered by a projecting roof, to 
 protect the walls against vertical rains. 
 
 We havo yet to learn that a failure has ever occurred where 
 all these conditions have been strictly adhered to. 
 
 We give in the Appendix some account of the mode o^ 
 building concrete walls, and further information may be found 
 in 0. S. Fowler's " Home for All." Our principal objection 
 to this mode of building lies in the necessity which exists for 
 external plastering or stuccoing, and the consequent blank and 
 monotonous appearance of the walls. With many persons, 
 however, this objection will have little weight. It may be ob- 
 viated by the common sham of marking off the surface in imi- 
 tation of courses of stone, an untruthful practice which we 
 can not recommend. 
 
 VI.— MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS. 
 
 1. Cellars, — Cellars under dwelling houses are generally 
 deemed indispensable. They are certainly very useful ; but 
 there is an evil of such magnitude connected witL them, that 
 some have advocated their entire abolition. They are almost 
 universally manufactories and reservoirs of foul air, which, find- 
 ing its way upward by means of doors, windows, stairways, 
 and crevices in the floors, diffuses its noxious elements through 
 the rooms above, and becomes a fruitful source of disease. 
 It is not necessary that they should be half filled with rotting 
 garbage to produce this result. The surface of the earth ia 
 filled with decomposable substances, and whenever air is con- 
 fined in any spot in contact with the ground, or any change- 
 able organic matter, it becomes saturated with various exhala- 
 tions which are detrimental to health.* Means must be pro 
 vided, therefore, for their thorough ventilation, or cellars must 
 be abandoned altogether.! 
 *A cellar, to fully serve its purposes, should be cool in sum- 
 
 Professor Youmaus. t See Appendix (DX 
 
House-Building 
 
 33 
 
 mer, impervious to frost in winter, and dry at all times. The 
 walls should rise one or two feet at least above the level of 
 the surrounding ground, and should be laid in good lime mor- 
 tar, or at least pointed with it. The thickness of the wall 
 should not be less than from fifteen to eighteen inches ; and if 
 the house walls above be built of brick or stone, two feet is 
 better. The cellar should have a drain from the lowest cor- 
 ner, w^hich should be always kept open ; and each room in it 
 should have at least two sliding sash windows, to secure a cir- 
 culation of air. In very cold climates, those portions of the 
 walls above the surface of the ground should be double, either 
 by means of a distinct thin wall on the outside or by lathing 
 and plastering on the inside, and be furnished with double 
 windows as a further security against frost. An outside door 
 with a flight of steps is desirable in every cellar, and in one 
 connected with a farm-house indispensable. 
 
 2. CMmneys. — The construction of an effective chimney 
 would seem to be a very simple and easy matter ; and so it is, 
 provided the philosophical principles involved be first under- 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 t^ 
 
 stood, as they should be by ev- 
 ery builder. 
 
 The main point to be attend- 
 ed to in order to cause a chim- 
 ney to draw well, is to con- 
 tract the openings both at the 
 throat and at the top, so a- 
 to break the force of any down- 
 ward currents of air which 
 may be thrown into it. Fig. 
 2 will serve to illustrate th(' 
 faulty construction of the throat, 
 and fig. 3 the correct construc- 
 tion. 
 
 In very wMndy or exposed 
 situations the top of the chimney should be contracted to a 
 third less than th^ area of the flue ; but in ordinary cases a 
 2^ 
 
 Faulty 
 
 CoaSTKCCTlON. 
 
 Correct 
 CosraucTiuN. 
 
34 The House. 
 
 diminution of about two inches in the diameter will be suf 
 ficient. 
 
 3. Wai'mlng, — The original plan for warming houses was to 
 build a fire in the center of the principal room, the smoke 
 being allowed to find its way out either at a hole in the roof or 
 through any accidental crevices which might exist. With the 
 invention of the chimney came the fire-place, ah opening in the 
 side of its base. This opening formed, at first, an immense re 
 cess with square side-walls or jambs, and, in addition to the fire, 
 furnished accommodations for several persons, who were pro- 
 vided with seats within its area. The tendency of modern 
 improvement has been to gradually contract this opening, 
 until it seems in a fair way to be abolished altogether ; but 
 this last step should not be taken till something more suitable 
 than has yet been produced shall have been provided to take 
 its place. 
 
 The principal methods of warming now in use in this coun- 
 try are: 1. By open fire-places; 2. By open grates; 3. By 
 stoves ; 4. By hot-a".r furnaces ; 5. By steam and hot-water 
 apparatuses. 
 
 1. The open fire-place furnishes the pleasantest and most 
 healthful mode of warming a room ; but in a pecuniary point 
 of view it is not economical. A very large portion of the heat 
 generated is carried up the chimney and lost. By so construct- 
 ing the fire-place that it may supply a current of heated air to 
 the room, which may easily be done in various ways, this ob- 
 jection is partially obviated. 
 
 Any attempt to bring the fire-place again into general use, 
 even in the country, would probably be vain ; but we can not 
 refrain from expressing most emphatically our opinion, that 
 in places where fuel is still cheap, the substitution of stoves 
 has been a most unwise and short-sighted piece of false econ- 
 omy. Shall we give up the cheerful and healthful glow of the 
 blazing fire, and submit to the stifling heat and gloomy ap 
 pearance of the deadly "air-tight," for the mere purpose of 
 saving a few dollars, at the expense of an untold amount o.^ 
 
Housebuilding. 85 
 
 .lealth and comfort? We must at least put on record here out 
 earnest protest against it. 
 
 2. Next to the open fire-place, in point of health and com- 
 fort, comes the open chimney grate. Similar to this, and 
 more economical, is the stove grate or open stove. This, when 
 properly constructed with an air-chamber within it connected 
 with the open air by a pipe and with several openings near the 
 top to admit the wanned air into the room, furnishes a very 
 pleasant means of warming an apartment. 
 
 3. Our opinion of stoves has already been hinted at. If it 
 onflicts with the generally received ideas on the subject, we 
 
 can not help it. With the exception of the open stove or stove 
 grate already mentioned, we are constrained to pronounce them 
 unmitigated nuisances, entirely unworthy of acccfptance in an 
 enlightened age and by an enlightened people. They have 
 not a single advantage, so far as we can perceive, to recommepd 
 them — not even that of economy, for where they subtract one 
 dollar from the fuel account, they add two to the doctor's bill. 
 
 We believe that their almost universal introduction has had 
 more to do than any other single cause with the acknowledged 
 deterioration which has taken place within t-he last half century 
 in the health and vital stamina of our people. It is Dickens, 
 we believe, who calls the stove the "household demon." 
 Would to God Ave had the power to exorcise it ! 
 
 4. Hot-air furnaces, steam apparatus, etc., are little used in 
 warming small country houses; and it is hardly desirable that 
 they should be more extensively introduced ; for their advant- 
 ages, as they are generally managed, are fully counterbalanced 
 by their disadvantages. 
 
 In buildino:, attention should be directed to making the walls 
 of a dwelling-house poor conductors of heat. Of the means 
 of doing this we have already spoken. For the same reason 
 double windows should be introduced wherever the winters 
 are very severe. Ordinary windows, no matter how tight 
 they may be, are great absti-actors of heat — or, rather, they 
 furnish a medium through which the cold air without abstract* 
 
36 The Hocjse. 
 
 the heat from the warm air withiu. Double windows, by cod 
 fining a stratum of air (a non-conductor of heat) between them, 
 entirely prevents this loss. Doubling the glass in the samq 
 sash answers the purpose equally well. 
 
 5. Ventilation. — We can not here go into an exposition of 
 the relations of atmospheric air to the animal economy, or show 
 how its various constituents affect the syst<^ra. We must take 
 it for granted that the reader understands and fully appreciates 
 the fact, that pure air is quite as essential to the health of the 
 body and the right performance of its functions as wholesome 
 food, and that therefore a copious and constant supply of it in 
 our dwellings is of the utmost importance. But this, we fear, 
 is assuming too much. If it be generally known that the at- 
 mospheric air in its purity, and that alone, is fitted for the res- 
 piration of human beings, how does it happen that the great 
 mass of our people are content to breathe, during a large por- 
 tion of their lives, a vile compound of noxious gases instead? 
 In a'majority of our houses, even of the better sort, the little 
 ventilation which takes place is purely incidental, no direct 
 provision whatever being made for it. What is the result? 
 During the warmest weather of summer, open doors and 
 windows generally secure adequate circulation and consequent 
 purity of air. In the winter, and a portion of the time in the 
 summer, the case is quite diflerent. The windows and doors 
 are carefully closed and a fire kindled in the stove or grate, 
 around which we gather. Now commences the transformation 
 of the life-giving element, with which the room was originally 
 filled, into a subtile but active and powerful agent of disease and 
 death. The air, chemists tell us, is mainly C(miposed of nitro- 
 gen and oxygen, of which the latter is the active, life-giving 
 principle, and the former the neutral or diluting principle. 
 Now each person takes into his lungs more than two hogsheads 
 per hour of this vital fluid — that is, provided it can be had— 
 retains most of the oxygen, and throws out in place of it nearly 
 an equal bulk of carbonic acid gas — a deadly poison. The 
 combustion of fuel in the ?tove or grate, and of the substance* 
 
House-Building. 37 
 
 used in lighting the room in the evening, acts upon the air in 
 nearly the same manner as breathing — consuming its oxygen 
 and supplying its place with carbonic acid. Other gaseous 
 impurities, among which is carbonic oxyd, a much more 
 deadly poison than carbonic acid even, are thrown out by our 
 stoves, and particularly by those called "air tight," to add to 
 the general mass of impurity which we compel ourselves to 
 breathe. What must soon become the state of the atmo- 
 sphere in a closed room under these circumstances? Does it 
 startle you to think of it ? Well it may ! Depend upon it, if 
 you could see the mass of vitiated and poisoned air in thf 
 midst of which you are livir.g —if it should for a moment be- 
 come visible in the form of a sickly, yellow mist or a cloud of 
 lurid, deadly red, and you were really aware of all its noxious 
 properties — you would flee from your stove-heated and unven- 
 tilated rooms as from a city swept by a pestilence. What 
 wonder we have headaches and bad digestion ; that the cheek 
 of beauty grows pale among us and the eye of youth dim and 
 sunken; that the vital powers are gradually undermined; and 
 that scrofula, dyspepsia, and consumption are so common and 
 so fatal. But have we not said enough ? There is a remedy — 
 
 . [^^ Ventilation, cr^l 
 
 and if you forget everything else in this little book — if you 
 heed our advice on no other point — remember this injunction : 
 Nexer build a Jio^ise, or live in one already hnilt, without pro- 
 viding adequate means for the thorough ventilation of every 
 room in it. 
 
 Ventilation embraces two distinct processes — the removal 
 of the foul air and the introdnction of pure air ; and to be sat- 
 isfactory, both must be carried on without producing injurious 
 or offensive currents. 
 
 The simplest provision for the escape of bad air is an open- 
 ing in the chimney near the ceiling, properly provided with a 
 valve or register. This mode of ventilation is simple, easily 
 introduced even into houses already built, and thoroughh 
 
38 'The Hotjse. 
 
 effective., at least while fires are kept up, as thej usually are 
 during the winter, when ventilation is most required. An 
 
 Fig- 4.^ Arnot valve is better than a register 
 
 for insertion in a chimney opening, 
 since it effectually prevents the es- 
 cape of smoke into the room. This 
 valve is a very simple box of cast 
 ililll i..,,. . , ... . ..J ^^**^^' ^'\^X^ an iron valve so contrived 
 
 I P''^'^^~ ^-^ -y that it will remain open while there 
 
 Arnot's Valve. is the least pressure of foul air from 
 
 within, but close at once against any current in the opposite 
 direction. It is easily built into the chimney, or can be inserted 
 afterward by merely taking out two or three bricks. 
 
 But carbonic acid gas is heavier than common air, and al- 
 though carried upward by the ascending currents and partially 
 drawn off by the opening near the ceiling, a portion of it de- 
 scends and forms a stratum in the lower part of the room. 
 The current kept up by the combustion going on in an open 
 fire-place or a grate helps to draw this off'; but it is essential 
 to perfect ventilation that an opening near the floor be provided 
 for the special purpose of carrying it away. A square piece 
 of wire gauze inserted in the lower part of the fire-board, with 
 a curtain of oiled silk behind it, to serve as a valve, will an- 
 swer this purpose tolerably well, where the chimney current 
 is sufficiently strong. Apertures connected with downward 
 conducting flues, however, are generally more serviceable. 
 
 Means being providetl for tlie escape of the impure air, a 
 partial supply of fresh air from outside finds its way into our 
 rooms through accidental fissures and occasionally opened 
 doors ; but it is irregular and inadequate. More may be intro 
 duced by lowering tlie upper sash of a window, but this creates 
 an unpleasant and dangerous curi-ent of cold air, and is there- 
 fore unsatisfactory. An improvement upon this plan is to re- 
 place one of the upper panes of glass in the window farthest 
 from the fire by a perft)rated plate of zinc or a louvre made 
 of tin, zinc, or glass, with horizontal openings or slats like a 
 
H O U S E - B U I L D I N G , 
 
 39 
 
 Venetian blind. A contrivance of this nature is far better than 
 no provision at all for the admission of pure air, and should 
 always be resorted to when no better arrangement may bo 
 uracticable. But the best w\ay to introduce fresh air is 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 through air-chambers connected with the fire- 
 place or grate, so that it may be warmed be- 
 fore being thrown into the room. An arrany-e 
 
 '',)]/','/,'!> 
 
 ment of this kind, connected 
 with an open fire-place or 
 grate, is represented by figs. 5 
 and 6. The fresh air enters 
 from the outside at a. Fig. 5 
 is slightly warmed in the air- 
 chamber at the back or side 
 of the fire-place, 5, and passes 
 into the room by a side open- 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 WjC ing, as shown at a, fig. 6. The 
 
 ^ 
 
 f^ valve for the escape of the 
 
 Chimney Section, bad air is represented by &, Chimney Openings. 
 fig. 6. It is better, however, that the opening for the admission 
 of fresh air and the valve for the escape of impure air should 
 be on opposite sides of the chimney-breast.* 
 
 But a perfect system of ventilation, effective at all seasons 
 and operating in all the apartments of the house, whether 
 furnished with fire-places or not, requires a series of venti- 
 lating flues (the openings in which must be provided with 
 the necessary valves), all leading into a larger flue or shaft in 
 which a current is constantly kept up, both winter and sum- 
 mer. The kitchen fire furnishes the motive power required 
 It may be effectively applied in various ways as circumstance 
 may require and ingenuity suggest, aided, if necessary, by a 
 ventilating cap at the top of the shaft. Having mastered the 
 principles on which vei Illation depends, as every one purpos- 
 ing to Duild a house should do, the rest will be easy. 
 
 * Downing. 
 
iO The House. 
 
 In providing for the ventilation of your house, give spe<3ia] 
 attention to the nursery and the sleejnng-rooms^ and do not 
 forget the cellar. The last, if provided with the outside door 
 and sliding sash windows we have recommended, may be tol 
 erably well ventilated in summer, while these can be left open, 
 without extra provision for that purpose; but in the winter 
 the operation of a ventilating flue extended down from an ac- 
 tive chimney flue is absolutely essential to anything like purity 
 of air in such an underground apartment. 
 
 6. Exterior Color. — For the outside painting of country 
 houses, quiet, neutral tints should generally be chosen. The 
 various shades of fawn, drab, gray, and brown, are all very 
 suitable. All the positive colors, such as red, yellow, blue, 
 green, black, and white, should always be avoided. Nothing 
 can be in worse taste than the very common practice of paint- 
 ing country houses white. This color is glaring and disagree- 
 able to the eye, when presented in large masses; it makes a 
 house an obtrusive and too conspicuous object in the landscape ; 
 it does not harmonize with the Lues of nature — standing, as it 
 were, harshly apart from all the soft shades of the scene. Use 
 any other color rather than white. Downing makes an ex- 
 ception to this rule in favor of cottages deeply embowered in 
 trees — the shadow of the foliage taking away the harshness and 
 offensiveness of the color ; but oven in such cases we would 
 modify the white by a slight admixture of chrome yellow and 
 Indian red. Red, another glaring and disagreeable color, is 
 a common one for farm-houses in some parts of the country. 
 It is scarcely less offensive to the eye than white. 
 
 Perceiving the absurdity of painting country houses white, 
 nany have gone to the other extreme, and given their dwell- 
 ings a too dark and somber hue. Light, cheerful, but unobtru- 
 sive colors, harmonizing with the prevailing hues of the country, 
 are most suitable. Take the colors of the various eartlis, the 
 stones, the trunks and branches of trees, mosses, and other 
 natural objects for your guides, and you will not go far wrong. 
 A quiet fawn color or drab and a warm gray— that is, a t?ra^ 
 
HOUSK-BUILDING. 41 
 
 mixed T,ith a very little red and some yellow — are the safest 
 colors to recommend for general use. The browns and dark 
 grays are suitable for stables and out-bnildings. 
 
 A mansion or a villa should have a somewhat sober hue ; a 
 house of moderate size a light and pleasant tone; and a small 
 cottage a still lighter and livelier tint. A house exposed to 
 the view should have a darker hue than one that is much 
 hidden by foliage. 
 
 To produce the best effect, several tints or shades of color 
 should be used in painting the exterior of a house ; and it is 
 important that they be judiciously chosen and combined. If 
 the color selected for the main w^alls be light^ the facings of 
 the windows, the roof trimmings, verandas, etc., may appro- 
 priately be a darker shade of the same color ; and if the pre- 
 vailing color of the building be darlc, a lighter shade should be 
 applied to the trimmings. If Venetian blinds be used, the 
 solid parts of them may be similar in shade to the window 
 casings, but a little darker, and the movable slats darkest of all. 
 If green be preferred for the blinds, it should be a very dark 
 green ; light and bright greens having a flashy and disagree- 
 able effect. 
 
 6. Interior Color^ Wall Paper^ etc. — Instead of painting 
 and graining interior wood-work in imitation of oak, black 
 walnut, or other dark wood. Downing recommends to stain it, 
 BO as to give the effect of the darker wood while retaining the 
 real appearance of the grain of the pine or other wood itself. 
 We give in the Appendix his recipe for staining pine and other 
 soft woods. 
 
 The remarks made in thi preceding section in reference to 
 colors will apply with slight modification to the interiors as 
 well as the exteriors of houses. Agreeable neutral tints — 
 gray, drab, fawn color, etc. — should be given to the walls, the 
 ceilings alone being white, the cost of a wash of these tints 
 for a room being only a few cents greater than that of a white- 
 wash. When walls are to be papered, colors and patterns 
 should be chosen with reference to the same principles. V 
 
42 The House. 
 
 architectural paper be used, it must be in the same style as the 
 house — an Italian or Grecian room in a Gothic cottage not 
 being quite appropriate. 
 
 The best effect is produced by having the ceiling lightest, 
 the side walls a little darker, the wood-work a shade darker 
 «till, and the carpet darkest of all.* The hall and all passages 
 and staircases should be of a cool, sober tone of color, and 
 simple in decoration. 
 
 7. Roofing. — For the general purposes of roofing for country 
 houses there is no good material perhaps so generally available 
 as shingles. Slate forms an excellent covering, but in most 
 localities is far too costly for ordinary use. Tin serves a good 
 purpose when well put on ; but on account of its tendency to 
 expand and contract, is somewhat liable to get out of order. 
 Thick canvas is good for the flat roofs of verandas and other 
 small surfaces.! 
 
 8. Stucco. — Stuccoing or outside plastering has been tried to 
 a considerable extent in this country ; but generally with indif- 
 ferent success. The stucco, so far as our observation extends, 
 soon cracks and begins to peel oif under the sudden and fierce 
 alternations of heat and cold to which our climate is subject. 
 Mr. Downing — high authority in such matters — however, 
 speaks favorably of stuccoing for rough walls, and expresses 
 the opinion that the cause of its failure is that it is so imper- 
 fectly understood, and consequently so badly practiced in this 
 country. We copy his directions in our Appendix.J 
 
 9. Rough- Cast. — Rough-cast is a species of cheap and du- 
 rable cement adapted to farm-houses and the plainer kind of 
 rural cottages. It is adapted, like stucco, to rough walls. Se 
 Appendix for directions for preparing and applying it.§ 
 
 10. Drainage. — Efficient drainage for the sewerage ana 
 waste water must be provided for in every plan for a country 
 house. Four or five inch earthen pipes are best to connect 
 
 * Downing. 
 
 + See Appendix (F) for something more about roofing material* 
 
 * (F.) § Ibid. 
 
House-Building. 43 
 
 the cess-pool with the house. They must be "trapped," so 
 that there shall be no continuous air-passage through which 
 noxious gases may rise. The cess-pool must not be near the 
 well. 
 
 11. Trecs^ Shruts, and Vines. — We have no space to devote 
 to landscape gardening, which, although closely related to rural 
 architecture, lies beyond the scope of our plan. We can only 
 say, plant trees, shrubs, and vines by all means ; but call tastf. 
 and judgment to your aid in choosing and arranging them. 
 The largest masses of foliage should not be placed in front, but 
 should flank and form a background for the house. Placed too 
 near a house, trees of dense foliage create dampness, injure the 
 walls and roof, and impede the circulation of the air. A dra- 
 pery of vines creeping or trailing over them, and twining around 
 the porohes, verandas, and windows, are among the most beau- 
 tiful and appropriate decorations for a cottage; and they are 
 within the reach of everybcxly and should be universally em- 
 ployed. 
 
 VII.-COMMON EEKORS AND ABSUEDITIES. 
 
 The errors and absurdities in rural architecture committed 
 
 in this country (and other countries are not free from them) 
 
 are too numerous to admit even an enumeration here. The 
 
 following are a few of the commonest and most glaring ones : 
 
 1. Building a cottage of the dimensions of twenty feet by 
 thirty, in imitation of a Grecian temple, with lofty columns of 
 painted wood, forming a grand portico in front. 
 
 2. Building castellated villas with towers and battlements of 
 Lliin pine boards. 
 
 8. Illustrating the Gothic style "run mad,'' in wooden cot- 
 tages composed principally of gables, and looking, Downing 
 gays, as if they had been " knocked into a cocked hat." 
 
 4. Giving examples of all the principal styles of architectu.-e 
 
44 The House. 
 
 in the same house — the roof, for instance, belonging to one style 
 dlhd age ; the doors and windows to another ; and the porches 
 and verandas to a third. Corinthian columns supporting 
 Gothic arches ! Very fine ! 
 
 5. Imitating a villa in a diminutive cottage, and ^overing it 
 all over with frippery and " gingerbread work." 
 
 6. Supposing that ornament and beauty in architecture are 
 synonymous, and consist in something extraneous and super- 
 added. 
 
 7. Building houses to look at rather than to live in, and 
 thereby making them "distressingly tine." 
 
 8. Finishing and furnishing a splendid parlor for visitors 
 and to "show off," and living in a bare-walled, smoky, un- 
 comfortable kitchen all one's life. 
 
 9. Imitating marble and granite in lath and plaster, and 
 oak and w^alnut in soft pine and hemlock. 
 
 10. Surrounding a house in the extreme North with veran- 
 das or arcades, and building a Southern one Avithout them. 
 
 11. Mounting outside Venetian blinds upon a Gothic cottage 
 or villa. 
 
 12. Building a Swiss chalet or cottage on a level village 
 street, or a narrow, three-story brick house to stand dignifiedly 
 apart in a wild, secluded valley. 
 
 13. Painting country houses white or red. 
 
 14. Building in haste to repent at leisure ; or building a 
 house first and planning it afterward. 
 
 15. Building temporary shelters instead of homm. 
 
\tc 
 
 
 Cottages of One Stoky. 45 
 
 CALlFOr 
 III 
 
 COTTAGES OF ONE STORY. 
 
 I knew by the smoke tliat so gracefully curled 
 
 Above the green elms, that a cottage Ti-as near. — Moore. 
 
 I.— PRELIMINAKY REMARKS. 
 
 ^___^^^^-^ ry COTTAGE of one story, in tbv sense 
 
 ■JlJ^^K!^ which forms, as it were, the base of 
 ^^^fo "When properlj constructed, such 
 cotcages are both convenient and 
 attractive. They favor econoray of labor (no cUmbing of stairs 
 being required), and are pleasing and unobtrusive objects in the 
 landscape ; while small housPi, carried up two or three stories 
 in height, although they may be economically built, are far lestj 
 conducive to labor saving, and, in the country at leas^ present 
 a most unsightly appearance. 
 
 The foundation walls of all low cottages should, be raised 
 somewhat above the level of the surrounding ground. They 
 should be plain and simple in style and finish, the foliage of 
 creeping and climbing plants furnishing their most appropri- 
 ate ornament. 
 
 In the designs which follow, we have endeavored to keep in 
 iiiind the wants of small far.iilies of limited means, and have 
 aimed to show how the largest amount of convenience and 
 comfort may be secured for the smallest sum of money, and at 
 the same time to impress upon the reader's mind the facit that, 
 because a cottage may be small and cheap, it need not there- 
 
iV) 
 
 The House. 
 
 Core the ugly. Taste need not always necessarily add to ex- 
 pense, and the expression of beauty need not be lacking even 
 m the rudest cabin or shanty. 
 
 IL-A LOG CABIN. 
 
 As our first design, we present a log cabin — a kind of dwelling 
 which must continue to be common for a long time to come, in 
 
 F'KEePECTIVlC VlliW. 
 
 parts of the West and South. The plan requires no explana- 
 tion S^ace may be saved by building an outside chim.ney at 
 each end, instead of the central one represented in the plan. In 
 a warm climate the former is the better mode; but the un- 
 sightly projections thus formed should be covered witl climb- 
 ing and creeping plants. Nowhere can the Virginia creeper, 
 the ivy, the jasmine, the trumpet flower, the clematis, the 
 climbing roses, etc., be more appropriately disposed than around 
 the veranda, windows, and gables of a log cabin. Our artist 
 nas been rather sparing of them, as also of trees in the accom- 
 panying design, but they should be supplied in abundance, 
 They are cheai) adornments, and come within the reach of all 
 In their j)r()i)er place, tlie skill of the best architect can substi 
 
Cottages of One Story 
 
 47 
 
 lute nothing equal- 
 ly satisfactory. 
 
 The leadnig ex- 
 ternal feature in 
 the foregoing per- 
 spective view is 
 the veranda in 
 front, covered by 
 the projecting roof. 
 Its rustic posts 
 should be covered 
 with vines, among 
 which the grape 
 might appropriate- 
 ly have a place. 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 
 Ground Plan. 
 
 III.-A HEXAGON PLAN. 
 
 A Western correspondent, ;Mr. "W. Holly, of St. Louis, fur- 
 nishes the accompanying as an economical, simple, and con- 
 venient plan for in- Fig. 9. 
 closing and dividing a 
 given space. The 
 rooms, it will be seen, 
 are all of the same 
 size and form, and pre- 
 sent the most compact 
 arrangement possible. 
 A single chimney, in 
 .;he center, furnishes 
 fire-places for them all. 
 Omitting its fire-place, 
 the bed-room might be 
 divided by a partition 
 in tlie center, thus giving two 
 With plain walls and a flat roof, such a house could be put u{ 
 
 Hexagon Plan. 
 small sleeping apartments. 
 
48 
 
 The tlousE. 
 
 oil the prairies or in the forests of the West for a very si«mll 
 sum ; and we do not see how the same amount of accommoda- 
 tion can be more economically obtained. 
 
 R 
 
 CM 
 
 I 'P. ft 
 
 H — li — J^ 
 
 IV.— A PLAN FOR THEEE ROOMS, ETC. 
 
 This excellent plan for a three-roomed cottage is borrowed, 
 
 with modifications, 
 Fig. 10. ^ . ,^.1, J 
 
 from '-pillage and 
 
 Farm Cottages" by 
 Cleveland & Back- 
 us Brothers. It ex- 
 plains itself; and we 
 venture to say that 
 a better arrange- 
 ment of the same 
 amount of space can 
 not easily be de- 
 vised. A plain but 
 substantial and plea- 
 sing little structure 
 on this plan, with 
 the inside walls all 
 neatly papered, a 
 U)\v projecting roof, 
 and plain hoods 
 over the windows, 
 would cost, in this 
 vicinity, from $550 
 to $650. The laundry and wood-room would naturally be cov 
 ered by a lean-to roof, or they might be omitted. If a cellai 
 should be required, it mig''t be under the kitchen, and entereo 
 from the wood-room. 
 
 Plan fof 
 
 CE iU 
 
 \ Living Room 14.0x15.0 
 
 B-lIall 6.0 X 8.0 
 
 C-Bed Room 12 0x16.6 
 
 D— Kitciien 12 0x15.0 
 
 i: Wood Room 7.0 X 8.0 
 
 F-Laundry 6.0 x 8 
 
 G — Closets 
 
 Estimates. — The circumstances on which the cost of a house 
 will depend vary so greatly with time and place, that estimates 
 made witliout a knowledge of these circumstances are only use- 
 
Cottages of One Story. 49 
 
 ful as a basis of comparison and calculation. AVhere estimates 
 are given in this work, they are calculated for the vicinity of 
 New York, and based on the following valuation in gold : 
 
 Timber at $20 00 per 1,000 feet 
 
 Kough boards " 20 00 " " " 
 
 Good lumber (planed) " 22 00 " " " 
 
 Bricks '• 6 00 " " 
 
 Kails " 05 " In. 
 
 Glass " 4 00 " b.)X. 
 
 Carpenter's work " 175 '• day. 
 
 Mason's work " 1 75 " " 
 
 CoQimon labor '' 1 00 " '* 
 
 Whenever the cost of labor and materials is greater or less 
 than that given in the foregoing table, the proper allowance 
 inust be made. 
 
 v.— A SOUTHERN COTTAGE. 
 This differs widely from all our previous desi.2'ns, and indi- 
 cates its adaptation to a different climate and different social 
 
 Fig -1 
 
 customs and habits. Its j)rincij)al features are the veranda, 
 which extends on all sides, and the broad hall running through 
 the renter. This hall furnishes access to every room, ami facil- 
 
 3 
 
50 
 
 The House. 
 
 itates a free circulation of air tlirough the house. The living- 
 room and the large bed-room may change places, where the 
 situation and aspect render such a change desirable. The bay 
 Fig. 12. 
 
 BED ROOM 
 12 X 15 
 
 PARLOR 
 /6.6 XI8 
 
 BED ROOM 
 /5 X /8 
 
 l.FT. 
 
 ,==^ 
 
 Plah op a Bouthbeh Cottagk 
 
 winJow adds much to tlie beauty and comfort of the parlor, 
 but may be omitted if considerations of economy require. 
 
 The elevation is plain but not unattractive, and, in its exter- 
 nal features, very distinctly expresses its character as a South- 
 ern dwelling. 
 
 This will be found a comfortable and convenient home for a 
 planter of small estate and means, or for an overseer on a large 
 plantation. Its cost will vary much in different parts of the 
 South, r^uilt of wood, as represented in our perspective view, 
 from $6.^0 to $700 would perhaps be an average estimate. 
 
Cottage^ of Okp: Story, 
 
 51 
 
 Verandas.* — The veranda is an essential feature of the 
 Southern house. It should extend the entire length of two 
 sides, at least, and it is better that it should encircle the whole 
 building. It may, however, if desired, be either wholly or 
 partially inclosed on the north side, forming small rooms under 
 its roof, as shown in fig. 52. There should be ventilating 
 hooded apertures in the roof of tbe veranda for the escape of 
 the heated air, which otherwise accumulates under it. 
 
 VI.— ANOTHER CHEAP COTTAGE PLAN. 
 Figs. 13 and 14 represent a plan for a house which would 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
 KITCHEN /O X /3 I 
 
 PJIRLOR 
 
 /6 y 17 
 
 i-.± 
 
 9 y /O 
 
 2J" 
 
 9 X /^ 
 
 It- 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 C 
 
 
 (5 X 17 
 
 First Flour Plan. 
 
 SixoND Floor Plan. 
 
 conveniently accommodate a small family, and could be built at 
 a small cost— say from $500 to $600. The general arrangement 
 of the first floor is readily seen, and requires no explanation. 
 
 * In this country a veramla is often improperly calle^l a piazza. The lafi 
 Is properly a more S'.lid structure, an. I Is defined as " a continued arcliwa> 
 vaulting supported by pillars " 
 
52 The Ho^se. 
 
 The veranda and projecting portion of the kitchen are to 
 be covered by a continuation of the main roof on that side ; 
 and the store-room and large pantry back of the kitchen and 
 bed-room by a lean-to roof. The spring of the roof above the 
 upper floor must be high enough to give head room at the 
 landing of the stairs. This will allow the attic to be divided, 
 as shown by fig. 14. 
 
 DooKS. — Entrance doors should furnish means of ventilation 
 without being opened, either by means of side-lights, or fan- 
 lights hung on hinges, or by ornamental iron gratings with 
 solid or glazed panels, similarly hung, on the inside. 
 
 Every entrance from without should open into a hall, entry, 
 or lobby, to prevent the direct entrance of cold, and secure 
 pi'ivacy. 
 
 VII.-A PLAN FOE REPEATED ADDITIONS. 
 
 It often happens that a man who may reasonably expect to 
 be able, in the course of a few years, to build a large and hand- 
 some house, is obliged to commence with a very limited amount 
 of means. He might procure the necessary funds, perhaps, by 
 means of "bond and mortgage," but he chooses to take what 
 seems to him a safer and better course. He resolves to put up 
 so much of his house as he can pay for, and no more, even if it 
 be but a single room ; and to complete the projected structure 
 by repeated additions, as his means accumulate. To do this 
 advantageously, the whole building must be planned at the com- 
 mencement. The accompanying plans were suggested and de- 
 signed to meet the requirements of a case like the one supposed. 
 
 Our enterprising, energetic, and independent proprietor (as 
 we will suppose) of a village lot first throws up the four walls, 
 inclosing what is called in the plan the dining-room, to the 
 height of one story, and covers them with a roof; the whole 
 being designed in strict accordance with the style of the build- 
 ing of which it is to form a part. The apartment thus formed 
 constitutes for a brief period his parlor, dining-room, kitchen, 
 and perhaps his bed-room, although if he adopts the high pitched 
 
CoTTAGKS OK OnE StORY. 
 
 53 
 
 ro(>f he may have two small attic rooms above, reached by a 
 staircase afterward to be removed. A lean-to, comprising tiie 
 adjoining bed-room, may be cheaply erected, and is soon added. 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 First Floor Plak. 
 
 Tlie kitchen, another lean-to, is next built, and the house be- 
 comes a comfortable and convenient one for a small family. 
 Our friend can now wait several years, if necessary, before 
 
54 
 
 The House. 
 
 building the main edifice, represented on the plan by the blacX 
 lines; interposing in the mean time, if he chooses, another 
 Btory over the dining-room. 
 
 The parts now erected form quite a complete and commo- 
 dious little house of themselves, and this part of the plan may 
 be adopted, by itself, in cases in which its accommodations are 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 sufficient. In this case, there W!)ukl be a door at a, and a hall 
 and staircase (for which there is am[)le space) at &, as repre- 
 sented by the dotted line. There is supposed to be a cellai 
 under the dining-room and kitchen, the original part being 
 entered at first only from the outside. 
 
 The second-floor plan shows four rooms besides a bath-room, 
 
Cottages of One Story. 55 
 
 and ample closet accommodations. There should be a balcony 
 at B, although not so rcpi-csented in the plan. 
 
 This plan will admit a Gothic elevation, but is, perhaps, 
 rather better adapted to tiie Italian style. 
 
 Plans. — Desiring to give as large a number of plans as pos- 
 sible within the limits allowed us, we insert a number of them 
 without elevations. The elevations given will illustrate the 
 various styles of domestic architecture adapted to our climate 
 and habits, and, with the necessary changes in general outlines, 
 can readily be adapted to other plans. 
 
 Scale. — Our plans, with a few exceptions specified in the 
 proper place, are drawn to the scales of sixteen and thirty-two 
 feet to the inch. Most of the geometrical elevations are on the 
 scale of sixteen feet to the inch; but in the perspective views 
 it has not been practicable to adhere to a scale. 
 
 Water-Closets. — Where running water can be introduced 
 into a house and facilities for complete drainage exist, water- 
 closets may be constructed in a country house without great 
 trouble or expense, and will operate satisfactorily ; but unless 
 all the arrangements connected with them can be made per- 
 fectly effectne^ we would not advise their introduction, as they 
 sometimes become intolerable nuisances. 
 
 As a matter of economy the bath-room and water-closets 
 are generally placed in connection. It is decidedly preferable, 
 however, where it is practicable to do so, to separate them 
 entirely. 
 
 Outside Painting. — The best time to paint the outside of a 
 bouse is late in the fall, as the paint hardens better and last^ 
 much longer than when put on during the summer. 
 
 Pats in Cellars. — To prevent rats from burrowing into 
 cellars, either make a good water-lime floor, or else build the 
 
56 
 
 The House 
 
 wall on a close-jointed flagging, laid some inches b<5low the 
 bottom of the cellar, and projecting three or four inches be- 
 yond the wall. The rat burrows down next to the wall, 
 reaches the flagging, and can not pass through it, never, in 
 any case, working back to the edge. — Rural Annual, 
 
 VIII.— AN EXTEMPOKE HOUSE. 
 
 On the prairies and in the forests of the great West the 
 ^'squatter,'''' or claimant oi pre-emption right on the govern- 
 ment lands, throws up a little cabin or shanty as one of the 
 conditions on whicli he is to make bis claim good. It is an 
 extempore affiiir, but serves its purpose, and by-and-by is pulled 
 down. It may be built of logs or of sawed lumber ; and there 
 is no reason why it should not present as attractive aod home- 
 like an exterior as that represented below. 
 
 A WaSTBKN CoTTAOffl. 
 
Btory-and-a-Half Cottages. 
 
 57 
 
 IV. 
 
 STflRY-AM'-A-IULF CIITTAGKS. 
 
 Homes for hougehold c^ nifoit built — May. 
 
 L-PEELIMINAEY REMARKS. 
 
 UR attention will now be directed to 
 cottages of a story and a half. In 
 houses properly thus designated the 
 side walls rise from two to five feet 
 above the second floor. They u='ially 
 have either dormer or low, short win- 
 dows in the sides. They afford hand- 
 some and commodious chambers, and 
 are among the best and most economical of 
 small, cheap houses, the additional expense 
 of the half story being comparatively small. 
 Our designs for houses of this sort will be found, we think, 
 to combine, so far as is possible, the qualities of economy, 
 convenience, and beauty. They are generally compact and 
 simple in plan, and plain but substantial in construction, and 
 present a modest and unpretending but pleasing exterior. We 
 have had practical utility constantly in view in designing them, 
 and we flatter ourself that all our plans will " work" — that 
 they will look as well and prove as satisfactory on the ground 
 as on paper. 
 
 II.- PLANS FOPw A SMALL COTTAGE. 
 
 These plans exhibit an arrangement of rooms well adapted to 
 the use of a mechanic or laborer of small family and limited 
 means. The living-room is a handsome apartment of good size. 
 
 3* 
 
58 
 
 The House. 
 
 entered from the lobby or hall, and also communicating with 
 the kitchen. One chimney suffices for both. The lean-to 
 part, extended beyond the kitchen, affords space for the cellar 
 staircase, a passage to the back entrance, a room for fuel, etc., 
 and a large closet or pantry. The stairs by which the second 
 tioor is reached commence in the kitchen, the first two steps 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 First Floor Plan. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 B. R. L,R n 
 
 ■ 3.0 '/O.S 
 
 R. ■ L 
 
 7.3--. 1 2. L_ _ J 
 
 Second Flock Plak.. 
 
 projecting beyond the wall inside. The closet next the stairs 
 is 4.6X5 clear, besides the available space under the stairs. 
 The chamber plan shows three sleeping apartments, with ample 
 closet accommodations. A cellar extending under the kitchen 
 and the lean-to part would be sufficient. This plan is on the 
 scale of twenty-four feet to an inch. A plain and simple eleva- 
 tion, similar to that represented by fig. 27, would be suitable 
 for this plan. 
 
 III.— AN ITALIAN COTTAGE. 
 
 The plans and elevations next presented were designed for 
 this work by F. E. Graef, Architect. 
 
 This design is simple, and requires little explanation. A 
 cellar under a part of the house, as shown, will be found nuf- 
 
Story-and-a-Half Cottages. 
 
 59 
 
 ficient. It is made easy of access from tlie kitchen, and 
 filiould an outside entrance be required, it may be had at a 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 Front Elevation. 
 
 small additional expense. Tlie first story has a main and 
 back entrance, the former covered by a porch; a parlor; a 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 End Elevation. 
 
 living-room ; a kitchen of good size ; and ample closet accom- 
 modations. 
 
 The kitchen part of the house, in order to save expense in 
 the foundation, and to gain more height in the garret, is set 
 
60 
 
 The House 
 
 two risers, or about sixteen inches, lower than the main floor 
 ^'S- 22. The attic, or second floor, 
 
 affords two fine bedrooms, 
 with closets, and a useful 
 open garret. 
 
 The peculiar feature of 
 this design is the one 
 chimney, which answers 
 for all the rooms. The 
 flue of the kitchen fire- 
 place is brought over to 
 the chimney at the ceiling of the interven- 
 ing closet, so as to be entirely out of sight 
 and without taking away any room, and 
 the parlor has a blind mantle with a stove- 
 pipe hole, connecting also with the chim- 
 ney by passing under the stairs. 
 
 This cottage can be built for $595 ; or 
 
 Cbllar Plan. 
 
 if inclosed with clear, narrow clap-boards, for about $16 more. 
 
 As an example to 
 show the form of 
 such a document, 
 we give in the 
 Appendix (I) Mr. 
 Graef's specifica- 
 tions for such a 
 cottage. 
 
 Building foe 
 Snow. — We often - 
 er build to gratify the eyes of the 
 public than our own, and fit uj) 
 our dwellings to accommodate 
 " company," or visitors, rather 
 than our own families ; and in tha 
 indulgence of this false notion, sub 
 First Floor Plav. ject ourselves to perpetual incou 
 
Story-and-a-Half Cottages. 
 
 «1 
 
 venience for the gratitication of occasional hospitality, or osten 
 tation. — L. F. Allen. 
 
 Fig. 24, 
 
 BCO ROOM 
 
 14X15 
 
 Speaking Tubes. — 
 Speaking tubes may be 
 introduced with advan- 
 tage into all houses, espe- 
 cially those of more than 
 one story. By their means 
 a sort of telegraphic com- 
 munication may be kept 
 up between the kitchen 
 and other parts of the 
 house. They are particu- 
 larly useful in the dining-room and family 
 bedroom, where they save much time and 
 labor. They are merely tin tubes of one 
 and a half inches in diameter, terminated 
 by mouth-pieces, one of which is in the 
 Second Floor Plan, kitchen and the otlier in the connected 
 apartment. Their cost is trifling. 
 
 IV.— AN ENGLISH COTTAGE PLAN. 
 
 The lirst-floor plan of tiiis design is modified from one found 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 l--t^^^ 
 
 FiKST Floc-^ Plan. 
 
62 
 
 The House. 
 
 In Field's " Rural Architecture," and there said to be of En- 
 glish origin. It presents a compact arrangement of rooms, 
 with no waste space, and admits a symmetrical elevation 
 either in the pointed or in the Italian style, as may be desired. 
 The number of angles in the outside walls, however, renders it 
 considerably more expensive to build than a square house witli 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 equal interior accommodations. Many will consider the supe- 
 rior beauty of such a building a full compensation for the extra 
 expense. 
 
 The bath-room, on the second floor, is to be lighted by hav- 
 ing the upper half of the door glazed with ground glass. The 
 opening marked A is to be an arch. The kitchen flue is to be 
 carried through the wall into the jamb of the adjoining bedroom 
 fire-place. In the dining-room, and in the bedroom over it, 
 closets are obtained, and the effect of a bay secured by recess- 
 ing one of the windows, a method which may frequently be 
 adopted with advantage. 
 
 V.-A 8UBUKBAN COTTAGE. 
 
 This design represents a small, but comfortable and conve- 
 nient house for a family requiring but a moderate amount of 
 space. As shown, it is better adapted for a village or suburban 
 residence than for a far n-honse, but with a little change in its 
 plan would answer well for the latter. 
 
Story-and-a-Half Cottages. 63 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 
 Pekspectite Vibw. 
 
 On the first tioor an ample Lall (7x13) furnishes access to a 
 good-sized parlor (13x17) and a convenient kitchen (15x15) 
 
 rig. 28. 
 
 Bedroom— 12 X 16 
 
 Kitchen— 15 x 15 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 <Hxio 
 
 Wash Room 
 
 8x10 
 
 Parlor— 13 x 17 
 
 7x1? 
 
 First Floor Plan. 
 
 (wliicb will also serve as a dining-room), witli a large pantry 
 and a wash-room attached. On the other side of the kitchen 
 
64 
 
 The House. 
 
 or dining-room is a commodious family bedroom (12X15) 
 with a fire-place and two large closets. The height of wall in 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
 lUxl2 
 
 lUxl2 
 
 10x13 10x13 
 
 Second Flooe Plan. 
 
 this story is 8 feet. 
 
 The second, or attic, floor 
 affords four good rooms, the 
 walls rising four feet above the 
 floor and the roof having a 
 high pitch. The two front 
 chambers communicate by a 
 door, in order that they may 
 be used in connection or sep- 
 arately, as may be desired. 
 The two in the rear may be 
 very prettily finished by arch- 
 ing the ceiling. 
 
 The cellar extends under the 
 
 parlor and hall. It is 4^ feet excavation and IJ above ground. 
 This house can be built of wood, in a plain but good and 
 substantial manner, a hundred miles from New York, for about 
 $800. It might be much improved by the addition of a bay 
 window in the parlor and a veranda in front of the wing or L 
 part. If designed for a farm-house, the wing might be extended 
 in the rear, so as to furnish the additioiuxl accommodations 
 required. In short, this is a plan which can be adapted to 
 circumstances. Its dimensions may be reduced to one story, 
 rendering the cost less than our estimate, or it may be made 
 two full stories in height with the same size of rooms, or laiger 
 ones, without at all interfering with the general arrangement. 
 
 VI.-A SMALL GOTHIC COTTAGE.* 
 
 This is another of Mr. Graef's designs, and show.s an admir- 
 able arrangement of accommodations for a family of six or 
 seven persons. 
 
 The ruoms on the first floor niay all be used in connection 
 
Stoky-and-a-IIalf CoTTAC.Ka. 05 
 
 Fbont Elevation. 
 
 vr each separately, as may be desired. Thus, if tlie kitchen be 
 liSied as a dining-room also, as is often the case in houses like 
 Fie. ^;l. 
 
 Side Ki.evation'. 
 
G6 
 
 The House, 
 
 Fig. 32. 
 
 BACK HALL 
 
 DINING BM. 
 |l 12.6X16 
 
 V4 
 
 I KITCHEN 
 1 13X13 
 
 FiBST Floor Plan. 
 
 this, the apartment designated as a dining-room may bo used 
 as the family bedroom. 
 
 Skcond Flook Plajt. 
 
Story-axVD-a-I1alf Cottages. 67 
 
 If desirable, the two main bedrooms on tlie second floor inaj 
 communicate in the same way as the parlor and dining-room 
 below. There is a good-sized cock-loft of easy access, in which 
 another small bedroom might be arranged. 
 
 This design, with dormer windows, veranda, hood over the 
 back door, and tracery on the gables, as shown, can be execu- 
 ted for $1,125, The same ground plan, with elevations finished 
 in a plain, bracketed style, without dormer windows, may be 
 executed for $125 less. 
 
 Attio Rooms. — All attic rooms, even in the plainest house, 
 should be back-plastered between the rafters. This costs but 
 little, and serves to render the rooms cooler in summer and 
 warmer in winter than they otherwise would be. 
 
 xYrchitectueal Finery. — " I am no advocate for meanness of 
 private habitation. I would fain introduce into it all magnif- 
 icence, care, and beauty, where they are possible ; but I would 
 not have that useless expense in unnoticed fineries or formal- 
 ities; cornicings of ceilings and graining of doors, and fringing 
 of curtains, and thousands such things, which have become 
 foolishly and apathetically habitual — things on whose common 
 appliance hang whole trades, to which there never yet belonged 
 the blessing of giving one ray of real pleasure, or becoming of 
 the remotest or most contemptible use — things which cause 
 half the expense of life, and destroy more than half its comfort, 
 manliness, respectability, freshness, and facility. I speak from 
 experience ; I know what it is to live in a cottage with a deal 
 floor and roof, and a hearth of mica slate ; and I know it to be 
 in many respects healthier and happier than living between a 
 Turkey carpet and gilded ceiling, besides a steel grate and pol- 
 ished fender." — RusTcin. 
 
 A New Method of Ventilation, — A syphon ventilator, 
 applicable to the ventilation of houses, ships, etc., has lately 
 been patented in England. The principle of the invention 
 
68 
 
 The IIous 
 
 consists in creating, by means of a tube or shaft fixed in the 
 roof of a building, two opposite currents, one of which carries 
 off the impure air w^hile the other introduces fresh air, the tem- 
 perature being regulated by simple appliances in the shape of 
 valves. This ventilator never permits the accumulation of foul 
 air at the top of an apartment. In summer time, by opening 
 the valves to the full extent, the temperature may be rendered 
 the same within as without ; while in winter time, the artificial 
 heat, by means of fires or warming apparatus, of whatever 
 nature, causes the impure air to ascend with such a degree of 
 velocity that, by partially opening the valves, it is carried away 
 very rapidly. 
 
 VII -A SYMMETRICAL COTTAGE. 
 This is a house of greater pretension, in reference to style, 
 and of higher cost than either of the preceding. Its symniet- 
 
 Fig. 34. 
 
 Pekspective View. 
 
 rical form, handsome porch, and jiuiple verandas give ic an ex- 
 pression of elegance combined with convenience and comfort. 
 
Story- AND- A- Half Cottages. 
 
 60 
 
 The various apartments on tlie first floor are compactly anc 
 conveniently arranged, each being accessible from the hall 
 without passing through another. The dining-room, which 
 may also be used as the common family sitting-room, is a good- 
 sized and handsome apartment. The kitchen, without opening 
 directly into the dining-room, is easy of access and convenient. 
 It has liberal pantries or closets marked c c in the plan. If re- 
 quired for a farm-house, a lean-to might be cheaply added in 
 the rear, affording a dairy-room, wash-room, and other needed 
 accommodations. The parlor might be im})roved, at a moderate 
 expense, by the addition of a bay window. 
 
 Fii?. 35. 
 
 First Floor Plan. 
 
 On the second floor we have three bedrooms with closets; 
 a bath-room and water-closet ; and a small room over the porch, 
 which would be a very pleasant summer apartment in which 
 to work or read; o:* it might be used as a bedroom. The 
 
70 
 
 The House. 
 
 bath-room and rear bedroom are entered from the first land- 
 ing of the stairs, this part of the house being two and a half 
 feet lower than the front part. 
 The style of the elevation is that modification of the Gothic 
 
 Fig. 36. 
 
 Second Floor Plan 
 
 vrhich prevailed in England in the reign of James I. "We are 
 not aware that any examples of this style have yet been erect 
 ed in this country. 
 
 A Cedar Closet. — A closet or press for linens or wooiena 
 sliould, if practicable, be supplied with cedar shelves. 
 
 A Sink. — A sink on the second floor for the use of the 
 chamber-maid, when it can be economically planned and 
 
 riijhtly managed, is very convenient. 
 
S T O R Y - A N D - A - II A I. F C O TT A G E S 
 
 71 
 
 VIII.-A SEMI-SOUTHERN COTTAGE. 
 This is a house well atlapted to the Middle and Soutliern 
 Slates, although for the latter a veranda should be thrown 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 Perspective View. 
 
 around the front and sides. The design of the elevation is a 
 
 Fig. 38. borrov/ed one. The anuex- 
 
 X l/<| ed plans were designed in 
 
 B h -^ adaptation to it by John 
 
 '^ l p ^ i Cruraly, Architect, New 
 
 _| i-^pH York. 
 
 JiZj -::'''^''NJ § A— Reception Eoom 9.0x11.6 
 
 ~T I I B— Conservatory 9.0x11.6 
 
 ■ C— Dining Room.. .. 18.0x25.0 
 
 4 1 a=_ D— Parlor 18.0x2.5.0 
 
 L "l E— Hall S.6wi<le 
 
 ^ r D i F-Pantrv 5.0x9.0 
 
 ^ b II G-Kitchen 13.6x18.0 
 
 r H" H-Breakfast Room 11.0x1-3.6 
 
 X— Store Room 4.6x 9.6 
 
 ^| B K-Closets. 4.6 wide 
 
 L „ M, . ^ . ..^..f > L-BackUall 
 
 ^ '" Tlie two small i-0()ni> 
 
 marked A and H. in the 
 
 FissT fI^ob Plan. first-floor phiu, which com 
 
T2 
 
 The House. 
 
 rnnnicate so conveniently both with the hall and with the ad- 
 joining rooms, form a peculiar feature in this plan. In a vil- 
 lage or suburban dwelling they may be made to minister to 
 
 Fig. 89. 
 
 use as well as to beauty, 
 whether their office may 
 be such as we have indi- 
 
 A— Dressing Room 9.0x11.0 
 
 B -Boudoir. ^.(ix 9.0 
 
 C— Dressing: Room 9.0x11.6 
 
 D— Bed Room 11.0 /.]8.0 
 
 E— Hall 8.6 wi.le 
 
 F— Bed Room !8.0x'25.0 
 
 G — Balconv 
 
 H-Bed Room ll.Ox 18.0 
 
 ^ I— Closets 
 
 J— Cedar Closet, 
 
 K-Bed Room 18.0x15.0 
 
 L— Bath 
 
 M-BedRoon. 11.6x13.6 
 
 N— Back Hi.ll ,... 4.6 wide 
 
 O- Lumber Room .*... 4.6x 9.6 
 
 cated or nor. Tiie broad 
 and unobstructed front 
 hall, running quite through 
 Second Floor Plan. the main building, is ex- 
 
 pressive of breathing space, fresh air, and sninmer comfort, 
 and forms a commodious ante-chamber to the rooms on each 
 side. The kitchen (G) communicates with the dining-room 
 (C) through the pantry (F) as well as by way of the back hall. 
 The room marked A may be used for a bedi'oom, if not re- 
 quired for the purpose we have indicated. 
 
 On the second floor we have an admirable arrangement of 
 sleeping apartments, dressing-rooms, closets, and other accom- 
 modations. 
 
 These plans are on the scale of thirty-two het to the inch. 
 
Houses of Two Stoeies. 
 
 73 
 
 V. 
 
 HOUSES OF TWO STORIES. 
 
 Here the aichitect 
 Did not with curie iia skill a pile erect 
 Of carved mnrble, touch, or porphyry, 
 But built a house for hospitality.— Care». 
 
 I.— A GOTHIC COTTAGE. 
 Fig, 40. 
 
 ^piIIS handsome cottage very appropriately commences the 
 chapter and connects it with the preceding; the center being 
 two stories in height, and the wings only a story and a half. 
 Its two verandas, its fine bay windows, its balcony, its hand- 
 
74 
 
 The House. 
 
 some gable, and its grouped chimney stacks, give to this lionse 
 an expression of simple elegance, combined with all the com- 
 fort and convenience that a cottage residence can well afford ; 
 and we are much deceived if this design do not prove a favor- 
 ite among the patrons of our little manual. 
 
 Fig. 41. 
 
 E 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 12 jt 14 
 
 FiKST Floor Plan. 
 
 The an-angement of the rooms on the first floor is compact 
 and convenient. The parlor, although not large, is a very 
 handsome apartment, and is conveniently connected with the 
 sitting-room, so that the two can be used en suite if necessary. 
 A door opening from the sitting-room into the porch may easily 
 be had if desired, but would render the room somewhat colder in 
 winter. The large room in the rear will serve as a wash-room, 
 as well as a place for fuel. If the house should be built on a 
 
Houses of iwo Stories. 
 
 75 
 
 liirni, the milk room would occupy a part of tlie room just 
 meutioned, the wood-shed being extended beyond. 
 
 On the second tioor we have four fine sleeping-rooms and a 
 bath room, each with its separate entrance from a hall or pas- 
 sage. The front bedroom, with its fire-place and its balcony, 
 
 Fig. 42. 
 
 '^~BMCOAfr J 
 
 Second Flook Plan. 
 
 is a particularly fine apartment. If it be desired to preserve 
 the chimney projection, closets may be obtained by recessing 
 the window, as in the case of the room at the left. 
 
 A cellar under the library and hall would be sufficient, unless 
 it be built as a farm-house. 
 
 II.— A COUNTRY PARSONAGE. 
 
 This design, with a few trifling alterations, has been executed 
 for the use of a country clergyman, in which case the front 
 room on the right hand was set apart for the study. It is 
 equally adapted to the use of ;; layman. 
 
 Two-story frame houses, with accommodations such as this 
 affords, and with handsome and substantial finish both out- 
 
The H o it s t-: . 
 
 Fig. 43. 
 
 Fkont Elevation. 
 side and inside, can not generally be built for less than $3,000; 
 but in this case the building committee applied to the architect 
 
 StDE Elbvatioh. 
 
Houses of Two Stories. 
 
 77 
 
 for plans and specifications for a house containing a parlor, a 
 dining-room, a study or sitting-room, and liberal halls, stairs, 
 and closets on the first floor ; five rooms on tiic second floor , 
 and a handsome outside appearance, the wliole to cost not 
 over $2,200. Here was a somewhat difficult problem. The 
 accompanying plans and elevations show how successfully Mr. 
 
 First Floor'Plan. 
 
 Graef has solved it, the actual cost being but $50 over the 
 sum named by the committee. 
 
 There is a large cellar under the house, with convenient ac- 
 cess, both from the inside and the outside. Besides the rooms 
 Bhown in the plans, two bedrooms might be bad at a small 
 expense in the well-lighted open garret. 
 
78 
 
 The House. 
 
 All the materials used in the construction of this house are 
 of approved quality. The frame is of strong pine and hemlock 
 timber; the outside is inclosed with clear, narrow clap-boards; 
 the roof is covered with cedar shingles, and painted ; the floors 
 are of 1^ inch mill- worked pine plank ; the doors are 1^ inch 
 thick, paneled, and furnished with mortice locks; all casings, 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 inside and outside, are handsome, bold, and executed after 
 working drawings ; the windows are glazed with single, thick 
 French glass; the parlor, dining-room, study, and front hall 
 are hard finished and have molded cornices, and the other 
 rooms, landings, etc., with the best brown wall. All outside 
 Btuddings are back-plastered ; the whole of the wood-work 
 
Houses of Two Stories. 
 
 79 
 
 ordinarily painted is covered with two coats of zinc paint; the 
 usual gas-pipes are put in ; and the kitchen sink is supplied 
 with water from the street. 
 
 We have been thus particular in reference to the materials 
 and construction of this house, because, having been built, its 
 actual cost is known, and will serve as a basis on which to cal- 
 culate approximately the cost of other similar houses. 
 
 III.-" FEUITLxVND" COTTAGE. 
 
 The accompanying design represents a house erected at 
 " Fruitland," near Augusta, Georgia. It is a concrete or 
 
 Perspbctivb View. 
 
 gravel-wall building, and the mode of its construction may Ije 
 found detailed in the Appendix. 
 
 " The most obvious requirements of a Southern country 
 house are — am} le space^ shade^ and vctitilation. "Where land is 
 
80 
 
 The House 
 
 abundant and cheap, the ground plan should be so extended as 
 tOLget all the room needed as near the ground as possible, and 
 avoid the fatiguing ascent of high flights of stairs. On any 
 
 First Fi>oor Plan. 
 
 H., hall, 53 xlO feet ; I). E., aining-room, 21x18; P., pantry, 18x12, adjoin, 
 ing the dining-room ; S. R., store-room, ISx 18, next to pantry ; O., office ; B., 
 bath-room; I)., dairy, lSx&; F. K., fruit-room.* 
 
 proper location, Avhere the land is high, dry, and airy, a base- 
 ment entirely alx/ce the surface^ with one story above that, for 
 parlor, sleeping-rooms, etc., will be found well adapted to the 
 wants of a modern family. Externally, the house should 
 present a reasonable degree of architectural style, correspond- 
 ing with the interior, and in harmony with the surrounding 
 scenery. Thus, while a Swiss or Gothic cottage would be out 
 of place in a low, level, and warm country — a flat-roofed Tus- 
 
 * For the ripening of pears, keeping of winter fruits, etc. "When not used 
 for the intended purpose, the latter room may serve as a general lunber-room. 
 or a seivant's bedroom. 
 
Houses of Two Stories, 
 
 81 
 
 can or Italian villa would be equally inappropriate amid the 
 heavy snow-storms and wild tempests of the Alps. This sense 
 of Jitness should naturally lead us, in the erection of a country 
 house for the South, to study carefully the peculiarities of our 
 climate and surroundings, in addition to our own individual 
 wants, and to modify existing modes into what some one has 
 called the ' comfortable and convenient,' as distinguished from 
 the merely ' ornamental' styles of architecture. 
 
 '' The site of the house represented on page 79 is upon a pic- 
 Fig. 49. 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 H., hall, 53x10 feet; L., liiTarv, 21x18; B. R., B. R , B. R.. three bedrooms, 
 respectively 18 x 15, 18 x 14, and 18 xll ; P., parlor, 21x 18 ; P. B. R., parlor bed- 
 room, ISx 15 ; c , c, c, closets. 
 
 turesque elevation in the orchard at ' Fruitland.' It is on the 
 dividing ridge between Rae's Creek and the Savannah River, 
 and from the peculiar formation of the locality oonintands a 
 
82 The House. 
 
 very beautiful prospect of the city of Augusta, the opposite 
 hills of South Carolina, and the surrounding country. 
 
 " By reference to the elevation and accompanying plans, it 
 will be seen that the house is a nearly square structure of two 
 stories, fifty by fifty-five feet, entirely surrounded and shielded 
 from sun and storm by an ample veranda, ten feet wide. This 
 veranda is supported by twenty columns of solid pine, one foot 
 in diameter, turned tapering, and bored entirely through length- 
 wise, to prevent outside shrinkage. These columns rest on 
 square brick pillars, built up on concrete foundations. The 
 lower story, or basement, contains the dining-room, pantry, 
 store-room, office, bathing-room, fruit-room, and ice-house — iu 
 short, all the worhing rooms^ or apartments for every-day prac- 
 tical use ; while the second story contains the library, parlor, 
 bedrooms, closets, etc. Two large halls, fifty-three by ten 
 feet, run directly through the building, securing perfect venti- 
 lation. The second story has transom-lights over each door 
 and opposite the outer windows, to admit the freest possible 
 circulation of pure air. The basemeut floor is raised several 
 inches above the surface^ filled in with pounded rock and gravel, 
 and laid in cement, which adheres firmly to the walls, thus af- 
 fording perfect security against fire, dampness, and the depre- 
 dations of rats and other vermin. The stairs leading from the 
 basement to the second floor, and thence to the observatory or 
 cupola, are removed to one side of their usual position in the 
 halls, leaving the latter entirely free and unobstructed. The 
 lower division walls, separating the hall from the dining-room, 
 office, etc., are built of concrete, one foot thick, but all the 
 partitions, above and below% are lathed and plastered. Two 
 chimneys afibrd six fire-places, with flues for stove-pipes, etc. 
 The windows are large, and so hung on spi-ings that the upper 
 sash can be let down and kept in a Jixed 2>osition, for ventila- 
 ting purposes. The roof is ' hip[)ed,' or four-sided, and covered 
 with the best cypress shingles." 
 
Houses of Two Stories. 
 
 83 
 
 IV.- S. H. MANN'S OCTAGON PLAN. 
 This plnn was designed by Mr. S. H. Mann, of Beloit, Wis., 
 and first appeared in the Country Gentleman, together with 
 basement and chamber plans. We give this alone, as furnish- 
 
 Fig. 50. 
 
 Octagon Plan. 
 
 Ing hints, at least, toward the best possible arrangement of 
 rooms within octagon walls, and giving the reader an oppor- 
 tunity to compare this form with the rectangular. Our indi- 
 vidual opinion on the subject has already been expressed, 
 
 V.-A SOUTHEEN HOUSE. 
 
 This design was made to meet the wants and tastes of a 
 particular family, but will, we trust, be found, in its main 
 features, to be equally well adapted to the use of many others. 
 It is planned on a liberal and at the same time an economical 
 scale, the halls, stairs, veranda, arcade, balcony, etc., being 
 
Houses of Two Stories. 
 
 Fig. 52. 
 
 85 
 
 First Floor Plan. 
 
 Bpacions, to meet the requirements of a warm climate, while 
 the rooms are of a moderate but comfortable size, and no 
 waste of space is allowed. The plan may be easily modified 
 
 Fig. 53. 
 
 
 
 
 ■\ 
 
 Skcond Floor I'tan. 
 
 ^fJ R A ^ V -^ 
 
 ©* ^^>i/ 
 
86 
 
 Ihe HOI'SE. 
 
 by omitting the wing, carrying the veranda to the rear, and 
 inclosing, if desired, the space now occupied by the arcade, 
 ihe disposition ot the various apartments on both floors was 
 made with strict reference to comfort and convenience, and 
 shows for itself in the plans. 
 
 The elevation is in the Italian style, with only such modi- 
 fications as the necessities of climate and materials seem to 
 render necessary, and j)resents a handsome and characteristic 
 appearance. 
 
 VI.— A SQUAEE COTTAGE. 
 
 The accompanying plans and elevation represent a mediura- 
 siztd two-story house, so divided as to combine convenience 
 
 Fip:. 54. 
 
 ^<^M^r^S^^^ 
 
 mmM 
 
 A^^^P'^^ r.^A ""r •"^^ 
 
 >4 
 
 Peksiectivk Vikw 
 
 with economy of spnoe. The main ])rirt of the house is exactly 
 square, giving more inclosed space for tlic amount of wall than 
 atjy other reclangular form. A hail extends through the house. 
 
IIousKS OF Two Stokies. 
 
 87 
 
 frcMii which doors open from each room, thus securing a free 
 circuhition of air. The how windows in the parlor and dining- 
 room, as well as the verandas in front and rear, although very 
 desirable, may be dispensed with if it be required to build for 
 the smallcjit possible sum. 
 
 Fig. 55. 
 
 First Floor Plan. 
 
 On the first floor we have a parlor (12X17), a living-room 
 ^12X14), library (12X11), a dining-room (12X16), and, in the 
 wing, a kitchen (12X 14). If wanted for a farm-house, a dairy- 
 itMMi. cau be added to the kitchen. 
 
88 
 
 The House. 
 
 On the second floor we have four large bedrooms, a large 
 hall-closet, a bath-room, and a dressing-room. We have made 
 the bedroom over the parlor a little irregular in shape, which 
 allows two good closets to each room. If this irregularity be 
 
 Fig. 56. 
 
 \\\ /I * /2 II! 
 
 Second Flooe Plan. 
 
 objected to, a closet for each room may be obtained in the 
 way shown for the rooms on the other side of the hall. Next 
 to the bath-room are stairs leading to the attic or roof. 
 
 First story is to be 11 feet high ; second story 10 feet high, 
 clear. There is a cellar 6J feet high under part of the house, 
 with entrance to it under main stairs and outside entrance. 
 Cellar walls and foundation are 12 inch brick walls, or 20 inch 
 stone walls. It is inclosed with narrow, clear clap-boards. 
 Cornices, caps, etc., to have a bold projection. Main roof to 
 be covered with tin ; kitchen roof to be covered with shingles. 
 All rooms, landings, and closets are to be hard finished. Floors 
 to be of mill-worked pine plank. All outside walls and second- 
 story ceilings to be back-plastered. Room doors are 1.} inch 
 thick ; closet doors, \\ inch — all paneled. Inside casings to 
 have back- banda and back-moldings, except to closets. 
 
Houses of Two Stories, 
 
 89 
 
 The estimated cost, including marble mantles to all fire- 
 places, but exclusive of plumbing work and gas-pipes, will not 
 exceed $2,800. It may be built, however, with lower ceilings 
 and plainer in and outside finish, without destroying in the 
 least the general appearance, for $2,300. 
 
 VII.-A STONE COUNTEY HOUSE. 
 This design shows a house of rather more pretension than 
 the last. The size and location of the rooms can be seen at a 
 glance. The halls give access to every room without passing 
 
 Fig. 57. 
 
 First Floob Plan. 
 
 through another. They are lighted by a window over th 
 front door and by having the bedroom door half sash. 
 
 The second story has the same general plan as the first, 
 giving five large bedrooms, a bath-room, and a fine small room 
 in front hall. The stairs to the attic adjoin the back passage. 
 
90 
 
 The House, 
 
 As pei-sons may be dilFerently situated, so tliey might desire 
 some changes in the general plan, which can be easily made 
 without interfering with the rest. A wing, projecting either 
 
 Fig. 58. 
 
 Sroond Floor Plan. 
 
 CO the rear or the side of the kitchen, for pantry, wash-rooni, 
 dairy, or whatever may be needed, can be readily added. 
 Some would prefer to make the library in an oval or octagonal 
 style, as indicated by the dotted lines, with closets in the cor- 
 ner, dispensing wnth those in the hall. 
 
 Fig. 59 shows the perspective view. 
 
 This house is designed to be built of roughstone walls, neatly 
 pointed, and have dressed blue or brown stone corners and 
 dressings. The roof is covered with slates. 
 
,.. 'tl/i 
 
92 The ±1ouse. 
 
 viii.-a cieculae house. 
 There are queer people in the world — a great many of them 
 —and it is not strange that there are also queer houses. Now, 
 as our little book is made for everybody, it is but just that 
 queer people aud tlieir houses should be represented in it. 
 
 ¥\s. eo. 
 
 Vi: spECTivE View. 
 
 Very few persons, we pi-esume, will desire to build a circu- 
 lar house, although it is the form, as geometry demonstrates, 
 in which the greatest possible space may be inclosed by a given 
 amount of wall ; but for the oddity of tho thing, or because 
 economy of space may be secured, somebody may wish to do 
 it, and look for a design to adopt or imitate. Here it is ! 
 
 This cii-cular house, in many respects quite original in its 
 plan, was erected by Enoch Eobinson, Esq., at Spring Hill, 
 Somerville, Massachusetts. No timber was used in its con- 
 
Houses of Two Stories. 
 
 93 
 
 stniction. The walls are made of plank sawed on a circle of 40 
 feet (the diameter of the house), nailed together, one ahove the 
 other, in regular courses. The windows are made of four large 
 panes of glass, in a single sash, which slides up into the wall, 
 entirely out of the way. The inside blinds are arranged in the 
 same manner. 
 
 The oval parlor is 24 feet long by 15 feet wide. The cir- 
 cular library, opposite, is 13 feet in diameter, leaving a fine 
 front entry between these two curves. The kitchen, next the 
 circular library, has a slate floor and walls of varnished white- 
 wood. Between the kitchen and the large dining-room is the 
 
 FifiT. 61. 
 
 FiEST Flooe Plan. 
 chimney and the kitchen and dining-room closets, so arranged 
 as to occupy very little room. 
 
 On the second floor are seven cliambers, two of them quite 
 large, all opening into a pleasant rotunda, 13 feet iji diameter, 
 beneath the central skylig-ht. 
 
91 
 
 The House. 
 
 The accompanying sketch and plans will give a good idea of 
 the general appearance ^and arrangement of this truly original 
 and unique edifice. 
 
 Though made of the best materials, and of superior work- 
 
 Fig. 62. 
 
 Second Flook Plan. 
 
 manship, this building was erected at an expense much lesa 
 than that of a square house erected in the ordinary way. 
 
 Ornamenting the Eoof. — A good effect is produced on the 
 steep roofs of Gothic houses by cutting the shingles in certain 
 patterns before laying them. One of the simplest forms is 
 made by cutting the end of each shingle to a point, so as to 
 form a diamond pattern when laid. The shingles must be of 
 good quality and uniform width and thickness.- These orna- 
 mental shingles may also be used with good effect instead of 
 boards, for the outside covering of wooden cottages, forming a 
 warm and durable wall. 
 
HousEB OF Two Stories. 
 
 95 
 
 IX.-A SWISS COTTAGE. 
 This design, like most otliers nepreseuting cottages and 
 houses in the Swiss style, and intended for execution in this 
 country lacks some of the peculiarities of the genuine Swiss 
 cottage, as it is seen in Switzerland. Both the external finish 
 and the internal arrangements are necessarily modified, to 
 adapt them to our climate and habits. The architect has, 
 therefore, aimed to retain the general character of the style 
 
 Fig. 63. 
 
 PebSPECTIVB VI3W 
 
 merely, and to produce an efiect as little removed from that of 
 the original chalit as the cii-cunistances permit. 
 
 The plans require little explanation. A cottage of the di- 
 mensions of this ouglit to have both front and back stairs, but 
 to save expense we have made one flight serve in this case. 
 The front entrance is into a lobby, from which both the par- 
 lor and the dining-room are entered. These rooms also open 
 into the stair hall, which is conveniently placed for daily use, 
 and from which the kitchen is entered. The latter has also a 
 ■-eparate entrance, from the outside, tlirough the sink-room, A 
 ■3ellar under a part of the house would be snfilcieut. 
 
96 
 
 The House. 
 
 This design, executed in wood, will cost, according to the 
 architect's estimate, $2,300. Foundation or cellar walls to be 
 either stone sixteen inches thick, or of brick eight inches thick ; 
 
 Fig. 64. 
 
 Fig. 65. 
 
 First Floor Plan. 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 first-story rooms and landings to be hard finished ; second-floor 
 rooms and landings to be brown wall for papering; inclosing 
 to be done with clap-boards ; roof to be tinned. The ground 
 plans must be reversed, to agree with the perspective view. 
 
 Servants' Bedrooms. — These are generally, and for obvious 
 reasons, placed in the attic (where there is one) ; but, where 
 it can be so arranged, it is well to have a bedroom opening out 
 of the kitchen, or of easy access from it, for the person whose 
 duty it is to be last in that apartment at night and first in the 
 morning. It saves many steps. 
 
 Importance of Arrangement. — A great deal of labor, espe- 
 cially of women, is saved by an economical arrangement of the 
 more common rooms ; and hundreds of miles in walking, in 
 the aggregate, avoided annually by a few feet of lessened dis- 
 tance between the principal points. — /. J. ThoTnas. 
 
Houses of Two Stories. 
 
 97 
 
 X.— A DOUBLE COTTAGE. 
 
 On account of the economy thus secured, it is sometimes 
 desirable to build two distinct dwellings under one roof. This 
 arrangement saves not only part of the material, but all the 
 exterior covering and finish of two walls ; and as three sides 
 are still open to the light and air, no serious disadvantage need 
 arise from their exclusion on the other side. Such houses, 
 however, must be skillfully planned in order to avoid dark and 
 Fig. 66. 
 
 BREAKrAST 
 
 R. 
 
 15X15. 
 
 ■" ^ihallJ sitting. 
 
 FiKST Floor Plan. 
 badly ventilated rooms. The accompanying design, we think, 
 meets the requirements of such a house in a very satisfactory 
 manner, and is offered with confidence to persons desiring to 
 build two dwellings in one. 
 
 It will be seen that the two houses, although similar in their 
 general features, are considerably varied in their details. We 
 
The House. 
 
 find the same rooms in each, but their sizes, forms, and relations 
 to each other ai*e diiferent. For instance, on one side we have 
 tlie parlor and breakfast-room arranged en suite, with sliding 
 doors between them, while on the otlier they merely commu- 
 nicate by means of common doors. The sitting-rooms also 
 differ in form and size, and so on. This gives persons purpos- 
 ing to adopt such a design a choice of plans, as both houses 
 Fig. cr. 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 may be built like tlje riglit-liand plan, both like the left-hand 
 plan, or each differing from the other, as shown. The two 
 houses afford a fine front, and may have a handsome elevation 
 in such a style as may be preferred. 
 
 As a general thing, however, we think double houses not 
 desirable, and that all that is saved in the expense of erection 
 is more than paid for by the inconvenience of having neighbors 
 so near. Nearly all houses in cities, it is true, are built so close 
 as a double house ; but in cities there are no such things as 
 neighbors, and families live in adjoining houses for years with- 
 out any acquaintance. 
 
Fakm-Houses. 
 
 99 
 
 vr. 
 
 FARM-HOUSKS. 
 
 Between broad fields of wheat and corn, 
 l8 tlie lowly home where I was born ; 
 The peach-tree leans against the wall, 
 And the woodbine wanders over all. — T. B. 
 
 L-PEELIMINARY REMARKS. 
 
 t' T ^^: 
 
 Li^^^ ^- 
 
 ^-^ 
 
 
 ONVENIENCE and comfort are the first re- 
 ^^^ quirements of a farm-house ; but there is no 
 ^i:3^- - reason here, more than in any other sort of 
 
 residence, why regard should not be had to beauty of ex- 
 ^^;'J ternal features. The farmer may properly have as hand- 
 M^M~ some a house as the village lawyer or doctor, and in its 
 general features it need not differ widely from that of either. 
 It is mainly its adjuncts — its barns, stables, piggery, poultry- 
 house, and other out-buildings — that give the residence of the 
 agriculturist its peculiar appearance. Almost any of our de- 
 signs, with slight modifications — mainly the enlargement of 
 the kitchen and its offices, the addition of a milk-room, etc. — 
 nuiy be adapted to the uses of a farm-house. For this reason 
 we content ourselves with giving two or three houses planned 
 with special reference to the farm. 
 
 Permanency should characterize the farm-house, therefore 
 we should be glad to see brick and stone brought into more 
 general use in the construction (," such building;. Rough stone 
 
100 
 
 The House. 
 
 is an admirable material for a farm-house and may often be 
 advantageously used. Concrete, too, in favorable situations, 
 and with due regard to the essential conditions already men- 
 tioned (in Chapter II.), may be adopted with profit, instead of 
 wood. But whatever the material may be, let ihe construction 
 be substantial and enduring. 
 
 "The kitchen," some one has said, "is the heart of the 
 farm-house." Let it receive a large share of attention in your 
 plan. See that it is large; well lighted; well-ventilated; pro- 
 vided with a large pantry, a sink, etc., and convenient of access. 
 Domestic help is not generally abundant in the farmer's family. 
 Too much labor, at best, devolves upon the mistress. Wo 
 should have reference to labor-saving, then, in every arrange- 
 ment. To these ends we hope our plan will furnish useful hints. 
 
 II.— A MODEL FARM-HOUSE. 
 
 This design is presented by the architect as a model farm- 
 house, suitable for a farmer in easy circumstances and with 
 the taste and culture which should accompany such a con- 
 Fig. 68. 
 
 Hiii^riiii 
 
 Fbont Elevation, 
 
 dition in life. For less expensive farm-houses, almost any of 
 our cottage designs, with slight alterations, will serve. 
 
F A E ]Nr - 11 U S E S 
 
 101 
 
 The prominent fecature^ of tliis design are its great extent on 
 tlie ground, compared with tliat of the second story; com- 
 pactness in the arrangement of the rooms; and the compara- 
 Fig. G9. 
 
 ^,~.- 
 
 SiDE Elevatiox. 
 
 tive prominence given to the kitchen and its offices ; all of 
 whi^h promote the saving of labor and indicate adaptation to 
 the uses of a farm-house. » 
 
 The front hall and back hall, vritli their respective entrances, 
 are separated, so that the front hall, parlor, family bedroom, 
 
 Fig. 70. 
 
 i \ . liv!k°"room I 
 
 5ACK HALL 1?.>^'8 I 
 
 or sitting room (according 
 to the use which may be 
 made of it) may always 
 be kept clean and tVoo 
 from unnecessary contact 
 Avith the evei-y-day work 
 of the house; while the 
 back hall serves for all the 
 common uses of the house- 
 hold. At the same time 
 the ventilation and cool- 
 ness of the whole in sum- 
 mer is secured by opening 
 the door by which the halls communicate. The kitchen, dairy 
 and other domestic offices, it will be seen, are admirably situ- 
 
 FiBST Floor Plan. 
 
102 
 
 The House. 
 
 ated in reference to the back ball and entrance. The second 
 or attic floor affords four bedrooms, all of which are provided 
 
 Fig. 71. 
 
 DRM. LilJj I 
 
 y\■^ _• I BEDRM . U 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 with large closets, and 
 may be warmed. 
 
 The exterior presents 
 a decidedly rural appear- 
 ance, and indicates the 
 character of the house 
 at a glance. Its veranda, 
 porch, bay window, and 
 curved roof with dormer 
 windows, give it an ex- 
 pression by no means 
 commonplace, but quite 
 picturesque. 
 
 Executed in wood, 
 and finished throughout in a substantial and liberal style, and 
 with a cellar under the whole, this house will cost $2,250. It 
 is also very suitable for execution in stone or brick. 
 
 III.-A FARM-HOUSE PLAN. 
 
 This plan, in its general features, is borrowed from Lewis 
 F. Allen's excellent work on " Farm Houses, Cottages, etc.," 
 but is so modified in most of its details that it would not be 
 just to hold Mr. Allen responsible for any fault it may contain. 
 
 In this plan, as in the previous one, the front hall is sepa- 
 rated from the back hall by a door, to shut out, when occasion 
 requires, all the sights and sounds of the kitchen from the 
 parlor and living-room. The living or family-room is a large 
 apartment, and will serve as a dining-room when the kitchen, 
 which in farm-houses is generally used for this purpose, may 
 prove too small, or be otherwise occupied. These two rooms 
 may be made to communicate by n.eans of a door where tho 
 closet is represented in the design. We have dispensed with 
 the back stairs, which are, however, very desirable, and may be 
 had in the back hall by making it a little wider at the expense 
 
Fakm-House8. 
 
 103 
 
 Fig. 7i. 
 
 of the bedroom, or by oinitting the store-roojn. Connected 
 ■with the kitchen fire-place is an oven, which, in oiir hum- 
 ble opinion, no cooking 
 stove or range yet in- 
 vented renders useless. 
 In the wing, the pantry, 
 milk-room, wash-room, 
 bath-room, and privy 
 are conveniently arrang- 
 ed. Beyond these, and 
 separated from them by 
 the wood-shed, are the 
 piggery, work-shop, sta- 
 ble, etc. 
 
 The main building 
 should be two stories in 
 height, and the wing a 
 story and a half. We 
 omit a second floor 
 plan, which may easily 
 be arranged from this, 
 which we give rather 
 as a hint or suggestion 
 than as a finished de- 
 sign. 
 
 Old Koofs. — When- 
 ever a roof begins to 
 leak, and you wish to ^^^^"^ ^^^^^ ^^^^• 
 
 re-shingle it, do not take off the old shingles — put the new 
 shingles on top of the old ones — but make use of six-penny 
 nails in place of four-penny or shingle nails. The advantage 
 of this method will consist in the following particulars : 
 
 1. Will save the expense of removing the shingles. 
 
 2. The building will not be exposed to wet in case of rain 
 before it is finished. 
 
104 The House. 
 
 3. The roof will be much wanner and tighter. 
 
 4. Neither snow nor rain can beat under the butts of the 
 shingles by heavy winds. 
 
 5. The roof will last full one third longer. 
 
 I have tried this plan, and find that it has these advantages : 
 It takes no more shingles, no more nails in number — only a 
 little longer — and no more time to put them on, and if done in 
 a workmanlike manner, it will look as well as if single. But 
 it should be done before the old shingles are too much decayed. 
 
 All the moss — if any — should be removed or swept off with 
 a stiff broom before putting on the new shingles. — National 
 Era. 
 
ILLAS, 
 
 105 
 
 VII. 
 
 VILLAS. 
 
 Here no state cliiimlierg in long line unfold, 
 Bilgtit with broail minors, rough with I'rette 
 Yi-t niDileBt oinameut with use combined 
 Attracts the eye to exercise tlie mind. 
 
 I.-WHAT IS A VILLA? 
 
 TSTORTCALLY, the question is readily an- 
 swered. It was originally a summer residence 
 in the vicinity of an Italian city, erected for 
 occupation merely during the warm season. The word 
 is now used with a wider signification. 
 
 According to Downing, " what we mean by a villain 
 
 the United States, is the country house of a person of 
 
 competence or wealth sufficient to build and maintain it with 
 
 some taste and elegance — the most refined home of America — 
 
 the home of its most leisurely and educated class of citizens." 
 
 "What, then," continues Mr. Downing, "should the villa be 
 
 architecturally? It should be, firstly, the most 
 
 convenient — secondly, the most truthful or significant — and 
 thirdly, the most beautiful, of dwellings. 
 
 " The villa should indeed be a private house where beauty, 
 taste, and moral culture are at home. In the fine outlines of 
 the whole edifice, either dignified, graceful, or picturesque ; in 
 the spacious or varied verandas, arcades, and windows ; in the 
 select forms of windows, chiiiiney-top.^, cornices, the artistic 
 
 5* 
 
106 
 
 The House, 
 
 feeling has full play : while in the arrangement of spacious apart- 
 ments, especially the devotion of a part to a library or cabinet, 
 sacred to books, and in that elevated order and system of the 
 whole plan, indicative of the inner domestic life, we find the 
 development of the intellectual and moral nature, which char- 
 acterizes the most cultivated families in their country houses." 
 
 II.— A SMALL VILLA IN THE ITALIAN STYLE. 
 
 This, although not a large house, is planned on a more lib- 
 eral scale, and betokens more expensive tastes, than any of 
 
 Fis. T3. 
 
 ^...^riTuni 
 
 Fkont Elbvation. 
 
 the designs hitherto given. The convenient access to all the 
 r( oiiis ; their arrangement in connection with each other and 
 
 Fig. 74. 
 
 laTHJHELti^ 
 
 jiaL 
 
 
 1^ ^-iLliJUJjHiM 
 
 Side Elktation. 
 
LLAS, 
 
 107 
 
 Fi^. 75. 
 
 Fig. 76. 
 
 FiEST Flook Plan. 
 
 Si:coND Floor Plan. 
 
 with the halls; and especially the location of the kitchen in 
 reference to the dining-room, butler's pantry, laundry, back 
 hall, etc., show a nice appreciation of the wants of a family of 
 some wealth and cultivation as well as of the ^J?- 77. 
 
 principles of economy in household labor. 
 The spacious front hall, and the back hall 
 with the separate stairs for the domestics, 
 add to the characteristic features of the in- 
 terior. 
 
 The second and attic floors furnish ample 
 bedroom accommodations, etc., for a large 
 family. They require no explanation. 
 
 In its external form the house is well pro- 
 portioned, and presents a pleasing appear- 
 ance, its most striking feature being its fine 
 veranda. 
 
 A design similar to this has been executed 
 at Elizabeth, New Jersey, at a cost of about Amo Pla.n. 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 BED R. J 
 15X10 E 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 BEO R. 
 
 ■OX. IS 
 
 . — 
 
 B 
 
 GARRET 
 
 
 
108 
 
 The House. 
 
 $3,450, the whole heiug finished in first-class style. It may be 
 built in a plainer way for from $400 to $500 less. 
 
 The scale in this design is reduced to thirty-two feet to the 
 inch. 
 
 III.— A EEICK VnXA. 
 
 This may safely be pronounced a model design. Its great 
 merits will be conceded by every one who will take the pains 
 to examine it closely. 
 
 Fiir. 78. 
 
 Side Elevation, 
 
 On the first fioor two opposite main entrances, with lobbies, 
 give access to a fine vestibule in connection with the main 
 stair-hall. This hall and vestibule are so placed as to aflrbrd 
 direct access to a parlor, dining-room, sitting-room, and kitch- 
 en ; and there being a fire-place in the vestibule, it will be 
 seen at a glance how parlor, dining-room, and sitting-room 
 may be used together whenever occasion may require. The 
 dining-room and kitchen communicate through a butler's pan- 
 try. The library may, if desirable, have an outside entrance 
 from the veranda in front of the kitchen. 
 
y I L L A S . 
 
 109 
 
 The arrangement of apartments on tlie second floor is admi- 
 rable. Each bedroom has a separate entrance from the hall, 
 and, if desired, all of these in the main house may communi- 
 cate with each otlier. The ceiling of the kitchen winir is 
 
 Fig. SO. 
 
 Geound Plan. Second Flooe. 
 
 lower than that of the main house, which accounts for the 
 stairs or steps shown in the plan; but this does not show iu 
 the first-floor ceiling. The main stairs are carried up to the 
 attic, and lighted from above ; besides, there is sufficient light 
 for the second-story hall and passage, from a window at the 
 end of the latter. 
 
 In tlie first design (fig. 81) the walls and all the dressings, 
 except the window sills, are of faced-brick painted, with white 
 mortar or dark stone putty. The roofs are of tin ornamented 
 with tin rolls. There are inside shutters to all the windows in 
 the main house. 
 
 The ceilings of the main house are 12^ feet high for the first 
 
110 
 
 The House. 
 
 Fig. 81. 
 
 Front Elevation— No, 1. 
 
 stofj^, and 10 J feet for the second story. Those of kitchen 
 wing are 9^ feet and 9 feet respectively. Executed in a liberal 
 
 ^^^miM£^13i 
 
 PIAZZA lil''°'"^'^«J PIAZZ 
 
 Front Elkvation— No. 1. 
 
Villas. 
 
 Ill 
 
 style of inside finisli, the cost will not exceed $9,000, including 
 furnace, gas-pipes, plumbing work, and marble mantles. 
 
 Fig. 82 represents a front elevation of the same house with 
 the parlor and vestibule omitted. A slight alteration in the 
 design will admit of these being afterward added, bringing the 
 house into the form represented in the previous design. As 
 here shown, it makes a convenient but smaller house. 
 
 This design is intended to be executed in good hard brick, 
 cemented on the surface, laid out in courses and painted. Al- 
 though some architects vehemently protest against tliis so-called 
 mastic wall, it is to be recommended for suburban houses of 
 moderate pretensions, if the work be performed the right way. 
 
 The cost of this house will not exceed $6,900, all included. 
 
 I v.- A GOTHIC VILLA. 
 This house is entered through a low porch, of which the 
 principal feature is three pointed arches suf)ported on four oc- 
 tangular columns. This porch leads to a hall, 9.6x13,6, and 
 
 from which doors open into 
 — 1st, a library on the right, 
 16X16, which is converted 
 from a square into an octagon 
 by cutting off the corners in 
 the manner shown, thereby 
 obtaining four closets for 
 books ; 2d, a parlor on the 
 left, 16.6 X 18, having a 
 bold, projecting window in ^ 
 front ; 3d, a dining-room be- 
 hind the library, 17 X 17.3, 
 •lighted by a bay window, 
 semi-octangular on the plan, 
 and furnished with a small 
 
 Fig. 83. 
 
 FiKST Floor Plan, 
 
112 
 
 The House, 
 
 closet, for plate, taken off the kitchen ; and, 4th, a staircase, 
 terminating in a back entrance which opens upon a veranda 
 Two other doors lead from the staircase ; one to a living-room 
 on the left, 15X17, and the other to a kitchen on the right, 
 12.9X15, having a pantry, between which and the dining- 
 room closet a very convenient recess is obtained, opposite one 
 of the windows, for the table ; a small store-room is provided 
 behind, and is entered from the kitchen. 
 
 The following accommodation is obtained upon the chamber 
 story, viz., a closet at the top of the landing, which may be nsed 
 as a linen press; a bedroom, 15X15, over the living-room, 
 F'S- ^- with a closet ; a bath-room, a 
 
 bedroom 12.3 X 14, and a 
 closet, attached, over the din- 
 ing-room ; a nursery, 16 X 
 16, over the library; a bou- 
 doir, 9.6 X 13.6, over the 
 hall, which leads to a balcony 
 over the porch ; and two bed- 
 rooms over the parlor, each 
 of which is furnished with a 
 closet. 
 
 The stairs leading to the 
 Second Floou Plan. tower are situated immedi- 
 
 ately behind the nursery, and an additional closet may be 
 formed under the stairs, if thought necessary. The nursery 
 may be formed into an octangular shape, if preferred, and four 
 closets obtained, as in the library. 
 
 There are fire-places provided to the nursery and to the bed- 
 room over the dining-room ; there may also be fire-places 
 obtained for two of the remaining bedrooms, namely, that over 
 the living-room and the adjoining one over the parlor ; these, 
 in the present arrangement, it is proposed to heat by means of 
 flues, and for this purpose the flues from below arc gathei-ed 
 into one shaft between the closets. 
 
 The style is the English rural Gothic of the fifteenth centurv. 
 
lU The House. 
 
 The quoins, window-dressings, porch, coping to side walls and 
 gables, shields, muUions to windows, covers to projecting win- 
 dows, embrasures and supporting brackets to tower, should be 
 of roughly chiseled stone, and the remainder of the external 
 work of rough stone, hararner dressed, but not laid in courses. 
 The outer walls should be about twenty inches thick ; the 
 inner walls may be of brick, eight inches thick. 
 
 It may perhaps not be unnecessary to say that it is useless to 
 attemi)t this style of building in wood ; the quaintly antique and 
 massive character of the architecture can not be obtained other- 
 wise than in stone, and any attempt to produce it in timber 
 will only result in a caricature, and be so much time and money 
 thrown away. It may also be added, that this style wdll not 
 admit of external shutters of any kind ; whatever may be 
 needed in this way must therefore be fixed inside. 
 
 v.— A PICTURESQUE VILLA. 
 
 "We insert, as we have before had occasion to remark, some 
 very queer houses, and some which by no means commend 
 themselves to our individual taste and judgment, because we 
 make this book for all sorts of people — the queer ones with the 
 rest — and must tolerate aU tastes and opinions while freely ex- 
 pressing our own. So we give this villa, which does not please 
 us, with the hope that it will please somebody else. It was 
 designed by Mr. Bradbury, of this city. The following is his 
 description : 
 
 "This building is supposed to have grown gradually from a 
 log cabin to its present comfortable proportions. The propri- 
 etor, we will suppose, goes into the Western wilds and selects 
 a beautiful site, and (having, of course, consulted a member of 
 that profession which demands as much study as 'law' or 
 'medicine') builds his (12x20 feet) cabin, which, for decency's 
 Bake, we will suppose to contain two apartments, a ' parlor- 
 kitchen' (K.— 10X10) and a bedroom (W.— 10X8), afterward 
 used as a kitchen and wash-room. In the course of a few yeara 
 he adds the little bedroom (Pr..— 7X 6) and staircase (S.— TX 12), 
 
116 
 
 The House. 
 
 afterward used as a pantry and back staircase. The girls now 
 
 have a snug room to themselves, while the boys find a more 
 
 Fig. 87. commodious dormitory in the loft. 
 
 _^^^^zr^^f=^" The house now presents the exterior 
 
 of fig. 87. In the course of a dozen 
 
 years the country around becomes 
 
 settled. There is a brick-kiln and 
 
 saw-mill near by. Railroads have 
 
 cheapened other building materials, 
 
 and increased tlie profitableness of 
 
 his crops. His fiimily has been increased by 
 
 ' Troops of tow-heads, bobbing in the corn.' 
 
 They and tlie progress of civilization call for an enlargement of 
 
 his habitation, which he builds according to the original plau 
 
 (fig. 88), the old house now serving as a pantry (Pn.), kitchen 
 
 Fig. 88. 
 
 PsrSl ll^TIYF \ lEV? 
 
 (K.), washroom (W.), and back staircase. His house is now 
 comprised in the entrance hall (L. H. — 12x12), square draw- 
 ing-room (H.— 18X18y, circular staircase (0. S.— 12X12), the 
 dining-room (Dn. — 12X18), into which the winter bedroom 
 (R. — 12X12) opens, by folding doors, so that they can be made 
 one at any time (and make one long dining-room when the 
 house is further enlarged). He may throw out a bay window 
 
118 The House. 
 
 here or a piazza there, or even the large drawing-room 
 (D. R.— G0X25), large enough to hold half the village; but 
 the house with these additions satisfies him for years 
 
 " His sons get into successful business in the neighboring 
 city ; his daughters are well married and have ' been abroad,* 
 and they all insist upon adding the coach porch (C), the 
 cabinet (O., octagonal — 18X24), the family drawing-room 
 (P. — 18X30), the library (L., circular, 30 feet across), the pic 
 ture gallery (P. G., lighted from the roof — 80X60, or more), 
 and the aviary, grapery, or winter garden (W. G.), and upon 
 making the square drawing-room (H.) a grand entrance hall 
 open to roof, with galleries leading to the various chambers, 
 provision for which has been made in framing the floors. 
 
 " The house or villa now consists of the grand entrance hall 
 (H.), with its vestibules and coach porch ; the large drawing- 
 room (D. R.), with its accessory boudoir (B.), piazzas, bays, 
 and balconies ; the dining-room (Dn. E.), with its closets, pan- 
 try, kitchen, etc. ; the small drawing-room (P.), the library 
 (L.), the picture gallery (P. G.), the winter garden (W. G.), and 
 the cabinet (O.)- The upper stories are conveniently divided 
 into chambers, dressing-rooms, bath-rooms, corridors, etc." 
 
 VI.— A. SOUTHEEN VILLA. 
 
 Tltis house consists of a large center and two wings, connected 
 by two covered arcades of one story each. It is entered under 
 a veranda 12 feet wide, which extends the whole length of the 
 front, and is also continued around each side of the projecting 
 portion of the center. The entrance door leads to an elliptical 
 vestibule, 10X17, having four niches for statuettes, vases, 
 etc. The vestibule opens on the right into a parlor, 17X21, 
 and on the left into a drawing-room of a like size. Each of 
 these rooms is lighted by two windows, of which those at the 
 snds of the rooms are projecting. The vestibule at its farther 
 end leads into a hall 8 feet wide, which extends across the whole 
 

 
120 
 
 The House. 
 
 central portion of the building, and being continued outside of 
 the center at each end so far as to embrace the veranda, ter- 
 minates in an open arcade which leads to the wings. The 
 center and wings at the rear of the building are also connected 
 by two open arcades in the manner shown. Passing across 
 the hall, we find the principal stairs, consisting of three flights 
 — a central flight leading to the first landing, and two return 
 flights, one on each side of the central, each of which return 
 or side flights lands upon the chamber floor. The staircase is 
 14.6X17, and the entrance to it may be richly ornamented by 
 means of two pilasters or columrs supporting an arch above. 
 Passing on toward the rear of the building under the first 
 
 L . f I AHCACE 
 
 
 t=^r 
 
 First Ft.oor Flaw. 
 
 landing of the stairs, we tlnd t\v(; cDst-is to the right, and under 
 the first landing a door leading to a gentleman's dressing-room, 
 10X12.6. with closet attached; and at the opposite side of 
 the landing we find a door opening upon a lobby which leads 
 to one of the arcades at the rear of the building, before noticed. 
 Fveturning to the hall, and proceeding along it to the right 
 of the principal entrance, we find a dining-room, 16X28, 
 lighted by a large window at one end; it is octangular in 
 toi-m, and by making it of this shape, four closets are obtained 
 at the ungles, as shown. This room has three doors, one 
 opening upon one of the arcades at the rear, another opening 
 
YlLLAS. 121 
 
 to a passage which comrannicates with the waiter's room, and 
 the third opening to the hall. The waiter's room is 7.6x9, 
 and communicates with — a small closet; a pantry, 6x13.6- 
 and a store-room, 8.6X18.6; the store-room has also a door 
 into the front arcade. Continuing our progress along the ar- 
 cade, we find, immediately after passing the store-room, a lobhy 
 which leads to a gentleman's bath-room, and also communi- 
 cates with a staircase in the right wing of the building. Two 
 doors open at the bottom of this staircase — one to a billiard- 
 r6om, 16X18.6, at the rear of the wing, having a closet under 
 the stairs before alluded to, and with a door opening upon one 
 of the rear arcades ; the other door at the bottom of the stairs 
 leads to a smoking-room.^ 11.3x16, which has also a door 
 communicating with the arcade in front. Two closets are 
 attached to the smoking-rcom, with a door between opening 
 upon a platform occupying the space between the closets, 
 extending to the front of the wing, and covered so as to form 
 an open recessed space from the front wall of the wing, which 
 admits of smoking in the open air. 
 
 Proceeding again along the hall, but to the left of the prin- 
 cipal entrance, we come to a boudoir, 13.6X8.6, elliptical on 
 plan, with four niches as in the vestibule, and for similar pur- 
 poses ; the boudoir opens into a lady's dressing-room, 8x 13.6. 
 which last is also entered from the hall. Succeeding this is a 
 nursery, 13.6X16, communicating with a bedroom, 13.6x14-, 
 which is also entered from the arcade. The arcade terminates 
 at the remaining or left wing of the building, with which it 
 communicates by a door which leads into a large lobby, con- 
 taining the stairs to the chamber floor, and two closets, between 
 which is a side entrance door. This lobby leads to an octan- 
 gular library, 16x16, which communicates with a cabinet, 
 12X16, from which a door opens to the left arcade at the rear 
 of the building. 
 
 The second or chamber story is divided as follows : two 
 triangular spaces are taken otf the second landing of the prin- 
 cipal stairs, in such a manner as to preserve the symmetry ; 
 
 G 
 
122 
 
 The Hc^use, 
 
 the landing is thus converted into a semi-octagon, and this 
 process, in conjunction with that of narrowing the hall to five 
 feet, enables us to obtain a number of closets, wliich are appro- 
 priated as shown on the plan. The entrance from this landing 
 to the hall may be ornamented in a manner somewhat similar 
 to the lower entrance before described, 
 
 A passage commencing at the landing on the dining-room 
 side, leads to two bedrooms over the dining-room, that next 
 the passage being 13.6X15, and the other 15X16 ; these may 
 be made of equal size, if preferred ; each has a closet attached. 
 The passage turns at right angles, leads to a linen press, and 
 terminates at a lady's bath-room. Bedrooms are also obtained 
 over the parlor and drawing-room, each 16X17.6, and over the 
 
 Fig. 92. 
 
 i 
 
 BEDROOM 
 
 Second Floor Plan. 
 
 boudoir, 13x18.6. All these bedrooms have closets attached, 
 leaying two closets opening fi-om the passage, unattached to any 
 bedroom, and which may be applied to whatever purpose may 
 be thought advisable. A circular room, 17 feet diameter, is 
 located over the vestibule ; this room, with a circular table in 
 the center, covered with rare shells, bijouterie, etc., and with 
 statuettes or vases in the niches, may be made to assume a 
 very rich and ornamental character. 
 
 The windows to the parlor and drawing-room, to the bed- 
 rooms over them, and to the circular room, should be French 
 
Villas. 123 
 
 casements opening to the floor, so as to allow access to the 
 veranda and balcony. 
 
 Two bedrooms are also obtained over the billiard and smok- 
 ing rooms; the former 15.6X15, and the latter 13X15, with 
 closets to each; and two more bedrooms, with attached closets, 
 and an additional large closet, are provided over the library 
 and cabinet; that over the library being 12x13.6, and that 
 over the cabinet 12X13. The stairs to the tower are situated 
 along the external wall of the building, over the two closets 
 before mentioned, as shown on the plan. 
 
 Access to the flat on the roof may be obtained by a step- 
 ladder, which may be removed when not in use ; or, what is 
 still better, a flight of stairs may be constructed in the space 
 occupied by the two closets adjacent to the bedroom over the 
 boudoir, and inclosed by a door so arranged as not to interfere 
 with the symmetrical appearance of the hall. Should this 
 latter method be adopted, two or three bedrooms may be 
 formed in the roof, and lighted by skylights from the flat. 
 
 The style is Italian. The quoins, the window and door 
 dressings, the chimney tops, and the arcades are proposed to 
 be of stone; the remainder of the external walls of good, 
 square, well-burned brick. The quoins and window dressings 
 to the first story are to be of the kind of work commonly 
 knoAvn as rock-work ; that is to say, the stones are to be first 
 hammer-dressed, then truly bedded and jointed, and lastly a 
 margin draft chiseled off' the outer edges of the external sur- 
 faces ; this draft should be about two inches wide, leaving the 
 remainder of the external faces rough from the hammer. It is 
 also proposed to execute part of the mason work of the arcades 
 and of the wings in this style; but the portions of the eleva- 
 tion in which it is proposed to introduce this description of 
 stone-cutting are sufticiently indicated on the engraving. The 
 quoins and dressings to the second story are to project from 
 the face of the brick-work, and to have the angles chamfered 
 oft*. A good idea of the remaining features of the elevation 
 will, it is presumed, be obtained from the engraving. 
 
Villas. 
 
 125 
 
 VII.— AN OCTAGON VILLA 
 
 Tl.e main body of this house is a regular octagon on the plan, 
 each side being 20 feet, giving the whole width of the main 
 house 48 feet ; with 12 feet additional for the wings. Rect- 
 angular apartments are built against four of the walls, form- 
 ing four projections, each of which is 18.8x10, clear dimen- 
 sions. The principal building — that is, the octagon — is two 
 stories high, and the wings one story. The w^hole structure. 
 Fig. 94. 
 
 FiKST Floor Plan. 
 
 k)\- the purpose of giving effect to the elevation, is raised about 
 six feet above tlie adjoining ground. 
 
 A flight -)f stei)S in front lands upon a veranda six feet wide 
 fiom wljich we enter tlirongh the front door to a vestibule, 
 7x7, and from which, passing through a glass door, we enter 
 r,he hall, seven feet wnde, which is continued through the 
 building, having the rear entrance door at its farther extremity. 
 Immediately inside of the glass door we find a door on eacl» 
 side of the hall ; that to the right opens into a small, irregularly- 
 
126 The He use. 
 
 shaped reception-room, of which the length inside, measuring 
 across the fire-place, is 13.6; and parallel to the hall, 12.6. 
 This room leads into an elliptical boudoir, 10X18.8, with 
 niches in the walls. The door on the opposite side of the hall 
 leads to a lobby, from which we enter into a cloak-closet 5x6; 
 and going forward through the opposite door, we find ourselves 
 in the conservatory. This room is also irregular in form, but 
 notwithstanding its irregularity, a slight glance will show that 
 it is symmetrical. The wall of the main building, which cuts 
 it into two unequal portions, is perforated so as to allow of 
 the introduction of Gothic columns and arches; and it is pro- 
 posed not only to have the arches open, but also the spandrels 
 between, and the w^hole of the space above to the ceiling; 
 these perforations will, of course, be molded, and cusps, foils, 
 and other Gothic ornaments introduced ; creeping plants may 
 be trained around the columns and through the openings, and 
 if the ornamentation be of that light and graceful character of 
 which the Gothic supplies such a variety, a very pleasing and 
 picturesque eflTect may be produced. Proceeding along the 
 hall, we find two doors opening into the drawing-room on the 
 left, and also two doors opening into the dining-room on the 
 right ; each of these rooms is 19x19.3 ; the former opens also 
 into the conservatory ; the latter has a small closet attached 
 for plate. Proceeding farther along the hall, we find the stairs 
 to the right, and enter the breakfast- room from a passage formed 
 under the upper landing ; a door from this passage opens to the 
 basement stairs, leading to the kitchen and other offices below. 
 The breakfast-room is 10X16.3, and is fitted up with two closets; 
 it has also a fire-place projecting outward, which may be made 
 an ornamental feature in the elevation. On the other side of 
 the hall we find a passage leading to a bedroom, 10X18.8, 
 having also a projecting fire-place and a small closet. A door 
 opens from this paesage into a store-room. At the rear of the 
 building another veranda is found, with a flight of steps as at 
 the front. 
 Ascending the stairs, we enter a bedroom on the landing, 
 
YlLLAS. 
 
 127 
 
 13x19.3, and passing forward we find a bath to the right, 
 7xT, and still farther we find two bedroom doors, one of which 
 leads to an irregular-shaped room, being over the store-room 
 and passage on the principal floor; the other, over the draw- 
 ing-room, is the same size as that already described, 13x19.3; 
 each of these bedrooms is provided with a closet. If a greater 
 number of rooms be desired, these principal bedrooms can be 
 divided in the manner shown by the dotted lines. It is sup- 
 posed the servants' bedrooms will be in the basement. Oppo- 
 site the bath-room door we find a door leading to an octangu- 
 lar picture gallery, 19.3X19.3, from which, on the opposite 
 Fig. 96. 
 
 Seooitd Floor Plan. 
 
 side, a door opens into a symmetrical room in the form of an 
 irregular hexagon, The extreme length of this room is 31.6 by 
 12.9 broad. These two rooms may be made to form, not only 
 the most attractive feature of the house, but if skillfully treated 
 will make a combination the like of which is rarely met with 
 in a house of such limited extent as this. The octagon room 
 may have a groined paneled ceiling, the ribs springing from 
 Gothic columns attached to the walls at the angles of the room, 
 and terminating against the angles of an octangular lantern 
 
i28 The House. 
 
 liglit surrounded by a richly ornamented cornice; the lantern 
 to be filled in with stained glass, and to project a considerable 
 height above the roof. The principal point of attraction in the 
 adjoining room will be the noble Gothic window, which, if 
 managed as a Gothic window may be managed, with mul- 
 lions, cusps, foils, stained glass, and all the other etceteras, will, 
 in conjunction with the octagon room, when the door is thrown 
 open, have a magnificent effect. 
 
 Two balconies are provided in front : one over the conserv- 
 atory, the other over the boudoir ; to be entered from the 
 front room. 
 
 The building has eight gables; it also has eight ridges and 
 eight valleys, meeting at the lantern in the center. The gables 
 are ornamented with verge boards of different patterns, so 
 that each front presents a different appearance ; and the chim- 
 neys are so contrived that the stacks will stand one half on 
 each side of a ridge. 
 
 We give no estimate of the expense of this house, as it is one 
 on which a great amount of ornamental work can be put to ad- 
 vantage, or it can be built quite plain. The style in which it 
 is finished will, to a great degree, govern the expense. Plainly 
 finished, it can be erected for $5,000; and $25,000 can be spent 
 on it with ease, if the builder desires to make it what it can be 
 made, one of the most unique and tasteful houses ever erected. 
 
Barns, Etc. 129 
 
 VIII. 
 BARNS, AND OTHER OUT-BUILDINGS. 
 
 There ts the ham — and, as of yore, 
 
 1 can smell the hay from the open door, 
 
 And st-e tlie busy swallowa throng, 
 
 And hear the peewee's mournful song. 
 
 Oh, ye who daily cross the sill. 
 
 Step lightly, for I love it still ; 
 
 And when you crowd the old bara eaves. 
 
 Then think what countless harvest sheaves 
 
 Have passed within that scented door, 
 
 To gladden eyes that are no more.— T. B. Bead. 
 
 I.— PEELIMINARY EEMAEKS. 
 
 LL that we need say in introduction lo 
 our designs may be embraced in a single 
 paragraph. Let your out-buildings cor- 
 respond in character with your house, 
 and be as simple in plan and as unpre- 
 tending in style as adaptation to their 
 uses and an agreeable and appropriate 
 external appearance will permit. A stable should pass for a 
 stable, and not be so elaborate as to be mistaken for a farm- 
 cottage. To build a poultry-house in the form of a palace 
 is equally absurd. Let each seem to be just what it is, and 
 present an example of complete fitness for the purpose of its 
 erection. 
 
 Our designs, in general, require very little explanation, and 
 speak for themselves. We present them in the hope that, where 
 they may not be found exactly adapted to particular cases, they 
 may, at least, furnish useful hints toward the thing required. 
 Some of them have stooc^ the test of actual construction and 
 use, and have proved well adapted to their purposes. 
 
 6* 
 
130 The House. 
 
 ii.— lewis f. allen's baen. 
 
 We are indebted to the " Annual Register of Rural Affairs' 
 for the accompanying design. It represents one of the best 
 barns, probably, ever erected in this country, and, although 
 much larger than will generally be required, furnishes a model 
 in most respects for a structure of any desired size. "We copy 
 from the " Register" so much of the description as will serve 
 our purpose : 
 
 " The body of the main barn is 100 feet long by 50 feet 
 wide, the posts 18 feet high above the sill, making 9 bents. The 
 beams are 14 feet above the sills, which is the height of the 
 inner posts. The position of the floor and bays is readily un- 
 derstood from the plan. The floor, for a grain barn, is 14 feet 
 wide, but may be contracted to 12 feet for one exclusively for 
 hay. The area in front of the bays is occupied with a station- 
 ary horse-power and with machinery for various form opera- 
 tions, such as threshing, shelling corn, cutting straw, crushing 
 grain, etc., all of which is driven by bands from drums on the 
 horizontal shaft overhead, which runs across the floor from the 
 horse-power on the other side ; this shaft being driven by a 
 cog-wheel on the perpendicular shaft round which the horses 
 travel. 
 
 " A passage four feet wide extends between the bays and the 
 stables, which occupy the two wings. This extends up to the top 
 of the bays, down which the hay is thrown for feeding, which 
 renders this work as easy and convenient as possible. 
 
 *' The floor of the main barn is three feet higher than that 
 of the stables. This will allow a cellar under it, if desired — or 
 a deeper extension of the bays — and it allows storage lofts over 
 the cattle, with sufficient slope of roof. A short flight of 
 steps at the ends of each passage admits easy access from the 
 level of the barn floor. 
 
 '' The line of mangers is two feet wide. A manure window 
 is placed at every 12 feet. Tlie stalls are double; that is, 
 for two animals each, which are held to their places by a rope 
 and chain, attaclied to a staple and rinf at each corner of the 
 
Barns, Etc 
 
 131 
 
 stall. This mode is preferred to securing by stanchions. A 
 pole or scantling, placed over their heads, prevents them from 
 climbing so as to get their feet into the mangers, which they 
 are otherwise very apt to do. 
 
 " The sheds, which extend on the three sides of the barn, 
 
 LL 
 
 SHEnS 
 
 to 
 
 =. 
 rn 
 
 o 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 1 1 1 iM 1 nil 
 
 ? 1 
 
 * 
 
 SAVS 
 
 30NvaiN3 uoonj Nivn J 
 
 K\flK 'dvy3 
 
 I'- 1 
 
 \ SAV8 
 
 
 H 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 
 Tiiiiiiniiii 
 
 1 
 
 I 5 
 
 1 
 
 c 
 
 
 Sa3HS 
 
 
 and touch it at the rear end, are on a level with the stables. 
 An inclined plane, from the main floor through the middle of 
 the back shed, forms a rear egress for wagons and carts, de- 
 scending three feet from tlie floor. The two rooms, one on 
 each side of this rear passage, 16 by 84 feet, may be used for 
 
132 The House. 
 
 housing sick animals, cows about to calve, or any other pur- 
 pose required. The stables at the front ends of the sheds are 
 convenient for teams of horses or oxen, or they may be fitted 
 for wagon-houses, tool-houses, or other purposes. The rooms, 
 16 feet square at the inner corners of the sheds, may be used 
 for weak ewes, lambs, or for a bull-stable. 
 
 " Racks or mangers may be fitted up in the open sheds for 
 feeding sheep or young cattle, and yards may be built adjoin- 
 ing, on the rear, six or eight in number, into which they may 
 run and be kept separate. Barred partitions may separate the 
 different flocks. Bars may also inclose the opening in front, 
 or they may, if required, be boarded up tight. Step-ladders are 
 placed at convenient intervals, for ascending the shed lofts. 
 
 " A granary over tbe machine-room is entered by a flight of 
 stairs. Poles extending from bay to bay, over the floor, will 
 admit the storage of much additional hay or grain. As straw 
 can not be well kept when exposed to the weather, and is at 
 the same time becoming more valuable as its uses are better 
 understood, we would suggest that the space on these cross 
 poles be reserved for its deposit from the elevator from thresh- 
 ing grain, or until space is made for it in one of the bays. 
 
 " A one-sided roof is given to the sheds (instead of a double- 
 sided), to throw all the water on the outside, in order to keep 
 the interior of the yards dry. Eave-troughs take the water 
 from the roofs to cisterns. The cisterns, if connected by an 
 underground pipe, may be all drawn from by a single pump if 
 
 III.— ME. CHAMBEELAIN'S OCTAGON BAEN. 
 
 The accompanying cut represents the ground plan of an oo • 
 tagon barn erected by Mr. Calvin Chamberlain, of Foxcroft 
 Elaine, and described in the " Reports of the Board of Agri- 
 culture" of that State. 
 
 Tlie plan is on a scale of 15 feet to the inch, which shows 
 the structure to be a trifle over 36 feet in diameter. 
 
 *' There is a cellar under tbe whole, eight feet deep, and a 
 
Bakns, Etc. 
 
 133 
 
 cart-way leading out on a level. The floor is ten feet in the clear ; 
 doors same width and height ; height below scaffold, seven 
 and a half feet clear ; entire height of walls, 19 feet. A door 
 
 Gkou.nd Plan. 
 
 is shown opening north to the pasture, four feet wide and seven 
 and a half feet high ; one south, same size, opening to yard ; one 
 on southwest side communicates with other buildingb. Stairs 
 lead to cellar and hay-loft. Passage-way behind cattle stalls 
 five feet wide, admitting wheelbarrow to pass at any time to any 
 manure scuttle. Gates hanging to outer wall close passages to 
 stalls, so that any animal may occupy its place untied. Side- 
 lights at large doors, and a large window on opposite side, one 
 sash of which slides horizontally, light the stable. Four large 
 windows, set quite up to the plates, light the hay-loft. These 
 let down at top, and are left down half the year; the two-feet 
 projection of the roof protects them from all storms. Cellar ia 
 lighted by four double windows and the side-light at head of 
 stairs. The open space, 13 feet long, at end of floor, admit a 
 
134 
 
 The House. 
 
 the horse, so that the hay-cart is brought to the center of the 
 bam for unloading. A scaffold 13 feet long is put over the 
 floor, and 12 feet above it." 
 
 This small barn, Mr. Chamberlain says, will store 20 tons of 
 hay. 
 
 IV.— ME. BECKWITH'S OCTAGON BARN 
 
 The annexed cut represents the basement plan of the barn 
 erected by E. W. Beckwith, Principal of the Boys' Boarding 
 School, at Cromwell, Middlesex County, Connecticut, in Sep- 
 tember, 1858. 
 
 The beauty and convenience of the arrangement for stalls 
 and feeding can be seen at a glance. The octagon form is 
 adopted because it is best adapted to inclose the desired plan. 
 
 This building, 30^ feet short diameter, 12^ feet each side, or 
 100 feet inside circumference, and 13 feet each outside, or 104 
 
 Fig. 9S. 
 
 Basement Plan. 
 
 feet circumference when the wall is 14 inches thick, as in the 
 present case, incloses an area of 750 feet. 
 
 The wall is grouted stone work, laid up between planks cut 
 the right length for each inside and outside of angle, lield to 
 
Barns, Etc. 135 
 
 the proper distance apart by cast-iron clamps pierced with 
 holes at each end to receive the iron dowels driven into each 
 edge of the planks. These planks, when in an upright position 
 on the wall, should be plumbed and staylathed preparatory to 
 laying the stone. The basement floor is cemented, the horses 
 standing on a movable slat-work, which keeps the bedding 
 dry. The height of this story should be eight feet ; the clear 
 space from the stalls to the wall, four feet wide ; the stalls six 
 feet long, including manger-box, which leaves a circle in the 
 center about ten feet diameter as the base of a cone, over 
 which all the feed is thrown down to the animals. Under the 
 cone is a fine place for a water-tank or pump. 
 
 The remaining space, when not wanted for stalls, furnishes 
 room for cleaning otf horses, for storing roots, for an ice-house, 
 or any other purpose for which it may be wanted. 
 
 The feeding place is a hole about three feet square over the 
 apex of the cone, which can be covered with a scuttle. 
 
 The walls are 26 feet high from the foundation, giving 16 
 feet altitude above the barn floor, which can be left clear and 
 open to the roof, thus allowing the hay to be deposited in any 
 direction and to any required proportion of the space ; a gang- 
 way to the feed- hole being left, or cut afterward, at option. 
 There is one door, 9 by 10 feet, to this floor, for carriages, etc., 
 the hay being taken in at a window on the up-hill side. Of 
 course a place would be partitioned off if carriages are to be 
 housed in the barn. 
 
 The cost of this stone barn, covered with mastic roofing at 
 five cents a foot, will be about $325. 
 
 The walls cost $230, but closer personal attention would 
 have made them cheaper. A wood barn on the same base- 
 ment would have cost at least $40 more, and not be as good 
 for many reasons. 
 
 There is nothing to burn by fire but one floor, and the roof 
 and the walls would be left for another. 
 
 The utility of narrow stalls, in this case five feet wide at the 
 broad end and two feet at the manger, may be questioned hy 
 
136 
 
 The House. 
 
 some ; but you have that matter entirely according to fancy, 
 the peculiar feature of this plan being that they all point to the 
 center. It is peculiarly adapted to those gentlemen who wish 
 to keep horses and cows, and be able to feed them without too 
 much labor or time and exposure to dirt. 
 
 You can have a hired man or not, as you choose, which is 
 sometimes desirable. This plan, if not adopted by others, may 
 serve a good purpose as a suggester. 
 
 V.-A CIECULAE BAEK 
 The barn, plans of which are herewith presented, was built 
 by the Shakers of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and is cer- 
 tainly worthy of the attention of farmers contemplating the 
 
 Fig. 99. 
 
 First Floou Plan. 
 
 A., doors;* B., staira; D., calf-pens ; E, alleys; F., stalls; G., granary ; H. 
 double doors; T., windows. 
 
 erection of barns on a large scale. It is 100 feet diameter, biiill 
 of stone — a material that is very abundant in that part of Jifas- 
 sachusetts — two stories high, the first one being only seven anO 
 
 • An error in thu plans represents the doors as windows, and vu'e versa. 
 
Bakns, Etc. 
 
 13' 
 
 a halj feet between floors, and contains stalls for seventy head 
 of cattle, and two calf-stables. These stalls are situated in a 
 circle next the outer wall, with the heads of the animals point- 
 
 Fisx. 100. 
 
 Secokd 1'loob Plan. 
 
 iug inward, looking into an alley in which the feeder passes 
 ai'ound in front of and looking into the face of every animal. 
 The circle forming the stable and alley-way is 14 feet wide, 
 inside of which is the great bay. Over the stable and alley \a 
 the threshing-floor, which is 14 feet wide and about 300 feet 
 long on the outer side, into which a dozen loads of hay may be 
 hauled, and all be unloaded at the same time into the bay in 
 the ©enter 
 
 There should be a large chimney formed of timbers open in 
 the center of such a mass of hay, connecting with air-tubes 
 under the stable floor, extending out to the outside of the 
 building, and with a large ventilator in the peak of the roof. 
 "We should also recommend an extension of the eaves beyond 
 the outer wall, by means of brackets, so as to form a shed 
 over the doors, and the manure thrown out of the stables and 
 piled against the wall. 
 
138 
 
 The House, 
 
 VI.— A SIDE-HILL BAEN. 
 We copy the accompanying plans and the description from 
 the Ainerican Agriculturist for September, 1858, where a per- 
 spective view of the barn is also given. 
 
 Entering the barn at either end, as shown in the main floor 
 plan, there is a floor, either 12 or 14 feet wide, as may be 
 most convenient, which passes through the entire length. On 
 
 Fig. 101. 
 
 Undbboround Plan. 
 
 one side is a large bay for hay or grain in the sheaf. Oppo- 
 site, in part, is another bay. Next to that a passage of five feet 
 wide, to carry out straw or hay to throw down below into the 
 yard. Next to the passage is a granary, and adjoining it a 
 tool-house, or area for threshhig machines, straw-cutters, etc., 
 with a partition off from the floor, or not, at pleasure. Nine 
 feet above the floor, on each side, should be a line of girts, 
 
Barns, Etc 
 
 139 
 
 connecting the inner posts, on which may be thrown loose 
 poles to hold a temporary scaffold for the storage of hay, or 
 grain in the sheaf, when required. By such arrangement the 
 barn can be filled to the peak or ridge-pole, and the ventilator 
 above will carry out all the heated air and moisture given off 
 from the forage stored within. Slatted windows, or side ven- 
 tilators, may be put in the side next to the yard, if required. 
 The roof has a "third" pitch, or one foot rise to two feet in 
 width, which lasts longer and gives more storage than a flat- 
 ter one. 
 
 The frame of the barn above is 60 by 50 feet, with posts set 
 upon stones below, to support the overshot sill, as shown in 
 
 Fig. 102. 
 
 BAY 
 
 D 
 
 FLOOR 
 
 D 
 
 BAY 
 
 Main Floor Plan. 
 
 the ground plan. Underneath are four lines of stalls, two on 
 each side of the center passage-way, heading each other, with 
 a four-foot feeding alley between them, receiving the forage 
 from above, from which it is thrown into the mangers, two 
 and a half feet wide, to which the cattle are tied or chained. 
 The stalls are double, allowing two animals, if neat stock, in 
 each. They are tied at the sides next the partitions, to prevent 
 
140 The House. 
 
 injury to each other. On the hill-side are three windows in 
 the upper part of the wall, to admit light and ventilation, 
 either glazed or grated, as may be necessary. 
 
 The advantages of a side-hill barn are, the warmth of its 
 stables in winter and their coolness in summer ; storage for 
 roots, if required ; much additional room under the same roof, 
 but not, we think, at diminished expense; and greater com- 
 pactness of storage than in one on the common plan. 
 
 But it is essential to the comfort and convenience of the 
 side-hill barn that it be well embanked with earth, so that tiie 
 falling water may freely pass away from the walls ; and that 
 the stables and yards be well drained. Without these pre- 
 cautions, such barns are little better than nuisances, the rains 
 and melting snows flooding everything beneath the building, 
 and in the yards and sheds below. 
 
 There should be a flight of stairs (not represented in the 
 plan) from the underground floor to that above. 
 
 Shelter Cheaper than Fodder. — An improvement on our 
 present practice of shelter, and care of our animals, would be an 
 equivalent to an actual shortening of winter. It can hardly be 
 questioned that exposure of cattle to extreme cold injures their 
 health, and thus interferes with the owner's profit. Chemical 
 physiology teaches us that warmth is eijuivalent to a certain 
 portion of food, and that an animal exposed to more cold will 
 eat more, and one better housed and warmer kept will eat less. 
 To keep an animal comfortable, therefore, is to save food ; and 
 tliis alone is a sufiicient inducement to provide that comfort to 
 the full extent.* — Maine Agricidtural Report- 
 
 Every animal should have its own particular stall in the 
 
 stable, and should be allowed in no other 
 
 * It 13 asserted, on good authority, that exposed animals will consun:e a 
 tlilrd more food, and come out in the spring in worse condition. 
 
Barns, Etc, 
 
 14] 
 
 VII.-STABLES. 
 
 The subject of stables — tlieir construction, arrangement of 
 accoinuiodations, etc. — is one to which a volume might profit- 
 ably be devoted ; but our present object is merely to furnish a 
 Fig. 103. Fig. 104. 
 
 Plan. 
 
 Plav. 
 
 few designs adapted to execution in connection with country 
 houses and villas, and to show how they may be planned, ag 
 
 Fig. 105. 
 
 — =— I 
 
 HARNESS W 
 
 BM. 
 
 -:-mHilliiifr 
 
 ITZlllCZX] 
 
 CARRIAGE RM. 
 
 Plan. 
 
142 
 
 The pi o u s e . 
 
 in rig. 103, for one horse and carriage; in fig. 104, for one 
 horse and two vehicles ; or, as in fig. 105, with which we give 
 an elevation (fig. 106), for two horses and three vehicles. 
 
 Fig. 106. 
 
 Fbont Elevation. 
 
 Constructed of wood in a proper manner, fig. 103 will cost 
 $125 ; fig. 104, $185 ; and fig. 105, $275. Built of brick, they 
 will generally cost a little over a third more. 
 
 Elevatoes in Barns. — In large barns the pitching up of the 
 hay into the upper part of the bays is a very laborious process 
 and requires considerable time. In such cases an elevator^ like 
 that of the best threshing machine, to be worked by the t\io 
 horses removed from the loaded wagon of hay, may be profit- 
 ably employed, greatly lessening the labor and quickening the 
 operation. The same elevator would be used in carrying 
 tlireshed straw from the machine to the bays. The simplest 
 dnd best elevator for this^ purpose is made of a light, inclined 
 board platform, four feet wide, on each side of whicli a rope or 
 endless chain runs, connected by cross-bars, a foot oi- two apart, 
 H'hlch slide over the upper surface of this platform, and sweep 
 the hay upward as fast as pitched upon it. 
 
Baens, Etc. 
 
 143 
 
 YIIL— AN OCTAGON TOULTKY HOUSE. 
 
 This design is selected from Benient's " Poulterer's Compan- 
 ion." It has been executed, we believe, near Factoryville, 
 Staten Island. It is ten feet in diameter and six feet and a 
 half high. Tlie sills are 4 by 4, and the plates 3 by 4 joists, 
 halved and nailed at the joints. It is sided with inch and a 
 quarter spruce plank, tongued and grooved. No upright tim- 
 bers are used. The floor and roofing are of the same kind of 
 
 Fig. 107. 
 
 Pekspectivb View 
 
 plank. To guard against leakage by shrinking, the joints m^iy 
 be battened with lath or strips of thin boards. An eight-square 
 frame supports the top of the rafters, leaving an opening of 
 ten inches in diameter, on which is placed an octagon chimney 
 for a ventilator, which makes a very pretty finish. The piers 
 should be ©ither cedar, chestnut, or locust, two feet higli, and 
 set on flat stones. 
 
lU 
 
 The House. 
 
 Fie:. 108. 
 
 Plan. 
 
 The letter D designates the door ; "W, W, windows ; L, lat- 
 ticed window to admit air, with a shutter to exclude it, when 
 
 necessary ; E, entrance for the 
 fowls, with a sliding door ; P, 
 platform for the fowls to 
 alight on when going in ; R, R, 
 roosts placed spirally, one end 
 attached to a post near the 
 center of the room, and the 
 other end to the wall ; the 
 first, or lowermost one, two 
 feet from the floor, and the 
 others 18 inches apart, and 
 rising gradually to the top, six 
 feet from the floor. These 
 roosts will accommodate 40 ordinary-sized fowls. F, F, is a 
 board floor, on an angle of about 45 degrees, to catch and carry 
 down the droppings of the fowls. This arrangement renders it 
 much more convenient in cleaning out the manure, which 
 should be frecjuently done. 
 
 The space beneath this floor is appropriated to nests, 12 in 
 number, 15 inches wide, 18 inches deep, and 18 inches high. 
 In order to give an appearance of secrecy, which it is well 
 known the hen is so partial to, the front is latticed with strips 
 of lath. By this arrangement a free circulation of air is ad- 
 mitted, which adds much to the comfort of the hens while 
 sitting. 
 
 The object of placing this house on piles is to prevent the 
 eiuu'oachments of rats, mice, skunks, etc., and is a good metiiod, 
 as rats are very annoying, especially where they have a good 
 harbor under the house, often destroying the eggs and killing 
 the young chickens. 
 
 Two Erkoes. — It is an error to build a house upon a side- 
 hill with an "underground kitchen;" but it is a greater error 
 to build a barn without such a room upon the down-hill side. 
 
Barns, Etc. 
 
 145 
 
 and if possible having a southern exposure. In this room all 
 the horned cattle should be stabled, having a yard to them- 
 selves entirely separate from any other stock. The horse stable 
 should always be on the ground floor, with an entrance from a 
 separate yard. 
 
 IX.— AN OCTAGON PIGGEEY. 
 
 The accompanying design shows the plan of an economically 
 constructed and convenient piggery. It may, of course, be 
 enlarged to any desired extent without any change of form or 
 
 Fig. 109. 
 
 Plan. 
 
 arrangement. The elevation may be similar to that of the 
 poultry -house (fig. 107), and should have sufficient height to 
 furnish a good upper room for storing corn, etc., for the swine. 
 
 X.-AN ASHEKY AND SMOKE-HOUSE. 
 
 An ashery and smoke-house combined may be economically 
 built as represented in our design. The first story, or ash-pit, 
 sliould be built of stone or hard brick, and be provided with 
 an iron door. The walls need not be more than from six to 
 eight feet in height. The ceiling should be lathed and plastered. 
 
 7 
 
146 
 
 TiiK Ho us; 
 
 Tlie smoke-house story above may be of wood. Jt is entered 
 in the rear on a level with the ground. Four tin tubes, intro- 
 duced through the floor, admit the smoke from the ash -room 
 below, wliere the fire is kindled. This arrangement preckules 
 all danger from fire, secures the meat against being overheated 
 
 Fig. no. 
 
 iN AsniuiY AM) 8mokk-IIoit8e. 
 
 :n smoking, and gives a clean and convetiieiit snioke-rooin. :t 
 may he ventilated either through the gable or the roof. 
 
 A side hill situation is by no means essential in this mode of 
 construction. Both stories may be above ground, the siiu.ke- 
 lioiise door being readied bv outside stairs or a step-ladder. 
 
Bakns, Etc. 
 
 xi.— an ice-iiousk 
 The first grand essential in the construction of an ice-house 
 is the perfect inclosure of the space to be occupied by the ice 
 with walls and floors which shall prove non-conductors of 
 
 Fiu. 111. 
 
 . A ClKCULAK IC£-Il0U3E— PeRSPECTIVK ViKV. 
 
 neat. The second iini)ortant point is to secure perfect drain 
 age. These conditions attained, the rest is comparatively un- 
 important. 
 
 A common and entirely etfective mode of constructing an 
 ice-house is thus de>;cribed : 
 
 Tlie frame or sides should be formed of two ranges of up- 
 
148 
 
 The House, 
 
 W^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 right joists about six by four inches; the lower ends to bo put 
 in the ground without any sill; the upper to be morticed into 
 the'tinibers which are to support tlie upper floor. The joists 
 in the two ranges should be each opposite another. They 
 Fii. 112. should then be lined or faced with rough 
 
 ^^ boarding, which need not be very tight. 
 These boards should be nailed to those 
 edges of the joists nearest each other, so 
 I that one range of joists shall be outside 
 the building and the other inside the ice- 
 room, as shown in fig. 112. Cut out or 
 leave out a space for a door of suitable 
 I 1 dimensions on the north or west side, 
 higher than the ice will come, and board 
 — ^1 up the inner side of this opening so as to 
 form a door-casing on each side. Two 
 doors should be attached to this opening 
 — one on the inner side and one on the 
 ^ outward, both opening outward. The 
 space between these partitions should be 
 filled with charcoal-dust, tan, or saw-dust, 
 whichever can be the most readily obtained. 
 
 The bottom of the ice vault should be filled about a foot 
 deep with small blocks of wood or round stones ; these are 
 leveled and covered with wood-shavings, over which a plank 
 floor to receive the ice should be laid ; some spread straw a 
 foot thick over the floor, and lay the ice on that. A floor 
 should also be laid on the beams above the vault, on which 
 place several inches of tan or saw-dust. The roof should be 
 perfectly tight, and it is usually best to give it a considerable 
 pitch. The space between the roof and the flooring beneath 
 should be ventilated by means of a door or lattice window in 
 each gable. The drain can be constructed in accordance with 
 the situation, the only things requiring attention being to have 
 it carry ofl" all the water settling at the bottom, and not be so 
 open as to allow the passage of air into the vault. 
 
Barns, Etc. 
 
 140 
 
 Fig. 113 represents a section of such an ice-house. Wo give 
 B perspective view of a circular ice-liouse, which is constructed 
 on the» same principle. It may advantageously be executed in 
 
 Fig. 118. 
 
 ^^ 
 
 concrete. Ventilation is secured by leaving a small aperture 
 In the peak of the roof, protected by a hood or cap, as shown. 
 Should an underground house be preferred, the plan of build- 
 ing can be the same ; or a less expensive method may be u?ed. 
 A side-hill having a northern exposure affords a desirable 
 location. In such ease one end of the house is usually above 
 ground. The boards can be of the cheapest description, and 
 the space or air-chamber filled in with straw ; the ground 
 forming the support to the whole. No less attention should 
 be paid to draining than in the other case ; and when in use, 
 the space between the ice and the peak of the roof should be 
 filled with straw. 
 
150 
 
 The House. 
 
 XII.-AN APIAET. 
 
 Fig. 114 represents a design for a rustic ainary or bee-hoase, 
 which strikes us as being far more beautiful and appropriate 
 than the elaborately ornamented temple oi- palace-like struc- 
 tures we sometimes see ^ h^ mode of its construction is readily 
 
 Fig. 114. 
 
 Peespective Vi£W. 
 
 seen. It may, of course, be made of any desirable size on the 
 same plan. [Foi- directions in reference to the construction of 
 hives, the best site for an apiary, and instructions in bee-keep- 
 ing, see " The Barn-Yard."*] 
 
 ♦The Barn-Yard: a Mamiul of Horse, Cattle, and Shoep Iliisbandry; 
 or, How to Breed, Rear, and Use all the Common Domestic Animals. Em- 
 bracing Descriptions of the various Breeds of Horses. Cattle, Shoi-p. Swine, 
 Poultry, etc.; the "Points" or Characteristics by wliich to Judge Animals; 
 Feeding; and General Management of Stock ; How to Improve Breeds; How 
 to Cure Sick Animals, etc. With a Chapter on Bees. Han.lsoiue:y illustrated. 
 Now published with Garden ar.d Farm. S;1.75. 
 
 How many expensive, not to say fatal, errors in the buying, selling, breed- 
 ing, and management of farm-stock m'ght be avoided by means of the practi- 
 cal information and plain common-sense advice condensed into this compr©* 
 hensire and thorougii litUe Hand b ok ! 
 
Bakns, Et 
 
 c. 
 
 151 
 
 XIII. -A PLAY-HOUSE, 
 
 Build your children a play-house of some sort. A very rude 
 affair will please them, hut something similar to the accompa- 
 
 Fig. 116. 
 
 ^ .-V •^-^-'. 
 
 Perspective View. 
 
 nying design will please you too, and be a highly ornamental 
 feature in your grounds. The construction is simple, but the 
 effect is verv fine. 
 
 Materials for Eustio Structures. — In order to succeed 
 m constructing rustic work, the first thing is to procure the 
 materials. All such objects as may be exposed to the weather 
 should be of the most durable wood, of which red cedar is best. 
 For certain purposes, white oak will answer well, but as it is 
 essential to have the bark remain on, the wood should be cut 
 at a time of year w^hen this wnll not peel or separate. If cut 
 toward the close of summer, the wood will last about twice as 
 long as w^hen cut in winter or spring. A horse-load or two 
 of boughs or branches of trees, of which a goodly portion may 
 be curved and twisted, from one to six inches in diameter, 
 will constitute the materials for a good beginning. — J. J. 
 Thomas. 
 
152 
 
 The House 
 
 XIV.— A EUSTIC GAPwDEN HOUSE. 
 A rustic structure, like the one here represented, when cov- 
 ered with vines and climbing shrubs, forms one of the most 
 
 Fig. 116. 
 
 Pbrspectivb Vikw. 
 
 beautiful and appropriate objects that a lawn or flower garden 
 can boast. Furnished with rustic seats, it becomes an attract- 
 ive summer resort in which to work or read. 
 
Church and School-House. 
 
 153 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL-HflUSE. 
 
 On other Bhores, above their niolderiiig: towns, 
 In sullen pomp the tall cathedral frowns — 
 Pride In it3 aisles and paupers at the door, 
 Which feeds the beggars which it fleeced of yore. 
 Simple and frail, our lowly temples throw 
 Their slender shadows on the paths below.— flclntes. 
 
 In a green lane thnt fiom the village street 
 Diverges, stands the school-house.— Street 
 
 I.— A VILLAGE CHURCH. 
 
 frequeucy with which th 
 
 HE accompanying designs (figs. 
 117, 118, 119) represent a coun- 
 try church, and, as has heen more 
 or less the case Avith all our de- 
 signs, are intended to show how 
 easy it is, without costly materi- 
 als, and without expensive de- 
 tails, hut with due regard to pro- 
 portion, symmetry, and harmony 
 of style, to produce a structure 
 at once pleasing, chaste, and 
 adapted to its purposes. The 
 piles of hrick work and the 
 wooden boxes which so often 
 pass for churches among us, hut 
 are, to say the least, a reproach 
 to our cultivated society, bear 
 witness, on every hand, to the 
 first principles of architecture are 
 
A -if!. 
 
 \J 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 mi^ 
 
 \iM„ \ 
 
 :iii m\ 
 
 m 
 
 ^; 
 
 ■Sii 
 
 
Church 
 
 AN 1) 
 
 School- House. 
 
 155 
 
 sinned against througli ignorance. It is this ignorance that we 
 hope to aid in dissipating, both by precept and example. 
 
 The height of this 
 church from tlie floor to 
 the eaves is 17 feet, and 
 the whole heiglit of the 
 ceiling about 22 feet. It 
 is planned for a gallery 
 across the front merely. 
 It will seat 400 people. 
 The same ground plan 
 may of course be so ex- 
 ecuted as to give consid- 
 erably greater accommo- 
 dations. By making the 
 ceiling higher, for in- 
 stance, side galleries may 
 be introduced. If re- 
 quired, a lecture-room 
 and Sunday-schoolroom 
 may be added on tlie 
 rear ; but if the loca- 
 tion be suitable, these 
 
 GnonND Floor Plan. 
 
 accommodations may be secured at less cost in a basement. 
 
 The walls are to be built of brick, the exterior projections 
 being faced with front brick, Fig- 119- 
 
 costing about $10 per thou- 
 sand. The window sills, door 
 sills, caps, and steps are to 
 be of cut stone. The roof, 
 cornices, and cupola are to 
 be of wood. The main roof 
 
 is to be covered with slate, Gallep.t Flooe Flax. 
 
 and the tower roof and cupola to be tinned. Finished inside 
 in a liberal manner, the cost is estimated at about $9,800; or 
 tiuished quite phiinly, it can be built for less than $9,00a 
 
156 
 
 The House. 
 
 II.— A TILLAGE SCHOOL-HOUSE. 
 
 This design represents a single two-story school-bouse suit- 
 able for a small village or other country place. The first and 
 second stories are almost entirely alike in their arrangements. 
 Each room will accommodate fifty-two pupils, and has recita- 
 tion benches in front of the teacher's desk. The easy ingress 
 and egress afforded by the broad hails and stairs ; the large sep- 
 
 Fig. 120. 
 
 Fbont Elevation. 
 
 arate wardrobes for the two sexes ; the convenient position of 
 the teacher's desk with its large wall-space for the blackboard, 
 are sufficiently apparent upon the plan. A recitation -room 
 and a room for apparatus may be added on the rear, if desired, 
 without changing the rest of the plan. 
 
 The walls are of brick, eight inches thick, strengthened by 
 pilasters (4X20 inches), which serve both for use and orna- 
 
Church and School-House, 
 
 157 
 
 ment, as may be seen by examining the plan and elevations. 
 The inside of the walls is furred oif as usual. The front part, 
 under the hall and clothes-closets, is intended to be dug out for 
 a coal and furnace cellar. A portable furnace, costing from 
 $75 to $100, will heat the whole house, and is to be preferred 
 to stoves. In addition to the opposite windows, which facili- 
 tate ventilation during the warm season, ventilating shafts, 
 
 Side Elevation. 
 terminating in a box on the roof, are indicated in the rear 
 wall. The inside walls are to have two coats of plaster, ami 
 be wainscoted up to the windows all around. The roof may 
 be covered with slate or shingles, as most convenient. Tho 
 bell cupola, very appropriately a prominent ornamental and 
 useful feature in school architecture, may be constructed of 
 wood, as shown. Access to it may be had from the second- 
 floor hall, by means of a step-ladder. The school-room fur- 
 niture consists of double desks, about three and a half feet 
 long, with stooK 
 
158 
 
 The House. 
 
 All school-houses should, if possihle, be constructed of solid 
 materials — brick or stone — in so substantial a manner as to 
 outlast all the other buildings in the town or village, and serve 
 for the accommodation of many generations of children, whose 
 
 Fig. 122. 
 
 Plan. 
 
 prominent destructiveness thoy are better calculated to resist 
 than any wooden building can be. 
 The estimate .: cost of this school-house is within $1,700. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A. 
 
 now TO BUILD WITH KOUGH STONE. 
 
 Lkt the qiiarryirifn split it off just as the veins of the stone make it most 
 eaaily worked. Select such pieces as, from their length and even quality, 
 seem adapted for sills and lintels, and use the remainder just in the shape it 
 naturally comes upon your jjround from the quarry. In building jour walls, 
 lay the stone in its exact bed as it lay in the quarry, and here and there let 
 long pieces be introduced, ihe length of the thickness of your walls; these, 
 lying across, would serve as bonders to the walls, and will materially strengtheu 
 the work. A wall built in this manner, in irregular courses, looks remarkably 
 well for country buildings, and it is the method in which the time-honored 
 rural churches of England have been built, than which more simply beautiful 
 or more durable erections can not be found.— Gekvase Wheelee. 
 
 B. 
 
 HOLLOW BEICK WALLS. 
 
 Fig. 12.3. 
 
 SiMPLK Mode of Bi:ili>ing a llm-Low Wall. 
 
 Fig. 123 shows a very simple and cheap ni«>de of buib'ing a hollow wall 
 twelve inches widr, which answers very well for low additions, or walls in- 
 tended to bear but little weight. An addition of another brick to the outside 
 would make a good sixtoen-ineh wall. The tie-bricks alternate in the courses; 
 that is, tiie brick (/ is covered in the mxt cours • wiih the brick h (shown by 
 the dotted lines); c by ^, and so on through the whob-.- Downing. 
 
160 Appendix. 
 
 0. 
 
 UNBUENT BEICK FOE BUILDING. 
 
 The following particulars are compiled from the Eeport made by Mr. Ells* 
 worth while Commissioner of Patents : 
 
 Almost every kind of clay will answer; it is tempered by treading it with 
 cattle, and cut straw is added, at the rate of two bundles of straw to clay 
 enough for one hundred bricks. It is then ready for molding. It is found 
 that the most economical size for the bricks for building such cotiages is the 
 following, viz., one foot long, six inches wide, and four inches thick. 
 
 The cellar or foundation must be formed of stone or burnt brick. 
 
 In damp soils, the dampness should be prevented from rising from the soil 
 into the unburnt wall by laying one course of slate, or of brick, laid in cement 
 or hydraulic mortar, at the top of the foundation. 
 
 The walls of the cottage are laid up one foot in thickness of the unburnt 
 brick. This thickness is exactly the length of the brick, or the width of two 
 bricks, and the strongest wall is made by laying the work with alternate 
 courses of leaders and stretchern {i. e., one course with the bricks laid across 
 the wall, the next course side by side). A weak morlar of lime and sand is 
 generally used for laying the bricks, but a good brick mortar is preferable. 
 Where lime is scarce, a mortar composed of three parts clay, one part sand, and 
 two parts wood-ashts, answers very well as a substitute for lime mortar. The 
 division walls may be six inches thick, just the width of the brick ; but when 
 the cottage has rooms wider than twelve fee', it, is better to make the first-story 
 partitions two bricks thick. The iloors and windnw-frames bc-ing ready to in- 
 sert, the cottage is very rapidly built. These frames are made of stout plank, 
 of the exact thickness of tht-: walls, so that the casing inside and outside helps 
 to strengthen the wall and covers the joints. If lintels and sills of stone are 
 not to be had, pieces of timber three inches thick, of the same width as the 
 wall, and a foot longer on each side than the opening, may be used instead. 
 
 The roof may be of shingles or thatch, and it is indispensable in a cottage 
 of unburnt clay that it should project two feet all around, so as completely tc 
 guard the walls from vertical rains. The outride of the wall is plastered with 
 good lime mortar mixed with hair, and then with a second coat, pebble- 
 dashed, as in rough-cast walls. The inside of the wall is plastered and white- 
 washed in the common way. 
 
 Built in the simple way of the prairies, these cottages are erected for an in- 
 credibly small sum, costing no more than log houses, while they are far more 
 durable and agreeable in appearance. 
 
 But we have also seen highly ornamental cottages built of this material, tho 
 bricks made entirely by the hands of the owner or occupant, and the whole 
 erect^'d at a cost of not more than cine half of that paid for the same cotfagi' 
 built in an equally comfortable manner of wood or brick. When plastered or 
 rou^h-cast on the exterior, thi« mode of construction presents to the eye the 
 same effect as an ordinary stuccoed house, while it is warmer and far Ics* 
 costly in repairs than any other cheap material is. 
 
Appendix. 161 
 
 D. 
 
 DE. BUCHANAN ON CELLAPwS 
 
 "While 1 would condemn cellars and basements entirely, the common plan 
 of building in their absence must be condemned also. The house being built 
 above the surlace of the earth,- a space is left between the Idwer floor and the 
 ground, which is even closer and darker than a cellar, and which becomes, on 
 a smaller scale, the source of noxious emanations. Under-floor space should 
 be abolished as well as cellars and basements. The plan that I have adopted 
 with the most satisfactory success, to avoid all these evils, is the following: 
 Let the house be built entirely above the ground ;let the lower floor be built 
 upon the surface of the earth, at least as high as the surrounding soil. If filled 
 np with any clean material a few inches above the surrounding earth, it would 
 be better. A proper foundation being prepared, make your flrst floor by a 
 pavement of brick, laid in hydraulic cement upon the surface of the ground. 
 Let the same be extended into your walls, so as to cut oflF the walls of your 
 bouse with water-proof cement from all communication wiih the moisture of 
 the surrounding earth. Upon this foundation build according to your fancy. 
 Your lower floor will be perfectly dry — impenetrable to moisture and to ver« 
 min ; not a single animal can get a lodgment in your lower story. By adopt- 
 ing this plan, your house will be dry and cleanly ; the atmosphere of your 
 ground-floor will be fresh and pure ; you will be entirely relieved from that 
 steady drain upon life which is produced by basements and cellars; and if 
 you appropriate the ground-floor to purposes of store-room?, kitchens, etc., you 
 will find that the dry apartments thus constructed are infinitely superior to the 
 old basements and cellars. And if you place your sitting and sleeping rooms 
 on the second and third floors, you will be as thoroughly exempt from local 
 miasma as architecture can make you.— De. Buchanan. 
 
 KECIPES FOE PAINTS, WASHES, STUCCO, ETC. 
 
 1. Paints for Outside TT'orA-.— The following recipes for mixing several de> 
 eirable colors are from Wheeler's " Homes for the People:" 
 
 1. A cool gray, similar to what would be the tint of unpainted timber after 
 • few years, may be obtained as follows : 
 
 Indian red, half a pound; 
 
 Lampblack, three ounces ; 
 
 Eaw umber, half a pound ; 
 
 "White lead, one hundred pounds. 
 
 This color will be changed by the addition of sand, which in all cases is 
 
 recommended, in a proportion of about one quart to every one hundred pounda 
 
 of mixed color. The finest and whitest sand that the neighborhood aff"ords 
 
 should be used, and as its hue diflfers, so will the tint of the paint be change*' 
 
162 Appendix. 
 
 This coior, with one th rd less white, is very suitable for roofs, ami is a e«ol, 
 unreflecting gray tint of great softness and beauty. 
 
 2. A soft, pleas-int tint, like that of coffee greatly diliiied with milk, is often- 
 times well adapted to a building, particularly in regions where red sandstone 
 or other similar objects, with such local coloring, give a brown hue to portions 
 of the landscape. 
 It may be mixed as follows: 
 
 Yellow ochre, fi^ e pounds ; 
 Burnt umber, half a pound ; 
 Indian red, quarter of a pound; 
 
 Chrome yellow. No. 1, half a pound, with one hundred pounds of 
 white lead. 
 The key-notes in this color are the Indian red and the chrome yellow, and 
 the tone may be heightened or lowered by more or less of either, as individual 
 taste may prefer. 
 
 8. A still more delicate tint, resembling the pure color of the Caen stone, and 
 Weil adapted for a large building with many beaks of outlines, may be mixed 
 thus: 
 
 Yellow ochrr, two pounds ; 
 Vandyke brown, quarter of a pound ; 
 Indian red, quarter of a pound. 
 
 Chrome yellow. No. 1 , half a pound to every one hundred pounds of lead. 
 
 The following cheap and excellent paint for cottages is recommended by 
 
 Downing. It forms a hard surface, and is far more durable than common 
 
 paint. It will be found preferable to common paint for picturesque country 
 
 houses of all kinds. 
 
 Take freshly-burned unslaked lime and reduce it to powder. To one peck 
 or one bushel ol this add the same quantity of fine white sand or fine coal ashes, 
 and twice as much fresh wood ashes, all these being sift< d through a fine sieve. 
 They should then be thoroughly mixed together while dry. Afterward mix 
 tliem with as much common linseed oil as will make the whole thin enough to 
 work freely with a painter's brush. 
 This will make a paint of a light gray stone color, nearly white. 
 To make it fawn or drab, add yellow ochre and Indian red ; if drab is de- 
 sired, add burnt umbur, Indian red, and a little black; if dark stone color, add 
 lampblack ; or if brown stone, then add Spanish brown. All these colors 
 should of course be first mixed in oil and then added. 
 
 This paint is very much cheaper than common oil paint. It is equally well 
 suited to wood, brick, or stone. It is better to apply it in two coats; the first 
 thin, the second thick. 
 
 2. A Cheap Wash. — For the outside of wooden cottages, barns, out-build- 
 ings, fences, etc., where economy must be consulted, the following wash ia 
 "Crommended: 
 
 Take a clean barrel that will hold water. Put into it half a bushel of quiclt- 
 
Appendix. 168 
 
 time, and slake it by pouring over it boiling water suflicient to cover it four or 
 five inches deep, and stirring it until slaked. When quite slaked dissolve it 
 in water, and add two pounds of sulphate of zinc and one of common salt, 
 which may be iiad at any of the druggis's, and whicli in a few days will cause 
 the whitewajih to harden on the woodwork. A<ld suflicient water to bring it 
 to the consistency of thick whitewash. 
 
 To make the above wash of a pleasant cream color, add three pounds of 
 jellow ochre. 
 
 For fawn color, add four pounds of umber, one pound of Indian red, aud 
 one pound of lampblack. 
 
 For gray or stone color, add four pounds of raw umber and two pounds of 
 lampblack. 
 
 The color may be put on with a common whitewash brush, and will be found 
 much more durable than common woitewash. — Iloriicaltarint. 
 
 For a wash for l)arns the IIorticultuHst also gives this: 
 
 Hydraulic cement, one peck ; freshly slaked lime, one peck ; yellow ochre 
 (in powder), four pounds ; burnt umber, four pounds ; the whole to be " dis- 
 solved" in hot water, and applied with a brush. 
 
 3. StiL.i :g Lite. ■tor Woo! Work.— One of the simplest and best modes of 
 staining pine or other soft wood is tiiw lollowing as given by Downing: 
 
 First prepare the wood by washing it with a solution of sulphuric aold, 
 made by mixing it in the proportion of one ounce of sulphuric acid to a pint 
 of warm water. It should be mixed when wanted and put on while warm, 
 washing it evenly over every part to be t^tained. 
 
 Second, stain the wood so prepared by rubbing it lightly with tobacco stain, 
 using a piece of fluriiiel or sponire for this purpoj-e. J!y merely coating it 
 evenly in this way the natur ■! grain of the wood will assume a dark tone, so 
 as to resemble black walnut or oak; tlie effect of certain p irts may be height- 
 ened by a little skill in mottling or si irhtiy graining the wood, by repeaang 
 the coat and allowing it to settle in places. 
 
 When the stained wood is entirely dry, I'rusii it over, in order to preserve it, 
 with the following mixture: half a p >iuid of bee-wax, half a i)int of linseed 
 oil, and out- pint of boiled linseed <•;!. 
 
 It may, if desired, afterward be varnished and p(jlished. To make the above 
 to'-acco stain, take six pounds of common shag or "negro head" tobacco; boil 
 it in as many quarts of water as will cover ihe tobacco, letting it simmer away 
 slowly till it is of the consistence of syrup. Strain it, and it is ready for use. 
 
 We may add, that when it is desired to give the wood the tone of light oak or 
 maple, the solution ot sulphuric acid should be much weaker, and only a light 
 coat of the stain should be us.^'d. Where a dark tone is preferred, two coata 
 of the stain siiould be put on. 
 
 4. Stucco and Stucco 171 g.—Taka stone lime fresh from the kiln and of the 
 lef<t quality, such as is known to make a strong and durable mortar (like th« 
 Thomaston lim ). Slake it by sprinkling or pouring over it, just water enou^l* 
 
164 Appendix. 
 
 toleare it when slaked in the condition of a fine dry powder, and not a pasU. 
 Set up a quarter-inch wire screen at an inclined plane, and throw this powder 
 against it. What passes through is fit for use. That which remains behind 
 contains the core, which would spoil the stucco, and must be rejected. 
 
 Having obtained the sharpest sand to be had, and having washed it, so that 
 not a particle of the mud and dirt (which destroy the tenacity of most stuccoes) 
 remains, and screened it to give some uniformity to the size, mix it with the 
 lime in powder, in the proportion of two j>arts ■ia7id to one part lime. This ia 
 the best proportion for lime stucco. More lime would make a stronger stucco, 
 but one by do means so hard — and hardness and tenacity are both needed. 
 
 The mortar must now be made by adding water, and working it thoroughly. 
 On the tempering of the mortar greatly depends its tenaci'y. 
 
 The wall to be stuccoed should be first prepared by clearing off all loose dirt, 
 mortar, etc., with a stiff broom. Then apply the mortar in two coats; the fir-it 
 a rough coat, to cover the inequalities of the wall, the second as a finishing coat. 
 The latter, however, should be put on before the former is dry, and as soon, 
 indeed, as the first coat is sufficiently firm to receive it; the whole should then 
 be well floated, troweled, and marked off; and if it is to be colored in water- 
 color, the wash should be applied, so as to set with the stucco.— Downing. 
 
 6. Rough- Oast. — The mode of putting on rough-cast is as follows: 
 The surface of the wall being brushed off clean, lay on a coat of good lime 
 and hair mortar. Allow this to dry, and then lay on another coat as evenly and 
 smoothly as possible without floating. As poon as two or three years of the 
 second coat are fini-hed, have ready a pail of rougJi-ca-'it, ami splash or throw it 
 on the wall. This ia usually done by another workman, who h>dds the trowel 
 with which he throws on the rough-cast in one hand, and a whitewash brush 
 dipped constantly in the pail in the other, which follows the trowel until the 
 whole is smooth and evenly colored. 
 
 The rough-cast itself is made of sharp sand, washed clean, screened, and 
 mixed in a large tub with pure, newly t^laked lime and water, till the whole ia 
 in a semi-fluid state. A little yellow ochre mixed in the rough-cast gives the 
 whole a slightly fawn-colored shade, more agreeable to the eye than white.~ 
 DowiiiMG. 
 
 ROOFING. 
 
 The following brief essay on roofing has been kindly furnished by a practi- 
 cal builder, Mr. Richardson, who has had extensive experience in this sr>ecial 
 department, in Tarious parts of the United S ates. His hints are valuable. 
 
 The most important point to be observed in order to have a tight roof is, to 
 use well-seasoned sheathin -. If it is longued and grooved, so much the bet- 
 ter. Have it well nailed. The best material to cover your roof with is a'ate, 
 if it is a steep roof. In the northern section of the United States and the Can- 
 adas, it is well to put a layer of felt on the sheathing before slating, as it wil! 
 
Appendix. 165 
 
 pr&vent the suow in M-inter and the rain in summer irom driving under the 
 slates. In t/ie Middle States metallic roofing stands well ; but In the extreme 
 South and North the expansion and contraction are so great, that it is alraoBt 
 impossible to have a tight roof, and it is only by giving them a coat of paint 
 every other year that they answer at all. Copper, zinc, galvanized iron, and 
 tin are the metals required for roofing purposes. Within a year or two, corru- 
 gated galvanized iron has been introduced on many of the government build- 
 ings, and has generally proved satisfactory. Its great cost will, however, ex- 
 clude its extensive use among private buildings, as slate is better and costs 
 less. One of the many improvements in the construction of buildings, at the 
 present day, is the iidaptation of ihe flat roof in place of the old-fashioned pitch 
 roof The many advantages gained in the number of better ventilated rooms, 
 Instead of the little, hot chambers of the old style, are so obvious, tliat no 
 other argument would seem to be necessary to insure its universal adaptation, 
 to say nothing of its great advantage in case of fire in the immediate neighbor- 
 hood, or its use in a crowded city. 
 
 Perhaps one word in regard to the many difl'erent "patent roofing" materials 
 now before the public may be of service. We have paid some attention to the 
 merit claimed for each, and can safely recommend one, and that is " Warren's 
 Improved Fire and Water-Proof Eoofing." This article has stood the test of 
 time, and is considered by many of the best architects and builders a beiter 
 article for flat roofing than any metal. All insurance c-.mpanies insure build- 
 ings covered with this roofing at the same rate as slate. 
 
 We have recently had an opportunity to examine some extensive warehouses 
 in New Orleans, which have been covered with the roofing some five years, 
 and it is apparently as good as the day it was put on. The fact that it ha? been 
 extensively used in the North and the Canadas, for many years, adds greatly 
 to our confidence in its intrinsic value. Eecollect this fact— you can never have 
 a tight roof, no matter what you cover it with, unless you use well-seasoned 
 sheathing boards, and have them well nailed. 
 
 G. 
 
 HOW TO BUILD CONCRETE HOUSES. 
 
 The following excellent practical directions are from the pen of Mr. D. Eed- 
 mond, of Georgia, editor of the Southern Cultivator and appeared originally 
 inZ?/e Illustrated: 
 
 1. Location, c^c- Select, if possible, a dry situation, and tret all heavy mate 
 rials, such as rock, sand, lime, gravel, etc., on the spot as early in the season as 
 possible, say by the first or middle of May, in order that you may avail yourself 
 of the long, warm days of summer for successfully carrying on your operations. 
 
 2. Materials. — The proper materials are lime^ Hand, coarse and fine gravel, 
 large and small rock, and water. The lime may be from any good, pure lime- 
 Btone that will slack readily, and "■ seV or harden thoroughly when dry;* the 
 
 • The lime used by us is of a peculiar quality, tnown In re as "hydraulic 
 
\G^ Appendix. 
 
 rand should be sharp, and as free from clay, loatn, and other earthy naatter u 
 possible; and the gravel and rock may be of atiy size, from that of a boy's 
 marble up to eighteen inches or two feet square, according to the thickness of 
 your walls. 
 
 3. f oii7idt/fio7i.— Having fixed on your plan, lay off ihe foniuhit on, and dig 
 a trench two feet wide and two feet deep, the area <.r full size of your outer 
 wall. With a heavy piece of bp.rd wood, squared or rounded at the lower end, 
 pound or ram down the earth in the bottom <.f this trench, g)ing over it re- 
 peatedly, until it is soli<J and compact. A layer of hydraulic cement mortar 
 two inches thick, spread evenly over the bottom of the trenches thus compact- 
 ed, gives you a solid f lundation to start on, as soon as it. "ifi-s" or becomea 
 hard. If you intend carrying up inside division walls of concrete, the founda- 
 tion for these should be laid in the same way. Good hydraulic cement will 
 take at least three parts of sharp sand ; but it must be used as soon as mixed, 
 or it will "sei" and become useless. 
 
 4. Frame and Boa'iii:'. Cut common 3x4 scantling tw.. feet longer than you 
 wish your highest story to be; set up a double row, with the lower end resting 
 firmly upon the edge of the hardened cement in the bottom of the trench ; 
 range them true and " plumb" them, lettinir them s'and three or four inches 
 farther apart than you desire your wall to be in thickness; then nail cleats 
 across, above and below, to keep them in place, adding also "stays" or 
 " braces," driven slantingly into the ground and nailed to the scantling at the 
 upper end. Your skeleton or frame- work of scantling being all set up and 
 "stayed" firm and "plumb," proceed to arrange your "boxing" for holding 
 the concrete and keepin-- the walls in shape. This is done by cutting soun<J 
 inch or inch-and-a-half plank of ten incht-s or a foot vvide, so as to fit inside of 
 tlie two rows o' scantling and form two sides of a box. Movable pieces the 
 thickness of the wall are dropped in between, at intervals, to keep the box of 
 the proper width, aud wedges driven in between the boxing and the scantling, 
 on the outside, prevent spreading by the pressure of the concrete. Wooden 
 "clamps" to slip down, here and there, over the upper edges of the boxing, 
 will also be found very serviceable. 
 
 5. Mixing Concrete, Laying up, etc.— li will be well to have at least four 
 large mortar beds, one on each side of the hous •, made of strong plank, in the 
 usujil way. These should be sui rounded by casks of water (o-l c.sks cut in 
 two are excellent , piles of rock, sand, gravel, etc.— tl,e lime, of course, to be 
 kept under cover, and used as wanted. 81 ck up your lime until it forms a 
 thin, smooth, creamy mass, then add four or five parts of clean, S' arp sai.<l, 
 stirring and mixing constantly, and using water enough to bring the whole, 
 when tlioroughly mingled, to the consistency of a thick batter. Into th^s " bat- 
 ter" mix c larse and fine gravel (that has i)reviousIy been screened) until the 
 mass is tlilck enough to be lifted on a common shovel. [The pro|)er and 
 
 lime" -not the cement, w i h is, al-o, (.'ten cmIIci! " hy«lraui'<'." It ni;iv l-.e 
 iih'.aitK'd from the qiiarrv of Kt-v. C. \V. !I .n-iinl, Km--s!i);i. Cjiss roimty, Ca. 
 Hut ;;■ ic.d eo.iiinoM liir.f\vi;i aMswrr, wlicr,' th;- " ii\ '.r.i:ilic" can nut lie had. 
 
Appendix. ^^^ 
 
 (borough mixing of the sa.id with the lime, and the gravel with the mortar 
 afterward, is very important, and should only be intrusted to your most careiul 
 hands.] Having one or two - beds" full of this mixture, you :.re ready to begin 
 your wall. Wheel the mortar to the foundation in eommon railroad wheelbar- 
 •ows, letting the common' hands shovel itinto the b^.ttom of the trenches, while 
 the superintendent or -boss" workman spreads it evenly with his trowe 
 When the bottom layer of mortar, three inches thick, .s laid in, wheel lurge 
 and sma 1 rock (previously sprinkled with water) to the wall, and press it int« 
 the soft mortar at every available point, leaving a small space between each 
 piece of rock, and working the soft mortar against the plank boxing, to pre- 
 ierve a smooth surface on the wad. When you can press no more rock into 
 :he mortar, pour another layer of the latter over and through the rock, then 
 add a layer of rock, as before, and so on, until your boxing all round is full. 
 You have now ten inches or a foot of wall, all around, built; and if the lime is 
 good and the weather dry, it will be hard enough in U enty four hours to raise 
 vour boxes another tier. This is readily done by knocking out the wedges be- 
 tween the plank and -he scanting, raising up the planU and su^tamlng it in 
 place by " cleats" nailed on the scantling. In raising the boxing, begin at the 
 point where you commenced laying up the day previous, as that portion of the 
 wall will, of course, be the hardest. It is not necessary to raise all the boxing 
 at once, or go entirely round the wall in a das . A foot or a yard of the wall can 
 be completed at a time, if advisable ; but if the complete round can be made, 
 so much the better. Planks to cover up with, in ease of a sudden shosver or 
 when a storm is apprehended, should be provided, and placed withm reach. 
 
 6 Ceneral Detail-^, Floors, Windoic, Doors, etc.-Vfe prefer a cement floor 
 for the basement, on many accounts; but those who desire a wooden floor 
 should leave air-holes in the outer walls, under the lower floor, six inches 
 above the surface. This may be easily done by inserting wedge-shaped blocks 
 or pins through the wall, to he knocked out afterward. When jou are ready 
 to lay the floors, level up your walls, and run one course of brick all around, 
 the thickness of the wall, for the ends of the flooring-joists to rest on-filhng 
 in around these ends with concrete, when they are fixed in their proper places. 
 The door and window frames should be made of three-inch yellow pine, the 
 lull thickness or width of the walls, and may be set up and built around, like 
 those in a brick house, as the wall progresses, x piece ot common inch plank, 
 "cut in" all around them, to prevent the actual contact of the damp mor ar, 
 will keep them, in a great measure, from warping. Whore base-boards are 
 .eeded, blocks of scanning may be built in flush with the inner surface of the 
 wall, at the proper distances apart. 
 
 IT. 
 
 PRACTICAL HINTS BV A BlILDKK. 
 
 1. ne Roo/.-^o roof should project less than one foot-it may pr.»ject M 
 ra.uli as \on like up to two fei-L 
 
168 Appendix. 
 
 Too often, at present, in the commoner kind of country houses, the roof-boarda 
 are cut off even with the sides and ends of the honse, and the shingles allowed 
 to project only half an inch ! What happens ? All the rain that falls upon it 
 runs over the entire surface of the house, discoloring the paint and washing it 
 away. 
 
 2. Windows. — There should be a bold projection over each window, instead 
 of the single inch which the cap, so called, is now generally allowed to extt-nd 
 beyond the casing. The slight projection furnishes no protection to the sash, 
 which is continually washed by the rain, and prematurely decays. 
 
 The casings or dressings of the windows are generally too narrow. They 
 should never be less than three and a half inches, and may be wider if you like. 
 Let the head or top piece be an inch and a half wider than the sides. One and 
 a quarter inches is the proper thickness for all outside casings. For caps, one- 
 and-three-fourth-inch plank (one-and-a-half-inch will do) should be used. 
 They should be six inches wide. Reduce one edge to the thickness of an 
 inch. Nail the cap upon the edge of the top casing, and against the frame of 
 the house, and it will form a bold and eflBcient projection. 
 
 8. Gutters. — Let the ends of the rafters come out flush with the side of the 
 frame. To these and to the plate are nailed the brackets, cut from one-and-a- 
 quarter-inch stuff, which are to support the gutter. The brackets should pro- 
 ject one foot, and be lined with inch boards for trimming. The outside must 
 be covered with dressed stuff of the proper style. There must be a frieze or 
 margin, running the entire length of the house, under the gutter, and also on 
 the gable. It may vary in width, on different houses, from ten to twenty 
 inches.—^. Blauve t. 
 
 SPECIFICATIONS FOR COTTAGE. 
 
 See Figs. 20, 21,22, 23. 
 
 Size, Height, etc.— For all dimensions and the general arrangement, reference 
 ia to be had to the plans and elevations (pp. 59-61). Cellar to be 5* 
 feet high 3 feet below ground and 2} above. First floor to be 8 feet in 
 height, clear, and the attic TJ feet, clear, with 5^ feet breast-work. 
 
 Digging.— The digging includes the cellar, trenciies for the foundations, and 
 a water cistern 5 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep. 
 
 Stone Work.— Trenches to be filled with good stone. Sills for cellar win- 
 dows to be blue stone, 2 x 10 inches. 
 
 Brick Work.— Cellar and found.ation walls to be 8 inches thick. The fire- 
 places and the top of the chimney above the roof to be of hard brick, 
 laid up in good sharp sand and lime mortar. Walls of the cistern to be 
 4 inches thick, laid in cement, the s'des and bottom to be well cemented. 
 
 Plastering.- All rooms, landings, and closets to be lathed, scratch-coated, 
 browned, and whitewashed. 
 
 fiMBEi' —Sills to be 4 X 9 ; first tier of beams, 2x9; posts, 4 x 8 ; all to be o/ 
 
Appendix. 169 
 
 white pine. Enter-ties, 4x6; second tier of beams, 2x8; filling in, 
 studs, braces, and rafters, 3x4; all tobeof hemloclv. Cellar beams, 1 J x 4 
 spruce plank. Beams and rafters to be 2 feet from'centers ; studding, 16 
 iuclies from centers. 
 
 Rooks. — To be lathed with IJx 2 spruce strips, and covered with 2 feet cypress 
 shingles, laid 7 J inches to the weather. 
 
 Inclosing.— To be done wiih pine boards f Inch thick and about 8 inches 
 wide, nailed horizontally to studs, with 1^ inch lap. 
 
 Pautitions.— All partitions to be set with 2x4 hemlock strips, 16 inches from 
 centers. 
 
 Furring.- Hemlock furring strips to be used between the beams. 
 
 Floous.— These are to be laid with 1^ inch mill-worked spruce plank. 
 
 Staiks.— The stairs are to have IJ inch pine trees, li inch strings, and 1 inch 
 risers, with plain, small balusters, and hand-rail of boxwood. 
 
 Doors.— The doors for the first floor to be li inch shingle-faced panel, and 
 those of the attic to be IJ inch battened; all to be well hung, and pro- 
 vided with rim locks, except the closet doors, which are to have catches. 
 
 Windows.- To have the usual li inch plank frames, U inch sashes with im- 
 proved catches, and to be glazed with plain American glass. 
 
 Blinds.— All the windows to have plain Venetian blinds 
 
 Painting.— Two coats of white lead or zinc paint to be put on to all the outside, 
 and inside work generally painted. 
 
 General.— Inside doors and window casings to be 4j inches wide, with back 
 moldings to first story. Gutters to be of tin (3i inch), with proper lead- 
 ers. For details of outside cornice, trimmings, porch, etc., consult a 
 builder or architect. 
 
 J. 
 
 HOW TO BUILD BALLOON FEAMES. 
 
 The following is a report of some remarks made by Mr. Solon Robinson be- 
 fore the Farmers' Club of the American Institute, and first published in the 
 New York Trihune of January ISth, 1855: 
 
 Mr. Robinson said : At our last meeting I made s^me remarks, whfch were 
 followed by others, upon the subject of "Balloon Frames" of dwellings and 
 other public buildings, a slight sketch of which I published in The Tribune, 
 not deeming it important to enter into the minutiae of hours to make such 
 i)uildings. I find that I did not appreciate the importance of the subject, for 
 I have received a score of letters and personal inquiries from various parts of 
 the country, showing that a great many farmers would like to know how to 
 build a farm-house for half the present expense. I therefore ask the imlul- 
 gence of the Club, while I start a balloon from the foundation and finish it to 
 the roof. I would saw all my timber for a frame-house, or ordinary frame 
 outbuilding, of the following dimensions: Two inches by eight; two by four; 
 two by one. I have, however, built them, when I lived on the Grand Prairie 
 
 8 
 
170 Appendix. 
 
 of Indiana, many miles from saw-mills, nearly all of split and hewe<I stuff, 
 making use of rails or round poles, reduced to straight lines an 1 even thickness 
 on two sides, for studs and rafter!-. But sawed stuff is much the easiest, though 
 in a timber country the other is far the cheapest. First, level your foundation, 
 and lay down two of your two-by-eight pieces, flatwise, for sidewalls. Upon 
 these set the floor-sleepers, on edge, thirty-two inches apart. Fasten one at 
 each end, and, perhaps, one or two in the middle, if the building is large, 
 with a wooden pin. These end-sleepers are the end-sills. Now lay the floor, 
 unless you design to have one that would be likely to be injured by the weather 
 before you get the roof on. It is a great saving, though, of labor, to begin at 
 the bottom of a house and build up. In laying the floor flrs% you have no 
 studs to cut and fit around, and can let your beards run out over the ends, 
 just as it happens, and afi^r'vard saw them off smooth by the sill. Now set up 
 a corner post, which is nothing but one of the two-by-four studs, fastening the 
 bottom by four nails; make it plumb, and stay it each way. Set another at 
 the other corner, and then mark off your door and window places, and set up 
 the side studs and put in the frames. Fill up with studs between, sixteen 
 inches apart, supporting the top by a line or strip of board from corner to cor- 
 ner, or stayed studs between. Now cover that side with rough sheeting boards, 
 unless you intend to side-up with clap-boards on the studs, which I never 
 would do, except for a small, common building. Make no calculation about 
 the top of your studs; wait till you get up that high. You may use them of 
 any length, with broken or stub-shot ends, no matter. When you have got 
 this side boarded as high as you can reach, proceed to set up another. In the 
 mean time, other workmen can be lathing the flrst side. When you have got 
 the sides all up, fix upon the height of your upper floor, and strike a line upon 
 the studs for the under side of the joist. Cut out a joist four inches wide, half- 
 inch deep, and nail on firmly one of the inch strips. Upon these strips rest the 
 chamber floor joist. Cut out a joist one inch deep, in the lower edge, and 
 lock it on the strip, and nail each joist to each stu''. Now lay this floor, and 
 go on to build the upper story, as you did the lower one ; splicfng on and 
 lengthening out studs wherever needed, until you get high enough for the 
 plate. Splice studs or joist by simply butting the ends together, and nailing 
 strips on each side. Strike a line and saw off the top of the studs even upon 
 each side— not the ends— ai.d nail on one of the inch strips. That is the 
 plate. Cut the ends of the upper joist the bevel of the pitch of tiie roof, and 
 nail them fast to the plate, placing the end ones inside the studs, wliich yon 
 win let run up promiscuously, to be cut off by the rafter. Now lay tlic garrei- 
 floor by all means before you put on the rnof, and you will find that you have 
 saved fifty per cent, of hard labor. The rafters, if supported so as not to be 
 over ten feet long, will be strong enough of the two-by-four stuff. Bevel the 
 ends and nail fast to the joist. Then there is no strain upon the sides by the 
 weight of the roof, which may be covered with shingles or other materials— 
 the cheapest being composiiion or cement roofs. To make one of tliis kind, 
 take soft, spongy, thick paper, and tack it upon the boards in courses like 
 •hingles. Commence at the top with hot tar and saturate the paper, upon 
 
Appendix. 171 
 
 wUch Hift evenly fine gravel, pressing it in while hot— that is, while tar and 
 gravel are both hot. One coat will maice a tight roof; two coats will make it 
 more durable. Put up your partitions of stuff one by four, unless where you 
 want to support the upper joist— then use stuff two by four, with strips nailed 
 on top, for the joist to rest upon, fastening altogether by nails, wherever tim- 
 bers touch. Thus you will have a frame without a tenon, or mortice, or brace, 
 and yet it is far cheaper, and inciilculably stronger when finished, than 
 though it was composed of timbers ten inches square, with a thousand auger 
 holes and a hundred days' work with the chisel and adze, making holes and 
 pins to fill them. 
 
 To lay out and frame a building so that all its parts will come together, re- 
 quires the skill of a master mechanic, and a host of men, and a deal of hard 
 work to lift the great sticks of timber into position. To erect a balloon-building 
 requires about as much mechanical skill as it does to build a board fence. Any 
 farmer who is handy with tlie saw, iron square, and hammer, with one of his 
 boys or a common laborer to assist him, can go to work and put up a frame for 
 an outbuilding, and finish it off with his own labor, just as well as to hire a car- 
 penter to score and hew great oak sticks, and fill them full of mortices, all by 
 the science of the " square rule." It is a waste of labor that we should all lend 
 our aid to put a stop to. Besides, it will enable many a farmer to improve his 
 place with new buildings, who, though he has long needed them, has shud- 
 dered at the thouglit of cutting down half of the best trees in his wood-lot, and 
 then giving half a year's work to hauling it home, and paying for what I do 
 know is the wholly useless labor of framing. If it had not been for the knowl- 
 edge of balloon-frames, Chicago and Sim Francisco could never have arisen, 
 as they did, from little villages to great cities in a single year. It is not alone 
 city buildings, which are supported by one another, that may be thus erected, 
 but those upon the open prairie, where the wind has a sweep from Mackinaw 
 to the Mississippi, for there they are built, and stand as firm as any of the old 
 frames of New England, with posts and beams sixteen inches square. These 
 remarks were confirmed by the testimony of other members present, who tes- 
 tified to having adopted the mode of framing referred to with entire success. 
 
 K. 
 
 CISTERNS. 
 
 On this important subject we can not do better than copy the following article 
 from the "Annual Register of Rural Affairs," for 1855: 
 
 "The great value of an abundant supply of water to houses and barns, and 
 which may be easily had by providing capacious cisterns, renders it Import- 
 ant that the cheapest, best, and most convenient mode of construction should 
 be adopted. The two all-essential requisites for underground cisterns are, 
 good hydraulic lime and a supply of clear, pure sand. These must be selected 
 from experience or trial, or by choosing such as have already proved eflBcient 
 fc)r this purpose. Good hydraulic cement will, in the course of a few months, 
 become as hard ns sandstone. 
 
172 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 Fig. 124. 
 
 " When this hardening process does not lake place, il must be jutributed to 
 bad materials, or to intermixing in wrong proportions. On the latter point, 
 gome are misled by adopting the practice employed in mixing common, lime 
 
 mortar, the hardest ma- 
 terial resulting in this case 
 where the sand constitutes 
 
 about five sixths of the 
 whole. But the hardest 
 uater-Ume mortar can not 
 be made if the sand forms 
 much more than two 
 thirds of the whole. 
 
 "A very common and 
 cheap form for the cistern 
 is, to dig a round hole into 
 the ground with sloping 
 sides, somewhat in the 
 form of a narrow-bottom- 
 ed tub, and then to plaster 
 immediately upon the 
 Section. garth (fig. 124). Unless a 
 
 slope is given to the sides, the mortar can not be made to keep its place while 
 »oft, as it is nearly impossible to find a soil dry and hard enough to retain the 
 plastering by simple adhesion. The t p of this kind of cistern must therefore 
 be wide, and consequently difficult to caver very large ones effectually and sub- 
 stantially. The covering 
 is usually made of stifl"and 
 durable plank, supported, 
 if necessary, by strong 
 scantling, and over this is 
 placed about one foot of 
 earth to exclude complete- 
 ly the frost, A hole with 
 a curb about eighteen 
 inches by two feet, must 
 be left in this covering, for 
 the admission of the water 
 pipe or pump, and to al- 
 low a man to enter for 
 cleaning out the cistern 
 when necessary. In cold 
 or freezing weather, it is 
 indispensably requisite to 
 have this hole stopped, to 
 exclude frost, which would otherwise enter the wet cement or walls, and pro- 
 duce cracking or leakage— a frequent cause of the failure of water-lime cisterns. 
 " Th*e is the cheapest form of such reservoirs, but a better, more capaciouR- 
 
 Section. 
 
•^ F F E NT T' I .V 
 
 j7.q 
 
 and more durable mode, is to dig the hole with perpendicular sides in the form 
 of a barrel, and build the walls with stone or brick, to receive the plastering 
 (fig. 125). In consequence of its circular form, operating like an arch, these 
 walls will not be in danger of falling if not more than half the ordinary tliick- 
 noss of similar walls. For large cisterns they should be thicker than for small 
 ones. The walls should be built perpendicular until about halfway up, when 
 each successive layer should be contracted so as to bring them nearer togotlier, 
 in the form of an arch, reducing the size of the opening at the top, and ren- 
 dering a smaller covering necessary. If the subsoil is always dry or nevei 
 soaked or flooded with water, tlie walls may be laid in common lime mortar, 
 and afterward jdastered on tlie inner surface with the cement. But in wet sub* 
 soils, the whole wall should be laid in water lime. If the bottom is hard eartii 
 or compact gravel, a coating of an inch or two may be spread immediately 
 upon the eartli bottom ; but in other instances, the bottom should be first laia 
 with flat stone, or paved with round ones, the cement spread upon these. 
 
 " The plastering upon the sloping earth-walls, as first described (flg. 124), 
 should never be less than an inch thick, and if tlie earth is soft it sliould be 
 more. On the stone or hard brick walls (flg. 125), half an inch will be thick 
 enough. Cisterns can rarely, if ever, be made free from leaking, without giv- 
 ing them at least two successive coats— and three will be safer ; the previous 
 coat in each instance being allowed to become dry and hard." 
 
 A filtering cistern may be made as follows : 
 
 "Make a partition (tOin the cistern, dividing it into two portions. This 
 
 S. 120. 
 
 partition is pierced at the 
 bottom with several aper- 
 tures. A low wall (&) is 
 built up on each side the 
 partition, and a few inches 
 above the top of the aper- 
 tures. 
 
 " The open space between 
 these low walls (c) is filled 
 with charcoal broken fine, 
 and with gravel — the latter 
 being on top. The water is 
 
 Section. 
 
 ccmducted into one apartment, and may always be drawn up bright and clear 
 from the other. The accompanying section, to which the letters have refer- 
 ence, may help to make this account more intelligible."* 
 
 Another plan is thus described by the same writer : 
 
 "A cask holding perhaps a hundred gallons is placed by the side of the 
 larger cistern, and quite near the surface of the ground. An aperture in its 
 bottom, over which is si'< ured a large sponge, is connected by a good-sized 
 pipe of wood or clay with the main tank. A third part of the cask is now 
 filled with the c'aarcoal and gravel ; the conductor from the house is led into 
 it, and the thing is complete. 
 
 * Village and Farm Cottager 
 
174 Appendix. 
 
 " This mode is not only as easy and as cheap as the other, but has this great 
 advantage, that the fliterer can be often and readily cleaned, while in the 
 other case, it is necessary to remove all the water and to go down deep in 
 order to accomplish the work." 
 
 L. 
 
 A CHEAP ICE-KOOM. 
 
 A farmer communicates the following in Life lUuHtrated : 
 
 " I send you my experience. I partitioned off the northeast corner of my 
 wood-house, which opens to the west, and is 25 feet wide. Tiie ice-room is 
 about nine feet square; is clap-boarded on the studs on tlie north and east, 
 und lined on the inside, leaving the four-inch space between empty. On the 
 south is an incb'board partition, just tight enough to hold saw-dust. On the 
 west I slip in boards like bars, any height I wish to pile my ice, and leave the 
 upper part open, just as is convenient. This is my house. 
 
 " Into it, on the ground, I put from six to ten inches of saw-dust, then put 
 iu my ice one foot from the partition on every side, packing it in as closely a9 
 I can, and in as large blocks as I can conveniently handle. 1 then fill the 
 spaces next the partitions with saw^dust, and a good <lepiii (say one foot) over 
 the top, and it is done for the year. 
 
 " t have practiced in this way two years past, and had all 1 wanted for dairy 
 and other uses, and to give to ray neighbors. 
 
 " The whole cost of making is 300 feet of hemlock boards, a few nails, and a 
 half a day's work. Neighbor farmers, try it. Almost any other location is u 
 good aa this." 
 
INDEX 
 
 a.nclent Log (3abln 
 
 Architecture, Fundamental Prin- 
 ciples of 
 
 " Style of. 
 
 Architectural Finery 
 
 Additions, Plans for 
 
 Attic Eooms 
 
 Ash and Smoke House 
 
 Apiary 
 
 B. 
 
 Building for Show. 
 
 Barns 
 
 Bee House 
 
 C. 
 
 Concrete 
 
 Chimneys 
 
 Cottages of One Story Defined. 
 
 " Story-and-a-Half " . 
 Cottage, Southern 
 
 " Plan of Cheap 
 
 " " Small 
 
 " An Italian 
 
 " English Plan 
 
 " Suburban * 
 
 " A Gothic 
 
 " A Symmetrical 
 
 " A Semi-Southern. . 
 
 " " Fruitland" 
 
 " Square 
 
 " Swiss 
 
 Country House, Stone 
 
 " Church 
 
 Circular House 
 
 " Barn 
 
 Church, Country 
 
 D. 
 
 Details, Miscellaneous. 
 
 Drainage .. 
 
 Doors 
 
 60 
 
 129 
 150 
 
 68 
 
 71 
 
 79 
 
 ^6 
 
 95 
 
 89 
 
 153 
 
 92 
 
 136 
 
 153 
 
 E. 
 Errors and Absurdities 
 English Cottage Plan. . 
 
 F. Pa"» 
 
 Fundamental Principles 14 
 
 Farm House, Model 100 
 
 " " Plan of 102 
 
 " Houses, Remarks on 99 
 
 G. 
 Garden House 152 
 
 H. 
 
 House, Origin of 9 
 
 " Meaning of 12 
 
 " Extempore 56 
 
 House-Building 14 
 
 Hexagon Plan 47 
 
 I. 
 
 Ice-House 147 
 
 L. 
 
 Log Cabin 46 
 
 M. 
 Materials 28 
 
 O. 
 
 Octagon Plan, S. H. Mann's 83 
 
 " Villa l-.'5 
 
 " Barns 132 
 
 " Poultry House 143 
 
 " Piggery 145 
 
 P. 
 
 Plan, Adoption of 19 
 
 Painting 40, 55 
 
 Paper, Wall 41 
 
 Plans for Three Rooms 48 
 
 Parsonage 75 
 
 Play House 151 
 
 R. 
 
 Rooms, Arrangement of 22 
 
 Roofing 42 
 
 Rough-Cast 42 
 
176 
 
 Index. 
 
 t'AGM ( 
 
 Rats in Cellars 55 , Trees, etc. 
 
 Round Ilouse 92 
 
 S. 
 
 Site, Choice of 16 
 
 Style of Architecture 25 
 
 Stucco 42 
 
 Southern Cottage 49 
 
 " House 79,83 
 
 " Villa 118 
 
 Stone Country House 89 
 
 Swiss Cottage 95 
 
 Side Hill Barn 138 
 
 Stables 141 
 
 'Smoke House and Aahery 146 
 
 Speaking Tubes 61 
 
 Bchool House 156 
 
 V. 
 
 Ventilation 36, 67 
 
 Verandas 51 
 
 Vi 
 
 Ua, What is it? 105 
 
 ' Small Italian 106 
 
 ' Brick KiS 
 
 ' Gothic Ill 
 
 ' Picturesque 114 
 
 ' Southern 118 
 
 ' Octagon 125 
 
 W. 
 
 Warming 
 
 Water Closets 
 
 
LOAN DEPT. 
 
 fiCC'D CO APR p 1 '7o 
 
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GENERAL LIBRARY -U.C. BERKELEY 
 
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