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HAND-BOOKS BY THE SflME AUTHOR.

 

EDUCATIONAL.

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and Letter Writing, with Hints on Penmanship and Writing Materials, and
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H() W T0 '1‘ ALK : A NEW POCKET MANUAL of Conversation and
Debate, with Directions for Acquiring a Grammatical and Graceful Style
and more than Five Hundred Common Mistakes Corrected.

Price, paper, 30 c. ; cloth, 50 cents. .

HOW TO BEH AVE 3 A NEW POCKET MANUAL of Republican
Etiquette, and Guide to Correct Personal Habits; with Rules for Debating

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HOW 1‘0 DO BUSINESS 3 A NEW POCKET MANUAL of
Practical Affairs and Guide to Success in Life; with a Collection of Business
Forms, and a Dictionary of Commercial Terms, etc. Price, paper, 30 0.;
cloth, 50 cents.

 

R U R A L .
'I‘H 1:} HOUSE ; A NEW POCKET MANUAL of Rural Architecture; or,
How to Build Dwellings, Barns, Stables, and Out Dwellings of all kinds.
With a Chapterb’n Churches and School-Houses.
Price, post-paid, paper, 80 c. ; muslin, 50 cents.

THE GARD EN : A NEW POCKET MANUAL of Practical Horticul-
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THE FARM : A NEW POCKET MANUAL of Practical Agriculture; or,
How to Cultivate all the Field Crops. With an Essay on Farm Manage-
ment, etc. Price, paper, 30 c. ; muslin, 50 cents.

DOM b STIC AN [MA LS : A NEW POCKET MANUAL of Cattle,
Horse, and Sheep Husbandry; or, How to Breed and Rear the Various
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In Preparation.

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THE HOUSE:

A POCKET MANUAL

 

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4% 311ml grnhitttturc:

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0R7 HOW TO BUILD

, COUNTRY HOUSES AND OUT-BUILDINGS;

EMBRACING

TIE ORIGIN AND HEANING OF THE HOUSE ; TEE AR'. 01“ HOUSE-BUILDING, INCLUD‘
ING PLANNING. STYLE, AND CONSTRUCTION; DESIGNS AND DESCRIPTIONS 0F
CUTTAGI".5, FARMOIIOL‘SES, VILLAS. AND OUT-BUILDINGS, OF VARIOUS COST
AND IN THE DIFFERENT STYLES OI“ ARCHITIuJ'I’URE, ETC., ETC.; AND
AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING RECIPES FOR PAINTS AND WASHES,
STL'CCO, ROUGH-CAST, ETC. ; AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR ROOFING,

BUILDING WITH ROUGH STONE. UNBL’R." l‘ BRICK, BA‘LLOON
FRAMES, AND THE CONCRETE OR GRAVEL “'ALL.

A-
With Numerous @rigiual 13131115,
DESIGNED BY 1". E. GRAEF, ARCHITECT, AND OTHERS. .
BY THE AUTHOR OF “ THE GARDEN,” “ THE FARM,” ETC.
W ‘ l:
Until common sense finds Its way lnm architecture, there can be little hope {or IL—RUBKIN.
C WWWW
N t 111 Y 0 r h z
, . FOWLER AND W ELLS, PUBLISHERS, ,.
g.“ No. 308 BROADWAY.

. 1859.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

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affix \/ \

Barnum), ACCORDING TO ACT or CONGRFSS, IN True mec 1859. m

FOWLER AND WELLS,

IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNIMID
STATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRJCT OF NE“? YORK.

 

Du'ncs Ash Romans, Stereotymn,
113 Nassau Street, New Yovt

 

 

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‘ W" I

PREFACE.

IN this country everybody builds a house—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-
fusion 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 here 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
oceasion 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.

 

vi PREFACE.

The plan and execution of our work will speak for themselves.
We are fully aware of its imperfections, but hope a generous pub-
lic will not allow them to blind their eyes to the merits which it
will, we trust, be acknowledged to possess. We leave it, with
full confidence, in their hands.

In the department of design we have been aided throughout by
Mr. John Crumly, a competent and reliable architect of this city,
whom we take this occasion to recommend to our readers.

We are also largely indebted to Mr. F. E. Gracf, Architect, 56
Wall Street, New York, whose designs, duly credited in the body
of the work, will not fail to command general approval for their
beauty and perfect adaptation to their purpose. Mr. Graef is a
man of practical knowledge, good sense, and executive ability, as
well as a thoroughly educated and skillful artist (being a. gradua e
of the Prussian Academy in Berlin), and will, we feel sure, give
entire satisfaction to any of our patrons who may employ him.

 

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CONTENTS.

 

I.—ORIGIN AND MEANING OF THE HOUSE.

The Wigwam and the Tent--The Hut 0! the African—Origin of the Tent—The
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

IL—HOUSE-BUILDIN G.

Fundamental Principles—Fitness or Utility—Expression of Purpose—~Expres-
sion of Beauty—Considerations Influencing Choice of Site——Healthfulness-—
Convenience of Access—Snitableness 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——Ec0nomical View-—
The Circle and the Octagon-—Square Houses— Advantages of Irregularity—
Aspect of Booms—Arrangement of Rooms—Labor-Saving—Convenience—
Coml'ort—Provision for Guests—Using the Best Rooms Recommended——
Sleeping Apartments— Bath-Room—Pantries, Closets, Passages, etc.—Chim-
neys and Stairs—Style of Architecture—Should be the Natural Outgrowth of
the Character, Institutions etc., of a People-No 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-
nation to be Considered—Plan and Size- Materials in their Relation to Style
—-A Hint in reference to Local Truth—Materials—Wood—Stone—Brick—
Concrete—Miscellaneous Details—Ccllars—Chimneys—Modes of Warming

- Houses —The 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

III.—COTTAGES OF ONE STORY.

Preliminary Remarks—A Log Cabin—A Hexagon Plan—Plan for Three Rooms
etc.—A Southern Cottage—Another Cheap Cottage Plan—Plan for Additions
—~An Extempore House—Es!imates—VerandasuPlans—The Scale—Doors,
etc—Bats in Cellars—Outside Painting—Bath—Booms .................. 45 ,

 
 
   

 

 

(«'3

5;.
f.

CONTENTS.

IV.—-STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES.

Preliminary Remarks—Plans for a Small Cottage—An Italian Cottage—An
English Cottage Plan—Building for Show—A Suburban Cottagev—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. Mam s
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 i3

VI.——FARM-HOUSES.

What a Farm-House Should be——Mr. Graef’s Farm-House—A Farm-House
Plan ........ . ........................................................ 99

VIL—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
I’oultry-House——A Piggcry——An Ashery and Smoke-House—An Ice-House
-——An Apiary—A Play-llousc-—A Rustic Garden-House. ................ 129

IX.—CHURCHES AND SCHOOL-HOUSES.

A Village Church——A Choice of Elevations--A School-House—Remarks.. 153

APPENDIX.

Building with Rough Stones——}Iollow Walls—Building with Unburnt Brick —
Dr. Buchanan on Cellars-~Recipes for Paints, etc.—Rooflng——Concretc or
Gravel Walls—Specifications—-Balloon Frames—How to Build Cisterns—A
Cheap Ice-Room. ............................... t ..................... 159

 

A..._._4.A_.__.I A 4A

31'", .

L‘ " ‘a.

THE HOUSE.

1.
BRIGIN AND MEANING OF THE HOUSE.

Much of the character of every man may be read in his house.—Dming.

I.—THE WIGWAM AND THE TENT.

.; $3 S “the groves were God’s first tem-
‘ ‘a ples,’ ’,so undoubtedly, were they
I the earliest dwellings of man. fhe 5
7 dense foliage of the trees afforded

. protection againstLthe too fervid

rays of the noonday sun, and their

hollow 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, in the Eden—like climates of the East.

where the race is supposed to have originated, probably sat-

isfied the wants of the men of the first ages.

At a later day, and in a less genial climate, dwellings were
constructed by cutting down trees and placing them, in a circu-
lar form, with their tops leaning against each other and fasten-
ing them together, branches being interwoven and the inter-
stices filled with clay. Of this description is the Wigwam of ,
1* ’,

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  

 

 

5W; ..

10 I 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 ":3.
two or three feet high for doors, 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 I
tents, 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,

.uu‘a'é' , “M1?"

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 '

     
 

 
 
  

first dwelling of this kind is nowhere recorded. However
' long ago that event may have occurred, the foundations of the

>——__I'~_\~

ORIGIN 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 tkegne 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 caves 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 asa
chamber.” ,

The Normans introduced little change in the genér 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-houses

. ouncil

   
 

5

ti

     

    

     

' 12
to the reign of Henry III., notwithstanding painted glass for

,,..ff.,.v.1, ,e _ '-. $1.,

THE House.

church Windows was not uncommon in the twelfth century.
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 tastes
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,

.ilackifng 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 on 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 b‘axon thcgne, 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, tire-Rural Gothic, are nothing more than expressions of

national character which have, through long use, heeomc per-

manent, Thus the gay and sunny temperament of the south of

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 excludethe air; and chimneys constructed _
only to carry off 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 '1'
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--
cumstauces, 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
read in his house. If he has molded its leading features from '
the foundation, it will give a flew 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 IIOUsE.

II.
HDUSE-BUILDING.

lie who Improves the dwellings of a. people, in relation to their comforts, habits, and morall,
makes a benignant and lasting reform at the very foundations of society—Villa» and Farm

I.-—FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES.

AVING traced the dwelling-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,
proceed to lay before the reader afew
practical hints and suggestions on the
general subject of house-building. These
hints and suggestions will necessarily be
briefly expressed; but their importance
must not be measured by the space they
occupy.

We have little to do here with the
theory 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 User—In erecting a building of any kind,
the first thing to be considered, and the last to be lost sight of,
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 different. For the same reason, a country
residence should not resemble a city dwelling, and a farm-

 

HOUSE-BUILDING. 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 this principle of fitness, or adaptation
to use, lies at the foundation of all satisfactory house-building.
It will be more fully illustrated as we proceed.

2. Expression of Pumose.——But it is not enough that a build-
ing be planned with‘ strict reference to the uses to which it is
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 as 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 temple, 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.” London 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, build fitting habitations
for yourself and family; and, second, let this fitness be clearly
expressed in their external fiatures.

3. Manifestation of Beauty.— A house may be strictly
adapted to its uses and clearly express its purpose, and yet be a

  

- v: ,3!

 

 

.. W14}:

1*. a?

  

16 THE HOUSlE.

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
sentiment—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 belcharacter-
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. Healthfulnem—No combination of advant‘wes 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 fatal. 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 uu
healthful, being continually damp and chilly.

Elevated grounds in the immediate vicinity of extensive
swamps and marshes, especially if in the direction of prevail-
ing winds, are liable to be quite as much afi‘ected by the mala-

HOUSE-BUILDING. 17

rious air as the low grounds themselves, and should be shunned
for the same reason.

Next 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 water is universally
“hard” or limy, rain water properly filtered should be used
for drinking and cooking, as well as for washing.

2. Concenience of Access.—In many cases nearness to one’s
place of business, or to the railwaystation 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 be
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 frequented street on highway,
while another will choose a quiet lane or an out-of-the—way
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 greatly influenced by the nature of the
ground, which must, therefore, always enter into the account.
It sometimes costs more to prepare the grounds for building

 

  

  

    

18 THE HOUSE.

than 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's
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 difficult 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.
London says, that of all varieties of hilly surface, the most (le—
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

4 upon) must be considered with reference to this point. A
plain, 10W 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

the 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, eta—A grove or belt of well-grown forest trees, tou
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-
clude 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 all. 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 smallest
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—Abe size and sit-
uation 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

  

es;

 

 

, ., cqu~wgfiyw~f~mf . - v.17 Summit: "7‘,

 

20 THE 110st.

upon the ground. If this course be not adopted, serious and
expensive mistakes are almost sure to be made, and money
wasted in needless alterations. 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 villa 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 consideration.

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 you 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 plan too largely. Depend upon

* Gervnse 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.

3. Having decided what sort of a house is best adapted to
your site, and what amount of accommodations 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 which
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 ofl'er 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 will exactly suit individual cases; but we 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 shall 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 advantages and disadvantages, we give plans of
octagon houses in another chapter.

0. S. Fowler, in his “ Home for All,”< has advocated this form
with an earnestness which could only come from thorough
conviction of its superiority over all others. To that work we '

 

* Published by Fowler and Wells; price, 87 cents.

 

 

 

22 THE House.

must 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. Aspects—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 Rooms.—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 offer a few hints for general appli-

 

- 3‘ ‘74- , - «1v . . -qr_,~~-;--» "jrgajswfiwl :-~r*v- 't'Z‘rvvmww-KWVWW “

HOUSE-BUILDING. 23

cation. Onr ideas on this point, together with those of other
persons, will be found elaborated in the plans presented in
other chapters. A

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 diflicnlty of getting good servants, and the cares and vex-
ations attending the employment of bad or indifl‘erent ones, ren-
der it desirable for even the wealthy to employ as few of them
as 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 lother. 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

 

g
E
,..

 

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 manner 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 Ilium—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. 25

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 be
avoided, on account of their unpleasant “cross lights.”

IV.— STYLE 0F 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 law; 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

 

,<"r'-"v""‘ ,_ ,1 -_.w _- .7, ., . \fi} --\\r ,

 

 

 

26 THE House.

artistic, and lermanent shape, and the new American style or
styles will receive their birth. In the mean time, we must
borrowand modify as best we may.

The various modes of building now in use, so far as they are
susceptible of classification, may he referred to two original
styles of which they are modifications—the Grecian, in which
horizontal lines prevail, and the Gothic, in which vertical lines
prevail. To 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 well 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
northern 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 differ 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 he 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
:hosen, or harmony with the scenery around. “Rural archi-
tecture,” it has been truly said, “is the creation of a picture

* Downing.

“was .

4%,”

" 'SWMJV"
M A l

 

I

HOUSE-BUILDING. 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 geod.”*

The principle here laid down is violated by erecting a Swiss
shah? t in a low, 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 the 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 equally adapted to each. Variety of form
and profusion of ornament are attained in stone and brick only

 

* Gcrvase Wheeler.

 

 

 

28 l . THE HOUSE.

at great expense. Rural cottages of these materials should
therefore generally be simple in form, and depend for their
effect 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 not
carry your cockneyism into the country. Leave your town
house where it is. It is, no doubt, a very good town 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 Longr 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.— MATERIALS.

1. ”fowl—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 'suiz‘ablcncss 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 wlieirthe time arrives
for building the villa or the mansion (for these castles in the
air, in many cases, ultimately assume a tangible shape on the
solid ground), the projector is perhaps no longer young

 

 

 

HOUSE-BUILDING. 29

Wood will still serve his purpose. Why should he seek a
more enduring material? He will 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 while wood is abundant and comparatively cheap, it
will necessarily continue to be employed by those who must
build cheaply or not at all. Rent-paying is distasteful to our
people, who choose rather to live in houses of low cost owned
by themselves, than to go and come at the heck 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
boarding with inch or inch and a quarter pine, tongued and
grooved at the edges, nailed on, and covered with neat hat-
tens. ‘We think, however, that filled-in walls are to be pre-
ferred. These are made by filling-in a course of any cheap
bricks from 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; some

 

 

30 THE HOUSE.

place the bricks on edge and build them flush with the inside
of the timbers or studs (or, rather, projecting a quarter of an
inch florward). 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 tht
best of all materials for building. In some parts of the country,
however, 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. I

The inner face of the walls of stone houses should always be
“furred ofi‘,” leaving a space of two or more inches between
the solid wall and the plaster. The stratum of air thus inter-
posed will efi‘ectually 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. With 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 afibrded

 

* For an excellent method of building with unhewn stone, see Appendix (A).

 

HOUSE-BUILDING. ,3]

against fire; 5. The opportunity they afford for thorough and
easily controlled ventilation.* When not built hollow, brick
walls should be " I’urred off” in the same way as those of stone.

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 an account of
their construction, condensed from a Report on the subject
made by Mr. Ellsworth while Commissioner of Patents. He
bears the strongest testimony to their cheapness, warmth, and
durabilityi

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, and
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 structures
crumbling to powder within two years.

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 of
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 A pcndix B). 1’ See Appendix ((7).
P

 

 

r? 351%.?»v

     

32 THE HOUSE.

3. The building must be covered by a projecting roof, to
protect the walls against vertical rains

We have 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 of
building concrete walls, and further information may be found
in O. S. F owler’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 redommend.

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 with 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 is
filled with decomposable substances, and whenever air is c011-
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 healthfr Means must be pro
vided, therefore, for their thorough ventilation, or cellars must
be abandoned altogetheni

A cellar, to fully serve its purposes, should be cool in sum-

* Published by Fowler and Wells; price, 87 cents. 1' Professor Youmans.
1 See Appendix (D).

 

 

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, which 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 afurther 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. 0himneys.-——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.1 stood, as they should be by ev— Fig- 3-
ery builder. I ' ' '

The main point to be attend-
ed to in order to cause a chixn- "
ney to draw well, is to con- ,
tract the openings both at the :
throat and at the top, so as , I x
to break the force of any down- /
ward currents of air which
may be thrown into it. Fig.
2 will serve to illustrate the
faulty construction of the throat.
and fig. 3 the correct construc-

   

FAL’LTY tiOD. CORRECT
Consrzvcnox. . ~ Cossmcmmx.
In very wmdy or exp0sed
situations the top of the chimney should be contracted to a
third less than tho area of the flue; but in ordinary cases a

"4
2 .

 

 

 

.sVW—Wv u _v~.« K.

1 "'3' “Ur/”V'N's'pt‘ ~, 2 'ifrfy' 7”,,“ 7911" p .

 

34 THE HOUSE.

diminution of about two inches in the diameter will be suf
ficient.

3. Warming—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, an 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-air 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 tire-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
savmg a few dollars, at the expense of an untold amount of

 

is}:

HOUSE—BUILDING. 35

health and comfort? We must at least put on record here our
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 bya pipe and with several openings near the
top to admit the warmed 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
conflicts 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 acceptance in an
enlightened age and by an enlightened people. They have
not a single advantage, so far as we can perceive, to recommend
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 the 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 we 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 building, 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 abstractors of heat—or, rather, they
furnish a medium through which the cold air without abstracts

 

 

 

 

 

THE House.

the heat from the warm air within. Double windows, by con
fining a stratum of air (a non-conductor of heat) between them,
entirely prevents this loss. Doubling the glass in the same
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 system. 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 difiercnt. The windows and doors
are carefully closed and a fire kindled in the stove or grate.
around which we gather. New commences the transformation
of the life-giving element, with which the room was originally
filled, into a subtile but active and powerful agent 0? disease and
death. The air, chemists tell us, is mainly composed 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 he 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 stove or grate, and of the substances

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 the
midst of which you are living —if it should for a moment he-
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—

? VENTILATIOX, 2&5]

and if you forget everything else in this little book—if you
heed our advice on no other point—remember this injunction:
JVecer build a house, or lire in one already built, 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 introduction of pure air ; and to he sat-
isfactory, both must be carried on without producing injurious
or offensive currents.

The simplest provision for the escape of had 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 thoroughlv

 

 

 

 

y 1

   

38 THE House.

effective, at least while fires are kept up, as .they usually are
during the. winter, when ventilation is most required. An .
Arnot valve is better than a register
3. 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
iron, with an iron‘t:alve so contrived
' that it will remain 6p while there

ARM,“ VALVE. is the least pressure of ul’ 1 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 d ‘aw 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 tolerahly well, where the chimney current
is sufficiently stroxw. Apertures connected with downward

.
,
r
P
r
‘5
i
n"
i
i\\
.
3
‘fi

 

conducting flues, however, are generally more serviceable.

Means being provided for the 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 the upper sash ofa window, but this creates
an unpleasant and dangerous current 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 perforated plate of zinc or a louvre made
of tin, zinc, or glass, with horizontal openings or slats like a

 

'r; ”VI-T 7)T'5~'1. A"

 

HOUSE-BUILDING. 39

Venetian biind; 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 be
practicable. But the best way to introduce fresh air is
through air-chambers connected with the fire-
place or grate, so that it may be warmed be-
fore being thrown into the room. An arrange
ment of this kind, connected Fig.6.

_ with an open fire-place 01"—
grate, is represented by figs. 5
and 6. ,g‘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, b, and passes
into the room by a side open-
ing, as shown ata fig. 6. The
valve for the escape of the .
Cmnn‘EYSieron. bad air is represented by I, CHIMNEY OPENINGS.

 

 

 

fig. 6. It IS better, howev er, 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 fine 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 vertilation depends, as every one purpos-
ing to build a house should do, the rest Will be easy.

* Downing.

 

 

 

40 THE House.

In providing for the ventilation of your house, give special
attention to the nursery and the sleeping-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 fine is absolutely essential to anything like purity
of air in such an underground apartment.

6. Exterior Colon—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 hues 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
ofi'ensiveuess of the color; but even 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 dwel‘-
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 earths, 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, .1 grav

 

 

HOUSE-BUILDING. 41

mixed with 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-buildings.

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 walls 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 dark, 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, eta—Instead of painting
and graining interior wood-work in imitation of oak, black
walnut, or other dark wood, Downing recommends to stain it,
so as to give the efi'ect 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 the 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 t'nts ‘
for a room being only a few cents greater than that of afiwhite-
wash. When walls are to be papercd, colors and patterns
should be chosen with reference to the same principlesllt'

(

a
if.

 

 

 

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 eii'cct is produced by having the ceiling lightest,
the sidewalls a little darker, the wood—work a shade darker
still, 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. Roqflng.—F or 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 surfacesf

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 off 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:

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. Drainaga—Eflicient drainage for the se\verage and
waste water must be provided for in every plan for a country
house. Four or five inch earthen pipes arfliest to connect

 

* Downing.
1‘ See Appendix (F) for something more about roofing materials
1 (E) 5‘ 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. Trees, Shrubs, and Vi7zcs.——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 taste
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 porches, verandas, and windows, are among the most beau—
tiful and appropriate decorations for a cottage; and they are
within the reach of everybody and should be universally em-
ployed. See “The Garden”* for lists of ornamental trees,
shrubs, and vines, and directions for planting them.

VIL—COMMON ERRORS AND ABSUBDITIES.

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 castellaterl villas with towers and battlements of
thin pine boards.

3. Illustrating the G3thic style “run mad,” in wooden cot-
tages composed principally of gables, and looking, Downing
says, as if they‘fiad been “knocked into a cocked hat.”

4. Giving examples of all the principal styles of architecture

 

 

* The Garden: :1 Pocket Manual of Practical Horticulture—the second num-
ber of the series. [Price, in paper, 30 cents; in muslin. 5‘) cents]

   

 

 

44 THE HOUSE.

fin the same house—the roof, for instance, belonging to one style
'7 and age; the doors and windows to another; and the porches

" and verandas to a third. Corinthian columns supporting

Gothic arches! Very fine!
. 5.1mitating a villa 1n a diminutive cottage, and covering it
all over 11 ith fiippei y and “ gingerbread 11 ork.”

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 fine.”

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 walnut in soft pine and hemlock.

10. Surrounding a house in the extreme North with veran- ‘
das or arcades, and building a Southern one without them.

11. Mounting outside Venetian blinds upon a Gothic cottage
or villa. -

12. Building a Swiss clzalét or cottage on a level village
street, 01' 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 homes.

 

 

”VHF n: r

 

COTTAGES 0F ONIISTORY. 45

III.
GDTTAGES 0F ONE STORY.

I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled
Above the green elms, that. a. cottage was neat—Moore.

I.—— PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

 
 
  

in which we shall employ the term,
is one in which the side walls do
not rise above the second floor,
w hich forms, as it w er,e the base of

COTTAGE of one story, in the sense
l
I

When p1operlv constructed, such
cottages me both convenient and
attractive. They favor economy of labor (no climbing-of stairs
being required), and are pleasing and unobtrusive objects in the
landscape; while small houses, carried up two or three stories
in height, although they may be economically built, are far less
conducive to labor saving, and, in the country at. least, present
a most unsightly appearance.

The foundation walls of all low cotta'res should be raised
somewhat above the level of the surrounding giound. 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
mind the wants of small families 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 fact that,
because a cottage may be small and cheap, it need not. there,

 

 

 

if?

46 THE HOUSE.

fore the ugly. Taste need not always necessarily add to ex-
pense, and the expression of beauty need not be lacking even
in the rudest cabin oLshanty.

II.—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

 

PERSPECTIVE Vmw.

parts of the West and South. The plan requires no explana-
tion. Space may be saved by building an outside chimney at
each end, imdwof the central one represented in the plan. In
a. warm clirfiéte 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. Ou' artist
has been rather sparing of them. as also of trees in the accom-
panying design, but they should be supplied in abundance.
They are cheap adornments, and come within the reach of all.
In their proper place, the skill of the best architect can substi-

 

 

COTTAGES OF ONE STORY. ., 47

tute nothing equal—
ly satisfactory.

The leading ex-
ternal feature in
the foregoing per-
spective View is
the veranda. in
front, covered by
the projecting roof.
Its rustic posts 12.0X16.0 5 12.0X16.0
should be covered
with vines, among
which the grape 55., ;
might appropriate—
ly have a place.

'KITCIIEN. . . ' LIVING ROOM.

_ \

X... hasmfihfi'u ., A

.d’

,0

 

. Husk. ."

Gnonsp 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
the center, furnishes
fire-places for them all.
Omitting its fire-place,
the bed-room might be
divided by a partition
in the center, thus giving two small sleeping apartments. .
With plain walls and a flat roof, such a house could be put up

   

KITCHEN.

  
    
    

/L J\

BE!) 8001!, LIVING ROOM.

   

HEXAGOS PLAN.

   

 

 

48 THE HOUSE.

on the prairies or in the forests of the West for a very small
sum; and we do not see how the same amount of accommoda-
tion can be more economically obtained.

IV.——A PLAN FOR THREE ROOMS, ETC.
This excellent plan for a three-roomed cottage is borrowed,
with modifications,
from “Village anl
Farm Cottages” by
Cleveland & Back-
us Brother". It ex-
plains itself; and we
venture to say that
a better arrange—

Fig. 10.

 

 

ment of the same
amount of space can
not easily be de-
vised. A plain but
substantial and plea—

 

 

 

 

A sing little structure
' ' t:: on this plan, with

the inside walls all
neatly papered, a.

 

 

 

PLAN FOF ’l‘nnm: Rooms.
A- Living Room ................. 14.0x 15.0 1”“7 pl‘Q]eCtng I'OOf,

 

B—Ilall . 6.0 x sun . .- ,
e- Bed Room .................... 1-2 0 x 16.6 “"d 1mm hoo‘lb
llflKltUlll‘ll. .................... l2). 0 ?\ 14:1.“ U \'c!- the “vindO‘VS,
E-Weod Room .................. 7.0 x 5.0 . J
F—Lanndry .................. 6.0 x 8.0 would cost, 111 this
G—Cvlosets .......................

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. It“ a cellar
should be required, it might be under the kitchen, and entered
from the wood-room.

ESTIMATES.—Tlle circumstances on whit-h the cost ot'a house
will depend vary so greatly with time and place, that estimates
made without a knowledge of these cirmm‘istanees are only use

 

COTTAGES OF ONE SrORY. 49

ful as a basis of comparison and calculation. Where estimates ft
are given in this work, they are calculated for the vicinity of
New York, and based on the following valuation:

Timber ...................................... at $20 00 per 1,000 feet.
Rough boards ................... . ............ “ 20 00 “ “

Good lumber (planed) ........................ “ 22 00 “ “ “
Bricks ....................................... “ 6 00 “ “

Nails ......................................... “ 05 “ lb.

Glass ......................................... “ 4 00 “ box.
Carpenter‘s work ............................. “ 1 75 “ day.
Mason's work ............................... “ 1 75 “ “
Common labor ............................... “ 1 00 “ “

Whenever‘the cost of labor and materials is greater or less
than that given in the foregoing table, the proper-allowance

must be made.

V.—A SOUTHERN COTTAGE.

This differs Widely from all our previous designs, and indi-
cates its adaptation to a different climate and different social

Fig.11.

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

customs and habits. Its principal features are the veranda,

which extends on all sides, and the broad hall running through

the center. This hall furnishes access to every room, and facil-
3

 

50 THE HOUSE.

itates a free circulation of air through the house. The living-
room and the large bed—room may change places, Where the sit-
uation and aspect render. such a change desirable. The bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. Fig. 12.
O 0 '0 , O O . .
I I .
3:0 ROOM E l 350 ROOM
/2 X /3 8 x: X A? o
‘5; HALL
‘ O
0 C 2,; —
- SINK l g
7. rr.
PARLOR LIV/N0 ROOM
0
/6‘.6‘X/8 /5 X I23
I I O
o o o o o o g

 

 

 

PLAN or A Sou-mans COTTAGE.

Window adds much to the 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 difi‘erent parts of the
South. Built of wood, as represented in our perspective View,
from $650 to $7 00 would perhaps be an average estimate.

COTTAGES OF ONE STORY. 51

VERANDAS.*—-The veranda is an essential feature of the South-
ern 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 in-
closed on the north side, forming small rooms under its roof, as
shown in fig. 52. There should be ventilating hooded aper—
tures in the rOOf Of the 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.
-—'.
3 ’ ’4 Fig. 14.
-
.9 X /0
BED ROOM
KITCHEN /0 x /5 ‘9 X ’4
/3 x m l'". J
— —
O
I
”J
1 __
PIRLOR : / X
‘ /6 x ,7 ———— 5 l7
0
l I I
£11st FLOOY. PLAN. SECOND FLOOR PLAN.

cormmicntly 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 veranda is Often improperly called a piazza. Thé latter
ls prop-Arly a more solid structure, and is defined as “ a continued archway or
vaulting supported by pillars."

 

 

‘ ‘3

 

«'wuwlm—«mwv —:'{|13|""r."“ ‘ u

   

52 THE HOUSE.

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 land-
ing of the stairs. This will allow the attic to be divided, as
shown by fig. 14.

 

Domes—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
privacy.

VIL—A PLAN FOR 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

”is

s—

{v

COTTAGES OF ONE STORY. 53

roof he may have two small attic rooms above, reached by a stair-
case afterward to be removed. A lean—to, comprising the adj oin-
ing bed-room, may be cheaply erected, and is soon added. The

Fig. 15.

 
    

RITCHEN
IS I [5

 

 

 

 

 

DINING ROOM
[5 X 22 o

 

 

LIBRARY PARLOR
IJ 1’ A56 /5.X IZO‘

 

 

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

kitchen, another lean-to, is next; built, and the house becomes
a comfortable and convenient one for a small family. Our
friend can now wait several years, if necessary, before building

 

54 THE HOUSE.

the main edifice, represented on the plan by the black lines; in-
terposing in the mean time, if he chooses, another story 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.

  
  

/0.9X //

BED ROOM
/0.91 //.6‘

 
   
 

 

 

 

 

 

   

BED ROOM
/3 X /5.6‘

  

SECOND FLOOR PLAN.

sufficient. In this case, there would be a door at a, and a hall
and staircase (for which there is ample space) at b, as repre-
sented by the dotted line. There is supposed to be a cellar
under the dining-room and kitchen, the original part being en-
tered at first only from the outside.

The second-floor plan shows four rooms besides a bath-room,

 

COTTAGES or ()NE STORY. 55

and ample closet accommodations. There should be a balcony
at B, although not so represented in the plan.

This plan will admit a Gothic elevation, but is, perhaps, rather
better adapted to the Italian style.

 

PLANS.—D€Sll‘lng 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. '

 

Scum—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 perfect-
ly efectire, 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
house is late in the fall, as the paint hardens better and lasts
much longer than when put on during the summer.

 

RATS IN Gremlins—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 below the
bottom of the cellar, and pi'qfectiug 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 EXTEMPORE HOUSE.

On the prairies and in the forests of the great West the
“squatter,” or claimant ofpre-emption right on the government
lands, throws up a little cabin or shanty as one of the conditions
on which he is to make his claim good. It is an ertempore
affair, 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 and home-like an ex-
terior as that represented below.

Fig. 17.

    

A Wrsunx COTTAGE.

 

 

STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES. 57

IV.

STORY-AND-A-lllLF COTTAGES.

Home: for household comfoit bulk—May.
I.—-PRELIMINAB.Y 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 usually
have either dormer or low, short win-
dows in the sides. They afford hand-
some and commodious chambers and
among the best and most economical
of small. cheap houses, the additional ex-
pense 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 FOR 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 I THE HOUSE.

entered from the lobby or hall, and also communicating with the _

kitchen. One chimney suflices for both. The lean-to part,
extended beyond the kitchen, affords space for the cellar stair-
case, a passage to the back entrance, a room for fuel, etc., and
a large closet or pantry. The stairs by which the second
floor is reached commence in the kitchen, the first two steps

Fig. 18. Fig. 19.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST FLOOR PLAN. SECOND FLOOR PLAN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 sim-
ple elevation, 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, 56 Wall Street, New
York, from whom we give several other designs, and whom
we can confidently recommend to any of our patrons who
may wish to obtain the services of a thoroughly educated,
competent, and faithful architect. '

This design is simple, and requires little explanation. A
cellar under a part of7tlie house, as shown, will be found sufl

 

my; v,

 

STORY-AND-A—HALF COTTAGES. 59

ficient. It is mude easy of access from the kitchen, and
should an outside entrance be required, it may be had at a

Fig. 20.

DD

 

FRONT ELEVATION.

small additional expense. The first story has a main and
back entrance, the former covered by a porch; a parlor; a

Fig. 21.

 

E211) ELEVATION.

living-room; a kitchen of good size; and ample closet accom-
modations. ,.

nu'l‘he kitchen part of the hofise, 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.

Fig; 22. The attic, or second floor,

affords two fine bedrooms,

V with closets, and a useful
open garret.

The peculiar feature of
this design is the one
chimney, which answers
for all the rooms. The
fine 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
stovepipe hole, connecting also with the
chimney by passing under the stairs.

      
     
   
 

CELLAR
13X18

CELLAR PLAN. This cottage can be built for $595; or
if inclosed With clear, narrow clap-boards, for about $16 more.
Fig- 23- As an example to

='E—I'::i

show the form of

 

such a document,
we give in the
Appendix (I) Mr.
Graef‘s specifica-
tions for such a

 

cottage.

BUILDING rm:

 

Snow.’—We often
or build to gratify the eyes of thr‘
public than our own, and fit up.
14X” our dwellings to accommodate

 

“company,” or visitors. rather
than our own families; and in the

 

 

indulgence of this false notion, sub—

 

Fmsr Freon me. ject ourselves to perpetual ineon‘

 

 

STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES. 61

venienee for the gratification of occasional hospitality, or osten-
tation.—-L. F. Allen.

Fig-‘24- SPEAKING TUBES.—
1...; Speaking tubes may be
‘ introduced with advan-
tage into all houses, espe-
cially those of more than
$6325"? I? one story. By their means

i a sort of telegraphlc com-
! munication may be kept
i

 

i
l

BED ROOM
14x15

 

 

up between the kitchen
and other parts \of the ~
house. They are particu-'
larly useful in the dining-room and family

 

LAND°
L_l

 

 

8513320” 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 other in the connected

 

 

 

apartment. Their cost is trifling.
IV.-——AN ENGLISH COTTAGE PLAN.

The first—floor plan of this design is modified from one found
Fig. 25.

 

WA SH
ROOM

 

 

_, gin-1— {
i 1

K/ TCHf/J
47 GIN/:70 900M

/2 I /5
A 2 ’ I4

._,.I

 

 

 

  
   

PAHLOF
/4 x /4

 

 

 

FIRST-FLOOR 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
with equal interior accommodations. Many will consider the

Fig. 96.

 

 

  
  
           
    
 

 

T 350 ROOM
) m 1 I2

BED ROOM
' /2 r 14

‘I

 

i.‘

BED BOO/VI
I4' /4

 

Sncosn FLOOR PLAN.

superior beauty of such a building a full compensation for the
extra expense.

The bath-rooom, 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 fine 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 ad ‘antage.

V.—A SUBURBAN COTTAGE.

This design represents a small, but Comfortable and con—
venient house for a family requiring but a‘inoderate amount of
space. As shown, it is better adapted for a village or subur~
ban residence than for a thrill—house, but with a little change

in its plan would answer well for the latter.

 

.

STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES. 63

Fig. 27.

' [fig

i" -~ Ems-c0-

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.
On the first floor an ample hall (7X 13) furnishes access to a
good-sized parlor (13X 17) and a convenient kitchen (15X 15)

Fig. 23.

 

:: 6% x 10.

WASH ROOM
1? 8 x 10.

 

 

 

Prawn—13 x 17.

 

 

7x13
L

 

 

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

(which will also serve as a diningwoom), with a large pantry
and a wash-room attached On the other side'nf the kitchen

 

64 THE HOUSE.

or dining-room is a eommodious family bedroom (12X15),
with a fire-place and two large closets. The height of wall in
this story is 8 feet. Fig- 29-

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 SECOND F L001: PLAN-
parlor and hall. It is 4g feet excavation and 1g. 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 ell
part. If designed for a farm-house, the wing might be extended
in the rear, so as to furnish the additional 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 larger
ones, without at all interfering with the general arrangement.

11§x12 111x12

 

VL—A SMALL GOTHIC COTTAGE."K
This is another of Mr. Crruet"s dosigns, and shows an admir-
able arrangement of accommodations for a family of six or seven
persons.
The rooms on the first floor may all be used in connection,

-_._, .-_.‘. ._- ,m ”an“ .,-___“.. . . . . . , ,. .,—_. _.

" F. E. Gnu-f, Architect, 56 Wall Street, New York.

 

 

STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES. 65

Fig. 30.

    

Fnbx'r ELEVATION.
or each separately, as may be desired. Thus, if the kitchen be
used as a dining-room also, as is often the case in houses like
Fig. 81.

 

um: ELEV Anon.

 

 

66 THE HOUSE.

:1
Fig. 3‘1.

 

DINING RM. V KITCHEN
I [2.6XIG ‘ ISXIS

Stan

 

 

lalAZZA

 

PARLOR
I4X19

 

 

FIRST FLoon PLAN.
this, the npurtnwnt (lcsigxmtcd as a dining-room may be used
as the family bedrmnn.

Fig. 33.

ED RM.
6X9.6

 

Ssmx n Fumn PLAN.

STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES. 67

If desirable, the two main bedrooms on the second floor may
communicate in the same way as the parlor and dining-room
below. There is a good-sized cock-10ft 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 he 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.

 

ATTIC Rowrlill 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.

 

ARCHITECTURAL FmERY.——“ 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 poi-
ished fender.”—-Ruslcin.

 

A NEW METHOD OF VENTILATon.——A syphon ventilator,
applicable to the ventilation of houses, ships, etc., has lately
been patented in England. The principle of the invention

 

 

68 THE House.

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 while 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.
VIL—A SYMMETRICAL COTTAGE.
This is a house of greater pretension, in reference to style.
and of higher cost than either of the preceding. its symmet-

Fig. 34.

 

Pnusrscrfvn VIEW‘.

rical form. handsmnc porch, and ample verandas give it an ex-
pression of elegance cmnhined with convenience and comfort.

 

STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGES. 69

The various apartments on the first floor are compactly and
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 6 c in the plan. If re-
quired for a farm-house, a lean—t0 might be cheaply added in
the rear, affording a dairy—room, wash-room, and other needed
accommodations. The parlor might be improved, at a moderate
expense, by the addition of a bay Window.

Fig. 35.
C
KITCHEN
12 x 14.
C .

Dmnm Boon

Panes—14 x 16. 14 x 16.

 

 

 

 

 

F1251 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; or 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.

    

BEDROOM

 

 

BEDROOM
14 x 16.

BEDROOM
14 x 16.

 

 

 

l7><10

SECOND FLOOR PLAN.

 

 

l
I
!
_J

 

which 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 woolens
should, 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
rightly managed, is very convenient.

STORY-AND-A-HALF COTTAGEe. 71

VIII.—A SEMIoSOUTHERN COTTAGE
This is a house well adapted to the Middle and Southern
States, although for the latter a veranda should be thrown

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

around the front and sides. The design of the elevation is a

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 33. borrowed one. The annex-
' ' x K ed plans were designed in
G l ' adaptation to it by John
H Crumly, Architect, New

'r _ York.

-r K a Nil 1

53-313 A—I’wo ption Rtmm,... 9.0x11.6
B—Con ervatury ....... 9.0x11.6

C —Dining Room ........ 181w 25.0
D—_Parlor . ........... 1*." x 25."
' E—Hall ................ 8.6 wige.

F—l’antry .............. 5.0 x .0
G—Kilchcn ........... 13.5 x h."
H—Breal<fa.~t Room ..... 11.0 x 13.6
X— Store Room ......... 4.6 x 9.6
K—Closets ............. 4.6 wide.
L—Back Hall ...........

 

 

The two small rooms
marked A and B, in the
1mm FLOOR Pug. first-floor plan, which com-

 

 

 

 

72 THE HOUSE.

municate so conveniently both with the hall and with the ad-
joining rooms, form a peculiar feature in this plan. In a vile
lage or suburban dwelling they may be made to minister to

Fig. 39, use as well as to beauty,
whether their office may
be such as we have indi-
A—Dressing Ronm.. 9.0x11-0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B— Boudoir. . . 8.6 x 9.0
C—~Dressing Room 9.11 x 1L6
D— Bed Ruom ......... 11.0 x 18.0
E—Hali .............. 8.6 wide.
F—Bed Room. ........ 120 x 25.0
G—Balcony ..........

H—Bed Room ........ 11.0 x 18.0

 

”‘7 I—Closets. . .
' J~Cedar Closet .......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

G — i K— Bed Room“ .. . . 13.6 x 15.0
\‘ L—Bath ........

-- M—Bed Rooms” . . . . . .11.6 x 13.6

N—Back Hall ......... 4.6 wide.

O—Lumber Boom . . . . 4.6 x 9.6

C B A cated or not. The broad

7 and unobstructed front

I I hall, running quite through

SECOND FLOOR PLAN- the main building, is ex-

pressive of breathing space, fresh air, and summer 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 bedroom, 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 feet to the inch.

HOUSES OF Two STORIES. 73

HOUSES OF TWO STORIES.

Here the architect
Did not with curious skill a pile erect
0f carved marble, touch, or porphyry,
But built a house for hospitalityt~azrew

I.—A GOTHIC COTTAGE.

Fig. 40.

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.*

VI‘HIS 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-

 

* Designed by John Crumly, Architect, New York.

4

 

 

74 THE HOUSE.

some gable, and its grouped chimney stacks, give to this house
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.

W000 ROOM M

J

L
rt;

S TORE PINTRY
I? 0 0M

 

 

 

 

E KITCHEN
/2 x /4

 

L

 

   
  
  
  

SITTING ROOM
/2 I I4

L IBRXIRY
[2 x /4

 

l;

 

PARLOI?
M 2’ l4

{1de /

«20

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

The arrangement 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 suiz‘e 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 \\ ell as a pace for fuel. If the house should be built on a

House‘s 0F Two STORIES. 75

farm, the milk-room would occupy a part of the room just
mentioned, the wood-shed being extended beyond.

011 the second floor we have four fine sleeping‘rooms and a
bath-room, each with its separate entrance from a hall or pas-
sawe The front bedroom, with its fire-place and its balcony,

Fig. 42.

C .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

rc-I /5x/4 _ T —

 

 

  

SECOND FLOOR 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.

IL—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 a layman.

T wo-story frame houses, with accommodations such as this
all'ords, and with handsome and substantial finishboth out-

* 1’. E. Gracf. Architect, 56 \Vull Street, New York.

 

 

:
."
. : («.AMS'H'JA mm

176 THE HQUSE.

Fig. 43.

 

FBOXT 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

Fig. 44.

 

SIDE ELEVATION.

 

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 the second floor;
and a handsome outside appearance, the whole to cost not
over $2,200. Here was a somewhat difficult problem. The
accompanying plans and elevations show how successfully Mr.

Fig. 45.

 

 

K IT CHEN
l5Xl6

 
 
 
  
   

 

  
 

DIN IN G RM.
|4X18

SITTING RM.
I5XI6

 

-Fmsr i’Eon 7P;AN.
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-
cess7 both from the inside and the outside. Besides the rooms
shown in the plans‘ two bedrooms might be had 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.

 

  

 
  

BATH RM.
7X|3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEcoxn 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
studdings are buck-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.—“ FRUITLAND” COTTAGE.
The accompanying design represents a house erected at
“ F ruitland,” near Augusta, Georgia, by D. Redmond, Esq., one
of the editors of the Southern Cultivator. It is a. concrete or

Fig. 47.

PERSPFX TIVE VIEW.

gravel-wall building, and the mode of its construction may be
found detailed in the Appendix. Mr. Redmond appends to
the design the following remarks:

"The most obvious requirements of a Southern country
house arefiample space, shade, and mutilation. Where land is

 

* Mr. Graef will be happy to furnish working drawings of this or any of his
desgns. should they be required.

 

 

80 THE HOUSE.

abundant and cheap, the ground plan should be so extended as to
get all the room needed as near the ground as possible, and
avoid the fatiguing ascent of high flights of stairs. On any

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig. 48.
'. ____._ __l _. _ I—~—-I
H SR. ' I
IBXIB
P.
l8Xl2 _.9
4.x
3
T ‘—B—— . I
0.9..
zone | c_ .
zone
I t I
I I I I I I

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

11., hall, 53 x 10 feet; D. R.. dining-room, ‘3‘ x18; 1’., pantry, 1‘3 x12. adjoin-
ing the dining-room; S. R., store-room. IS x 18, next to pantry; 0., oflice; B.,
bath-room; D., dairy, 18 x9; F. L, fruit-room.*
proper location, where the land is high, dry, and airy, a base-
ment entirely abate the surface, with one story above that, for
parlor, sleeping-rooms, etc., will be found well adapted to the
wants of a moderate 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 use general lumber-room,
or a servant‘s bed-room.

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 jz‘ {Hess 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 7 9 is upon a pic‘

Fig. 49. 7

 

 

o 9.52. J,
18x14
’fi
I
EB.R. i

IBXIS

OJXES'H
W

i

LP.
2|X|8

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SECOND FLOOR PLAN.
11.. hall. 53 x 10 feet; L, library. ‘21 x 18 ; B. 12., B. R., B. R., three bedrooms,
respectiVely 18 x15, 15 x 14, and *8 x 11 ; P., parlor, 21 x18; P. B. R., parlor bed-
room, )8 x 15; 0., 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 commands a
4*

25.

-.~-

 

 

82 THE Honsa‘.

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, oflice, bathing-room, fruit-room, and ice-house—in
short, all the working 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 basement floor is raised sewral
inches above the suoface, 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, .

oflice, etc., are built of concrete, one foot thick, but all the
partitions, above and below, are lathed and plastered. Two
chimneys afi‘ord six fire-places, with fines for stove-pipes, etc.
The windows are large, and so hung on sprj s that the upper
sash can be let down and kept in afireytgtion, for ventila-
ting purposes. The roof is ‘hipped,’ or our-sided, and covered
with the best cypress shingles.”

t as “an

“:14

Ho ISES OF Two STORIES. 83

IV.—S. H. MANN’S OCTAGON PLAN.
This plan 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.
|-='=q§1
El
KITCHEN :—
1$X153 3
K lll‘lltl‘ 1mm:
PANTRY “XVI: _ """""""""" '
em: 9 o -
‘BATH c mums ROOM H
“MD 6X6 n X16! STOREmuvR

 

    
   
 

. M "~ 6X 15 5

C.HALL ;

NURSERY 7H 16%
15 X .13 FAMILY PAKOR '
15x15 » 5

DRAWING ROOM , l
LIBRARY hIWA‘MY o
' 15"X 25 I ....... ;'
15 x 1:. , “13'5an A

,/

    

   

 

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 Vi—A SOUTHERN 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

4‘ x?

p

 

 

 

gm; FEE: .mzahlnmso: zsfiiscm 4

 

 

 

 

.w .M. k

HOUSES OF Two STORIES. 85

Fig. 52.

 

 

 

     

I I
z; DIN/MG
. En ROOM
5
E 15 x 2'0
3

LIBRARY

         
 

 

PARLOR

 

 

 

 

I :5 X It!

I
' I
I. u!

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST I‘Loon PLAN.

spacious, 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 modi-

 

 

Fig. 53.
i E ‘
DRESS/NJ; c554}, / ' i"
am ; I
EIL'EOOM
ll. 6‘! I8

  

BED RJ’IM

 

Ill-.5 115

All/057147

 

BEL? ROOM
l2.o‘x )5

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Szcosn FLOOR PLAN.

86 THE HOUSE.

fied by omitting the wing, carrying the veranda to the rear,
and inclosing, if desired, the space now occupied by the arcade.
The disposition of 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 modifi-
cations as the necessities of climate and materials seem to ren-
der necessary, and presents a handsome and characteristic‘ap-
pearance. It was designed under our directions by Mr. John
Crumly, Architect, of New York, who will furnish working
drawings, specifications, etc., if desired.

VI.-— A SQUARE COTTAGE.

The accompanying plans and elevation represent a medium-
sized two-story house, so divided as to combine convenience

Fig. 54.

 

“Ann; 5’ to

PERSPECTIVE Vii-1w.

with economy of space. The main part of the house is exact-
ly square, giving more incloscd space for the amount of wall
than any other rectangular form. A hall extends through the

 

HOUSES or Two STORIES. 87

house, from 1111ich doo1S open from each 100111, thus securing a
free circulation ot air. , 11‘i11do11s in the pa1lor and
dini11<r-roo111, as 11 ell as the v'erundas 111 f1011t and 1",ea1 although
1"e11 desir,ab1e 11111 be diSpensed 11 ith if it be 1equi1ed to build
fol the S111nlleS't poSSible 511111.

 

Fig. 55.

FAMILY ROOM

[2 1’ I5
DINING ROOM

l2X/6'

PARLOR

/2X/4
LIBRARY

//X/2

 

 

Fer FLOor. PLAS.

On the first floor we have a parlor (12>(17), a living-room
(12X 14), library (12X 11), a dining-romn (12X 16), and, in the
wing, a kitchen (12 X14). If wanted for a farm-house, adairy~
room can be added to the kitchen.

‘88 :THE Hovsn.

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

    

SECOND FLOor. PLAS.
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 6.} 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 121; inch
_ thick; closet doors, 1% inch—all paneled. Inside casings to
have back-bands and back-moldings, except to closets.

HOUSES OF Two STQRIES. 89

The estimated cost, including marble mantles toall 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.

VIL—A STONE COUNTRY 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.

350 n. 00M KITCHEN
m 1 A5 H

l

 

'iLu

DIN/N0 [MUM

 

 

Fmsr FLoor. PLAN.

through another. They are lighted by a window over the front
door and by having the bedroom door half sash.

The second story has the same general plan as the first, giv-
ing live 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 persons may be differently situated, so they might desire
some changes in the general plan, which can be easily made
Without interfering with the rest. A wing, projecting either

Fig. 53.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/.5’x /5.6‘

 

S ecoxn FLOOR PLAN.

to the rear or the side of the kitchen, for pantry, wash-room,
dairy, or whatever may he 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 with 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.

 

 

 

E. 3.1»

3:37.: 03.23: =ccz=|_.m=mvnn:4m «Saint—.2 flu. _

41;;

 

92 THE HOUSE.

VIII.—A CIRCULAR 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 and their houses should be represented in it.

Fig. 60.

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

Very few persons, we presume, will desire to build a circu-
lar house, although it is the form, as geometry demonstrates,
in which the greatest possible space may be inelosed by a giv
en amount of wall; but for the oddity of the 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 circular house, in many respects quite original in its
plan, was erected by Enoch Robinson, Esq, at Spring Hill,
Somerville, Massachusetts. No timber was used in its con.

 

 

HOUSES OF TWO STORIES. 93

struction. The walls are made of plank sawed on a circle of 40
feet (the diameter of the house), nailed together, one above 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, en-
tirely 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
frontentry 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

Fig. 61.

  
  
  
 

DINING-R605].

_~ 5. I Tl ‘1”? N.

>-
E PARLOR.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

chimney and the kitchen and dining-room closets, so arranged
as to occupy very little room.

On the second floor are seven chambers, two of them quite
large, all opening into a pleasant rotunda, 13 feet in diameter,
beneath the central skylight.

 

i
l
l
l
1
1
1

 

r
i

 

94 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 FLOOR PLAN.

manship, this building was erected at an expense much less
than that of a square house erected in the ordinary way.

 

ORNAMENTING THE Boon—A good effect is produced on
the steep roofs of Gothic houses by cutting the shingles in cer-
tain 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 Ishingles must he of
good quality and uniform width and thickness. These orna-
mental shingles may also he used with good effect instead of
boards, for the outside covering of wooden cottages, forming a
warm and durable wall.

 

HOUSES OF Two STORIES. 95

IX.—A SWISS COTTAGE.*

This design, like most others representing 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, there-
fore, aimed to retain the general character of the style merely,

Fig. 63.

‘El

murmu-

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

and to produce an effect as little removed from that of the
original clmlét as the circumstances permit.

The plans require little explanation. A cottage of the di-
mensions of this ought 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-
lnl‘ 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
separate entrance, from the ou't‘Side, through the sink-room.
A cellar under a part of the house would be sufficient.

* F. E. Graef, Architect, 56 Wall Street, New York.

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.

 

 

    
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

559”" BED/1'!
7 ll]
- . /
"' . i l ‘ .‘..:::'.",'.'.
HALL I1"l""$l
I My ‘
Cl
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3: 5‘ l 1 i
.3 I\
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‘ 15x /7 ,7 x [a a an: mm an PGOM
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..
Loss Y
6 I I2 :1, 0855: Raou
L 6 X /6
PofiL‘H - :
Huron/,1
FIRST FLOOR PLAN. SECOND FLoox 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. J. Thonuzs.

 

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,
lwu‘m‘cr, must he ssillfully planned in order to avoid dark and

Fig. 66.

 
      
     
    
  
 
      

WRSH.
R.

   

9x9 WASH
R.

  

9X9.

    

KITC H E N.
KIT CHEN.
l5Xl8.G.

   

K9488.

  

BREAKEAST

8,3xl05 ’ R
15x15,

  
 

 
       

SITTING.
R.

   
 

SITTING .
PARLOR. R. PARLOR.

|5X20.

IZ.BXIS,€-.

 

    

ISI'QZU. Z.6Xl6.6.

    
 

VERANDA. VERANDA

I-‘msr FLOOR PLAN.

hmlly ventilated rooms. The acompanying design, we think,
Meets the requirements of such a house in a very satisfactory
manner. and is ofi‘ered with confidence to persons desiring to
build two dwellings in one.

It will he seen that the two houses, although similar in their
general Ii-atures, are considerably 'aried in their details. We

* John ('rnmly, A rz-hiteet, New York.
:3

98 THE HOUSE.

find the same rooms in each, but their sizes, forms, and rela—
tions to each other are different. For instance, on one side
we have the parlor and breakfast—room arranged en suite,
with sliding doors between them, while on the other they
merely communicate by means of common doors. The sitting-
rooms also difi'er in form and size, and so on. This gives per-
sons purposing to adopt such a design a choice of plans, as
FM 6.“.

CL

BED R

ISXIS

DRESS
R

CL

 

SECOND FLOOR PLAN.

both houses may be built like the right~hand plan, both like
the left—hand plan, or each difi‘ering from the other, as shown.
The two houses afi'ord 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.

 

FARM-HOUSES. 99

VI.
FARM-IIUUSES.

Between broad fields of wheat and com,

15 the lowly home where I was born ;

The peach-tree leans against the wall,

And the woodbine wanders over all.—T. B. Read.

I.—PRELIMINARY REMARKS .

“an. r 7.2;:

   
 
  

ONVENIENCE and comfort are the first re-
quirements of a farm-house; but there is no
reason here, more than in any other sort ofi‘
l residence, why regard should not be had to beauty of ex— \
‘2: ternal features. The farmer may properly have as hand—1
. 1" 501110 a house as the village lawyer or doctor, and in its
general f Jutures 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 oflices, the addition of a milk-room, etc.—may
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 of such buildings. 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 the construc-
tion 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. We
should have reference to labor—saving, then, in every arrange-
ment. To these ends we hope our plan will furnish useful hints.

IL—LA 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. 6

£1)

 

Fxoxr ELEVATION.

dition in life. ‘For less expensive farm-houses, almost any of
our cottage designs, with slight alterations, will serve.

 

*‘ F. E. Graef, Architect, 56 Wall Street, New York.

 

rfiéa, ./ . _,,

 

FARM-HOUSES. 101

The prominent features of this design are its great extent on
the ground, compared with that of the second story; com-
pactness in the arrangement of the rooms; and the comparative

 

SIDE ELEVATION.

prominence given to the kitchen and its ofiices; all of which
promote the saving of labor and indicate adaptation to the

uses of a farm-house.

The front hall and back hall, with their respective entrances,

are separated, so that the
()l' sitting-room (according
to the use which may be
made of it), may always
be kept clean and free
from unnecessary contact

with the every-(lay work '

of the house; While the

hack hall serves for all the '7.”

n umnon u ses of the house—
hold. At the same time
the ventilation and cool—
ness of the whole in sum-

mer is secured by opening ,

front hall, parlor, family bedroom,

Fig. 70.

   

_“”’L 1 71mm!

 

 

  
 

 

KiTCHEN
u
LIVIM‘. Roan

 

   

 

155(18

 

 

 

PARLOI
ISXEX

 

 

 

 

FIRST F LOOP.’ PLAN.

the th ( r by which the halls communicate. The kitchen, dairy,
and other donmstic ofiices. it will be seen, are admirably situ-

102 THE HOUSE.

ated in reference to the back hall and entrance. The second
or attic floor affords four bedrooms, all of which are provided
Fig. 71. with large closets, and
_...n__._,,..._r__._-- _._, may be warmed.
The exterior presents
a decidedly rural appear-
ance, and indicates the
character of the house
ataglance. Its veranda.
f—fi porch, bay window, and
curved roof with dormer
windows, give it an ex-
l, pression by no means
\; commonplace and quite
A r TIC . picturesque.

SECOND FLopn PLAN. 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 separa—
ted 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 means of a door where the
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

FARM-HOUSES. 103

of the bedroom, or by omitting the store-room. Connected
with the kitchen fire-place is an oven, which, in our hum-
ble opinion, no cooking Fig. 72.

 

    
 
  

 
  
    
 
   

 

stove or range yet in- W!“ ’5”ng 1"?
vented renders useless. wo/ex swap
[#0
. In
In the mug, the pantry, rpaLHcUSE “RR/‘05" 3-3
. ' u 2/8 I2 we EN
milk-room, vash-room, m
bath-room, and privy

 

are conveniently arrang-
ed. Beyond these, and
separated from them by
the wood-shed, are the “Eli’mw
piggery, workshop, sta- c:-
ble. etc. fl-mll' 1
The main building “SM/’0"
should be two stories in mm mm, 7
height, and the wing at 1
story and a half. We PAW"

 

 

 

- l
onnt a second floor
1 ' ' ' s c
pl in, “inch may ea ily ii K/r HEN l “MOW
be arranged from this, MU“

   
  

which we give rather
as a hint or suggestion
than as a finished de— '
sign.

L3 . '
vaquH
01.1: {ours—When— ‘ . . . .
n a L—g‘

User a roof begins to

leak, and you wish to Fm“ FLOOR PLAN’
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.

PA HZ 0R
[5 1/5

 
 

FAM/l‘r’ 500M
/8 x 20

 
   
 

 

l.

 

 

 

104 'THE HOUSE.

3. The roof will be much warmer 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.—1Vational

Era.

v - A- :wv::;.n....-

 

 

lTILLas. ‘ 105

VII.
VILLAS.

Here no state chambers in long line unfold,

Bright with broad mirrors, rough with fretted gold,
Yet modest ornament with use combined

Attracts the eye to exercise the mind.

I.-—WHAT IS A VILLA?

     
  

ISTORICALLY, the question is readily au-
swered. It was originally a summer residence
in the vicinity of an Italian city, erected for
n occupation merely during the warm season. The word
3(3) is now used with a wider signification.
' {5“ According to Downing, “ What we mean by a villa in
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
mmvenient—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, chimney-tops, cornices, thefirtistic
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.”

IL—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

 

Fnorrr ELEVATION.

the designs hitherto given. The convenient access to all the
rooms; their arrangement in connection with each other and

 

SIDE ELEVATION.

 

._ * F. E. Graef, Architect, 50 Wall Street, New Turk.

 

VILLAS. 107

E '

‘1 [BED BROOM
' UBRAUM
lll|9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emma a.
lone

. ,___ =|

I ‘ i
t

meon !

stzo HAL L .l

5.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIRST FLooe PLAN. SECOND FLoon PLAx.

with the halls; and especially the location of the kitchen in
reference to the (lining-room, butler’s pant-1", laundry, back-
hall, etc" show a nice appreciation of the wants of a family of
some wealth and cultivation as well as of the Fig- 77-
prineiples of economy in household labor.
The spacious front hall, and the back hall
\\ 1th 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 "£2:
family. They require no explanation.

In its external form the house is well pro-
portioned, and presents a pleasing appear- 9:5“: ' '—
anee, its most striking feature being its fine
veranda.

 

 

STOHER.

.——.——' HALI.

GARRET

 

A design similar to this has been executed
at. Elizabeth, New Jersey, at a cost of about

 

 

Ame PLAN.

 

108 THE HOUSE.

$3,450, the whole being 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 BRICK VILLA.
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.
Fig. 7%.

 

SIDE ELEV‘ATIUN.*

On the first floor 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 afl‘ord
direct access to aparlor, dining-room, sitting—room, and kitch—
en; and there being a fireplace 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 pau-
try. The library may, if desirable, have an outside entrance
from the veranda in front of the kitchen.

 

' F. E. Graefi Architect, 56 Wall Street, New York.

-« 'l‘li316fl3fi24A3 ‘
.'\( ‘ ‘_ ‘

 

VILLAS‘ 109

The arrangement of apartments on the second floor is admi~
rablc. Each bedroom has a separate entrance from the hall,
and. it' (lesired,-all of these in the main house may communi~
cute with each other. The ceiling of the kitchen wing is

 
    
      

PIALXA

 

 

   

DRESI’ R!

  

DRESS RM

 

-H-

 
 
  
 

PARLOR ; .

|6n28

   
  

   

BED RM
IZXXIS.

BED R9“.
lit-.XIS

- 7 I u I
1:, 7::5

titers» PLAN. SECOND 171.0011.

lower than that of the main house, which accounts for the
stairs or steps shown in the plan; but this does not show in
the first-floor ceiling. The main stairs are carried up to the
attic, and lighted from above; besides, there is sufficient light
thr the sectmd-story hall and passage, from a window at the
end of the latter.

In the 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 thewindows in
the main house.

The ceilings of the main house are 12-}; feet high for the first

 

 

 

110 THE HOUSE.

Fig. 81.

.' 3%:me

 

FRONT ELEVATION—N0. 1.
story, and 10% feet for the second story. Those of kitchen
wing are 91; feet and 9 feet respectively. Executed in a. liberal

Fig. 82.

 

FRONT ELEVATIONw No. ‘2.

gm.

VILLAS. 111

style of inside finish, 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 executcd in good hard brick,
cemented on the surface, laid out in courses and painted. Al-
though some architects vehemently protest against this 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.

IV.—A GOTHIC VILLAJ‘

This house is entered through a low porch, of which the
principal feature is three pointed arches supported on four oc-
tangular columns. This porch leads to a hall, 9.6X13.6, and
from which doors open into “3- 53-

—1st, a library on the right,
16X16, which is converted

 
 

   
     

   

    

from a square into ancoctagon ””76”” . H.
. j ’ . ‘ I2 9X15. i m

by cutting oil the corners in r. I
the manner shown, thereby ML/v/NC may

' v - ’
obtaining four closets . for “’ I” X” z \

v .. ‘ g ‘ x ammo final-t ,_
books, 2d, a pallul 011 the g: ”“7,” ,,.
left, 16.6 X 18, having a
bold, projecting window in I. PARIOR
- 7- . I6‘6X/8 ‘HflLl
front; 3d, a dining-room be— 9.5x13.5 mm"

hind the library, 17X17.3, "X’s
lighted by a bay window,
semi-octangular on the plan,
and furnished with a small

Fus'r FLOOR PLAN.

* We quote Mr. Graet‘s description. Our own rpinion of outside plush-rug.
etc.. has Devil eXpressed in Chapter II.

t J. Crumly, from a sketch by the author.

 

112 THE HOUSE.

closet, for plate, taken off the kitchen; and, 4th, a staircase, L

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,
12.9)(15, 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 used
as a linen press; a bedroom, 15X15, over the living-r0011],

Fig. 84. with a closet; a bath-room, a
;T ””i—Tj bedroom . 12.3 X 14, and a
I | closet attached, over the din-
ing—room; a nursery, 10 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.

M The stairs leading to the

SECOND FLOOR me. tower are situated immedi—

 

  
 
 
 
   

 
 
  

EIL‘ 5105/
EA? X/Z S

 
 
  
 
 

II’L’RSL’F)’ I
IS.“ ) 1’60

   

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
hedroom'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 adioining one over the parlor;
these, in the present arrangement. it is proposed to heat by
means of fines, and for this purpose the fines from below are
gathered into one shaft between the closets.

The style is the English rural Gothic of the fifteenth century.

.,, ~I":‘rs§ .. ’~ In}

 

trim. - "

 

 

      

  

  

lllurll

fl. 9a., 5 :55; 5:17 tuna—522.: <52.

 
 

 
 

 

114 THE HOUSE.

The quoins, window-dressings, porch, coping to side walls and
gables, shields, mullions 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, hammer 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
attempt 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
will 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 all 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-
ctm, 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
‘medieine’) builds his (12x20 feet) cabin, which, for decency’s
sake, we will suppose to contain two apartments, a ‘parlor-
kitchcn’ (K.—.10>< 10) and a bedroom (W.——10><8), afterward
used as a kitchen and wash-room. In the course of a few years
he adds the little bedroom (Pm—7 X 6) and staircase (S.——7 X 12).

 

 

      
  

En. $11? Seaqnmmccm 4:.r> Nazi—£32.: <:3<.

 

116 - THE Housn.’

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.
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
‘fg saw-mill near by. Railroads have
cheapened other building materials,
and increased the profitableness of
his crops. “His family has been increased by

“ Troops of tow-heads, bobbing in the corn.”

 
   
  
 

They and the progress of civilization call for an enlargement of

his habitation, which he builds according to the original plan

(fig. 88), the old house now serving as a pantry (Pm), kitchen
Fig. 83.

 

. l’nnsrncrivn VIEW.

(K.), washroom (W.), and back staircase. His house is now
comprised in the entrance hall (L. H.—12>< 12), square draw-
ing-room (IL—18X 18), circular staircase (C. S.—12><12), the
dining-room (Dn.——1‘2><18), into which the winter bedroom
(R.——12 X 12) 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 win~

 

 

 

 
 
 

‘NV'IJ-V’I’IIA anbsaxnmm v—‘ng 3mg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

118 THE HOUSE.

dow here or a piazza there, or even the large drawing-room
(D. l’».—6OX25), 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 (0.), the
cabinet (0., octagonal—18X24), the family drawing-room
(P.—18><30), the library (L., circular, 30 feet across), the pic-
ture gallery (P. G., lighted from the roof—3OXGO, or more),
and the aviary, grapery,'or winter garden (W. G.), and upon
making the square drawing-room (IL) 3. 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
(11.), 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. R.), with its closets, pan-
try, kitchen, etc.; the small drawing-room (R), the library
(L.), the picture gallery (P. G.), the winter garden (W. G.), and
the cabinet (0.). The upper stories are conveniently divided
into chambers, dressingd'oomsL bath-rooms, corridors, etc.”

VL—i SOUTHERN VILLA.*

This house consist-s 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, 10X 17, having four niches for statuettcs, 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
ends of the rooms are projecting. The vestibule at its farther
end leads into a hall 8 feet wide, which extends across the whole

 

* J t‘rumly. from a sketch by the :ulthnr.

'MOxn'Asng mnoxd—v'mA gummy—'05 mg

 

 

 

.g its;
tifl'illl'flsi/

 

 

 

 

   

 
 
 
  

120 THE H'onsn.

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 cen-
ter 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 columns supporting an arch above.
Basing on toward the rear of the building under the first

Fig. 91.

    

mun-Ex-
max 15-0 ARCADE

 
 

     

  
  

 

   
 

LIBPKDY
n.0,". 1&0 ssf‘vml Nuxstnv
1'4 {A '44 I.‘ “Us:

,. I

 

594

_/

 

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

landiz g o the stairs, we find two Closets to the right, and under
the first landing a door leading to a gentleman‘s dressing-room,
10X 12.6, 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.
Returning 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 oetangular in
form, and by making it of this shape, {our closets are obtained
at the angles, as shown. This room has three. doors, one
opening upon one of the arcades at the rear, another opening

.. -- “hm-‘1. -ssn— fi—h- , _; — ,. v

sum“ saw
is ”(18.5

 

   

121

to a passage which communicgies with the waiter’s .room,
and the third opening to the hall. The waiter’s room is 7.6x 9,
and communicates with—a small closet; a pantry, 6X13.6;
and a store-room, 8.6X13.6; 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, alobby
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:
room, 16X 18.6, 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, 11.6X16, which has also a door
communicating with the arcade in front. Two closets are at-
tached to the smoking-room7 with a door between opening
upon a platform occupying the space between the closets, ex-
tending to the front ofthe 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 theprin-
cipal entrance, we come to a boudoir, 13.6X8.6, elliptical
on plan, with four niches as in the vestibule, and for similar
purposes; the boudoir opens into a lady’s dressing—room,
8X13.6, which last is also entered from the hall. Succeed-
ing this is a nursery, 13.6X 16, communicating with a bedroom,
13.6)(14, which is also entered from the arcade. The ar-
cade terminates at the remaining or left wing of the building,
with which it communicates by a door which leads into a
large lobby, containing the stairs to the chamber floor, and
two closets, between which is a side entrance door. This lob-
by leads to an octangular library, 16x16, which communi-
cates with a cabinet, 12X16, from which a door opens t3
the left arcade at the rear of the building. '

The second or chamber story is divided as follows: two
triangular spaces are taken off the second landing of the prin-

cipal stairs, in such a manner as to preserve the symmetry:

6

 

 

   

122 THE HOUSE.

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, which are appro-
priated as shown on the plan. The entrance from this land—
ing 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 13.6X 15, and the other 15X 16; 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 16 X 17.6 and over the

Fig. 92.

 
 
  

 
 
 

BEDROOM
X 75.0

     
  
   

BEDROOM
15.600620

   
    
    
     
    
  
      
   

BEDROOM
[3.0xl&6

   
 

BEDROOM
15.0mm;

BEDROOM
13. ”(16.0

   

PASSAGE

    
  

BEDROOM
1-1.: X 1 1. 6

BEDROOM
[tax/1.6

     

Izooanf

BALCONY

Sncoxo FLOou PLAN.

bondoir, 13xl8.6. All these bedrooms have closets attached,
leaving two closets openingr from 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, bijonterie, 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

easements 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 15.6)(15, 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 12X 13.6, and that over
the cabinet 12 X 13. 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-
laddcr, 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
bondoir, 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 form-
ed 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 windowr dressings
to the first story are to be of the kind of work commenly
known 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 ofi’ the outer edges of the external surfaces ;
this draft should be about two inches Wide, leavingthe remain-
der 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 sufficiently 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
off. A good idea of the remaining features of the elevation
will, it is presumed, be obtained from the engraving.

“(Wm Um is

h. an“, \

w~_ M4‘_ .

 

 
 
 

CW.

Fig. 98.v AN OCTAGON Vn.LA— PEI’.81’E(:TI\'E \‘u

 

VILLAS. 125

VIL—AN OCTAGON VILLA.

The 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. Rec~
tangular 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 whole structure,

fl/IVl/Vl.‘ 300”
’9 0 1/13

 

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

fm the purpose of giving effect to the elevation, is raised about
six feet above the adjoining ground.

A flight of steps in front lands upon a veranda six feet Wide,
from which we enter through the front door to a vestibule,
7 X 7, and from which, passing through a glass door, we enter
the hall, seven feet wide, 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 each
side of the hall; that to the right opensinto a small, irregularly-

126 . THE HOUSE.

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, 10X 18.8, 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 5 X 6;
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 whole 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 effect 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 19X 19.3 ; 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 10 x 16.3, 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, 10X 18.8,
having also a projecting fire-place and a small closet. A door
opens from this passage 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,

,‘z‘fi‘m‘v‘v" g ‘

VILLAS. 127

13X19.3, and passing forward we find a bath. to the right,
7 X 7, 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, 13 X 19.3—
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 servant‘s bedrooms will be in the basement. Oppo-
site the bath—room door we find a door leading to an octangu-
iar picture-gallery, 19.3X 19.3, from which, on the opposite

Fig. 95.

 

Szcoxn FLOOR PLAN.
~iulc, 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-

flti

rm.

 

 

 

 

128 THE HOUSE.

light 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 throw"
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.

 

 

‘s; .
.‘

Bums, ETC. 129

VIII.

BARNS, AND OTHER OUT-BUlLDlNGS.

There is the barn—and, as of yore,

I can smell the hay from the open door, _
And see the busy swallows throng, '

And hear the peewee's mournful song.

on, ye who daily cross the sill,

step lightly, for I love it still ;

And when you crowd the old barn eaves,

Then think what countless harvest sheaves

Have passed within that scented door,

To gladden eyes that are no more.—T. B. Read.

I.—-PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

fl _ LL that we need say in introduction to
our designs may be embraced in a single
paragraph. Let your out—buildings cor-

 

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 pre-
sent an example of complete fitness for the purpose of its erec-
tion.

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 stood the test of actual construction and

use, and have proved well adapted to their purposes.
fi>l<

uses and an agreeable and appropriate _

W 2-7»:—

130 THE HOUSE.

II.—LEWIS F. ALLEN’S BARN. .

We are indebted to the “Annual Register of Rural Afairs”
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 farm 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 mange-rs is two feet wide. A manure window
is placed at every 12 feet. The stalls are double; that is,
for two animals each, which are held to their places by a rope
and chain, attached to a staple and ring at each corner of the

. . ’V.~ \"
, .Tu.>e‘f‘r za‘msaifl

 

 

BARNS, ETC. 131

stall. This mode is preferred to securing by stanchions. A
pole o1 scantling.r g, placed over their heads, prevents them from
climbing so as to get their feet into the niaugers, which they
are otherwise very apt to do.

“The sheds, which extend on the three sides of the barn,

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and touch it at the rear end, are 011 a level with the stables.
A11 incli/zcdplane, from the main floor through the middle of
the buck shed, forms a rear egress for wagons and carts, de-
sveuding three feet from the floor. The two rooms, one 011
each side of this rear passage, 16 by 34 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. I 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 the machine-room is entered by a flight of
stairs. Poles extending from bay to bay, over the floor, will i
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
necessary.”

III.—MR. CHAMBERLAIN’S OCTAGON BARN.

The accompanying cut represents the ground plan of an oc-
tagon barn erected by Mr. Calvin Chamberlain, of Foxcrott,
Maine, and described in the “Reports of the Board of Agri-
culture” of that State.

The 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 the whole, eight feet deep, and a

BARNS, ETC. 133

cart—way leading out on a level. The floor is ten feet in the clear ;
doors same width and height; height below scafl'old, seven
and a half feet clear; entire height of walls, 19 feet. A door

Fig. 97.

 

 

 

 

GROUND I’LAX.

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 buildings. 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 is
lighted by four double Windows and the side-light at head of
stairs. The open space, 13 feet long, at end of floor, admits

 

134 THE House.

the horse, so that the hay-cart is brought to the center of the
barn for ‘ui.-0ading. 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.—MR. BECKWITII’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, 3% feet short diameter. 12% feet each side, or
100 feet inside circumference, and 13 feet each outside, or 104

Fig. 93.

 

 

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, held 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
011' 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 t0 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 01f horses, for storing roots, for an ice-house,
or any other purpose for which it may he 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
nave 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 thc 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 by

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 CIRCULAR BARN.

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 FLOOR PLAN.
A., doors ;* B., stairs: D., calf-pens; E., alleys; F., stalls; G., granary; 1L,
double doors; '1‘., windows.
erection of barns 011a large scale. It is 100 feet diameter, built
of stone—a material that is very abundant in that part of Mas-
sachusetts—two stories high, the first one being only seven and

* An error in the plans represents the doors as windows, and rice versu.

BARNS, ETC. 137

a half 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-

Fig. 100.

 

SECOND FLoor. PLAN.

ing inward, looking into an alley in which the feeder passes
around 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 is
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
center.

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 cf 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 BARN.

We copy the accompanying plans and the description from
the American 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.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

I i

I I

I I
III-I'M WI— 1

UNDERGROUND 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 ita
tool-house, or area for threshing machines, straw~cutters, he,
with a partition otf from the floor, or not, at pleasure. Nine
feet above the floor, on each side, should be a line of girts,

Bums, 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

 

E] FLOOR D

 

 

BAY

PASSAGE
GHANARY
TOOLS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 manger-s, 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 injury

140 THE HousE.

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 le well embankcd with earth, so that the
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 Fheds below.

There should be a flight of stairs (not represented in the
plan) from the underground floor to that above.

 

SHELTER CHEAPER THAN FODDEn.——An improvement on our
present practice of shelter, and care of our animals, would be an
equivalent to an aetua‘ 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 equivalent 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
this alone is a suflicitnt inducement to provide that comfort to
the full extent.*—-Maz'ne Agricultural Report.

 

 

Every animal snould have its own particular stall in the
stable, and should be allowed in no other.

 

* It is asserted, on good ' uthoriry, that exposed animals will consume a third
more food, and come out in the spring in worse condition.

BARNS, ETC. 141

VII.—STABLES.*

The subject of stables—their construction, arrangement of
accommodations, 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.

HARNESS
RM. COW ST.

 

 

  
 

CARRIAGE RM.
55le

 

CARRIAGE R55l
{3X12

 

 

PLAN. PLAN.

few designs adapted to execution in connection with country
houses and villas, and to show how they may be planned, as

Fig. 105.

 

 

 

 

CARRIAGE RM.

 

\/

l
HORSE STALLS 2| A24

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLAN.

 

* F. E. Graef, Architect, 56 Wall Street, New York.

 

142 THE HOUSE.

in fig. 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.

 

Fnox'r 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.

ELEVATORS 11v Bums—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 two
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
threshed straw from the machine to the bays. The simplest
and best elevator for this purpose is made of a light, inclined
board platform, four feet wide, on each side of which a rope or
endless chain runs, connected by cross-bars, a foot or two apart,
which slide over the upper surface of this platform, and sweep
the hay upward as fast as pitched upon it.

 

BARNS, ETC. 143 '

VIII.——AN OCTAGO'N POULTRY HOUSE.

This design is selected from Bement’s “ Poulterer’s Compan-
ion.” It has been executed, we believe, near F actoryville,
Staten Island. It is ten feet in diameter and six feet and a
half high. The 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. '

    

:7,

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

plank. To guard against leakage by shrinking, the joints may
be battcned 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 chim-
ney for a ventilator, which makes a very pretty finish. The
piers should be either cedar, chestnut, or locust. two feet high,
and set on flat stones.

144 THE HousE.

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 apost 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,

PL‘N' 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 frequently 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
encroachments of rats, mice, skunks, etc, and is a good method,
as rats are very annoying, especially where they have a good
harbor under the house, often destroying the eggs and killing
the young chickens.

Fig. 108.

 

 

Two Emtons.—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 PIGGERY.
The accompanying design shows the plan of an economically
constructed and convenient piggery. It may, of course, be en~
larged to- any desired extent Without any change of form or

__‘=—
FEEDING ROOM I
7X IO

 
 

F’fl
BOILER

 

 

onn _ ______________ _E

MEAL

 

 

PLAN.
arrangement. The elevation may be similar to that of the -
poultry-house (fig. 107 ), and should have sufficient height to fur-
nish a good upper room for storing corn, etc., for the swine.

X.—AN ASHERY AND SMOKE-HOUSE.

An ashery and smoke-house combined may be economically
built as represented in our design. The first story, or ash-pit,
should 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 THE HOUSE.

The smoke-house story above may be of wood. It 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, where the fire is kindled. This arrangement precludes
all danger from fire, secures the meat against being overheated

Fig. 110.

 

AN Asnsnf AND SMOKE-”OFSE.

in smoking, and gives a clean and convenient smoke—room.
It may be 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 smoke-
house door being reached by outside stairs or a step—ladder.

BARNS, ETC. 147

XL—AN ICE-HOUSE.
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

Fig. 111.

 

A CIRCULAR ICE-HOUSE—PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

heat. The second important point is to secure perfect drain-
age. These conditions attained, the rest is comparatively un~
important. \

A common and entirely effective mode of constructing an
ice-house is thus described :

The frame or sides should be formed of two ranges of up—

148 THE HOUSE.

right joists about six by four inches; the lower ends to be put
in the ground without any sill; the upper to be mortieed into
the timbers which are to support the upper floor. The joists
in the two ranges should be each opposite another. They
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
. 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
dimensions on the north or west side,
higher than the ice will come, and board
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 clan-coal-dust, tan, or saw-dust,

 

\

x

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 off all the water settling at the bottom, and not be so
open as to allow the passage of air into the vault.

BARNS, ETC. 149

Fig. 113 represents a section of such an ice~house. We give
a perspective view of a circular ice-house, which is constructed
on the same principle. It may advantagegusly be executed in

Fig. 113.

 

 

 

 

 

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 used.
A side-hill having a northern exposure affords a desirable
location. In such case 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 APIARY.

Fig. 114 represents a design for a rustic apiary or bee-house,
which strikes us as being far more beautiful and appropriate
than the elaborately ornamented temple or palace-like struc-
tures we sometimes see. The mode of its construction is readily

Fig. 114.

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

seen. It may, of course, be made of any desirable size on the
same plan. [For directions in reference to the construction of
hives, the best site for an apiary, and instructions in bee-keep-
ing, see “Domestic Animals.”*]

 

* Domestic Animals: a Pocket Manual of Horse, Cattle, and Sheep Hus-
bandry; or, How to Breed, Hear, and Use all the Common Domestic Animals.
Embracing Descriptions of the various Breeds of Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Swine,
Poultry, etc.; the “ Points” or Characteristics by which to judge Animals;
Feeding and General Management of Stock: How to Improve Breeds; How
to Cure Sick Animals, etc. With a Chapter on Bees. llandsomely illustrated.
Price, in paper, 30 cents; in muslin. 50 cents. Fowler and Wells, Publishers.

How many expensive. not to say fatal, errors in the buying, selling, breed-
ing, and management of farm-stock might be avoided by means of the practi
cal information and plain common sense advice condensed into this compre-
hensive and thorough little Hand-book!

 

BARNS, ETC. 151

XIII.—A PLAY-HOUSE.
Build your children a play-house of some sort. A very
rude affair will please them, but something similar to the ac-

Fig. 115.

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

companying design will please you too, and be a highly orna-
mental feature in your grounds. The construction is simple,
but the effect is very fine.

MATERIALS 1:01: Rrsrrc STRUCTURES.—In order to succeed
in 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 when this will not peel or separate. If cut
toward the close of summer, the wood will last about twice as
long as when out in winter or sprinfr. 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 RUSTIC GARDEN HOUSE.

A rustic structure, like the one here represented, When cov-
ered with vines and climbing shrubs, forms one of the most.

Fig. 116.

 

PERSPECTIVE VIEW.

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 SCHOOLJIOUSE 153

IX.
THE CHURCH AND THE SUIIOOL-IIOUSE.

On other shores, above their moldering towns,

In sullen pomp the tall cathedral frowns—-

Pride In its aisles and paupem at the door,

Which feeds the beggars which it fleeced of yon.
Simple and frail, our lowly temples throw

Their slender shadows on the paths below.—Halmes.

In a green lane that from the village street
Diverges, stands the school house—Scrub

I.—A VILLAGE CHURCH.*

HE accompanying design (figs.
117, 118, 119) represents a coun-
try church, and, as has been more
or less the case with all our de-
signs, is intended to show how
easy it is, without costly materi-
als, and without expensive de~
tails, but 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 brick work and the
wooden boxes which so often
T pass for churches among us, but
are, to say the least, a reproach
to our cultivated society, bear
witness, on every hand, to the
frequency with which the first principles of architecture are

 

 

* F E. Graef, Architect, 5 Wall S‘r-l-cx. New York.

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CHURCH AND SCHOOL-HOUSE 155

sinned against through ignorance. It is this ignorance that we
hope to aid in dissipating, both by precept and example.

The height of this Fig. 118.
church from the floor to
the eaves is 17 feet, and
the whole height 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 the
rear; but if the loca-
tion be suitable, these GROUND FLOUR 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 cupcla are to
be of wood. The main roof
is to be covered with slate, GALLERY FLOOR PLAN.
and the tower roof and cupola to be tinned. Finished inside
in a liberal manner the cost is estimated at about $9,800; or -
finished quite plainly, it can be built for less than $9,000,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

156 THE HOUSE.

IL—A VILLAGE SCHOOL-HOUSE!

This design represents a single two-story school-house suit-
able for a. small village or other country place. The first and
second stories are almost entirely alike in their arrangements.
Each reom will accommodate fifty-two pupils, and has recita-
tion benches in front of the teacher’s desk. The easy ingress
and egress afi'ored by the broad halls and stairs; the large sep-

Fig. 120.

  
    

I] Ill ”Ill

  

lul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FRONT 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 (4X 20 inches), which serve both for use and orna-

 

,m.‘

 

* F. E. Graefa Architect, :6 Wall Street. New York.

' . l?€“a€‘MJ 'I‘QWMW

CHURCH AND SCHOOL-HOUSE. 157

ment, as may be seen by examining the plan and elevations.
The inside of the walls is furred off 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, and
he wainscoted up to the windows all around. The roof may
he covered with slate or shingles, as most convenient. The
bell cupola, very appropriately a prominent ornamental and
useful feature in school architecture, may be constructed of
4 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 stools. - ‘

158 THE HOUSE.

All school-houses should, if possible, be constructed of solid
materials—brick or stone—in so substantial a manner asto
outlast all the other buildings in the town or village, and serve
for the accommodation of many generations of children, whose

Fig. 122.

SCHOOL

 

l__l
EACHERSC

 

 

 

 

 

 

PLAN.
prominent destructiveness they are better calculated to resist
than any wooden building can be.
The estimated cost of this school-house is within $1,700.

APPENDIX.

A.
HOW TO BUILD WITH ROUGH STONE.

LET the quarrymen split it off just as the veins of the stone make it most
easily worked. Select such pieces as, from their length and even quality,
seem adapted for sills and lintels, and use the remainderjust in the shape it
naturally comes upon your ground from the quarry. In building your walls,
lay the stone in its exact bed as it lay in the quarry, and here and there lel
long pieces be introduced, the length of the thickness of your walls; these,
lying across. Would serve as bowlers to the walls, and will materially strengthen
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—Gizmmsr: WuEELEn.

B.
HOLLOW BRICK WALLS.

Fig. 123.

7 22

Stunt: MODE or BUILDING A lIOLLow WALL.

 

Fig. 123. shows a very simple and cheap mode of building a hollow wall
‘WL‘J’L‘, inches wide, which answers very Well for low additions, or walls in-
tended to bear but little weight. An addition of another brick to the outside
w »ultl make a good sixtren-inch wall. The tie»bricks alternate in the courses;
that is, the brick a is covered in the next course with the brick b (shown
by the dotte 1 lines) ; c by (I, and so on through the whole—Dowxmo.

 

160 A P P E N D I x
U
UNBURNT BRICK FOR BUILDING.

The following particulars are compiled from the Report 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 cottages 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 stretchers (i. (2., one course with the bricks laid across
the wall, the next course side by side). A weak mortar of lime and sand is gen-
erally used for laying the bricks, but a good brick mortar is preferable. “'here
lime is scarce, a mortar composed of three parts clay, one part sand, and two
parts wood-ashes, 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 feet, it is better to make the first-
story partitions two bricks thick. The doors and window frames being ready
to insert, the cottage is very rapidly built. These frames a e made of stout
plank, of the exact thickness of the walls, so that the casing inside and out-
side 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 thesame 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 nnburnt clay that it should project two feet all around, so as completely to
guard the walls from vertical rains. The outside of the wall is plastered with
good lime mortar mixed with hair, and then with a second coat, pebble-
dashed, as in rough-vast walls. The inside of the wall is plastered and
whitewashed 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, the
bricks made entirely by the hands of the owner or occupant, and the
whole erected at a cost of not more than one half of that paid for the same
cottage built in an equally comfortable manner of wood or brick. When plaster-
ed or rough-cast on the exterior, this mode. of construction presents to the. eye
the same effect as an ordinary stuccoed house, while it is warmclhid .far less
costly in repairs than any other cheap material is.

. “Mama

APPENDIX. 161

D.
DR. BUCHANAN 0N CELLARS.

While Iwould condemn cellars and basements entirely, the common plan
of building in their absence must be condemned also. The house being built
above the surface of the earth, a space is left between the lower 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 he built
upon the surface of the earth, at least as high as the surrounding soil. If tilled
up with any clean material a few inches above the surrounding earth, it would
bebetter. A proper foundation being prepared, make your first 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 off the walls of your
house with water-proof cement from all communication with 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 grounddloor to purposes of storeorooms, kitchen, 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—DB. Bucnsxu.

E.
RECIPES FOR PAINTS, WASHES, STUCCO, ETC.

1. Paints for Outside Work—The following recipes for mixing several de~
sirable colors are from Wheeler’s “ Homes for the People :”

l. A cool gray, similar to what would be the tint of unpainted timber alter
a few years, may be obtained as follows:

Indian red, half a pound;
Lampblack, three ounces;
Raw 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 pounds
of mixed color. The finest and whitest sand that'the neighborhood afl‘ords
should be used, and as its hue differs, so will the tint of the paint be changed

 

 

162 . APPENDIX.

This color, with one third less white, is very suitable for roofs, and is a cool,
unreflecting gray tint of great softness and beauty.

2. A soft, pleasant tint, like that of cofiee greatly diluted 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, five pounds;

Burnt umber, halfa 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 brightened or lowered by more or less of either, as individ-
ual taste may prefer.

3. A still more delicate tint, resembling the pure color of the Caeu stone,
and well adapted for a large building with many beaks of outlines, may be
mixed thus :

Yellow ochre, two pounds ;

Vandyke brown, quarter of a pound;

Indian red, quarter of a pound;

Chrome yellow, N o. 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 of this add the same quantity of fine white sand or line coal ashes,
and twice as much fresh wood ashes, all these being sifted through a line sieve.
They should then be thoroughly mixed together while dry. Afterward mix
them 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 ofa 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 umber, Indian red, and a little black; if dark stone color, add
lampblack ; or if brown stone, then add bpanish brown. All these colors
should of course be first mixed in oil and then added.

This paint is very much cheaper than common oil point. 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 Clmtp Wash—For the outside of wooden cottages, barns, out-build-
ings, fences, etc., where economy must be consulted, the following wash is
recommended :

Take a clean barrel that will hold water. Put into it half a bushel of quick-

APPENDIX. . 163

time, and slake it by pouring over it boiling water sufficient to cover it four or
live inches deep, and stirring it until slaked. When quite slakcd dissolve it
in water, and add two pounds of sulphate of zinc and one of common salt,
which may be had at any of the druggists, and which in a few days will cause
the whitewash to harden on the woodwork. Add sufficient water to bring it.
to the consistency of thick whitewash.

To make the above wash of a pleasant cream color, add three pounds of yel-
low ochre.

For fawn color, add four pounds of umber, one pound of Indian red, and
one pound of lampblack.

For gray or stone color, add t‘our 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 whitewash.—Hortioulturist.

For a. wash for barns the Horticulturist also gives this:

Hydraulic cement, one peck; freshly slakcd lime, one peck; yellow ochre
(in powder), four pounds; burnt umber, four pounds ; the whole to be
“ dissolved” in hot water, and applied with a brush.

3. Staining Interior Wood World—One of the simplest and best modes of
staining pine or other soft wood is the following as given by Downing:

First prepare the wood by washing it with a solution of sulphuric acid,
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 stained.

Second, stain the wood so prepared by rubbing it lightly with tobacco stain,
using a piece of flannel or sponge for this purpose. By merely coating it
evenly in this way the natural grain of the wood will assume a dark tone, so
as to resemble black walnut or oak ; the effect of certain parts may be height-
ened by a little skill in mottling or slightly graining the wood, by repeating
the coat and allowing it to settle in places.

When the stained wood is entirely dry, brush it over, in order to preserve it,
with the following mixture: half a pound of beeswax, half a pint of linseed
oil, and one pint of boiled linseed oil.

It may, if desired, afterward be varnished and polished. To make the above
tobacco stain, take six pounds of common shag or “ negro head” tobacco; boil
it in as many quarts of water as will cover the tobacco, letting it simmer away
slowly till it is of the consistence of syrup. Strain it, and it is ready for use.

life may add, that when it is desired to give the wood the tone of light oak or
maple, the solution of sulphuric acid should be much weaker, and only a light
coat of the stain should be used. Where a dark tone is preferred, two coats
of the stain should be put on.

4. Stucco (171d Stuccoz'7tg.—Take stone lime fresh from the kiln and of the
best quality, such as is known to make a strong and durable mortar (like the
Thomaston lime-. Slake it by sprinkling or pouring over itjust water enough

 

164- APPENDIX.

to leave it when slaked in the condition of a line dry powder, and not a paste.
Setup 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 aparlicle of the mud and dirt uvhich destroy the tenacity of most stoccoes)
remains, and screened it to give some uniformity to the size, mix it with the
lime in powder, in the proportion of twopm-ts sand to one part lime. This is
the best proportion for lime stucco. More lime would make a stronger stucco,
but one by no means so hard—and hardness and tenacity are both needed. -

The mortar must now be made by adding water, and working it thoroughly.
0n the tempering of the mortar greatly depends its tenacity.

The wall to be stuccoed should be first prepared by clearing of all loose dirt,
mortar, etc., with a stitf broom. Then apply the mortar in two coats; the first
arough 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, in-
deed, as the first coat is sufficiently firm to receive it; the whole should then be
well floated, troweled, and marked ofl‘ ; and if it is to be colored in watercolor,
the wash should be applied, so as to set with the stucco.—Dowmxo. ,

5. Rough-Cast—The mode of putting on rough-cast is as follows:

The surface of the wall being brushed oti‘ 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 soon as two or three yards of the
second coat is finished, have ready a pail of rough-east, and splash or throw it
on the walL This is usually done by another workman, who holds the trowel
with which he throws on the rough-cast in one hand, and a whitewash brush dip-
ped constantly in the pail in the other, which follows the trowel until the whole
is smooth and evenly colored.

The rough-east itself is made of sharp sand, washed clean, screened, and
mixed in a large tub with pure, newly slaked lime and water, till the whole is
in a semi-fluid state. A little yellow ochre. mixed in the rough-east gives the
whole a slighly fawn—colored shade, more agreeable to the eye than white.—
Dowsme.

F.
ROOFING.

The following brief egay on roofing has been kindly furnished by a practi-
cal builder, Mr. ‘tnehardson, who has had extensive experience in this special
department, in various parts of the United States. Ilis hints are valuable.

The most important point to be observed in order to have a tight roof is, to
use well-seasoned sheathing. If it is tongued and grooved. so much the bet-
ter. Have it well nailed. The best material to cover your roof with is slate,
if it is a steep root‘. In the northern section of the United States and the (‘an-
adas, it is well to put a layer of felt on the sheathing before slating. as it will

 

.r.

A P P E N D I x . h 165
prevent the snow in winter and the rain in summer from driving under the
slates. In the Middle States metallic roofing stands well; but in the extreme
South and North, the expansion and contraction are so great, that it is almost
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~
elude 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 adaptation of the 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, that 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 different “ 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 Rooting.” This article has stood the test of
time, and is considered by many of the best architects and builders a better
article for flat roofing than any metal. All insurance companies insure build-
ings covered with this rooting 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 has been
extensi‘ely used in the North and the Canadas, for many years, adds greatly
to our confidence in its intrinsic value. Recollect 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. Bed-
In ind, of Georgia, editor of the Southern Cultivator, and appeared originally
in Life Illustrated :

1. Location, eta—Select, if possible, a dry situation, and get 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, sand, coarse and fine gravel,
large and small rock, and router. The lime may be from any good, pure lime-
stone that will slack readily, and “ set” or harden thoroughly when dry ;* the sand

 

' The lime used by us is of a peculiar quality, known here as “hydraulic

166 APPENDIX.

should be sharp, and as free from clay, loam, and other earthy matter as possio
ble; and the gravel and rock may be of any size, from that of a boy’s marble
up to eighteen inches or two feet square, according to the thickness of your
walls.

8. Fowndation.—Having fixed on your plan, lay oil“ the foundation, and dig
a trench two feet wide and two feet deep, the area or full size of your outer
wall. With a heavy piece of hard wood, squared or rounded at the lower end,
pound or ram down the earth in the bottom of this trench, going over it re-
peatedly, until it is solid 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 foundation to start on, as soon as it “sets” or becomes
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 “ set” and become useless.

4. Frame a/nd Bowing—Cut common 8 x 4 scantling two feet longer than you
wish your highest story to be; set up a double row, with the lower end resting
llrmly upon the edge of the hardened cement in the bottom oi the trench;
range them true and “plumb” them, letting them stand 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 keeping the walls in shape. This is done by cutting sound
inch or ineh‘andqphalf plank of ten inches or a foot wide, so as to fit inside of
the two rows of 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, and 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. Alim'ng Concrete, Laying up, eta—It will be well to have at least four
large mortar beds, one on each side of the house, made of strong plank, in the
usual way. These should be surrounded by easks of water (oil casks— cut in
two are excellent', piles of rock, sand, gravel, etc -the lime, of course, to be
kept under cover, and used as wanted Slack up your lime until it forms a
thin, smooth, creamy mass, then add four or five parts of clean, sharp sand,
stirring and mixing constantly, and using water enough to bring the whole,
when thoroughly mingled, to the consistency of a thick batter. Into this "bat-
ter” mix coarse and fine gravul (that has previously been screened) until the
mass is thick enough to be. lifted on a common shovel. [The proper and

lime”—not the cement, which is, also. often called “hydraulic.“ It may be
obtained from the quarry of llev. P. W. llownrd. Kingston. Cass County. Ga.
But good connnon lime will answer, where the ‘* hydraulic“ can not be had.

APPENDIX. 167

thorough mixing of the sand with the lime, and the gravel with the mortar
afterward, is very important, and should only be intrusted to your most careful
hands] Having one or two “beds” full of this mixture, you are ready to begin
your wall. Wheel the mortar to the foundation in common railroad wheelbar-
rows, letting the common hands shovel it into the bottom of the trenches. while
the superintendent or “boss” workman spreads it evenly with his trowel.
When the bottom layer of mortar, three inches thick, is laid in, wheel large
and small rock ipreviously sprinkled with water) to the wall, and press it into
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-
serve a smooth surface on the wall. When you can press no more rock into
the 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 around 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 twenty-four hours to raise
your boxes another tier. This is readily done by knocking out the wedges be-
tween the plank and the scantling, raising up the plank and sustaining it in
place by “cleats” nailed on the seantling. 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 around the wall in a day. A foot or 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 case of a sudden shower, or
when a storm is apprehended, should be provided, and placed within reach.

6. General Details, Floors, Windows, Doors, eta—We 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 be knocked out afterward. When you 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—fllling
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
full thickness or width of the walls, and may be set up and built around, like
those in a brick house, as the wall progresses. A piece of common inch plank,
“cut in" all around them, to prevent the actual contact of the damp mortar,
will keep them, in a great measure, from warping. Where base-boards are
needed, blocks of scantliug may be built in flush with the inner surface of the
wall, at the proper distances apart.

H.
PRACTICAL 111sz BY A BUILDER.

1. The Roofi—No roof should project less than one foot—it may project as
much as you like up to two feet.

 

168 APPENDIX.

Too ofien, at present, in the commoner kind of country houses, the roof-board:
are cut 03‘ even with the sides and ends of the house, and the shingles allowed
to project only haéf an inch! What happens ‘1 All the rain that falls upon it
runs over the entire surface of the house, discoloring the paint and washing it
away.

2. Winslotcs.—There should be a bold projection over each window, instead
of the-single inch which the cap, so called, is now generally allowed to extend
beyond the casing. The slight projectiop 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-aohalf-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 efficient projection.

3. 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-andoa-

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—A. Blauvelt.

I.
SPECIFICATIONS FOR COTTAGE.
See Figs. 20, 2t, 22, 23.

SIZE, HEIGHT, arm—For all dimensions and the general arrangement, reference
is to be had to the plans and elevations (pp. 59—61). Cellar to be5§
feet high—3 feet below ground and ‘2} above. First floor to be 8 feet in
height, clear, and the attic 7; feet, clear. with 5} feet breast-work.

DIGGING.~—Tlle digging includes the cellar, trenches for the foundations, and
a water cistern 5 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep.

STONE WouK.~Trenches to be tilled with good stone. Sills for cellar win-
dows to be blue stone, 2 x 10 inches.

BRICK “loam—Cellar and foundation 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 sides and bottom to be Well cemented.

PLASTERING.——;Ul rooms, landings, and closets to be lathed, scratch-coated
browned, and whitewashed.

T‘VP‘EB.—qills to be {x9‘ first tier of beams, 2x9; posts, 4x8; all to be of

._._.4Lx.'

APPENDIX. 169

white pine. Enter-ties, 4 x 6 ; second tier of beams, 2 x 8; filling-in,
studs, braces, and rafters, 3 x 4; all to be of hemlock. Cellar beams 1} x 4
spruce plank. Beams and rafters to be 2 feet from centers; studding,
16 inches from centers.

Roots—To be lathed with 1} x 2 spruce strips, and covered with 2 feet cypress
shingles, laid 7} inches to the weather.

INCLOSIKG.-—T0 be done with pine boards 1- inch thick and about 8 inches
wide, nailed horizontally to studs, with 1} inch lap.

Pannrloxs—All partitions to be set with 2 x 4 hemlock strips, 16 inches from
centers. .

Funan.—Hemlock furring strips to be used between the beams.

FLoons.—These are to be laid with 1} inch mill-worked spruce plank.

Saunas—The stairs are to have 1% inch pine trees, 1} inch strings, and 1 inch
risers, with plain, small balustcrs, and hand-rail of boxwood.

Doonsr—The doors for the first story to be 1} inch single-faced panel, and
those of the attic to be 1% inch battened ; all to be well hung, and pro
vided with rim locks, except the closet doors, which are to have catches.

Wmnows.——To have the usual 1} inch plank frames, 1&- inch sashes with im-
proved catches, and to be glazed with plain American glass.

Bustier-All the windows to have plain Venetian blinds.

Psrxrme.»—Two coats of white lead or zinc paint. to be put on to all the out
side, and inside work generally painted.

GENERAL—Inside doors and window casings to be 4} inches wide, with back
moldings to first story. Gu tcrs to be of tin (3,} inch) with proper lead-
ers. For details of outside cornice, trimmings, porch, etc., consult a
builder or architect.

J.

HOW TO BUILD BALLOON FRAMES.

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 Tribune of January 18th, 1855: '

MB. Ronixsox said: At our last meeting I made some remarks, which
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 TI-ibwne,
not deeming it important to enter into the minutiae of hours to make such
buildings. I find that I did not appreciate the importance of the subject, for
l 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 indul—
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.

,3: of 'fitdiana, many miles from saw-mills, nearly all of split and hewed stutl',
making use of rails or round poles, reduced to straight lines and even thiekfiess
on two sides, for studs and rafters. But sawed stufl‘ is much the easiest, though

in a timber-country the other is far the cheapest. First, level your foundation,

and lay down two of the two-by-eight pieces, fiatwise, 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 first, you have no
studs to out and fit around, and can let your boards run out over the ends,
just as it happens, and afterward saw them off smooth by the sill. Now set up
a corner post, which is nothing but one of the two-by-l‘our 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, orstayed 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. \\ hen 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 first 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 floorjoist. Cut out a joist one inch deep, in the lower edge, and
'lock it on the strip, and nail each joist to each stud. Now lay this floor, and
go on to build the. upper story, as you did the lower one; splicing 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 :1 line and saw 011‘ the top of the studs even upon
each side—not the ends—and nail on one of the inch-strips. That is the
plate. Cut the ends of the upper joist the bevel of the pitch of the roof, and
nail them fast to the plate, placing the end ones inside the studs, which you
will let run up promiseuously, to be cut ofi‘ by the miller. Now lay the garret-
floor by all means before you put on the roof, 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 stufl‘. 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 ceinpOsition or cement roofs. To make one of this kind,
take soil, spongy, thick paper, and tack it‘ upon the boards in courses like
shingles. (Commence at the top “ilh hotter and saturate the paper, upon

 

.. tmmdni‘ ‘ ‘ 'l‘

A

 

 

APPENDIX. 171

 

vhich siIt evenly nne gravel, pressing it in while hot—that is, while tarfand :5.
gravel are both hot. One coat will make a tight roof; two coats will make it
more durable. Put up your partitions of stufi‘ one by four, unless where you
want to support the upper joist—then use stufl' 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 incalculably 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 the 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 oil‘ with his own labor, just as well as to hire a car-
penter to score and hew great oak sticks and till 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 thought of cutting down half of thc oest 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 San 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
vvhicll may be easily had by providing capacio'ls cisterns, renders it import-
ant that the cheapest, best. and most convenient mode of construction should
he adopted. The two all-essential requisites for underground cisterns are,
good hydraulic lime and a supply of clear, pure sand. These mustbe selected
from experience or trial, or by choosing such as have already proved efficient
for this purpose. Good hydraulic ’ccment Will, in the course of a few months,
becomi- about as hard as sandstone:

 

1".72 APPENDIX.

“ When this hardening process does not take place, it must be attributed to
bad materials, or to intermixing in wrong proportions. 0n the latter point,
some 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
. water-lime mortar can not
__ - be made if the sand forms
' much more than two
thirds of the whole.

“A very common and

 

    
 

CISTERN

\: cheap form for the cistern
2: is. to dig a round hole into
-¢= the ground with sloping
,— sides, somewhat in the
v—~ form of a narrow-bottom-

ed tub, and then to plaster
immediately upon the
SECTXON‘ ' earth (fig. 1241. Unless a

slope is given to the sides, the mortar can not be made to keep its place while
soft, as it is nearly impossible to find a soil dry and hard enough to retain the
plastering by simple adhesion. The top of this kind of cistern must therefore
be wide, and consequently difficult to cover very large ones effectually and sub-
Fig 125' stuntinlly. The, covering

\, i. , » ,. is usually made ofstifi‘ and

durable plank, supported,
if necessary, by strong
scanning, and over this is
placed about one foot of
earth to exclude complete
ly the frost. A hole with
a curb about eighteen
CIST ERN , 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

 

 

indispensably requisite to
SECTION- have this hole stopped, to

exclude frost, which would otherwxsc enter the wet cement or walls, and pr0<
duce cracking or leakage—a frequent cause of the failure of water-lime cisterns
“This is the cheapest form of such reservoirs, but a better, more enpueiuus

 

it stwmis

or freezing weather, it is -

 

APPENDIX. 173

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 plas-
tering (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
thickness of similar walls. For large cisterns they should be thicker than for
small ones. The walls should be built perpendicular until about half way up,
when each successive layer should be contracted so as to bring them nearer to-
gether, in the form of an arch, reducing the size of the opening at the top, and
rendering a smaller covering necessary. If the subsoil is always dry or never
soaked or flooded with water, the walls may be laid in common lime mortar,
and afterward plastered on the inner surface with the cement. But in wet
subsoils, the whole wall should be laid in water lime. If the bottom is hard
earth or compact gravel, a coating of an inch or two may be spread immedi-
ately upon the earth bottom; but in other instances, the bottom should be first
laid with flat stone, or paved with round ones, the cement spread upon these.

“The plastering upon the sloping earth-walls, as first described (fig. 124),
should never be less than an inch thick, and if the earth is soft it should be
more. On the stone or hard brick walls (fig. 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 (a) in the cistern, dividing it into two portions. This par-
tition is pierced at the bottom
with several apertures. A
low wall (b) is built up on
each side the partition, and
a few inches above the top
of the apertures.

“ The open space between
these low walls»(c) is filled
with charcoal broken line,
and with gravel—the latter
being on top. The water is
conducted 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 intellig:ble."*

Another plan is tlms described by the same writel‘ :

“ A cask holding perhaps a hundred gallons is placed by the side ol the
larger cistern, and quite near the surface of the ground. An aperture in its
bottom, over which is secured 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 charcoal and gravel : the conductor from the house is led into
it, and the thing is complete.

 

SEcron.

" Village and Farm Cottages.

 

174 APPENDIX.

“ This mode is not oni y as easy and as cheap as the other, but has this great .
advantage, that the fllterer 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-ROOM.

A farmer communicates the following in Life Illustrated: _

“I send you my experience. I partitioned oh“ the northeast corner of my
wood-house, which opens to the west, and is 25 feet wide. The ice-room is
about nine feet square; is clap-boarded on the studs on the north and east,
and lined on the inside, leaving the four-inch space betWeen empty. On the
south is an inch-board partition, just tight enough to hold saw-dust. 0n 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
in my ice one foot from the partition on every side, packing it in as closely as
I can, and in as large blocks as I can conveniently handle. I then fill the
spaces next file partitions with saw-dust, and a good depth (say one foot) over
the top, and it is done for the year.

“ I have practiced in this way two years past, and had all I wanted for dairy
and other uses, and to give to my 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 in
as good as this."

 

 

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I N D E X .
A A. Paul: F. no:
ncient Log Cabin .............. 10 Fundament l P ' ' l ......... 4
Architecture, Fundamental Prin- Farm Hons: M23511? es . 130
“ m cfiplesof ..... 14 » “ ’PlanorIIII.IIII'.IZ 102
L y e o ............ 25 “ H e R .......
Architectural Finery,. 67 on: 5’ emarks on 99
Additions, Plans for. . . . . . 5'2 G, . ‘
Attic Rooms. .................... 67
fish and Smoke House ___________ 146 Garden House ................... 152
piary .......................... 150
H.
3- House, Origin of ......... i ....... 9
guilding for Show .............. as g: igdeémmg 0f -------------- é:
arns ......................... 129 X empore ---------------
Bee House ______________________ 150 House-Building .................. 14
Hexagon Plan .............. . . . . . 4‘!
C.
Ooncrete ................... e. . . 31 1'
Chimneys ....................... 3:; Ice-House ...................... 147
Cottages of One Story Defined. .. 45
Co “ Story-and-a-Half “ . . , E- L.
ttage Southern ................ 49 L b’ ................
“ ’ Plan of Chr-ap ........... 51 0g Ca in """" 46
“ “ Small ....... .. .57 M.
“ An Italian ........ . 58 ,
u English Plan ____________ 61 Materials ........................ 28
“ Suburban .............. 62
‘: figothic ............. 64. 78 0-
‘ ymmetrical .......... 65 .
2: 5 Semi-Southern ........ 7 0°95” $5,“; 5' H' Mann" """ 1%
. , ‘ ...................
“ S me’md " " ' .. '- " 7" “ Barns ................... 132
“ sage ----------------- fig ‘: Poultry House .......... 143
.............. V ‘ u . . - £ '
Country House, Stone ............ ‘39 Plggery """"""""" 145
“ Church .................. 153
Circular lI-glouse .................. 92 P-
“ am ------------------- 136 Plan. Ado tion of. ............... 19
Church, Country ................. 153 l Paintin p. __________________ 40’ 55 .
D : Paper,f Vail]. . . . 1i ............... 41
- t Plans or hree ooms ......... 48
Details, Miscellaneous __________ 32 E Parsonage ....................... 75
Drainage ........................ 42 3 Play House """" --------- 151 .
Doom. .......................... 52 I
l , R.
E ,
' 3 Rooms, Arrangement of .......... 22
/ Errors and Absurditiea ........... 4‘3 1 Roofing“ .4 ...................... 42
English Cottage Plan ........... 61 j Rough-Cast ...................... 42

 

1 76s.: ' I N D E x .
”3“” T. no:
Rats in Cellars .................. 55 Tree" SIC ______ _ ............... . 43.
Round House ................... 92 _
' S ' V.
‘ .................... er
Site Choice of ................... 16 3731;232ng .................... 36 '
Style 0‘ A’Ch‘tecm'e ------------ ‘25 Villa Whafis it ? ................ 105
Stucco ................. g ........ 42 ’ Small Italian . . .. .106
Southern Cottage ................ 49 4; Brick _________ .108
HOME -------------- 79 83 “ Gothic-.2 I: I I ' '. ‘ Z Z . .. ....... m
“ V111a """ . """"""" 118 “ Picturesque ................ 114
Stone gonna-y House ............ 3: “ Southern ..... 118
was ottnge ..... . ............ u """""" '
Side-Hill Barn ................... 138 Gang“ """"""""""" ”5
Stables... ........................ 41
Smoke House and Ashery. ....... 146 W-
Speakin Tubes ................. Wan-min .................. . . ... 84
School I ouse .................... 156 Water osetl. . .. . . 55
v r c

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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