FARM ARCHITECTURE. 



139 



I am sorry for a house that tries to look hospitable and 

 inviting by holding out a sting}- little balcony four or five 

 feet Avide. Eight, ten, or twelve feet are none too much. 



But the wide piazza-roof must not be allowed to keep out 

 the southern sun. Better omit the roof, if it stands on the 

 south side, using a cloth awning for shade when needed. 



The morning and evening rays are glad to enter aslant 

 beneath an overhanging roof; and a wide north veranda is 

 a capital place for the noonday rest. 



To take out the small windows of poor glass, and substi- 

 tute larger and better, is also a simple matter. The window 



of a house is like the eye of the soul. If it is single and 

 clear, the whole house will be full of light and cheerfulness. 



The narrow stairs cannot often be improved, except by 

 giving up a part or the whole of an entire room, as has been 

 suggested; and the low ceilings need no improving, unless 

 they are extremely low: indeed, just at present, low ceil- 

 ings are the height of fashion. 



In this, as in many other respects, accej)ting the situation, 

 and making the best of it rather than the worst, will con- 

 vert to a positive attraction what seemed a serious defect. 



Old houses are sometimes subjected to another indignitj*, 

 against which Ave cannot too strongh^ protest. 



The old finish is torn out and made into kindling-wood, 

 and the queer old mouldings and flutings of the architraves, 



