dealinfr with this form of house, made the best that can possibly, we think, be 

 luiule of it. He has shown great taste and knowledge of the " agreniens" coveted 

 by an American family of average wealth, and, if possible, greater ingenuity in 

 j)aeking these within the smallest possible compass ; and the rustic Italian forms 

 into which he has cast the exterior, are the most suitable which could have been 

 selected, making, out of the ungraceful general outline imposed upon him by the 

 plan, quite a tolerable picture. Imagine, however, that octangular prism, a 

 magnified copy of the little wooden parallelojiipeds used in teaching children solid 

 geometry, dropped into the middle of any sweet, natural landscajjc, with its care- 

 less graced, and flowing lines of river, mountain, and tree. Would not the very 

 trees, with their grand and lovely irregularity of sjjray and mass, seem to stare 

 upon it and laugh with all their leaves at it I One would think no one retired 

 from business, and with an eye to economy, would wish to build such a copy of a 

 pill-box, or, rather, of an eight-sided bottle, which Mr. Page's observatory (a 

 great convenience internally, and rather an improvement to the appearance) 

 supplies with the appropriate stopper ! 



The pyramid harmonizes with the dead level of the Egyptian sands, or of the 

 plain of Waterloo, but even this, the most pleasing of simi)le geometric forms, 

 would seem ill at ease on an American hillside, and much more so the octangular 

 prism. The only way to soften the abrujjt perpendicularity of this form, and 

 carry its lines* gradually into those of the landscape, would be to throw out (as 

 Palladio has done in the Villa di Capri, which is of this form), on four of the 

 eight sides a portico (or other wing), of about a story and three-quarters in height, 

 and carry them down to the ground lines by flights of steps ; but then, this would 

 destroy the only beauty of the plan, its cheapness ! Another difficulty of the 

 appearance is, that chimney-tops, an ornament to any other building, become a 

 terrible thing in this, as the draftsman has not failed to perceive, but has judiciously 

 shaded them dark, and put a dark tree behind each, so that they are hardly no- 

 ticeable. As to the second part, the conveniences, they are certainly many and 

 good in Mr. Page's plans, but the mistake is in supposing that these conveniences, 

 obtained, as they are, at a less cost than in the square plan, arc yet equal, in every 

 respect, to those obtained in that plan. It will be found to be a great mistake to 

 expect the same accommodation in a 15 by 19.8 r£)om, with the corners cut off, as 

 in one finished square. The furniture is comparatively crowded in such a room. 

 Imagine, for instance, a lady at the piano in the " sitting-room ;" her position will 

 be thrown much further from the long partition, and more toward the middle of the 

 room, than if the piano were placed in the corner of a square-room of that size. 

 The same crowding will take place in the chambers, in wdiich, by the way, all the 

 beds are drawn too small by one-third at least. Again, the glass " vestibule" is 

 thrown out of the side of the house as a porch would be in a square house, but, 

 though outside of the building, it is not a porch, and if a porch were wanted, one 

 would have to be built extra. It is not even a " vestibule" proper, being the only 

 space between the parlor door and outer air. This is to be considered in estimat- 

 ing the alleged su))erior cheapness of this over the square plan. Look, again, at 

 the "boudoir." This appears to have what would be in a square house, a bay 

 window, outside of, and extra to the size of the room. Here it constitutes half 

 the room, which is thus half outside the octagon. A defect in this mode of plan- 

 ning is placing the kitchen so near the living-rooms. This could be obviated just 

 as in a square house, by making a back-building, but then this would darken one 

 side of the octagon, besides destroying its symmetry, its only pretension to beauty 

 that, as Mr. Page says, it looks equally w^ell (?) on all sides. Then, wh 

 look at the pitiful narrow passages, the multiplicity of corners (each of w' " 



