4G2 ORiriQUB ON AUGUST HORTICULTURIST, 



most tftstcful and convenient for us ; therefore, it is a great improvement, and 

 shonld be the style for general adoption. I now speak in tlie common-sense view 

 of the subject, with a due regard to economy in building, and an eye to its selling 

 value whenever the proprietor chooses to part with it — for be it known, that no 

 real jiropertyis mure llnctuivtiiig in its owncrshii), with us, than "country houses." 

 If a num chooses to indulge his fancy or taste by building an extravagant house, 

 in a novel style, that is another thing ; it is his own afl'air, and I have nothing 

 to say. Such things are the exception. Dut, as architects usually have the ])lan- 

 ning of houses, and govern their style, expense, and accommodation, it is well to 

 ascertain whether they combine the requirements of couveiuencc and comfort in 

 what they build, with a due economy in expense. As a rule, they do not. To 

 illustrate : A man of comfortable estate, with a moderate family, wants a "cottage." 

 He consults his architect. A i)lan is presented — fashioualjle, of course, and as 

 the Gothic, and other absurdities, like Sir Lucius O'Trigger's "damns," have had 

 their day, the Italian style is presented. Instead of a plain, tasty affair, with 

 outer walls, admitting breaks and angles just sufficient to give it relief and effect 

 without violence to the interior arrangement of its rooms, it is full of " hips and 

 haws," jags and buttresses, campaniles and porches ; half a dozen different roofs 

 and elevations — a i)retentious toy, in fact, imitating a palatial residence fit for a 

 family of twenty thousand a year, on a great landed estate. And all this outside 

 pretence, with its almost interminable lines of zigzag wall, is to inclose a contracted 

 accommodation of jierhaps three or four rooms, a closet or two, and a back kitchen, 

 with a few contracted chambers overhead, at an expense of "$5,000 to $8,000 !" 



Now, this thing won't last. Sensible people will get tired of it after awhile — 

 particularly when the repairs come. " Dormers," " flat cornices," garret cisterns, 

 springing a leak every now and then, and spoiling the ceilings, carpets, and furni- 

 ture, will give way to sensible contrivances as of old. I would not have a kitchen 

 in the body of the house, as Mr. Smith intimates I would ; it should be in the 

 rear, its proper place ; and the annual plumbers' bills should not amount to the 

 full cost of all other repairs, as they usually do in ordinary dwellings. A "cottage" 

 should be a cottage in its proper meaning, and that only. It should have an air 

 of repose, of coziness, and convenience, so that every one passing it should say : 

 " How comfortable !" It could be done at half the cost of the other thing. The 

 term "cottage" is full of meaning — low walls, a high roof, wide eaves, a veranda 

 in front, and perhaps on the sides, spread broadly over the ground, climbing plants, 

 shrubbery, and trees. There it is. do in and take your comfort in your own 

 natural way. 



Mr. Smith hopes I am not going into a crusade against Mr. Downing's reform 

 labors in architecture. l>y no means. But all Mr. Downing's architectural plans 

 were not "reforms." He was just on the threshold of his new profession when 

 he so unfortunately died. Had he lived, his own matured judgment and finely 

 cultivated taste would, ere this, have thrown aside as worthless much that his 

 early enthusiasm had recommended. Every year of his valuable life gave evidence 

 of his chastened perceptions of the useful and appropriate in country architecture. 

 A more appropriate style in country houses among our best architects, is already 

 ai)parent, and our better houses are again approaching the square or parallelogram, 

 with less of irregular wall, and more symmetry of proportion. Flat roofs, be they 

 of tin, zinc, or copper, are not the things for American climates, tn the covntnj ; 

 and so our architects will find out ere long. Old things are not always to be dis- 

 carded because old, nor new things to be adopted because new. The world has 

 known somethino; before our dav. Jeffrey 



