A COTTAGE FOR A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN. 



I beg pardon for so long taxing your patience. I should not have been emboldened to 

 address you thus familiarly, were it not for the con amore spirit with which you have 

 written upon the subject of architecture, and of homes. If 3'ou will be kind enough to 

 give me a little help in i-espect to the points that perplex me — or if you will furnish for the 

 " Horticulturist" the design for a cottage for a country clergyman, that shall include the 

 accommodations which I have suggested on the first floor, with three or four lodging 

 rooms in the chambers — and at a cost that shall be within the means of us poor minis- 

 ters — ^}'ou will greatly oblige me and others, and help those who would do something to 

 carry out the principles which you have so ably advocated. Yours very respectfully. 



For the plan and perspective view of the cottage which we have designed for the " par- 

 sonage" of the author of the foregoing letter, we refer our readers to the Frontispiece of 

 this number. In the elevation we have chosen a simple cottage style — one that always 

 befits rural scenery, and gives the most room for the cost of any style that can be adopt- 

 ed. The rustic veranda, and rustic trellises over the windows, are intended for vines — 

 but not merely as a support for vines — but rather as thereby giving an air of rural re- 

 finement and poetry to the house without expense. We say without expense; and by 

 this we mean comparatively; for we do not mean these rustic trellises to be built by car- 

 penters, and included in the original cost of the cottage, but to be added afterwards from 

 time to time by the clergyman himself, aided by some farm-hand, expert with the saw 

 and hammer. They should be constructed of cedar poles — with the bark on — which may 

 be had almost anywhere in Massachusetts for a trifle, and which if neatly put together will 

 be more becoming to such a cottage as this than elaborate carpentry work. By the addi- 

 tion of such trellis work and a few vines, a simple rural cottage like this may be made a 

 most attractive object in a rural landscape. 



The plan (see frontispiece,) is, as we have said, mainly that of our correspondent — the 

 country clergyman. We have only retouched it here and there, so as to bring the rooms 

 into good fellowship. We could not afford a separate " back- 

 stairs," but we have given something of the utility of one, so 

 far as the cellar way is concerned, by shutting off the back en- 

 try from the front hall, by a door at C. A door at D, opens 

 on the veranda. There is a studj' with places for books, at B, 

 (where otherwise may be a door to connect the study with the 

 living room, if thouglit desirable:) a nice parlor on one side of 

 the entry, and a living-room on the other side — which living- 

 room has two convenient closets so placed at the side of the room 

 as to form a kind of bay-window effect, that would be pleasing 

 and convenient. There are also, a kitchen, abed-room for the 

 family, and a childs' bed room, all in connection. 



Fig. 1 — Second Floor. 



The door between the latter and the 

 back entry should be glazed, to admit light to that part of the entry behind 0. If a 

 communication between the entry and 

 the large bed-room is thought more desi- 

 rable than the closets, a door placed there 

 instead of the closets, would answer that 

 purpose. 



The second floor plan, (fig. 1,) shows 

 five o;ood bed-rooms with a closet to each, 

 n to a smaller scale.) Fig 2 is a 

 sketch of the rear of the house — 



Fig. 2 — Sketch of the Rear. 



