ITALIAN COTTAGE. 



portion of your numerous readers. 

 As a general tiling, we build our 

 liouses too costly — spend too mucli 

 money on the house, and too little 

 on our grounds. We embarrass 

 ourselves in building, and then all 

 else has to suffer. As a general 

 thing, we go to extremes, and either 

 build a very plain square house, 

 without the least pretension to taste, 

 or one aboundino^ in gables and un- 

 meaning oraaments. 



The one 1 now present is designed 

 to avoid these two extremes. It is 

 plain, yet I think pretty, and well 

 proportioned. There is nothing 

 about it to make it much more 

 costly than even the plainest house, 

 and nothing that will be apt to get 

 out of repair. It is suitable for the 

 suburbs of a city or village, and 

 would not make a bad farm-house. 

 Perhaps professional architects will 

 criticise it, and I am willing they 

 should do so; and if they will fur- 

 nish good, plain, tasteful, cheap 

 plans for us formers, I for one am 

 willing to lay down the pencil, and 

 submit to be taught, instead of en- 

 deavoring to teach, others. 



The cellar of this cottage is to be 

 seven feet six inches high, the first 

 stoiy ten feet, and the second story 

 nine feet. The cellar walls to be of 

 stone, eighteen inches thick. The 

 superstructure to be framed, outside 

 clap-boarded or sheathed, inside 

 plastered two coats. Architraves 

 to be seven inches wide in the prin- 

 cipal story, and six inches in the 

 second story. The roofs may be 

 shingled. The inside finish to be 

 neat, yet plain, making the building 

 cost, when finished, about two thou- 

 sand dollars. 



FIl S : FLOOR. 



