34 TARKS AND I'LEASUEE-GROUNDS. 



required where the inmates of a family, save in the 

 southern states, have to rely much more on them- 

 selves, than in countries where society is divided into 

 such castes as compel one portion of the population 

 to serve the other, of necessity, and where such service 

 can be readily commanded. 



In regard to the material of which the house should 

 be constructed, there is a manifest propriety in using 

 that which most abounds in the vicinity, if it be of a 

 proper kind. In a region affording good stone, being 

 convenient, durable and cheap, nothing can be more 

 appropriate. In the absence of stone, and good clay in 

 abundance, bricks stand next in durability and cheap- 

 ness — a fitting material always ; while in lumber dis- 

 tricts, abounding in a choice of woods, they may be 

 applied to the construction of houses for all purposes, 

 and in desirable varieties of style. 



Situated in a park, or elsewhere, a house should ex- 

 press in its external appearance its chief purpose of 

 occupation. For summer resort only, it may be open, 

 light, showy, and shadowy. It may be relieved of 

 some appendances which are indispensable in a winter 

 dwelling. It may indulge in more outward ornament, 

 and wear a less substantial look ; for its exterior ex- 

 pression should show that it is a dwelling solely, and 

 not to be mistaken for a temple, or a pagoda. A house 

 for permanent occupation should have its one or more 

 fronts — scarce ever more than two — and such front or 

 fronts furnished in a style of superiority, or otherwise 

 corresponding with the uses for which they are de- 

 signed. It is to be supposed that its site commands 

 the finest view which the park embraces, and the best 

 front of the dwelling should look out upon it. The 



