180 Rural Homes. 



here and there of their immortal works, and leaving unnoticed the inborn 

 principle which made each bit of detail beautiful. 



A Gothic house, then, is a building, the character of whose architecture 

 is distinguished by the upward direction of its leading lines, and by such 

 curves as may be introduced meeting, or having a tendency to meet, in a 

 point. It may be highly ornamental, or left perfectly simple ; but true taste 

 will be outraged if ornament, beautiful as it may be in itself, is introduced 

 where it does not serve some purpose of construction. 



The gables, and the windows, and the doors, and the veranda, and ombra, 

 may all be decorated as riclily as you like ; but it must be their composing 

 parts that receive the decoration ; there nmst be no ornamental work stuck 

 on here and there without meaning and use : too much ornamental wood- 

 work about a house, any way, is a nuisance, and a source of continued ex- 

 pense. 



In arranging the outlines of your plan upon the ground, the selection of 

 wood as the material will permit of a more varied and irregular shape than 

 stone or brick, the corners, which, in mason-work, add so considerably to 

 the expense, not being a source of greater outlay. But irregular outline on 

 the ground is apt to involve intricacy of roof; be therefore thoroughly satis- 

 fied the latter is going to give you no trouble before you commence. 



Dormer windows on the roof are greatly in favor with those who design 

 Gothic houses. Unless they are clear above the eaves, so as to allow the 

 eaves' gutters to run below them in unbroken line, they will, in heavy rains 

 or after a thaw, be sources of great trouble. 



A very pretty effect may be attained by cutting off the corners of the 

 shingles before nailing them on, or by rounding them off, or giving them 

 any other form that will work in such a manner as to present the appearance 

 of an ornamental pattern on the roof The covering of the veranda is gen- 

 erally of metal, but where the slope will allow similar shingles to be used, 

 the effect is not only more pleasing, but the chambers whose windows over- 

 look, are less exposed to the radiated heat from the large surface of metal 

 below. 



Those who have noticed recently-erected Gothic country houses, will 

 probably remember that the windows seemed a source of some difficulty ; 

 they were either ordinary sash windows, that did not seem to harmonize 

 with the house, or they were such as gave great trouble to the inmates. I 

 would advise, where the character of open tracery is attempted to be given, 

 that it be made solidly and as a fixture outside ; being, in fact, as it may 

 well be supposed to be, the ornamental support of the lintel above ; and 

 that the part filled with glass be behind and independent, having, however, 

 divisions similar in character to the outer frame. This method of executing 

 an ornamental window will, I think, be found productive of more external 

 and internal effect, and certainly remedies the difficulties I have, in the 

 course of my experience, found to exist. 



The next is his advice to persons about to build. 



The right to look upon beautiful scenery, is a privilege all possess in 



