The Country House 



A California avenue of palms, demanding the low-pitched roof and overhanging ea\ 



the droop of the trees 



Our problem is 

 the same. We are 

 limited by our 

 needs, and must, 

 like birds and ani- 

 mals, adapt natural 

 conditions to them. 

 With these the home 

 may be temporary; 

 with us it is per- 

 manent that is, if 

 we are fortunate in 

 the exercise of our 

 good judgment. 



Generally one 

 can tell the natural 

 inclination of every 

 individual, from the 

 flat shuffle of the 

 cityite to the mo- 

 mentous tread of the countryman, each of whose steps is a day's work. Tin- 

 migrating cityite is easy to mark; he never really forgets the flat step; 

 but he, like the parrot, catches the half sense of things. There is he of 

 the country inclination, with his hat on the back of his head, a straw in 

 his mouth, stepping high, like a hen, from past experience with mud, sand 

 and stones. The other variety is like a dog that has swallowed a mustard 

 plaster no matter which way he is headed for the time being, he will eventually 

 bring up at water, though from reasons of an entirely different nature. Both 

 hands are shoved deep into his pockets until he is round shouldered, and when 

 he walks it is as if the lower part of his anatomy were in one piece. His nos- 

 trils are extended as if always smelling for wind, and when he looks at his 

 watch he pulls his hat over his face and shades his eyes with his hand. 



Be the destination of he who flees from the city what it may, the same general 

 problem confronts him; the same general conditions are to be considered, and 

 the same general requirements to be met. He still requires to eat, sleep and 

 breathe fresh air, and the sunshine is just as requisite to his personal comfort, 

 be he by shore or mountain. 



This first problem, that of the site, is most important. The average man 

 will build a fairly good house on a bit of land entirely unworthy of it. We can- 

 not all draw plums, but let us at least have a decent slice of the pudding. 

 It has been the usual method among prospective builders to determine upon 

 the style and plan of the house to be built, and then to choose a site most 

 unsuited for the purpose. This method of procedure is, strictly speaking, an 

 illustration of the hackneyed "putting the cart before the horse," and yet jt is 

 frequently done with success. To have a general idea of what the plan may be 

 is perhaps not overreaching the mark to any extent, and yet the "general idea" 



