A mission house shoving the effect of plain stucco walls 



CHAPTER IV 

 DETAILS OF FINISH 



RIOR to putting on the wall covering all the outside finish must 

 first be set in place. 



Cornices are of two sorts box and open (see I and 4, 

 Fig. 6). The box cornice is based upon the old classic 

 models, whether it comes near to the original lines or not. It 

 is an attempt to produce stone lines in wood, and shows nothing 

 of its own true construction. In thus attempting to reproduce 

 one material with another it falls under what is generally considered a bad 

 architectural practice. Owing to the very extended custom of its use, however, 

 it has come to be generally considered as an exception to this rule. As used in 

 the better examples of Colonial work, it has become in a measure distinct from 

 the classic by the reduction of its general scale and also the scale of its details. 

 This fact serves to set it apart from the heavy proportions of stone. 



Another form of cornice is that seen in some of the English and French work. 

 It consists in the gutter or gutter moulding, with a smaller moulding below. Its 

 projection is but slight, and in appearance and construction it is but little more 

 than part of the wall itself. As the principles of the other cornices cover it so 

 thoroughly it will not be further considered here. Commonly this cornice is 

 Gothic, and is usually employed with that style. 



61 



