276 ROOF-TREE. 



flowers, foliage, brilliant colors, sunsets, rainbows, 

 water-falls, may be said to be beautiful in and of 

 themselves ; but how wearisome the world would be 

 without the vast negative background upon which 

 these things figure, and which provokes and stimu- 

 lates the mind in a way the purely fair forms do not. 



How we are drawn by that which retreats and 

 hides itself, or gives only glimpses and half views ! 

 Hence the value of trees as a veil to an ugly orna- 

 mental house, and the admirable setting they form to 

 the picturesque habitation I am contemplating. But 

 the house the heart builds, whether it be cottage or 

 villa, can stand the broad, open light without a screen 

 of any kind. Its neutral gray or brown tints, its wide 

 projections and deep shadows, its simple strong lines, 

 its coarse open-air quality, its ample roof or roofs, 

 blend it with the landscape wherever it stands. Such 

 a house seems to retreat into itself, and invites the 

 eye to follow. Its interior warmth and coziness pen- 

 etrate the walls, and the eye gathers suggestions of 

 them at every point. 



We can miss almost anything else from a building 

 rather than a look of repose. This it must have. 

 Give it a look of repose, and all else shall be added. 

 This is the supreme virtue in architecture. Go to the 

 city, walk up and down the principal thoroughfares, 

 and see what an effort many of the buildings make to 

 stand up ! What columns and arches they put forth 

 where no columns or arches are needed ! There is 

 endless variety of form and line, great activity of 



