OUT-OF-TOWN PLACES 



than it will be to belittle the old by a shocking 

 contrast, and wantonly dress our grandame in 

 the furbelows of sixteen. 



Again, let me lay down another distinction. 

 There are old houses which, in any traditional 

 or artistic sense, are not old houses. They 

 are mere square boxes of lumber or stone, with- 

 out noticeable feature or flavor. Such, if pos- 

 sible, may be incorporated into any new design, 

 without fear or favor ; none but economic con- 

 siderations will stand in the way. But there 

 are others which, without being accordant in 

 any sense with the artistic designs of the pres- 

 ent day, have yet a character of their own — 

 a character which any architectural adviser 

 (by the qualities of his profession) is bound 

 to detect; and which (by the niceties of his 

 profession) he cannot ignore in carrying out 

 his changes. 



I know of nothing which an architect can 

 do better (in the way of illustrating his real 

 artistic capacity) than to take hold of one of 

 those old, almost uninhabitable country houses 

 of forty years ago, and, without violating its 

 homeliness, graft upon it such convenient ad- 

 denda of rooms, porches, halls (gables, pos- 

 sibly) as shall result in a charming homestead, 

 in which the old is forgotten in the new, and 



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