MR. URBAN AND A COUNTRY HOUSE 



secured by a builder in wood ; and under these 

 circumstances, where fitness and economy seem 

 combined, it is hardly reasonable to hope for 

 the substitution of any other material than 

 wood. Yet I venture to suggest, (and shall 

 urge as I best can,) that in a country where 

 stones abound, and they abound in most of the 

 Eastern States, they furnish the most fit ma- 

 terial, and their use will subserve a higher if 

 not a more immediate economy. 



Let me test, one by one, the objections which 

 are commonly urged against buildings for 

 home purposes, of stone. 



First, on the score of appearance: There 

 are those who object to the rough and unbe- 

 coming party-colored surface of a house of 

 stone — who believe that a "handsome house" 

 (a most detestable collocation of words) must 

 have smooth exteriors, and submit to the finical 

 niceties of the painters. This, indeed, is a 

 question of taste, in which all ordinary reason- 

 ing is adrift. It certainly seems to me that 

 the real beauty of a country house depends not 

 so much upon nice finish of surface as upon 

 outline, and the agreement of its general tone 

 of color with the surrounding landscape. No 

 tint, surely, can be more agreeable than that of 

 our sand-stones, and the yellow ochreous stain 



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