134 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1892. 



Closely allied to the chimneys is tiie roof of the house. As 

 the chimneys suggest the warmth and hearth-fires within, so the 

 roof suggests the shelter from the cold and storms without. 

 It is the shield of the house, and therefore it should never be 

 concealed or belittled, but should always rise with a steep pitch 

 and expose itself to view and the weather. The charm to the 

 eye of the old-fashioned country barn, which the artist so 

 delights to paint, is the immense roof of gray shingles stretch- 

 ing out like the side of a hill, and by its amplitude suggesting 

 a bounty that warms the heart. The picturesqueness of a house 

 depends more upon its roof than upon any other part of it, and 

 it is safe to say that picturesque and beautiful houses are 

 rare which are not covered by steep and ample roofs. 



According to Donald G. Mitchell a house without a porch is 

 like a man without an eyebrow : it gives expression, and gives 

 expression where you most want it ; and in this dry and sunny 

 climate the porch should be extended into a piazza. The piazza 

 should be large enough to suggest hospitality, and broad enough 

 to furnish a rendezvous for the ftimily on a summer evening. 

 It should be in keeping with the character and dignity of the 

 house, with strong posts and honest workmanshij) in every part. 

 A frail and mean porch or veranda attached to and made to do 

 cheap service to a good house, and especially to a house built of 

 brick or stone, is an incongruity oifensive to every canon of 

 good taste. 



The interior arrangement of every good house should be con- 

 venient and adapted to the wants of its occupants. All the 

 principal rooms should be on the first two floors, and the kitchen 

 is certainly one of the principal rooms. It is the engine-room 

 that runs the machinery of the house, and there is nothing that 

 will compensate for its being a poor one. One of the greatest 

 defects in many houses is the smallness of the rooms. The 

 trouble is that the ordinary family wants a cozy little house with 

 a good many rooms in it, and consequently the rooms are made 

 so small that they easily become cluttered up and are so "stuffy" 

 that there is hardly room to turn around in them. Fewer good- 

 sized rooms covering the same floor space would be more con- 

 venient for use, and far more preferable from an artistic and 



