''what will it cost?" 131 



fortable things, and there are days when a good wood-fire 

 in the stove or open fire-place is extremely grateful all day 

 long, and then one feels a transient wish for a weather- 

 proof house. But it is not often that this happens ; and 

 all the rest of the year we want the pure fresh air to 

 have access to every nook and corner of our semi-tropical 

 homes. 



We have no cellars in Florida, though we see no reason 

 against their practicability, where the location of the dwell- 

 ing is high, and drainage good ; the houses are set up from 

 the ground, one, two, or three feet, as we may choose, on 

 stout pine blocks, segments of huge pine or oak trees sawed 

 ofi* horizontally. It is claimed that there is not enough 

 cold weather to chill the soil, and so a cellar would not be 

 as cool a place for provisions as is a closet built of slats, 

 or a wire-net safe, where the breeze has free access at all 

 times ; and doing without a cellar makes building much 

 easier and much cheaper. But we have seen one Florida 

 cellar, and it was a cool, airy spot. 



We think the best plan for a Florida home is one that 

 gives a wide hall through the center of the house, with 

 rooms opening into it on either side. 



This same plan could be carried out in the second story, 

 when such is desired, but, as a general thing, Florida houses 

 are only one story, as there is always plenty of ground on 

 which to "spread out" as much as one chooses, and down- 

 stairs rooms are the coolest and pleasantest. 



Every house of the least pretension to comfort should 

 have a wide porch on at least two sides, notably the south 

 and west, and all the better if the porch be continued en- 

 tirely around it. Our idea of what a true Florida house 

 should be, is that of a broad-brimmed hat, and for the self- 

 same reasons that make such a hat desirable in a warm, 

 sunshiny day. 



