RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



A FEW WORDS ON RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



July, 1850. 



NO one pretends that we have, as yet, either a national architec- 

 ture or national music in America ; unless our Yankee clap- 

 board house be taken as a specimen of the first, and " Old Susannah" 

 of the second fine art. But there is, on the other hand, perhaps, 

 no country where there is more building or more "musicianing," 

 such as they are, at the present moment. And as a perfect taste in 

 arts is no more to be expected in a young nation, mainly occupied 

 with the practical wants of life, than a knowledge of geometry is 

 in an infant school, we are content with the large promise that we 

 find in the present, and confidently look forward for fulfilment to 

 the future. 



In almost every other country, a few landlords own the land, 

 which a great many tenants live upon and cultivate. Hence the 

 general interest in building is confined to a comparatively small class, 

 improvements are made in a solid and substantial way, and but little 

 change takes place from one generation to another in the style of 

 the dwelling and the manner of living. 



But in this country we are, comparatively, all landlords. In the 

 country, especially, a large part of the rural population own the land 

 they cultivate, and build their own houses. Hence it is a matter of 



