RURAL LIFE IN LITCHFIELD COUNTY 



rooms, were features of beauty as well as strength. 

 The mellowed color of the wood gave a tone to the 

 whole room, and when the beams were ornamented 

 with a simple carved design, as was sometimes done in 

 the "best room," the effect was, as an old, old lady once 

 said, "right neat and tasty." Very often the walls of 

 the rooms in these old houses are covered with wooden 

 panels, especially about the chimney, where the panels 

 concealed the various handy cupboards and snug re- 

 cesses. 



The long lean-to roof, sometimes sloping nearly to 

 the ground, was a shrewd attempt of the early settlers 

 to avoid the tax laid by Queen Anne on all two-story 

 houses. These salt-box houses, as they are called, are 

 quite characteristic of rural New England. They allow 

 for great surface area on the first floor and provide full 

 height chambers on one side of the upper story. The 

 low roof with its gentle rise had its possible disadvan- 

 tages, as voiced in the old couplet, 



"O for a thousand bricks 



To build my chimney higher; 

 To keep the pesky neighbors' gals 

 From putting out my fire." 



One of the earliest and most important improve- 

 ments bearing on building construction is credited to 



