Architecture in the United States. 233 



We are fond of variety in cities or towns. In the former it is more 

 difficult than in the latter, but we often make the case even worse 

 than our necessities require. It is so when we erect a larger block of 

 buildings, each one corresponding exactly with the rest. Why is 

 this ? Is there not uniformity enough in the constant recurrence of 

 streets, of the same breadth, and perhaps meeting at the same angle, in 

 an unbroken range of houses each advanced to the same line and 

 finished with the same proportionate number of windows and doors ? 

 But there is another consideration. In a block of this kind, the 

 whole mass takes an unity which requires vastness in the other parts 

 to correspond. We look for this and find, with disappointment, the 

 doors, windows and porches, the same as those of any other houses : 

 the details become more minute from a comparison with the vastness 

 of the whole, and the discrepancy becomes more strongly forced on 

 us and more painful. 



Smaller cities and towns have a great advantage in the intervals 

 which occur between the houses, and in New England this advantage 

 is turned to good account. The houses there are frequently built at 

 a distance of twenty or thirty feet from each other, a space of several 

 yards being also left between them and the street. The whole of 

 this is planted with delicate shade trees and shrubs, and as the houses 

 themselves are usually painted white and have small tasteful porticos 

 in front, the effect is the most agreeable that can be imagined. Gen- 

 tlemen who have travelled extensively in Europe, frequently inform 

 us that they have never seen any thing that, as a whole, would com- 

 pare in neatness and real beauty with some of the New England 

 villages. It is a beauty in the power of every one of our towns, for 

 the houses in New England, though as comfortable and durable as in 

 other places, cost I believe even less than is usual for edifices of their 

 size. Nearly the whole is effected by the neat little yard, with its 

 verdure, in contrast with the pure white of the facade, and by the 

 little portico over the door. There is another characteristic in these 

 towns, which I should like to see more common in the country ; I 

 mean the habit of planting trees along the streets. We should not 

 have all the streets in a town treated in this manner; those for busir 

 ness should be kept clear, but in all others trees should be planted 

 more or less thickly, as taste or convenience will admit. They give 

 a town the appearance of richness and comfort, which cannot be so 

 cheaply procured in any other manner. The elm is our most grace- 



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