220 RURAL ARCHITECTURE. ) 



our late work on Couniiry Houses. We even went so far as to give 

 a few examples of farm-houses studiously made simple and rural in 

 ' cliaracter, though, npt without a certain feeauty of. 6xpreasi(!ia,J)eflt- 

 ting their locality, and th6 uses to which they were des,tined. But, 

 judging from some criticisms on these farm-houses in one of fc 

 western papers, we believe it will not be an easy task to convince 

 the future proprietor of fann-houses and rural cottages, that truth- 

 ful simplicity is better th^n borrpw^'^'d,ecorations, in their countiy 

 homes. Our critic wonders- why farmers stould not be allowed to 

 live in as handsotae^houses (coBfoilindingm4re, decorations with 

 beauty) as any other clafes of -oiir citizens, if they can'aiford it-i— and 

 claims for thenittt'useof the Hiost ornamentkl architecture in their 

 farm-housesy' "We have only to answer to this,' that the simplest.ex-'. 

 pressioB ofi'beauty which grows out of a man's life, ranks- higher 

 for him thto the most elaborate one borrowed fi'om another's life 

 or circum^Sfbes. We will add, by way of 'illustration,;' that there 

 is no moral or political objection, that we know, of a farmer's wear- 

 ing a general's uniform in his corn-fields, if he likes it' bet* r than 

 plain clothes ■; but to our mind, his costume^^^undoubtedly hau^-' 

 somel' in the right place — would be both-absUrd and ugly, behind, 

 the harrow. .'' •• *■ ■■ ■ 



We are glad to find, however, that our feeling of the folly of 

 this exaggerated -.pretension in cottage architecture, is gradually 

 finding its expresfepj in.pther .channels of the public press — a surgi 

 sign that it will eventually take hold of public opinion. The fol-^^ 

 lowing satire on tKe. ta^te of the day in this overloaded style of 

 " carpenter's gothic," ff6th the pen of dne of the wittiest and cleveftj 

 est of American poets, has latdiy appeared (as part of a longer satire 

 on another subject), in one of our. populai; magazines. But it is too 

 good to be lost sight of by our reaSsfs7%iid we recommend it to a 

 second perusal. A thought or two upon its moral, as apphed.to 

 the 4aste of the country, will help us on most essentially in this, our 

 experimental age of architecture. ; . 



