2 HOME AND GARDEN 



there is nothing sham-old about it ; it is not trumped- 

 up with any specious or fashionable devices of spurious 

 antiquity ; there is no pretending to be anything that 

 it is not — no affectation whatever. 



But it is designed and built in the thorough and 

 honest spirit of the good work of old days, and the 

 body of it, so fashioned and reared, has, as it were, 

 taken to itself the soul of a more ancient dwelling- 

 place. The house is not in any way a copy of any 

 old building, though it embodies the general charac- 

 teristics of the older structures of its own district. 



Everything about it is strong and serviceable, and 

 looks and feels as if it would wear and endure for ever. 

 All the lesser permanent fittings are so well thought 

 out and so thoroughly made that there is hardly any- 

 thing that can possibly get out of order ; the house is 

 therefore free from the petty worry and dislocation of 

 comfort so commonly caused by the weakness or 

 inefficiency of its lesser parts, and from the frequent 

 disturbance occasioned by workmen coming to do 

 repairs. 



Internal fittings that are constantly seen and 

 handled, such as window-fastenings, hinges, bolts and 

 door-latches, are specially designed and specially made, 

 so that they are in perfect proportion, for size, weight, 

 and strength, to the wood and iron-work to which 

 they are related. There are no random choosings from 

 the ironmonger's pattern-book ; no clashing of styles, 

 no meretricious ornamentation, no impudence of cast- 



