38 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



January, 1907 



in their new surroundings as 

 they did in the original ones 

 for which they were designed 

 and built. A great many of 

 our finer Colonial ones in Vir- 

 ginia and Pennsylvania were, 

 together with the other decor- 

 ations of the American gentle- 

 man's country seat, as well as 

 the bricks themselves, brought 

 directly from English houses 

 or makers. They are unpre- 

 tentious, well-proportioned, 

 anci inexpensive. Almost any 

 mill or cabinet-maker can exe- 

 cute them. All the larger 

 salesrooms or dealers in man- 

 tels have hundreds of compar- 

 atively excellent copies of 

 mantels originally executed for 

 English Georgian or our own 

 Colonial houses of the next 

 generation (illustration No. 

 9). Our Colonial ones were, 

 out of economy, almost always 

 executed in wood. 



Only one additional feature 

 of the fireplace is worth notic- 

 ing, and that is its great value 



as a ventilator. It creates a steady current in the 

 chamber and draws out the exhausted air. To be truly 



10 — Of Excellent Georgian Form 



inlets. Fed by these, it really becomes a 

 hot air mouth, which constantly replaces the a 

 hygienic, the chimney should be fed by exterior fresh air by heated fresh air. 



ventilator, a 

 ir of the room 



A True Country Home 



By Edward Watts 



DO not intend to write of a costly country 

 place, where people of wealth may resort; 

 but a model home for an energetic, intelli- 

 gent family, willing to study nature and put 

 their knowledge to practical use. A well- 

 located residence of twenty acres, or even 

 ten, where the conditions are not unusually unfavorable, can 

 be made to pay its own way, and yet take into its makeup 

 nearly all the charms of landscape beauty. The homestead 

 that I shall describe was not unusually fertile, but its posi- 

 tion on the western slope of a superb valley, overlooking a 

 dozen villages and a city, with garden-like scenery in all 

 directions, could not be easily surpassed. Yet our country 

 holds many such places; noble in outlook, where homes like 

 the one that I shall describe may be easily planted and 

 sustained. I never travel through New England, and the 

 same is true of the Western States, and still more of the 

 Southern, without saying again and again, "There, what 

 a noble place for a home ! What a winsome location for a 

 house!" It only needs an educated.will and a resolution to 

 study Nature and be instructed by her. Those who go out to 

 spend money I am not concerned with; but the man of 

 moderate means, who has a taste for the beautiful, and is 

 willing to adjust himself to new conditions. 



The old homestead of my boyhood occupied the very heart 

 of a western slope, overlooking the Oriskany valley, where it 

 runs down through the center of the Empire State. On a 

 broad rise in the middle of the valley lay the village of Clin- 



ton. Its roads, bordered with trees, felt their way in all 

 directions through the hills, awaiting for steam-cars and 

 trolleys. It was the first village created by New Englanders 

 On their way Westward to conquer a continent. I do not 

 wonder that on that knoll the pioneers from Connecticut first 

 planted a home. My own venture was to be on the very spot 

 where Dominie Kirkland, with his friend Sconodoah, planted 

 the first pioneers' orchard in 1791. Most of the great trees 

 were still standing, and the old farmhouse, built when the 

 trees were planted, was still capable of occupancy. 



From the orchard, along the southeast slope, toward the 

 street, was a succession of knolls and swales. Following 

 these upward, till they came to a level sward, I found not 

 only my natural driveways, but an inviting position for my 

 house. Here could be secured the most perfect drainage, 

 and a commanding position. This location, it may be ob- 

 served, was not the conventional one near the roadside. It 

 was selected by Nature herself, as on the whole the best spot 

 for a house that should command the whole property. It 

 was as convenient for the rear as for the front. Drainage 

 from this point was perfect, and the outlook took in not only 

 the property itself, but the whole valley. 



The construction of the house was to follow the nature of 

 its location. Having command of a wide outlook and of 

 many beautiful points, it must not be so constructed as to 

 shut these out. In other words, a building was to be erected 

 exactly adapted to the spot where it stood; a building that 

 would not so well fit any other place. It was to be simple 



