Art Out-of -Doors 



tressed by a sight of the progeny it has en- 

 gendered. 



In certain places and for certain purposes 

 the use of bowlders, whether large or small, 

 is not only allowable but praiseworthy. It 

 is both sensible and appropriate to use them, 

 for example, in the foundations or the base- 

 ment of a country house on land where they 

 abound and can be had at little cost and 

 trouble. But even in such spots as this it 

 is seldom desirable that a house should be 

 wholly built of them, for we do not want an 

 American country home to wear the unre- 

 fined and ponderous aspect which the unal- 

 loyed employment of them gives. 



In other parts of the country one may 

 wisely use, instead of bowlders and for a 

 similar purpose, stones roughly split from 

 neighboring granite-ledges ; but, again, and 

 for the same reasons, it is seldom well thus 

 to construct an entire house. We want sim- 

 plicity and we want solidity, but we do not 

 want coarseness or the affectation of sim- 

 plicity. A house with an interior such as 

 every American demands, made comfortable 

 by a hundred ingenious devices, and beauti- 



194 



