STYLE 0E THE HOUSE. 



41 



involving one's self in a large expenditure in building 

 a country residence. An investment in land is not so 

 hazardous a matter. If well situated and well pur 

 chased, the loss in it cannot be much when one wishes 

 to dispose of it, even if not valuable for agricultural 

 purposes. It is usually the house and the other erec- 

 tions built upon it which sink the capital, and in the 

 event of the sale of the premises, tastes in such pro- 

 perty usually differing, the purchaser is fastidious un- 

 less he can drive a decided bargain. Many familiar 

 places can be named which half ruined the owners in 

 building them, and never gave them a moment's en- 

 joyment in their occupation. The splendor of his 

 dwelling can add nothing to the consequence of the 

 proprietor in the community in which he lives, further 

 than to identify him with the notoriety of his temporary 

 castle ; and to the man of true fame, an ambitious and 

 costly house counts but little with those whose appro- 

 bation he is most solicitous to preserve. 



"We would not be misunderstood as suggesting a 

 mean and parsimonious spirit in the country dwelling. 

 Far from it. Every thing relating to it should be on a 

 liberal plan — large enough, rooms enough for family 

 and relatives, and complete in every luxury and com- 

 fort ; but all for use, and not for show. Ostentation 

 should have no abiding place in the country. Health, 

 leisure, amusement, quiet, rural beauty, are the objects 

 for which the country is sought by the jaded citizen, 

 or the lover of country life. These attained, the pur- 

 poses of the park and its country house are accom- 

 plished; and what these cannot provide within the 

 limits of a reasonable expenditure in a dwelling, no 

 amount of money can bestow. On the contrary, an 



