50 ■ Rural Architecture. 
ral efFe'ct, and by classical imitation or picturesque form in masses 
and details. 
We have been favored with a copy of the first volume of " The 
Architect," by Wm. H. Ranlett, containing a series of designs 
for domestic and ornamental cottages and villas, &c. The want 
of a work of such a nature has long been felt. It will be found 
useful and convenient to those persons who design to build, as 
well as the professional architect and citizen. 
The volume consists of ten numbers, and contains twenty-one 
original designs of rural residences — cottages and villas — accom- 
panied with remarks on rural architecture, origin of style, with 
plans and descriptions of all the parts in detail and the expenses, 
varying in construction from $900 to $12,000. There are sixty 
plates — nineteen of them elegantly and beautifully tinted, in a 
splendid style of lithography. 
The beautiful cut of a cottage, in the English style, which 
faces this article, is a copy of one of Mr. Ranlett's elegant litho- 
graphic prints, in the fifth number of his new and useful work, 
from which we make the following extracts. 
" The great number of cottages," says Mr. R., " which have 
been erected in the suburbs of London, in latter years, has afforded 
the finest opportunity for the application of improved taste and 
skill in cottage architecture, and the result is a vast amount of 
rural scenery, comprising in great harmony, highly improved 
gardens and yards with their requisite flowers, shrubs and vines, 
constituting views which are admired by visiters from all countries. 
One of the chief sources of the beauty of these rural residences, 
is the position of the houses on the lots, which are back sufficient 
to afford front yards for the cultivation of plants and vines, which 
are arranged and trained in graceful combinations wath the archi- 
tectural features, thus heightening the general effect by promoting 
the influence of the various parts. This style is well adapted to 
a large portion of the United States, especially in those parts in 
the higher latitudes." * * * * * * 
" The general characteristics of a residence must be determined 
by the tastes, habits, and circumstances of the family who are to 
