96 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[March, 
Country Houses with City Conveniences. 
It is generally supposed that city houses are far 
more convenient than country dwellings. Ser- 
vant girls lay special stress upon this, when asked 
to go to the country. But, with the single excep- 
tion of gas-light, every city convenience may 
be equally well secured in any country place. 
To illustrate this, and also to furnish good house- 
plans, we present engravings and descriptions of 
some houses now being completed in Flush- 
ing, eight miles distant by Railroad from the 
Hunter's Point Ferry, opposite 34th-street New- 
York. These houses, by the way, are almost 
as quickly reached, and with far more comfort, 
than any city residence above 40th-street, while 
they are in a healthful location, and have the 
benefit of country air, the pleasure of a garden, 
etc., and, being supplied with gas from 
the village, they have all the conve- 
niences of city houses. The proprie- 
tor, in their erection, has attempted to 
introduce every improvement, and to 
construct every part as if to be occu- 
pied by his own family. (The general 
superintendence and carpenter work, 
is done by John Donald; the mason 
work by James & Patrick Carroll ; the paint- 
ing by P. Thornton; the tin-work by Benj. 
Field ; and the slating and roofing by J. S. Mose- 
ley, of the Union Roofing Co., of New York.) 
Elevation. — Fig. 1 shows the general appear- 
ance from, a front corner view. The basement 
walls are 3^ feet stone-wall below the surface, 
and 4 feet brick-wall above, cemented and laid 
off into stone blocks. The siding is of 10-inch 
boards, half-tongue and lap, with a v groove at 
the lap, and another v groove cut along the 
center of each board, giving it the appearance of 
4'| 2-inch siding, an end section of which is seen in 
fig. 6. This new style of 
siding is the finest and best 
f\ we have seen. The roofing 
is French, or half French 
style, the fronting all round 
- covered with slate, black 
(£), green (67), and red (iJ) 
— as shown by these letters 
in fig. 7. The top part on 
one house is tin, and on 
the others, H. W. Johns' 
The window caps and cor- 
nices are alike on all sides, which gives almost 
a front view, when seen from any direction. The 
walls are filled in with brick, from cellar to roof. 
F'est Floor (Fig. 2).— The Parlor A, B, with 
Bay Window at 0, is dividedby sliding doors, so 
that A, 14 x 20 feet, can be used for the parlor, 
Fig. 7. — SLATE. 
Patent Roofing. 
and B, 14 x 10 as 
a Library or Sit- 
ting-room ; or the 
whole be thrown 
into one large par- 
lor when desired. 
A, is spacious 
enough except for 
large gatherings. 
v g} : . The Main Hall, E, 
is sis feet wide. 
Many err in mak- 
ing this too nar- 
row ; it is the first 
e - room entered, and 
SEpg;- its capacity gives 
the first impres- 
sion in regard to 
the whole house. 
At the front is a 
small closet (c,c,c,) 
for cloaks, umbrellas, etc., leaving plenty 
of room for a hat-stand between that and the 
parlor door. JV^ is a covered piazza. C, is the 
general family room, or sitting-room, or may be 
used as a Dining Room, when _D, is used as a 
Kitchen. D, is the Dining-Room, but is pro- 
vided with a medium size cooking-range at J, 
so that for a small family, or with a scarcity of 
help, or at special seasons of the year, D maybe 
used as a Kitchen. /, is a common Dish closet, 
and K, a China closet, with doors opening into 
both D, and G. By the side of this is D,W, a 
dumb-waiter from the room below, which, 
when not in use, shuts down even with the floor, 
and occupies no room. The Sink in the corner 
is neatly enclosed, with a door to open to its 
front, g, is a rear hall extending out to a 
small piazza and steps. Under this at the left, is 
seen the outside entrance to the Basement. A 
closet from g, furnishes a place for hats, gar- 
ments, umbrellas, etc. F, is a general pantiy and 
flour room for D. Ventilators, throughout the 
house, are placed in the base-boards of the rooms, 
in accordance with the principles explained in 
September Agriculturist, 1864. The suggestions 
Fig. 3. — FIRST FLOOR OR GROUND PLAN. 
published in this journal for several years past, 
havebeen consulted in constructing these houses. 
Second Story (Fig. 3). — Q, B, are front and 
rear chambers, with connecting closets, s, s, and 
a double door passage containing drawers and 
shelves. U, is the family chamber or bed-room, 
connected with W, and with the hall bed-room, 
T, so that a child, sick or well, occupying either 
W or T, will be in hearing and easy reach of U. 
This room, Z7, is specially fitted for the con- 
venience of the lady of the house, even if she be I 
an invalid. The wash-stand and basin, e,e, has 
cold and hot water brought to it by pipes from 
the Attic reservoir, and the basement boiler (/, 
fig. 4). A bell wire extends to the servants' room 
on the third-floor. One speaking-tube extends to 
the basement Kitchen, and another to the Din- 
ing-Room (D, fig. 2), so that the lady can give di- 
rections to those rooms without calling through 
the halls. "We commend this arrangement to 
every housekeeper. A small sum wi'u connect 
two distant rooms with tubings so that free con- 
versation can be held, and thus save a great num- 
ber of steps. The lady, while dressing herself 
or children, can give full directions to the kitch- 
en or dining-room, and make inquiries. From 
this room, U, another speaking tube extends 
to and opens over the outside front door 
bell-knob, so that in case the bell is rung at night, 
instant inquiry can be made of the caller as to 
" what's the matter," without a long journey 
through the halls. Such a tube should at least 
extend from, every Physician's sleeping-room to 
Fig. 8. — SECOND FLOOR OR CHAMBER PLAN. 
his door-bell. The tubing costs but 5 or 6 cents 
a foot, and is easily put in, along the corners of 
rooms,., or, as in these houses, behind the lath- 
ing, when done at the time of building W 
is another bed-room, large enough for two beds 
if desired. — X, is a bath-room, with wash basin, 
S, and bath-tub, B, T, both of which are sup- 
plied with cold water pipes from the Attic reser- 
voir, and hot water from the boiler tank in the 
basement. — A water closet here is supplied with 
water from the Attic, and with a large waste pipe 
riming underground to the privy vault, at the 
end of the grape arbor which extends back from 
the rear door. The closets A, A, Z,dc,d c, are 
shown in the plan : there can hardly be too 
many of these, as every housekeeper knows. 
Basement (Fig. 4).— K, is the Kitchen, sup- 
plied with stationary wash-tubs, w, w ; sink, w ; 
force-pump which draws water for the Kitch- 
en from a large cistern outside,which is filled from 
a filtering cistern. This pump is connected by 
a pipe with the Attic 
reservoir, so that if in 
a long drouth that 
should fail, it can be 
refilled from below, 
and thus a supply of 
water and pressure al- 
ways be secured to the 
hot water tank. K, is 
supplied with a large 
" Challenge" cooking- 
range, J", having a wa- 
ter back and a large tight thirty-five gallon 
boiler, I, seen at the left, which is kept filled and 
under pressure from the Attic reservoir. H, 
%. 4. — BASEMENT. 
