May , 1859. 
137 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
A Dwelling House. 
In October last, (Yol. xvii, p. 
297,) we gave the ground plan of 
the Dwelling House of one of the 
associate editors of the Agricultur¬ 
ist. This has called out numerous 
inquiries from all parts of the 
country for further particulars. 
Here is one like many others. 
G. P., of Harmon, Ohio, writes: 
“That plan happens to be just the 
thing wife and I have been looking 
for these years past. Can not you 
give us the elevation 1 Please fa¬ 
vor us as much as you can in refer¬ 
ence to it. It is the plan, so far as 
I understand it, upon which I wish 
to build next season....” In re¬ 
sponse to these calls we sent to 
the proprietor for a pencil sketch 
and photograph of the elevation, 
which we have had engraved, and 
present herewith. We also reintro¬ 
duce the ground plan and descrip¬ 
tion. The house as it now stands, 
is not ■precisely like the plan, some 
few slight modifications having been recently in¬ 
troduced, not important to be specified here. 
The picture would have been much more beau¬ 
tiful could we have shown the trees, shrubbery, 
walks, etc., in front, of and surrounding the 
house, but these would have obscured the form 
of the structure, which is the thing most desired. 
This plan, like all others we give, from time to 
time, is of course merely suggestive. No two per¬ 
sons would follow the same plan in all the details. 
This house is in the Italian order of architec¬ 
ture, with a flat, metallic roof, wide cornices, sup¬ 
ported with brackets, etc.; but any other external 
style may just as well be adopted, with even the 
same internal arrangement. This one is of wood, 
ceiled on three sides with boards running hori¬ 
zontally, and clap-boarded in the rear. The part 
containing the parlor, hall, dining-room and bed¬ 
rooms, is two stories high; the library and kit¬ 
chen, are a story and a-half. The rooms on the 
first floor are ten-and-a-half feet high between 
joists; those on the second floor, are nine feet. 
In regard to its cost, we have already remarked 
that the work was all done by the day, the bills 
were not added up, and they are not now at hand, 
A rough estimate makes the cost not far from 
$3,500. The cost may be made much less or 
greater according to the location and price of ma¬ 
terials, the kind of materials, style of finish, etc., 
together with the profits paid to contractors. 
GROUND PLAN. 
The veranda, in front, is nine feet wide, and, 
being furnished with settees, and sh ded by honey¬ 
suckles and the American ivy, furnishes pleas¬ 
ant resort throughout almost every day in Sum¬ 
mer. The hall is spacious, and opens, through 
folding-doors, into a parlor on one side, and a li¬ 
brary on the other. When these doors are thrown 
open, the view across the suite of rooms, from one 
bay-window to the other, is quite agreeable and 
striking. The wood-work of the parlor is paint¬ 
ed white, and the walls are covered with light- 
colored paper. The hall is oak-grained, and fur¬ 
nished with oaken chairs and table, and stair¬ 
case. The library is finished in butternut-wood, 
oiled and varnished. The book-cases, of which 
there are four, are built into the walls on two op¬ 
posite sides. The walls are painted a soft pearl 
grey. The stair-case in the hall, is left open, un¬ 
derneath, allowing a free passage into the dining¬ 
room and back-hall. 
The living-room is used also for a dining-room. 
With piano, sofa, easy chairs, book-case for chil¬ 
dren, and engravings on the walls, it is made one 
of the pleasantest apartments in the house. This 
is the center of the home. The bed-room is pro¬ 
vided with two ample closets, numbered 1 and 2, 
and with a bath-room, number 3. A child’s room 
P— Parlor, 18x20 feet. 
D— Dining ami living- 
room, 14x18 feet. 
K— Kitchen, 13x17 feet 
L— Library, 12x13 feet. 
B—Bedroom,12xl4 ft. 
A—Hall, (front). 
bh, — Hall, (back.) 
V —Veranda. 
W— Wood-house. 
number 4, also adjoins it. No 5 is a covered 
porch for entering the living-room. No. 6, is a 
“ china-closet,” on each side of the passage from 
the living-room to the kitchen, which passage is 
inclosed with two doors to shut out offensive 
odors and noises from the kitchen. No. 7, is the 
flight of back chamber stairs, with stairs to the 
cellar beneath. No. 
8, is the pantry and 
store-room. Behind 
the kitchen is the 
wood-house, a part 
of which is so ar¬ 
ranged as to be used 
for a kitchen in the 
Summer. Every 
room in the house is 
supplied with a fire¬ 
place, to be used in 
the Spring and Fall. 
In Winter, the house 
is warmed by a fur¬ 
nace, and is ventilat¬ 
ed by the fire-places 
and by Arnott’s 
chimney - valves in 
the chimney breast 
near the ceiling. 
The Chamber Plan 
is essentially like the 
first story, there be¬ 
ing bed-rooms 'ver 
the parlor, living- 
room, and bed-room, 
below. These are 
each furnished with 
ample closets, a thing 
which should never 
be overlooked. The 
upper hall makes a 
pleasant room for 
reading or sewing, or 
for keeping house- 
plants There are 
two sleeping rooms, 
for servants, over 
the kitchen in rear. 
5—Covered Porch to The Cellar is di- 
Living-room. _ . . 
6 ,6—China-closets. vided into two inde- 
7— Back stairs. , . 
8— Pantry & 3 tore-room pendent i e par 
