118 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
10,000 feet pine stuff, at $20 per 1,000,.. 200 00 
104 feet marble water table, at 25c. per foot,.. 34 68 
150 feet marble window sills and caps, at 34c. 
per foot, .. 50 00 
2 set polished jambs and mantles, at $10 each, 20 00 
2 set common do. $4 each,..’ 8 00 
Plastering, including board and tending,. 50 00 
Painting, do do .. 75 00 
Carpenter and joiner’s work, do .. 500 00 
178 perch of stone wall, the laying of which, at 
50c. per perch, including board and tending, 89 00 
Total....... $1,825 68 
The above doth not include the getting out and draw¬ 
ing of stone for basement wall, as the expense would 
depend on the distance, &c. 
I have not time at present, to make an estimate on 
the cost of a wood building, no further than to remark, 
that here, where pine clapboards are $15 per thousand, 
besides drawing ten to fifteen miles, and as a frame 
building would require more nails than a brick one, and 
the work of framing and covering extra from a brick 
house, would cost about as much as the laying the brick; 
and it is my opinion that a brick building of the size and 
description herein mentioned, would cost from $150 to 
$200 more than a frame building, finished equally as 
well. Yours respectfully, 
JOHN CAIN. 
Weybridge, Vt. January 17, 1839. 
Mr. Buel —Sir—Perhaps you could not direct the at¬ 
tention of the farmer to a subject more interesting and 
useful, and one that would originate so many different 
opinions, as the elevation and ground plan of a farm 
dwelling-house. 
The inquiring mind and critic may say that the style 
is either too plain or too expensive—some would admire 
a story and a half, olhers two—one may want a fire¬ 
place in each apartment, and others would prefer stoves. 
In choice of materials, some would prefer brick, and 
stone or wood; and finally, in an edifice of this nature, we 
are more apt to seek for the discovery of some incon¬ 
venience and faults, than we are to give credit for the 
good. 
That others may be induced to present some better 
drawings, I take the liberty to offer the following, which 
you may submit for the consideration of your honora¬ 
ble committee, which is the drawing of the ground plan 
and front view of a wood dwelling-house, 30 by 38 feet, 
two stories high; a building in a direct line attached in 
the rear, 20 by 30 feet; two wings, on each side of the 
main building, 19 by 20 feet. It may front either to the 
east or west, by inverting the ground plan. The whole 
plan may be diminished in size, and nothing in the plan 
prevent the main building being erected only one story 
and a half. The cellar under the main building laid 
with stone four and a half feet, the remaining two and 
a half feet a vacuum in the wall round one inch wide, 
is best done by raising the two and a half feet on the 
inside by a course of brick, which vacuum prevents the 
penetration of frosts to the cellar. In the first place, 
the farmer’s wife considers it very important, that the 
kitchen should be convenient to each apartment above 
and below. I would recommend a flue leading from the 
fire-place to the cellar, to conduct the ashes into a vault 
which may be so constructed as to make a safe and con¬ 
venient smoke-house. 
The cost of the materials depends on the country 
where it is erected. Wood, brick, stone, iron, and me¬ 
chanical labor can be obtained in this section as cheap 
as any part of the United States. A house of this de¬ 
scription can be finished in good, comfortable style, for 
fourteen hundred dollars.* 
In giving the dimensions of the rooms, I have made 
no allowance for the walls and partitions. Respectfullv 
yours, SOLOMON W. JEWETT. 
EXPLANATION OF THE CUTS. 
Fig. No. 27, represents the ground plan. Fig. No. 28, 
the elevation of the front view. 
[Fig. No. 27.] 
* Mr. Jewett subsequently sent us his estimate for wood, 
brick and stone; and for the two latter materials the cost is 
estimated at $1,4 oQ.—Cond. 
. 3, Sitting-room................. 
11 
14* feet. 
4, Library, &c..... 
14* 
20 
5, Bed-room,.... 
11 
8 
6 and 7, Bed-rooms,. 
7 
9 
8, Pantry,.... 
11 by 
5 
9, Cheese-room,.. 
11 
18 
10, Wash-room, &c. 
9 
18 
11, Wood lean-to,. 
12 
20 
12, Cellar and chamber stairs,.... 
3h 
11 
13, 14, Piazzas,................ 
4i 
20 
A, Kitchen door, B, Front door. 
C, Oven and fire-place, with an arch attached in the 
wash-room. 
D, Hall and stairway, including two closets, 10 by 19 
feet. 
O, Fountain of water. 
[Fig. No. 28.] 
Princetovm, N. Y. February 1, 1839. 
Mr. J. Buel— -Dear Sir—I have been looking for 
some time past, in very new number of the Cultivator, 
for a farm dwelling-house making its appearance, for 
the best plan of which you offer a very liberal premium. 
But I have looked in vain, and as the year has almost 
expired, I begin to think that surely none has been of¬ 
fered. Building is always attended with heavy expen¬ 
ses, and when badly planned, much of the comfort and 
convenience, which would otherwise have been enjoyed, 
is lost, to say nothing of the money uselessly expended. 
Rather than that your good intentions in a matter of so 
much importance should be frustrated, I have conclud¬ 
ed to send you a plan (such as it is,) to commence with; 
for if architects will not condescend to do the work for 
us, we must try to do it for ourselves. If it meets with 
your approval, so far as to think that it will warrant the 
expense of publication, others may be induced to point 
out its defects, suggest improvements, or offer a better. 
If any should think the plan too extended, and of course 
too expensive, it may be cut down to meet their views, 
1st. By omitting one or both wings; 2nd. By cutting ofi 
the end next to the laundry, retaining the hall; or, 3d. 
By rejecting the second story. 
Respecting the cost, as the building is supposed to be 
of timber, it will depend somewhat on the price of stuff 
where it is to be erected. Not having the requisite ex¬ 
perience myself, I submitted the plan to a mechanic, 
requesting him to give an estimate of the expense.— 
His opinion was in general, that it would cost from $1,500 
to $2,000, to finish it in tolerably good style. The cel¬ 
lar walls, should be built with good mortar, and raised 
two feet above the ground, and the cellar divided into 
two apartments, one of which is to be solely appropri¬ 
ated to dairy purposes. 
[Fig. No. 29.]— Ground Floor. 
The main building is 26 by 46 feet; length of posts 
22 feet. A, the kitchen, and B the laundry, are each 18 
by 20 feet; length of posts 11 feet. The wood-houses, 
C, C, are too-falls to the ends of the kitchen and laund¬ 
ry, 10 feet wide, extending 10 feet in rear of the build¬ 
ing, where they are 20 feet wide and double roofed; 
(they may be extended back at pleasure ;) openings in¬ 
ward, the openings in front furnished with neat doors. 
E, sitting-room, 16 by 18. F, F, two rooms, 12 by 16 
feet each, with folding doors separating. H, hall, 10 
feet wide. I, stairs, 4 feet wide. G, continuation of 
hall, 6 feet. K, front door, 4 feet, d, d, d, d, doors. 
L, pantry, 8 by 8. M, store room, 8 by 14. N, N, N, 
N, N, closets. 1, 2, cistern and sink in laundry. 3, 4, 
cistern and sink in kitchen. 5, 5. 5, doors to cellar. 
.... dots, shows the places for the windows. 6, fire¬ 
places. 7, oven. 
[Fig. No. 30.]— Second Floor. 
D 
e 
d G 
I 
_ & _ 
c 
D 
€ 
TFT. 
D 
e 
]* 
A 
e »[ 
B 
A and B, two rooms in front, 16 by 18 feet each. C, 
clothes room, 10 by 10. D, D, D, D, bed-rooms, 9 by 
10 each, e, e, e, &c. doors, f, termination of stairs, 
g, winding stairs to garret. 1, 1, cliimnies. 
[Fig. No. 31.]— Front View and Elevation. 
1, 1, Cellar windows. 2, 2, Front openings of wood- 
houses, with doors. 3, Wood-house running back 10 
feet in rear of building. 4, Laundry. 5, Kitchen. 
JAMES SMEALLE. 
Farmington, Conn. January, 1839. 
Judge Buel —Dear Sir—I send you a plan of a farm 
house, not so much for the purpose of competing for the 
premium you have so generously offered for the best, 
as to make it the foundation of some thoughts I wish to 
offer on the subject of buildings, generally. Before I 
do this, however, I will go through with my plan, and 
must frankly say of it, that it has nothing to recommend 
it but convenience. Architects will condemn it for want 
of regularity, order, and due proportion. I can only 
say to this, I am no mechanic; the great objects to be 
gained are, utility, adaptation to the use for which it is 
erected, suitableness to the wants of the class occupy¬ 
ing it, economical in expense, &c. If, with these essen¬ 
tial requisites, the mechanic can. present a plan with 
more fair proportions, more beautiful in appearance, 
and more substantial, he shall have my thanks. With¬ 
out these, he ought not to have the thanks of any. But 
to the detail. 
Accompanying this, I send you two drafts; one of the 
ground floor with its several apartments and references, 
the other its elevation, with a side view of its entrance 
and a veranda attached, on a scale of one-eighth of 
an inch to the foot. The estimation of expense is cal¬ 
culated on more windows than the draft presents, so 
they may be reduced if desired. 
[Fig. No. 32.]— Ground Floor. 
A, doors. B, hall or passage. C, front room. D, 
bed-room. E, common room. F, store room. G, pan¬ 
try. H, stairs. I, chimney, e, inside doors, m, win¬ 
dows. N, posts sustaining veranda. O, steps. P, clo¬ 
set. 
It has five apartments on the ground floor, and a small 
landing place, or hall, viz:—a sitting room, a common 
room, a bed-room, a pantry and a store room. Can 
anyone of these be dispensed with? All are necessary 
—all are convenient to one another, of suitable size, 
and well adapted to a family carrying on farming. The 
objections are, the sitting or parlor room is not well 
proportioned, and the division between the common and 
bed-room comes too near the fire-place, causing or plac¬ 
ing the fires in the corner of each room. To these it 
may be replied, that the end of the sitting-room next 
the stairs may be fitted with a sliding partition, for a 
library for the family, and thus make the room in due 
proportion; and the sleeping-room may be fitted with¬ 
out a fire-place, and warmed by a stove, and the chim¬ 
ney placed near the centre of the side of the common 
room. The entrance to be on the south side, on account 
of the northern blasts of winter. In the view, I have 
presented a veranda, extending along the whole south¬ 
ern side, exhibited as adding to the convenience and 
appearance of the house, although not included in the 
estimate, and not considered absolutely necessary; but 
for the comfort of shade in summer, and some protec¬ 
tion from storms in winter, considered very desirable. 
The second story to be divided into six sleeping 
apartments, (or more if thought necessary;) and here 
I would say, I should prefer having but one story to a 
house, but for the greater economy of two, the same 
amount of roof (the most expensive part of our build¬ 
ings,) covering twice the amount of space, compared 
with a one story house. The stairs to the second story 
have their entrance from the hall, and a second flight 
from the common room, and then into the cellar under 
the last, the entrance from the pantry. The store room 
