AND GROUND SURFACES. 
39 
ful. It is essential, however, that the house site should not 
have the appearance of being in a basin, much less be so in 
fact; for the latter would be a miserable inconvenience in wet 
weather, and the mere supposition of such a situation would make 
the site seem undesirable even if the soil and drainage were per¬ 
fect. Such locations should not be basins with reference to the 
surrounding land, however dry the soil, as in that case the damp 
evening and morning air would settle in them. But if the rear 
ground, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, is the bank of a stream or valley, 
down to which the damp cool air will flow, then such sites may 
really be freer from morning and evening damps than much higher 
ground which is not high relatively to other ground near by. 
A form of ground surface is especially desirable, for small lots, 
on which side-hill houses, blending the character of city basements 
and village cottages, will look well. Fig. 7 represents one form 
Fig. 8. 
that might be suggested for such a site, and Fig. 9 a mode of treat¬ 
ing the ground of a town lot which is below the street level. 
In Fig. 7, nearly all of the lot is supposed to be behind the 
house, the front being connected by a short, straight walk with the 
street, and by a diverging curved walk with the basement entrance 
on the rear plateau, where it is supposed the kitchen and dining¬ 
room are located. 
Fig. 9 illustrates the treatment of a corner lot, around which 
the streets have been graded considerably above the lot surface. 
Instead of filling the lot to the street level, it should be treated as 
here shown; and there is no question that the house is not cnly 
better, but the ground improvement is far more pleasing than it 
could have been made on a level with the street. 
