58 
Feb. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
is exposed to the external atmosphere, and therefore, 
with proper ventilation, more easily kept warm in win¬ 
ter and cool in summer than if otherwise situated. 
6th. The great economy of fuel in warming the house, 
of which more hereafter; the principal halls being in 
the centre, cold air is excluded and warm air easily dif¬ 
fused to every part. 7th. The beautiful suit of rooms, 
three in number, so contiguous, so airy, and so. easily 
made as one, with sliding doors, in case of a great 
gathering of friends for any purpose. 8th. The ad¬ 
mirable arrangement of the nine large and airy cham¬ 
bers and bed-rooms, with closets, each of which can be 
reached without passing through other sleeping apart¬ 
ments. 
If the library of my plan be objected to on account 
of its shape, 1 reply, I like it, because while it oc¬ 
cupies only the area of a room nine feet square, yet it 
contains wall space for books equal to one of eleven 
feet square, or 44 feet! The same principle applies to 
the similar shaped clothes presses, as we shall see. 
To illustrate the great advantages of the Octagon 
form, please compare the one I have drawn with the 
rectangular plan on page 51 of the “Illustrated An¬ 
nual Register of Rural Affairs” for 1858. That plan 
has about 20 feet more out-side walls than the main 
part of the one I send you ; and even the little plan in 
the Country Gentleman of December 3d, page 369, 
has nearly as much in length of outside walls as my 
plan, yet what a difference in favor of the Octagon 7 
The truth is, the Octagon form contains from fifty to 
one hundred per cent, more room, in proportion to 
length of outside wall, than the plans most in use in 
this country. 
As the plan I send you nearly explains itself, I need 
only speak of a few features. The dining-room closet 
is half of five feet square, and of course will contain 
ten feet of wall space for shelves. The entry, leading 
from the kitchen and dining-room to the side door, is a 
convenient passage-way for the ordinary use of the 
family. This entry can be used in part for a closet, if 
any prefer, by shutting off the kitchen from the side 
door. The pantry is half of about nine feet square, 
and contains thirty-two feet of wall space , equal to 
one of eight feet square, which, it will be observed, is 
large. I have studiously shut oft' the kitchen from any 
direct communication by one door, with the front part 
of the house, as, after 25 years experience, we so pre¬ 
fer it. The bath-room, back of the nursery, is so lo¬ 
cated as to admit hot water through a pipe from the 
kitchen fire without the least difficulty, and at small 
expense. Cold water should also be introduced through 
a pipe to a reservoir between the ceiling of this room 
and the chamber floor; the bath, clothes, and store 
rooms to be only eight feet high, whilst the remainder 
of the first story is designed to be 12 feet. Back of 
bath-room is a clothes-press sufficiently convenient of 
access, and also a short passage-way from nursery to 
kitchen. The pantry and store-room in such close con¬ 
nection with the kitchen, will be appreciated by house¬ 
keepers. The back entry, 8 by 8, the outside door and 
stairs, cannot be bettered I think, nor the passage to 
water-closet more convenient. The ice house is de¬ 
signed to be constructed upon the general principle 
adopted by Mr. Fowler, (see his book, p. 116,) and to 
be entered for iee near its ceiling, from the back stairs, 
and to be filled through the outside door. The ice cold 
cellar, kept by the ice and its drippings just above the 
freezing point, is an admirable arrangement, suggest¬ 
ed by Mr Fowler for preserving fruits, butter, or any 
thing liable to be injured by the heat of summer. A 
large wood and coal room will be observed in the cel¬ 
lar, admirably situated for the laundry and furnace, 
but slightly inconvenient for the kitchen, which can be 
remedied by a flight of stairs under the back staircase, 
a three feet passage taken from the store-room, and a 
large wood-box in the back entry near the kitchen door, 
to be kept filled by the “ man of all work.” The three 
verandas, A, B, and C, are unique, inexpensive, and 
will have a tendency to give the lower story a square 
appearance. 
Ascending the principal stairs to the chambers, we 
enter a fine, large, central hall, nearly 14 by 18 feet, 
well lighted through an octagon opening in the ceiling, 
by an octagon observatory or cupola on the roof, which 
arrangement will also light the lower hall through the 
well-hole of the aforesaid staircase. From this central 
hall we enter six chambers; the seventh one on the 
same floor., designed for servant’s room, to be entered 
via the back stairs. From this last chamber a door 
into the adjoining one admits access to all the others 
through the central hall. It will be observed that in 
this story there are eight clothes-presses, one for each 
room, and an extra one for the general use of the house. 
These closets are each half of seven feet square, and 
contain 24 feet of wall space—equal to a closet six foet 
square ! They are unusually large, and might well be 
reduced so as to allow the four side chambers to be en¬ 
larged to 13£ feet square each. Another servant’s 
bed-room is entered from a broad step about two-thirds 
the way up the back stairs, and contains a closet. An¬ 
other closet, and a good clothes-drying room for win¬ 
ter completes the upper story. 
My sixth reason fox liking this plan was economy of 
fuel. Let us see. The furnace should be placed in the 
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