1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
555 
A Remodelled House. 
BY MRS. GILBERT BUSH, JR., SARATOGA CO., N. Y. 
Figure 1 shows the exterior of the old house, 
and the interior arrangement is' given in figures 2 
and 3. As remodelled, with additions, the house 
appears as in figure 4. The plan of the first floor 
ular sprays, beginning at the cornice, look very 
graceful. Let white tarleton, costing eighteen or 
twenty cents a yard, be cut in strips about half a 
yard wide and tacked over parlor and sitting room 
windows for lambrequins. On these pin some bril¬ 
liant autumn leaves scattered here and there care¬ 
lessly, with perhaps a border of ferns, and you will 
be astonished at the fairy-like appearance pre¬ 
lounge may be, it will be unsatisfactory if it does 
not look comfortable. A friend formerly spent 
two summers in a retired farm house, where such 
a sofa was one of the comforts enjoyed. The third 
season the good housewife, who had found her a 
profitable guest, said, as she took her to her room, 
“ I’ve got rid of all that old trumpery, and bought 
a city set for you and sure enough, in her kind- 
is arranged as in figure 5, and the second story is 
seen in figure 6. The dimensions for each room 
are given. The new kitchen contains a water tank, 
an iron sink, a cupboard, etc. The following are the 
Estimates for Materials and Labor : 
Stone for cellar and mason work.$85.00 
461 ft. timber, @ $15 1? 1,000 ft. 6.93 
105 wall strips, 2 by 4 in., @ be. 5.25 
7"> pieces, 3 by 4 in., at 7c. 5.25 
45 planks, 2 by 10 in., @ 20c. 9 00 
45 planks, 1J4 by 9 in., @ 12><c. 5.63 
150 boards, @ 6c. 9.(0 
Brick for tilling and clilmney. 10.00 
Plastering, $24 ; nails, $8. 32.00 
5,000 lath, @ $1.50 $ 1,090 . 7.50 
2,000 ft. flooring, @ $13 ft 1,000 ft.26.00 
3,000 shingles, @ $3 $ 1,000 . 9.00 
Till roofing for kitchen. 25.00 
800 ft. wainscotting, @ 2c. $ ft. 16.00 
600 ft. molding, at 1><c. ft ft. 9.00 
1,000 ft. pine for finishing. 25.00 
Door frames, $13; sliding doors, $3.16.00 
11 Inside doors, $15 ; 5 closet doors, $4.50_ . _ 19.50 
1 outside door, $6 ; 2 inside doors, $9.15.00 
18 window blinds, $18; 7 new sashes and glass, $10.50. 28.50 
11 new windows, complete. 33.00 
Cupboard doors, etc., $1; Bath-room furniture, $4_ 8.00 
1,872 ft. novelty siding..37.40 
Bay-window, $85 ; stair case, $12. 97.00 
Piazzas, complete, $75 ; Gable ornaments, $15. 90.00 
Paint and Painting, $40.00; Carpenter work, $100.140.CO 
Total cost.$769.96 
Hints for Furnishing Farm Houses. 
Many farmers’ wives and daughters have an in¬ 
stinctive sense of beauty in regard to the adorn¬ 
ment of their homes, yet feel that their income is 
too limited to do anything. But if they look around 
for what nature will freely supply, they will be sur- 
a, Living Room ; 6, Bedroom; c, Closet; d, Stairs ; e, Pan¬ 
try ; f. Kitchen ; g, Shed. 
prised at the transformation which can be easily 
wrought in rooms that before seemed dull and 
plain. Ferns gathered in summer, and leaves in 
autumn, pressed, and pinned on the wall in irreg- 
sented. I remember gathering great quantities of 
ferns while staying one summer at a New England 
rural home, and the satirical remark of the farmer, 
that “ he wished he could turn all the Philadelphia 
ladies loose into his field and have them pull up 
- ^- 
all the ‘ brakes.’ ” But even this practical man was 
impressed by the arrangement above described. 
One of the prettiest ornaments of a certain little 
room in this city is a nest of the paper wasps. It 
is nearly as round as a ball and about six inches in 
diameter. A stick is run through the center of 
each end of which a red ribbon is tied, making a 
loop to hang it. Wasps’ nests are usually plentiful, 
and one of them is quite an addition to a corner, 
where dried grasses are arranged on a bracket cut 
from an old cigar-box and varnished. Another 
bracket can be made of common wood, covered 
with crash and feather-stitched with blue or red 
worsted, to correspond with the tone of the room, 
and trimmed with a simple worsted ball-fringe. 
Some of the rag carpets made by farmers’ wives 
are exceedingly pretty. If, when the pieces are 
dyed, they are colored to correspond with the pre¬ 
vailing tints in the room, they would be still more 
attractive, but of a somewhat darker shade. 
If hair-cloth furniture could be banished, many 
rooms would lose that dismal look which black fur¬ 
niture gives. Cover any such sets with cretonne 
or chintz in bright colors. Cheery rooms favorably 
affect the nerves and the disposition. A comfort¬ 
able lounge can be made of a box of proper length 
and width, covered with the same cretonne or 
chintz. First, nail on the cover. Take an old bed- 
tick, stuffed with hen’s feathers or cut-up rags, 
make three square pillows covered with the same 
material, and you will have a very charming addi¬ 
tion to your room. No matter how fine a sofa or 
ness of heart she had mistakenly bought a perched 
up sofa, with rounded up seat, and chairs to match. 
But wheu varnish and hair cloth came, the charm 
was gone, and that was the last summer there. 
Farm houses near the sea can be given a sea tone 
by gathering and arranging shells, moss, etc. Even 
common shells make a pretty border for beds of 
scarlet poppies. Wings of herons or sea-gulls can 
be used over brackets, and over pictures. A 
large stuffed bird has a pretty effect in a corner or 
on a small stand, or on a pedestal made from the 
Fig. 6.—SECOND STORY OF NEW HOUSE. 
a, Hall; b, c, e, Bedrooms; cl, cl. Corner Closets. 
trunk of a tree with the bark left on, or with it re¬ 
moved and covered with velvet paper. The above 
hints, if acted upon, will suggest many others, after 
a beginning is made. Elmer Lynnde. 
Fig. 3.— SECOND STORY. 
a. Front Room ; b, Bedroom ; c, c. 
Closets ; cl, Stairs and Hall. 
Fig. 5.— FIRST FLOOR OF NEW HOUSE. 
ci. Piazza; b. Sitting Room ; c, Parlor; cl, Front Hall; e, Porch ; f. Bedroom; 
g, Closet; h, Milk Room ; i. Kitchen; j, Bedroom; k, Bath ; l, Shed. 
