The Rural Homes of England 
common material for thatching, is far higher 
in price than formerly, it is gradually being 
abandoned. 
A thatch roof will last from fifteen to 
thirty years. When it begins to get leaky, 
there follow a few seasons of desultory patch¬ 
ing. Then a new coat is put on over the 
old. In the course of time the thatch be¬ 
comes exceedingly thick, and the little dormer 
windows recede far back in shadowed aper- 
stones are so heavy that the roof in time 
sags badly and the effect is strangely rude 
and aboriginal 
The house walls are usually of brick, though 
this is not always apparent unless one looks 
closely ; for many people give their cottages 
a coat of whitewash every spring. The wash 
is as a rule a most glaring white, but some 
cottagers mix in color, and get charming tones 
of gray, cream and pink. Others give the 
A THATCH ROOFED HOUSE NEAR FRESHWATER, ISLE OF WIGHT 
Especially photographed by House and Garden 
tures. The swallows and sparrows build 
freely in the straw and all the spring and 
summer the villages are enlivened with the 
twitter and flittings of the former, while the 
latter are chattering busybodies that stay the 
year through. 
Perhaps the most curious roofs the trav¬ 
eler sees are those of stone. They are quite 
common in certain parts of England. The 
stone is split after the manner of slates, but 
the pieces vary much in size and thickness, 
and some of them run up to a weight of two 
hundred pounds. Taken altogether the 
bricks a coat of plaster. In certain districts 
it is the custom to mix gravel with the white¬ 
wash and apply the mixture by throwing it 
against the wall. The building thus gets a 
rough coat of grit known as spatterdash. 
Many of the older house walls have oaken 
beams and braces incorporated in them, and 
these timbers lend an agreeable touch of 
picturesqueness. In the towns, one fre¬ 
quently finds houses with overhanging upper 
stories, but such structures are seldom to be 
seen in country villages. 
Vines and rose-bushes cling to the walls 
200 
