HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 1913 
T 9 
The Gluckstadt cottage shows a combination 
of log and board construction 
1 hough the tea pavilion has much in common with the old Norwegian house, it has been modi¬ 
fied somewhat to provide more porch room. The upper story contains two small bedrooms 
pose. The trunks are tarred on the outside with Finnish tar, 
which literally permeates the trunk to the core. The interior is 
made gay by painting the woodwork and furniture, all of Scotch 
fir, in transparent oil colors. There is an ordinary wooden floor, 
and the roof is of one and a quarter inch boards covered with five 
to six inch turf, the insulation between the two being effected by 
tarred cardboard, or roofing paper. In Norway they formerly used 
and still occasionally use naver (birch bark), but tarred card¬ 
board is cheaper and appears to be fully efficient for this purpose. 
Special attention was 
paid to the slope of the 
roof, making it the old 
fixed angle always used 
in the ancient Norse 
log cabins. This is an 
important point, for if 
too steep the rain is apt 
to wash away the earth 
of the turf, and if the 
gradient is too small 
the rain or snow stops 
in the turf. The turf 
by degrees becomes like 
a small garden from 
self-sown seeds—a very 
pretty sight. Along the 
ridge of the house runs 
an ornamental outer 
pole, a carved bird 
perching on each end. 
Sometimes, especially 
when a house is 
thatched, only the 
ridge is covered with 
sod, and cross trees or 
riders are placed across 
the ridge to keep the 
sods in position. 
There is no ceiling in 
the large hall or living- 
room, the floor of 
which is somewhat 
higher than that of the 
adjoining smaller por¬ 
tion, steps leading down to the dining-room with its stationary 
benches and massive table. In the corner of the hall next to the 
dining-room is the pejs, the open fireplace, which is a splendid 
heater. With an outside temperature of nineteen degrees Fahr¬ 
enheit, in two hours a fire raised the hall atmosphere in the center 
of the room to seventy-two. The kitchen adjoins the dining-room 
and from the big hall there are doors to two bedrooms on the 
ground floor and a handsome staircase leading to two more bed- 
(Continued on page 56) 
carefully studied and reproduced in Mr. Gluckstadt’s cottage. 1 he 
an interesting contrast with the dark colored logs and the 
The ancient Norwegian craftsmanship was 
brilliant colors of the upholstery and woodwork make 
white window and door frames 
