Clapboards in most localities make the cheapest wall in a first 
cost, but the repainting brings up the total 
Plastered walls are warm and need no paint, and the surface 
may be given a variety of color and texture 
January, 1910 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
or on hollow terra cotta tile. There seems little doubt that the 
latter materials are soon destined to become the least costly of 
all, excepting, of course, in places where some local material holds 
an undisputed field. 
Stucco is a wonderfully adaptable covering for the walls, and 
one that has leaped into popular favor here in America almost at 
a single bound. Plaster, rough-cast, pebble-dash, and cement are 
other names given to this coating of cement plaster applied to wood 
or metal lath on a stud frame, applied to terra cotta blocks, to 
monolithic concrete walls, to common brick walls and occasionally 
to stonework. 
Brick has the advantage of being readily obtainable in most 
communities; workmen can always be found who know how to 
lay it up, and it makes an attractive and durable wall. Of late 
years architects and manufacturers have developed the artistic 
possibilities of the brick wall to an amazing extent. Variations 
in the size of the brick, their texture and color, the bonding and 
the character and color of the mortar joints—all these elements 
may be so disposed and studied as to give every brick house a 
distinctive character of its own. Brick walls never need paint; 
if shabby they may be washed down with a brush and a weak 
solution of muriatic acid. 
Finally, there is stone, the oldest material of them all, unless 
wood huts came before stone caves. Stone houses have an air of 
solidity and permanence that other materials cannot give. And 
there is no lack of possible variety, both of texture and color, p in a 
stone wall. You can use large irregular stones with wide joints 
Shingles for walls have a reasonably long life, particularly if dipped in 
a creosote shingle stain before being put on 
or you can use smoothly cut stones with almost no joint at all, 
though the latter style is far better adapted to the city than to the 
informal countryside. Stone is usually of a pleasing enough color 
and texture to stand on its own merits. Where it is not, a thin, 
almost transparent coat of white cement plaster will redeem it 
and not rob the material of its appearance of enduring solidity. 
Walls of cobblestones are seen in increasing numbers, particularly 
as the underpinning of shingled houses. The material is not well 
suited to such uses, and always bears a look of instability-—as if 
the round stones would easily roll apart. Where cobblestones are 
too cheap to be overlooked they may be cracked and laid up in 
pieces to much better effect. 
First cost is but one of the considerations that enter into a choice 
among the available building materials for the outside walls. Con¬ 
sider also the cost of maintenance and wear and tear. Will the 
added cost of building a fireproof house be paid by reduced 
insurance premiums? We cannot—or at least should not—select 
a material that will be out of harmony with the homes of our 
neighbors. Availability of materials will necessarily be a factor 
in determining the choice, and, judging from the past, it will lead 
in the right direction. The style of architecture may settle the 
matter for us, provided we are not willing to let the material 
govern the style—we would not build a New England farmhouse 
type of stucco, nor an Italian villa of shingles. 
Whatever material is chosen, however, make up your mind 
that in your own house it will have a treatment that is consistent, 
harmonious and having a distinctive character of its own. 
Brick islobtainable in most localities and the walls may be given 
variety through the bonding and color of mortar 
