Here is an opportunity such as may be found near most eastern cities 
—an old house and two acres at a rental of $50 
The back of the same house from the orchard. The terrace suggests 
wonderful possibilities for future development 
The Farmhouse Reclaimed 
THE WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACQUIRING COUNTRY HOMES FOR 
SUMMER OR ALL-YEAR USE IN THE WELL BUILT HOUSES OF A CENTURY AGO 
by Alfred Morton Githens 
Photographs by the author and H. H. Saylor 
I This is the tirst of tzvo articles by Mr. Githens. It tells of the available material on the outskirts of most of the large cities, that may be adapted 
with little difficulty or expense to modern needs. In the second article, to appear next month, the specific problems of remodeling will be taken up, 
with concrete instances of common types as they are found and just what should be done in the zvay of alterations .— Editor.] 
S a modern city overgrows her boun¬ 
daries, as her citizens must more 
and more find houses outside her 
limits, so the old farmhouse finds 
new neighbors. Strange to say, it 
generally lingers on in a more or 
less dilapidated condition till most 
of the surrounding land is sold. 
Real estate men consider it adds 
little or nothing to the value of the 
land while a new, cheaply con¬ 
structed cottage is valued at its full 
cost. Of course sometimes the old 
houses must be repainted, rotted 
roof shingles renewed, plastering 
repaired or replaced, but the sound old frame is there with its 
“The House with the Well Sweep” stands close to the road but its 
privacy is insured by the long stone wall 
simple homely outlines, and generally- in an architrave or mantel 
some delicate piece of decorative wood carving. The walls are 
perhaps filled in with brick; the timbers framed together with 
oak pins instead of the nails used now — as everyone knows, far 
stronger. Sometimes a house may be found where repairs are 
unnecessary; then the purchaser is doubly fortunate. My own 
house was built over a hundred years ago, but it happens to 
have been in fairly good repair. With its two acres of land, it 
cost me less than half what such a house would cost to build 
to-day with the inferior modern framing. 
For a satisfactory tenant, I find a general willingness on the 
part of the landlord to make small repairs, repaint, or even in¬ 
stall heating or light-wiring; but of course it is better to buy 
outright if one can, for there are many little improvements that 
suggest themselves from time to time, and one is tempted to 
rearrange the grounds or plant shrubbery and perennials which 
The rear of the same house. The long porch, glazed-in in winter, com¬ 
mands the view over the meadows 
(216) 
