June, 1921 
55 
A decorative note is given this English dove cote by the four 
tiers of dove holes running in a checkered band across the 
wall. Slits afford sufficient air circulation. This might be 
applied to an American barn. It is not advisable to use it 
in a garage where noise and oil fumes would disturb the birds 
terminate a vista, or else as effec¬ 
tive units in the composition of 
farm building groups, a branch of 
planning that might well receive 
more study than it generally does 
from the laity. 
Where it may not be desirable 
to construct separate cotes, dove 
holes may be provided in the 
walls of barns or outbuildings 
and it is possible so to dispose 
them that they form a diapered 
pattern of emphatic decorative 
value, as in the barn shown in one 
of the pictures. Or again, when 
it is preferable to use a small 
building in conjunction with some 
other purpose, it can be so ar¬ 
ranged that the upper part can be 
assigned to the pigeons while the 
lower is devoted to other uses. 
In Italy, instead of erecting 
dove cotes as independent struc¬ 
tures, it was a frequent practice 
to utilize turrets, the upper part 
of towers, or the top story of 
flanking pavilions—as at the 
Villa Emo at Fanzolo, or the Villa 
Giacomelli at Maser—in which to 
domicile the birds. 
In whatever way one elects to 
employ the dove cote, we must 
recognize in it an element of combined utility 
and architectural value not to be overlooked. 
As a factor in the landscape scheme the 
dove cote can play a pleasing role. It is often 
placed at the back of a kitchen garden, pro¬ 
viding a sunny south wall for espalier fruits. 
Its unbroken facade furnishes a good surface 
for vines and a background for shrubbery 
planting or ranks of the higher perennials. 
And because of its manorial associations it 
gives to a country place a desirable sense of 
age and an air of completeness. 
( Below) By mak¬ 
ing dove holes in 
the gable of a 
barn or outhouse, 
provision is read¬ 
ily afforded for 
pigeons. This was 
the simple device 
used on an English 
farm in Glouces¬ 
tershire 
In England and the Continent 
a building was often especially 
built for doves. This English 
example houses 2,000 birds. 
They enter by the lantern in 
the roof. The door is low, 
saving space for nesting holes 
(Left) The Norman type is 
circular or turriform, a pat¬ 
tern also found occasionally 
in England. The dormer win¬ 
dow is for light and air. An 
open lantern at the peak 
affords entrance to the birds 
I 
