September, 19 21 
59 
The tile roof—either hand or 
machine-made—requires a house 
in the Italian or Spanish style. It 
is a roof rich in color and very 
distinctive 
'«0 
IF YOU 
ARE 
GOING TO 
BUILD 
Start the Study of Your House at the Roof and Survey the Great 
Variety of Roofing Materials Available Today 
MARY FANTON ROBERTS. 
T HE house of our dreams is 
usually built with its founda¬ 
tions in the clouds and its 
pinnacles piercing the sky; with 
balconies that look out over the 
world and windows through which 
the sun is ever streaming. And 
about this house the wind blows 
with gentle fragrance. 
Our dream house rests on the 
peak of the world, yet is bright with 
human interest. Our friends come 
to us there through hospitable door¬ 
ways, past deep rose gardens and 
lily-bordered paths. From our 
kitchen windows up in the clouds 
there is a scent of wild thyme, 
sweet lavender, and pungent mint. 
In the further reaches of this dream 
garden there are vegetables in all 
the colors of the rainbow, bordered 
with lilacs for peace in May, and 
honeysuckle for joy in June. 
The Roof First 
When I think of my dream house 
it is always the roof I first see, with 
turrets and chimneys and graceful 
lines, with windows peering out of 
raised, sleepy dormer lids, and 
doves murmuring softly and whir¬ 
ling about the chimneys, as I re¬ 
member seeing them years ago over 
the little rose-tiled housetops of 
Bruges. 
In planning our real home I 
think we are apt to think first of 
the roof, then of the walls, moving 
on down into the foundations. It 
isn’t the builders’ way; but most 
women build from their dreams out 
to their homes. So, why not plan 
a house the way we dream it? 
IF you want a home that pleases you enough to live in, or 
someone else enough to buy, you have got to begin 
from the very beginning to study all the problems this build¬ 
ing a home actually involves. You have got to think about 
the soil, the location, even the sun and wind. You should 
give weeks to your designs, plans and specifications. You 
should have a generally well-informed outlook on building 
conditions and building materials. With this issue of House 
& Garden begins a series of articles on the construction of 
the house. They will run for several months, covering the 
house from ridge pole to foundations. This month the 
subject is Roofs. In October we will consider Walls. 
Wood shingles may be laid direct¬ 
ly on the lath, but a better method 
is to cover the rafters with a solid 
wood sheathing 
The tile .roof requires sheathing and 
felt, the interlocking of the tiles 
being set on lath strips and fast¬ 
ened with copper wires 
Slate roofs, especially the 
thicker slate, are laid on a 
strong roof construction, 
over sheathing and a coat 
of slater’s felt 
Years ago I decided that the roof 
of my home should be bright moss- 
green uneven slate, though in those 
days they didn’t exist in the build¬ 
ing world. Today these slates are 
being manufactured. They have 
come in plenty of time for my 
home. 
But if you are really going to 
build, the best plan of course is to 
select roofings that are in the 
market; old or new tiles, slate in 
any tone or in many combined 
shades, shingle thatch, picturesque 
and fireproof, wood shingles, also 
fireproof, or any one of the many 
asbestos roof coverings which imi¬ 
tate tile, slate or shingle, and come 
in almost any shade you want. And 
there is the felt composition roof¬ 
ing which looks like a checkerboard 
when it imitates tile, but is like a 
blanket of moss when left undis¬ 
turbed in natural sheets. It is pos¬ 
sible today to get illustrated pam¬ 
phlets from any of the manu¬ 
facturers of roofings, and in some 
instances samples will be sent 
showing both color and texture. 
Color in Roofs 
If you are building with a forest 
background, the brilliant roof— 
green, orange, or rose—will add 
greatly to the beauty of the picture. 
On a village street the softer tones 
or combinations of tones are more 
desirable. Think of color when 
planning the outside of your house, 
for so much interest can be secured 
from the tones of the wall or roof. 
Part of the joy one has in remem¬ 
bering the Riviera, the sea-coast 
