THE RESTORED TERRACE OK THE FARMHOUSE 
TWO OLD NEW ENGLAND HOUSES 
By R. CLIPSTON STURGIS 
A LL along the New England shore are 
small houses, remnants of the earlier 
settlements, which buildings, in their quiet 
charm, and refinement of mass and detail, 
are a constant reproach to the modern work 
that represents the desires and tastes of the 
corresponding class of people. Possibly the 
New England farmer of to-day is not intel¬ 
lectually the equal of the Colonial settler, 
who farmed because no large sphere was 
then open to him; but even among the 
better educated people of the present day, 
it is a distinct minority who understand 
and appreciate the artistic value of restraint, 
the true meaning of proportion in its 
broad sense. Such a feeling actuated, per¬ 
haps unconsciously, the early builders of 
these modest farmhouses. If they built 
without knowledge, they must have been 
gifted with happy instinct. 
The cottage illustrated here is one of a type 
very common in the neighborhood of Ports¬ 
mouth, either on the good farm land back a 
bit from the water, or on the poorer land 
reaching down to the many creeks and back¬ 
waters which compose the outlets of the 
Piscataqua. It is a small one-story cottage 
with an attic. I'he eaves are so low that 
one can touch them from the ground, and 
the lilacs rise nearly to the ridge. Grouped 
around a great central chimney, which con¬ 
tained three open fire-places and the oven, 
were kitchen and scullery on the north and 
the parlor and another small room on the 
