The Project Gutenberg EBook of Woodward's Country Homes, by
George E. Woodward and F. W. Woodward
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Title: Woodward's Country Homes
Author: George E. Woodward
F. W. Woodward
Release Date: August 18, 2008 [EBook #26354]
Language: English
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WOODWARD'S
COUNTRY HOMES,
BY
GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD,
ARCHITECTS,
=Authors of "Woodward's Graperies and Horticultural Buildings."=
FOURTH THOUSAND.
NEW-YORK:
GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD, 37 PARK ROW,
Office of the HORTICULTURIST.
1866.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States,
for the Southern District of New York.
STEPHEN HALLET,
PRINTER,
No. 74 Fulton Street.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
INTRODUCTION.
Domestic Architecture and Embellishment 7
DESIGN NO. 1.
A Laborer's Cottage 25
DESIGN NO. 2.
A Small Frame Cottage 28
DESIGN NO. 3.
A Compact Frame Cottage 30
DESIGN NO. 4.
A Rural Cottage of moderate extent 34
DESIGN NO. 5.
A Gardener's Cottage 40
DESIGN NO. 6.
Stone Stable and Coach House 45
DESIGN NO. 7.
A Farm Cottage 46
DESIGN NO. 8.
Design for a Timber Cottage 50
DESIGN NO. 9.
Design for a Rural Church. 53
DESIGN NO. 10.
A Suburban Cottage 58
DESIGN NO. 11.
An Ornamental Summer House 64
DESIGN NO. 12.
Stable and Carriage House 66
DESIGN NO. 13.
A Model Cottage 68
DESIGN NO. 14.
A Cottage Stable 75
DESIGN NO. 15.
Design for an Ice House 76
DESIGN NO. 16.
A Suburban Cottage 79
DESIGN NO. 17.
Stable and Carriage House 86
DESIGN NO. 18.
School House at Irvington 87
DESIGN NO. 19.
A regular Country House 93
DESIGN NO. 20.
A Country Chapel 96
DESIGN NO. 21.
An Old House Remodeled 99
DESIGN NO. 22.
Coach House and Stable 104
DESIGN NO. 23.
Fences 106
DESIGN NO. 24.
Plans of the Residence of C. F. Park, Esq. 108
DESIGN NO. 25.
Carriage House and Stable 111
DESIGN NO. 26.
Residence of T. H. Stout, Esq. 113
DESIGN NO. 27.
A Chapter on Gates 119
DESIGN NO. 28.
Mr. Tristram Allen's House at Ravenswood, Enlarged 131
DESIGN NO. 29.
Plans of the Residence of L. M. Ferris, Esq. 134
DESIGN NO. 30.
A Model Suburban Cottage 139
DESIGN NO. 31.
Head Stone 149
BALLOON FRAMES.
Balloon Frames 151
WOODWARD'S
COUNTRY HOMES.
IN presenting to the public a new work on DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, it is
our aim to furnish practical designs and plans, adapted to the
requirements of such as are about to build, or remodel and improve,
their COUNTRY HOMES.
The rapid progress in rural improvement and domestic embellishment all
over the land, during the last quarter of a century, is evident to the
observation of every traveler, and, as we have found during several
years of professional experience, there has grown up a demand for
architectural designs of various grades, from the simple farm cottage to
the more elaborate and costly villa, which is not supplied by the
several excellent works on this subject which are within the reach of
the building and reading public.
Among the permanent dwellers in the country this spirit of improvement,
fostered as it is by the diffusion of publications in the various
departments of Rural Art, and by a wider and more genial general culture
as the means of intercommunication and education are increased, is
becoming more manifest every year. But besides these intelligent farmers
and tradesmen who make the country their home the year round, there is a
large class of persons whose tastes or business avocations compel them
to reside a considerable portion of the year in our cities or
suburbs--prosperous merchants, bankers, professional men, and wealthy
citizens--who have the tastes and means to command such enjoyments and
luxuries as the country affords; who need the change in scenes,
associations, employments and objects of interest, for themselves and
their households, and who enjoy, with a keen relish, the seclusion, the
comparative freedom from restraint, the pure, sweet air, the broad, open
sunshine, and the numerous other rural advantages which are essentially
denied them in their city homes.
In former years this class of people resorted, almost exclusively, to
the sea-side, and a few popular mineral springs, taking in, perhaps,
Niagara in their transit, and rarely venturing into the wild and
unexplored regions of Lake George. They returned to town in the early
days of September, with many a backward, longing look at the attractions
and delights from which they reluctantly tore themselves away, and
settled down again to the weary tread-mill of business. But for some
years past this class has largely increased in number, and instead of
confining themselves to their former resorts, they now seek the upper
country, and prolong their stay into the glorious days of Autumn. Many
of them have provided permanent summer homes, among the hills and on the
lake or river shores. They have bought, and built, and planted, until
they have identified themselves with the chosen spot, and as their trees
have taken root in the fertile soil, so have their affections taken root
in the beautiful country. They hasten gladly to these rural scenes with
the opening Summer, and they leave them with regret when the exigencies
of business require their presence in the city,--when the Summer suns
have ripened the luscious fruits, and the flowers fade with the frosty
kisses of the cold, and the passenger birds fly Southward. This class of
our population know where to find all the facilities for the best
country enjoyments, and their ample means assure them a free choice of
summer resorts, and adequate command of all the appliances of pleasant
country living.
But there is another and still larger class of citizens who have neither
the means to enable them to keep up both town and country residences,
nor such command of their time that they can pass two or three months of
every summer away from their business. There are thousands of clerks and
subordinate officers in the banking and insurance institutions in our
cities and in our large commercial houses; there are many merchants who
are making their way slowly and surely to competence and wealth, who
would gladly compromise for one-third of such a summer vacation. These
are men of intelligence, and sometimes of a good deal of social and
intellectual culture and refinement. Many of them were born, and their
boyhood nurtured amongst the hills. They love the country with the
intensity and purity of a first love, and they long for communion once
more with nature in all her moods of loveliness. Their sweetest dreams
still, when they forget the hard realities of life, are of green lawns
and sloping hill-sides, of waving trees and cool streams. And they would
wish that their children should become familiar with the same wholesome
associations, and be moved by the same attachments and inspirations. In
the city they are constantly exposed to its excitements, and subjected
to the restraints of its artificial modes, with few outward influences
to counteract upon their development; with very little, indeed, except
the discipline and the affections of home to emancipate them from the
tendencies to a trivial, artificial, and sordid life. They would gladly
supply to them the healthful tone and vigor--the outer and inner bloom
and freshness--which are the product of out-door life in the pure air of
the country. But they are compelled by considerations of economy, to
forego most of these advantages, and allow their children to grow up
with city tastes and habits. They long for the country but think they
must content themselves with the town, until the time comes when their
fortunes will enable them to command the coveted indulgences.
The time may come, sooner than they anticipate, when they will be
obliged to choose the country.
Our towns are rapidly overflowing their local boundaries, and spreading
out into suburbs, more or less beautiful and desirable. As far as New
York city is concerned, it is simply a question of time how soon our
middle-class citizens, who desire to live comfortably, with due regard
to economical conditions, will be obliged to choose the country for
their homes.
During the last forty years this city has increased in population with a
rapid and uniform rate. Within the memory of persons now living, it has
grown from an inconsiderable commercial town, until it has become one of
the great cities of the world. This rapid stride and steady progress
furnish us with the elements for calculating the period when the whole
island will be covered with buildings, and there will remain no more
vacant space for the use of its commerce, or the domestic accommodation
of its citizens. The present population of the city is estimated at
fully one million. The entire territorial capacity of the city, the
density of the population remaining the same as it is at present,
cannot much exceed two millions. The ratio of increase during each
period of five years, since 1820, is about twenty-eight per cent. It
will thus be seen that the utmost limit of the city's capacity will be
reached within the next sixteen or seventeen years, and New York will be
a solid and compact city from the Battery to Westchester County.
Meanwhile, the expenses of living in the city are increasing every year.
Rents are higher now than ever before, and there is no prospect of their
coming down for many years.
For it must be remembered that when we renew our building operations,
which have been nearly suspended for the last four years, in consequence
of the unsettled condition of the country, we shall have to provide not
only for the current increase in population, but for the deficiencies
which result from the past four years or more, when comparatively few
houses were erected. At the present time the rent of a convenient and
respectable house, suitable to the requirements of a family having a
fair income, and occupying a desirable position in society, is an
excessive item of cost.
And the remedy for this is to go into the country. Along the lines of
our railroads and navigable waters there are localities where land is
comparatively cheap,--beautiful, healthy regions, where the comforts of
a rural home may be secured, with all the advantages of society, and of
religious and educational establishments and institutions. The
facilities for reaching these country homes are already adequate for
general purposes, and will be increased every year, as the demand for
them grows. Railroads and steamboats are built and run for the purpose
of profit on freight and passenger transportation. According to the
general law of trade, the supply will equal the demand, and as the
population increases along our lines of travel, the facilities and
accommodations for transit will be multiplied.
Why, then, should the man who loves the country, and possesses tastes
and capacities for its enjoyment, and yet is compelled by circumstances
to practice economy in his mode of living, be restrained to the city
limits? It is quite a practicable thing for him to realize his
wishes,--live in the country and enjoy its best luxuries, without
abandoning the city as far as its commercial advantages are concerned.
There are localities _within an hour_ of the city hall, where land can
be purchased at reasonable rates, and where all the advantages of health
and beauty, of retirement, pure air and attractive scenery can be
enjoyed for less money than is now expended in the narrow house in the
crowded street, where every sense is offended--with no open sky or
distant horizon tinged with the glories of the dying day or rising
morn--no grassy lawns, or waving trees, or fragrant banks of flowers.
For such accommodations as he has, he pays, we will say, a rent of one
thousand or twelve hundred dollars. In the country he might purchase two
acres of land and build a cottage, which would afford him all, or more,
conveniences than he now has, without the necessity of climbing four or
five flights of stairs--at an outlay, at the usual cost of building, not
exceeding six thousand dollars. The interest on this sum would be four
hundred and twenty dollars. The difference between this amount and his
present house rent would in a few years pay the whole cost of the place,
and he would have a _home_--a centre and gathering place for his
domestic interests and affections.
And this is no fancy sketch--no exaggerated statement of possibilities.
We know of localities which can be reached from Wall Street in as many
minutes as would be required to go to 50th Street, where land can be
obtained for about five hundred dollars an acre, where there are all the
conditions of health, good water, pure air, extensive and attractive
views, and whatever else is desirable for a country home. In the
direction we have now specially in mind, there are at least twenty
railroad trains which daily stop at convenient stations, between the
early morning and ten o'clock at night. For the ordinary purposes of
business, and social intercourse, this is ample travelling
accommodation, and as we said before, these accommodations will be
increased in the proportion that the country population in the
neighborhood of our cities becomes more dense, and thus creates a larger
demand for such facilities.
The necessity and desirableness of country homes being thus easily
demonstrable, it is of importance to know how to choose sites for them,
and how to build. The Poet-author of "Letters from under a bridge," has
given a wise and admirable suggestion in regard to choice of sites,
"leaving the climate and productiveness of soil out of the question, the
main things to find united, are, _shade_, _water_, _and inequality of
surface_. With these three features given by nature, any spot may be
made beautiful, and at very little cost: and fortunately for purchasers
in this country, most land is valued and sold with little or no
reference to these or other capabilities for embellishment." There is an
affluence of choice sites all over the country, and what we need most to
learn is how to develop their capabilities, and add such fitting
embellishments as belong to beautiful and convenient houses. Here it is
that the popular taste requires additional cultivation. The impulse
already given in this direction should be kept up. There is no
deficiency of wealth for the appropriation and culture of these
attractive places, and there is often a lavish expenditure upon country
homes which ought to make them complete and even magnificent. But
unfortunately we see, every year, costly establishments, designed for
summer residences, or for permanent homes, built up with as little
regard for taste, as for expense. The deficiency is found rather in the
culture than in the dispositions and means of our people. And the remedy
and supply for this must be provided by the dissemination of works
treating upon this and kindred topics of rural art, by means of which
the public taste may be refined and elevated to a higher standard.
In constructing country houses there are several prime conditions to be
observed, such as adaptation, accommodation, and expression. By
adaptation is meant not only the arrangement of the main structure, as
to form and material, to suit the locality and character of the grounds,
but a fitness as respects the real wants--the habits and condition--of
the occupants and the purposes of a country home. Nobody wants a modern
city house planted down in the open country, nor should any sensible man
seek a refuge from the bare streets of the city in the little less bare
streets of a country village. There is no congruity between the
classical forms of Grecian Architecture and the varying climate of our
land.
The material used in the construction of our country houses has not been
sufficiently considered by us. Timber is abundant in almost all parts of
the country, and the facility with which an
establishment--mansion-house, office, and outbuildings--can be built up
in a few weeks, of this material, has been the main reason, we suppose,
why we have so many abortions, in the shape of Grecian temples, and
miniature Gothic cathedrals and castles, scattered over the land. Let it
be considered, that in building our country houses, we are not simply
providing for ourselves, but for our children--we are constructing a
homestead. It is for the want of this consideration that we have so few
_homes_ in our country, so few home associations, around and among which
our deepest and purest affections are entwined. Our thin lath and
plaster constructions, which rattle and tremble in every wind and leak
in every rain, do not afford very good or permanent centers for these
associations and affections.
We have some native woods that are durable, out of which we may build
houses that will last for several generations; but with these, even, the
cost of frequent repairs and painting is so great, to say nothing of the
annoyances thereby entailed, that, in point of economy, wood is by no
means the most desirable material. Nor is it, in any way, the most
desirable. The prevailing taste in country dwellings, before Mr.
Downing's time, was defective enough. A large, square, wooden house,
painted intensely white, garnished with bright green Venetian
blinds--standing in a contracted yard--inclosed with a red or white
wooden fence, was the very beau ideal of a gentleman's country dwelling.
We are thankful that this dispensation has passed away; and we revere
the memory of Downing, and of others like him, who were instrumental in
bringing in a better taste in such matters.
The first cost of a stone or brick dwelling somewhat exceeds that of
wood, even in places where these materials are readily obtained. But if
they are properly constructed, such buildings will need very few repairs
for many years. It is often objected, on the other hand, that such
buildings are damp and unwholesome. This is, undoubtedly, true of many
of the old stone houses which we find scattered about the country. And
it is true, because they were not properly built. When properly built,
they preserve the most equal temperature at all seasons. They are warm
in winter and cool in summer, and the sudden changes which affect the
weather without, need scarcely be felt by the delicate invalid within
the walls of the stone mansion, if suitable attention is given to the
simple matter of ventilation.
But let us return to the subject of adaptation. The illustrations which
occur to us may serve to furnish a somewhat clear idea of what we mean
by the prime conditions necessary to be observed in building.
By the term adaptation, we mean such choice of style, material, size
and arrangement as shall fit the structure: 1st, to the site; 2d, to the
climate; and 3d, to the uses for which it is built.
And, first, as to the site: It would be obviously incongruous to erect
the same house on these two different sites, with their different
characteristic features and surroundings; for example, _the one_ a
nearly level plane gently rising, perhaps, as you approach from the road
the position where the house shall stand, and sloping away again towards
other broad green fields and the fertile meadows beyond--with no
background of hills or mountains, no irregularly formed lake, but with a
placid, lazy stream, half-sleeping, half-gliding by the weeping elms,
and among the scattered groups of stately, old trees:--_the other_, a
romantic hillside in the native forest, with its neighboring mountain
range, where in the bright summer-time, the noisy, laughing brook keeps
time to your thoughts and fancies as you wander among the hills, and in
the bleak winter the winds sigh mournfully through the pines or utter
their clarion calls to the spirit of the storm.
The one situation would be appropriate to the Italian villa, with its
flat roof, and overhanging cornices, its spacious verandahs and
balconies, all having that depth and boldness and variety of outline
necessary to secure the proper effects of light and shadow which, the
absence of all variety of form in the landscape, would render
indispensable. But no man with an artist's eye would think, for a
moment, of building such a house as this on our wooded hillside. He
would construct there his English cottage in good solid stone, whose
steep roofs would shed with facility the summer rain and the winter
snow, whose irregularities of form and outline would harmonize with
nature's Gothic work in precipice and rock, in trees and climbing vines.
Or else, he would place there his Swiss chalét, which would be in
harmony with the scene, and a pleasing object to the eye of the
observer. On the broad, open plane the villa should be made, or seem, to
cover a considerable space, while the nice cottage might be built more
compactly.
But here let us remark, that many of our attempts at the English
cottage, generally known as the Gothic, have been failures, and some of
them sad abortions.
This comes from defective models and plans, and these defects arise
mainly from these sources--the lack of boldness and variety in the main
outlines, and in the construction of the roofs and chimneys. Such a
cottage, to be pleasing and satisfactory, must have irregularities in
form, variety in ornament, and boldness in treatment. A square house
with additions of gables, and dormers and pinnacles, and ridge crests,
will not give us an English cottage. It is a work of art, like a poem
or a picture, and not a mechanical aggregation of Gothic features and
ornaments. We were about to say that it should never be attempted in any
other material than stone, but as many of us cannot command the means
for such permanent buildings, we will concede that it may be allowable
for us to put our wooden buildings into the cottage form, using the best
taste and the most beautiful and picturesque styles, even if the
material is objectionable.
One other observation, before we return to our main topic, may be
indulged. It is simply the suggestion that too little attention has been
paid to the _sky-outlines_ of our country houses. Roofs and chimney-tops
have been treated as necessary evils, instead of being made, as they may
be, highly ornamental. The unity of the plan, as a work of art, is lost
as you ascend above the eaves, all the rest seeming like excrescences
growing out of structures otherwise commendable and satisfactory. The
superior horizontal lines of the roof will depend somewhat upon the
background of the house. When a building is placed upon the crest of a
hill, or upon a slope descending from the main point of view, so that
its outlines are seen against the sky, the treatment of the plan will be
obviously different from that required where the background is solid, as
a hill or a forest. In any case, however, the horizontal lines should be
broken, as far as practicable, by making the roofs of the several parts
of the house of unequal height.
It will be apparent, without special argument, that our choice of style
in our country houses should be controlled essentially by the climate.
In our northern climate, the flat roof is objectionable, and we are
obliged to modify the Italian styles somewhat in this respect, to
obviate inconveniences. The hot summer sun, when, as on an August day,
in the city,
"The pavements all are piping hot,
The sky above is brazen,
And every head as good as dead
The sun can shed his rays on,"
will be more than likely to open the joints and seams of the flat roof,
and the sudden shower coming down with the force of a tropical storm,
will find its way through, sadly to the detriment of our ceilings, our
stuccoes and frescoes, as well as to the comfort and the commendable
equability of temper of those who suffer the invasion. The heavy winter
snows, too, require a steep roof, from which they will readily dislodge
themselves without injury.
And so in the interior arrangements of the house, the provisions for
heating and ventilation, for summer freedom and winter coziness, for
domestic comfort and the exercise of the commendable grace of country
hospitality, due regard must be had to the conditions of climate. There
must be a proper adaptation to them, if we would secure satisfactory
country homes.
And this brings us to our last topic, the uses for which our country
seats are built. The place designed simply for a summer residence for
the citizen, who is obliged to be at his office or counting room daily,
bating the few weeks of summer vacation, need not be so complete in its
appointments and arrangements, as the permanent country residence. One
essential condition, however, in this case is, that there shall be _room
enough_, with ample verandahs, and shaded gravel walks, which will
afford opportunities for open air exercise in all states of the weather.
There is nothing, perhaps, that interferes so essentially with the
citizen's enjoyment of the country, as the want of facilities for out
door exercise. It is too hot or too dusty to ride or walk, before the
shower, and after its refreshment has come, it is too wet and muddy.
Spacious verandahs, shaded with vines, and well-made walks, always firm
and dry, bordered with shrubbery, or overhung with trees, will give us
"ample scope and verge enough."
But the uses of country seats depend mainly upon the tastes and
habitudes of the occupants; and their adaptation in style size and
arrangement should be accordingly. We believe there is no law against a
man's building an elegant library and picture gallery, though he may
have no taste for literature or art, but having plenty of money,
chooses to make this display of it. There are a great many absurdities
to which poor, frail humanity is liable, against which the legislature,
in its wisdom, has not thought it worth while to make solemn and
positive enactments; it is better for the general moral condition of
society, perhaps, that the vulgar rich man's ambition for display should
manifest itself in books and pictures, rather than in fast horses. Might
not the cultivation of the garden--vegetables, fruits and flowers,--take
the place of both, as simple means of display? These are wholesome and
agreeable employments even for those who have passed that time of life
when a taste for books and art may be acquired.
A country seat should combine and express the real uses which are
required by the intellectual and social condition of its occupants, and
not attract attention as blazoning the wealth and money importance of
the owner. If he is rich, let him make it as complete and simply elegant
as he will, and this he may do without proclaiming to every passer-by
his miserable pride of wealth.
With these preliminary observations, we submit our work to the judgment
of those who are interested in these subjects. We have not included in
our present volume any considerable number of designs for the more
spacious and costly Villa, the work being designed for popular use and
to meet a demand which is unprovided for by previous publications.
DESIGN No. 1.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--_Front Elevation._]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--_End Elevation._]
This design as shown in figures 1 and 2, is for a laborer's cottage
intended to be erected on the grounds connected with a fine estate on
the western slope of the Palisades in New Jersey. It is to be built of
rough stone, plainly finished. It is 16 by 24 feet outside, having a
living-room with bed room on the first floor, (Fig. 3,) a large pantry,
stairway, etc., and a fine cellar below. The second floor (Fig. 4,) has
two bed-rooms, well lighted and ventilated, and large closets to each.
This size will admit of several different arrangements; the rear door
might open out from the pantry, and afford more convenient access to the
cellar stairs, to get in heavy articles, and shut out some cold in
winter, but would interfere with the fine ventilation so necessary in
summer to a generally heated apartment, as a kitchen, dining, and
living-room combined. A porch might be placed over the rear door, or
better still, at a small additional expense, a summer-kitchen and
wood-house might be added. A house of this accommodation is usually the
first one put up by settlers on the western prairies. They are built of
wood, balloon frame, with a plain pitch roof, without ornament.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--_Second Floor._]
The elevations as shown, give a greater variety than is usual in this
class of building, and a house thus constructed may afterwards become a
very pretty portion of a larger and more expensive structure.
DESIGN No. 2.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--_Front Elevation._]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--_Side Elevation._]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--_First Floor._]
The second design (Fig. 5,) is for a frame building giving more variety
of outline. The plan (Fig. 7,) separates the sitting room from the
kitchen and dining room, and insures more privacy. There is also a
greater abundance of closets, though smaller. One of the bed rooms above
might be divided into two, and thus increase the accommodation. A
portion of the cellar may also be finished for a kitchen, and the
living room used as a dining room. This plan admits of future additions
being made without destroying the harmony or proportion of the building.
To one of moderate means, such a mode of building presents some
attractions, as it affords a house for immediate wants, to which
additions may be made as one's means increase. Such houses, if
tastefully furnished and embellished with suitable surroundings, as neat
and well-kept grounds, fine trees, shrubbery, flowers, and climbing
vines, will always attract more attention and admiration than the
uninviting aspect of many more expensive structures. Money tastefully
expended in this manner will always yield gratifying results.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--_Second Floor._]
DESIGN No. 3.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--_Front Elevation._]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--_Side Elevation._]
This design is similar, in some respects, to design No. 2, and gives,
perhaps, the most compact arrangement of rooms for a building having so
irregular an outline. Exteriorly considered, there is much to be admired
in variety, and light and shadow, the different elevations being
entirely unlike each other, and affording a constant change from every
point of view; an object, we think, very much to be desired in cottage
architecture, and when well managed never fails to make a pleasing
impression. A high, bold appearance, without the overhanging eaves or
depth of shadow, is not suitable for a country house; a feeling is
created that something is wanting to make up the accessories of an
agreeable habitation.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--_Basement Plan._]
In this plan, (Fig. 11,) the kitchen is in the basement, convenient to
the cellar, and with a good pantry attached to it. It is put there for
the purpose of economizing in the construction. Our own preference is to
put the kitchen in a well ventilated wing on a level with the main
floor, and thus avoid, as much as possible, the necessity of running up
and down stairs. This can be done at any future time when desired, as,
indeed, can any addition of other rooms be made to meet the wants of an
increasing family. A dumb waiter connects the kitchen with the dining
room, and thus saves many steps.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--_First Floor._]
The first floor (Fig. 12,) gives parlor, dining room, and a library,
with a roomy vestibule, and a side door or private entrance, and
supplies all the wants of a small family. The library might be used for
a bed room. On the second floor (Fig. 13,) are 3 bed rooms with closets.
The engravings are intended to tell their own story as far as possible,
and but little explanation is necessary to make them fully
comprehensible. In the matter of cost, one can hardly give a price that
is reliable; the enormous advance in some building materials and slight
advance in others, disarrange all old standards of estimating.
Localities, of course, have much to do with the cost; yet, above all
others, the business management must be considered. A good manager,
thoroughly familiar with the qualities and values of materials, who
knows how to direct labor to the best advantage, will execute work at a
less cost than one who undertakes his own building without a previous
training.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--_Second Floor._]
DESIGN No. 4.
This is a perspective view of a cottage, designed to afford a reasonable
amount of accommodation for an average sized family, and which, if
tastefully furnished, and fitted with suitable landscape surroundings,
will convey a pleasing impression to all; much more so than dwellings of
a more expensive class, where sufficient attention is not given to such
accessories.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--_Perspective._]
The plans of this house are compact, the rooms opening into each other
in such a manner as to afford easy communication and economy in heating.
The porch is spacious, and more pleasant than the long, narrow verandah.
The supply of water for all purposes is from a filtering cistern, which
is connected with the kitchen sink, by a pump. The entire house may be
heated by a furnace, hot water, or steam, as is most preferable; or
stoves may be used in nearly all the rooms, if first cost is to be
closely considered. A passage underneath the staircase connects with the
side door from the vestibule, and, with the exception of the library,
all parts of the house are accessible without passing through other
rooms.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--_Basement Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--_Second Floor._]
In the vicinity of large cities, and more particularly the city of New
York, there are reasons which have a money value to them, why more
attention should be given to suburban architecture, and why capitalists,
as well as individuals, should undertake the construction of
moderate-priced buildings, that shall command attention from the
harmonious combination of fine architectural effects. It requires but a
very limited experience to become aware of the fact, that dwellings of
precisely the same cost, and similarly situated, will differ in their
rental at least one half, and it is mainly owing to the reason that one
is properly designed, and the other perhaps an amateur performance,
modeled after the ill-proportioned Greek pediment style, too prevalent
to be countenanced for a moment by any one who prides himself on his
good taste. There can be no question that a fitly designed cottage,
conveniently arranged, adds, independently of its own cost, a large per
centage to the value of the acres which surround it, and is the point
which arrests the eye and secures the purchaser. Rapid rail-road
facilities, lower rents, more healthful localities, and the fact that
the growth of this city "_Spuyten Duyvelward_" has reached a point
beyond the convenient access of the strictly business man, necessarily
turn the attention of those who look to the full measure of comfort, to
a suburban life, ten to fifteen miles away from the unceasing noise and
hurry of the city, where the business of the day is forgotten, and fresh
air, fresh milk, butter and eggs, fruits, flowers, birds, &c., are
luxuries unknown in town. Taking a strictly money view of building
operations, for sale and rent, in suburban localities, and more
particularly about New York, it would promise, by every course of
reasoning, a remunerative return, if the plan were judiciously and
tastefully carried out. The wants of the public, however, are so
unequal, and their opinions so varied by the circumstances under which
they are formed, that, unless an attractive beginning can be shown,
very desirable property may remain a long time on the market. If we
canvass real estate thoroughly, we shall find that property sells first,
and at the best prices, which has ever so humble a cottage on it, a
starting point in which one may temporarily reside, and lay out his
plans of future operations; for the construction of a country place is
of all things one with which to make haste slowly. With those actively
engaged in business, and to whom time is every thing, there is no
disposition to add the labor and annoyances of building; the demand is
for a home ready for occupancy; the thought is entertained, and the
wish gratified, simply because the opportunity presented itself; but it
is far less trouble for young and middle-aged business men to stick to
the city, than to give the time for building, particularly when they
undertake their own architecture. Let capitalists invite them by snug,
well-built, convenient, and tasteful cottages, and the demand will
always be in advance of the supply, in all healthy localities, having
rapid, reliable, and frequent communication with the city.
[Illustration: FIG. 18.--_First Floor Enlarged._]
DESIGN No. 5.
A GARDENER'S COTTAGE.
The accompanying design was made for William C. Bryant, Esq., by Fred'k
S. Copley, Esq., Artist, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, and was erected
on his beautiful estate at Roslyn, Long Island, in 1862. It stands on
the hill above his residence, overlooking the bay from the village to
the Sound, possessing one of the finest views on the Island. It was
intended as a gardener's lodge, and to accommodate one or two families,
as circumstances might require, (one on each floor,) giving each three
rooms, and a joint right to the scullery, sink, and cellar.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.--_Perspective View._]
_Arrangement._--The first story is 9 feet in the clear throughout, with
every convenience suitable for the health and comfort of the occupants.
From the porch, a small hall, lighted from the roof, is entered, with
doors on either hand, to parlor or living room, and staircase passage in
front, communicating with the kitchen at the back, chambers above, and
cellar beneath.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.--_First Floor._]
The chamber floor, second story, is 9 feet in the clear through the
centre, and 6 feet at the sides, (from the floor to the plate,) the roof
cutting off three feet of the ceiling at the sides at an angle of 45
degrees. This loss of a few feet of the ceiling is more than compensated
by the cottage-like effect it gives to the rooms, harmonizing the inside
with the external appearance. The two principal chambers are provided
with fire-places and ample closet room. The one over the parlor has two
closets, built outside the frame, and a door into the single room, over
the porch, forming a most desirable family chamber. Both these rooms
have ventilators in the same chimney breast, and the small one may be
warmed by a stove leading thereto. The other has a large closet over the
store-room for trunks, linen, &c. The attic room over the kitchen wing
is intended for the domestics.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.--_Chamber Floor._]
By reference to the plans, it will be seen that every room is of good
size and form, cheerfully lighted, thoroughly ventilated, and of easy
access one to another, at the same time that privacy, so essential, is
maintained throughout.
_Construction._--The building is constructed of wood, vertically sided,
and battened, (with 1-1/2 inch tongued and grooved pine plank,) with
horizontal strips in line of the window sills and floors, to hide the
buts, and small triangular pieces in the corners, which gives the pretty
effect of paneling. The whole is stained by a mixture of oil, &c., that
heightens the grain of the wood, and gives a brightness of color, and
that cheerfulness of effect, so desirable in rural dwellings. The roof
is of slate, in bands of purple and green, and the chimneys are
surmounted by terra-cotta pots. The whole is filled in with brick.
This cottage is built in a substantial and plain manner, with cellar
under kitchen, cemented on the gravel the same as the cistern, and all
the interior wood work is oiled and stained.
As a specimen of cottage architecture, (on the smallest scale, lodge
class,) it will rank as one of the best. For simplicity, variety of
form, symmetry of proportion, with convenience of arrangement and
economy of space and construction, it forms a model cottage, that any
one might live in and many covet, besides being an addition to the
landscape and an ornament to the grounds.
DESIGN No. 6.
STONE STABLE AND COACH HOUSE.
[Illustration: FIG. 22.--_Perspective._]
This design was erected on the Hudson, during the past year, of the
beautiful rock faced stone so abundant between the Spuyten Duyvil and
the Highlands, and is a good example of such a building as will meet the
requirements of a moderately extensive establishment. It is conveniently
arranged, enabling all the work to be done with the most ease, and gives
thorough light and ventilation, so essential to the health and comfort
of animals. The time has gone by to give prospective prices for
anything, but we have seen the day when this building might have been
erected for about $4,000. A room for the coachman may easily be made on
the second floor, and the plan increased or decreased to suit the wants
of any one.
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--_Ground Plan._]
DESIGN No. 7.
A FARM COTTAGE.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.--_Perspective View._]
We show in this design a style of cottage which, in these high priced
times of lumber and labor, can be erected at a very reasonable figure;
and although prepared for a farm cottage, will admit of such changes as
will adapt it to the wants of those who require a higher grade of
accommodation. It is the most natural thing in the world for any one to
take up a plan and suggest innumerable changes and additions, always
forgetting the unalterable condition of price, situation, and object,
which restrained the architect while working it up. To prepare a design
regardless of expense is a very different matter from devising one that
gives the largest amount of accommodation within a fixed limit of cost.
We shall arrive gradually at the precise figures, and endeavor to get
the accommodation wanted by some of our readers.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.--_Cellar._]
[Illustration: FIG. 26.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 27.--_Second Floor._]
It has been frequently observed that the gate lodges and farm cottages
attached to large estates are generally more attractive in their
architectural proportions and beauty than the mansion itself; and this
has been usually attributed to the education of the proprietor's tastes,
the cottages being the latest erections. This impression is not,
however, always true; for there is a peculiar beauty and attractiveness
about cottage architecture which can not be produced in buildings of a
larger and more commodious class. Certain it is that a prettily designed
cottage will always arrest attention. "Among the first and most
pleasing impressions," says a late writer, "of our trite friend, the
intelligent foreigner, as he entered England by the old Dover road, were
those suggested by the little whitewashed and woodbined cottages which
caught his eye at every turn. All books of travels on English ground are
full of them. Snugly sheltered in its bower of apple trees, or more
stately group of walnuts, approachable only by its rustic stairs, or
dotted at neighborly distances along the straggling village, with its
trim garden of lavender and wall flowers, seen through the wicket gate
or over the privet hedge, the English cottage, above or below, near or
in the distance, was alike the delight and envy of the traveler, the
theme of the journalist and the poet. 'There is scarce a cottage,' says
an American tourist just landed from America and France, 'between Dover
and London which a poet might not be happy to live in. I saw a hundred
little spots I coveted with quite a heart-ache.' Whether or not Rogers
would have given up his picture-lighted snuggery in St. James' Place for
his 'Cot beside the hill,' and really preferred to have his latch lifted
by the pilgrim, instead of his knocker by a London footman, it is
certain that the cottage homes of England that border the main roads
have long possessed a beauty far beyond the houses in other lands
belonging to classes much higher in the social scale, and have been
coveted, sometimes not without reason, by those who could, if they
chose, have purchased them fifty times over."
DESIGN No. 8.
This design for a timber cottage is simple and at the same time
picturesque, and built upon a site adapted to it, and in harmony with
the architectural expression, the effect could not fail to be in a high
degree pleasing.
[Illustration: FIG. 28.--_Perspective View._]
It will be seen that some of the principal timbers of the frame are
intended to show on the outside, and that there is a designed contrast
between the horizontal siding extending to the top of the posts, and the
vertical and battened covering of the pediment above the ornamental
string course. The brackets and posts which support the roof of the
porches, should be chamfered, and these timbers should be of sufficient
thickness to avoid any appearance of meanness, while at the same time,
they should not be too heavy, and so destroy the proportions of the
design.
[Illustration: FIG. 29.--_Cellar._]
The roof should be covered with shingles having their ends clipped or
rounded.
[Illustration: FIG. 30.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 31.--_Second Floor._]
The cellar may be divided in such way as to serve the wants of the
occupants. A portable furnace might be placed at the foot of the
basement stairs, which would warm the rooms on the first floor, and
temper the air of the chambers above.
The interior accommodations and conveniences are readily seen on
inspection of the plans--(Figs. 30. 31). There is no waste of room, and
for the uses of a small family, the accommodations would be found as
ample as could well be obtained in a cottage of such size and cost.
DESIGN No. 9.--RURAL CHURCH.
DESIGNED BY THE REV. DR. CRESSY.
This design is intended for a church which is to occupy a beautiful and
commanding site on the western shore of Lake George, in the midst of the
original forest, and is now in process of erection. It will also meet
the requirements of several correspondents who have requested plans for
rural churches which could be erected as economically and cheaply as
possible, with due regard to proportion, fitness and beauty of
expression.
This design will be found to comprehend, we may say, in an eminent
degree, variety of outline, correctness of detail, force of expression
and purity of taste, with simplicity of execution, and in those parts of
the country where lumber is abundant, and labor not exorbitant, it can
be erected at a low cost.
[Illustration: FIG. 32.--_Perspective._]
We have a right to congratulate ourselves on the improvement which the
last quarter of a century has witnessed among our people in the building
and adorning of our edifices devoted to Christian worship. Downing, in
his time, said, "that the ugliest church architecture in Christendom, is
at this moment to be found in the country towns and villages of the
United States." And speaking of the influence of what our churches
should be, in the beauty of their proportions, and in the expression of
the sacred purposes which they embody, and the feelings of reverence and
harmony with God and man which they suggest, he fitly says--"We fear
there are very few country churches in our land that exert this kind of
spell,--a spell which grows out of making stone, and brick, and timber,
obey the will of the living soul, and express a religious sentiment.
Most persons, most committees, select men, vestrymen, and congregations,
who have to do with the building of churches, appear indeed wholly to
ignore the fact, that the form and feature of a building may be made to
express religious, civil, domestic, or a dozen other feelings, as
distinctly as the form and features of the human face:--and yet this is
a fact as well known by all true architects, as that joy and sorrow,
pleasure and pain, are capable of irradiating or darkening the
countenance. Yes, and we do not say too much, when we add, that right
expression in a building for religious purposes, has as much to do with
awakening devotional feelings, and begetting an attachment in the heart,
as the unmistakable signs of virtue and benevolence in our
fellow-creatures have in awakening kindred feelings in our own breasts.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--_Floor Plan._]
"We do not, of course, mean to say that a beautiful rural church will
make all the population about it devotional, any more than that sunshine
will banish gloom; but it is one of the influences that prepare the way
for religious feeling, and which we are as unwise to neglect, as we
should be to abjure the world and bury ourselves, like the ancient
troglodytes, in caves and caverns."
Happily we are coming to appreciate these truths, not only in our
cities, but in the country, and the ugly, unsightly, and unseemly
structures which have so long deformed the land are giving place to
edifices in which the true ideas of harmony, grace, proportion, symmetry
and expression, which make what we call Beauty, are brought out in due
proportion.
The church we present is designed to be of wood, the country about the
site affording an abundance of that material, at the lowest cost. An
inspection of the design will show that the principal timbers of the
frame are intended to be visible externally,--the weather-boarding being
set back from the face of the posts and beams. This exterior covering is
intended to be made of sound _rough_ plank, from ten to fourteen inches
wide, and at least one and a-half inches thick. These are to be tongued
and grooved, so as to make a close joint, and nailed to the frame in a
_vertical_ manner. The joint is to be covered with a narrow strip, or
batten, of one and a-half inch plank. These unplaned plank may be
painted with two good coats and sanded, or they may be left to take such
tints and complexion as time and the weather may give them.
Lumber, at the proposed site, being cheaper and more easily obtained
than lime, the interior of the church will be neatly ceiled with narrow
boards, which will be lightly stained and oiled. The roof will be "open
timber" of simple construction. All the wood work of the interior will
be of pine, smoothly planed, stained and oiled, without paint, except
the ceiling of the roof which should be colored, in order to give
something like warmth of tone to the interior, the lack of which is
often sadly felt in our country churches, particularly.
This mode of weather-boarding and "open timber" finish is now so common
that a more particular description is unnecessary.
This church will seat, comfortably, about two hundred persons. Its cost
will depend entirely upon the price of lumber and labor, of course, and
these vary with different localities, and are particularly uncertain at
this time. We will only add that it will cost no more to build with
correct proportions and in good taste, than in disregard and defiance of
these desirable and commendable principles.
DESIGN No. 10.
[Illustration: FIG. 34.--_Perspective._]
We give below a somewhat different example of Cottage Architecture, of a
form that is compact and every way available, at the same time affording
every convenience in the arrangement of rooms desirable for a family of
refined tastes and moderate means. This cottage may be built of wood,
or, better still, in favorable localities, of brick or stone, and if
suitably surrounded with tasteful landscape embellishments, will make a
snug, pretty, and attractive home. One can, by the exercise of
appropriate taste, produce the right kind of an impression in a house of
this character. It should become a part of, and belong to the acres
which surround it; it should be an indispensable accessory to the place
itself, and the grounds should be laid out and embellished in such a
manner that the whole combination impresses all with harmonious beauty,
and not, as is too frequently the case, seek to make up the wretched
deficiencies in the grounds by elaborate expenditure and display about
the house. A true appreciation of country life will not tolerate
slovenly, ill-kept grounds, and no house exhibits its true value unless
there is a harmony in its surroundings. If this be attended to, a high
degree of effect can be produced in houses of very moderate cost;
houses that shall be roomy, warm, substantial, and in every way
agreeable to their occupants.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--_Basement Plan._]
The plans show the arrangement of rooms, and these can be made larger or
smaller, or be differently disposed, to suit almost any fancy. In this
design the kitchen apartments are below stairs; in future plans we shall
give some with kitchen, laundry, etc., on the principal floor; or they
can be readily added to this plan. The cost of a house is the one thing
desirable; every one asks for it, and yet every one within our knowledge
who has built a house himself at a stated price has been sadly deceived.
Close specifications are very dry reading, and not appropriate here,
and it is questionable how much service they would be to any but
professional builders. It is reasonable to suppose, that if one without
building experience undertakes it, he will have to pay something
additional for the knowledge he will gain. If he places it to the proper
account, then we can not be accused of misleading him.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--_Second Floor._]
Most men contemplate, at some period of life, the construction of a
dwelling-house, but few deem it necessary to study their wants or
prepare their plans until they have selected their site and made all
other arrangements for building, and then proceed with all possible
haste to plan a home. That which should have been the study of months or
years, is hurried through in as many days, imperfectly done at the best,
and the cause of frequent annoying and expensive changes after the work
has commenced. It is true, that the site has very much to do with the
distribution of rooms, but any ingenious architect can readily adapt a
proper combination of rooms to suit the exposures and views of a
particular site. It would be vastly better for those who prefer to
arrange their own plan of rooms, (and there are but very few who do
not,) that they take abundant time to consider well every thing relating
to them; and although the hope of building may be very remote, it should
not be considered time lost to begin to give one's thoughts a definite
form of what he thinks a house should be; for if nothing else results,
it may furnish a valuable hint for a friend, and will certainly enlarge
one's information and experience in these matters. Almost every one is
capable, with such hints as have been freely given in the volumes of the
HORTICULTURIST, in the leading papers which treat on rural art, and the
numerous valuable publications on rural architecture, to make such a
combination of rooms as will best suit his peculiar wants, tastes, or
fancies, and then, with the aid of an architect, it can readily be freed
from mechanical impracticabilities, and put into a proportionate and
harmonious form. Architecture, both in design and construction, is a
profession that requires long years of study and practice to develop an
expert, and those who really want a good thing at the least cost,
usually seek such assistance; those who prefer to do their own designing
and building, find out with absolute certainty the most expensive modes
of erecting very ugly and ill-proportioned structures.
DESIGN No. 11.
A SUBURBAN SUMMER HOUSE.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.]
In the adornment of ornamental grounds, some considerable attention has
been given to summer houses, and similar structures; but these have been
mainly _rustic_ in their design and finish, and in this respect well
adapted to their purpose and surroundings. The good taste of these
structures will not be called in question. There are locations, however,
in the more immediate vicinity of our large cities, where a style less
rustic would seem to be more in harmony with the architecture which is
found to prevail. We refer to residences on the outskirts of our large
cities, with inclosures containing a few city lots. Here the
architecture, so far from being rural, is, on the contrary, stiff,
sharp, and sometimes very ornate. A rustic summer house in such a place
would be an incongruity. A rustic house is in itself a beautiful object;
but there is a certain charm in association which can not be widely
departed from without doing violence to our conceptions of the fitness
of things; and hence a purely rustic house without rural surroundings is
destitute of the chief elements which give rise to the beautiful. Most
persons would say it was out of place.
The design herewith presented was prepared to meet the requirements of
such a case; it is consequently somewhat elaborate. It is located on a
small plot of ground within the city limits, and in full view from three
streets. The grounds are laid out with a few rectangular walks, and such
shrubs as the small size of the place would admit of. The house, we
think corresponds with its surroundings. Its faults, if any, are a
little too much ornament, but something of this kind seemed to be
required in the absence of that more beautiful ornamentation produced by
the drapery of Nature. The house is so located that it receives the
morning sun for a few hours, but during the rest of the day is in the
shade; it therefore constitutes a pleasant place of retreat for the
family at all hours, and is used by the children freely as a play house.
The floor is laid in narrow stuff, and is elevated a foot above the
ground for the sake of dryness. Easy seats, a handsome centre table, and
a hanging lamp complete the interior. Venetian blinds afford ample
protection on a misty day or a chilly night, or admit the soft summer
breeze on a hot and sultry eve.--_Horticulturist._
DESIGN No. 12.
STABLE AND CARRIAGE HOUSE.
This stable affords abundant accommodation for three horses, with
carriage house, feed room, and a large harness room on the first floor,
while the loft above may contain a coachman's room, and leave ample
space for hay and straw.
If required, a shed and cow house can be extended on the side opposite
the carriage house, thus adding considerably to the effect of the
external appearance. Under the stable there should be a cellar for the
storage of roots for feed, and, if desirable, the winter stock of
vegetables for household use. This stable may be built of wood, or of
stone or brick.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--_Stable._]
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--_Stable Plan._]
DESIGN No. 13.
This design is intended to cover, at a low cost, as much comfort and
convenience as a moderate-sized family would require, and to distribute
the same as much as possible on one floor.
The cellar or basement kitchen is dispensed with and only enough cellar
room provided to meet the wants of those who occupy suburban places of a
few acres in extent. Where large quantities of vegetables are stored, or
where cellar room is required for farm purposes, we think it better to
build cellars separate from the residence, (an arrangement much more
healthful, as well as convenient and desirable.) For the preservation in
warm weather of meats, milk, and other perishable articles, a
refrigerator, or, better still, an ice closet, can be set up at one end
of the laundry. This can be supplied with ice through an outside door,
and is infinitely better and more convenient than any cellar or spring
house.
The kitchen is without a fire-place, but is provided with a ventilator
in the chimney near the ceiling. The cooking may be done by a stove,
which, if properly contrived, is one of the most effective ventilators,
and preferred by many housekeepers for all kitchen purposes. Or a range
can be placed in the chimney, if desirable, or a fire-place, if it
should be considered indispensable.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--_Elevation._]
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--_Plan._]
A door under the stair-way separates the front and rear halls, and
disconnects the kitchen apartments from the rest of the house. All the
doors opening into the rear hall should be hung with the new spiral
spring butt, the best door spring that has come under our notice. It is
entirely concealed, and works without a fault.
The closets in the dining room are finished to give an interior
appearance of a bay window. The dining room and the two chambers above,
are intended to be heated by a fire-place heater set in the chimney,
thus warming three rooms, at pleasure, with one fire. A small stove in
the library will keep that comfortable. Or, in place of all this, the
whole house may be heated by any of the approved modes, in the use of
hot air, hot water, or steam.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.--_First Floor._]
The library, parlor, or general living room in a country house--and we
like these rooms in one--should have the cheerful, healthful luxury of
an open fire-place, and we know of no more elegant, cleanly and
effective contrivance for this purpose than Dixon's low down,
Philadelphia Grate, in which wood, coal, or any other fuel can be used
equally well. The advantages combined in this grate are these:--the
fire flat on the hearth, and radiating the heat from an oval cast iron
backing: cold air supplied from below, and ashes, dirt, &c., shaken down
into an ash-pit in the cellar, beneath the grate. We speak confidently
of this invention, after a trial of two winters, and do not hesitate to
say that, compared with this, the ordinary grate is worthless. Large
rooms can be kept perfectly comfortable in the coldest weather, without
heat from any other source.
[Illustration: FIG. 44.--_Second Floor._]
This house is supplied with a cistern, constructed with the utmost care,
ten feet in diameter, and ten feet deep, holding 6,000 gallons of
water. The roof is of slate, and the rain-water is therefore of great
purity, free from color, and the woody taste usually imparted to it by
falling on a shingle roof.
At the laundry sink is one of West's lift and force pumps, which draws
the water from the cistern. This pump is a simple and effective affair,
and works with remarkable ease, is always in order, and may be
considered one of the best pumps known. We have given it a thorough
trial, and speak from personal knowledge.
On one side of the laundry sink there is also one of Kedzie's large size
rain-water filters, which holds several pails full of water, and which
we commend as an admirable contrivance for the purposes intended. It
possesses every merit claimed for it, and after more than a year's use,
the water drawn from it is of such crystal purity and sweetness as to
attract the attention of all to whom it is offered.
No well has been dug or contemplated on the premises connected with this
cottage. About one-half the cost of a well has been expended upon a
slate roof, a large and carefully-constructed cistern, West's pump and
Kedzie's filter--the other half has been safely invested in U. S.
7-30's, and instead of hoisting water fifty feet, for household, garden,
and stable uses, the turn of a croton water tap is not more easy and
convenient, and the finest flow of a silver spring of soft water, is
not more beautiful than that delivered by West's pump and Kedzie's
filter, which supplies for all purposes of the cottage, stable, and
garden, water unsurpassed in its pleasant and wholesome properties.
Those who seek the most convenient and reliable modes of procuring the
purest and sweetest water, will find this to be the least costly and the
most satisfactory.
For a compact, convenient cottage, with every facility for doing the
work of the household, with the least number of steps--in which all the
essential modern conveniences are introduced, without the modern prices
attached--for a low-priced, elegant cottage, we do not know of any plan
more appropriate than this.
In the construction of this house a bay-window was introduced in front,
in the parlor, (Fig. 43.) and the veranda was made half octagon. These
alterations add much to exterior appearance, as well as to the capacity
of the parlor. On the side of the parlor and dining room an addition is
contemplated, which will relieve the apparent want of variety which now
exists, and essentially improve the external appearance.
DESIGN No. 14.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.--_Cottage Stable._]
[Illustration: FIG. 46.--_Plan._]
Fig. 45 shows a design for a cottage stable, giving accommodations for a
horse and cow, two carriages, one or two wagons, and two tons of hay.
The main building is so proportioned, that three more stalls may be
added, and it may then become the wing of a larger building, to be used
for carriage room and other purposes. For those who keep but one horse
and cow, this design affords abundant room.
DESIGN No. 15.
ICE HOUSE.
It is only within a few years that ice, in all seasons, has been classed
among the necessaries of life. In large cities it is indispensable, but
the cool spring-house or cellar in the country impresses many with the
idea that ice, in summer months, can only be regarded as a luxury. Along
with other conveniences in keeping with this progressive age, the
ice-house has its place, and a country-seat of any pretensions is not
complete without it.
It is simple in construction, and can be built very cheaply of rough
materials, or made as elaborate as is desirable. It forms a pretty
feature about the grounds, if treated with some architectural taste.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.--_Ice House._]
[Illustration: FIG. 48.--_Ground Plan._]
[Illustration: FIG. 49.--_Perspective._]
DESIGN No. 16.
This design, with the accompanying plans sufficiently explain themselves
without minute description. The arrangement, as will be seen upon
examination, secures a very large amount of accommodation, with good
sized rooms, and ample store and closet conveniences. The building is
compact, and at the same time presents a pleasing variety in its
exterior appearance. By carrying up the library, two dressing rooms, for
the two principal chambers, may be secured.
When one contemplates building, and has put his thoughts and wishes into
a tangible form, the leading question asked is, how much will all this
cost? for what price in dollars and cents, without extras or additional
charges of any kind, can this dwelling be erected in a good and
workmanlike manner, in accordance with plans and specifications, and
satisfactory to the owner? This is precisely the plain English of what a
business man wants to know; for we hold that it is right and proper,
that every one should look right through all the connected links and
complications that require a considerable expenditure of money, and see
that he lands carefully in the place anticipated. To start with the
intention of disbursing $5,000, and wind up with an expenditure of
$12,000, is not only annoying in a money point of view, but an
impeachment of one's judgment and good sense, not pleasant to hear
outsiders reflect on; for however much one might wish to shift the
responsibility on others, it is one of those things that time will
always place where it belongs. As long as men consider the arts of
designing and constructing buildings to be of no special importance, or
that they are qualified, without instruction or experience, to practice
them, expensive blunders will naturally result, and sooner or later it
will be discovered that such wisdom is dearly bought. There are many,
however, who prefer to manage their building affairs thus, and who can
only learn more agreeable and less expensive modes by actual experience;
some do it from ignorance, some from supposed economy, and others from
the supposition that they are best qualified.
The design for a house or other building, and a plan of the interior
arrangement of each floor, prepared by a professional man who makes such
things the business of his life, is now very generally admitted by
intelligent men to be essential; but the management or superintendence
of the work by the party who has studied and designed it, does not seem
quite so apparent. An architect prepares the drawings for a dwelling to
cost $5,000; now whether it actually will cost $5,000, $8,000 or
$10,000, in the hands of another superintendent, is an unanswered
problem. A prevailing folly which we find very general, is to suppose
that all men can build the same house, in all places, for precisely the
same amount of money; and but few are willing to admit that they, of all
others, are not the most competent to carry through the whole business
of building at the lowest figure. Some must find out in the most
expensive manner, that the profession of an architect, or the skill of a
builder, can only be attained by long years of careful application.
[Illustration: FIG. 50.--_Basement Plan._]
[Illustration: FIG. 51.--_First Floor._]
What a house will cost to build is a question always asked with the
utmost simplicity, and a prompt and reliable answer always expected, and
if not forthcoming at once, gives rise to a suspicion that one's
professional ability is not of the most thorough character. There are
so many conditions to govern results in house building, that even an
approximate estimate may fall very wide of the mark. Two houses may be
built from the same plan, and we may also say, from the same
specifications; one by day's work, and the other by contract, and they
shall be so exactly alike in all respects when finished, that an
unprofessional observer would detect no difference, and yet one may
honestly cost just double the amount in money expended on the other;
even the same builder may build two houses precisely alike in all
respects, and yet the cost be quite unequal. On one site stone may be
easily obtained, a sand bank on the premises, a running brook close at
hand, saw mills, brick yards, and lime kilns within moderate distances
and accessible by good roads. The other site may be quite the reverse in
situation, or have some decided disadvantages in obtaining some very
necessary materials. We once built a fine stone house where stone was
abundant and close at hand, but all the lumber and brick had to be
hauled thirteen miles over hilly roads; the cost of that house has
nothing to do with the cost of a similar house in a different locality.
[Illustration: FIG. 52.--_Second Floor._]
A competent business superintendent has a great deal to do with the cost
of a house; one that understands all the tricks of every building trade,
that knows the market well, and the value and quality of all building
materials, and where inferior workmanship and materials can be used to
an equal advantage with those of first class. To slight work and yet do
it justice; to give it all the strength and endurance necessary,
requires one of skillful acquirements. A mechanic may persuade a
proprietor into many a long day's work, as it pays well to nurse good
jobs when other work is slack, but an architect who understands such
things would save the value of useless work.
The cost of a house depends on a well-studied plan; this plan does not
consist alone in the arrangement of rooms, windows, doors, etc., but
involves a careful study of the anatomy of construction. One may save by
a proper distribution of timbers, as well as make a very great saving by
the arrangement of rooms. Good management is of the greatest importance,
not only as a matter of economy, but as securing the best class of
workmanship, and the most judicious use of materials. Good or bad
management produces the same results in building operations as in war or
any other pursuit.
One takes up a capital work on rural architecture, written perhaps ten
or fifteen years ago, before the general introduction of furnaces, steam
pipes, gas, baths, marble basins, etc.; they find a house that suits
them, which the book says will cost $6,000, and that is just the amount,
by close figuring, that can be raised for building. The house is
ordered, put in the hands of the best mechanic to finish all complete,
and he goes ahead; he is unrestricted except by the book, and the author
of it is a man of reputation. In the way of details perhaps nothing has
been said; they are therefore extravagant in the use of materials, and
elaborate in workmanship; as it is not considered good policy for a
workman who has a good order, to make suggestions calculated to decrease
the amount of work. When the bills to the amount of $6,000 have been
settled, the house is found to be half finished, and an additional
$6,000 is necessary to complete it; less that one year's interest of
which would have amply sufficed to secure the services of one who has
spent the best years of his life to learn how to design and to manage
work to cost a specified price.
When an architect says a house can be built for a certain price, it is
to be understood that materials delivered on the ground shall not exceed
an average cost, that the payments made are to be in cash, and that he
manages the work. To hold an architect responsible or blame him for
blunders in the cost of work that he designed and did not superintend,
is manifestly unjust, yet it is a frequent occurrence. The cost of work
is a question easily answered, when one is fully acquainted with all its
bearings and has it under his control, but no one can say at what price
a novice in building operations can execute it.
DESIGN No. 17.
[Illustration: FIG. 53.--_Stable._]
[Illustration: FIG. 54.--_Stable Plan._ (_Reversed._)]
Fig. 53 is a design for a cottage stable, with stalls for two horses,
and the necessary carriage room and other conveniences. This design, in
its exterior, presents as great a degree of variety in the combinations
of form and shadow as the price will admit of. It answers the purposes
of comfortable protection and convenience, as well or even better than
the most costly structures. A horse needs a dry, well-ventilated
apartment, and enjoys fresh air, daylight, and sunlight as well as human
beings. Unless these very inexpensive wants are provided, no
compensation is afforded by elaborate detail and workmanship.
DESIGN No. 18.
SCHOOL HOUSE AT IRVINGTON, ON THE HUDSON.
Our architectural series would be by no means complete if devoted
entirely to dwellings; and as the resources of an extensive professional
practice in the arts which embellish and beautify our country may be
largely made use of, we present here a design for another class of
buildings.
A school-house is not a building which every one contemplates erecting,
and yet a large proportion are, or ought to be, interested in developing
in structures of this class such architectural principles as shall make
their impressions in early life, and influence future tastes.
[Illustration: FIG. 55.--_School House._]
This building is designed to accommodate about fifty scholars, being 25
by 40 feet, with a front projection 10 by 18 feet. In the basement a
large furnace and abundant accommodation for coal. The main floor is
divided into school-room, two recitation rooms, hat and coat room, wash
closet with sink, and water closet, above which is a large tank,
supplied from the roof. An outside cistern supplies cool drinking-water,
the purest and healthiest water known, and renders the use of ice
unnecessary in summer. The height of all these ceilings is nearly
fourteen feet, and each room is thoroughly ventilated; the belfry is
provided with a one hundred pound bell; indeed, nothing has been left
undone that is calculated to promote the health and comfort of the
pupils.
The partition between the doors to the recitation rooms is made in
sections, and can be easily removed, thus making one large room for
exhibition and lecture purposes. The stage, in this case is to be placed
at the left end of the room. The capacity of the building can be nearly
doubled by occupying the entire floor as a school-room, and building an
addition 12 by 24 feet directly in the rear, opposite to the front
projection, for recitation rooms.
The situation of this building at Irvington, on the Hudson, some
twenty-five miles above the city of New York, is in a charming, healthy,
and delightful locality; one made famous by the pen and residence of
Washington Irving, and noted for its magnificent scenery, its views of
river and mountain, and the fine taste displayed in landscape and
architectural embellishments by those who have made their homes in this
vicinity.
We have always thought that those educational institutions possess the
most attractions that are so situated that all surroundings shall have a
favorable influence; and there is nothing like example in early
training. Bring up and educate a boy among those who know nothing of the
refinements of life, away from the progressive examples of art and
taste, in a tumble-down, unplastered, ill-heated and ventilated
apartment, and he never can become, with all the aid of books and
teachers, as thoroughly cultivated and fitted for the duties of life, as
one who has enjoyed associations of a higher order. School architecture
has a meaning in it; there is value in proportion, harmony, beauty,
light and shade, as applied to school buildings, that is not
comprehended by all. A recent writer says better than we can say it,
that "It is the duty of teachers, as well as parents and school
committees, to see that the circumstances under which children study are
such as shall leave a happy impression upon their minds; for whatever is
brought under the frequent observation of the young must have its
influence upon their susceptible natures for good or evil. Shabby
school-houses induce slovenly habits. Ill-constructed benches may not
only distort the body, but, by reflex influence, the mind as well.
Conditions like these seldom fail to disgust the learner with his
school, and neutralize the best efforts of his teachers. On the other
hand, neat, comfortable places for study may help to awaken the
associations enchaining the mind and the heart to learning and virtuous
instruction with links of gold brightening forever."
[Illustration: FIG. 56.--_Principal Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 57.--_Perspective View._]
DESIGN No. 19.
This design was prepared for erection in the vicinity of Goshen, Orange
Co., N. Y., and the accommodation limited to a price not exceeding ----.
It presents in hall, verandas, and large parlor, some of the very
necessary attractions of a country house, and is a good example of what
can be done for a limited sum. While the plan is a parallelogram, and
the roof free from hips and valleys, the general arrangement is such as
to show considerable variety in outline, and one, we think, that will
have a pleasing effect.
Such houses, erected in the vicinity of New York, and many of our large
cities, would add a large value to the ground they stand on, and pay a
handsome rate of interest on their cost; better than any other class of
building investments, as the supply is in nowise equal to the demand. It
is so simple a matter, with present prompt and rapid railroad
facilities, to invite a fair proportion of the young business men of our
large cities to make their homes in the adjoining country, that we
wonder capitalists and real estate owners do not more frequently make
money for themselves and others by erecting tasteful, low-priced
suburban homes.
In former times, a house of this class erected in the country, would be
painted exteriorly a pure white, with no relief, except probably in the
violent contrast of bright green venetian blinds to the windows. This
sort of taste unfortunately still remains, although in the progress of
rural taste and art, the country is much improved in this respect.
[Illustration: FIG. 58.--_Cellar._]
There is a variety of colors, known as neutral tints, which are suitable
for exteriors, and the effect produced by them is altogether pleasing,
while a house painted white can never be an agreeable object in any
landscape, however admirable its architectural proportions and finish
may be.
The tone of color for a house will depend upon its size, form, and
situation, and it often requires a nice and cultivated eye to determine
what would be most appropriate and effective.
[Illustration: FIG. 59.--_First Floor._]
For such a house as this, we should choose a light fawn color--not
yellow--and paint the cornice, window-frames and other projecting and
ornamental parts two or three shades darker than the body of the
building. This will give a depth of shadow and expression which cannot
be obtained in any other way.
Large houses, with massive features of construction, will bear to be
painted with darker colors, but they should not be too sombre, so as to
give a gloomy appearance to the house. The country, with its bright
sunshine, its rich adornments of flowers, and its numberless forms of
beauty and grace, is eminently cheerful. It often happens that the
painter does all he can to mar this cheerfulness and beauty, by
startling contrasts of colors, and by destroying the harmony which
pervades the landscape.
[Illustration: FIG. 60.--_Second Floor._]
DESIGN No. 20.
A COUNTRY CHAPEL.
[Illustration: FIG. 61.--_Perspective._]
We present in this design a plan for a substantial and permanent chapel,
having capacity for seating about four hundred. For the purpose for
which it was designed, no distinct chancel was required. Such a
chancel could be arranged, if desired, in a recess taken off the lecture
or class room in the rear of the chapel. It could be lighted at the
roof, or on the sides.
[Illustration: FIG. 62.--_Ground Plan._]
This chapel, built of stone throughout, with an open timber roof and
stained glass windows, would be an ornament to any country locality, and
a credit to the taste and liberality of those who built it.
Every thing about such a chapel should be _real_, and no suspicion of
sham or unreality should be tolerated in any part of the work. The
practice of building the fronts of churches of stone, while the side and
rear walls are constructed of rough brick, painted and marked off to
resemble the stone, is very common, we know, both in town and country,
but it is a species of deceit and false pretence which ought not to be.
If the best and costliest material cannot be used for the entire
structure, let the rougher and inferior material be fairly shown, in
every part. If the means and liberality of the parish cannot provide oak
or walnut for the interior finish, let the wood work be plainly painted,
or what is better still, simply oiled, but there should be no cunning
deception of graining, to represent the costlier wood. It is not
_honest_, and, we take it, a church, built for religious worship, is the
last place that should betray our human meanness and want of honesty.
DESIGN No. 21.
We show in this design what can be done with a substantial old farm
house; how easily and beautifully it can be changed into a suburban home
of elegant exterior, and comfortable and convenient interior
appointments.
[Illustration: FIG. 63.--_View of the House at the time of Purchase._]
[Illustration: FIG. 64.--_The same remodeled._]
This class of spacious and substantial farm houses, with the gambrel,
curb, or Mansard roof, as shown in Fig. 63, is very numerous about the
suburbs of New York City, and more particularly in the "neighboring
province of New Jersey," where one finds them nestled in the valleys or
by the road side, as best fitting to the taste of our early Dutch
settlers, who prized seclusion and protection above bleak exposure and
far-reaching views.
[Illustration: FIG. 65.]
As a general thing, the better class of New Jersey farm houses of this
type were built of squared and hammered red sand-stone, laid up in
regular courses, and in many instances the character of the work
differed on all sides, the front being the most finely finished. And in
many of the most pretentious of these houses, brick was substituted for
the front, as being less common.
There is, perhaps, nothing more difficult in an architect's experience
than to make a fine thing out of a subject so destitute of beauty of
form or proportion, and yet preserve the substantial walls and other
belongings, that have stood for half a century, and are now stronger,
and promise a durability that exceeds those of other houses built in
this progressive age; and yet here is a "presto change" that will almost
defy the keen eyes of the old settlers to recognize any trace of the
ancient landmark that for fifty years has overlooked the beautiful
valley of the Tenakill.
[Illustration: FIG. 66.]
There are very many of these old houses that are equally well adapted to
wear a modern face, though but few purchasers can look through all such
changes with the eye of a professional expert, and select that to which,
at a low price, a certain beauty can be added, which, when done, shall
indicate the wisdom of their choice. First impressions many times are
sadly against all hopes of success.
"With weather-stains upon the wall,
And stairways worn, and crazy doors,
And creaking and uneven floors,
And chimneys huge, and tiled and tall."
But these difficulties are the least troublesome to adjust, if the
walls are good, and ceilings of a fair modern height. It may then be a
better choice to adapt such a house to the present cultivated tastes and
requirements, than to build anew from the foundation.
In the plans, the dotted lines show the centers of the old partitions.
Six feet have been added to the length of the wing, thus improving the
kitchen accommodations.
This house is situated some fifteen miles from the great commercial
metropolis, on one of the new lines of Railroad, and in a locality of
easy access to New York business men.
DESIGN No. 22.
[Illustration: FIG. 67.--_Stable._]
[Illustration: FIG. 68.--_Plan._]
This stable may be constructed either of wood, or of stone. It contains
stalls for four horses, and affords space for their accommodation,
together with a harness room and a tool closet. This latter is a
convenience very essential to the comfort of the owner, as well as to
the proper care and preservation of such implements as belong
especially to the carriage house and stable.
This building should be surrounded and screened with fruit trees and
shrubbery, and then, with its evident architectural effects, it will
become an attractive feature in the landscape of which it becomes a
part, with the other accessories of the elegant country home.
DESIGN No. 23.
FENCES.
In spite of all laws to the contrary, cattle will intrude upon one's
property, and each and all must at great expense build and maintain
fences for their own protection. There has not as yet been devised any
practicable mode by which the enormous sums annually spent in fencing
might be saved. The theory advanced, that it is cheaper for each to
fence his cattle in, than to fence his neighbor's out, has not as yet
been practically illustrated, if we except a few suburban localities.
[Illustration: FIG. 69.]
[Illustration: FIG. 70.]
Fig. 69 represents a substantial fence, with a paneled base, of simple
construction, and yet quite effective in appearance. In Fig. 70 the
work is somewhat more elaborate, while the base is of stone, or brick.
Each engraving shows two panels, with a gate in the centre.
With chestnut or cedar posts, the pickets cut from 1-1/2 inch plank, and
the whole kept painted, such a fence would last many years.
DESIGN No. 24.
RESIDENCE OF CHARLES F. PARK, ESQ.
This residence of which we show only the floor plans, occupies a
commanding position on the northern end of the Palisades, on the western
side of the Hudson, some twenty miles above the city of New York, the
river, mountain, and inland views from which are exceedingly fine,
embracing the villages of Dobbs' Ferry, Irvington, Tarrytown, Sing Sing,
Piermont, Nyack, and Tappan, as well as Tappan Zee and Haverstraw Bay,
the distant Highlands of the Hudson, and the beautiful valleys of the
Sparkill and the Hackensack, a section of country rich in historic
associations, and highly appreciated by those who seek suburban homes.
[Illustration: FIG. 71.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 72.--_Second Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 73.--_Third Floor._]
This house was designed principally for a summer residence, being nearly
fifty feet square, with wide halls and spacious verandah, and commodious
and well ventilated sleeping apartments, the plans showing the
arrangement of rooms. The style of architecture selected is that
generally known as the Rural Gothic, which, perhaps, is the most useful
and most beautiful of any that are adapted to the requirements of our
climate. The almost square form of the plan is one of the most difficult
to treat successfully in this style, yet has been carried out in the
most satisfactory manner. This style admits of an almost never-ending
variety of form and proportion, and in effects of light and shadow at
all hours of day is unequaled. Its comparative expense but little
exceeds the hipped and Mansard roofs.
The building is constructed in the most thorough and workman-like
manner, and is as well adapted for a winter residence as for summer. The
frame is built in the balloon style, (the strongest known form of
framing,) with deep studding filled in with brick, having double air
chambers, is thoroughly finished throughout, is covered with a slate
roof, and fulfills all the requirements of a substantial and commodious
country residence.
DESIGN No. 25.
CARRIAGE HOUSE AND STABLE.
The accompanying design for a carriage house and stable affords about
the same amount of accommodation as Design 22. The arrangement, however,
is somewhat different, and the exterior quite unlike it. In this plan
the portion appropriated to the stalls is more ample, and the means for
ventilation abundant.
[Illustration: FIG. 74.--_Stable._]
[Illustration: FIG. 75.--_Stable Plan._]
DESIGN No. 26.
RESIDENCE OF THOS. H. STOUT, ESQ.,
IRVINGTON, ON THE HUDSON.
Irvington is a noted locality for the higher grades of country homes,
there being many fine examples of substantial, roomy, and elegantly
appointed mansions. Far within the gradually extending circle which
limits the daily intercourse of the business man to the city of New
York, it has become, in virtue of its position, healthfulness, fine
scenery, and ease of access, one of the most favored of the suburbs of
this city; a city whose rapid increase of population and corresponding
decreasing comforts in conveyance from one portion to another, is
turning the attention of those who like ease of transit, and the quiet
and health of the country, to a residence among its beautiful and
attractive suburbs. What the last ten years have accomplished in
introducing rapid and reliable communication, and building up and
improving the country about New York, will probably be repeated several
times over in the next decade. An impetus has been given to rural life,
that will increase with every facility that is offered, and it will not
be many years before the suburbs of New York will compare with any city
in the world; and we question, even now, if elsewhere can be found a
suburban locality comparable with the east bank of the Hudson, from
New York to the Highlands.
[Illustration: FIG. 76.--_Residence of Thos. H. Stout, Esq., Irvington,
on the Hudson._]
The accompanying engravings illustrate a country house that embraces
many of the best features of exterior variety, and interior compactness
and convenience. The workmanship and materials throughout have been of
the best description, and no pains have been spared to make it first
class in every respect.
Situated on the slope of the eastern bank of the Hudson, it overlooks
the broad expanse of "Tappan Zee," and commands the views peculiar to
this locality, that reach from the Highlands to the ocean.
To build well, and to do so at a low price, is always desirable; and to
build artistically, imposingly, attractively, does not imply elaborate
finish or profuse ornament. Sand paper and decoration will never make an
ill-proportioned building attractive to an educated taste, while a rough
exterior of harmonious lines and forms will pass current with those who
have an eye to the artistic.
One of the most important lessons that the art student learns is that of
effect; that effects can not be produced by smoothly finished surfaces
or details; and that in architecture, as well as in sculpture or
painting, there must be a strong bold manner of execution, when there is
a desire to convey an impression of strength or power.
[Illustration: FIG. 77.--_Cellar._]
Where stone is conveniently obtained as a building material, its use in
rural architecture deserves far more consideration than is usually
bestowed on it; and in its unchiselled, quarried form it becomes
desirable in an economical point of view. There is an imposing grandeur
in the unhewn stone that asserts its presence in both near and distant
views, and, with the proper combinations of proportion, and light and
shade, will illustrate the finest architectural effects. Prevailing
prejudices are too apt to consider it not only cheap, but inferior in
protection and durability to finely wrought surfaces and smooth,
close-fitting joints. We are too apt to estimate the value and beauty of
a stone house by the amount of labor lavished on its exterior, as if the
chisel possessed the power to make the joints more impenetrable, and
bestowed an endurance commensurate with the story of expense that it
tells. So long as we build well and honestly, with a proper regard to
protection from the weather, in a substantial and workmanlike manner,
good taste and sound sense will uphold the use of quarried rock, and
discover a permanent strength and power in this Cyclopean masonry that
elaborately finished surfaces and delicately wrought ornaments fail to
express.
[Illustration: FIG. 78.--_First Floor._]
Dressed in squared blocks and hammered lines, stone becomes an expensive
building material, and preference is then given to something else less
costly; but if used in its quarried form, irregular in size and shape,
it becomes, wherever conveniently obtained, among the economical
materials used for building, and is unsurpassed for its impressiveness
and durability. No paint is required to preserve it from the weather,
and no color is so good as the color of the stone; time softens its
tints, and the clambering vine that lays hold of the massive walls is a
decoration beyond the resources of architecture.
[Illustration: FIG. 79.--_Second Floor._]
"If a building," says Mr. Ruskin, "be under the mark of average
magnitude, it is not in our power to increase its apparent size by any
proportionate diminution in the scale of its masonry; but it may be
often in our power to give it a certain nobility by building it of massy
stones, or, at all events, introducing such into its make. Thus it is
impossible that there should ever be majesty in a cottage built of
brick; but there is a marked element of sublimity in the rude and
irregular piling of the rocky walls of the mountain cottages of Wales,
Cumberland, and Scotland.
"And if the nobility of this confessed and natural masonry were more
commonly felt, we should not lose the dignity of it by smoothing
surfaces and fitting joints. The sums which we waste in chiselling and
polishing stones, which would have been better left as they came from
the quarry, would often raise a building a story higher.
"There is also a magnificence in the natural cleavage of the stone to
which the art must indeed be great, that pretends to be equivalent; and
a stern expression of brotherhood with the mountain heart from which it
has been rent, ill-exchanged for a glistering obedience to the rule and
measure of men. His eye must be delicate indeed who would desire to see
the Pitti Palace polished."
DESIGN No. 27.
A CHAPTER ON GATES.
We present in the following designs, several illustrations of the
principle of the truss applied to wooden gates. It was described by us,
several years ago in the _Country Gentleman_.
[Illustration: FIG. 80.]
[Illustration: FIG. 81.]
[Illustration: FIG. 82.]
[Illustration: FIG. 83.]
Since then, in our professional rambles, we have accidentally noticed
some thirty gates erected after these designs in different sections
of the country, and, for aught we know to the contrary, it is one of the
most popular gates that swing. The principle of this gate is best shown
in figure 80, and consists of four panels of braces crossing each other,
and held firmly in position by five iron rods, which can be tightened by
the screws at the bottom. The braces are not tenoned, and there are no
nails about the gate. There can be no sagging under any circumstances;
but should such a thing occur from unequal shrinkage, it can easily be
remedied by placing a thin strip of wood or sheet lead under the foot
of the braces running forward. There is economy in the construction of
these gates, as they can be made with a less number of joints, and
greater strength and stiffness secured with lighter materials, than in
any other style of gate we know of. The principle is the one used in
railroad bridges and roofs of great span, and our own experience with
them, having built and tested all the gates here illustrated, is, that
they possess very decided merits. [Illustration: FIG. 84.]
[Illustration: FIG. 85.]
[Illustration: FIG. 86.]
[Illustration: FIG. 87.]
[Illustration: FIG. 88.]
[Illustration: FIG. 89.]
Fig. 81 is the principal entrance gate to one of the finest estates on
the Hudson, above Tarrytown, and although similar in appearance to
figure 82, has some very decided differences, the cross braces in this
case reaching only to a second rail; the rods, however, pass through to
the bottom; it is much more elaborate in workmanship, and the addition
of a moulding on the top and bottom would increase its effect.
Fig. 84 is the entrance gate at the New Windsor, N. Y., Parsonage, and
has been hanging six years without a perceptible change. The braces in
this are one inch square and doubled; they are not halved, but cross
each other, two one way and one the other, in the manner shown in figure
85.
There is no other mode of constructing gates in which rustic work can be
made such good use of. The chief objection to all things made in the
rustic manner is, that they soon fall to pieces, limbs shrink and twist,
and nails do not hold; but a rustic gate held together by iron rods will
remain good until the last brace has decayed.
Fig. 86 is the principal entrance gate to one of the most finely
finished country seats on Newburgh Bay.
Figs. 87, 88, and 89, illustrate a novel style of hinge, peculiarly
adapted to this gate, and is really stronger than any other. It requires
less iron and less blacksmith work.
Fig. 87 shows the top hinge corner, and figure 88 the bottom hinge
corner. The iron which secures this end of the gate, passes through both
top and bottom hinge, and binds them and the gate securely together. The
additional fastenings for hinge are made with carriage-bolts. Nothing
but a power beyond the enormous tensile strength of iron and the
compressible strength of wood, will cause the gates to yield in ordinary
use.
Fig. 89 is a perspective view of the hinge, showing how it may be
counter-sunk, and thus almost entirely concealed. Figs. 80, 81, 82, and
83, also show the hinge, and four different styles of stone gate piers.
[Illustration: FIG. 90.]
Fig. 90 is intended for a farm gate. The cross rails are secured by
carriage-bolts passed through them and the main braces. Each end of the
gate has an iron rod only, which is made heavier than the others, and
saves framing. The hinge is made by having the iron rod project beyond
the bolt head and nut, and the upper end is passed into an eye, as shown
in Fig. 91, which is screwed into the post; the lower end is pointed,
and is placed in a stone as shown, or it may rest on solid iron of
similar form to the eye. Any intelligent laborer, with an axe and auger,
can, with the iron work, make these farm gates.
[Illustration: FIG. 91.]
This principle of constructing gates admits of an infinite variety of
designs; those given are merely suggestive. It admits of all classes of
workmanship, from the plainest to the most elaborate, from the simplest
farm gate to those required for the finished park, and in beauty,
strength, and economy stands unequaled.
Fig. 92 and 93.--Plan and elevation of an entrance gate, which we have
executed in oak, and presents an effective appearance.
[Illustration: FIG. 92.--_Elevation of Entrance Gate._]
[Illustration: FIG. 93.--_Plan._]
DESIGN No. 28.
RESIDENCE OF TRISTRAM ALLEN, ESQ.,
RAVENSWOOD, N. Y.
The accompanying view of Mr. Allen's house is a good example of the
method of adding to a dwelling which has ceased to be of sufficient
capacity for the requirements of the family. By reference to the
basement or cellar plan, the outline of the old house and the foundation
of the new will be distinctly seen. The addition transforms the cottage
to a villa, and in a manner which preserves the proportions as
harmoniously as if the whole had been erected at one time and from one
plan, thus illustrating a prominent advantage in this style of
architecture, which admits more freely than any other, successive
additions, which, when properly designed, add to the variety of outline,
and its beauty of light and shade. The different floor plans show the
arrangements of rooms and their connection with the original building,
which, it will be seen, are convenient and compact.
[Illustration: FIG. 94.--_Perspective._]
[Illustration: FIG. 95.--_Basement._]
[Illustration: FIG. 96.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 97.--_Second Floor._]
Ravenswood is one of the most elegant of the suburbs of New York, being
near at hand, and having frequent and rapid communication with the city.
Situated on the Long Island shore, opposite the centre of Manhattan
Island, overlooking the great metropolis and its outlying cities, of
easy access to the Central Park by the Hell Gate Ferry, amid all the
refinement of fine gardens, polished landscape scenery, and
architectural taste, it presents at once all the enjoyments that a
combination of city and country life can afford.
[Illustration: FIG. 98.--_Attic._]
DESIGN No. 29.
RESIDENCE OF LINDLEY M. FERRIS, ESQ.,
NEAR POUGHKEEPSIE, N. Y.
The residence of Mr. Ferris, of which we give the plans only, is located
south of the city of Poughkeepsie, and almost or quite within its
suburbs. The surrounding estate, of 150 acres of handsomely rolling
land, possesses all the attractions of beauty and fertility so generally
awarded to the finer portions of Dutchess county. In the immediate
vicinity are some of the highly finished and well-kept country seats
which adorn this portion of the Hudson, and make up the attractions
which taste and refinement always add to country life.
[Illustration: FIG. 99.--_First Floor._]
The object aimed at in the design of this house, was that of a
substantial and commodious mansion, suited to the requirements of a
large family, and that should express its purpose in the simplest manner
at a moderate expense. It was therefore desirable to avoid all costly
irregularity of form, and all the fanciful varieties of gimcracks.
The style selected as best illustrating this purpose is the Chateau
roof, Louis XV style; the main building being 43 feet square, with a
rear addition 25 by 29 feet; the plan illustrating the arrangement of
rooms, verandah, etc. The first floor gives double parlors, (one of
which may be used as a bed-room or library,) a sitting-room or
reception-room, dining-room, and a large kitchen, with necessary
closets, an inclosed verandah, water closets, etc. The second floor,
main building, gives four large bed rooms and two smaller rooms for
other purposes, and in the rear are four servants' rooms and a
bath-room. The attic story, main building, has now five rooms, finished
with closets, and two rooms more can be added by putting up two
partitions. These upper rooms, in a roof of this character, are cool,
well ventilated, well lighted, and agreeable in warm weather, there
being roomy air chambers between the attic ceiling and the upper roof,
and also between the walls of the rooms and the outer wall of the house.
There is but little difference in the value of these rooms and those on
the floor below, except convenience of access.
The house is built of brick, in a first class manner, the lower roof
slate, the upper one being tin; is thoroughly finished throughout, and
is in all respects a convenient, durable, and commanding structure,
giving the largest amount of room in a desirable and attractive form,
with the most economy of means. It is situated on a knoll overlooking
all the surrounding grounds, which include a number of other fine sites,
one or two of which, we think, even more desirable than the one
selected. It is not, however, an easy matter to choose one from a dozen
sites, each almost equally good.
[Illustration: FIG. 100.--_Second Floor._]
A new road is now being laid through these and the adjoining premises,
to connect two of the principal drives southward from Poughkeepsie,
which when completed, will add a new attraction to the beautiful suburbs
of this city. The views from the grounds, more particularly from the top
of the house, are varied and extensive. The mountain panorama, which
sweeps three-fourths of the horizon, beginning with the Fishkill
mountains, and ending with the Catskills, is exceedingly fine. The
eastern view embraces the Vassar Female College, the noble gift of
Matthew Vassar, Esq., to the cause of female education. In the
foreground and middle distance are the rich rolling landscapes of
Dutchess and the fertile hillsides of Ulster counties, the glittering
spires of Poughkeepsie, the lordly Hudson, and southerly are seen the
famous Beacons and the Highland Pass,
"Where Hudson's wave o'er silvery sands
Winds through the hills afar."
DESIGN No. 30.
MODEL SUBURBAN COTTAGE--IN THE OLD ENGLISH OR RURAL GOTHIC STYLE.
BY FREDERICK S. COPLEY, ARTIST, TOMPKINSVILLE, S. I.
The general appearance of this Cottage, as seen from the road, is shown
in the engraving, (Fig. 101.) which is a perspective view of the North
and East Fronts.
It is situated at Montrose, on the lake-like shores of Hempstead Harbor,
near the village of Roslyn, Long Island, a spot noted for its beauty and
healthfulness.
[Illustration: FIG. 101.--_Perspective._]
Size of building, 44 by 38 feet. Principal Plan (Fig. 103.) 10 feet
high. P. shows a recessed porch, with double doors of oak, (oiled) the
outer ones open, to be closed only at night and stormy weather, behind
the one on the right is a space for wet umbrellas, &c., the inner doors
have glazed panels to give light within, and should always be closed. V.
is the vestibule, containing a spiral staircase, with walnut steps and
rail (oiled). The floor laid with encaustic tiles, with ceiling groined,
and walls finished in imitation of stone in the sand coat. On the left
(under the stairs) is a private door opening into a lobby, fitted with
wash-basin, water, &c., and lighted by a narrow window, that also serves
to light the front basement stairs, so that a servant could answer a
call, at either front or back doors, without passing through the central
hall; which would not only be more convenient for them, but would be to
the family and guests, especially in time of company, when the hall
would form a central room, by closing the doors that lead to the stairs:
nor would this interfere in the least with the domestics, or their
duties: as they can go from cellar to attic without disturbing the
privacy of a single room: and the guests could ascend, unseen to the
dressing rooms above, (from either entrance) or depart in the same
manner.
[Illustration: FIG. 102.--_First Floor._]
The hall screen, separating the vestibule, should be of real oak,
(oiled) and lighted in the panels with stained glass, which would impart
a soft and pleasant light to the hall, and produce a fine effect on
either side, day or night. The hall is here placed in the centre of the
plan, and so happily arranged are the doors and rooms, as not only to
give it a symmetrical effect, but to unite the whole, _en suite_,
without disturbing the individuality of either. Also, the hall lamp and
stove would light and warm, equally, every room, besides passage,
vestibule, and stairs. The cloak closet is in the passage which contains
the back stairs.
P. is the Parlor, which would be the favorite living room in the summer,
as it faces the north, and has a large bay-window commanding a fine view
down the harbor to the sound.
[Illustration: FIG. 103.--_Second Floor._]
L. is the Library, and living room, connected with the parlor by sliding
doors, with recessed book-cases, on each side, and the same on the sides
of the bay-window, here facing the south, and possessing a beautiful
view of the bay and hills, with the village in the distance, which make
it the favorite quarters in winter, being fully exposed to the genial
influences of the sun during the absence of foliage at that season. On
the right of the mantel is a private closet for plate, papers, &c., both
these rooms have windows opening on the west veranda, with a fine view
across the harbor. D. is the Dining room, and a most cheerful one, (as
it should be,) with a large ornamental window on the east, admitting the
morning sun, and a fine bay-window on the north, looking down the road
and harbor, possessing a charming prospect of land and water. To
harmonize with the bay (on the other end) is the sideboard recess with a
dumb-waiter on the right, and a china closet on the left; on one side of
the mantel is the door opening into the lobby, which communicates with
the hall, and basement plan below, and fitted with wash-basin, water,
&c., which would be found most convenient to wash hands or glasses,
delicate or valuable articles of use not wished to be trusted to
careless servants. It will be seen that the three bay-windows on this
plan, are of different forms, and each fitted with inside shutters. C.
is the principal chamber, or boudoir, facing south and east, with fine
large windows in each. The one on the south has closets on each side,
and opens into the conservatory, making this a most delightful
ladies'-work-room. It will be seen that all the rooms on this floor,
although not large, are of the most comfortable size, perfect and
elegantly proportioned, and arranged with every conceivable convenience
requisite for the enjoyment of all the comforts and luxuries of life.
Chamber Plan (Fig. 103.) is nine feet high, and in keeping with the
rest, in its admirable arrangements, furnishing five excellent rooms,
with a bath room, convenient to all, fitted with the latest
improvements, (the water closet enclosed, and vertical pipes, which
would make freezing impossible). The four principal rooms are about
equal in size and attractiveness, as they possess the same fine views as
the corresponding ones beneath, and each finished with fire-places and
ample closet room. The small room windows open on a balcony, with a
charming view of the bay; and would afford an agreeable lounge in summer
evenings, to enjoy the setting sun, or cool breeze. All the rooms on
these two floors (except the last) to be fitted with Dixon's patent
grates, and Arnott's ventilating valves, which would secure sweet,
healthy, and warm rooms, without draughts. The hall, as will be seen,
is well lighted and ventilated, not only by the staircase window, on the
north, but by the ventilating sash-lights over the doors of every-room;
the bath room door is also lighted in the panel with ground glass.
Between the doors, on the east side, is the lift, or dumb-waiter, and
dust register, which being in the centre of the plan, is of equal
convenience to all.
[Illustration: FIG. 104.--_Attic and Roof._]
Fig. 104. Roof and attic plan. The attic contains five good rooms for
the accommodation of the servants, storing fruit, trunks, &c., and
drying clothes. As this plan has the same central arrangements as all
the rest, consequently the same advantages in economy of space, and of
direct and easy access to every room, stairs, &c. The landing here is
lighted in the same way as the hall below, and by the same staircase
window, with the addition of a large sky-light and ventilator in the
centre, which would keep the rooms sweet and cool.
Fig. 105, shows the Basement and Cellar plan, nine feet high, and
containing every requisite convenience for the domestic duties of a
family. As they are on the same level, and under the principal story,
the noise and smell of the kitchen would be excluded. The garden
entrance is shown by the steps on the southwest corner of area, which
extends the whole of the west side, round to the hall door on the south;
and covered by verandah, would make these rooms dry, cool, and pleasant,
as they are but little below ground, and well lighted on two sides, with
a large bay-window in each; the north bay fitted with wash-tubs, as this
kitchen is intended as a back one, or scullery, and for cooking in
during the heat of summer, it has a sink closet on the left of the
fire-place, and dresser and shelves for pots and pans on the south side,
by which, is a door opening into the basement, and one out on the area.
The basement would be a cheerful room, facing the south with a large
bay-window with seats and inside shutters, on the opposite side is a
dresser fitted with plate rack, &c. On the east is the range and pantry;
behind the range, in the hall, is a warm closet for clothes, shoes, &c.,
and opposite, under the stairs, is a dark one, for potatoes. At the
north end of the hall, (and behind the scullery, fire-place, &c.) is the
furnace room and front basement stairs. On the east side of the hall is
the dumb-waiter, or lift. The coal cellar has two bins placed under the
shoots, for large and small coal, with two on the east side for ashes
and wood. Against the middle window is a wire gauze safe, for cooked
meats, &c.; between this and the wine cellar is the dairy; the other
division is for stores in general. All the partitions are made open, so
as to admit the free circulation of light and air.
[Illustration: FIG. 105.--_Basement and Cellar._]
On observing the relative position of the different doors and windows,
in the several plans, it will be found that the house may be ventilated
by through drafts in every direction at pleasure; a luxury to be
appreciated in the heat of summer. Also, by carrying the lift, or
dumb-waiter, to the top of the house, and communicating with every
floor, its full value would be secured, besides forming a ventilating
shaft for the whole building, from cellar to attic. Another valuable
labor-saving convenience (next to the water-works and lift) is the dust
shoot, which is simply a tin tube, with registers in the floors of the
different plans, to sweep the dust into, from the rooms, where it
descends to the cellar, and is caught in a barrel, to be removed when
full. It is here placed in the hall, by the side of the lift, on every
floor, which by this central arrangement is at the door of every room.
Construction, although of wood, is made nearly fire proof, by making the
floors, walls, partitions and stairs solid. The walls and principal
partitions are formed of slats of one inch thick by four inches broad,
securely nailed one on the other, so as to form a one inch groove on
both sides, to plaster on. This forms a good strong six inch solid wall,
fire and vermin proof, and dryer than any built of stone or brick. The
stairs to have their skeletons of iron work, filled in solid with
cement. The floors of basement and entry to be of earthenware tiles, the
kitchen and cellar cemented. That of the principal plan, (forming the
ceiling of the basement, &c., the seat of danger,) should be formed of
brick, arched on iron girders, and filled up with cement, and laid with
larch, (as that burns less freely than any other wood). The hall, &c.,
to be laid with encaustic tiles. The floors of the chamber plans should
have their timbers coated with plaster paris, and filled up with mortar
and laid with larch, the plastering of the ceilings, &c., on wire
gauze, instead of lath; a slate roof, and the walls of the basement plan
of hollow brick, and plastered on the inner surface. By these simple and
inexpensive means, the house would be nearly fire proof, and life and
property secure.
The exterior is covered by a sand coat, of a cheerful and rich light
brown ochre tint, it being the most befitting for the situation and
design, besides possessing the advantages of economy, and imparting a
more substantial effect, it avoids that harsh and disagreeable glare and
glisten of paint.
DESIGN No. 31.
The design on the following page, for a Head Stone, was published by us
in the May number, 1864, of the HORTICULTURIST. It attracted the
attention of one of our most intelligent subscribers and valuable
contributors in Western New York, who desired to set up, in their
beautiful Cemetery, a memorial of one of his household who "who had gone
before." The monument was executed in this city, under the supervision
of the friend who furnished the design for the HORTICULTURIST. It was
cut from the Caen stone, and the execution was every way satisfactory.
The gentleman for whom it was made says in a letter advising of its safe
arrival:--"Last week I had it set in a solid foundation, and my highest
anticipations are more than realized. I do not see how the monument
could be better, as to material, design, and inscriptions. It is unique,
yet chaste, highly significant and satisfactory. I have only words of
praise and feelings of gratitude for a result that so fully answers to
my ideal."
[Illustration: FIG. 106.--_Head Stone._]
"BALLOON FRAMES."
"If it had not been for the knowledge of balloon
frames, Chicago and San Francisco would never have
arisen as they did, from little villages, to great
cities in a single year."--SOLON ROBINSON.
In these days of BALLOONING, it is gratifying to know that there is one
practically useful, well tested principle, which has risen above the
character of an experiment, and is destined to hold an elevated position
in the opinions of the masses. That principle is the one which is
technically, as well as sarcastically, termed Balloon Framing, as
applied to the construction of all classes of wooden buildings.
The early history of the Balloon Frame, is somewhat obscure, there being
no well authenticated statements of its origin. It may, however, be
traced back to the early settlement of our prairie countries, where it
was impossible to obtain heavy timber and skillful mechanics, and the
fact is patent to any one who has passed through the pleasures and the
vicissitudes of the life of a pioneer, that his own necessities have
indicated the adoption of some principle in construction, that, with the
materials he has at hand, shall fulfill all the necessary conditions of
comfort, strength and protection. To these circumstances we must award
the early conception of this frame, which, with subsequent additions
and improvements, has led to its universal adoption for buildings of
every class throughout the States and cities of the West, and on the
Pacific coast.
The Balloon Frame has for more than twenty years been before the
building public. Its success, adaptability, and practicability, have
been fully demonstrated. Its simple, effective and economical manner of
construction, has very materially aided the rapid settlement of the
West, and placed the art of building, to a great extent, within the
control of the pioneer. That necessity, which must do without the aid of
the mechanic or the knowledge of his skill, has developed a principle in
construction that has sufficient merit to warrant its use by all who
wish to erect in a cheap and substantial manner any class of wooden
buildings.
Like all successful improvements, which thrive on their own merits, the
Balloon Frame has passed through and survived the theory, ridicule and
abuse of all who have seen fit to attack it, and may be reckoned among
the prominent inventions of the present generation, an invention neither
fostered nor developed by any hope of great rewards, but which plainly
and boldly acknowledges its origin in necessity.
[Illustration: FIG. 107.--_Isometrical Perspective View of the Balloon
Frame._]
The increasing value of lumber and labor, must turn the attention of men
of moderate means to those successful plans which have demonstrated
economy in both, and at the same time preserved the full qualities of
strength and security so generally accorded to the old fogy principles
of framing, and which, we presume to say, is inferior in all the true
requisites of cheap and substantial building. Light sticks, uninjured by
cutting mortices or tenons, a close basket-like manner of construction,
short bearings, a continuous support for each piece of timber from
foundation to rafter, and embracing and taking advantage of the
practical fact, that the tensile and compressible strength of pine
lumber is equal to one-fifth of that of wrought iron, constitute
improvements introduced with this frame.
If, in erecting a building, we can so use our materials that every
strain will come in the direction of the fibre of some portion of the
wood work, we can make inch boards answer a better purpose than foot
square beams, and this application of materials is one reason of the
strength of Balloon Frames.
[Illustration: FIG. 108.--_Floor Plan._]
The Balloon Frame belongs to no one person; nobody claims it as an
invention, and yet in the art of construction it is one of the most
sensible improvements that has ever been made.
That which has hitherto called out a whole neighborhood, and required a
vast expenditure of labor, time, and noise, can, by the adoption of the
balloon frame, be done with all the quietness and security of an
ordinary day's work. A man and boy can now attain the same results,
with ease, that twenty men could on an old fashioned frame.
The name of "Basket Frame" would convey a better impression, but the
name "Balloon" has long ago outlived the derision which suggested it.
[Illustration: FIG. 109.--_Elevation Section--manner of nailing--A.
corner stud, 4 by 4--B. joist, 3 by 8--C. stud, 2 by 4._]
[Illustration: FIG. 110.--_D. Upper Edge of Joist--E. Stud._]
The moment the foundation is prepared, and the bill of lumber on the
ground, the balloon frame is ready to raise, and a man and boy can do
all of it. The sills are generally 3 inches by 8 inches, halved at the
ends or corners, and nailed together with large nails. Having laid the
sills upon the foundation, the next thing in order is to put up the
studding. Use 4 by 4 studs for corners and door posts, or spike two 2 by
4 studs together, stand them up, set them plumb, and with stay laths
secure them in position. Set up the intermediate studs, which are 2 by 4
inches, and 16 inches between centres, toe or nail them diagonally to
the sill. Then put in the floor joists for first floor, each joist to be
placed alongside each stud, and nailed to it and to the sill. Next
measure the height to ceiling, and with a chalk line mark it around the
entire range of studding; below the ceiling line notch each stud one
inch deep and four inches wide, and into this, flush with the inside
face of the studding, nail an inch strip four inches wide. This notch
may be cut before putting up the studs. If the frame be lined on the
inside, it will not be necessary to notch the strip into the studs, but
simply to nail it to the studding; the object of notching the studding
is to present a flush surface for lathing, as well as to form a shoulder
or bearing necessary to sustain the second floor; both of these are
accomplished by lining inside the studding--(for small barns and
outbuildings that do not require plastering, nail the strip 1 by 4 to
the studding)--on this rests the joists of the second floor, the ends of
which come flush to the outside face of the studding, and both ends of
each joist are securely nailed to each stud; the bearing of the joist on
the inch strip below is close by the stud, and the inch strip rests on a
shoulder or lower side of the notch cut to receive it. This bearing is
so strong that the joists will break before it would yield. Having
reached the top of the building, each stud is sawed off to an equal
height; if any are too short they are spliced by placing one on top of
the other, and nailing a strip of inch board on both sides. The wall
plate, 2 by 4 inches, is laid flat on top of the studding, and nailed to
each stud; the rafters are then put on; they are notched, allowing the
ends to project outside for cornice, &c. The bearing of each rafter
comes directly over the top of each stud, and is nailed to it.
[Illustration: FIG. 111.--_Side Elevation.--G. Manner of splicing
sills.--F. Manner of splicing studs._]
[Illustration: FIG. 112.--_End Elevation._]
A Balloon Frame looks light, and its name was given in contempt by those
old fogy mechanics who had been brought up to rob a stick of timber of
all its strength and durability, by cutting it full of mortices, tenons
and augur holes, and then supposing it to be stronger than a far lighter
stick differently applied, and with all its capabilities unimpaired.
Properly constructed, and with timber adapted to its purposes, it will
stand securely against the fury of the elements, and answer every
purpose that an old fashioned timber frame is calculated to fulfill.
When the building is supported on posts, heavy sills are necessary, and
the frame should be securely nailed or spiked together. The bents may be
16, 24 or 30 inches apart, and covered in the usual manner. The thrust
of both the rafters and contents of the building are outward; the tie, 1
by 4, is abundantly strong, as each one will practically sustain, in the
direction of its fibre, three tons. The floor joists are nailed to studs
at each end. No one need fear any lack of perfect security, as these
ties exceed in strength any hold that tenons could have.
Fig. 113 illustrates the manner of framing buildings of one story, such
as are used about almost every farm or country seat, as tool houses,
granaries, wash-houses, spring houses, &c., &c.
[Illustration: FIG. 113.--_Isometrical Perspective Balloon Frame._]
Very small buildings, if unplastered, will not require ceiling joists; a
tie at each end will be all-sufficient. Moderate size buildings will be
strong enough if the ceiling joists are left out, and collars put on
half way up the rise of the rafter. According to the size and uses of
the building, the collars or ceiling joists may be put on every rafter,
every other, or every third rafter; floor joists should be about 16
inches between centres, and the studding may be from 16 inches to 8 feet
apart; in the last case only, every sixth floor joist is nailed to the
stud, the intermediate ones being arranged equally distant from each
other between the studding. Where the studding is placed wide apart, the
plate must necessarily be heavier to sustain the roof; if vertical
siding be used, it should be nailed to the sill and plate, and to an
intermediate horizontal strip spiked in between the studding; if done
in this way, the plate may be lighter; when horizontal siding is used,
the studding should not be more than 4 feet apart--in small buildings,
say 12 by 20 feet, we should cut all our stuff, except joists, from
1-1/4 inch plank. Studs 4 inches wide, rafters 5 inches wide; floor
joists should be 2 by 9 inches, and put all up 30 inches between
centres.
In Fig. 114 is shown the manner of constructing frames for buildings of
three stories. The corner stud, 4 by 4, is composed of and built up with
two 2 by 4 studs, which are nailed together, breaking joints as the
building progresses in height; the splicing of studs is done in the same
manner, being nailed together as fast as additional length is required;
the joists of the last floor are laid upon the plate, and they act as
tie-beams to sustain the thrust of the rafters. We consider the splice
where the studs butt and have side strips nailed to them, to be the most
secure; the lapping splice is very generally used, however, and found to
answer every purpose.
Ribs for vertical siding may be put on in two ways; one as shown, by
which the ribs run over the sill, and are nailed to it; a strip of the
same thickness as ribs, say 1-1/4 inches, nailed on to the sill to fill
up the space between the ribs, and is then covered by the outside plinth
or base. The other plan is to set the studs back 1-1/4 inches from face
edge of sill; then let the end of ribs bevel down on the sill, or
dovetail them into the edge.
[Illustration: FIG. 114.--_Three Story Building._ _Balloon Framing._
_Details._
Fig. 115. Joist notched down on plate.
Fig. 116. Side girt not gained in for small unplastered buildings. Fig.
117. Inside lining--answers the same purpose as a side girth.
Fig. 118. Joist bearing on sill.]
Either outside or inside lining may be used, or both together. Where
diagonal lining is used, it should be reversed or run the other way on
the opposite side of the house.
[Illustration: FIG. 120.--_Diagonal Ribs for Vertical or Battened
Siding._]
The lining of a Balloon Frame adds immensely to its strength,
particularly so if put on diagonally; it may be done outside or inside,
though on the whole the inside is preferable. If done outside, it should
be carried over the sill and nailed to it; the sill being wider than the
studding, in order to get a larger bearing on the masonry, and the floor
joists being in the way, does not admit of inside lining being put on in
the same manner.
A first-class Balloon Frame should be lined, if for vertical siding,
outside the studding--if horizontal siding is used, line inside; it
makes the frame stiffer and the building warmer. Some line diagonally,
say from centre next the first floor towards extreme upper corners both
ways; others line one side diagonally in one direction, and the other in
an opposite direction. This makes assurance of strength doubly sure. If
lined inside, nail perpendicular lath to the lining 16 inches from
centres, and on this lath horizontally for plastering.
[Illustration: FIG. 121.--_Showing lengthwise and crosswise manner of
tying frame._]
The principle of Balloon Framing is the true one for strength, as well
as for economy. If a mechanic is employed, the Balloon Frame can be put
up for _forty per cent. less money_ than the mortice and tenon frame. If
you erect a balloon frame yourself, which you can easily do without the
aid of a mechanic, it costs the price of the materials and whatever
value you put upon your own time.
Fig. 23 shows the manner of attaching the flooring to gable end
studding, and in those buildings in which the thrust of the rafters is
in the direction of the flooring--if every third stud be bolted to the
joist in the manner shown, it makes the tie equal if not superior to
that in the direction of the joists.
[Illustration: FIG. 122.--_Manner of Framing Large Barns._]
Fig. 122 explains the manner of framing the largest class of barns. Wide
openings, like bays, require the use of heavy timber, and the mortice,
tenon and brace, only so far as the gallows frame is concerned; the
balance of the frame is of light stuff, studding 2 feet to 2-1/2 feet
apart, 2 by 6 inches, every third one 2 by 8 inches, into which is
gained the side girt, it being nailed to the others. On this rests one
end of the temporary floors, the gallows frame supports the roof, and
the rafters are secured to it, so that they become ties. The side of
this building is like a floor turned on edge, and is firmly secured by
the floor joists at the bottom and the rafters at the top.
Warehouses, depots, and other buildings of a very large size, can be
made stronger by using the Balloon Frame, instead of the heavy timber
frame. Those who prefer to err on the right side, can get unnecessary
strength by using deeper studding, placing them closer together, putting
in one or more rows of bridging and as many diagonal ribs as they like.
In large buildings there is no saving in timber, only the substitution
of small sizes for large--the great saving is in the labor, which is
quite important.
The following are some of the advantages claimed for the Balloon Frame:
1. The principal labor of framing is dispensed with.
2. It is a far cheaper frame to raise.
3. It is stronger and more durable than any other frame.
4. Any stick can be removed, and another put in its place, without
disturbing the strength of those remaining--in fact, the whole building
can be renewed stick by stick.
5. It is adapted to every style of building, and better adapted for all
irregular forms.
6. It is forty per cent. cheaper than any other known style of frame.
7. It embraces strength, security, comfort and economy, and can be put
up without the aid of a mechanic.
Established in 1846.
"THE HORTICULTURIST,"
AND JOURNAL OF RURAL ART AND RURAL TASTE.
Published Monthly at Two Dollars and Fifty Cents per Annum, Twenty-five
Cents per Number, and devoted to
GRAPE CULTURE,
FLOWERS,
RURAL ARCHITECTURE,
FRUITS,
GARDENING,
LANDSCAPE ADORNMENT,
AND RURAL PURSUITS.
Forming an annual volume of 400 royal octavo pages handsomely
Illustrated.
The Author of _My Farm of Edgewood_,
The Author of _Ten Acres Enough_,
The Author of _The Grape Culturist_,
The Author of _Flowers for Parlor and Garden_,
The Author of _American Fruit Grower's Guide_.
Rev. Dr. CRESCY,
and others of the best practical talent and ability, both East and West,
write regularly.
_Back Volumes and Numbers supplied._
GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD,
PUBLISHERS, 37 PARK ROW, N. Y.
WOODWARD'S GRAPERIES
AND
HORTICULTURAL BUILDINGS,
By Geo. E. & F. W. Woodward,
ARCHITECTS AND HORTICULTURISTS.
A new, practical, and original Work on the design and construction of
all classes of Horticultural Buildings, including Hot-beds, Propagating
Houses, Hot and Cold Graperies, Orchard Houses, Conservatories, &c.,
with the best modes of heating, &c. Elegantly Illustrated. Being the
result of an extensive professional practice.
GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD,
PUBLISHERS,
_Office of the "Horticulturist," 37 PARK ROW, N. Y._
GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD,
PUBLISHERS
No. 37 PARK ROW, NEW YORK
OFFICE OF THE HORTICULTURIST.
BOOKS
ON
AGRICULTURE,
HORTICULTURE,
ARCHITECTURE,
LANDSCAPE GARDENING,
AND RURAL ART
For Sale at this Office, or mailed, post paid, on receipt of Publisher's
prices.
*** _Priced Catalogue on application._
NEW YORK AGENTS
for the _Country Gentleman, Gardeners' Monthly, & Hovey's Magazine_.
Subscriptions received and back numbers supplied.
FIRE ON THE HEARTH.
GEO. E. & F. W. WOODWARD,
37 PARK ROW, N. Y.
_New York Agents for Dixon's low down Philadelphia Grates, for burning
Wood or Coal, for sale at Manufacturer's Prices._
"It is a plan for warming houses, which has never in all its points been
surpassed." * * * * * *
"It is believed that there is scarcely a single educated Physician in
Philadelphia, who owns the house he lives in, who is not supplied with
one or more of these delightful luxuries." * *
"We have one of these admirable contrivances, put in our house in 1859,
and every additional year only increases our appreciation of the
luxury."--_Dr. W. W. Hall, editor of Hall's Journal of Health, N. Y._
_Price $35 and upwards according to size and finish. Samples at this
Office._
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
This text uses both hyphenated and spaced forms of its rooms, i.e.
bed-room and bed room. Also used were variations on hyphenated and not
words such stair-way and stairway.
Page 16 "ofwhich" changed to "of which" (of which the public)
Page 28, "accomodation" changed to "accommodation" (of this
accommodation)
Page 34, "accomodation" changed to "accommodation" (amount of
accommodation)
Page 83, "understand" changed to "understands" (one that understands)
Page 104, "accomodation" changed to "accommodation" (for their
accommodation)
Page 124, "posesses" changed to "possesses" (possesses all the
attractions)
Page 148, "desends" changed to "descends" (where it descends)
Page 164, "23" changed to "121" (Fig. 121 shows the manner)
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Woodward's Country Homes, by
George E. Woodward and F. W. Woodward
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