Rural Architecture Part 4

MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS.

At this point of our remarks a word or two may be offered on the general subject of inside finish to farm houses, which may be applicable more or less to any one, or all of the designs that may come under our observation; therefore what is here said, may be applied at large.

Different sections of the United States have their own several _local_ notions, or preferences as to the mode of finish to their houses and out-buildings, according to climate, education, or other circ.u.mstances.

In all these matters neither taste, fashion, nor climate should be arbitrary. The manner of finish may be various, without any departure from truth or propriety--always keeping in mind the object for which it is intended. The _material_ for a country house should be _strong_, and _durable_, and the work simple in its details, beyond that for either town or suburban houses. It should be _strong_, for the reason that the interior of the farm house is used for purposes of industry, in finishing up and perfecting the labors of the farm; labors indispensable too, and in amount beyond the ordinary housekeeping requirements of a family who have little to do but merely to live, and make themselves comfortable. The material should be _durable_, because the distance at which the farm house is usually located from the residences of building mechanics, renders it particularly troublesome and expensive to make repairs, and alterations. The work should be _simple_, because cheaper in the first place, in construction, and finish; quite as appropriate and satisfactory in appearance; and demanding infinitely less labor and pains to care for, and protect it afterward. Therefore all mouldings, architraves, _chisel_-work, and gewgawgery in interior finish should be let alone in the living and daily occupied rooms of the house. If, to a single parlor, or _spare_ bedchamber a little _ornamental_ work be permitted, let even that be in moderation, and just enough to teach the active mistress and her daughters what a world of scrubbing and elbow work they have saved themselves in the enjoyment of a plainly-finished house, instead of one full of gingerbread work and finery. None but the initiated can tell the affliction that _chiseled_ finishing entails on housekeepers in the spider, fly, and other insect lodgment which it invites--frequently the cause of more annoyance and _daily_ disquietude in housekeeping, because unnecessary, than real griefs from which we may not expect to escape. Bases, casings, sashes, doors--all should be plain, and painted or stained a quiet _russet_ color--a color natural to the woods used for the finish, if it can be, showing, in their wear, as little of dust, soiling, and fly dirt as possible. There is no poetry about common housekeeping. Cooking, house-cleaning, washing, scrubbing, sweeping, are altogether matter-of-fact duties, and usually considered _work_, not recreation; and these should all be made easy of performance, and as seldom to be done as possible; although the first item always was, and always _will_ be, and the last item _should_ be, an every-day vocation for _somebody_; and the manner of inside finish to a house has a great deal to do with all these labors.

In a stone, or brick house, the inside walls should be firred off for plastering. This may be done either by "plugging," that is, driving a plug of wood strongly into the mortar courses, into which the firring should be nailed, or by laying a strip of thin board in the mortar course, the entire length of each wall. This is better than _blocks_ laid in for such purpose, because it is effectually _bound_ by the stone, or brick work; whereas, a block may get loose by shrinking, but the nails which hold the firring to the plug, or to the thin strip of board will split and _wedge_ it closer to the mason work of the outside wall. This is an important item. It makes close work too, and leaves no room for rats, mice, or other vermin; and as it admits a _s.p.a.ce_--no matter how thin--so that no outside damp from the walls can communicate into, or through the inner plastering, it answers all purposes. The inside, and part.i.tion walls should be of coa.r.s.e, strong mortar, _floated off_ as smoothly as may be, not a _hard finish_, which is fine, and costly; and then papered throughout for the better rooms, and the commonly-used rooms whitewashed. Paper gives a most comfortable look to the rooms, more so than paint, and much less expensive, while nothing is so sweet, tidy, and cheerful to the _working_ rooms of the house as a _lime_ wash, either white, or softened down with some agreeable tint, such as _light_ blue, green, drab, fawn, or russet, to give the shade desired, and for which every _professional_ painter and whitewasher in the vicinity, can furnish a proper recipe applicable to the place and climate. On such subjects we choose to prescribe, rather than to play the apothecary by giving any of the thousand and one recipes extant, for the composition.

Our remarks upon the strength and durability of _material_ in house-building do not apply exclusively to brick and stone. Wood is included also; and of this, there is much difference in the kind. Sound _white_ oak, is, perhaps the best material for the heavy frame-work of any house or out-building, and when to be had at a moderate expense, we would recommend it in preference to any other. If _white_ oak cannot be had, the other varieties of oak, or chesnut are the next best. In _light_ frame-timbers, such as studs, girts, joists, or rafters, oak is inclined to spring and warp, and we would prefer hemlock, or chesnut, which holds a nail equally as well, or, in its absence, pine, (which holds a nail badly,) whitewood, or black walnut. The outside finish to a wooden house, may be _lighter_ than in one of stone or brick. The wood work on the outside of the latter should always be heavy, and in character with the walls, giving an air of firmness and stability to the whole structure. No elaborate carving, or beadwork should be permitted on the outside work of a country house at all; and only a sufficient quant.i.ty of ornamental _tracery_ of any kind, to break the monotony of a plainness that would otherwise give it a formal, or uncouth expression, and relieve it of what some would consider a pasteboard look. A farm house, in fact, of any degree, either cheap or expensive, should wear the same appearance as a well-dressed person of either s.e.x; so that a stranger, not looking at them for the purpose of inspecting their garb, should, after an interview, be unable to tell what particular sort of dress they wore, so perfectly in keeping was it with propriety.

In the design now under discussion, a cellar is made under the whole body of the house; and this cellar is a _shallow_ one, so far as being sunk into the ground is concerned, say 5 feet, leaving 2 feet of cellar wall above ground--8 feet in all. A part of the wall above ground should be covered by the excavated earth, and sloped off to a level with the surrounding surface. A commodious, well-lighted, and well-ventilated cellar is one of the most important apartments of the farm house. It should, if the soil be compact, be well drained from some point or corner within the walls into a lower level outside, to which point within, the whole floor surface should incline, and the bottom be floored with water-lime cement. This will make it hard, durable, and dry. It may then be washed and scrubbed off as easily as an upper floor.

If the building site be high, and in a gravelly, or sandy soil, neither drain nor flooring will be required. The cellar may be used for the storage of root crops, apples, meats, and household vegetables. A part.i.tioned room will accommodate either a summer or a winter dairy, if not otherwise provided, and a mult.i.tude of conveniences may be made of it in all well arranged farmeries. But in all cases the cellar should be well lighted, ventilated, and dry. Even the ash-house and smoke-house may be made in it with perfect convenience, by brick or stone part.i.tions, and the smoke-house flue be carried up into one of the chimney flues above, and thus make a more snug and compact arrangement than to have separate buildings for those objects. A wash-room, in which, also, the soap may be made, the tallow and lard tried up, and other extraordinary labor when fire heat is to be used, may properly be made in a cellar, particularly when on a sloping ground, and easy of access to the ground level on one side. But, as a general rule, such room is better on a level with the main floor of the dwelling, and there are usually sufficient occupations for the cellar without them.

All cellar walls should be at least 18 inches thick, for even a wooden house, and from that to 2 feet for a stone or brick one, and well laid in strong lime-mortar. Unmortared cellar walls are frequently laid under wooden buildings, and _pointed_ with lime-mortar inside; but this is sometimes dug out by rats, and is apt to crumble and fall out otherwise.

A _complete_ cellar wall should be thoroughly laid in mortar.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 101-102.]

DESIGN III.

We here present the reader with a substantial, plain, yet highly-respectable stone or brick farm house, of the second cla.s.s, suitable for an estate of three, to five hundred acres, and accommodation for a family of a dozen or more persons. The style is mixed rural Gothic, Italian, and bracketed; yet in keeping with the character of the farm, and the farmer's standing and occupation.

The main body of this house is 4224 feet on the ground, and one and three quarter stories high--the chambers running two or three feet into the roof, as choice or convenience may direct. The roof has a pitch of 30 to 40 from a horizontal line, and broadly spread over the walls, say two and a half feet, showing the ends of the rafters, bracket fashion.

The chimneys pa.s.s out through the peak of the roof, where the hips of what would otherwise be the gables, connect with the long sides of the roof covering the front and rear. On the long front is partly seen, in the perspective, a portico, 1610 feet--not the _chief_ entrance front, but rather a side front, practically, which leads into a lawn or garden, as may be most desirable, and from which the best view from the house is commanded. Over this porch is a small gable running into the roof, to break its monotony, in which is a door-window leading from the upper hall on to the deck of the porch. This gable has the same finish as the main roof, by brackets. The chamber windows are two-thirds or three-quarters the size of the lower ones; thus showing the upper story not full height below the plates, but running two to four feet into the garret. The rear wing, containing the entrance or business front, is 2432 feet, one and a half stories high, with a pitch of roof not less than 35, and spread over the walls both at the eaves and gable, in the same proportion as the roof to the main body. In front of this is a porch or veranda eight feet wide, with a low, hipped roof. In the front and rear roofs of this wing is a dormer window, to light the chambers.

The gable to this wing is bold, and gives it character by the breadth of its roof over the walls, and the strong brackets by which it is supported. The chimney is thrown up strong and boldly at the point of the roof, indicating the every-day uses of the fireplaces below, which, although distinct and wide apart in their location on the ground floors, are drawn together in the chambers, thus showing only one escape through the roof.

The wood-house in the rear of the wing has a roof of the same character, and connects with the long building in the rear, which has the same description of roof, but hipped at one end. That end over the workshop, and next the wood-house, shows a bold gable like the wing of the house, and affords room and light to the lumber room over the shop, and also gives variety and relief to the otherwise too great sameness of roof-appearance on the further side of the establishment.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GROUND PLAN. CHAMBER PLAN.]

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

As has been remarked, the main entrance front to this house is from the wing veranda, from which a well finished and sizeable door leads into the princ.i.p.al hall, 248 feet in area, and lighted by a full-sized window at the front end. Opposite the entrance door is the door leading into the parlor; and farther along is the staircase, under the upper landing of which a door leads into a dining or sitting-room, as may be determined. This hall is 10 feet high, as are all the rooms of this lower main story. In the chimney, which adjoins the parlor side of this hall, may be inserted a thimble for a hall stovepipe, if this method of warming should be adopted. The parlor, into which a door leads from the hall, is 1816 feet, with two windows on the side, shown in perspective, and one on the front facing the lawn, or garden. It has also a fireplace near the hall door. At the further angle is a door leading to an entry or pa.s.sage on to the portico. E is the entry just mentioned, six feet square, and lighted by a short sash, one light deep, over the outside door. This portico may be made a pleasant summer afternoon and evening resort for the family, by which the occupied rooms connect with the lawn or garden, thus adding to its retired and private character.

Opposite the parlor, on the other side of this entry, a door leads into a room 1812 feet, which may be occupied as a family bedroom, library, or small sitting-room. This is lighted by two windows, and has a closet of 65 feet. A fireplace is on the inner side of this room; and near to that, a door connects with a dining-room of the same size, having a window in one end, and a fireplace, and closet of the same size as the last. Through the rear wall is a door leading into a pantry, which also communicates with the kitchen; and another door leads to the hall, and from the hall, under the staircases, (which, at that point, are sufficiently high for the purpose,) is a pa.s.sage leading to the kitchen.

Under the wing veranda, near the point of intersection of the wing with the main body of the house, is an _every-day_ outer door, leading into a small entry, 65 feet, and lighted by a low, one-sash window over the door. By another door, this leads to the kitchen, or family room, which is lighted by three windows. An ample fireplace, with oven, &c., accommodates this room at the end. A closet, 75 feet, also stands next to the entry; and beyond that, an open pa.s.sage, to the left, leading out under the front hall stairs to the rooms of the main building. A door also leads from that pa.s.sage into a _best_ pantry, for choice crockery, sweetmeats, and tea-table comforts. Another door, near the last, leads into a dairy or milk-room, 98 feet, beyond the pa.s.sage; in which last, also, may be placed a tier of narrow shelves. This milk, or dairy-room, is lighted by a window in the end, and connects also, by a door in the side, with the _outer_ kitchen, or wash-room. Next to this milk-room door, in the front kitchen, is another door leading down cellar; and through this door, pa.s.sing by the upper, broad stair of the flight of cellar steps, is another door into the wash-room. At the farther angle of the kitchen is still another door, opening into a pa.s.sage four feet wide; and, in that pa.s.sage, a door leading up a flight of stairs into the wing chambers. This pa.s.sage opens into the back kitchen, or wash-room, 1616 feet in area, and lighted by two windows, one of which looks into the wood-house. In this wash-room is a chimney with boilers and fireplace, as may be required. The cellar and chamber stairs, and the milk-room are also accessible direct, by doors leading from this wash-room.

The chamber plan will be readily understood, and requires no particular description. The s.p.a.ce over the wing may be part.i.tioned off according to the plan, or left more open for the accommodation of the "work folks,"

as occasion may demand. But, as this dwelling is intended for substantial people, "well to do in the world," and who extend a generous hospitality to their friends, a liberal provision of sleeping chambers is given to the main body of the house. The parlor chamber, which is the best, or _spare_ one, is 1816 feet, with roomy side-closets. Besides this, are other rooms for the daughters Sally, and Nancy, and f.a.n.n.y, and possibly Mary and Elizabeth--who want their own chambers, which they keep so clean and tidy, with closets full of nice bedclothes, table linen, towels, &c., &c., for certain events not yet whispered of, but quite sure to come round. And then there are Frederick, and Robert, and George, fine stalwart boys coming into manhood, intending to be "somebody in the world," one day or another; they must have _their_ rooms--and good ones too; for, if any people are to be well lodged, why not those who toil for it? All such accommodation every farm house of this character should afford. And we need not go far, or look sharp, to see the best men and the best women in our state and nation graduating from the wholesome farm house thus tidily and amply provided. How delightfully look the far-off mountains, or the nearer plains, or prairies, from the lawn porch of this snug farm house! The distant lake; the shining river, singing away through the valley; or the wimpling brook, stealing through the meadow! Aye, enjoy them all, for they are G.o.d's best, richest gifts, and we are made to love them.

The wood-house strikes off from the back kitchen, retreating two feet from its gable wall, and is 3614 feet in size. A bathing room may be part.i.tioned off 86 feet, on the rear corner next the wash-room, if required, although not laid down in the plan. At the further end is the water-closet, 64 feet. Or, if the size and convenience of the family require it, a part of the wood-house may be part.i.tioned off for a wash-room, from which a chimney may pa.s.s up through the peak of the roof. If so, carry it up so high that it will be above the eddy that the wind may make in pa.s.sing over the adjoining wing, not causing it to smoke from that cause.

At the far end of the wood-house is the workshop and tool-house, 1816 feet, lighted by two windows, and a door to enter it from beneath the wood-house. Over this, is the lumber and store-room.

Next to this is the swill-room and pigsty for the house pigs, as described in the last design; and over it a loft for farm seeds, small grains, and any other storage required.

Adjoining this is the wagon and carriage-house; and above, the hayloft, stretching, also, partly over the stable which stands next, with two stalls, 125 feet each, with a flight of stairs leading to the loft, in the pa.s.sage next the door. In this loft are swinging windows, to let in hay for the horses.

This completes the household establishment, and we leave the surroundings to the correct judgment and good taste of the proprietor to complete, as its position, and the variety of objects with which it may be connected, requires.

Stone and brick we have mentioned as the proper materials for this house; but it may be also built of wood, if more within the means and limits of the builder. There should be no pinching in its proportions, but every part carried out in its full breadth and effect.

The cost of the whole establishment may be from $2,000, to $3,000; depending somewhat upon the material used, and the finish put upon it.

The first-named sum would build the whole in an economical and plain manner, while the latter would complete it amply in its details.

MISCELLANEOUS.

It may be an objection in the minds of some persons to the various plans here submitted, that we have connected the out-buildings _immediately_ with the offices of the dwelling itself. We are well aware that such is not always usual; but many years observation have convinced us, that in their use and occupation, such connection is altogether the most convenient and economical. The only drawback is in the case of fire; which, if it occur in any one building, the whole establishment is liable to be consumed. This objection is conceded; but we take it, that it is the business of every one not able to be his own insurer, to have his buildings insured by others; and the additional cost of this insurance is not a t.i.the of what the extra expense of time, labor, and exposure is caused to the family by having the out-buildings disconnected, and at a _fire-proof_ distance from each other. There has, too, in the separation of these out-buildings, (we do not now speak of barns, and houses for the stock, and the farmwork proper,) from the main dwelling, crept into the construction of such dwellings, by modern builders, _some_ things, which in a country establishment, particularly, ought never to be there, such as privies, or _water-closets_, as they are more _genteelly_ called. These last, in our estimation, have no business _in_ a _farmer's_ house. They are an _effeminacy_, only, and introduced by _city_ life. An _appendage_ they should be, but separated to some distance from the living rooms, and accessible by sheltered pa.s.sages to them. The wood-house should adjoin the outer kitchen, because the fuel should always be handy, and the outer kitchen, or wash-room is a sort of _slop_-room, of necessity; and the night wood, and that for the morning fires may be deposited in it for immediate use.

The workshop, and small tool-house naturally comes next to that, as being chiefly used in stormy weather. Next to this last, would, more conveniently, come the carriage or wagon-house, and of course a stable for a horse or two for family use, always accessible at night, and convenient at unseasonable hours for farm labor. In the same close neighborhood, also, should be a small pigsty, to accommodate a pig or two, to eat up the kitchen slops from the table, refuse vegetables, parings, dishwater, &c., &c., which could not well be carried to the main piggery of the farm, unless the old-fashioned filthy mode of letting the hogs run in the road, and a trough set outside the door-yard fence, as seen in some parts of the country, were adopted. A pig can always be kept, and fatted in three or four months, from the wash of the house, with a little grain, in any well-regulated farmer's family. A few fowls may also be kept in a convenient hen-house, if desired, without offence--all const.i.tuting a part of the _household_ economy of the place.

These out-buildings too, give a comfortable, domestic look to the whole concern. Each one shelters and protects the other, and gives an air of comfort and repose to the whole--a family expression all round. What so naked and chilling to the feelings, as to see a country dwelling-house all perked up, by itself, standing, literally, out of doors, without any dependencies about it? No, no. First should stand the house, the chief structure, in the foreground; appendant to that, the kitchen wing; next in grade, the wood-house; covering in, also, the minor offices of the house. Then by way of setting up, partially on their own account, should come the workshop, carriage-house, and stable, as practically having a separate character, but still subordinate to the house and its requirements; and these too, may have their piggery and hen-house, by way of tapering off to the adjoining fence, which encloses a kitchen garden, or family orchard. Thus, each structure is appropriate in its way--and together, they form a combination grateful to the sight, as a complete rural picture. All objections, on account of filth or vermin, to this connection, may be removed by a cleanly keeping of the premises--a removal of all offal immediately as it is made, and daily or weekly taking it on to the manure heaps of the barns, or depositing it at once on the grounds where it is required. In point of health, nothing is more congenial to sound physical condition than the occasional smell of a stable, or the breath of a cow, not within the immediate contiguity to the occupied rooms of the dwelling. On the score of neatness, therefore, as we have placed them, no bar can be raised to their adoption.

DESIGN IV.

This is perhaps a more ambitious house than either of the preceding, although it may be adapted to a domain of the same extent and value. It is plain and unpretending in appearance; yet, in its ample finish, and deeply drawn, sheltering eaves, broad veranda, and s.p.a.cious out-buildings, may give accommodation to a larger family indulging a more liberal style of living than the last.

By an error in the engraving, the main roof of the house is made to appear like a double, or gambrel-roof, breaking at the intersection of the gable, or hanging roof over the ends. This is not so intended. The roofs on each side are a straight line of rafters. The Swiss, or hanging style of gable-roof is designed to give a more sheltered effect to the elevation than to run the end walls to a peak in the point of the roof.

By a defect in the drawing, the roof of the veranda is not sufficiently thrown over the columns. This roof should project at least one foot beyond them, so as to perfectly shelter the mouldings beneath from the weather, and conform to the style of the main roof of the house.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 115-116.]

The material of which it is built may be of either stone, brick, or wood, as the taste or convenience of the proprietor may suggest. The main building is 4436 feet, on the ground. The cellar wall may show 18 to 24 inches above the ground, and be pierced by windows in each end, as shown in the plan. The height of the main walls may be two full stories below the roof plates, or the chambers may run a foot or two into the garret, at the choice of the builder, either of which arrangements may be permitted.

The front door opens from a veranda 28 feet long by 10 feet in depth, dropping eight inches from the door-sill. This veranda has a hipped roof, which juts over the columns in due proportion with the roof of the house over its walls. These columns are plain, with brackets, or braces from near their tops, sustaining the plate and finish of the roof above, which may be covered either with tin or zinc, painted, or closely shingled.

The walls of the house may be 18 to 20 feet high below the plates; the roof a pitch of 30 to 45, which will afford an upper garret, or store, or small sleeping rooms, if required; and the eaves should project two to three feet, as climate may demand, over the walls. A plain finish--that is, ceiled underneath--is shown in the design, but brackets on the ends of the rafters, beaded and finished, may be shown, if preferred. The gables are _Swiss-roofed_, or _truncated_, thus giving them a most sheltered and comfortable appearance, particularly in a northerly climate. The small gable in front relieves the roof of its monotony, and affords light to the central garret. The chimneys are carried out with part.i.tion flues, and may be topped with square caps, as necessity or taste may demand.

Retreating three feet from the kitchen side of the house runs, at right angles, a wing 3018 feet, one and a half stories high, with a veranda eight feet wide in front. Next in rear of this, continues a wood-house, 3018 feet, one story high, with ten feet posts, and open in front, the ground level of which is 18 inches below the floor of the wing to which it is attached. The roof of these two is of like character with that of the main building.

Adjoining this wood-house, and at right angles with it, is a building 6818 feet, projecting two feet outside the line of wood-house and kitchen. This building is one and a half stories high, with 12 feet posts, and roof in the same style and of equal pitch as the others.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GROUND PLAN.]

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

The front door from the veranda of the house opens into a hall, 188 feet, and 11 feet high, amply lighted by sash windows on the sides, and over the door. From the rear of this hall runs a flight of easy stairs, into the upper or chamber hall. On one side of the lower hall, a door leads into a parlor, 18 feet square, and 11 feet high, lighted by three windows, and warmed by an open stove, or fireplace, the pipe pa.s.sing into a chimney flue in the rear. A door pa.s.ses from this parlor into a rear pa.s.sage, or entry, thus giving it access to the kitchen and rear apartments. At the back end of the front hall, a door leads into the rear pa.s.sage and kitchen; and on the side opposite the parlor, a door opens into the sitting or family room, 1816 feet in area, having an open fireplace, and three windows. On the hall side of this room, a door pa.s.ses into the kitchen, 2216 feet, and which may, in case the requirements of the family demand it, be made the chief family or living room, and the last one described converted into a library. In this kitchen, which is lighted by two windows, is a liberal open fireplace, with an ample oven by its side, and a sink in the outer corner. A flight of stairs, also, leads to the rear chambers above; and a corresponding flight, under them, to the cellar below. A door at each end of these stairs, leads into the back entry of the house, and thus to the other interior rooms, or through the rear outer door to the back porch. This back entry is lighted by a single sash window over the outside door leading to the porch. Another door, opposite that leading down cellar, opens into the pa.s.sage through the wing. From the rear hall, which is 165 feet, the innermost pa.s.sage leads into a family bedroom, or nursery, 1614 feet, lighted by a window in each outside wall, and warmed by an open fireplace, or stove, at pleasure. Attached to this bedroom is a clothes-closet, 84 feet, with shelves, and drawers. Next the outer door, in rear end of the hall, is a small closet opening from it, 64 feet in dimensions, convertible to any use which the mistress of the house may direct.