THIS design represents an old-fashioned ice-house, such as were constructed in the country several years ago, and still are so, where large quantities of ice are required to be stored. This small structure, embosomed amidst trees, impervious to the sun, was formed with the stone of the district, and arched and domed over with bricks. The well a, sunk in the earth, is 10 feet in diameter, b is a cesspool to receive the water that drops from the ice, and c is the drain
Plan.
to convey it to the well d; the ice is thrown in from the top, the earth e, and the two stone slabs and the straw between them, being removed.
As an additional precaution against warmth, the structure was buried in a mound of earth. This, as it quite destroyed any picturesque effect it would otherwise have had amidst the trees, is not shown in the view.
These ice-wells have not often so long a passage of approach; one only from 6 to 10 feet in length is sufficient, but double doors and a free current of air across the entrance passage are desirable. It has not often a domed roof to cover that of the well, a common wooden roof covered with thatch placed a few feet above the roof of the well being sufficient; neither is it often considered necessary to have a well to receive the water dropping from the ice. The ice-well walls may be splayed down to the ground, with proper footings, and an uncovered piece of ground left at the bottom. Over this is placed an open wood frame, which supports the ice, and permits all water to drain off. When the walls are splayed down in this form, buttresses must be added to support them, and the weight of the ice. Every country house in America is provided with an excellent ice-house of the simplest and most practical kind. It consists of a deep excavation in the earth, roofed over with a pointed thatch. These ice-houses are always well filled in the winter, and rarely if ever quite emptied during the summer. An accurate section of such an ice-well, with full directions for its construction, has been lately published.[E]
DESIGN No. 32.
A SUBURBAN VILLA.
One of the chief peculiarities in small suburban villas that have been erected near London within the last thirty years, is that of making the
