Beauty Not Ornamentation.—The boy, in his early training, should learn this fundamental truth, that beauty, architecturally, does not depend upon ornamentation. Some of the most beautiful structures in the world are very plain. Beauty consists in proportions, in proper correlation of parts, and in adaptation for the uses to which the structure is to be put.
Plain Structures.—A house with a plain façade, having a roof properly pitched and with a simple cornice, if joined to a wing which is not ungainly or out of proper proportions, is infinitely more beautiful than a rambling structure, in which one part suggests one order of architecture and the other part some other type or no type at all, and in which the embellishments are out of keeping with the size or pretensions of the house.
Colonial Type.—For real beauty, on a larger scale, there is nothing to-day which equals the old Colonial type with the Corinthian columns and entablature. The Lee mansion, now the National Cemetery, at Washington, is a fine example. Such houses are usually square or rectangular in plan, severely plain, with the whole ornamentation consisting of the columns and the portico. This type presents an appearance of massiveness and grandeur and is an excellent illustration of a form wherein the main characteristic of the structure is concentrated or massed at one point.
The Church of the Madelaine, Paris, is another striking example of this period of architecture.
Of course, it would be out of place with cottages and small houses, but it is well to study and to know what forms are most available and desirable to adopt, and particularly to know something of the art in which you are interested.
The Roof the Keynote.—Now, there is one thing which should, and does, distinguish the residence from other types of buildings, excepting churches. It is the roof. A house is dominated by its covering. I refer to the modern home. It is not true with the Colonial or the Grecian types. In those the façade or the columns and cornices predominate over everything else.
Bungalow Types.—If you will take up any book on bungalow work and note the outlines of the views you will see that the roof forms the main element or theme. In fact, in most buildings of this kind everything is submerged but the roof and roof details. They are made exceedingly flat, with different pitches with dormers and gables intermingled and indiscriminately placed, with cornices illy assorted and of different kinds, so that the multiplicity of diversified details gives an appearance of great elaboration. Many of those designs are monstrosities and should, if possible, be legally prohibited.
I cannot attempt to give even so much as an outline of what constitutes art in its relation to building, but my object is to call attention to this phase of the question, and as you proceed in your studies and your work you will realize the value and truthfulness of the foregoing observations.
General House Building.—We are to treat, generally, on the subject of house building, how the work is laid out, and how built, and in doing so I shall take a concrete example of the work. This can be made more effectual for the purpose if it is on simple lines.
Building Plans.—We must first have a plan; and the real carpenter must have the ability to plan as well as to do the work. We want a five-room house, comprising a parlor, dining room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Just a modest little home, to which we can devote our spare hours, and which will be neat and comfortable when finished. It must be a one-story house, and that fact at once settles the roof question. We can make the house perfectly square in plan, or rectangular, and divide up the space into the proper divisions.