Remodeled Farmhouses

by Mary Harrod Northend

Few, if any, care to use a weathered exterior, that is, unless the scientifically treated shingles that will soon turn a silver gray are employed. There are two reasons why your house should be painted: one is that it preserves the wood and if rightly treated is fireproof; the second is that it gives the finish a far better appearance than it would have without paint. Every house needs paint of some kind to improve its appearance, whether it be oil paint or stain.

There are many different brands found to-day, and they are of every conceivable color, so that you have a wide range of choice. It is always safe to use one made by a reliable concern or one hand-mixed, if both white lead and linseed oil are absolutely pure. There is nothing more variable in quality than paint, and even experts are puzzled at times and it is necessary to have a chemical analysis in order to determine between good and bad.

For exterior use the proper kind should be a mixture of pure white lead and linseed oil or pure zinc white and linseed oil. Manufacturers, more especially those of white lead paints, will insist that theirs is the only kind to use, and the zinc paint producers will do likewise, but a reliable dealer or architect will inform you correctly. One of the first colors to be used on any house is white,—in all probability there is nothing as durable as this. The reason for it is that the ingredients used have greater wearing qualities than any of the other pigments. There is a complaint that it is apt to yellow with age and become discolored, but in reality it remains unchanged longer than almost any other color. Green blinds secure the best effect, or trellises that relieve the monotony of the white. This the old farmers realized, and it is one of the reasons why it was so much used. If your house is shingled, there are a great many shades of gray that need a white trim, and there is no color that harmonizes with every other as well as this.

There are a great many reliable stains for shingles; do not let the painter mix the stain himself, because that carefully prepared by a manufacturer is generally superior both in color and durability. In mixing these stains, both Creosote and oil are used, there being on the market to-day excellent brands of both kinds.

The repainting of the country house is a necessary evil that recurs periodically. We tire of one color as we weary of an old dress, and this leads to a different tone of coloring each time. For instance, the white house is changed possibly to a Colonial yellow or a gray, and with its new coat it seems to take on a new lease of life. The fall of the year is the best time for the painting, as the dry October weather is especially suited for good results. During the summer months there are insects flying about and too much dust. By October the outside has had time to cool after the heat and is in good condition for treatment.

The time to paint is before the house gets shabby, when the paint is powdery or porous. It can be tested with either a knife or the finger, and if the old paint chips off, soaks up water, or can be rubbed off like a powder with the finger, it no longer protects the wood and needs another coat. With this covering of paint, wood will last practically forever, and as lumber is expensive, it is greater economy to keep your house properly painted.

The cost of painting is a serious problem to many house owners and is never alluded to by an agent when selling a house; to the novice it does not occur, so eager is he to secure for himself a new home. At the end of the second year, its freshness is dimmed through exposure to wind and storm, and at the end of the third season, it is shabby and needs a new covering. In attempting to figure the cost, it is necessary to ascertain the square feet on the outside. Any painter has a rule for this, making allowances for errors. Windows and doors are considered as plain surfaces that are to be treated to paint even though only the sills and sides are in need of it.

Good exterior paint costs from three to five dollars a gallon, and a painter can put on one hundred square yards in a day for the first coat and seventy-five for the second. This gives the house owner a little idea of what it will cost, although it is best to make a regular bargain with the architect to cover this expense.

For interior finish, white is always preferable. It seems to be the proper treatment for any Colonial home. To be sure, if you are planning for a den, a dark color can be used and also a stain for the kitchen part of the house.

In searching for a farmhouse to be converted into a country home, Mr. Howland S. Chandler of Boston chanced upon an old house at Needham, Massachusetts, that seemed to meet his requirements. It was a square-framed house, two stories and a half in height, with a kitchen ell at the rear. It was not handsome but quite ordinary in appearance and without any unusual exterior features. It was not even a seventeenth-century house but was built in 1801, and it was in such good condition and the frame was so sound that it hardly deserved the term "old."