The veranda is a particularly American feature, and should be encouraged, not only because it is American, but because it is a great comfort and a sensible contrivance. Let it be broad and low, to keep out the sun’s rays; let it be large enough for plenty of chairs and a work table, and perhaps a rattan sofa or a hammock, and during the long summer months it will be a most delightful retreat.
Even in winter the veranda serves to keep the wind, sleet and snow from our windows, and so contributes a little warmth if it does rob us of some sunlight. It can be so constructed that it may be enclosed in winter, but it is difficult to heat, even if the cellar extended beneath it.
VII.
Materials of all kinds have been used for building, but for our purpose only stone, brick and wood are suitable, and mud, papier-maché, glass, iron, and many others need not be considered. Stone is the favorite for all monumental buildings, but it may be occasionally used to advantage in low-cost country houses. If it must be brought from a distance, and is to be cut, tooled and dressed, it will be much beyond the average cottager’s means. But when found in the immediate vicinity and laid in irregular courses “just as it comes,” with the corners squared off only enough to make good joints, we shall get excellent effects without great expense. It is well to use it only for the first story of the house, as shown on Plate [XII]. If cut stone lintels and jambs are too costly, we may use brick, either red or buff, selecting the one which harmonizes best with the color of the stone. The doors and windows in this case will be arched and not square-headed. Stone walls need not be very thick—18 inches will be ample—and they need not be damp if properly furred, leaving an airspace.
Frequently use large stones, the entire thickness of the wall, as “binders,” and leave the natural surface as much as possible. Then, if the stones are well selected, we shall have a beautiful surface, whose color, softened by that of mosses and lichens, and partly covered by the creeping ivy, will become more beautiful and mellow with age.
Brick is a most valuable building material, wonderfully durable, as the remains of the old Roman buildings testify, and fire-proof, as often demonstrated. To the minds of many, brick suggests all the ugliness of the immense crop of buildings that has sprung up in our American cities—buildings with wondrous painted and sanded cornices and window caps, with a front pierced with regularly spaced square-headed openings. But the builder and not the material is at fault, for as countless European examples show us, brick can be used with most excellent effect. Bricks are now made in many shapes, and good mouldings can be obtained for cornices, belt courses, etc.
Then terra-cotta, which is nothing more than its name implies, baked earth, or brick in other forms, comes to our aid, and we have ornamental panels, columns, pilasters, voussoirs and all sorts of architectural finery. For small cottages we may use brick laid in red mortar, combining it with wood, and perhaps some of the simpler mouldings, with a terra-cotta panel or two, to give character to the design.
Wood is the material that will commend itself, as being the cheapest for building country houses, needing only a light foundation and being easily handled. The old “half timbered” houses give us suggestions for a most picturesque treatment. In these buildings the frame is exposed and filled in with brick or stucco, producing an excellent effect. In the north of France, where rain is abundant, the exposed wood is sometimes covered with slate. This method of construction is adapted to our climate, but brick is better for filling in than plaster or stucco, which is likely to be affected by our severe frosts. Clapboards and shingles are both excellent. The shingles may be cut in different shapes, or irregularly laid, giving a variety of surface. Tiles, which are more durable but more expensive, may be substituted. Battened houses, that is, houses faced with vertical boards, the joints of which are covered by narrow strips of wood or “battens,” are not recommended.
VIII.
The first four plates in this book show designs for the simplest kind of cottages. Strict economy has been observed, and the arrangement is as compact as possible, no space being wasted. The first has two rooms on a floor—the living-room containing the stairs. The roof is unbroken, overhanging enough to cover the bay, and merely extending to form the porch. Plates [II], [III] and [IV] show a separate hall for the stairs, and closets and pantry are provided. In one case the upper floor contains two large rooms, in the others, four smaller chambers. Plate [III] shows the kitchen and living-room separated by a pantry with two doors, and in the next design, communication between these rooms is had through the hall, an arrangement quite suitable for such a small house. Nothing could be plainer, or more straight-forward, than the plans and exterior treatment of these four cottages, and the result is interesting in showing that even the simplest house may be planned with some reference to comfort, and a pleasing exterior expression attained without the least ornamentation.