We here present a dwelling of a more ambitious and pretending character
than any one which we have, as yet, described, and calculated for a
large and wealthy farmer, who indulges in the elegances of country life,
dispenses a liberal hospitality, and is every way a country gentleman,
such as all our farmers of ample means should be. It will answer the
demands of the retired man of business as well; and is, perhaps, as full
in its various accommodation as an American farm or country house may
require. It claims no distinct style of architecture, but is a
composition agreeable in effect, and appropriate to almost any part of
the country, and its climate. Its site may be on either hill or
plain--with a view extensive, or restricted. It may look out over broad
savannas, cultivated fields, and shining waters; it may nestle amid its
own quiet woods and lawn in its own selected shade and retirement, or
lord it over an extensive park, ranged by herds and flocks, meandered by
its own stream, spreading anon into the placid lake, or rushing swiftly
over its own narrow bed--an independent, substantial, convenient, and
well-conditioned home, standing upon its own broad acres, and comporting
with the character and standing of its occupant, among his friends and
neighbors.
The main building is 50x40 feet in area upon the ground, two stories
high; the ground story 11 feet high, its floor elevated 2-1/2 or 3 feet
above the level of the surrounding surface, as its position may demand;
the chambers 9 feet high, and running 2 feet into the roof. The rear
wing is one and a half stories high, 36x16 feet; the lower rooms 11 feet
high, with a one story lean-to range of closets, and small rooms on the
weather side, 8 feet in width and 9 feet high. In the rear of these is a
wood-house, 30x20 feet, with 10 feet posts, dropped to a level with the
ground. At the extremity of this is a building, by way of an L, 60x20
feet, one and a half stories high, with a lean-to, 12x30 feet, in the
rear. The ground rooms of this are elevated 1-1/2 feet above the ground,
and 9 feet high. A broad roof covers the whole, standing at an angle of
40 or 45deg above a horizontal line, and projecting widely over the
walls, 2-1/2 to 3 feet on the main building, and 2 feet on the others,
to shelter them perfectly from the storms and damps of the weather. A
small cupola stands out of the ridge of the rear building, which may
serve as a ventilator to the apartments and lofts below, and in it may
be hung a bell, to summon the household, or the field laborers, as the
case may be, to their duties or their meals.
The design, as here shown, is rather florid, and perhaps profusely
ornamental in its finish, as comporting with the taste of the day; but
the cut and moulded trimmings may be left off by those who prefer a
plain finish, and be no detriment to the general effect which the deep
friezes of the roofs, properly cased beneath, may give to it. Such,
indeed, is our own taste; but this full finish has been added, to
gratify such as wish the full ornament which this style of building may
admit.
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]