The trees and shrubbery which ornament the approach to this house,
should be rather of the graceful varieties, than otherwise. The
weeping-willow, the horse-chesnut, the mountain-ash, if suitable to the
climate; or the china-tree of the south, or the linden, the weeping-elm,
and the silver-maple, with its long slender branches and hanging leaves,
would add most to the beauty, and comport more closely with the
character of this establishment, than the more upright, stiff, and
unbending trees of our American forests. The Lombardy-poplar--albeit,
an object of fashionable derision with many tree-fanciers in these more
_tasty_ days, as it was equally the admiration of our fathers, of forty
years ago--would set off and give effect to a mansion of this character,
either in a clump at the back-ground, as shown in the design, or
occasionally shooting up its spire-like top through a group of the other
trees. Yet, if built in a fine natural park or lawn of oaks, with a few
other trees, such as we have named, planted immediately around it, this
house would still show with fine effect.
The style of finish given to this dwelling may appear too ornate and
expensive for the position it is supposed to occupy. If so, a plainer
mode of finish may be adopted, to the cheapest degree consistent with
the manner of its construction. Still, on examination, there will be
found little intricate or really expensive work upon it. Strength,
substance, durability, should all enter into its composition; and
without these elements, a house of this appearance is a mere bauble, not
fit to stand upon the premises of any man of substantial estate.
If a more extensive accommodation be necessary, than the size of this
house can afford, its style will admit of a wing, of any desirable
length, on each side, in place of the rear part of the side verandas,
without prejudice to its character or effect. Indeed, such wings may add
to its dignity, and consequence, as comporting with the standing and
influence which its occupant may hold in the community wherein he
resides. A man of mark, indeed, should, if he live in the country,
occupy a dwelling somewhat indicating the position which he holds, both
in society and in public affairs. By this remark, we may be treading on
questionable ground, in our democratic country; but, practically, there
is a fitness in it which no one can dispute. Not that extravagance,
pretension, or any other _assumption_ of superiority should mark the
dwelling of the distinguished man, but that his dwelling be of like
character with himself: plain, dignified, solid, and, as a matter of
course, altogether respectable.
It is a happy feature in the composition of our republican institutions,
both social and political, that we can afford to let the flashy men of
the _day_--not of _time_--flaunter in all their purchased fancy in
house-building, without prejudice to the prevailing sober sentiment of
their neighbors, in such particulars. The man of money, simply, may
build his "villa," and squander his tens of thousands upon it. He may
riot within it, and fidget about it for a few brief years; he may even
hang his coat of arms upon it, if he can fortunately do so without
stumbling over a lapstone, or greasing his coat against the pans of a
cook-shop; but it is equally sure that no child of his will occupy it
after him, even if his own changeable fancy or circumstances permit him
to retain it for his natural life. Such are the episodes of country
house-building, and of frequent attempts at agricultural life, by those
who affect it as a matter of ostentation or display. For the subjects of
these, we do not write. But there is something exceedingly grateful to
the feelings of one of stable views in life, to look upon an estate
which has been long in an individual family, still maintaining its
primitive character and respectability. Some five-and-twenty years ago,
when too young to have any established opinions in matters of this sort,
as we were driving through one of the old farming towns in
Massachusetts, about twenty miles west of Boston, we approached a
comfortable, well-conditioned farm, with a tavern-house upon the high
road, and several great elms standing about it. The road passed between
two of the trees, and from a cross-beam, lodged across their branches,
swung a large square sign, with names and dates painted upon it--name
and date we have forgotten; it was a good old Puritan name, however--in
this wise:
"John Endicott, 1652."
"John Endicott, 1696."
"John Endicott, 1749."
"John Endicott, 1784."
"John Endicott, 1817."
As our eyes read over this list, we were struck with the stability of a
family who for many consecutive generations had occupied, by the same
name, that venerable spot, and ministered to the comfort of as many
generations of travelers, and incontinently took off our hat in respect
to the record of so much worth, drove our horse under the shed, had him
fed, went in, and took a quiet family dinner with the civil,
good-tempered host, and the equally kind-mannered hostess, then in the
prime of life, surrounded with a fine family of children, and heard from
his own lips the history of his ancestors, from their first emigration
from England--not in the Mayflower, to whose immeasurable accommodations
our good New England ancestors are so prone to refer--but in one of her
early successors.
All over the old thirteen states, from Maine to Georgia, can be found
agricultural estates now containing families, the descendants of those
who founded them--exceptions to the general rule, we admit, of American
stability of residence, but none the less gratifying to the
contemplation of those who respect a deep love of home, wherever it may
be found. For the moral of our episode on this subject, we cannot
refrain from a description of a fine old estate which we have frequently
seen, minus now the buildings which then existed, and long since
supplanted by others equally respectable and commodious, and erected by
the successor of the original occupant, the late Dr. Boylston, of
Roxbury, who long made the farm his summer residence. The description is
from an old work, "The History of the County of Worcester, in the State
of Massachusetts, by the Rev. Peter Whitney, 1793:"
"Many of the houses (in Princeton,) are large and elegant. This
leads to a particular mention, that in this town is the country seat
of the Hon. Moses Gill, Esq., ('Honorable' meant something in those
days,) who has been from the year 1775 one of the Judges of the
Court of Common Pleas for the county of Worcester, and for several
years a counsellor of this commonwealth. His noble and elegant seat
is about one mile and a quarter from the meeting-house, to the
south. The farm contains upwards of three thousand acres. The county
road from Princeton to Worcester passes through it, in front of the
house, which faces to the west. The buildings stand upon the highest
land of the whole farm; but it is level round about them for many
rods, and then there is a very gradual descent. The land on which
these buildings stand is elevated between twelve hundred and
thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, as the Hon. James
Winthrop, Esq. informs me. The mansion house is large, being 50x50
feet, with four stacks of chimnies. The farm house is 40 feet by 36:
In a line with this stand the coach and chaise-house, 50 feet by 36.
This is joined to the barn by a shed 70 feet in length--the barn is
200 feet by 32. Very elegant fences are erected around the mansion
house, the out-houses, and the garden.
"The prospect from this seat is extensive and grand, taking in a
horizon to the east, of seventy miles, at least. The blue hills in
Milton are discernible with the naked eye, from the windows of this
superb edifice, distant not less than sixty miles; as also the
waters in the harbor of Boston, at certain seasons of the year. When
we view this seat, these buildings, and this farm of so many hundred
acres, now under a high degree of profitable cultivation, and are
told that in the year 1766 it was a perfect wilderness, we are
struck with wonder, admiration, and astonishment. The honorable
proprietor thereof must have great satisfaction in contemplating
these improvements, so extensive, made under his direction, and,
I may add, by his own active industry. Judge Gill is a gentleman of
singular vivacity and activity, and indefatigable in his endeavors
to bring forward the cultivation of his lands; of great and
essential service, by his example, in the employment he finds for so
many persons, and in all his attempts to serve the interests of the
place where he dwells, and in his acts of private munificence, and
public generosity, and deserves great respect and esteem, not only
from individuals, but from the town and country he has so greatly
benefited, and especially by the ways in which he makes use of that
vast estate wherewith a kind Providence has blessed him."
Such was the estate, and such the man who founded and enjoyed it sixty
years ago; and many an equal estate, founded and occupied by equally
valuable men, then existed, and still exist in all our older states; and
if our private and public virtues are preserved, will ever exist in
every state of our union. Such pictures, too, are forcible illustrations
of the _morals_ of correct building on the ample estates of many of our
American planters and farmers. The mansion house, which is so
graphically described, we saw but a short time before it was pulled
down--then old, and hardly worth repairing, being built of wood, and of
style something like this design of our own, bating the extent of
veranda.
The cost of this house may be from $5000 to $8000, depending upon the
material of which it is constructed, the degree of finish given to it,
and the locality where it is built. All these circumstances are to be
considered, and the estimates should be made by practical and
experienced builders, who are competent judges in whatever appertains to
it.
[Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 173-174.]