The main body of this cottage is 18x12 feet, with a lean-to, 8 feet
wide, running its whole length in rear. This lean-to may be 8 or 9
inches lower, on the floor, than the main room, and divided into a
passage, (leading to an open wood-house in rear, 10x12 feet, with a shed
roof,) a large closet, and a bedroom, as may be required; or, the
passage end may be left open at the side, for a wood shelter, or other
useful purpose. The roof, which is raftered, boarded, and shingled in
the usual mode, is well spread over the gables, as well as over the
front and rear--say 18 inches. The porch in front will give additional
convenience in summer, as a place to sit, or eat under, and its posts so
fitted with grooves as to let in rough planks for winter enclosure in
front and at one end, leaving the entrance only, at the least windy, or
stormy side. The extra cost of such preparation, with the planks, which
should be 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 inches thick, and jointed, would not exceed ten
or fifteen dollars. This would make an admirable wood-house for the
winter, and a perfect snuggery for a small family. While in its summer
dress, with the porch opened--the planks taken out and laid overhead,
across the beams connecting the porch with the house--it would present
an object of quiet comfort and beauty. A hop vine or honeysuckle might
be trained outside the posts, and give it all the shade required.
In a stony country, where the adjoining enclosures are of stone, this
cottage may be built of stone, also, at about double the cost of wood.
This would save the expense of paint, or wash of any kind, besides the
greater character of durability and substance it would add to the
establishment. Trees, of course, should shelter it; and any little
out-buildings that may be required should be nestled under a screen of
vines and shrubbery near by.
This being designed as the humblest and cheapest kind of cottage, where
the family occupy only a single room, the cost would be small. On the
plan first named, stained with a coarse wash, it could be built for
$100. On the second plan, well-framed of sills, plates, posts, studs,
&c. &c., covered with vertical boarding and battens, or clapboarded, and
well painted in oil, it might cost $150 to $200. Stone, or brick,
without paint, would add but little, if anything in cost over the last
sum. The ceiling of the main floor is 8 feet high, and a low chamber or
garret is afforded above it, into which a swing-step ladder ascends; and
when not in use, it may be hung to the ceiling overhead by a common hook
and staples.