last quarter of a century has witnessed among our people in the building
and adorning of our edifices devoted to Christian worship. Downing, in
his time, said, "that the ugliest church architecture in Christendom, is
at this moment to be found in the country towns and villages of the
United States." And speaking of the influence of what our churches
should be, in the beauty of their proportions, and in the expression of
the sacred purposes which they embody, and the feelings of reverence and
harmony with God and man which they suggest, he fitly says--"We fear
there are very few country churches in our land that exert this kind of
spell,--a spell which grows out of making stone, and brick, and timber,
obey the will of the living soul, and express a religious sentiment.
Most persons, most committees, select men, vestrymen, and congregations,
who have to do with the building of churches, appear indeed wholly to
ignore the fact, that the form and feature of a building may be made to
express religious, civil, domestic, or a dozen other feelings, as
distinctly as the form and features of the human face:--and yet this is
a fact as well known by all true architects, as that joy and sorrow,
pleasure and pain, are capable of irradiating or darkening the
countenance. Yes, and we do not say too much, when we add, that right
expression in a building for religious purposes, has as much to do with
awakening devotional feelings, and begetting an attachment in the heart,
as the unmistakable signs of virtue and benevolence in our
fellow-creatures have in awakening kindred feelings in our own breasts.
[Illustration: FIG. 33.--_Floor Plan._]
"We do not, of course, mean to say that a beautiful rural church will
make all the population about it devotional, any more than that sunshine
will banish gloom; but it is one of the influences that prepare the way
for religious feeling, and which we are as unwise to neglect, as we
should be to abjure the world and bury ourselves, like the ancient
troglodytes, in caves and caverns."
Happily we are coming to appreciate these truths, not only in our
cities, but in the country, and the ugly, unsightly, and unseemly
structures which have so long deformed the land are giving place to
edifices in which the true ideas of harmony, grace, proportion, symmetry
and expression, which make what we call Beauty, are brought out in due
proportion.
The church we present is designed to be of wood, the country about the
site affording an abundance of that material, at the lowest cost. An
inspection of the design will show that the principal timbers of the
frame are intended to be visible externally,--the weather-boarding being
set back from the face of the posts and beams. This exterior covering is
intended to be made of sound _rough_ plank, from ten to fourteen inches
wide, and at least one and a-half inches thick. These are to be tongued
and grooved, so as to make a close joint, and nailed to the frame in a
_vertical_ manner. The joint is to be covered with a narrow strip, or
batten, of one and a-half inch plank. These unplaned plank may be
painted with two good coats and sanded, or they may be left to take such
tints and complexion as time and the weather may give them.
Lumber, at the proposed site, being cheaper and more easily obtained
than lime, the interior of the church will be neatly ceiled with narrow
boards, which will be lightly stained and oiled. The roof will be "open
timber" of simple construction. All the wood work of the interior will
be of pine, smoothly planed, stained and oiled, without paint, except
the ceiling of the roof which should be colored, in order to give
something like warmth of tone to the interior, the lack of which is
often sadly felt in our country churches, particularly.
This mode of weather-boarding and "open timber" finish is now so common
that a more particular description is unnecessary.
This church will seat, comfortably, about two hundred persons. Its cost
will depend entirely upon the price of lumber and labor, of course, and
these vary with different localities, and are particularly uncertain at
this time. We will only add that it will cost no more to build with
correct proportions and in good taste, than in disregard and defiance of
these desirable and commendable principles.
DESIGN No. 10.
[Illustration: FIG. 34.--_Perspective._]
We give below a somewhat different example of Cottage Architecture, of a
form that is compact and every way available, at the same time affording
every convenience in the arrangement of rooms desirable for a family of
refined tastes and moderate means. This cottage may be built of wood,
or, better still, in favorable localities, of brick or stone, and if
suitably surrounded with tasteful landscape embellishments, will make a
snug, pretty, and attractive home. One can, by the exercise of
appropriate taste, produce the right kind of an impression in a house of
this character. It should become a part of, and belong to the acres
which surround it; it should be an indispensable accessory to the place
itself, and the grounds should be laid out and embellished in such a
manner that the whole combination impresses all with harmonious beauty,
and not, as is too frequently the case, seek to make up the wretched
deficiencies in the grounds by elaborate expenditure and display about
the house. A true appreciation of country life will not tolerate
slovenly, ill-kept grounds, and no house exhibits its true value unless
there is a harmony in its surroundings. If this be attended to, a high
degree of effect can be produced in houses of very moderate cost;
houses that shall be roomy, warm, substantial, and in every way
agreeable to their occupants.
[Illustration: FIG. 35.--_Basement Plan._]
The plans show the arrangement of rooms, and these can be made larger or
smaller, or be differently disposed, to suit almost any fancy. In this
design the kitchen apartments are below stairs; in future plans we shall
give some with kitchen, laundry, etc., on the principal floor; or they
can be readily added to this plan. The cost of a house is the one thing
desirable; every one asks for it, and yet every one within our knowledge
who has built a house himself at a stated price has been sadly deceived.
Close specifications are very dry reading, and not appropriate here,
and it is questionable how much service they would be to any but
professional builders. It is reasonable to suppose, that if one without
building experience undertakes it, he will have to pay something
additional for the knowledge he will gain. If he places it to the proper
account, then we can not be accused of misleading him.
[Illustration: FIG. 36.--_First Floor._]
[Illustration: FIG. 37.--_Second Floor._]
Most men contemplate, at some period of life, the construction of a
dwelling-house, but few deem it necessary to study their wants or
prepare their plans until they have selected their site and made all
other arrangements for building, and then proceed with all possible
haste to plan a home. That which should have been the study of months or
years, is hurried through in as many days, imperfectly done at the best,
and the cause of frequent annoying and expensive changes after the work
has commenced. It is true, that the site has very much to do with the
distribution of rooms, but any ingenious architect can readily adapt a
proper combination of rooms to suit the exposures and views of a
particular site. It would be vastly better for those who prefer to
arrange their own plan of rooms, (and there are but very few who do
not,) that they take abundant time to consider well every thing relating
to them; and although the hope of building may be very remote, it should
not be considered time lost to begin to give one's thoughts a definite
form of what he thinks a house should be; for if nothing else results,
it may furnish a valuable hint for a friend, and will certainly enlarge
one's information and experience in these matters. Almost every one is
capable, with such hints as have been freely given in the volumes of the
HORTICULTURIST, in the leading papers which treat on rural art, and the
numerous valuable publications on rural architecture, to make such a
combination of rooms as will best suit his peculiar wants, tastes, or
fancies, and then, with the aid of an architect, it can readily be freed
from mechanical impracticabilities, and put into a proportionate and
harmonious form. Architecture, both in design and construction, is a
profession that requires long years of study and practice to develop an
expert, and those who really want a good thing at the least cost,
usually seek such assistance; those who prefer to do their own designing
and building, find out with absolute certainty the most expensive modes
of erecting very ugly and ill-proportioned structures.
DESIGN No. 11.
A SUBURBAN SUMMER HOUSE.
[Illustration: FIG. 38.]
In the adornment of ornamental grounds, some considerable attention has
been given to summer houses, and similar structures; but these have been
mainly _rustic_ in their design and finish, and in this respect well
adapted to their purpose and surroundings. The good taste of these
structures will not be called in question. There are locations, however,
in the more immediate vicinity of our large cities, where a style less
rustic would seem to be more in harmony with the architecture which is
found to prevail. We refer to residences on the outskirts of our large
cities, with inclosures containing a few city lots. Here the
architecture, so far from being rural, is, on the contrary, stiff,
sharp, and sometimes very ornate. A rustic summer house in such a place
would be an incongruity. A rustic house is in itself a beautiful object;
but there is a certain charm in association which can not be widely
departed from without doing violence to our conceptions of the fitness
of things; and hence a purely rustic house without rural surroundings is
destitute of the chief elements which give rise to the beautiful. Most
persons would say it was out of place.
The design herewith presented was prepared to meet the requirements of
such a case; it is consequently somewhat elaborate. It is located on a
small plot of ground within the city limits, and in full view from three
streets. The grounds are laid out with a few rectangular walks, and such
shrubs as the small size of the place would admit of. The house, we
think corresponds with its surroundings. Its faults, if any, are a
little too much ornament, but something of this kind seemed to be
required in the absence of that more beautiful ornamentation produced by
the drapery of Nature. The house is so located that it receives the
morning sun for a few hours, but during the rest of the day is in the
shade; it therefore constitutes a pleasant place of retreat for the
family at all hours, and is used by the children freely as a play house.
The floor is laid in narrow stuff, and is elevated a foot above the
ground for the sake of dryness. Easy seats, a handsome centre table, and
a hanging lamp complete the interior. Venetian blinds afford ample
protection on a misty day or a chilly night, or admit the soft summer
breeze on a hot and sultry eve.--_Horticulturist._
DESIGN No. 12.
STABLE AND CARRIAGE HOUSE.
This stable affords abundant accommodation for three horses, with
carriage house, feed room, and a large harness room on the first floor,
while the loft above may contain a coachman's room, and leave ample
space for hay and straw.
If required, a shed and cow house can be extended on the side opposite
the carriage house, thus adding considerably to the effect of the
external appearance. Under the stable there should be a cellar for the
storage of roots for feed, and, if desirable, the winter stock of
vegetables for household use. This stable may be built of wood, or of
stone or brick.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--_Stable._]
[Illustration: FIG. 40.--_Stable Plan._]
DESIGN No. 13.
This design is intended to cover, at a low cost, as much comfort and
convenience as a moderate-sized family would require, and to distribute
the same as much as possible on one floor.
The cellar or basement kitchen is dispensed with and only enough cellar
room provided to meet the wants of those who occupy suburban places of a
few acres in extent. Where large quantities of vegetables are stored, or
where cellar room is required for farm purposes, we think it better to
build cellars separate from the residence, (an arrangement much more
healthful, as well as convenient and desirable.) For the preservation in
warm weather of meats, milk, and other perishable articles, a
refrigerator, or, better still, an ice closet, can be set up at one end
of the laundry. This can be supplied with ice through an outside door,
and is infinitely better and more convenient than any cellar or spring
house.
The kitchen is without a fire-place, but is provided with a ventilator
in the chimney near the ceiling. The cooking may be done by a stove,
which, if properly contrived, is one of the most effective ventilators,
and preferred by many housekeepers for all kitchen purposes. Or a range
can be placed in the chimney, if desirable, or a fire-place, if it
should be considered indispensable.
[Illustration: FIG. 41.--_Elevation._]
[Illustration: FIG. 42.--_Plan._]
A door under the stair-way separates the front and rear halls, and
disconnects the kitchen apartments from the rest of the house. All the
doors opening into the rear hall should be hung with the new spiral
spring butt, the best door spring that has come under our notice. It is
entirely concealed, and works without a fault.
The closets in the dining room are finished to give an interior
appearance of a bay window. The dining room and the two chambers above,
are intended to be heated by a fire-place heater set in the chimney,
thus warming three rooms, at pleasure, with one fire. A small stove in
the library will keep that comfortable. Or, in place of all this, the
whole house may be heated by any of the approved modes, in the use of
hot air, hot water, or steam.
[Illustration: FIG. 43.--_First Floor._]
The library, parlor, or general living room in a country house--and we
like these rooms in one--should have the cheerful, healthful luxury of
an open fire-place, and we know of no more elegant, cleanly and
effective contrivance for this purpose than Dixon's low down,
Philadelphia Grate, in which wood, coal, or any other fuel can be used
equally well. The advantages combined in this grate are these:--the
fire flat on the hearth, and radiating the heat from an oval cast iron
backing: cold air supplied from below, and ashes, dirt, &c., shaken down
into an ash-pit in the cellar, beneath the grate. We speak confidently
of this invention, after a trial of two winters, and do not hesitate to
say that, compared with this, the ordinary grate is worthless. Large
rooms can be kept perfectly comfortable in the coldest weather, without
heat from any other source.
[Illustration: FIG. 44.--_Second Floor._]
This house is supplied with a cistern, constructed with the utmost care,
ten feet in diameter, and ten feet deep, holding 6,000 gallons of
water. The roof is of slate, and the rain-water is therefore of great
purity, free from color, and the woody taste usually imparted to it by
falling on a shingle roof.
At the laundry sink is one of West's lift and force pumps, which draws
the water from the cistern. This pump is a simple and effective affair,
and works with remarkable ease, is always in order, and may be
considered one of the best pumps known. We have given it a thorough
trial, and speak from personal knowledge.
On one side of the laundry sink there is also one of Kedzie's large size
rain-water filters, which holds several pails full of water, and which
we commend as an admirable contrivance for the purposes intended. It
possesses every merit claimed for it, and after more than a year's use,
the water drawn from it is of such crystal purity and sweetness as to
attract the attention of all to whom it is offered.
No well has been dug or contemplated on the premises connected with this
cottage. About one-half the cost of a well has been expended upon a
slate roof, a large and carefully-constructed cistern, West's pump and
Kedzie's filter--the other half has been safely invested in U. S.
7-30's, and instead of hoisting water fifty feet, for household, garden,
and stable uses, the turn of a croton water tap is not more easy and
convenient, and the finest flow of a silver spring of soft water, is
not more beautiful than that delivered by West's pump and Kedzie's
filter, which supplies for all purposes of the cottage, stable, and
garden, water unsurpassed in its pleasant and wholesome properties.
Those who seek the most convenient and reliable modes of procuring the
purest and sweetest water, will find this to be the least costly and the
most satisfactory.
For a compact, convenient cottage, with every facility for doing the
work of the household, with the least number of steps--in which all the
essential modern conveniences are introduced, without the modern prices
attached--for a low-priced, elegant cottage, we do not know of any plan
more appropriate than this.
In the construction of this house a bay-window was introduced in front,
in the parlor, (Fig. 43.) and the veranda was made half octagon. These
alterations add much to exterior appearance, as well as to the capacity
of the parlor. On the side of the parlor and dining room an addition is
contemplated, which will relieve the apparent want of variety which now
exists, and essentially improve the external appearance.
DESIGN No. 14.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.--_Cottage Stable._]
[Illustration: FIG. 46.--_Plan._]
Fig. 45 shows a design for a cottage stable, giving accommodations for a
horse and cow, two carriages, one or two wagons, and two tons of hay.
The main building is so proportioned, that three more stalls may be
added, and it may then become the wing of a larger building, to be used
for carriage room and other purposes. For those who keep but one horse
and cow, this design affords abundant room.
DESIGN No. 15.
ICE HOUSE.
It is only within a few years that ice, in all seasons, has been classed
among the necessaries of life. In large cities it is indispensable, but
the cool spring-house or cellar in the country impresses many with the
idea that ice, in summer months, can only be regarded as a luxury. Along
with other conveniences in keeping with this progressive age, the
ice-house has its place, and a country-seat of any pretensions is not
complete without it.
It is simple in construction, and can be built very cheaply of rough
materials, or made as elaborate as is desirable. It forms a pretty
feature about the grounds, if treated with some architectural taste.
[Illustration: FIG. 47.--_Ice House._]
[Illustration: FIG. 48.--_Ground Plan._]
[Illustration: FIG. 49.--_Perspective._]
DESIGN No. 16.
This design, with the accompanying plans sufficiently explain themselves
without minute description. The arrangement, as will be seen upon
examination, secures a very large amount of accommodation, with good
sized rooms, and ample store and closet conveniences. The building is
compact, and at the same time presents a pleasing variety in its
exterior appearance. By carrying up the library, two dressing rooms, for
the two principal chambers, may be secured.
When one contemplates building, and has put his thoughts and wishes into
a tangible form, the leading question asked is, how much will all this
cost? for what price in dollars and cents, without extras or additional
charges of any kind, can this dwelling be erected in a good and
workmanlike manner, in accordance with plans and specifications, and
satisfactory to the owner? This is precisely the plain English of what a
business man wants to know; for we hold that it is right and proper,
that every one should look right through all the connected links and
complications that require a considerable expenditure of money, and see
that he lands carefully in the place anticipated. To start with the
intention of disbursing $5,000, and wind up with an expenditure of
$12,000, is not only annoying in a money point of view, but an
impeachment of one's judgment and good sense, not pleasant to hear
outsiders reflect on; for however much one might wish to shift the
responsibility on others, it is one of those things that time will
always place where it belongs. As long as men consider the arts of
designing and constructing buildings to be of no special importance, or
that they are qualified, without instruction or experience, to practice
them, expensive blunders will naturally result, and sooner or later it
will be discovered that such wisdom is dearly bought. There are many,
however, who prefer to manage their building affairs thus, and who can
only learn more agreeable and less expensive modes by actual experience;
some do it from ignorance, some from supposed economy, and others from
the supposition that they are best qualified.
The design for a house or other building, and a plan of the interior
arrangement of each floor, prepared by a professional man who makes such
things the business of his life, is now very generally admitted by
intelligent men to be essential; but the management or superintendence
of the work by the party who has studied and designed it, does not seem
quite so apparent. An architect prepares the drawings for a dwelling to
cost $5,000; now whether it actually will cost $5,000, $8,000 or
$10,000, in the hands of another superintendent, is an unanswered
problem. A prevailing folly which we find very general, is to suppose
that all men can build the same house, in all places, for precisely the
same amount of money; and but few are willing to admit that they, of all
others, are not the most competent to carry through the whole business
of building at the lowest figure. Some must find out in the most
expensive manner, that the profession of an architect, or the skill of a
builder, can only be attained by long years of careful application.
[Illustration: FIG. 50.--_Basement Plan._]
[Illustration: FIG. 51.--_First Floor._]
What a house will cost to build is a question always asked with the
utmost simplicity, and a prompt and reliable answer always expected, and
if not forthcoming at once, gives rise to a suspicion that one's
professional ability is not of the most thorough character. There are
so many conditions to govern results in house building, that even an
approximate estimate may fall very wide of the mark. Two houses may be
built from the same plan, and we may also say, from the same
specifications; one by day's work, and the other by contract, and they
shall be so exactly alike in all respects when finished, that an
unprofessional observer would detect no difference, and yet one may
honestly cost just double the amount in money expended on the other;
even the same builder may build two houses precisely alike in all
respects, and yet the cost be quite unequal. On one site stone may be
easily obtained, a sand bank on the premises, a running brook close at
hand, saw mills, brick yards, and lime kilns within moderate distances
and accessible by good roads. The other site may be quite the reverse in
situation, or have some decided disadvantages in obtaining some very
necessary materials. We once built a fine stone house where stone was
abundant and close at hand, but all the lumber and brick had to be
hauled thirteen miles over hilly roads; the cost of that house has
nothing to do with the cost of a similar house in a different locality.
[Illustration: FIG. 52.--_Second Floor._]
A competent business superintendent has a great deal to do with the cost
of a house; one that understands all the tricks of every building trade,
that knows the market well, and the value and quality of all building
materials, and where inferior workmanship and materials can be used to
an equal advantage with those of first class. To slight work and yet do
it justice; to give it all the strength and endurance necessary,
requires one of skillful acquirements. A mechanic may persuade a
proprietor into many a long day's work, as it pays well to nurse good
jobs when other work is slack, but an architect who understands such
things would save the value of useless work.
The cost of a house depends on a well-studied plan; this plan does not
consist alone in the arrangement of rooms, windows, doors, etc., but
involves a careful study of the anatomy of construction. One may save by
a proper distribution of timbers, as well as make a very great saving by
the arrangement of rooms. Good management is of the greatest importance,
not only as a matter of economy, but as securing the best class of
workmanship, and the most judicious use of materials. Good or bad
management produces the same results in building operations as in war or
any other pursuit.