Rural Architecture

L >> Lewis Falley Allen >> Rural Architecture

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[Transcriber's Note:

Typographical errors and inconsistencies are listed at the end of
the text.]

* * * * *

RURAL ARCHITECTURE.

Being A Complete Description
of
FARM HOUSES, COTTAGES,
and
OUT BUILDINGS,

Comprising

Wood Houses, Workshops, Tool Houses, Carriage
and Wagon Houses, Stables, Smoke and Ash Houses,
Ice Houses, Apiary or Bee House, Poultry Houses,
Rabbitry, Dovecote, Piggery, Barns and Sheds
for Cattle, &c., &c., &c.

Together With

Lawns, Pleasure Grounds and Parks; The Flower,
Fruit and Vegetable Garden. Also, Useful and
Ornamental Domestic Animals for the
Country Resident, &c., &c., &c.

Also,
The Best Method Of
CONDUCTING WATER INTO CATTLE YARDS AND HOUSES.

BY LEWIS F. ALLEN.

Beautifully Illustrated.

New York:
C. M. SAXTON,
Agricultural Book Publisher.
1852.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852.
By LEWIS F. ALLEN,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the
Southern District of New York.

Stereotyped by
JEWETT, THOMAS AND CO.
Buffalo, N.Y.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The writer of these pages ought, perhaps, to apologize for attempting a
work on a subject, of which he is not a _professional_ master, either in
design or execution. In the science of Farm buildings he claims no
better knowledge than a long practical observation has given him. The
thoughts herein submitted for the consideration of those interested in
the subject of Farm buildings are the result of that observation, added
to his experience in the use of such buildings, and a conviction of the
inconveniences attending many of those already planned and erected.

Nor is it intended, in the production of this work, to interfere with
the labors of the professional builder. To such builder all who may be
disposed to adopt any model or suggestion here presented, are referred,
for the various details, in their specifications, and estimates, that
may be required; presuming that the designs and descriptions of this
work will be sufficient for the guidance of any master builder, in their
erection and completion.

But for the solicitation of those who believe that the undersigned could
offer some improvements in the construction of Farm buildings for the
benefit of our landholders and practical farmers, these pages would
probably never have appeared. They are offered in the hope that they may
be useful in assisting to form the taste, and add to the comfort of
those who are the main instruments in embellishing the face of our
country in its most pleasing and agreeable features--the American
Farmer.

LEWIS F. ALLEN.

Black Rock, N.Y. 1851.

NOTE.--For throwing the Designs embraced in these pages into their
present artistic form, the writer is indebted to Messrs. Otis & Brown,
architects, of Buffalo, to whose skill and experience he takes a
pleasure in recommending such as may wish instruction in the plans,
drawings, specifications, or estimates relating to either of the designs
here submitted, or for others of any kind that may be adapted to their
purposes.

L. F. A.

CONTENTS.

Page.
PREFATORY, 9
INTRODUCTORY, 13
General Suggestions, 19
Style of Building--Miscellaneous, 23
Position of Farm Houses, 29
Home Embellishments, 32
Material for Farm Buildings, 37
Outside Color of Houses, 42
A Short Chapter on Taste, 48
The Construction of Cellars, 54
Ventilation of Houses, 56
Interior Accommodation of Houses, 65
Chimney Tops, 68
Preliminary to our Designs, 69
DESIGN I. A Farm House, 72
Interior Arrangement, 75
Ground Plan, 76
Chamber Plan, 77
Miscellaneous, 80
As a Tenant House, 81
DESIGN II. Description, 84
Ground and Chamber Plans, 89
Interior Arrangement, 90
Miscellaneous Details, 95
DESIGN III. Description, 101
Ground and Chamber Plans, 105
Interior Arrangement, 106
Miscellaneous, 111
DESIGN IV. Description, 114
Interior Arrangement, 118
Ground Plan, 119
Chamber Plan, 120
Surrounding Plantations, Shrubbery, Walks, &c., 125
Tree Planting in the Highway, 129
DESIGN V. Description, 133
Interior Arrangement, 135
Ground Plan, 136
Chamber Plan, 142
Construction, Cost of Building, &c., 147
Grounds, Plantations, and Surroundings, 149
DESIGN VI. A Southern, or Plantation House, 154
Interior Arrangement, 159
Chamber Plan, 162
Carriage House, 163
Miscellaneous, 163
Lawn and Park Surroundings, 166
An Ancient New England Family, 168
An American Homestead of the Last Century, 169
Estimate of Cost of Design VI, 172
DESIGN VII. A Plantation House, 175
Interior Arrangement, 176
Ground Plan, 177
Chamber Plan, 178
Miscellaneous, 179
LAWNS, GROUNDS, PARKS, AND WOODS, 181
The Forest Trees of America, 183
Influence of Trees and Forests on the Character of men, 184
Hillhouse and Walter Scott as Tree Planters, 187
Doctor Johnson, no Rural Taste, 188
Fruit Garden--Orchard, 194
How to lay out a Kitchen Garden, 197
Flowers, 202
Wild Flowers of America, 203
Succession of Home Flowers, 206
FARM COTTAGES, 208
DESIGN I, and Ground Plan, 213
Interior Arrangement 214
DESIGN II, and Ground Plan, 216
Interior Arrangement, 216
DESIGN III, and Ground Plan, 220
Interior Arrangement, 220
DESIGN IV, and Ground Plan, 226
Interior Arrangement, 229
Cottage Outside Decoration, 231
Cottages on the Skirts of Estates, 233
House and Cottage Furniture, 235
APIARY, OR BEE HOUSE, 246
View of Apiary and Ground Plan, and description, 249
Mode of Taking the Honey, 252
AN ICE HOUSE, 258
Elevation and Ground Plan, 260
AN ASH HOUSE AND SMOKE HOUSE, 264
Elevation and Ground Plan, 265
THE POULTRY HOUSE, 267
Elevation and Ground Plan, 269
Interior Arrangement, 271
THE DOVECOTE, 275
Different Varieties of Pigeons, 278
A PIGGERY, 279
Elevation and Ground Plan, 281
Interior Arrangement, 282
Construction of Piggery--Cost, 283
FARM BARNS, 286
DESIGN I. Description, 291
Interior Arrangement, and Main Floor Plan, 293
Underground Plan, and Yard, 295
DESIGN II. Description, 300
Interior Arrangement, 303
Floor Plan, 304
BARN ATTACHMENTS, 308
RABBITS, 311
Mr. Rotch's Description of his Rabbits, 313
Rabbits and Hutch, 315
Dutch, and English Rabbits, 318
Mode of Feeding, 319
Mr. Rodman's Rabbitry, Elevation, and Floor Plan, 322
Explanations, 323
Loft or Garret, Explanation, 324
Cellar plan, Explanation, 325
Front and Back of Hutches, and Explanation, 326
DAIRY BUILDINGS, 330
Cheese Dairy House, 330
Elevation of Dairy House and Ground Plan, 331
Interior Arrangement, 333
The Butter Dairy, 335
THE WATER RAM, 237
Figure and Description, 338
GRANARY--Rat-proof, 343
IMPROVED DOMESTIC ANIMALS, 345
Short Horn Bull, 349
Short Horn Cow, 352
Devon Cow and Bull, 355
Southdown Ram and Ewe, 359
Long-wooled Ram and Ewe, 362
Common Sheep, 364
Remarks, 365
WATERFOWLS, 370
The African Goose, 370
China Goose, 371
Bremen Goose, 372
A WORD ABOUT DOGS, 374
Smooth Terrier, 377
Shepherd Dog, 381

PREFATORY.

This work owes its appearance to the absence of any cheap and popular
book on the subject of Rural Architecture, exclusively intended for the
farming or agricultural interest of the United States. Why it is, that
nothing of the kind has been heretofore attempted for the chief benefit
of so large and important a class of our community as our farmers
comprise, is not easy to say, unless it be that they themselves have
indicated but little wish for instruction in a branch of domestic
economy which is, in reality, one of great importance, not only to their
domestic enjoyment, but their pecuniary welfare. It is, too, perhaps,
among the category of neglects, and in the lack of fidelity to their own
interests which pervades the agricultural community of this country,
beyond those of any other profession--for we insist that agriculture,
in its true and extended sense, is as much a profession as any other
pursuit whatever. To the reality of such neglects they have but of late
awaked, and indeed are now far too slowly wheeling into line for more
active progress in the knowledge pertaining to their own advancement. As
an accessory to their labors in such advancement, the present work is
intended.

It is an opinion far too prevalent among those engaged in the more
active occupations of our people,--fortified indeed in such opinion,
by the too frequent example of the farmer himself--that everything
connected with agriculture and agricultural life is of a rustic and
uncouth character; that it is a profession in which ignorance, as they
understand the term, is entirely consistent, and one with which no
aspirations of a high or an elevated character should, or at least need
be connected. It is a reflection upon the integrity of the great
agricultural interest of the country, that any such opinion should
prevail; and discreditable to that interest, that its condition or
example should for a moment justify, or even tolerate it.

Without going into any extended course of remark, we shall find ample
reason for the indifference which has prevailed among our rural
population, on the subject of their own domestic architecture, in the
absence of familiar and practical works on the subject, by such as have
given any considerable degree of thought to it; and, what little thought
has been devoted to this branch of building, has been incidentally
rather than directly thrown off by those professionally engaged in the
finer architectural studies appertaining to luxury and taste, instead of
the every-day wants of a strictly agricultural population, and, of
consequence, understanding but imperfectly the wants and conveniences of
the farm house in its connection with the every-day labors and
necessities of farm life.

It is not intended, in these remarks, to depreciate the efforts of those
who have attempted to instruct our farmers in this interesting branch of
agricultural economy. We owe them a debt of gratitude for what they have
accomplished in the introduction of their designs to our notice; and
when it is remarked that they are insufficient for the purposes
intended, it may be also taken as an admission of our own neglect, that
we have so far disregarded the subject ourselves, as to force upon
others the duty of essaying to instruct us in a work of which we
ourselves should long ago have been the masters.

Why should a farmer, because he _is_ a farmer, only occupy an uncouth,
outlandish house, any more than a professional man, a merchant, or a
mechanic? Is it because he himself is so uncouth and outlandish in his
thoughts and manners, that he deserves no better? Is it because his
occupation is degrading, his intellect ignorant, his position in life
low, and his associations debasing? Surely not. Yet, in many of the
plans and designs got up for his accommodation, in the books and
publications of the day, all due convenience, to say nothing of the
respectability or the elegance of domestic life, is as entirely
disregarded as if such qualities had no connection with the farmer or
his occupation. We hold, that although many of the practical operations
of the farm may be rough, laborious, and untidy, yet they are not, and
need not be inconsistent with the knowledge and practice of neatness,
order, and even elegance and refinement within doors; and, that the due
accommodation of the various things appertaining to farm stock, farm
labor, and farm life, should have a tendency to elevate the social
position, the associations, thoughts, and entire condition of the
farmer. As the man himself--no matter what his occupation--be lodged and
fed, so influenced, in a degree, will be his practice in the daily
duties of his life. A squalid, miserable tenement, with which they who
inhabit it are content, can lead to no elevation of character, no
improvement in condition, either social or moral, of its occupants. But,
the family comfortably and tidily, although humbly provided in their
habitation and domestic arrangements, have usually a corresponding
character in their personal relations. A log cabin, even,--and I speak
of this primitive American structure with profound affection and regard,
as the shelter from which we have achieved the most of our prodigious
and rapid agricultural conquests,--may be so constructed as to speak an
air of neatness, intelligence, and even refinement in those who inhabit
it.

Admitting, then, without further argument, that well conditioned
household accommodations are as important to the farmer, even to the
indulgence of luxury itself, when it can be afforded, as for those who
occupy other and more active pursuits, it is quite important that he be
equally well instructed in the art of planning and arranging these
accommodations, and in designing, also, the various other structures
which are necessary to his wants in their fullest extent. As a question
of economy, both in saving and accumulating, good and sufficient
buildings are of the first consequence, in a pecuniary light, and when
to this are added other considerations touching our social enjoyment,
our advancement in temporal condition, our associations, our position
and influence in life, and, not least, the decided item of national good
taste which the introduction of good buildings throughout our extended
agricultural country will give, we find abundant cause for effort in
improvement.

It is not intended in our remarks to convey the impression that we
Americans, as a people, are destitute of comfortable, and, in many
cases, quite convenient household and farm arrangements. Numerous
farmeries in every section of the United States, particularly in the
older ones, demonstrate most fully, that where our farmers have taken
the trouble to _think_ on the subject, their ingenuity has been equal,
in the items of convenient and economical arrangement of their dwellings
and out-buildings, to their demands. But, we are forced to say, that
such buildings have been executed, in most cases, with great neglect of
_architectural_ system, taste, or effect; and, in many instances, to the
utter violation of all _propriety_ in appearance, or character, as
appertaining to the uses for which they are applied.

The character of the farm should be carried out so as to _express_
itself in everything which it contains. All should bear a consistent
relation with each other. The former himself is a plain man. His family
are plain people, although none the less worthy, useful, or exalted, on
that account. His structures, of every kind, should be plain, also, yet
substantial, where substance is required. All these detract nothing from
his respectability or his influence in the neighborhood, the town, the
county, or the state. A farmer has quite as much business in the field,
or about his ordinary occupations, with ragged garments, out at elbows,
and a crownless hat, as he has to occupy a leaky, wind-broken, and
dilapidated house. Neither is he any nearer the mark, with a ruffled
shirt, a fancy dress, or gloved hands, when following his plough behind
a pair of _fancy_ horses, than in living in a finical, pretending house,
such as we see stuck up in conspicuous places in many parts of the
country. All these are out of place in each extreme, and the one is as
absurd, so far as true propriety is concerned, as the other. A fitness
of things, or a correspondence of one thing with another, should always
be preserved upon the farm, as elsewhere; and there is not a single
reason why propriety and good keeping should not as well distinguish it.
Nor is there any good cause why the farmer himself should not be a man
of taste, in the arrangement and architecture of every building on his
place, as well as other men. It is only necessary that he devote a
little time to study, in order to give his mind a right direction in all
that appertains to this department. Or, if he prefer to employ the
ingenuity of others to do his planning,--which, by the way, is, in most
cases, the more natural and better course,--he certainly should possess
sufficient judgment to see that such plans be correct and will answer
his purposes.

The plans and directions submitted in this work are intended to be of
the most practical kind; plain, substantial, and applicable, throughout,
to the purposes intended, and such as are within the reach--each in
their kind--of every farmer in our country. These plans are chiefly
original; that is, they are not copied from any in the books, or from
any structures with which the writer is familiar. Yet they will
doubtless, on examination, be found in several cases to resemble
buildings, both in outward appearance and interior arrangement, with
which numerous readers may be acquainted. The object, in addition to our
own designs, has been to apply practical hints, gathered from other
structures in use, which have seemed appropriate for a work of the
limited extent here offered, and that may serve to improve the taste of
all such as, in building useful structures, desire to embellish their
farms and estates in an agreeable style of home architecture, at once
pleasant to the eye, and convenient in their arrangement.

INTRODUCTORY.

The lover of country life who looks upon rural objects in the true
spirit, and, for the first time surveys the cultivated portions of the
United States, will be struck with the incongruous appearance and style
of our farm houses and their contiguous buildings; and, although, on
examination, he will find many, that in their interior accommodation,
and perhaps relative arrangement to each other, are tolerably suited to
the business and convenience of the husbandman, still, the feeling will
prevail that there is an absence of method, congruity, and correct taste
in the architectural structure of his buildings generally, by the
American farmer.

We may, in truth, be said to have no architecture at all, as exhibited
in our agricultural districts, so far as any correct system, or plan is
concerned, as the better taste in building, which a few years past has
introduced among us, has been chiefly confined to our cities and towns
of rapid growth. Even in the comparatively few buildings in the modern
style to be seen in our farming districts, from the various requirements
of those buildings being partially unknown to the architect and builder,
who had their planning--and upon whom, owing to their own inexperience
in such matters, their employers have relied--a majority of such
dwellings have turned out, if not absolute failures, certainly not what
the necessities of the farmer has demanded. Consequently, save in the
mere item of outward appearance--and that, not always--the farmer and
cottager have gained nothing, owing to the absurdity in style or
arrangement, and want of fitness to circumstances adopted for the
occasion.

We have stated that our prevailing rural architecture is discordant in
appearance; it may be added, that it is also uncouth, out of keeping
with correct rules, and, ofttimes offensive to the eye of any lover of
rural harmony. Why it is so, no matter, beyond the apology already
given--that of an absence of cultivation, and thought upon the subject.
It may be asked, of what consequence is it that the farmer or small
property-holder should conform to given rules, or mode, in the style and
arrangement of his dwelling, or out-buildings, so that they be
reasonably convenient, and answer his purposes? For the same reason that
he requires symmetry, excellence of form or style, in his horses, his
cattle, or other farm stock, household furniture, or personal dress.
It is an arrangement of artificial objects, in harmony with natural
objects; a cultivation of the sympathies which every rational being
should have, more or less, with true taste; that costs little or nothing
in the attainment, and, when attained, is a source of gratification
through life. Every human being is bound, under ordinary circumstances,
to leave the world somewhat better, so far as his own acts or exertions
are concerned, than he found it, in the exercise of such faculties as
have been given him. Such duty, among thinking men, is conceded, so far
as the moral world is concerned; and why not in the artificial? So far
as the influence for good goes, in all practical use, from the building
of a temple, to the knocking together of a pig-stye--a labor of years,
or the work of a day--the exercise of a correct taste is important, in a
degree.

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