Rural Architecture

L >> Lewis Falley Allen >> Rural Architecture

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[Illustration]

An illustration in point: Fifteen years ago we purchased and removed
into a most substantial and well-built stone house, the chimneys of
which were constructed with open fireplaces, and the flues carried up
separately to the top, where they all met upon the same level surface,
as chimneys in past times usually were built, thus. Every fireplace in
the house (and some of them had stoves in,) smoked intolerably; so much
so, that when the wind was in some quarters the fires had to be put out
in every room but the kitchen, which, as good luck would have it, smoked
less--although it did smoke there--than the others. After balancing the
matter in our own mind some time, whether we should pull down and
rebuild the chimneys altogether, or attempt an alteration; as we had
given but little thought to the subject of chimney draft, and to try an
experiment was the cheapest, we set to work a bricklayer, who, under our
direction, simply built over each discharge of the several flues a
separate top of fifteen inches high, in this wise: The remedy was
perfect. We have had no smoke in the house since, blow the wind as it
may, on any and all occasions. The chimneys _can't_ smoke; and the whole
expense for four chimneys, with their twelve flues, was not twenty
dollars! The remedy was in giving each outlet a _distinct_ current of
air all around, and on every side of it.

[Illustration]

CHIMNEY TOPS.

Nothing adds more to the outward expression of a dwelling, than the
style of its chimneys. We have just shown that independent chimney tops
pass off their smoke more perfectly, than when only partitioned inside
to the common point of outlet. Aside from the architectural beauty which
a group of chimney flues adds to the building, we have seen that they
are really useful, beyond the formal, square-sided piles so common
throughout the country. They denote good cheer, social firesides, and a
generous hospitality within--features which should always mark the
country dwelling; and more particularly that of the farmer.

The style and arrangement of these chimney groups may be various, as
comporting with the design of the house itself; and any good architect
can arrange them as fitted to such design. Our illustrations will show
them of different kinds, which are generally cheap in construction, and
simple, yet expressive in their arrangement.

PRELIMINARY TO OUR DESIGNS.

We have discussed with tolerable fullness, the chief subjects connected
with farm buildings--sufficiently so, we trust, to make ourselves
understood as desiring to combine utility with commendable ornament in
all that pertains to them. The object has been, thus far, to give hints,
rather than models, in description. But as the point to which we have
endeavored to arrive will be but imperfectly understood without
illustration, we shall submit a few plans of houses and outbuildings,
as carrying out more fully our ideas.

We are quite aware that different forms or fashions of detail and
finish, to both outside and inside work, prevail among builders in
different sections of the United States. Some of these fashions are the
result of climate, some of conventional taste, and some of education.
With them we are not disposed to quarrel. In many cases they are
immaterial to the main objects of the work, and so long as they please
the taste or partialities of those adopting them, are of little
consequence. There are, however, certain matters of _principle_, both in
general construction and in the detail of finish, which should not be
disregarded; and these, in the designs submitted, and in the
explanations which follow, will be fully discussed, each in its place.
The particular form or style of work we have not directed, because, as
before remarked, we are no professional builder, and of course free from
the dogmas which are too apt to be inculcated in the professional
schools and workshops. We give a wide berth, and a free toleration in
all such matters, and are not disposed to raise a hornet's nest about
our ears by interfering in matters where every tyro of the drafting
board and work-bench assumes to be, and probably may be, our superior.
All minor subjects we are free to leave to the skill and ingenuity of
the builder--who, fortunately for the country, is found in almost every
village and hamlet of the land.

Modes and styles of finish, both inside and outside of buildings,
change; and that so frequently, that what is laid down as the reigning
fashion to-day, may be superseded by another fashion of
to-morrow--immaterial in themselves, only, and not affecting the shape,
arrangement, and accommodation of the building itself, which in these,
must ever maintain their relation with the use for which it is intended.
The northern dwelling, with its dependencies and appointments, requires
a more compact, snug, and connected arrangement than that of the south;
while one in the middle states may assume a style of arrangement between
them both, each fitted for their own climate and country, and in equally
good taste. The designs we are about to submit are intended to be such
as may be modified to any section of the country, although some of them
are made for extremes of north and south, and are so distinguished.
Another object we have had in view is, to give to every farmer and
country dweller of moderate means the opportunity of possessing a cheap
work which would guide him in the general objects which he wishes to
accomplish in building, that he may _have his own notions_ on the
subject, and not be subject to the caprice and government of such as
profess to exclusive knowledge in all that appertains to such subjects,
and in which, it need not be offensive to say, that although clever in
their way, they are sometimes apt to be mistaken.

Therefore, without assuming _to instruct_ the professional builder, our
plans will be submitted, not without the hope that he even, may find in
them something worthy of consideration; and we offer them to the owner
and future occupant of the buildings themselves, as models which he may
adopt, with the confidence that they will answer all his reasonable
purposes.

DESIGN I.

We here present a farm house of the simplest and most unpretending kind,
suitable for a farm of twenty, fifty, or an hundred acres. Buildings
somewhat in this style are not unfrequently seen in the New England
States, and in New York; and the plan is in fact suggested, although not
copied, from some farm houses which we have known there, with
improvements and additions of our own.

[Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 73-74.]

This house may be built either of stone, brick, or wood. The style is
rather rustic than otherwise, and intended to be altogether plain, yet
agreeable in outward appearance, and of quite convenient arrangement.
The body of this house is 40x30 feet on the ground, and 12 feet high,
to the plates for the roof; the lower rooms nine feet high; the roof
intended for a pitch of 35deg--but, by an error in the drawing, made
less--thus affording very tolerable chamber room in the roof story. The
L, or rear projection, containing the wash-room and wood-house, juts out
two feet from the side of the house to which it is attached, with posts
7-1/2 feet high above the floor of the main house; the pitch of the roof
being the same. Beyond this is a building 32x24 feet, with 10 feet
posts, partitioned off into a swill-room, piggery, workshop, and
wagon-house, and a like roof with the others. A light, rustic porch,
12x8 feet, with lattice work, is placed on the front of the house, and
another at the side door, over which vines, by way of drapery, may run;
thus combining that sheltered, comfortable, and home-like expression so
desirable in a rural dwelling. The chimney is carried out in three
separate flues, sufficiently marked by the partitions above the roof.
The windows are hooded, or sheltered, to protect them from the weather,
and fitted with simple sliding sashes with 7x9 or 8x10 glass. Outer
blinds may be added, if required; but it is usually better to have these
_inside_, as they are no ornament to the outside of the building, are
liable to be driven back and forth by the wind, even if fastenings are
used, and in any event are little better than a continual annoyance.

[Illustration: GROUND PLAN.]

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

The front door, over which is a single sash-light across, opens into a
hall or entry 9x7 feet, from which a door opens on either side into a
sitting-room and parlor, each 16x15 feet, lighted by a double, plain
window, at the ends, and a single two-sash window in front. Between the
entrance door and stove, are in each room a small pantry or closet for
dishes, or otherwise, as may be required. The chimney stands in the
center of the house, with a separate flue for each front room, into
which a thimble is inserted to receive the stovepipes by which they are
warmed; and from the inner side of these rooms each has a door passing
to the kitchen, or chief living room. This last apartment is 22x15 feet,
with a broad fireplace containing a crane, hooks, and trammel, if
required, and a spacious family oven--affording those homely and
primitive comforts still so dear to many of us who are not ready to
concede that all the virtues of the present day are combined in a
"perfection" cooking stove, and a "patent" heater; although there is a
chance for these last, if they should be adopted into the peaceful
atmosphere of this kitchen.

[Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN.]

On one side of the kitchen, in rear of the stairs, is a bedroom, 9x8
feet, with a window in one corner. Adjoining that, is a buttery,
dairy-room, or closet, 9x6 feet, also having a window. At the inner end
of the stairway is the cellar passage; at the outer end is the chamber
passage, landing above, in the highest part of the roof story. Opposite
the chamber stairs is a door leading to the wash-room. Between the two
windows, on the rear side of the kitchen, is a sink, with a waste pipe
passing out through the wall. At the further corner a door opens into a
snug bedroom 9x8 feet, lighted by a window in rear; and adjoining this
is a side entry leading from the end door, 9x6 feet in area; thus making
every room in the house accessible at once from the kitchen, and giving
the greatest possible convenience in both living and house-work.

The roof story is partitioned into convenient-sized bedrooms; the
ceiling running down the pitch of the roof to within two feet of the
floor, unless they are cut short by inner partitions, as they are in the
largest chamber, to give closets. The open area in the center, at the
head of the stairs, is lighted by a small gable window inserted in the
roof, at the rear, and serves as a lumber room; or, if necessary, a bed
may occupy a part of it.

In rear of the main dwelling is a building 44x16 feet, occupied as a
wash-room and wood-house. The wash-room floor is let down eight inches
below the kitchen, and is 16x14 feet, in area, lighted by a window on
each side, with a chimney, in which is set a boiler, and fireplace, if
desired, and a sink in the corner adjoining. This room is 7-1/2 feet in
height. A door passes from this wash-room into the wood-house, which is
30x16 feet, open in front, with a water-closet in the further corner.

The cellar is 7-1/2 feet in height--and is the whole size of the house,
laid with good stone wall, in lime mortar, with a flight of steps
leading outside, in rear of the kitchen, and two or more sash-light
windows at the ends. If not in a loose, gravelly, or sandy soil, the
cellar should be kept dry by a drain leading out on to lower ground.

The building beyond, and adjoining the wood-house, contains a
swill-house 16x12 feet, with a window in one end; a chimney and boiler
in one corner, with storage for swill barrels, grain, meal, potatoes,
&c., for feeding the pigs, which are in the adjoining pen of same size,
with feeding trough, place for sleeping, &c., and having a window in one
end and a door in the rear, leading to a yard.

Adjoining these, in front, is a workshop and tool-house, 16x10 feet,
with a window at the end, and an entrance door near the wood house. In
this is a joiner's work-bench, a chest of working tools, such as saw,
hammer, augers, &c., &c., necessary for repairing implements, doing
little rough jobs, or other wood work, &c., which every farmer ought to
do for himself; and also storing his hoes, axes, shovels, hammers, and
other small farm implements. In this room he will find abundant
rainy-day employment in repairing his utensils of various kinds, making
his beehives, hencoops, &c., &c. Next to this is the wagon-house, 16x14
feet, with broad doors at the end, and harness pegs around the walls.

The posts of this building are 10 feet high; the rooms eight feet high,
and a low chamber overhead for storing lumber, grain, and other
articles, as may be required. Altogether, these several apartments make
a very complete and desirable accommodation to a man with the property
and occupation for which it is intended.

On one side and adjoining the house, should be the garden, the
clothes-yard, and the bee-house, which last should always stand in full
sight, and facing the most frequented room--say the kitchen--that they
can be seen daily during the swarming season, as those performing
household duties may keep them in view.

MISCELLANEOUS.

In regard to the surroundings, and approach to this dwelling, they
should be treated under the suggestions already given on these subjects.
This is an exceedingly _snug_ tenement, and everything around and about
it should be of the same character. No pretension or frippery whatever.
A neat garden, usefully, rather than ornamentally and profusely
supplied; a moderate court-yard in front; free access to the end door,
from the main every-day approach by vehicles--not on the highway, but on
the farm road or lane--the business entrance, in fact; which should also
lead to the barns and sheds beyond, not far distant. Every feature
should wear a most domestic look, and breathe an air of repose and
content. Trees should be near, but not so near as to cover the house.
A few shrubs of simple kind--some standing roses--a few climbing ones;
a syringa, a lilac, a snow ball, and a little patch or two of flowers
near the front porch, and the whole expression is given; just as one
would wish to look upon as a simple, unpretending habitation.

It is not here proposed to give working plans, or estimates, to a
nicety; or particular directions for building any design even, that we
present. The material for construction best suited to the circumstances
and locality of the proprietor must govern all those matters; and as
good builders are in most cases at hand, who are competent to give
estimates for the cost of any given plan, when the material for
construction is once settled, the question of expense is readily fixed.
The same sized house, with the same accommodation, may be made to cost
fifty to one hundred per cent. over an economical estimate, by the
increased style, or manner of its finish; or it may be kept within
bounds by a rigid adherence to the plan first adopted.

In western New York this house and attachments complete, the body of
stone, the wood-house, wagon-house, &c., of wood, may be built and well
finished in a plain way for $1,500. If built altogether of wood, with
grooved and matched vertical boarding, and battens, the whole may be
finished and painted for $800, to $1,200. For the lowest sum, the lumber
and work would be of a rough kind, with a cheap wash to color it; but
the latter amount would give good work, and a lasting coat of mineral
paint both outside and within.

As a _tenant_ house on a farm of three, four, or even five hundred
acres, where all who live in it are laborers in the field or household,
this design may be most conveniently adopted. The family inhabiting it
in winter may be well accommodated for sleeping under the main roof,
while they can at all seasons take their meals, and be made comfortable
in the several rooms. In the summer season, when a larger number of
laborers are employed, the lofts of the carriage or wagon-house and
work-shop may be occupied with beds, and thus a large share of the
expense of house building for a very considerable farm be saved. Luxury
is a quality more or less consulted by every one who builds for his
_own_ occupation on a farm, or elsewhere; and the tendency in building
is constantly to expand, to give a higher finish, and in fact, to
over-build. Indeed, if we were to draw the balance, on our _old_ farms,
between scantily-accommodated houses, and houses with needless room in
them, the latter would preponderate. Not that these latter houses either
are too good, or too convenient for the purpose for which they were
built, but they have _too much_ room, and that room badly appropriated
and arranged.

On a farm proper, the whole establishment is a _workshop_. The shop _out
of doors_, we acknowledge, is not always _dry_, nor always warm; but it
is exceedingly well aired and lighted, and a place where industrious
people dearly love to labor. Within doors it is a work-shop too. There
is always labor and occupation for the family, in the _general business_
of the farm; therefore but little room is wanted for either luxury or
leisure, and the farm house should be fully occupied, with the
exception, perhaps, of a single room on the main floor, (and that not a
large one,) for some regular business purpose. All these accommodated,
and the requirements of the house are ended. Owners of _rented_ farms
should reflect, too, that expensive houses on their estates entail
expensive repairs, and that continually. Many tenants are careless of
highly-finished houses. Not early accustomed to them, they
misappropriate, perhaps, the best rooms in the house, and pay little
attention to the purposes for which the owner designed them, or to the
_manner_ of using them. It is therefore a total waste of money to build
a house on a tenant estate anything beyond the mere comfortable wants of
the family occupying it, and to furnish the room necessary for the
accommodation of the crops, stock, and farm furniture, in the barns and
other out-buildings--all in a cheap, tidy, yet substantial way.

So, too, with the grounds for domestic purposes around the house. A
kitchen garden, sufficient to grow the family vegetables--a few plain
fruits--a _posey_ bed or two for the girls--and the story is told. Give
a larger space for these things--anything indeed, for elegance--and ten
to one, the plow is introduced, a corn or potato patch is _set out_,
field culture is adopted, and your choice grounds are torn up, defaced,
and sacrificed to the commonest uses.

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, a cheerful, home-expression may be
given, and should be given to the homestead, in the character and
construction of the buildings, be they ever so rough and homely. We can
call to mind many instances of primitive houses-_log_ cabins even--built
when none better could be had, that presented a most comfortable and
life-enjoying picture--residences once, indeed, of those who swayed "the
applause of listening senates," but under the hands of taste, and a
trifle of labor, made to look comfortable, happy, and sufficient. We
confess, therefore, to a profound veneration, if not affection, for the
humble farm house, as truly American in character; and which, with a
moderate display of skill, may be made equal to the main purposes of
life and enjoyment for all such as do not aspire to a high display, and
who are content to make the most of moderate means.

DESIGN II.

This is the plan of a house and out-buildings based chiefly on one which
we built of wood some years since on a farm of our own, and which, in
its occupation, has proved to be one of exceeding convenience to the
purposes intended. As a farm _business_ house, we have not known it
excelled; nor in the ease and facility of doing up the house-work within
it, do we know a better. It has a subdued, quiet, unpretending look; yet
will accommodate a family of a dozen workmen, besides the females
engaged in the household work, with perfect convenience; or if occupied
by a farmer with but his own family around him, ample room is afforded
them for a most comfortable mode of life, and sufficient for the
requirements of a farm of two, to three or four hundred acres.

[Illustration: FARM HOUSE. Pages 85-86]

This house is, in the main body, 36x22 feet, one and a half stories
high, with a projection on the rear 34x16 feet, for the kitchen and its
offices; and a still further addition to that, of 26x18 feet, for
wash-room. The main body of the house is 14 feet high to the plates; the
lower rooms are 9 feet high; the roof has a pitch of 35deg from a
horizontal line, giving partially-upright chambers in the main building,
and _roof_ lodging rooms in the rear. The rear, or kitchen part, is one
story high, with 10 feet posts, and such pitch of roof (which last runs
at right angles to the main body, and laps on to the main roof,) as will
carry the peak up to the same air line. This addition should retreat 6
inches from the line of the main building, on the side given in the
design, and 18 inches on the rear. The rooms on this kitchen floor are 8
feet high, leaving one foot above the upper floor, under the roof, as a
chamber garret, or lumber-room, as may be required. Beyond this, in the
rear, is the other extension spoken of, with posts 9 feet high, for a
buttery, closet, or dairy, or all three combined, and a wash-room; the
floor of which is on a level with the last, and the roof running in the
same direction, and of the same pitch. In front of this wash-room, where
not covered by the wood-house, is an open porch, 8 feet wide and 10 feet
long, the roof of which runs out at a less angle than the others--say
30deg from a horizontal line. Attached to this is the wood-house,
running off by way of L, at right angles, 36x16 feet, of same height
as the wash-room.

Adjoining the wood-house, on the same front line, is a building 50x20
feet, with 12 feet posts, occupied as a workshop, wagon-house, stable,
and store-room, with a lean-to on the last of 15x10 feet, for a piggery.
The several rooms in this building are 8 feet high, affording a good
lumber room over the workshop, and hay storage over the wagon-house and
stable. Over the wagon-house is a gable, with a blind window swinging on
hinges, for receiving hay, thus relieving the long, uniform line of
roof, and affording ample accommodation on each side to a pigeon-house
or dovecote, if required.

The style of this establishment is of plain Italian, or bracketed, and
may be equally applied to stone, brick, or wood. The roofs are broad,
and protect the walls by their full projection over them, 2-1/2 feet.
The small gable in the front roof of the main dwelling relieves it of
its otherwise straight uniformity, and affords a high door-window
opening on to the deck of the veranda, which latter should be 8 or 10
feet in width. The shallow windows, also, over the wings of the veranda
give it a more cheerful expression. The lower _end_ windows of this part
of the house are hooded, or sheltered by a cheap roof, which gives them
a snug and most comfortable appearance. The veranda may appear more
ornamental than the plain character of the house requires; but any
superfluous work upon it may be omitted, and the style of finish
conformed to the other. The veranda roof is flatter than that of the
house, but it may be made perfectly tight by closer shingling, and
paint; while the deck or platform in the centre may be roofed with zinc,
or tin, and a coat of sanded paint laid upon it. The front chimney is
plain, yet in keeping with the general style of the house, and may be
made of ordinary bricks. The two parts of the chimney, as they appear in
the front rooms, are drawn together as they pass through the chamber
above, and become one at the roof. The kitchen chimneys pass up through
the peaks of their respective roofs, and should be in like character
with the other.

[Illustration: CHAMBER PLAN. GROUND PLAN.]

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT.

The front door of this house opens into a small entry or hall, 9x6 feet,
which is lighted by a low sash of glass over the front door. A door
leads into a room on each side; and at the inner end of the hall is a
recess between the two chimneys of the opposite rooms, in which may be
placed a table or broad shelf to receive hats and coats. On the left is
a parlor 22x15 feet, lighted on one side by a double window, and in
front by a single plain one. The fireplace is centrally placed on one
side of the room, in the middle of the house. On one side of the
fireplace is a closet, three feet deep, with shelves, and another closet
at the inner end of the room, near the kitchen door; or this closet may
be dispensed with for the use of this parlor, and given up to enlarge
the closet which is attached to the bedroom. Another door opens directly
into the kitchen. This parlor is 9 feet high between joints. The
sitting-room is opposite to the parlor, 19x15 feet, and lighted and
closeted in nearly the same manner, as will be seen by referring to the
floor plan.

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