Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/105

 COTTAGE DWELLINGS IN VARIOUS STYLES. 81 in the elevation of this cottage is, that the chimney stack rises from the roof without any preparation, and is far from being sufficiently high. Were this feature properly altered, the effect would be very different, fig. 141. 167. Aspect. Much of the comfort enjoyed by the inhabitants of every dwelling will de- pend on the aspect of the windows. Where a house has only windows on one side, as we have before observed, (§ 24) the best aspect is the south-east, on account of the greater mildness of the wind from that quarter, the infrequency of south-easterly storms, and the cheerfulness of the morning sun. The least desirable aspect for a house having the windows and the door all on one side, is the north ; because at such windows the sun will only enter during a few mornings and evenings before and after midsummer: the next worst aspect is, perhaps, the south-west ; because the winds from that quarter are frequently boisterous, and are almost always accompanied with rain. If the entrance is unavoidably on the south-west side, then the door should be protected by a close porch, having its door opening to the soutli : if on the north-west or north-east, tlie entrance should be similarly protected by porches, having their doors opening to the west or east. 168. Construction. The walls are supposed to be of stone, and the roof to be covered with Tuscan or Grecian tiles (figs. 23 and 24, § 50). The windows are surrounded by what are commonly called facings, that is by architraves without mouldings ; and the sills are sup- ported by small blocks. The window frames may each be in three parts, opening inwards, with bold perpendicular astragals (from astragalus, the ankle bone ; a bar with a round moulding resembling the end of that bone), and lighter horizontal ones. The chimney top may be covered by two pieces of flag-stone, or two large slates, each chimney flue having two holes on the sides of the stack for the smoke to escape. The water which falls on the roof, is collected by a gutter, formed in the manner shown by fig. 142, g, which gutter ought to be lined with lead ; beneath this is the cantilever, h. The end of the wall plate is shown at i, on which the binders, k, of the rafters, I, rest, and to which they are fitted. The poleplate, m, is for the purpose of supporting the rafVers. 169. General Estimate. Cubic _ contents, 8,316 feet, at Gd. per foot, £207 : 18s.; at 4i., £138 : 12s.7and at 3rf., £103 : 19«. 170. The Garden contains three roods. We have shown the house placed in the middle of a garden, and this garden is divided into seven compartments. The two small ones on the entrance front of the house, n, n, may be devoted to flowers, and herbs for seasoning, with a few rhubarb plants for tarts, and one or two hops. These compartments may be surrounded by a line of gooseberries, currants, raspberries, roses, and other useful and ornamental shrubs, three or four feet apart. The compartment, o, behind the house, is shown in three equsil divisions, and is supposed to be cropped with strawberries, for the sake of selling the fruit. The remaining four compartments, p, q, r, s, two on each side of the house, will stand thus : — (1) potatoes; (2) peas, beans, kidney beans, and other leguminous crops; (3) the cabbage tribe ; and (4) turnips, carrots, parsnips, onions, and other root crops. These crops may suc- ceed each other in the above order in every compartment, and the rotation may thus go on for ever. The dung should be applied with the first and third crops. The surrounding hedge may be of plums or sloes, pruned, but not clipped, in order that the plants may produce fruit for sale, for tarts, or for wine. The fruit trees shown at the corners of the compart- ments may be chiefly apples, with one or two pears and cherries. The privy, dung-pit, and well, already noticed, are supposed to be exterior to the garden in the fuel plantation, and therefore are not shown in the plan. 171. Remarks. On examining this dwelling, we find that though it is deficient in point of comfort, from having the privy at a distance, it is convenient in respect to in-door enjoy- ments, from having four light closets in addition to the two apartments which constitute the main part of the dwelling. It must not be forgotten, however, that the living-room, a, must also be used as a wash-house, and back kitchen ; and that the room, b, having a bed in it, can never be considered, by an English labourer, as a comfortable sitting-room. Nothing, indeed, short of three rooms, viz., a kitchen, back kitchen, and bed-room, can be deemed sufficient for the comfort of even a labourer and his wife without children. We know a case in which a cobbler and his wife lived in such a cottage as that represented in the present Design, and