Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/295

 EXTERIOR FINISHING OF COTTAGES. !271 oy strawiing canvass, gauze, or fine wire clotli, on three or more light wooden frames; and, liy hanging these iiorizontally to a frame of the size of the window, the small frames being connected on the oi)posite side to that on which they are hinged, by two slips of wood or by iron rods, they may be moved sympathetically to any angle, so as to keep out the sun. The slips of wood or iron rods must be screwed on so as to allow them to have free action at the head, otherwise they will not fall down. Blinds of this sort are kept in their position by a line fixed to the outer edge of the ujjper frame, which passes through a pulley at the upper end of the large frame, and being brought down, either on the inside of the window, or on the outside, is fastened as usual by a hook. It is evident that blinds of this description may also be hinged ver- tically ; and if only two are used for each window, and these are hinged back to back to a style in the centre, one half of the window might always be uncovered, because before twelve o'clock it would be only requisite to keep that blind shut which was next the east, and after twelve o'clock that one which was next the west. Such blinds, however, would be chiefly applicable to windows facing the south. If, instead of being hinged back to back in the middle of the window, they were hinged to the side styles, and fur- nished with set-ofF hinges, they would form shutter blinds of a simple and cheap description. Roller outside blinds, such as are used to shade shop windows, are capable of a variety of useful and ornamental applications on the exterior of cottages. 560. IFire outside Blinds have not hitherto been used ; but the very fine wire clotli now applied as inside blinds, might, we think, in some cases be advantageously placed outside, either as leaf or sympathetic frame blinds, § 559, or as shutter blinds. The great advantage of this wire cloth is, that it admits a view of what is vitliout from within, while it completely excludes a view of what is within from without. Where a cottage is placed by the roadside, such blinds are very desirable, not only on these accounts, but also because they keep out the dust ; and they are not less so where the windows on the south side of a house command a fine prospect. Much of the enjoyment of some rooms, in country houses, is lost during the finest weather of summer, from the necessity of keeping down the blinds ; but, with wire blinds, the heat and great part of the light might be excluded, and yet the prospect be not only enjoyed, but even im- proved in effect, by the darkness of the room acting on the eye like the tube of a telescope. They should be painted to preserve them from the weather ; and they may, in addition, be ornamented with landscapes, figures, or other objects ; or, in the case of a country tradesman, in a roadside cottage, they may exhibit the owner's name, or the implements or products of his trade. 561. Projecting fixed Canopies are sometimes used for giving consequence to windows ; and they might be occasionally employed in cottages. They are framed in wood, with paneled soffits, moulded cornices, and sometimes ornamented friezes, and they are supported by brackets. Figs. 496, 497, 498, 499, and 500, are canopies of this 496 497 498 499 500 sort. They may very properly be put over doors, and when they cannot be formed in solid timber, a plain kind of trellis-work may in some cases be introduced, for the purpose of supporting an ornamental climber. 562. Other architectural modes of ornamenting the exteriors of either old or new Cottages might be mentioned but we have said enough to lead the reader into a train of thought on the subject, and to point out to him to wliat parts of a plain cottage he ought chiefly to direct his attention, when his object is to ornament it. 563, Ornamenting the exterior of Cottages by the productions of Horticulture, and by Landscape- Gardening, is a subject which has occasionally occupied our attention in the course of the preceding chapter ; and that of laying out the grounds round ornamental cottages and villas will be treated of in a future division of the work. We may here repeat, what we have before stated incidentally, that we by no means advise much to be attempted in the way of ornamenting cottages in the country by means of vegetation,