Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/545

 FARM HOUSES AND FARMERIES IN VARIOUS STYLES. 5'2l farm-yard are two cattle-sheds, g g; a stable, h, with 1 2 stalls, 5 feet wide each ; a tool- house, i ; straw-house, k ; barn, I ; shed, m ; hen-house, n ; pigsty, o ; cart-shed, p ; calf-house, q ; and cow-house, r, 20 feet by 18 feet, for ten cows. The construction is the same as in the preceding, and in the two following, Designs. 1046. Estimate. The cubic con- tents of the house are 19,200 feet ; which, at 3c?. per foot, is ^240: those of the farmery are 97,370 feet; which, at Urf., is ^608 : lis. : 3c?. 1047. Remarks. The arrange- ment of the farm buildings is compact, though we do not approve of the cattle-sheds fi-onting the N.E. ; and as much is made of the house as could well be desired : the only circumstance in it that we regi-et is, the placing of the fire- places in the outside walls. But this plan of putting the fire-flues in the outside walls is not without some advantages : it renders thick walls wholly unnecessary in the in- terior of the building; in which case, as all the divisions between the rooms can be formed of quar- tering, lathed and plastered, such houses necessarily cost much less than those which, having thick out- side walls at any rate, have also one or more thick walls inside, for the sake of the chinmeys. It may also farther be observed, that, in countries where fuel is abundant, it is a matter of much less consequence whether the fireplaces are in the out- side walls, or in the interior ones. In most parts of the Highlands of Scotland the fuel is peat, and hitherto it has been to be had in abundance. The idea of incurring any expense in construction therefore, with a ^-iew to saving fuel, is entirely out of the ques- tion. Equally so, we might add, is the idea of incurring expense to free the occupant from the risk of a smoky house ; peat smoke being familiar to every inliabitant of the Highlands, more especially to the farmers and the working classes. In fact, houses regularly built of stone and lime mortar, are, comparatively speaking, luxurious in that part of the island. The reader who wishes full information on this subject, may con- sult Loch's Account of the Improvements made on the Marquess of Stafford's Estates in Sutherland and Ross-shire. In this work it is stated that numbers of the inhabitants refused to live in the new houses prepared for them, and others required some years to be reconciled to the clean and cold appearance which they alleged was produced by the want of smoke.