Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/662

 638 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE or draining tile, or one of Peake's semicylindrical tiles, placed in it as a drain when the valley is filled with snow. Fig. 1217 is a single gutter with a common pantile placed in it in an inverted position, for the same purpose. It may be observed that these tiles, in summer, will be useful, by protecting the lead from the intense heat of the sun, which in many situations produces cracks, and causes the lead to turn up at the edges. Mr. Lawrence continues: — " With regard to the cost of the two cottages which were executed, fig. 1 207, I consider the shortest and the most satisfactory plan will be, to send you a copy of the specification, showing the quantity and quality of the work done for the money. You are aware that, in general, a mere statement that a building cost a given sum is very unsatis- factory, without knowing exactly what the contract comprised ; for there is often much subsequent expense not provided for, . and the mode in which the building is finished makes all the difference in the cost. In this case you will see the contract provided for every thing, except timber, and cast-iron frames for the windows. The price in the contract was £•■ 199. The bill for the cast-iron frames was ^"9: 15s. There being no timber cut suflSciently seasoned, the contractor was to furnish such as might be required, except joists and rafters, which were cut out of larch poles, worth, perhaps, ^^10 or j£^12 to sell; and his bill, including shelves, &c., amounted to £''40. The entire cost may be estimated at £"'260. The old cottages need not affect the account ; for they furnished nothing in value exceeding that of the labour employed in their removal. The using of cast-iron window frames is a notion of my own. I have for some time got them made by Stothert of Bath, and much prefer them to wood or lead. Where they are used, the stonework should be left somewhat smaller in the opening than the intended size when finished ; and it should be worked to its proper size when the frames are ready to be put in, as they are sometimes r lightly warped in the casting, and a better and closer fit is thus insured. Design V., fig. 12II, would have cost £10 more than Design IV. In situations where effect is of more consequence than a few pounds more or less, and two cottages are built side by side, according to Design IV., a gable should be thrown up in the centre, to relieve the length of roof: barge-boards may be introduced in these gables, and a rustic porch set round each door, formed by four small trees about six inches in diameter, or of larch poles with the bark on, connected on the sides by the crooked branches of oak, which are found at the barking season to be too rough for stripping." 1351. Specification and Agreement. To take down the two old cottages, and in the stead thereof to erect, build, and complete for habitation, two new cottages on the site to be fixed on by William Lawrence, Esq., in a substantial and workmanlike manner, according to the following specification ; that is to say : — to dig out and form foundations, cellars, and privy vaults, to be walled ; to build the two new cottages according to the plans and elevations hereunto annexed, and to provide, at the expense of John Jordan