Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/503

 1868.] Cheap and Beautiful Dwelling -Houses in Rural Districts. 409 houses cost from $10,000 to $20,000, and are, of course, very substantial and ornamental. The building stone, about Boston, is generally of the granite for- mation, or the dense, black flint, very hard and cold ; and good bricks are scarce and costly ; hence wood has been used for building purposes, very gener- ally, in the countiy, instead of brick and stone. These Boston frame houses are constructed with great economy of lum- ber and labor ; and are covered with two coats of boards, or siding, and one coat of hair mortar, besides the ordinary in- side lathing and plastering. Even in that cold climate, they are warm, dry, and in all respects admirably adapted to their purpose. In Philadelphia, the cheapness and excellence of our stone, brick sand mar- ble, heretofore, have induced the univer- sal use of these materials for building purposes, until a frame house was looked upon with a good degree of contempt, as a sort of sham house, unfit for a per- son of any means to live in ; and scarcely as property, in a respectable sense. But stone, brick and marble-masons' work, and house lots, have risen in prices to such a point, that we shall be compelled to get rid of some of our prejudices against frame houses, and look to the rural districts for relief. There are, however, two serious ob- jections to frame houses, or wooden houses, in the neighborhood of Philadel- phia, which must be overcome before they can be adopted, very generally, with profit and comfort. The first : The fact that our long season of hot sun- shine has a powerful effect upon all siding and boards of any width exposed to the sun and rain, even when the best of seasoned wood is employed. The second objection to wooden houses is: That painting is very costly ; and the paints now sold are generally very poor, and soon fade, and burn off and blister under the influence of our hot snns, making it necessary to repaint every three or four years. One method of avoiding the wooden siding and the painting has been sug- gested b}' the writer of this article, and practically tested on several large build- ings. It is to cover the frame houses, after being weather-boarded, with a coat of mortar, and to finish this mortar with a colored and water-proof composition, which chemically unites with the mor- tar, and renders painting unnecessary. This is literally a frame house, rough- cast, and colored to resemble stone, by a water-proof and frost-proof composi- tion. This composition is not a mastic, but a chemical paint, made soluble in water and applied with a brush, when it instantly hardens, and will positively stand sun and frost, unchanged in color, and unbroken in surface. This composition is not a mere wash, but a chemical comj)ound of natural sub- stances having a strong affinity for mortar ; and is applied in a particular manner, so as to avoid the objections, which may be urged against all the known mixtures of mastics, &c. The composition is also very cheap ; and can be applied by any person who can use a whitewash brush. It will soon be offered for sale, in quantity, so that all can obtain it at a very low figure. Another method of avoiding the use of paint, on frame houses, in the coun- tiy, has been proposed, viz. : to cover a large portion of the walls with piazzas, and to use for siding narrow floor boards, stained or partially grained, and oiled. Under piazzas, such a finish would be very durable ; and could be made, by se- lecting wood of handsome grain, or by skilful staining say with burnt sienna, very beautiful. i The styles of architecture adapted to houses in the rural districts have been much improved by builders in the vicin- ity of Northern cities. The French roof is a marked feature in most of the later cottages ; and some new methods of working it have recently been intro- duced, which have the merit of novelty at least. The bay-window carried up