Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/504

 410 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [Dec, to the second and third stories ; and finishing with the upper portion of the French roof, in octagon form, is also a new feature of the Boston cottage archi- tecture, worthy of notice. I have just built a cottage, of au irreg- ular figure, only one story high, with a French roof, and ornamented window heads and porches, balcony, &c, con- structed with a light "balloon frame" (in Western style), rough-cast and col- ored, as above suggested, which is open to the inspection and criticism of the curious. For myself, I feel satisfied with several of its qualities, viz. : Its goodness, cheapness and beauty. The roof is an important and costly part of a country house, especially when the house occupies a good deal of space on the ground, which it should do. For roofing, I have found no sub- stance equal in cheapness and excellence, to the plastic slate, a composition of ground slate and gas-tar. As a protec- tion against rain it seems to be more perfect than tin. It is very light in weight ; it costs only half as much as tin or slate ; it is very durable, and un- affected by sun or frost. I have several thousands ofsquare feet of it on my buildings. Now having considered the construc- tion of cheap rural houses, the next question that arises is, where shall we find cheap land near the city ? I an- swer, for one, that at Fisher's Lane De- pot, on the North Pennsylvania Rail- road, only twelve minutes ride from Fifth and Berks streets, and very near the upper end of Broad street, in the Twenty-second ward, where there are upwards of three hundred acres of ex- cellent land, now offered for cottage lots and gardens at a very small advance upon the price of farming land ; and competent builders stand ready to erect small houses, by contract ; and to build cottages for sale, in case they are wanted. In the immediate vicinity of these lands, there are upwards of five hundred acres more of good cottage sites, which can be had, at no distant day, for the same purpose. It is be- lieved, that really beautiful cottages, of a superior quality, can be built after the Boston style of frame houses, for $5,000 to $7,000,. including half an acre, or even an acre, of garden attached to each cot- tage. On the subject of "rough-casting," it may be useful to remark, that a very large proportion of the work done in the vicinity of Philadelphia has been veiy imperfect in its character. A good job (and there are many such) has been gen- erally the result of accident. Very little study or care has been given to the sub- ject by masons. But when the work is done by a master of the art, using good lime and the right kind of sand, in proper proportions, rough-casting can be made almost as beautiful as ham- mered stone, and quite as unchangeable in its surface. STYLE AND COMFORT, In general domestic architecture, do not always absolutely agree. Style demands a subordination of parts, which compels additional elevation of the front or main building, thus causing communication, with the back building, or the wings, to be by means of the half-landings of the main staircases. Comfort, on the other hand, requires all the floors to be upon the same general level, so that there shall be neither descent nor ascent, of so much as a single step, in traversing all parts of any particular story. But style, even in the interior, calls for grades, represented in the ancient dais, the modern platform, or in the steps or stairs belonging to all times.