Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/638

 514 The Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal. [Feb., variety of incidents, more satisfactory, however, in a near view, than when it is seen from a distance. The exposure of an elevated site may be placed to its disadvantage for a per- manent residence. The cool, airy and agreeable summer situation may become exceedingly bleak and uncomfortably chilly during winter. The difficulty of toiling up a steep ascent becomes, through repetition, both tedious and tiresome. The tender varieties of flow- ers, choice shrubs and trees, as well as the more useful products of the fruit and vegetable garden, are less likely to flourish, when freely exposed to sharp winds, although, with regard to these, great modification of rigorous local cli- mates may be effected, hy judiciously placed hedges of the more robust ever- green trees. The partiality of most persons to locate their dwelling on the highest point of their property, without much regard either to comfort or convenience, is an error that they generally discover after it is too late to be remedied. I have often been astonished at the con- tracted points, mere dots of surface, upon which_jt was proposed to erect a stately mansion, where there was scarcely sufficient base to accommodate the foundation of a dove cot. Cutting down the point to a level platform, so far as to adapt it to the plan of the structure, does not obviate the difficulty of connection with the acute slope of the ground ; it is always expensive to get a satisfactory road to a building in such a situation ; and it is isolated from its surroundings almost beyond hopes of connection by the growth of trees during a lifetime. Exposed on all sides to every rude blast, the proprietor is ready to exclaim with Catullus: " My cottage, Furius, is not exposed to the blasts of the south, nor to those of the west, nor to the raging north, nor to the southeast ; but to fifteen thousand two hundred blasts. Oh, that horrid and pestilent wind.'' Perhaps the best position for a house is that of a somewhat level plateau at a moderate elevation, the ground sloping from it in all directions, more rapidly in front than back, where the descent is merely sufficient for surface drainage, then rising as it recedes so as to form a protection from the northeast, with a northerly continuation to the northwest. If the rising ground in the rear is covered with a timber growth it will be all the more acceptable. Back of the house a position may be selected for the culture of vegetables and small fruits, as also a locality for stables and other buildings, which will alwaj T s receive full benefit of the shelter of the higher ground on the north. A position for greenhouses, graperies, and other garden structures may be found either on the east or west of the house, placed at proper distance back of its front line, as becomes subor- dinate structures. This will leave an ample space in front for open lawn, ornamental trees and shrubberies, taking especial care that no dense plantations be introduced, to intercept a free circulation of west and south-west winds, so grateful during summer. If the neighborhood affords desirable views, a path may lead to a rustic structure, or prospect tower, situ- ated at the most favorable point on the higher ground. This will be found iu the end a more judicious arrangement, than that of erecting an expensive prospect tower on the dwelling-house, examples of which may occasionally be seen, so entirely out of all proportion to the size and pretensions of the building, as might lead one to surmise, that the prin- cipal occupation of the inhabitants was that of looking out of the windows. The following sketch will convey an idea of the arrangement that I have attempt- ed to describe : The adaptation of the site to contem- plated improvements, should be care- fully studied. I can recall an instance illustrative of this neglect. A small, one-story farm-house, occupied a posi-