Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/130

 Building With Cobblestones

���Some of the most beautiful houses in the world are built from stone carved only by the hand of Nature in the mills of the moraines through the grinding of ice-floes

century after century

��COBBLESTONES combined with cement are used extensively in the A\'est for all kinds of ornamental and utilitarian construction. From orna- mental urns and corner markers to foun- tains, bandstands, bridges and even such large structures as two-story houses, churches and even an observatory, may all be found in California, built of the cobbles that are removed in clearing.

The resulting edifices are of remarkably artis- tic appearance. The econ- omy of this type of build- ing is well shown by the fact that in the citrus belt near Los Angeles thou- sands of tons of cobble- stones are dug up by the Hindu laborers and piled in great heaps between the groves. These cob- ble piles are often fifteen feet high and twenty feet broad, and extend for many rods between the cleared fields. They are literally cheaper than dirt. It is but natural that many of the best speci- mens of cobble construc- tion are fovmd in that dis-

���Boulders and cobblestones always inake attractive flow- er -urns

��trict. The rounded stones merely en- cumber the ground and most owners are willing to help pay for their removal to a building site.

In the citrus section may be found an observatory in the grounds of Pomona College, which is a splendid bit of archi- tecture.

Near by is one of the most attractive homes in the W^est, a great rambling bungalow of field stones, which has for its main interior feature a sun parlor or glass-roofed pa- tio. This is a most at- tractive detail of a charm- ing home, with ferns and flowers growing as in a conservatory, b u t in a temperature suited for its use as a general living room.

In Azuza may be found a decidedly artistic cob- blestone church, with only a few roughly- squared stones used in connection with the nat- ural shaped boulders and field stones. San Diego has two large two-story houses formed of this

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