Page:Rural Hours.djvu/428

Rh buildings of twice their size, and, altogether, they belong to the ponderous style.

It is amusing, in passing from one hamlet to the other, to observe how imitative the good people are; for there is generally some one original genius in every neighborhood who strikes out a new variation upon one of the styles alluded to, and whether the novelty be an improvement, or an unsightly oddity, he is pretty sure of being closely followed by all who build about the same time. One often sees half a dozen new houses in close neighborhood precisely on the same pattern, however grotesque it may chance to be. This imitative disposition shows itself also in the coloring of the houses; for of course here, as elsewhere throughout the country, they change their colors every few years with the last coat of paint. Many are white; many others yellow and orange; some are red, others brown; green, blue, and pink may also be found in the county; but these last shades are more rare, not having taken generally. Two or three years since, black was the hue of the season, but at present gray is all the fashion. It is by no means uncommon to find a house under different shades, front and rear, and I have seen a small farm-house with a different color on each of its four walls; yellow, red, brown, and white. We have also seen red houses with brimstone-colored blinds. But this Harlequin fancy seems to be subsiding, and as it has already been observed, sober gray and drabs are the colors in favor to-day, as though all the houses in the land were turning Quaker.

The “rural Gothic” and “Elizabethan,” which have grown rapidly into favor about the suburbs of large towns, have scarcely as yet made any impression here. There are, probably, not more