The American Cottage Builder: a Series of Designs, Plans, And
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"LI B HAR.Y OF THL UN IVER.SITY OF ILLINOIS 728.6 B87 CPU The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN oc 1 8 1995 s7? MAR 1 9 199? MAY 3l '97? Ft 1 1997 J' HI! DEC ! 2 15/8 APR 7 IS 9 f tfVS? MAY 3 cm L161 — O-1096 m*m coxmr prnrTtR.vx cottaht;. O>o p. 235.J THE AMERICAN COTTAGE BUILDER: A SERIES OF DESIGNS, PLAINS, AND SPECIFICATIONS FROM $200 TO $20,000. FOR HOMES FOR THE PEOPLE BY JOHN BULLOCK, ARCHITECT, CIVIL ENGINEER, MECHANICIAN, AND EDITOR OP '•THE RUDIMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING," ETC., ETC. NEW EDITION —RE VI SED, NEW YORK STRINGER & TOWNSEND, 222 BROADWAY, 1854. > Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, BY STRINGER & TOWNSEND, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. TO REV. ALEXANDER L. HAMILTON, D. D., PRESIDENT AND PROFESSOR OF MORAL, MENTAL, AND NATURAL SCIENCE IN ANDREW COLLEGE, TREXTOX. TEN'XESSEE, THIS BOOK INSCRIBED,13 /S A Testimony of Respect for HIS ABILITIES, HIS V I B T C E 8. AND IES WARM FRIEXDSEIP. vi B $7 PREFACE. The object of this work is to furnish designs of cottages, from a twenty-five dollar cottage to a twenty-five thousand dollar palace—giving estimates as to cost, furnishing plans and specifications, and treating upon the rudiments of the Arts called into ex- ercise by the practice of Cottage Building. This work is published uniform with the revised edition of " The Rudiments of Architecture and Building," edited by the undersigned and published by Stringer & Townsend, and such portions of that vol- ume as might properly : have been incorporated in this have been omitted. The chapter on Warming and Ventilation is edited from Tomilson, and that on Gardening, from Glenny. Wherever, in other portions of the work, we have availed ourselves of the labors of others, we have given them proper credit. Although the book is intended to be of a practical character, I thought it not improper, in the chapter entitled " Generally," to show the position and the difficulties of the Artist. In that chapter, and the one entitled " The Artist's Calling," I have discussed Art and Artists, and their influence on the progress PREF A C E. of civilization, giving to them their proper position as a motor, rather than an attendant of Progress. I hold that the Architect, to attain eminence in his calling, in this age, must recogmzu and act upon the principles there incnlnatpd JOHN BULLOCK. » CONTEXTS. .« , _ pa as CHAPTER I. Generally 11 CHAPTER II. The Various Parts 15 CHAPTER III. Terra Del Fuego Cottage 35 CHAPTER IV. Prairie Cottage 37 CHAPTER V. The Farm Cottage 43 CHAPTER VI. The Village Cottage 49 CHAPTER VII. Italian Cottage 50 CHAPTER VIII. Thatched Cottage 51 CHAPTER IX. Cottage of the Society for Improving the Condi- tion of the Poor 53 CHAPTER X. Warming and Ventilation 54 CHAPTER XI. Model Cottage 186 CHAPTER XII. Bubal Cottage 1,-9 CHAPTER XIII. Octagon Cottage 192 CONTEXTS. CHAPTER XIY. Drainage 195 CHAPTER XY. Rural Homes 210 CHAPTER XYI. Paint and Color 225 CHAPTER XYH. Suburban Residences 235 CHAPTER XYIII. Landscape Gardening 245 CHAPTER XIX. Cost 316 CHAPTER XX. Two Residences 318 CHAPTER XXI. The Artist's and Artisan's Calling . 322 DESIGNS. 1. FRONTISPIECE .... PAGE 2. BIRD COTTAGE 11 3. PRAmiE COTTAGE . 25 4. TERRA DEL FUEGO COTTAGE 35 5. FARM COTTAGE 49 6. VILLAGE COTTAGE . 73 7. ITALIAN COTTAGE . 97 8. THATCHED COTTAGE 121 9. COTTAGE OF THE SOCIETY FOR IMPROV ING THE CONDITION OF THE POOR 169 10. OCTAGON COTTAGE 181 11. MODEL COTTAGE 193 12. RURAL HOME No. 1. 205 13. RURAL COTTAGE 217 , 14. RURAL HOME No. 2. 219 15. RURAL HOME No. 4, North Elevation 221 16. SUBURBAN OCTAGONAL COTTAGE . 238 17. RURAL HOME No. 4, South Elevation 253 18. RURAL HOME No. 4, West Elevation 272 19. RURAL HOME No. 1—Plan 273 20. RURAL HOME No. 3 . 288 21. BYZANTINE COTTAGE . 301 22. GOTHIC SUBURBAN RESIDENCE 323 ZW lu addition to the above, are about sixty Plana and Illustrations of the Designs, in detail. THE A if ERIC AN COTTAGE BUILDER. CHAPTER I. GENERALLY. To decide vihcrt to build a cottage is quite as difficult a task as to tell how to build it. The location of a house adds as much to its beauty and convenience, as does its style or arrangement. The bird which builds its nest, is one of nature's own Architects, and practices its truest art. It first seeks a proper locality, and usually selects a place at such au height from the ground as to I e secure from disturbing animals. It builds in the fork of a tree, or the beams of a bam, so as to be unlikely to be moved by the winds ; it seeks protection from tl • storms under the over- hanging leaves, the roof of the barn, or perhaps the thatch on the hay- it is that the bird shows its architectural stack ; and thus the skill in selecting a spot token to build a home. For the purposes for which the bird desires to use its nest, for means objects which it wishes to gain, it perfectly adapts its 10 its end. 1* 12 THE AMERICAN COTTAGE BUILDER. We do not understand the object of Architecture to be to tell the bird that he should no longer be a bird living in trees, or to say to the monks on Mont Blanc, "your loca- tion is bad, cold, dreary and uuinviting." Neither is it her province to say to the rustic, " thou should'st be a civilian;" or to the civilian, "thou should'st seek a rural home ;" or even to the savage, "thou should'st build a house after the manner of the civilized nations." The Architect must first know the objects desired, before he can decide as to the proper locality or style. He comes to the monks of St. Bernard, and they say, " we wish to stay on Alpine heights, amid continued storms and eternal snow, to practice the rites and to perform the duties of our holy religion, and relieve the suffering and weary that pass this way." Some men might answer that more good could be done in other localities, or in the practice of other reli- gions. Not so the true Architect, He seizes upon the monk's aspirations and desires, selects a locality as near as practicable to where' the passing traveler would be exposed to the most hardships and dangers, and be most likely to need assistance. He then, in that same vicinity, selects the spot least exposed to the storms and the tempests, and commences his edifice. Thus it is, that the desired object or end must first be made known to the Architect, and it is then his province to practice that peculiar and God-like attribute of seeing the end from the beginning, and adapting his means to the consummation of his purpose. It is not Architectural to say to the residents of the granite hills of New Hampshire, " you can find a more pleasant home, a more beautiful and rural residence in the everglades of Florida;" or to say to the gold-seeker upon the banks of the Sacramento, "more beautiful, pleasant and commodious is the cottage home of your mother, on the banks of the St, Lawrence." But it is Architectural, to go to the granite hills and build for its residents homes convenient for the objects which its THE AMERICAN' COTTAGE BUILDER. 13 occupants shall desire, and easy of access to and for the business which each lias decided for himself to pursue. Every nation and people have some peculiar systems or principles of government, of ethics, of religion, which form a part of the public mind, morals and sentiments. They control and subdue the passions, the aspirations and the desires; they develop themselves, in a more or less modified form, in every feature and ramification of society; in modes of living, and in the Architecture of the country. The Archi- tects, the Painters and the Sculptors of former ages and countries, have developed these feelings, in most instances, in a perfect manner. We say perfect, not because the prin- ciple or religion developed was perfect, but because it was fully and perfectly made manifest and shown. Take, for instance, Angclo's painting of The Last Judgment—in which, by the side of the Supreme Judge and his angels, sits the Blessed Virgin. The Infidel may say there is no last judg- ment, and the Protestant will say that Mary will at that day be like any other creature ; but not so thought Angelo — not so thought the Catholic world, at that time ; and Catholics, Protest ants and Infidels, all agree that Angelo was one of the greatest and truest Artists that ever lived. Thus we see that the productions of great minds, in one country or age, copied by another, are far from being proofs of the greatness of him who copies them The man who, in the American Senate, should repeat Demosthenes' greatest oration, instead of proving himself a statesman, would show himself a fool. The Architect that copies a Greek or Roman edifice for an American occupant, shows himself less than an artist.