Dak bungalow

“ Dâk-bungalows are rather different. Any traveller may stay in them by paying so much. This house consists of one very large room, dining, drawing, smoking room in one, and two bedrooms. It is rather damp and dreary, but that doesn't matter, for we leave again to-morrow morning. We have been to call this afternoon on the wife of the Collector, Mrs. Edston, a pretty woman with nice manners and a sweet voice. We had tea with her and saw her small son. Her bungalow interested me. It was only the second Mofussil bungalow I had seen. ”

“ The dak bungalow is an institution kept up by the Government for the convenience of military men and their families, although other travellers take advantage of its shelter, and was preferable to an hotel for our purpose, for our meals were served in our private rooms always, and we could lead a very retired life. ”

“ A crowd of coolies usually rush to seize your baggage on the arrival of a train, and our bearer was useful in keeping them at bay a bit. There was a Dak bungalow at Ahmedabad, but we did not feel any decided leaning towards it, and, finding there were quite decent bedrooms to be had at the station and that we could feed in the refreshment-room, we decided to stay there. ”

“ Some of the dâk-bungalows or rest houses on the Grand Trunk Road have handy little cemeteries in their compound witnesses to the "changes and chances of this mortal life" in the days when men drove behind horses from Calcutta to the North- West. These bungalows are objectionable places to put up in. They are generally very old, always dirty, while the butler is as ancient as the bungalow. ”

“ If you find any difficulty, go straight to Almora and make your arrangements at leisure. The Dak bungalows on the way to Almora provide food and in Almora there is a nice Dak bungalow.
Hoping everything will come your way, as it always does — (except Grandpa's [6] * health) . ”

“ A species of rank vegetation has been entirely eradicated by the simple process of removing it before the seeds had formed.
The Dâk Bungalow continues to be popular. The furniture belonging to the District Board has been returned and that belonging to the Public Works Department purchased at a cost of Rs. 1,772. The renovation of the furniture, and crockery and cutlery is being considered and it is hoped that another year will see furniture and fittings worthy of the bungalow and the site. Rs. 3,589 were spent on the repairs to the old Baoli Well. ”

“ You are expected to furnish your own bedding, towels, etc., and there are no wire spring mattresses. Sometimes iron cots are provided and often bunks are built in the wall. If there are none all you have to do is to wrap the drapery of your couch around you and select a soft place on the floor. A floor does not fit my bones as well as formerly, but it is an improvement upon standing or sitting up. Usually the dak bungalows are clean. Occasionally they are not. This depends upon the character and industry of the person employed to attend them. ”

“ So they cleared away the underbrush, and put a double force of men to work on what was to be the most beautiful and comfortable bungalow on the edge of the harbor. It had blue and green and white tiles on the floors, and walls of bamboo, and a red roof of curved tiles to let in the air, and dragons' heads for water-spouts, and verandas as broad as the house itself. There was an open court in the middle hung with balconies looking down upon a splashing fountain, and to decorate this patio, they levied upon people for miles around for tropical plants and colored mats and awnings. ”

“ The civilians' bungalows have a here-we-have-no-continuing-city look about them; their owners are constantly being moved, and pitching their moving tents elsewhere; but the Royles have been at Rika for fifteen years, and have made a delightful home. The bungalow is built on a slightly rising ground with a verandah all round—a verandah made pleasant with comfortable chairs, rugs, writing-tables, books, and flowers. At one end a dirzee squats with a sewing-machine, surrounded by white stuff in various stages of progress for the Mem Sahib and the children. ”

“ The foundation usually selected is a kind of platform, a gigantic step, cut out of some hill-side, and levelled by manual labour. The best houses occupy the summits of the little eminences around the lake. As regards architecture the style bungalow—a modification of the cow-house—is preferred: few tenements have upper stories, whilst almost all are surrounded by a long low verandah, perfectly useless in such a climate, and only calculated to render the interior of the domiciles as dim and gloomy as can be conceived. ”

“ The bungalow stood at one end of the lake right on the shore, with a little wharf jutting out in front of it into the water. The door opened into a big living-room, furnished very pretty and comfortable with green madras curtains at the windows, a green art rug on the floor, and wicker chairs with green denim cushions. At one side was a big brick fireplace with a copper kettle hanging on a crane and over in a corner was a desk with a telephone on it. ”

“ It is one of the brightest spots in the history of English progress, but it has not been sufficient to stem the rush of ersatz building that followed the War.
For it is the bungalow craze, with all that it now implies, which has most seriously damaged the appearance of rural England during the last eight years. There is nothing inherently unpleasant in the bungalow type of house. Properly designed and constructed, it may be made a thing of beauty harmonising perfectly with its surroundings. ”

“ On the knolls of the farther side snug bungalows nestle among the trees, under the veranda of one of which a lady is playing with her children. The village of Suttee Chowra on the bluff on the left of the ghaut, where Tantia Topee's sepoys were concealed, no longer exists; a pretty bungalow and its compound occupy its site. ”

“ The bungalow was an imposing-looking building, the very picture of neatness and comfort. How different to the old talipot-leaf, and the dirty little mud hut! The box of a place I had slept in six years before would have stood, easily, on the dining-table in this bungalow. A wide verandah surrounded the building, the white pillars of which were polished like marble. The windows were more like doors; and, as for the doors, one may speak of them as lawyers do of Acts of Parliament, it would be easy to drive a coach-and-six through them. ”

“ The rest of the Government staff are “doubled-up,” i.e., two men to every three-roomed bungalow. As matters stand, there are not sufficient bungalows to go round even on this plan. It is not uncommon for an official to be moved from one to another as a man returns to duty, just finding room where somebody is going on vacation.
Four rest-houses are provided for visitors staying temporarily. The structures are rather primitive, of dried mud walls and thatched roofs. The stranger within the gates must bring all his daily requirements with him: bed, table, chair, cooking utensils, groceries, etc. ”

“ Seashore cottages should be built so as to avoid dampness; for this reason stone or cement is not a good choice, but wood, with thin walls which dry quickly. Fireplaces are essential, and deep porches on the sheltered side of the house. There may be two stories to a bungalow of this kind, rather than one, and the inside may be ceiled with wood, and stained rather than plastered. ”

“ A heater room on the main floor near the rear entrance and the kitchen avoids the need for a cellar. A kitchen like this, with three outside walls to give light and cross ventilation and a better view of the farmstead and highway, is often desirable. The end of the living room next the kitchen is narrowed to a dining alcove, and when more space is needed the dining table may be extended into the living room. The completed bungalow has three bedrooms, with ample closet space. The rear porch will provide a comfortable, shady place to work outside during the warm summer days. ”

“ Bend back the ends of the house and in the middle of each end take a little plait from top to bottom. This is to make the ends narrower and give room for the roof to slant. Bend the roof back from the eaves along the dotted line. The back of the bungalow is made like the front, except that it has no door, windows, or porch.
Children who have a knack at drawing can greatly improve the bungalow by drawing the slats to the blinds, drawing in the panelling on the front door, putting on the knob, putting shingles on the roof, etc., etc.
Fig. 98—Draw the bungalow on the envelope in this way. ”

“ Higher up were the cottages of the Pierpont Inn, and higher still the big building of the school, all over-topped by the great masses of the mountains behind. I felt that I should like to build a bungalow on the spot and live and die there.
We come on by a very rough, narrow, bumpy, and precipitous mountain road, past the summer cottages of Sulphur Springs into the Santa Paula Valley. We pass people planting young orchards of lemons and oranges, and we come through defiles, the bare, rugged hills rising above us on both sides. Sometimes these hills are clay-colored. ”

“ At first sight it may seem that the proximity of the bungalow to the drying-ground is not desirable, but the drying-ground, estate office, store, and other buildings may, by planting, be completely and quickly screened off from the dwelling-house. The permanent bungalow should be built of brick, but all steps should be made of stone, and not of brick, as is so commonly done, as the stone is so much more suitable in a climate which is wet for so many months of the year. ”

“ The California motor inns for the most part consist of a group of four apartment bungalows, [203] garages, main building, and pavilion on spacious landscaped grounds. Usually the bungalow apartments consist of a single room with toilet and bath. Thus under one roof there will be but eight persons, at most, housed at one time.
The price of entertainment also includes a garage for the car, and the use of the kitchen and its equipment, such as gas stove, sink, running water, tubs and the like. The kitchen is located in the community house. ”

“ Yet in such a hamlet of hovels, hardly fit for human habitation, may be a large population. Every doorway is swarming with children. On the outskirts of the village is the missionary bungalow, a large one-story house, also built of mud, but neatly whitewashed and protected from the rains by a heavy thatched roof, which projects over the walls, and shades the broad veranda. In the "compound" are two other buildings of the same rude material and simple architecture, a church and a schoolhouse. ”

“ Beyond the agent's house at the foot of the jetty, one walks along a grass-grown road shaded by an avenue of tall casuarinas, and passes several large wells of strong brickwork, and a large tank for rain water, with various other traces of past occupation, till on the hill-top one comes on the remains of the Government bungalow, of which only the foundations are now to be seen. ”

“ Most of the houses of officers in Indian cantonments are of this character. In reference to the style of the house, bungalow is sometimes employed in contradistinction to the (usually more pretentious) pucka house; by which latter term is implied a masonry house with a terraced roof. A bungalow may also be a small building of the type which we have described, but of temporary material, in a garden, on a terraced roof for sleeping in, &c., &c. The word has also been adopted by the French in the East, and by Europeans generally in Ceylon, China, Japan, and the coast of Africa. ”

“ At the eastern and western extremities are the native suburbs, with huts of light material built a few yards into the sea. On the east side there is a big Moro bungalow, erected on small tree-trunks, quite a hundred yards from the beach seawards. To the west, one sees a long shanty-built structure running out to sea like a jetty; it is the shore market. ”

“ We crossed the veranda and, having deposited our shoes in a sort of washtub outside the door, followed the renegade inside.
The typical Indian bungalow is a very simple structure. The Oriental carpenter considers his task finished when he has thrown together—if the actions of so apathetic a workman may be so described—a frame-work of light poles, boarded them up on the outside, and tossed a roof of thatch on top. The interior he leaves to take care of itself, and the result is a dwelling as rough and ungarnished as an American hay-loft. ”

“ A bungalow proper may consist of but a half-dozen rooms, and yet look like a vast manor house. It is the generous sweep of the verandas running completely around the house that lends this impression. Behind its bamboo chicks you retire on your return from the office. The Chinese “boy” takes your pipe-clayed shoes and cork helmet, and brings a pair of heelless grass slippers. If a friend drop in, you never think of inviting [316] him into your richly furnished drawing-room, but motion him to a long rattan chair, call “Boy, bring the master a cup of tea,” and pass a box of Manila cigars. ”

“ The Uncle Toby swung to her chain, head-sails ran down, and the Kanaka crew sprang to fore and main-halyards and sheets.
IV
The whaleboat laid alongside the small, coral-stone landing-pier, and David Grief and his mate stepped ashore.
“You'd think the place deserted,” Grief said, as they walked up a sanded path to the bungalow. “But I smell a smell that I've often smelled. Something doing, or my nose is a liar. The lagoon is carpeted with shell. They're rotting the meat out not a thousand miles away. Get that whiff?”
Like no bungalow in the tropics was this bungalow of Swithin Hall. ”