Half-timbered house

“ I took particular fancy to the roof, high, steep, old, with its slope of bluish slate, and the way the weather-worn chimneys seemed to grow out of it, like living things out of a deep soil. The only defect of the house is the blankness and bareness of its walls, which have none of those delicate parasites attached to them that one likes to see on the surface of old dwellings. ”

“ The dwelling-houses are made in a very different manner. The native architect begins by digging a large square hole in the ground some five feet deep, and over this pit he erects the house, which is rather low, in consequence of the depth gained in the basement. ”

“ The doors are often beautiful in themselves: their panels of true proportions framed in delicately moulded pilasters with a line of glazing to light the tiny hall; frequently a pediment above protects the whole from the dripping of eaves. And before paint was used to mask the wood, the whole structure, played upon by sun and storm, wore to a tone of silver-gray that made a house as familiar to the soil as a lichen-covered rock. The square Georgian mansions came later, with the prosperity of reviving trade after the Revolution. ”

“ So far as more room and modern comforts are concerned, an architect or builder knowing his old Nantucket can usually plan to provide them in “doing over” an old house and still not harm its exterior. But all hope is lost if the roof lines are spoiled by large shed-roof dormers or a dormer room, and only less disfiguring are large “sun parlors,” piazzas, exterior chimneys, or flat roofed ells or projections, built where visible from the front. ”

“ This is an elaborately carved, three-gabled house, and is perhaps the oldest unmutilated specimen of a timber house remaining in the city, the date of its erection being carved on the front,—1591. The sombre dignity of its exterior pervades also the internal construction of this house,—the large rooms, the panelled walls, the oaken p. 63floors, the massive staircase, all pointing it out as the abode of aristocracy in the olden time. ”

“ The exterior of the houses is very plain. They are built of common stone, brick, or wood, coated with plaster, and so close to the street that if the door opens outward, the owner is compelled to knock before opening it in order to avoid injuring the passer-by in the street. There are no windows on the lower floor at the front of the house. ”

“ It has been my lot recently to follow in detail the process of building a private dwelling-house, and the solemn succession of deliberate, respectable, perfectly satisfied men who have contributed each so many days of his life to this accumulation of weak compromises, has enormously intensified my constitutional amazement at my fellow-creatures. The chief ingredient in this particular house-wall is the common brick, burnt earth, and but one step from the handfuls of clay of the ancestral mud hut, small in size and permeable to damp. ”

“ This was called ‘foreshortening.’ The severity of outline presented by these simple structures was relieved by various devices—sometimes by quoined corner-boards, an ornamental cornice, a balustraded roof, or decorative lintels above the windows; very rarely by rusticated front-boards in imitation of stone blocks. The chief glory of the house as one viewed it from the outside was of necessity the entrance, with its porch, open or enclosed; and it was hither that the loving attention of architect and wood-carver was most assiduously directed. ”

“ It was borne in mind that even the addition of a porch or veranda must be carefully considered to avoid confusion of architecture so that the house itself, when finished, should follow a single idea and not a composite mass of details that were entirely out of place and in bad taste. It was realized that no house, no matter how situated, should have discordant surroundings. ”

“ I like better the notion of letting the material of which brick walls and partitions are composed form the actual finish inside as well as outside. The floors, too, should be bare, and the beams that support them ought to be visible, and in case of a wooden house, the posts, braces and other timbers should be left in sight when the building is finished. It is a sad pity that modern modes of building, like modern manners and fashions, conceal actual construction and character, making a mask that may hide great excellence or absolute worthlessness. ”

“ Mass housing, no matter what form it took, whether the forty-eight tall slabs of the Cerro Piloto or the forty-eight hundred, more or less, semi-detached two-storey dwellings of an English housing estate, belongs increasingly to the world of bureaucratized architecture. The house, on the other hand, conceived as an individualized entity, remained almost as much a specialized and exceptional product as the church; yet the changes first made in individual houses gradually affected all housing standards. ”

“ The whole stands in open grounds, and may be separated from each other by enclosures, as convenience or fancy may direct.
The roofs of all the buildings are broad and sweeping, well protecting the walls from storm and frosts, as well as the glaring influences of the sun, and combining that comfortable idea of shelter and repose so grateful in a well-conditioned country house. It is true, that the dwelling might be more extensive in room, and the purposes of luxury enlarged ”

“ Leaving the church I went down the village street to inspect the ancient priest-house. This proved to be a long, low, half-timber building; its roof was of stone slates, as most roofs of the period were; the house has manifestly been restored at some recent time, though carefully restored backwards, as far as I could judge, to the intention of the original builder. Unfortunately my photograph, here reproduced, gives no hint of the bloom of age that is upon it, or of the subtle curves of the weather-bleached timber caused by the stress of time. ”

“ It is sad to think that the first part of the hitherto unbroken line of wall round this courtyard to succumb to this fell disease will be the most interesting portion of this historic house.
The kitchens, which lie between the Queen’s rooms and the banqueting hall, are likewise in a sad state; the depressed form of arch surmounting most of the doorways, despite the presence of “arches of construction,” are fast bowing their heads beneath the weight of masonry and the neglect of centuries. ”

“ Whether we live in the city or the country, it must be apparent to all of us that a great wave of architectural activity in respect to dwelling-houses has been spreading over our land during the past twenty years. The American architect has been getting in his work and showing what he could do, with the result that the long, monotonous row of brick or freestone custom-made city houses, and the stereotyped white country farm-house with green blinds and an ell or lean-to attached, have given place to a vivid and heterogeneous display of individual effort. ”

“ In plan 6517 a large amount of space is provided at low-cost by using the cheapest type of construction and omitting the interior finish at the time of building, for when a large family must be housed and funds are limited space is often more desirable than good finish and ease of heating. The exterior walls are of vertical boards and battens, and the roof is of galvanized corrugated metal. The house may be improved at any time by lining the walls and ceiling. ”

“ Either course will bring you before a wide low house of yellow brick, with green blinds and white woodwork and English ivy. Directly ahead of you, across the circle of the driveway, the square main section of the house, capped by a tower, rises above a bright portico. To left and right the house throws out long extensions of even height, terminating in wings set endwise to you, like double-faces in the game of dominoes. Your first impression will be one of unusual size, your next of flatly rectangular simplicity. ”

“ The two-roomed house is built of round timber, slabs, and stringy-bark, and floored with split slabs. A big bark kitchen standing at one end is larger than the house itself, veranda included. Bush all round—bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. ”

“ A raised platform passes from the wash-room in, past the bath-room, to a water-closet, which may be divided into two apartments, if desirable. The vaults are accessible from the rear, for cleaning out, or introducing lime, gypsum, powdered charcoal, or other deodorizing material. At the extreme corner of the wood-house, a door opens into a feed and swill-room, 20×8 feet, which is reached by steps, and stands quite eighteen inches above the ground level, on a stone under-pinning, or with a stone cellar beneath, for the storage of roots in winter. ”

“ The gray stone house, separated from the garden by a thick privet hedge and moss-grown court, is the last dwelling at this end of the quiet market-town, and, with its slate roof and substantial double story, is of a class greatly superior to its neighbours, whose warm red tiles are just visible over the walls. ”

“ What can be done to make over a city house that is unattractive? A paper can easily be written on this up-to-date theme, showing how a narrow brown-stone house with high front steps, a basement dining-room, and small rooms can be made over. The outside can be covered with brick or stucco, and perhaps blinds added. ”

“ Think how much more beautiful city architecture will now be! The houses, instead of being built round a square, could be set in the middle of it, with only an alleyway for ventilation, and grasses, trees, and flowers all about the outside. Every tenth block would contain the kitchen and laundry and clothing-house ”

“ This confusion of two essentially different types of room, designed for essentially different phases of life, has been caused by the fact that the architect, when called upon to build a grand house, has simply enlarged, instead of altering, the maison bourgeoise that has hitherto been the accepted model of the American gentleman's house; for it must not be forgotten that the modern American dwelling descends from the English middle-class 135 house, not from the aristocratic country-seat or town residence. ”

“ The houses are spacious, uniformly built of wood, of only one story, not more than fourteen feet high, plaistered and white-washed; they are constructed round a court yard of about seventy feet square, which is strewed with gravel, and has an appearance of neatness. Each house consists of a sitting room, some warehouses and a kitchen. ”

“ The increasing value of land led to the erection of many-storied houses in the main streets; but the houses of the wealthy were always chiefly composed of ground-floor apartments, wherever space permitted. This subject, and the house-carpentry generally of the ancients, is involved in some obscurity. ”

“ Standing back from the street behind a granite curb and iron paling is the old mansion, its dimensions being sixty-four feet by forty-six feet, and containing fifteen large rooms. The exterior was built of brick, over which were placed huge, bevelled, wooden clapboards, more than two feet in width, and one and a half in height. From a distance the observer might mistake the gray of the exterior for stone, as the block style of construction was employed, the wooden cube being painted and sanded to resemble dark gray rock. ”

“ The third type, the gambrel-roofed house, was at the height of its popularity about the time of the Revolutionary War, and continued in favor until the tide of commercial prosperity sweeping through the land brought in its wake the desire for more pretentious dwellings. Then came into fashion the large, square, wooden mansion, later followed by that of stately brick, excellent examples of both types being still extant. ”

“ The dwelling-house is not visible till you reach an opposite height; it then suddenly emerges from the mass of wood, its outline broken by scattered trees in groups, and its walls garlanded with ivy and roses and creeping plants. It was built after the plan of the possessor; in a style not so much Gothic as antiquely picturesque, such as a delicate feeling of the suitable and harmonious conceived to be in keeping with the surrounding scenery. The execution is excellent; for the imitation of the antique is quite deceptive. ”

“ What you have in mind is really an extended and ornamented base. Of course, it enriches the room, but it begins a work to which there is no limit. It should be supplemented by a corresponding wood cornice at the top of the room, and between the two as much decorative woodwork as you can afford; until "the walls of the house within, the floor of the house, and the walls of the ceilings" are carved with "cherubims and palm-trees and open flowers." A costly wainscot at the base of the walls, with paper and stucco above, seems to me a great lack of harmony. I would spread my richness more evenly. ”

“ We know that at the close of the eleventh century, or indeed at any time before the thirteenth, the small man who lived under his own roof would live in a very low house, and that, space for space of ground area, the cubical contents of these poor dwellings would be less than those of modern slums. ”

“ It has some splendid old gateways, and plenty of old houses, two-thirds roof, one-third gable, and four-fifths dormer-window, with door-posts and corners carved in the leisurely way peculiar to that time. Really, one would think a man must have his house ordered before he was born, to have got it done in time to die in, in those days. I have speculated very much about this problem, and it puzzles me yet. So many of these old houses look as if it must have taken at least the years of one generation to have made the carvings on them ”