Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-06-27
E Y ENING STAR,
A SHORT LETTER ON RxrRAvAsANcE


SuI HouScS are LOO large, ana TOO cost.
ly. We have, usually, one or two rooms
that are merely for show; parlor, per.
haps two, with folding doors between,
that are only open for company, that are
too nice for children 10 play in, too large
to be warmed readily in winter; in short,
like dandy, too nice for ANYTHING use.
ful. And then, often, there is a part of
the house unfinished, a large attic which
might accommodate whole family, oc-
cupled now by few old boxes of white
beans, and a few punches of catnip and
pennyroyal, and some broken chairs and
cradle. This upper story was proba
bly, put on because you wanted house
as large as your neighbors. Now q
house should, in some measure, fit fam.
lily, as suit of clothes should fit an in
dlvidual. Although it is not, perhaps,
always safe to count your children before
they are born, and therefore the capacity
OF your house must often be by eStima.
tion, yet everywhere are houses geing
up, with the perfect understanding that
considerable part OF the room is to be
useless, either kept for an annual party,
or to remain unfinished. If we who
plan and build such houses, would re-
fleet upon it fairly, we should see that
no rational man would entertain for us
any more respect for living in house
which we do not fill, than for wearing a
suit of clothes made for person of twice
our size.
Let us have "a little house well filled, I"
with no spare room except chamber for
our friends, and no lumber room of
garret for ghosts, rats, and mice to In
habit. The thousand dollars which even
careful men generally expeDd in build
ing "a house to live in," merely to con-
form to fashion, OF an architectural Wbim.
costs the poor wife and children many a
lecture upon penny economy, which
might otherwise have been spared. And
when you have built Or purchased a
house too large for your wants, the evil
has but commenced. Your large and
numerous rooms require large and nu-
merous carpets, and curtains, and sofas.
and other adornings. But this is not
all, nor the worst Of it. The house and
the furniture must be taken off-swep,
and busted daily, and scrubbed and
secured Spring and Fall, when house
cleaning time comes round. You must
either pay for help to DO all this, or what
is perhaps more common, allow addition
al burdens to fall on your wife, who has
already ceaseless round of cares. a
sensitive or even just man should see
that, in this land, where servants are an
expensive luxury, at best, his wife have
comfort and leisure, and a selfish man
may soon learn that he cannot lead a
peaceful and happy life with a woman
who is oVerrun with hard work and fam
lily cares. We think if our reader him
self is not open to censure in the partic.
ulars named, he may find plenty Of his
neighbors to whom our remarks will
apply.
And then, again, we are extravagant
in our household furniture. The ladies
must come in for share of our lecture
on this topic. The furniture of house
is mainly for use and comfort. Carpets
and sofas and tables and chairs are
chiefly designed to promote warmth and
quiet and physical enjoyment in some
way. A carpeted floor is warmer in win
ter, and the children make less disturb
ance on it than bare boards; and besides,
they require much less labor to keep
them in nice order. Let comfort then be
regarded, principally in selecting furni-
tIre.
But nice perception of the fitness OF
things which is good taste-the faculty
of producing harmony between the occu-
pants of the house and the house itself,
and between the house and the furniture
and surroundings-this is what you do
not buy at the upholsterers, this is be-
yOnd price, and a matter, madam, in
which it is yo,r province to excel. Let
the furniture, say, as plain things can
speak, this house is for the comfort of
those who 1.-Two inside of it and not for
mere callers and strangers. This carpet
is not too good for the children to roll
on, this arm chair will not be soiled by
being occupied, and the bright Might
may visit the inmates in the morning,
bringing health and cheerfulness, with.
out fear that it will fade the brilliant
cOlors of the silk and velvet. If, when
your house is built, and furnished, you
have money to spare for articles of mere
taste and luxury, the world is full of
books and pictures, and thousand other
things, which will afford to a refined
and cultivated mind far mere rational
enjoy yment than a whole warehouse of
gilded mahogany.
On the whole, we think the ambition
which is common among all classes, to
live in large houses, elegantly furnished,
Is Leading US daily into embarrassments
and discomforts, which as a thoughtful
rational people, We ought not longer to
suffer.