Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-08-07
Houses Large and Small.

o"SS'' AhA 50 ashu sSEuhls
Sometimes, in visiting friend in the
country, we note what we are pleased to call
| the cheerful atmosphere of his house 1t
may be large villa, two stories, basement,
and an ambitious mansard roof GROWING
all, or perchance little six-room cottage
with plain exterior, uncovered with
creepers manifold But not all large or
small houses, even though finished SUI
| perbly, and decorated and furnished rich
| ly, are cheerful Some of them are
| gloomy in the extreme. We may pass
| through grounds that indicate the highest
skill of the landscape gardener, where art
and nature have done their best, into a
noble mansion, and feel on leaving it at
the end Of a week that we have been in
prison. Throughout, the house is gloomy,
and one feels depressing sense of lone
illness. There may be costly and elegant
| furniture, rare pictures, an ample library,
but gloom Notwithstanding all. On the
| other hand, iii a smaller house, furnished
with less elegance one feels at home on
entering; there is an air Of repose about
1t; IN its single and silent guest chamber
| one can sit for hours nor feel the lack of
cOmpanlonship.
Now, then, one of the first conditions of
cheerfulness in a dwelling is sunshine.
ANo oiIS WIN las tllOuSIll oI tHlS SuDlcCu
can doubt the beneficial effects of sun
light on health; this seems to be pretty
generally understood People who live
in dark place do not live long But when
we plan houses we too often forget to ar
range our windows for a southern expo
sure; indeed there are architects who pre-
pare plans never stopping to ask whether
the dwelling is to front north or south
A country house should be so planed that
at some hour during the day it can be
flooded with Gods bright purifying
sunshine. This should be done for
health's sake alone, if for no other con-
sideration.
We all know the effect, on people, of
cloudy and dark days. Men who are
ordinarily cheerful, are often taciturn and
mOrose at such times. After long sue
cession of cloudy days it is a pleasure to
walk the street of bright morning Just
to witness how gay and light-hearted
everybody seems No one will dissent
from these statements; they are so true as
to be trite. Yet in houses where the light
would tain enter through abundant open
ings it is every day forbidden to enter
Shutters are closed, and heavy curtains
ase folded down. In the city and coun-
try, everywhere the practice prevails
The guest chamber of the country villa
gives forth an odOr which savOrs of mold,
and why should it not? Three -fourths of
what we see in the room is composed of
either vegetable or animal matter which
is going steadily to decay, because the
sunshine is not let in to preserve it. The
room is filled with particles of poisonous
matter and no wonder that inhaling it de-
presses ones spirits. Then there are the
parlOrs, great rooms furnished luXurlantly
perhaps, but so dark that reading at mid
day is out of the question. Going into
them is like going into the tombs. In
short, the whole house, which should be
light, is dark, and where darkness reigns
there is gloom as necessary conse-
quence.
1t is great mistake people make when
they purchase furniture which they re-
gard as too good for general use. The
family occupying house should always
regard the premises and all contained
therein as prepared especially for them
selves, and not for occasional guests; no
guest possessed of sane mind desires
other attentions than members of the
family usually pay to each other. He
cannot feel at home in parlors which are
regarded as too nice for ordinary use.
For ourselves, we dislike the shoddy
class of people who live in houses with
closed and darkened parlors. They are
vulgar people. We know that many of
them are wealthy, and claim to be pos
sessed Of culture, but they are unculti-
waited and vulgar nevertheless
But, even sunshine, pictures, elegant
furniture and open doors, will not always
render house cheerful. We have in
mind friends residence up the Hudson,
great Italian villa, surrounded by fine
grounds. 1t is furnished in luxurious
manner, contains gallery of fine paint
ings, an excellent library, is filled with
sunshine in bright weather, and doors are
always open from one room to another.
But our friend, in building made one sad
mistake, one that he can never remedy.
He built too large a house. He has twen-
ty rooms, and he required at the most but
twelve. In tarrying with him for a few
days, we are always reminded of Gold
smiths deserted Village" A dwelling
which contains a large number of unoc-
cupied rooms is never cheerful Why
this is so we can hardly say. Perhaps
there remains in us all some trace of
childish superstition, and that we conjec-
ture the possibility of these silent cham
bers being occupied with ghostly guests,
and we do not appreciate the presence of
invisible strangers.
In planning to build, it is best always to
plan for ordinary needs; because one has
plenty of money it does not follow that he
should build house larger than he has
occasion for. A coat should be cut with
a view to making good fit; no one
thinks of using large amount of cloth
simply because he can afford it, If the
object be to expend large sum of money,
this can be done on dwelling of moder-
ate size. After providing for as many
rooms as are required, it is an easy matter
to get rid of surplus funds by increasing
the cost of the interior. A thousand dol
lars can be expended in beautiful tiles
that will last thousand years Even IL
small house one can use two or even
three thousand dollars in gas fixtures if
he desires, and to very good effect Then
there are pictures, if one loves art, and
has at the same time an eye to business,
which he can invest in to good advantage;
because they are the richest Of all furni-
ture, and increase in value from year to
year. In short, small house can be made
great in point of beauty and attractive
ness. Where the desire is to expend from
twenty to fifty thousand dollars in build
ing and furnishing house, and the fam
lily is less than patriarchal as to size, we
recommend expanding the greater part OF
it in the interior and on the grounds
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