Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-03-25
Old Houses.

above age. however, sprinkle xlI over
the hills and valleys Of New E gland
Some Of them have not had ~ Goat Of
raint in perhaps fifteen or twenty ye,r-,
while others have IT. yer been iron Died
with paint ut all. Iu This sge Of con.
fusion aid construction, it sometimes
rises AS y question in the minds Of their
owners aud occupiers whether such
houses are worth ryipg to rescue Ut
all. TAey insensibly catch the fever
ieh discomfort of the time, and say to
themselves that it would be better, il
sDy thing is to he doue, to pull down
the old houses aud suppi"nt them with
new ones. An easy ma ter to resolve
upon and to execute. but not 80 easy
to undo il it should chance to prove I'M.
satisfactory.
We eDj in the preservation OF all the
oil homes in the country till the latest
day possible. The poet tells us with
truth that not with money CAD We buy
the old associations. The walls oftthe
familiar rooms a,e hung with ten 'er
and pleasant thoughts, rs with rich
wrought tapestries. The roofs are
coated with the brown o"l"rs and gray
mosses of past days. Dat OF the old
chimneys have asce nded white and blue
smokes siuce childhood hogan, like
fresh incense from the altar around
which the family CIRCLE WAS g.thsre4
every day. Aud if sadiest memories
mix with the pleasautsr Oues, ~ they
always will, even they are woven into
the tissues of our experience t. tone
down and give deeper expression to
the whole pattern, and We ~onld not.
on reflection, have u siuBle ore OF them
cut out, for onr lives. 81 mnch, ami
vastly more, clothes and surronn Is aud
sets If the plain reality Ut al old and
apparently gone by h me.
Now it becomes u very grave Issue
whether it il not better every way for US
to ptoloDg the visible .xi,teDce of our
old houses to the farthost eussible linn
it, handing them down along the gen
erations Tor whom they become living
lessons for the past, than to root them
up rs ii they were in u sense pestiien'
tial, AMI make eager haste to Obl,terate
the very memory Of their long aud ser
viceable existence. There is more than
money in such al issue ~ this. IL Isa
question that touches all the timer sen
81 abilities of Onr Existence. We do not
scruple to affirm that aside from the
matter Of ,ssOciati III merely, an old
house in state vi careful ind lUviss
preservation is something for is owner
to take q genuine pride III. 1t Carries
in its aspect and pr. tiie the marks oi
s. a. oned character, which IL tue irul
of time alone. 1t ssiguii sto the be-
holder that more than mere carpetine
WAS Re q ulsi,e to pro luce this result,
and that taste and study and tender
thought, and . Thousand upsprinying
impulses of sentiment, combined I.
make it the dear, desirable dOmicile il
is.
Without an excess Of expenditure Al
most any old house, that 10 not already
u ruin, may be restored to soft ex
preston of venerabieness and made t.
wear an unmistakable, inalienable look
of repose and home. That IL the real
appearance which all county dwellings
ought to strive, through their occt.-
pants. to attain. Miracles can be-
wrought upon them at Nh astoni, hing
ly small cost. Loving hands Can 4,
vastly more than those Of the paid hire
ling. The owner of country home. if
he knew it, has that which the dwsllers
in palatial city mansions continually
envy him. He has earth, air, sunlie BIT,
and skies all free. There is no pre-
scribed limit to his enjoyment Ut them.
The breath OF the growing vegetation.
earthly scent the music OF the wind
in the tree-tops, grass and flowers, the
light OF sun, moon and stars, all com
bine to furnish and beautify and exAlt
his home.
Age, instead of being drawback to
home thus situated, only gives II
greater harmony with all things sur
rounding. An old house appears to be
a part of the landscape itself, looking
as il it sprung from the earth on which
it stands. The very trees viii shade
its roof seem to belong to and to be u
part of it. Who does not regard
with deeper and tenderer feelings the
doorstep over which so mary feet have
glally stepped, wi'h the welcomes OF
JOY, the messages of pleasure, and the
burdens of grief become worn into it's
stony texture? And 1t is but touch
of tasteful hand that is suffi oient to
preserve all such old doorsteps and
their speech!ess associations. A slight
alteration Of an old gable, tho pulling
down or pushing back OF reof line. AL
extending OF q porch, o bit Of lattice
work erected here or there, some choice
shrubbery. the laying out OF a sinueus
path aud bordering lit with early aud
late fowers-a few little things like
these will marvelOusly alter the looks
of an old house Outwardly, and compel
it's occupant to continue his loving
work till the whole is rejuvenated.
1t is not glazing coiors in paint or
smart and pretentious additions which
these old houses need, so much a. the
gentle but firm and intelligent spplics'
ton of the hand Of taste. II every one
who had an old house to restore would
simply follow his own hearts desire In
such matters, he would make 1t pic
turesq aely inviting object in spite OF
himself. For it is not the heart that
ever goes astray here, but the fancy led
on by vanity and the giddy slave of
imitation. The single expression which
it is desirable to attain is that OF re-
pose. Home means tranquility, securi'
ty, retreat. rest. Anybody who can ap-
preciate these is competent to give ad-
tqua,e and attractive expression to
them. We need none of rs fear
.a.rlks 70 xpa will INIT mako n he.