Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1907-09-26
THATCHED ROOFS.
,DweIIers in Rural Pennsylvania
Love Quaint Abodes ................

laint AbodeS S................
found on American country seats.
The construction of this kind Of ridge
Is very simple and effective; semi
cylindrical tiles are used for the
crest, and these in turn cap row of
similar tiles placed on either side of
the ridge. The tiles are sometimes
bedded in a layer of cement or NOR
tar Tin Japan layer of clay or mud
and chopped straw is usedD, which IS
first piled onto the thatched roof, and
when laid In this the tiles are seldom
displaced.
In the best types of thatching spe-
cial attention is given to the proper
and symmetrical trimming of the
thatch at the caves and at the edges
of the gable; and there are very
clever ways in which this Is managed.
Sometimes at the peak of the gable
cone-like enlargement of a circular
depression is curiously shaped out OF
the thatch and good deal of skill
Is also shown in bringing the thick
edges of the caves, which are on diff
ferent levels, together in graceful
curves.
In some of the bark-walled sum-
mer houses a novel bark finish is also
found in the roof thatching. The
ridge roof, which has much sharper
incline than the roof proper, is COW
cred with bark, this being bound
down by parallel strips; and spanning
the ridge at intervals are straw sad
dies, sheathed with bark. These are
very narrow at the ridge, but widen
at their extremities.
A strikingly decorative feature of
some of the thatched roofs of Japan
should be more widely copied here;
in many cases the ridge is fiat, and
this area is made to support luXuri.
Gus growth of iris, or the red lily.
A most charming feature is often seen
in the appearance of a brown, SOM
bre-colored village in Japan, where
all the ridges are aname with the
bright red blossoms of the lily, or
where the purer colors of the blue
and white iris form floral crests of
exceeding beauty. This is feature
that might be introduced with strik-
ingly picturesque effect for finishing
the decorative thatched roofs of
American gardens.
Another style of roof, sometimes of
circular form, has the thatch on the
slopes of the roof trimmed in such a
way as to present the appearance of a
series of thick layers. resting one
upon another like shingles, in some
instances from eighteen inches to
two feet apart, with thick edges.
Again the circular, evenly trimmed
layers are very close and regular. A
good example of this style of roof
finish is found on the Harrison estate.
at Glenwood Summit; and roofs of
the close, thick, shingle-like thatching
are also found in square form on
some of the decorative garden houses
of nearby country seats.
1t is a matter of surprise to the un-
initiated to discover how long these
roofs will remain in good condition.
Even with our unskilled thatching.
merely for garden decoration, it is
claimed that a roof may be depended
upon to last from fifteen to twenty
years, with very little repairs; and 1t
is said that in Japan the best kind of
thatched roofs will endure for fifty
years. AS they get weather-worn
they are often patched and repaired
until they have to be entirely re-
newed. In Japan and in many of the
matched roofs of France and Holland
the oldest roofs are the most decora-
tive, as they become filled with dust,
assume a dark color and get matted
down. Plants, weeds and MOSES of
var/ous kinds then grow upon them,
as well as masses of gray lichen,
which cover the entire roof slope.
And where the effect of antiquity is
desired in the quaint forms of thatch-
ing now popular among Pennsylvania
landscape gardeners this weather.
worn, llchen-covered type might be
readily initiated.
When properly constructed these
thatched roofs shed water very
promptly, and do not get water
soaked. and therefore prove service
able as well as decorative.-Phila.
delphia Record.