If Youre Going to Live in the Country

If You're Going to Live in the
Country, by

Thomas H. Ormsbee and Richmond Huntley This eBook is for the use
of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
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Title: If You're Going to Live in the Country
Author: Thomas H. Ormsbee and Richmond Huntley
Illustrator: Frank Lieberman
Release Date: February 20, 2006 [EBook #17804]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE COUNTRY ***

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IF YOU'RE GOING TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY

[Illustration: A RIVERSIDE HOME RECONSTRUCTED FROM THE
RUINS OF AN OLD MILL
Photo by Samuel H. Gottscho Robertson Ward, architect]

IF YOU'RE GOING TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY
BY THOMAS H. ORMSBEE AND RICHMOND HUNTLEY
[Illustration]
DECORATIONS BY FRANK LIEBERMAN
[Illustration]
THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT, 1937
BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to
be printed in a magazine or newspaper.
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY
THE VAIL-BALLOU PRESS, INC., BINGHAMTON, N. Y.

To CARROLL and THERESE NICHOLS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
No book that covers so many phases of human relationships could be

compiled without taking advice from those who are specialists. When
we have wanted to know facts, we have freely turned to others whose
detailed knowledge represented long experience. For this assistance we
are particularly indebted to: M. Shaler Allen, Bruce Millar, Mrs.
Herbert Q. Brown, and George S. Platts; also, to House & Garden, in
which parts of this book appeared serially; and to Miss Eleanor V.
Searing for many hours spent reading manuscript.
New Canaan, Conn. April 1937

CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION xi
CHAPTER
I.
WHY LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 3
II. SELECTING THE LOCATION 19
III. SHOPPING FOR PROPERTY 35
IV. CALL IN AN ARCHITECT 57
V. BUILDING VERSUS REMODELING 73
VI. LOOKING AN OLD HOUSE IN THE MOUTH 91
VII. NEW SITES FOR OLD HOUSES 105
VIII. THE SMOKE GOES UP THE CHIMNEY 121
IX. THE QUESTION OF WATER SUPPLY 139

X. SEWAGE SAFETY 153
XI. DECORATIONS AND FURNISHINGS 165
XII. THE FACTORY PART OF THE HOUSE 179
XIII. PETS AND LIVESTOCK 191
XIV. TIGHTENING FOR WINTER 203
XV. KEEPING HOME FIRES IN THEIR PLACE 215
XVI. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG 227
XVII. WORKING WITH NATURE 243

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A riverside home reconstructed from the ruins of an old mill
Frontispiece Robertson Ward, architect. Photo by Gottscho
FACING PAGE
The Ogden house, Fairfield, Conn. Built before 1705, it has been
restored to preserve the original details 12 Miss Mary Allis
An old farmhouse in the rough 36 Photo by John Runyon
A really Early American interior. The great fireplace of the Wayside
Inn, Sudbury, Mass. 60 Henry Ford
Once half a house and a hen roost 76 Photo by Whitney
What can be done with a barn 76 Robertson Ward, architect. Photo by
Gottscho
As they built a chimney in the 18th Century 118 Photo by John Runyon

A place for summer and week-ends 148 Robertson Ward, architect.
Photo by La Roche
True 18th Century simplicity. Now the authors' dining room 170 Photo
by John Runyon
Entirely new, but with all the charm of an old house 184 Robertson
Ward, architect. Photo by Gottscho
Snow has dignity, but is the house snug and warm? 206 Photo by
Gottscho
An imposing country home of classic dignity 220 Robertson Ward,
architect. Photo by Gottscho
Skillful planting of trees, shrubs, and flowers make the setting 244
Robertson Ward, architect. Photo by Gottscho
[Illustration]

INTRODUCTION
There is a beginning with everything. So far as this book is concerned,
annual driving trips through Central Vermont are responsible. They
were great events, planned months in advance. With a three-seated
carriage and a stocky span good for thirty miles a day and only spirited
if they met one of those new contraptions aglitter with polished brass
gadgets, that fed on gasoline instead of honest cracked corn and oats,
we took to the road. A newspaper man, vacation-free from Broadway
first nights and operas sung by Melba, Sembrich, and the Brothers de
Reszke, was showing his city-bred children his native hills and
introducing them to the beauties of a world alien to asphalt pavements
and brownstone fronts.
It was leisurely travel. When the road was unusually steep, to spare the
horses, we walked. If Mother's eagle eye spotted a four-leaf clover, we
stopped and picked it. If a bend