DOI article:
Triggs, Harry Inigo: Small country houses and cottages
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41879#0033
SMALL COUNTRY HOUSES AND COTTAGES
cases where stone can be found within a mile of the site, it is cheaper
to build with bricks, firstly because of the increased amount of labour
involved in building a stone wall, and secondly because of the extra
quantity of cement, which is always an expensive item. A masonry
wall, even in a stone country, must therefore be looked upon rather as
a luxury ; this is to be regretted because a stone wall in a stone country
is far more appropriate than a brick wall.
It may seem an easy matter to keep the rain out of a house, but all
architects know that this is far from being as easy as it appears. A heavy
south-west gale will drive the rain through a 9 in. brick wall, and even
through a 14in. wall, where the bricks are porous ; red bricks, though
preferable in colour, are invariably more porous than other varieties,
and wherever they are used thewallsshouldbebuilthollow. Generally
speaking it is better to be on the safe side and to build all walls, whether
of brick or stone, with a hollow space.
Nothing helps the grouping of a small house better than careful atten-
tion to the design of the chimney stacks; prominently seen against the
sky they attract attention perhaps more than any other part of a
building. It is not always essential that the stack should be in the
centre of the ridge, nor need both sides be designed to correspond ;
but it is essential that the chimney should be taken up well above the
ridge of the building; to do otherwise is never worth the small saving
of material.
Tile-hanging applied to the upper storey is the finest possible method
of keeping out the wet, and should always be adopted in any exposed
position. The cheerful colouring that tile-hanging gives to a house is
valuable from an aesthetic point of view, and the brighter tile-hung
vertical surfaces contrast effectively with the weathered brown of the
roofing tiles. Old weather-worn tiles have been very much in use
during the past few years, and nothing could look better ; but a good
modern sand-faced tile very soon weathers, especially where there are
trees in the neighbourhood, and the difficulty of procuring old tiles
makes it hardly worth while taking the trouble. Imitation old tiles
are not to be recommended.
The difficulty of obtaining well-seasoned timber renders it desirable to
avoid its use as far as possible, and for internal partitions coke breeze
blocks should be substituted for wood wherever the construction will
permit. Half-timber construction is a luxury not always to be afforded
in a strictly economical house. Large, hard-wood timbers only can be
employed, and the expense of obtaining these generally makes this
form of construction prohibitive. Teak is generally to be preferred to
oak because it is less liable to twist, and when left to weather without
being continually varnished the silver-grey colour of teak is quite
equal to that of oak.
21
cases where stone can be found within a mile of the site, it is cheaper
to build with bricks, firstly because of the increased amount of labour
involved in building a stone wall, and secondly because of the extra
quantity of cement, which is always an expensive item. A masonry
wall, even in a stone country, must therefore be looked upon rather as
a luxury ; this is to be regretted because a stone wall in a stone country
is far more appropriate than a brick wall.
It may seem an easy matter to keep the rain out of a house, but all
architects know that this is far from being as easy as it appears. A heavy
south-west gale will drive the rain through a 9 in. brick wall, and even
through a 14in. wall, where the bricks are porous ; red bricks, though
preferable in colour, are invariably more porous than other varieties,
and wherever they are used thewallsshouldbebuilthollow. Generally
speaking it is better to be on the safe side and to build all walls, whether
of brick or stone, with a hollow space.
Nothing helps the grouping of a small house better than careful atten-
tion to the design of the chimney stacks; prominently seen against the
sky they attract attention perhaps more than any other part of a
building. It is not always essential that the stack should be in the
centre of the ridge, nor need both sides be designed to correspond ;
but it is essential that the chimney should be taken up well above the
ridge of the building; to do otherwise is never worth the small saving
of material.
Tile-hanging applied to the upper storey is the finest possible method
of keeping out the wet, and should always be adopted in any exposed
position. The cheerful colouring that tile-hanging gives to a house is
valuable from an aesthetic point of view, and the brighter tile-hung
vertical surfaces contrast effectively with the weathered brown of the
roofing tiles. Old weather-worn tiles have been very much in use
during the past few years, and nothing could look better ; but a good
modern sand-faced tile very soon weathers, especially where there are
trees in the neighbourhood, and the difficulty of procuring old tiles
makes it hardly worth while taking the trouble. Imitation old tiles
are not to be recommended.
The difficulty of obtaining well-seasoned timber renders it desirable to
avoid its use as far as possible, and for internal partitions coke breeze
blocks should be substituted for wood wherever the construction will
permit. Half-timber construction is a luxury not always to be afforded
in a strictly economical house. Large, hard-wood timbers only can be
employed, and the expense of obtaining these generally makes this
form of construction prohibitive. Teak is generally to be preferred to
oak because it is less liable to twist, and when left to weather without
being continually varnished the silver-grey colour of teak is quite
equal to that of oak.
21