The basement (fig. 13) contains the entry (a); housekeeper's room (b); wine-cellar (c); stairs (d); butler's room (e); laundry (f ); kitchen (g); yard (II); store-room (i); servants' room (k); cabinet or closets (/); the area (m) in front of the house; steps (n) to same from the street pavement; coal-cellars (o), with opening for filling from the pavement; water-closet with reservoir (i5); stable (q); carriage-house (r); and stairs (s) to a low upper story imme diately above. This upper story (fig. 13) contains the hay-loft (a); water closet (b); coachman's room (e); valet's room (d); and stairs (e). The ground story, or first floor, of the house (fig. 14) contains the vestibule (a); entry (b); hall (e); stairs (d); dining-room (e); library (f); room (g) for the master of the house; and yard (11). The next story above (fig. 16), or second story from the pavement, contains the parlors, drawing-rooms, or salons (a, b); greenhouse (e); and stairs (d). The upper stories (fig. 17) contain the toilet-room (a) and bed-rooms (b , e). Figure r8 exhibits the attic: sleeping-rooms (a b, e); stairs (d); and tank, or reservoir (e).
American the United States, private residences are ex ceedingly varied. In the Northern States, the old farmhouse which, with its huge chimney in the centre, its spacious garret, low ceilings, dark wind ing stairs, and contracted halls, was inherited from English ancestors, lias of late years been opened to fresh breezes and wholesome sunshine, and makes a useful typical dwelling, especially as diversified by the revival of the " Oueen Anne " styles of decoration, which bv their very excesses have cultivated the national taste for individual peculiarities both in form and in color.
The primitive double house was also exceedingly convenient. The wide hall traversing the centre from front to rear opened on one side into a spacious parlor, while on the other side the same space was divided into a sitting--room and a dining-room, with an ample extension behind for kitchen and scullery. A second story was divided into square bed-rooms, and a half-story, or attic, furnished convenient space for storage.
The Log Cabin of the original settler supplied a substantial abode, wann in winter and cool in summer, which, with the addition of rustic porches or long verandas, harmonized well with surrounding forest-scenery. The frame or weather-boarded house which succeeded it, although ineaoTe and angular iu its plainer forms, is susceptible of artistic ornamentation and architectural beauty.
Some portions of the country were for a considerable period influenced by an admiration for the severe outlines of Greek architecture, and a large number of handsome private residences were erected upon the type of the Doric and Corinthian temple, making a stately dwelling particularly suited to southern latitudes on account of the high ceilings and lofty porticos.
Spanish and Italian architectural ideas have also extensively prevailed in the South, where in many cases all the labors of k.itchen and laundry are performed in outside buildings erected for the purpose.
In districts where the effect of heavy snow-storms must be considered, the steep roof is preferred, and there the Dutch and the English types pre vail, modified and modernized by the addition of turrets, bow-windows, and decorated facades. The remarkable and rapid substitution of fanciful devices for the rectangular original forms received an impulse from the numerous graceful Swiss-Gothic pavilions built for the Centennial Exhi bition of 1876; these are particularly applicable to frame structures, to which the newly-invented machine carvings and mouldings add economic decoration, with the addition of terra-cotta mouldings, tinted tiles, and colored glass. The tide of modern fashion toward seashore- and mountain resorts for stnniner sojourning has also given an immense impetus to the erection of decorative cottages and the cheaper forms of architectural design.
American City Houses in their interior arrangements, although English, French, and German styles may be found, have generally been modified to suit the national taste. Thus, in the ordinary three-story city residence (pi. 15, Ar. 2) always desig-ned for the exclusive use of one family, the front door opens upon a vestibule leading into a hall, at the back of which rises an open stairway. On one side, at the front, is a large parlor, behind which are a drawing-roorn, kitchen, and scullery. Upon the second story the front is given to two bed-rooms, while over the dining-room and the kitchen are a sitting-room, a store-room, and a bath-room. The upper story is devoted to bed-rooms, the servants' room being in the topmost story, to which there is access by separate stairways from the kitchen. Another style prevailing in some districts has on the ground floor a recep tion-room instead of a parlor, and on the second floor a larg-e drawing-room and ante-chamber, which furnish considerable space for social entertain ments, while bed-rooms, dressing-rooms, bath-rooms, etc., are placed on upper stories. It may be remarked that bed-rooms are universally situated at a distance from the kitchen and the dining--room, while elevators are frequently introduced, to lessen the labor incident to the additional num ber of stories.