rows
mouldy.

My idea of a house is, that, as far as is consistent with shelter and
reasonable privacy, it should give you on first entering an open,
breezy, outdoor freshness of sensation. Every window should be a
picture--sun and trees and clouds and green grass should seem never to
be far from us. "Our house" may shade but not darken us. "Our house"
shall have bow-windows, many, sunny, and airy,--not for the purpose of
being cleaned and shut up, but to be open and enjoyed. There shall be
long verandas above and below, where invalids may walk dry-shod, and
enjoy open-air recreation in wettest weather. In short, I will try to
have "our house" combine as far as possible the sunny, joyous, fresh
life of a gypsy in the fields and woods with the quiet and neatness
and comfort and shelter of a roof, rooms, floors, and carpets.

After heavenly fire, I have a word to say of earthly, artificial
fires. Furnaces, whether of hot water, steam, or hot air, are all
healthy and admirable provisions for warming our houses during the
eight or nine months of our year that we must have artificial heat, if
only, as I have said, fireplaces keep up a current of ventilation.

The kitchen-range with its water-back I humbly salute. It is a great
throbbing heart, and sends its warm tides of cleansing, comforting
fluid all through the house. One could wish that this friendly dragon
could be in some way moderated in his appetite for coal,--he does
consume without mercy, it must be confessed,--but then great is the
work he has to do. At any hour of day or night, in the most distant
part of your house, you have but to turn a stop-cock and your red
dragon sends you hot water for your need; your washing-day becomes a
mere play-day; your pantry has its ever-ready supply; and then, by a
little judicious care in arranging apartments and economizing heat, a
range may make two or three chambers comfortable in winter weather. A
range with a water-back is among the _must-be's_ in "our house."

Then, as to the evening light,--I know nothing as yet better than gas,
where it can be had. I would certainly not have a house without it.
The great objection to it is the danger of its escape through
imperfect fixtures. But it must not do this: a fluid that kills a tree
or a plant with one breath must certainly be a dangerous ingredient in
the atmosphere, and if admitted into houses, must be introduced with
every safeguard.

There are families living in the cou