impracticable, through being so badly worm-eaten; under the hands of
skilful workmen, however, it has been thoroughly renovated and is now a
prominent feature of the room. The apartment is well lighted by many
windows, each one of which is of a different design. These have been
perfectly planned, and there is no discordant note.

The second story has been so arranged that all the rooms open into each
other and also into the hallway. They are of low stud and contain dormer
windows. The Colonial atmosphere has been carefully observed, so that
new pieces which have been introduced fit in harmoniously with the old
ones. Each room has a large, open fireplace with a crane, suggestive of
good cheer.

The success of this house has been attained through the careful thought
of the owners, and it is an example of a charmingly remodeled farmhouse
of a type such as one seldom finds.

CHAPTER XIV

WILLOWDALE

Should you chance to run across an old farmhouse that shows good
interior woodwork, do not carelessly pass it by, for such houses are not
easy to discover. You must realize that when restored it will be much
more attractive than one with a plain mopboard and narrow cornice.

Woodwork was not of the Colonial type in the earliest houses; it was
used merely as a wall covering and was called wainscot, the same as it
is to-day. This was because the paneling was originally made from
wainscot oak which was well grained and without knots. Differing from
that in nineteenth-century houses, it was put on the walls vertically,
the boards being rough and wide. It must be remembered that in those
days trees had not been felled to any extent, and the giants of the
forest provided the best of lumber for this purpose. These boards were
either lapped or put together with tongue-strips. Later on, we find
interiors where they were laid horizontally, like those of a century or
more ago, and instead of being plain boards, were well finished.

Wainscot is an inheritance from our early ancestors, for in the manor
houses in the mother country there is wonderful woodwork, used not only
for wainscot, but for other parts of the interior finish. White pine,
which at that time grew abundantly in our native woods, was employed for
interior as well as exterior purposes, this being more especially true
in the northern and eastern parts of the country, where it was more
plentiful. It has generally been conceded that this wood was the best on
ac