even to great
genius. Never before have I felt inclined to agree with her; but the
conviction has grown upon me of late that the new house is in danger of
being too much like other houses. If a fellow is really going in for
reform, I like to have him go the whole figure. What do you say to
beginning anew and building such a house as no mortal ever built
before--something to make everybody wonder what manner of people they
are who live in such a habitation--something to convince our neighbors
that we are no weak-minded time-servers, but are able to be an
architectural as well as domestic law unto ourselves--something to make
them stop and stare--a sort of local Greenwich from which the community
will reckon their longitude--'so many miles from the house that Jill
built'?"

"My dear, did it ever occur to you that you cannot be too thankful for
a wife who is not blown about by every wind of new doctrine? I _do_
like the plan of 'The Oaks' exceedingly, not only for itself, but for
the spirit of it, for its breadth and freedom. It seems to me a
charming illustration of the true gospel of home architecture. There is
no thoughtless imitation of something else that suits another place and
another family. Neither does it appear that the owner tried to make a
vain display for the sake of 'astonishing the natives.' He knew what he
wanted, and built the house to suit his wants, using the simplest, the
cheapest and the most durable materials at hand in the most direct and
unaffected manner. Did you notice in the sketch of the keeping-room
fireplace the little gallery passing across the end of the room above
the entrance to the sitting-room? Probably you thought that was built
for purely ornamental purposes, but it isn't. It is simply the walk
from the kitchen to another part of the attic, which can be most
conveniently reached by this interior bridge. Of course it adds to the
interest and beauty of the room, but it was not made for that purpose,
and, as I understand the matter, it is all the more beautiful because
it was first made to be useful. There is another thing in this
house--the elevator--which, queerly enough, we do not often find in
houses of more aspiring habit, where it would he of even greater value.
It is amazing to me that housekeepers will go on tugging trunks,
coal-hods and heavy merchandise of all kinds up stairways, day after
day and year after year, when a simple mechanical contrivance, moved by
water, or weight