is constructed should,
unquestionably, be the governing point in determining its position. The
site should be dry, and slightly declining, if possible, on every side;
but if the surface be level, or where water occasionally flows from
contiguous grounds, or on a soil naturally damp, it should be thoroughly
drained of all superfluous moisture. That is indispensable to the
preservation of the house itself, and the health of its inmates. The
house should so stand as to present an agreeable aspect from the main
points at which it is seen, or the thoroughfares by which it is
approached. It should be so arranged as to afford protection from wind
and storm, to that part most usually occupied, as well as be easy of
access to the out-buildings appended to it. It should have an
unmistakable front, sides, and rear; and the uses to which its various
parts are applied, should distinctly appear in its outward character.
It should combine all the advantages of soil, cultivation, water, shade,
and shelter, which the most liberal gratification, consistent with the
circumstances of the owner, may demand. If a site on the estate command
a prospect of singular beauty, other things equal, the dwelling should
embrace it; if the luxury of a stream, or a sheet of water in repose,
present itself, it should, if possible, be enjoyed; if the shade and
protection of a grove be near, its benefits should be included; in fine,
any object in itself desirable, and not embarrassing to the main
purposes of the dwelling and its appendages, should be turned to the
best account, and appropriated in such manner as to combine all that is
desirable both in beauty and effect, as well as in utility, to make up a
perfect whole in the family residence.

Attached to the building site should be considered the quality of the
soil, as affording cultivation and growth to shrubbery and trees,--at
once the ornament most effective to all domestic buildings, grateful to
the eye always, as objects of admiration and beauty--delightful in the
repose they offer in hours of lassitude or weariness; and to them, that
indispensable feature in a perfect arrangement, the garden, both fruit
and vegetable, should be added. Happily for the American, our soils are
so universally adapted to the growth of vegetation in all its varieties,
that hardly a farm of considerable size can be found which does not
afford tolerable facilities for the exercise of all the taste which one
may indulge in