|
The cottage
above, from the 1850 book, The Architecture of Country Houses,
is a model of how a house can be designed to keep itself dry.
The simple, sloping roof projects broadly to carry rain and snow
away from the walls. The hoods over the windows and door protect
them, even when they are left open. The horizontal band of wood,
just above the foundation, is a "water-table." It is
beveled away from the house to carry off any water that runs
down the walls. As you can see, the first floor is built two
steps above the ground which is also terraced around the house.
Water would have to climb uphill to get in.
Window
Hoods
Hoods
to windows in American country houses are features that seem to
spring naturally from the peculiarities of the climate, and the
needs they give rise to. The upper sashes of windows with hoods
can always be left a little open without any chance of the rain
beating in; and even when of small size they protect the glass
from the direct vertical rays of the summer sun, and receive the
first blows from the winter storm. They also add much to the
artistic effect of a rural building.
It is to be
observed that, in summer, a small window is in one respect most
comfortable, as a wall is a better protection from heat than
glass or Venetian blinds. But, on the other hand, large windows
are desirable to throw open for the summer evening breeze, and
to let in plenty of cheerful light during dull winter and spring
days. The hood, in a measure, connects these two opposite needs.
A veranda all round a house is delightful for a month or two in
the heat of summer; but most healthily-constituted persons like
to have the opportunity to admit a stream of glorious, warm,
genial sunlight into their rooms whenever they feel inclined to
enjoy it, and this can not be obtained if the veranda entirely
encircles the living apartments. The hood, on the other hand,
defends the window from the powerful rays of the mid-day sun
without shutting it out entirely.
Calvert Vaux, Villas
& Cottages, 1867
Illustration of a
door hood, from the 1867 book, Villas & Cottages
|
