A blind partiality for any one style in building is detrimental to the progress of improvement, both in taste and comfort. The variety of means, habits, and local feelings, will naturally cause many widely different tastes to arise among us; and it is only by the means of a number of distinct styles, that this diversity of tastes can be accommodated. There will always be a large class of individuals in every country who prefer a plain square house because it is more economical, and because they have little feeling for architectural, or, indeed, any other species of beauty. But besides such, there will always be found some men of finer natures, who have a sympathetic appreciation of the beautiful in nature and art. Among these, the classical scholar and gentleman may, from association and the love of antiquity, prefer a villa in the Grecian or Roman style. He who has a passionate love of pictures and especially fine landscapes, will perhaps, very naturally, prefer the modern Italian style for a country residence. The wealthy proprietor, either from the romantic and chivalrous associations connected with the baronial castle, or from desire to display his own resources, may indulge his fancy in erecting a castellated dwelling. The gentleman who wishes to realize the beau ideal of a genuine old English country residence, with its various internal comforts, and its spirited exterior, may establish himself in a Tudor villa or mansion; and the lover of nature and rural life, who, with more limited means, takes equal interest in the beauty of his grounds or garden (however small) and his house- who is both an admirer of that kind of beauty called the picturesque, and has a lively perception of the effect of a happy adaptation of buildings to the landscape,-such a person will very naturally make choice of the rural cottage style.
