The porch, the labelled windows, the chimney shafts, and the ornamented gables, being the essential features in the composition of the English cottage style, it is evident that this mode of building is highly expressive of purpose, for country residences of almost every description and size, from the humblest peasant's cottage, to the beautiful and picturesque villa of the retired gentleman of fortune. In the simple form of the cottage, the whole may be constructed of wood very cheaply, and in the more elaborate villa residence, stone, or brick and cement, may be preferred, as being more permanent. No style so readily admits of enrichment as that of the old English cottage when on a considerable scale; and by the addition of pointed verandas, bay windows, and dormer-windows, by the introduction of mullions and tracery in the window openings, and indeed, by a multitude of interior and exterior enrichments generally applied to the Tudor mansions, a villa in the rural Gothic style may be made a perfect gem of a country residence. Of all the styles hitherto enumerated, we consider this one of the most suitable for this country, as, while it comes within the reach of all persons of moderate means, it unites, as we before stated, so much of convenience and rural beauty.* (* The only objection that can be urged against this mode of building, is that which applies to all cottages with a low second story, viz. want of coolness in the sleeping chambers during mid-summer. An evil which may be remedied by constructing a false inner-roof-leaving a vacuity between the two roofs of six or eight inches, which being occupied with air and ventilated at the top, will almost entirely obviate the objection. In our Cottage Residences, Design II., we have shown how the comfort of a full second story, suitable for this climate, may be combined with the expression of the English cottage style.)
