Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE SELECTION OF THE SITE OF THE HOUSE IT seems needless to say that the house should be the center and key-point of the entire design of the smallest as well as the largest village lot or country place. A badly located house would evidently destroy the value of the design of the entire place. As the house must remain always the chief consideration of home grounds, its site must be studied from its different aspects, and with regard to its various functions. There are the health considerations, and conveniences of the house itself; the means of entrance and exit, and the exposure and outlook of dining-rooms, kitchens, parlors, and bedrooms. The road and path system of the place, and their connections with stables, drying-ground, and garden, are all important factors in the problem. Distant views will have to be provided for, as well as connections with near vistas, and attractive surrounding lawns, waters, groves, and so forth. Opportunities will arise, and should be taken advantage of, whereby terraces and level spaces of lawn can be secured for the immediate neighborhood of the house. The contours of the ground should suggest this, and there should be no forced or unnatural scheme of arrangement employed. The situation of the front door is the key-note that should largely determine the proper situation of the house in the general harmony of the place. From the front gate the road will lead to the house by a route that will be affected by existing grades and location of trees. The road should seek to conceal itself as it approaches the house, and when the building presents itself in full view, the kitchen, laundry, and the more or less business rooms should not be visible. The main views, such as open terraces, lawns, and specially attractive portions of the place, shoul...