Newspapers / The Pinehurst Outlook (Pinehurst, … / Jan. 7, 1898, edition 1 / Page 1
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J V if oil VO!.. I., NO. 13. PINEHURST, N. C, FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 1898. PRICE THREE CENTS. BACK-WOODS ARCHITECTURE. Primitive Dwelliags of the Re gion About Pinehurst. Log Cabins and Rough Board "Shacks" Popular With the Natives. Beautiful Buildings of Our Yillage a Strik ing Contrast to Those of the Sur rounding Country. The architecture of a new place should he an index to the manners and customs of its inhahitants, for we well know that the architecture of all times has heen a clear indication of the hahits and needs, the mental, moral and physical condition of the people ; and the history of past .Miles is most cleanly and comprehensively studied through the architectural inonu- ,ments and remains that have heen per mitted to withstand the ravages of time. With this fact in view, a little study of the native architecture of this region may not lie amiss. Wo must remember that this section of the country has heen poor from the first settlement, when, in the last century, it was thinly peopled by sturdy emigrants from Scotland. They have continued here to this day, honest and industrious, intelligent, considering their opportuni ties, jrenerous and hospitable, glad to welcome and entertain the Yankee from the North. The prefix "Me" is almost universal ; and they show clearly their origin. They speak of families within four or live miles as neighbors; so school houses are few and far apart. There have heen no great plantations, no aris tocracy and no large settlements. The sandy soil was until recently covered with forests of long-leaf pine, which has been almost killed by boxing; t lien nit for the northern market. Now '"'I these conditions necessitate a certain wanner of life, and determine the social status of th,i people and consequently the architecture. A northerner who is familar with the iiiigiiificent colonial mansions of the V. 1 VYs in the .James and Potomac valleys s" short, a distance to the north "liran-u--" "Tulip Hill," "Westover," etc., I'll look in vain lor reminiscenses of a Minilar golden age in North Carolina. will lind, it is true, some interesting ' "'y work in Fayetteville, which at 1:1 "'! some importance one hundred ago ils ! toss Creek," a frontier trading post v'!,! the Indians; and, by the way, those "i'1 '' Med in such things will find a set ,r of this store, a branch of the 1 I1011.sc in Wilmington, in the Pine s Museum, a most beautiful example of copper plate penmanship on What man's paper, well worth careful study. At Wilmington and Ualeigh also there examples of early work, but they do not approach the artistic perfection of the Maryland and Virginia mansions. As we study the architecture of our early English ancestors, we trace the "mansion" back to a house of a single room, which in the half civilized condi tion of the people answered all purposes of life kitchen, dining room, sitting room, and sleeping rooms, all combined. As the people became more fastidious, another room was added, then another, till in the 15th and IGth centuries they covered large areas, enclosing one or more large courts ; as, for instance, llad don Hall in Derbyshire. Now here, at the present time, we find scattered all over the country houses of one room form, having a very interesting color effect, and very strong shadows under the porch and gable ends. They, in some eases, very much resemble some types of the little chalets I have sketched in Switzerland in form, color and simplic ity, and in the fact that the construction furnishes the ornament. The founda tion is usually a large block of wood. at the corners and as required for support; the remaining space being open for free access of air. The logs are dovetailed at the corners, as usual. The heating and cooking is done in a huge fireplace, sometimes extending entirely across the house; with a huge beam, supporting its fellows, forming the end of the house. This fireplace is built of logs, and is shaped like a bay window on the end of the house. Above the beam it is drawn in by means of small logs and sticks laid it. A '4-1 -4;4 -ka-pmwM Sill ii)''"ii ,;? 1 iif ( Til mil) 'Sim P fir f S! ,Hf 'ni J AXCIKXT "STVLK DWKI.LISO, NKAK lMXKIUKST. satisfying all demands, as of old in Eng land. Hut we lind when the family re quirements or refinements demand more room they usually add, not an extra room to the original, but another one room house, then another; so in course of time they have a little group of three or four that with the numerous out buildings make a little settlement of ten or a dozen structures. Now the reason for this growth is two fold: first, climatic; second, building ma terials. Further south, in the South west and through Mexico, where the climate and conditions are analogous, they grow as they did in England, by adding to the original house. Uut in each of these cases they use a different build ing material in England stone, in Mexi co" adobe, both easily added to. Here the only building material was logs, and it was much easier to build a separate structure than fasten on to and extend the old one. In many cases, these original log cot tages are very picturesque in general in clay to a square tine of sticks and dirt, as they say, which is carried up above the ridge pole. The roof is carried out over and beyond this chimney, to protect the clay over the fireplace from being washed out ; and this great projection, with the interesting construction of the angles, corbelling out of the logs to support the roof ; the pole construction of the roof, the grey weathered logs with the yellow clay tilling of the chimney ; the black, rough four foot split shingles, covered in patches with bright green moss ; all in its setting of fruit trees, climbing vines, and flowers of the typical front yard, makes a picture worthy of the brush of the artist, and full of delicious sugges tions and stimulation for the amateur. The fireplace is lined and floored with clay, six or eight inches thick ; but this is carried up but a few feet, and it is a great wonder that the sparks and roar ing flames do not ignite the logs of the chimney ; but this seems to be a very rare occurrence. Some of the barns and out-houses are also very picturesque, with their color, strong texture, and tremendous over hangs. Everything seems so delightful ly sincere, so unafl'ected and natural, perfectly adapted to the requirements; and all the simplest and most direct result of the various needs and materials. Most of the old houses are of round logs, chinked with clay; but we find, now and then, a house of squared logs, in some cases a marvelous example of ax work. In one case, in a house built about a century ago, the logs were so smoothly and beautifully hewn that they look like siding, except for the very perfect dovetailing at the corners. The logs lay together so closely as to neces sitate no pointing or chinking. In some of these houses no iron was used at all. When wood was to be put together it was done by means of strong hickory pins, the board doors swinging on wooden pivots and having wooden latches. One other peculiar feature is that win dows are almost unknown; the door or doors admit light by day, and the fat wood fire brilliantly illumines the in terior by night. I once asked a woman why they had two doors. She said they needed two doors in summer to cool the house, and in winter so as to open the one opposite the wind. Now, these thick, solid log walls, like the adobe of Mexico, are the most comfortable possible. They repel the heat of the sun's rays in summer, and the cold winds of winter, and retain the heat radiated from the fireplace. Some times the room has beams and a ceiling of wood, making a dark loft; but very generallv the pole rafters and first layer of shingles are exposed. These very soon get coated a glistening black with smoke. Some of these houses have been made to appear modern by being covered with siding outside, and ceiled with boards inside, plaster and paper being seldom seen, the wood walls being white washed instead. In some localities those understanding brick making and possessing a clay pit build for them selves a chimney of brick, but the stick and dirt chimney is most common. After the advent of the lumberman and the saw mill, the method of building construction changed ; and we find now many cottages looking somewhat, bar ring paint, like the farm houses of New England, with an enormous outside chim ney or two and without paint, and what is typical of this later period, the "shack." Now, the shack has an interest as a type. It is built of rough pine hoards through out, even to the roof, doors and chimney ; and it is quite often a very picturesque affair. There is an unconventionality, a certain disregard of all custom, and it has the chic of a crisp sketch. The boards project above the ridge in irregular patches, and hang over the walls here and there, varying from two to six feet. The big chimney is very picturesque, and the entire structure is
The Pinehurst Outlook (Pinehurst, N.C.)
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Jan. 7, 1898, edition 1
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