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         "Near some fair town I'd have a private seat,
          Built uniform, not little nor too great;
          Better if on a rising ground it stood,-
          On this side fields, on that a neighboring wood;
          A little garden, grateful to the eye,
          Where a cool rivulet runs murmuring by,
          On whose delicious banks a stately row
          Of shady limes or sycamores should grow."
  NOTHING is more important in the preliminary
arrangements for building, than the selection of a
proper situation.  And upon this the question arises,
what is a proper situation?  The answer may be
embodied in general terms as follows: a situation
that will not be detrimental to the enjoyment of
health or comfort, that is easily accessible from a
public highway, and that commands a view of the
best scenery which the country affords.
  As our houses are built for the enjoyment of
comfort, convenience and pleasure, we do injustice to
ourselves, if we neglect anything conducive to these
ends.  First of all, it is well to note whether the
neighborhood in which we propose to build bears
evidence of the healthfulness of its climate by the
sanitary condition of its inhabitants.   If we are satis-
fied on this point, the next thing to be considered
is the location of our own particular dwelling; desir-
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