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AMERICAN COUNTRY HOMES OF TODAY
   At the same time, however, there are certain radical points of
departure which have helped to differentiate our country homes
from those abroad. England has no porches, as we know them in
America-only small loggias and arcades and sheltered entrances.
And so, to meet the wishes of our people for the utmost outdoor life,
and to take advantage of our warmer summers, we have built porches
and verandas, pergolas and balconies, which have come to be one
of the most distinctive characteristics of the New World home.
   Another point wherein our houses differ from the English is in
our simpler arrangement of pantries, halls and corridors. Our
kitchens and service arrangements are also more compact and usually
nearer the dining room. Our roofs are somewhat different in con-
struction, to withstand the greater snowfall, and we use double-
hung windows more frequently than casements, as they afford better
protection against heavy storms. In these and various other ways
we have developed, out of more or less English styles and traditions,
a definite local type.
pRoOBABLY one of the most significant factors in the evolution
     of American domestic architecture is the personal interest
     which the people themselves are evincing. They are no
longer content to live in uncomfortable and monotonous-looking
dwellings, or to abide by the preferences of their architect. They
want their houses to be as convenient and homelike as purse, taste
and skill will permit, and to possess as much beauty and individuality
as possible. And in most cases the tendency is toward simplicity
rather than elaboration, both in the exterior construction and in
the interior furnishings.
   There are many reasons for this alert, enthusiastic attitude on
the part of our home-makers. Many of them have acquired taste
and knowledge of art and architecture through travel abroad, through
glimpses of the historic beauties of older civilizations. Others have
developed a sympathetic understanding of architecture through wide
study and reading in school, college and home. Libraries, exhibi-
tions, lectures, current periodicals-all these have guided them to
intelligent appreciation of past and present achievements, and given
them at least a general knowledge of the many problems of home-
and garden-planning, as well as furnishing and decoration.
   They have followed the work of the foremost architects of the
day, studied the various styles of construction and design, weighed
the advantages and disadvantages of different building materials and
gradually formulated their own ideal of what a comfortable demo-
cratic American home should be. At all events, when the time
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