There are undoubtedly many houses of the kind referred to in the previous article, which it is better to tear down than to attempt repairing. But this is not often the case with one which has been kept in good repair, even if it be a century old. If your house is tolerably good as a protection from the weather, but which for other reasons it is desirable to repair, listen not a word to the earnest solicitations of your carpenter about its being cheaper to build entirely new than to attempt any thing with such an old structure. If it is pleasanter for him to work up fresh materials, it will not be for yourself to pay for them when all the bills are brought in. I know one old house - a part of it built more than a hundred years ago - which has been recently repaired, and very satisfactorily too, at a cost of about $1,200, giving accommodations which would have cost in a new house not less than $3,500 to $4,000.

Perhaps the mere item of tearing down a house is not sufficiently appreciated by one who has never tried it. One who has, I heard remark that it is nearly as cheap to set fire to the building as to attempt saving the materials by taking it apart.

As any general plan of arrangement has been necessarily out of the question in these old farm-houses, where a thorough repair is undertaken, much more skill is required than for an entirely new one. The kitchen-wing having suffered most, the best planning of the architect will be required there. It will do to skirmish with slight attacks around the front ranks, but a few bold strokes must be made in the rear, or the battle will be lost. The kitchen, especially if it be also the dining-room, must have one side with a light, cheerful outlook. Generally a few cumbrous lean-tos must be sacrificed, that two or three large windows may be made, not under a deep, low veranda, but receiving the perpendicular light. After that is accomplished, considerable skill must be exercised in grouping those apartments which properly belong together.

In order to avoid too many rooms opening directly from the principal one, a passage may sometimes be constructed to connect with several. It is wonderful what a change for the better may be accomplished by a little adroit management and a few bold destructive attacks on the kitchen-wing.

It is impossible to particularize with regard to the various parts in a class of houses varying so widely in their places. The living-room ought, of course, to occupy the pleasantest position. Its bay-window (which, if there be any, should be here instead of in the parlor) should command a view of the best features of the surrounding landscape. It is well, too, that the highway be in plain view from this room. There is an affected taste prevalent in this matter. It is thought vulgar to care about what is going on in the street. For myself I will acknowledge that I like occasionally to see the physiognomies of friends or strangers who are passing. There is much of sociality even in a glance or a nod of the head, though no word be exchanged.

In repairing, above all avoid pretension in the style; it is disgusting in a new house, but intolerable in an old one. Do not assume that it is a new house, but leave, if possible, some impression in its features of venerable age. Let the house show that it is an old one, and is not ashamed of it, though in a new dress. A grandmother is always more presentable if in a clean cap neatly plaited, but her gray locks are far more beautiful than if they were dyed jet. Leave the roof with a pitch of forty-five degrees, and watch the boss-carpenter closely when he comes to the cornice. It may be sometimes necessary (so untractable is this class of men) to deface in the night what has been wrought in the daytime. But a few blows with a hammer will easily demolish the flimsy ornaments to which I refer.

The color for the exterior should be carefully selected. A reaction in the public taste from glaring white has resulted in hues no less objectionable. Any thing gloomy should be avoided.

Every thing about the exterior of a house should combine to give a look of repose. How few do we see that attain this! how many wear an uneasy look! as if they were not contented in their position. The latter expression is often produced by the roof being too much broken with dormers and gables.

I have a few words to offer with regard to the grounds immediately surrounding some of these old farm-houses, which, with your consent, Mr. Editor, may be given in another article.

[We shall be very glad to have the promised article on the treatment of the grounds. It is a good field for criticism, and we hope you may be as successful with it as you have been with the old farm houses. There is one point, however, in regard to old farm houses which has been overlooked. These are in many instances so badly located, that one often feels inclined, though reluctantly, to pull them down for this reason alone. Where the house is properly located, we should hesitate long before destroying it, but we should hardly attempt to "rejuvenate" it, unless the house and its surroundings were pleasantly situated, or could be made so. This can sometimes be done, and a very considerable outlay thus spared to the owner. - Ed].