This gentleman mistakes me, and my meaning, in my random remarks on his houses. Mr. Smith's houses are just as good as any other architect's houses - of the kind. And, as I am now taking leave of these pages, for the time, as a contributor, I will, with all kind regards to Mr. Smith and his useful profession, drop a word or two on this style of building - the Italian - for American country houses. And, be it understood, I speak not as an architect, for I am not one, but as a simple looker-on, with admiration of every real improvement introduced in anything.

The house architecture of any country should, in the main, conform to its climate, and always to the domestic convenience of the people. It is unnecessary to say that our country Architecture, previous to the last twenty years, has, as a rule, been uncouth and inappropriate to its objects. A reform has been introduced; yet, as in most other reforms, absurdities have crept in with it Gothic, Swiss, Moorish, Norman, Egyptian, even, as well as other preposterous things, have been recommended by our house architects, inappropriate, enormously expensive, for the accommodation they give, and unsatisfactory any way. The Italian, as a style, is the most appropriate for American purposes, provided the steep roof is added, which is an absolute necessity of our rainy, snowy, and frosty climates. The shelter afforded by the overhanging roofs and verandas, render the Italian the most tasteful and convenient for as;- therefore, it is a great improvement, and should be the style for general adoption. I bow speak in the common-sense view of the subject, with a due regard to economy in building, and an eye to its selling value whenever the proprietor chooses to part with it - for be it known, that no real property is more fluctuating in its ownership, with us, than "country houses." If a man chooses to indulge his fancy or taste by building an extravagant house, in a novel style, that is another thing; it is his own affair, and I have nothing to say.

Such things are the exception, But, as architects usually have the planning of houses, and govern their style, expense, and accommodation, it i$ well to ascertain whether they combine the requirements of convenience and comfort in what they build, with a due economy in expense. As a rule, they do not To illustrate: A man of comfortable estate, with a moderate family, wants a "cottage." He consults his architect. A plan is presented - fashionable, of course, and as the Gothic, and other absurdities, like Sir Lucius OTrigger's "damns," have had their day, the Italian style is presented. Instead of a plain, tasty affair, with outer walls, admitting breaks and angles just sufficient to five it relief and effect without violence to the interior arrangement of its rooms, it is full of "hips and haws," Jags and buttresses, campaniles and porches; half a dozen different roofs and elevations - a pretentious toy, in fact, imitating a palatial residence fit for a family of twenty thousand a year, on a great landed estate.

And all this outside pretence, with its almost interminable lines of zigzag wall, is to inclose a contracted accommodation of perhaps three or four rooms, a closet or two, and a back kitchen, with a few contracted chambers overhead, at an expense of "$5,000 to $8,000 1"

Now, this thing won't last. Sensible people will get tired of it after awhile - particularly when the repairs come, "Dormers," "flat cornices," garret cisterns, springing a leak every now and then, and spoiling the ceilings, carpets, and furni-ture, will give way to sensible contrivances as of old. I would not have a kitchen in the body of the house, as Mr. Smith intimates I would; it should be in the rear, its proper place; and the annual plumbers' bills should not amount to the full cost of all other repairs, as they usually do in ordinary dwellings. A "cottage" should be a cottage in its proper meaning, and that only. It should have an air of repose, of coziness, ana convenience, so that every one passing it should say: "How comfortable!" It could be done at half the cost of the other thing. The term "cottage" is full of meaning. - low walls, a high roof, wide eaves, a veranda in front, and perhaps on the sides, spread broadly over the ground, climbing plants, shrubbery, and trees. There it is.

Go in and take your comfort in your own natural way. '

Mr. Smith hopes I am not going into a crusade against Mr. Downing's reform' labors in architecture. By no means. But all Mr. Downing's architectural plans were not "reforms." He was just on the threshold of his new profession when he so unfortunately died. Had he lived, his own matured judgment and finely cultivated taste would, ere this, have thrown aside as worthless much that his early enthusiasm had recommended. Every year of his valuable life gave evidence of his chastened perceptions of the useful and appropriate in country architecture. A more appropriate style in country houses among our best architects, is already apparent, and our better houses are again approaching the square or parallelogram, with less of irregular wall, and more symmetry of proportion. Flat roofs, be they of tin, zinc, or copper, are not the things for American climates, in the country; and so our architects will find out ere long. Old things are not always to be discarded because old, nor new things to be adopted because new. The world has known something before our day.

Jeffreys.