Page:Vitruvius the Ten Books on Architecture.djvu/221

CHAPTER VI

THE FARMHOUSE

From Mau

THE VILLA RUSTICA AT BOSCOREALE
NEAR POMPEII

A. Court. B. Kitchen. C-F. Baths. H. Stable. J. Toolroom. K, L, V, V. Bedrooms. N. Dining Room. M. Anteroom. O. Bakery. P. Room with two winepresses. Q. Corridor. R. Court for fermentation of wine. S. Barn. T. Threshing-floor. Y. Room with oil press.

1. In the first place, inspect the country from the point of view of health, in accordance with what is written in my first book, on the building of cities, and let your farmhouses be situ­ated accordingly. Their dimensions should depend upon the size of the farm and the amount of produce. Their courtyards and the dimensions thereof should be determined by the number of cattle and the number of yokes of oxen that will need to be kept therein. Let the kitchen be placed on the warmest side of the courtyard, with the stalls for the oxen adjoining, and their cribs facing the kitchen fire and the eastern quarter of the sky, for the rea­son that oxen facing the light and the fire do not get rough-­coated. Even peasants wholly without knowledge of the quar­ters of the sky believe that oxen ought to face only in the direc­tion of the sunrise.

2. Their stalls ought to be not less than ten nor more than fif­teen feet wide, and long enough to allow not less than seven feet for each yoke. Bathrooms, also, should adjoin the kitchen; for in this situation it will not take long to get ready a bath in the country.

Let the pressing room, also,