the
country houses of France. This, of course, should not be understood
as meaning that any of these buildings can be transplanted bodily to
American soil and still be satisfactory. Architectural borrowing of
this class is never satisfactory; but no architecture of which we have
any knowledge is independent of precedent, and it only behooves us to
adopt from the experience of others those features or ideas which are
most suited to our needs. The plans and the original uses of the rooms
of these French _manoirs_ may not prove directly adaptable to our
ways of living, but the general massing of the design and the rambling
arrangement of plan, as well as the picturesqueness of it all, are
characteristics which can well be embodied in our country houses. In
their way, no better models can be found than the two _manoirs_ from
Normandy which we illustrate in this number. They have both suffered
from the ravages of time and hard usage, and both are at present, and
for a long time have been, used as farmhouses. The Manoir d'Ango is
the finer and more important of the two, and is better preserved in
some of its more interesting features.

[Illustration: LXXIV. Ferme de Turpe, Normandy.]

It is one of the main beauties of the charming village of
Varengeville-sur-Mer, on the north coast of Normandy. It is now
converted into a farmhouse, but in it once a celebrated privateersman
of Dieppe received the ambassadors of the King of Portugual. There are
still many evidences of the former dignity and grandeur in its present
degradation.

Ango was strictly a _manoir_ in the French sense, that is, a residence
of the second class--not a chateau, such as Chambord or Blois.

The principal part of the building consists of but one story with
an open gallery beneath, supported by an arcade with columns bearing
finely carved caps ornamented with female heads, angels, etc.

In the interior as well as on the exterior may be seen fragments of
sculpture which show much refinement. In one of the rooms of the tower
a monumental mantel carved in stone bears in its centre the bust of an
old man having in his hand a globe surmounted by a cross, the imperial
emblem. This may be the portrait of one of the founders of the Ango
family.

LXXIII to LXXVI.

FERME DE TURPE, NORMANDY.

The Ferme de Turpe is situated near the town of Neuchatel-en-Bray,
famous for its cheese. It has fewer interesting details than the
Manoir d'Ango and is in even poore