They lacked style,
but also lacked pretentiousness, and whatever does not pretend at all
has style enough. They stood in commodious yards, well shaded by
leftover forest trees, elm and walnut and beech, with here and there a
line of tall sycamores where the land had been made by filling bayous
from the creek. The house of a "prominent resident," facing Military
Square, or National Avenue, or Tennessee Street, was built of brick
upon a stone foundation, or of wood upon a brick foundation. Usually
it had a "front porch" and a "back porch"; often a "side porch," too.
There was a "front hall"; there was a "side hall"; and sometimes a
"back hall." From the "front hall" opened three rooms, the "parlour,"
the "sitting room," and the "library"; and the library could show
warrant to its title--for some reason these people bought books.
Commonly, the family sat more in the library than in the "sitting
room," while callers, when they came formally, were kept to the
"parlour," a place of formidable polish and discomfort. The
upholstery of the library furniture was a little shabby; but the
hostile chairs and sofa of the "parlour" always looked new.
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