The stone used was sometimes carefully squared and dressed and, at others, the walls were of rubble construction without any attempt at careful arrangement. Occasionally the front of the house would be of dressed stone laid in orderly courses while the sides and back showed rubble walls. Then, again, where circumstances permitted, brick quoins and window and door trims, as in the Manor House at Croton-on-Hudson, might be used while the body of the walls was rubble. In this connexion it should be stated that the walls were carefully laid so that the stonework would hold together without much dependence being placed on the mortar, for the earliest mortar was of rather poor quality. In this respect the masonwork approached the ideal of a good wall construction. When stucco was used it was generally plastered over a rough stone surface and whitewashed or washed with some colour. When this stucco is removed it will often be found that the wall underneath is of admirable rubble construction and that the stucco coating was apparently added as a ground work for white or coloured wash. Some years ago, the stucco coat was removed from the walls of the Manor House at Croton-on-Hudson, and the stone walls beneath presented a far more interesting surface than the plaster, which seems to have been added at a date considerably subsequent to that of original construction. An examination in detail of the characteristics of the earliest Dutch houses discloses the following features of importance. As previously stated, almost all the houses were low, the eaves coming down to within a few feet of the tops [Illustration: ACKERMAN (BRINCKERHOFF) HOUSE, HACKENSACK, N. J. 1704. Local adaptations have begun to develop.] [Illustration: VERPLANCK HOUSE, NEAR FISHKILL LANDING, N. Y. Showing genesis of porch from eave extension.] [Illustration: HALL, BOWNE HOUSE, FLUSHING, LONG ISLAND, N. Y. With typical woodwork.] [Illustration: DINING ROOM, VAN CORTLANDT MANOR HOUSE, CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N. Y. With Dutch interpretation of Georgian _motifs_ on mantel.]