It was square in plan, surrounded by twelve columns, two projecting flat porticoes in front and back, and pedimented porticoes at the sides. The entrance was approached by a noble flight of steps, the pedestals of which were decorated with carvings, and supported crouching lions. Statues and vases adorned the roof. A print of it, from a drawing of Wheatly, was published in 1783. The building contained a small hall or vestibule, a saloon or living-room, 20 feet in length by 15 feet in width. Leading out of this were
Plan of mezzanine floor.
two small rooms; one a study, the other a bedroom and closet. The basement contained a large and well-fitted kitchen, a scullery and larder, a butler’s pantry, and servants’ hall, and cellars for ale and wine. Retired buildings of this kind, of larger character and of more importance, were often erected in private grounds of noblemen and gentry. One, very similar to the present design, was constructed by the late Robert Adam, for a salt-water bath, at Mistley, the seat of the Right Hon. Richard Rigby. Mr. Adam and Sir William Chambers erected a large number of such ornamental structures. One of the most elegant
Plan of upper story.
examples, by Mr. Robert Adam, was the rout-house or pavilion erected for a fête champêtre in the gardens of the Earl of Derby, at the Oaks, in Surrey, in 1774. The building was internally of the most ornamental character; there was an octangular vestibule, a hall 30 feet in diameter; this opened into a grand ball-room, 72 feet by 35 feet within the columns, and 86 feet by 56 feet within the walls. The supper-room, surrounding the ball-room, measured 200 feet from one end to the other, and 20 feet in width. It was exposed in its full splendour on the curtains being drawn; and at the end of the ball-room there were
Basement plan.
two tea-rooms, each 20 feet square, on each side of the entrance saloon. The author gives these details in order that he may not be considered too venturesome in submitting to public notice, in these economical times, such an ornamental design as the