In all branches of architecture direct reference should be had to the objects for which the building is intended. An eminent architect, already quoted, has well set forth this essential point in the following remarks:—“The art of characterizing, that is to say, of rendering evident by material forms the intellectual qualities and moral ideas required to express in edifices, or to make known by the harmony and suitableness of all the constituent parts that enter into their composition the use for which they are intended, is perhaps of all the secrets of architecture the most difficult to develope or to attain. This happy talent of conceiving and of communicating the conception in the physiognomy suitable to each edifice; this sure and delicate discernment, which exhibits the distinguishing parts of such edifices, that at first appear susceptible of no characteristic distinctions; this judicious employment of the different styles which are as the tones of architecture; this skilful application of the signs which the art employs to affect the sight and understanding; this exquisite feeling, which errs neither in the just disposition of the masses and employment of the details, nor in the just dispensation of richness and simplicity, and which is able to combine true expression of character with the harmonious accord of all the qualities susceptible of being represented by architecture—all this requisite talent, which study perfects, but does not produce, is a gift possessed by few. This suitable expression presents itself under two relations, the one appertaining to architecture in general, and the other to edifices in particular. The first consists in the expression of the qualities or intellectual ideas which are the results of the art metaphysically considered; the second, in the true indication of the uses for which edifices are designed, that is, in considering architecture as a certain mode of expressing or painting. This expression, according to the nature of the buildings and edifices, may be produced by the gradation of richness and greatness proportionate to the nature and the object for which they are erected; by the indication of the moral qualities attached to each edifice, the manner of expressing which is beyond the reach of rules; by the general and particular form of architecture; by the species of the construction and the quality of the materials that may be employed in the execution; and lastly, by the resources of decoration.” In these remarks will be found a highly valuable précis of the excellence to which the art of the architect should be directed, and the means that must be adopted to obtain pleasing and successful results.
The erection of country mansions, villas, and other residences, has of late years been greatly stimulated in our country. The enormous annually accumulated savings of the commercial portion of the community have induced a large amount of capital to be invested in such objects. In regard to questions of taste and decoration, it should be borne in mind that but very little extra cost is incurred in building a residence in a pleasing and picturesque style than in one having not the least pretension to architectural beauty. In our earlier remarks on the nature of the picturesque the general principles of obtaining that effect have been pointed out. In the following pages the special details are amply descanted on, and illustrated by designs, drawings, &c. It is the object of every department of constructive skill at the present day, to endeavour to obtain the best possible result by the least possible expenditure of material, and thus taste actually causes economy rather than increased expense. Tons of heavy and unsightly materials are now replaced by hundredweights of decorative, and yet substantial, masonry and iron work. A number of modern elegant erections, affording accommodation equal in extent, but vastly superior in quality, are now made at an expenditure of stone or brick less by one-third in quantity than was employed in many old houses; those in High Street, Edinburgh, by way of example. The result has been arrived at by the joint aid of science and art, the former giving data as to the strength of the material, and the latter directing its disposal. The peculiar character of English scenery is exactly adapted for giving a picturesque character to villa residences, provided the latter are designed and erected in accordance with the principles of sound taste. Surely he who would spend money in building a house, in which all or most of the remainder of his days are to be spent, will not grudge making that dwelling the subject of decoration or ornamental art, by which its aspect shall at all times be suggestive of pleasure rather than of aversion or disgust. It has been said that most individuals, by long association together, acquire a mutuality of tastes and even physical resemblance. It cannot be denied that even inanimate objects, such as our dwellings, furniture, landscapes, gardens, and other such surroundings, have a parallel effect on us. Hence the wisdom of using all the means which architectural art places at our disposal. Errors in this respect often proceed from thoughtlessness, if not from want of refined taste. An instance may suffice to show how much such matters should be attended to in the choice of a site and other conditions. A retired manufacturer erected a mansion at a cost exceeding fifty thousand pounds, and had never paid any heed to the fact that the most prominent object seen from his dining-room window was the cemetery of the adjacent town! Soon this became unbearable, and the house has been comparatively deserted by the family, caused by an oversight that the least consideration would have remedied.
The designs given in the following pages have for their object to suggest the most approved, tasteful, and effective plans for the mansion, the villa, or cottage, and great care has been devoted to their production. Whilst a residence must necessarily be kept within a cost suitable to the means of the proprietor, by judicious care of the professional man, possessed of a competent knowledge, a little money may go a long way in the decorative art. Many of the drawings are devoted to the minor but not less effective portions of the house. Congruity in detail inside the dwelling is equally required with symmetry, beauty, or picturesque character of the exterior. Want of judgment in this point may speedily convert the most elegant building into little better than a repository for gewgaws selected without taste and arranged without skill. It is impossible for every man to become his own architect; but it is possible, in most cases, for all who have the means, to select such a design as shall best comport with their taste, leaving the working out of details to the architect. But a remote possibility exists of an unprofessional being able even to state what he requires, and should he ask an architect for a design or plan, it is more than likely that the latter would fail to please. When, however, a variety of designs is placed before the eye of any intelligent person the act of selection becomes easy. Although no single plan may succeed, a combination may suggest itself, and the architect can then readily work on something like a sound foundation, and with the hope of success. This work is intended to supply such requirements.
Again, in building a house, or in effecting alterations in an old one, points apparently of minor, but really of great importance, require attention. A badly constructed chimney will make the whole house miserable, independent of the injury done to furniture, decorations, &c., and the destruction of paint and paperhangings. A defective drainage may render that which was intended to be an abode of peace, plenty, and happiness, a living charnel-house, or the door to the grave! A question of vital importance is that of ventilation. These apparently minor questions can therefore scarcely be exaggerated in their value, for neglect of them will render nugatory the best external efforts of the architect. Hence they have hereafter full attention, in their practical details, directed to them.
On the general principles of ventilation the following remarks may be of value to all who propose to erect new dwellings, or alter those already inhabited. In all houses, and in fact every building divided into stories, a ready means of ventilation may be insured, or rather always exists. This is presented in the opening formed by the staircase. Into this general opening communications can be made into, and from, each apartment by apertures placed in some convenient position in each room. The grand law on which ventilation depends is, that hot air, being lighter than cool air, has a universal tendency to rise, whilst cold air takes the lowest part of a house or apartment. It hence follows, that if a supply of cold air be admitted by an opening at the lower part of a house, and it becomes heated within the house, it will have a tendency to rise to the roof; and if a sufficient opening be there provided, it will escape into the open air. Consequently a constant current may thus be obtained in any dwelling, sufficient to give a supply of pure air and to remove that which has been vitiated by breathing, the combustion of fires, and other causes. The heavy atmosphere of this country requires assistance to make this grand law operative; to cause the air of a room to move as readily as it is required, forced ventilation becomes necessary. The English fireplace provides this; and to that it owes, with us, its extreme popularity. A constant current of air from the room is heated and passed up the chimney flue, and this draws in a corresponding supply of cold air, and proper and convenient apertures should be left to permit this to enter. The fireplace forces attention to the necessity; if sufficient fresh air be not provided for it the smoke enters the room and drives the occupants out. Notwithstanding the attention that has been paid to the stove and its flue, we are still sadly behindhand in a proper construction of them. The flues could be so arranged that a building might be enabled, using a figurative expression, to breathe, whenever its principal flue, that of the kitchen fireplace, was in action; a construction to effect this will be illustrated in the text. In conclusion on this point, it may be added that nothing is more essential to the health and comfort of a house than that it should be thoroughly and constantly ventilated, and if any portion is to be particularized, it should be the sleeping apartments.
Another question which, to a certain extent, should influence the arrangement of a house of any pretensions in respect to size, is that of the method of warming it. The preference, or rather prejudice, in favour of fireplaces is so great, that a revolution of the nation in political matters could be more easily brought about than the abolition of the fire-grate; but it is well known that at least three-fourths of the coal consumed is wasted in the attempt to heat the room to an equable and pleasant temperature. But by such means the result cannot be arrived at. In front of, and close to the fire, the temperature is excessive, while the backs of the sitters facing in are suffering from cold. An equalized temperature in rooms is obtained abroad. In Russia, a plan is adopted of heating the rooms by means of the walls, the latter being double, and so arranged that they act as flues to a furnace situated at the lower part of the building. By this method every part of the room acquires, simultaneously, an equable temperature. There need be no draught, simply because the air is not drawn in one direction more than in another. From every side a gentle current of warm air arises. This method cannot be adopted here; it would not suit for English houses where coal is used as fuel: the interstices of the double wall would soon be filled with soot. The same effect is produced in a far more elegant way, by means of warm-water pipes passed round the room; by this simple process the staircase and passages and the sides of a room distant from the fireplace are made of equal temperature—one, or at most two furnaces, burning coke and making no smoke, if placed in a cellar outside an extensive building, can render the whole interior, from attic to ground-floor of equal temperature, and not prevent the action of the fireplace, or its agreeable presence in our homes. In the British Museum, where warming apparatus is used, the temperature of the whole is kept uniformly the same, that is, 65° Fah., even throughout the most severe weather, independent of the common fireplace. No greater change is required in any part of our buildings than in the latter; not that it requires to be removed, but a change to prevent its waste of heat and its contaminating the outside air with the soot and blacks from its coal fuel; the lower fireplaces in a building should warm or air the upper rooms, and no soot or blacks should be allowed to leave the flues. A construction for this purpose will be shown in the ensuing pages, as well as one for warming an entire building and a conservatory.
An opposite effect to that of warming is frequently desirable in our houses; and to ensure this the position of the site of the house must be considered. It is evident that a room having a south-western aspect must of all others be the warmest, whether in winter or summer, simply because that aspect is most exposed to the influence of the sun’s rays. On the other hand, rooms having a north-easterly aspect must necessarily be the coolest, because, except during the earliest part of midsummer mornings, say from 2 to 4 A.M., the sun’s rays cannot reach them. It is, therefore, in the power of those who have the requisite resources, to construct a house in such a manner that warm rooms can be provided for winter use, and cool for alleviating the heat of summer. It is by no means an uncommon occurrence to find a large dinner-party assembled in the heat of summer in a room that has been exposed to the sun’s rays during the afternoon. Frequently in such cases, owing to the number of persons present, the heat of the viands, lights, &c., the temperature rises above 80°, a circumstance prejudicial to health, enjoyment, and the vivacity of social intercourse, that might have been entirely avoided had the dining-room been placed in a northern aspect. These are points well worthy of attention in constructing a newly-designed dwelling. It unfortunately happens, in many cases, that the supposed exigencies of architectural arrangement must have priority of all other considerations. Yet the architect who wilfully opposes such modifications of his plan for the purpose of conducing to general comfort is shortsighted. His object ought to be to build a house to be lived in, and not to be looked at alone.
A few remarks on some of the general principles that should lead to a choice of site, situation, and other matters, may not be without advantage. Whatever inducement a plot of ground for building purposes may possess, the great question which has first to be solved is that of health. A clayey soil, bog, marsh, or stagnant water; a low level; an undrained or badly drained surface; a moist atmosphere, or exposure to the chill north and east winds, are all objections that a question of price should never be pitted against. Popular knowledge on sanitary subjects is now so extensively diffused that healthy localities are always of ready sale, while those of an opposite character are frequently unsold in the market, and consequently may be had at a low price, but are really never cheap. Nothing can counterbalance the value of a healthy locality, for in the end one of an opposite character becomes far more costly. The timbers of the building fall rapidly into decay, and require renewal; the decorative portion, internally and externally, becomes faded; doors and windows cease to fit and work accurately; the iron work becomes rusted and requires frequent renewal of paint or other protecting coat; and the same may be remarked in regard to the fences of the estate.
The position of the residence in regard to the sun at different periods of the year is also an important matter. If it stands with each front north and south, the north front will have comparatively little sun, except during summer time; and if the position be north-east and south-west respectively, the cold bitter winds of winter will be severely felt, whilst from the fact that the greater portion of the year the rainy quarter of the wind is south-west, that front or back of the house will be continually exposed to its influence. Consequently, frontages to the south-east and north-west are to be preferred in all cases, when possible, as such position ensures to both sides the greatest average of sun, heat, and light, and protection from the north-east wind of winter or the south-west of the rainy season. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the influence of light on health and its effects on the mind, in the construction of modern dwelling-houses. An excess is easily avoided by blinds and other contrivances; but if the architectural features of the building be such as to exclude the light, an opposite remedy is impossible. Abundant access of light tends to set off all the internal decorations of the house, and spreads a cheerfulness of appearance that is always highly prized. It gives brilliancy of outline and detail to coloured decorations, and, to use a common phrase, is the best possible “set-off” that the architect or decorator can desire. As already pointed out, the effect of light and shade, in regard to architecture, is a condition of success in respect to the picturesque.
It is always desirable that a house should be placed on an eminence; it becomes thus a prominent object, and its qualities are the more readily perceived. A gradual ascent to the house by the walks or drive adds much to the general effect. The walks are thus constantly drained, and preserve longer a neat appearance, a matter which is of much importance in setting off the advantages of situation, site, &c. In respect to questions of health also, this is of great advantage, as the waste matter of the household more readily falls away by its own gravity, and is thus quickly removed; which if left stagnant would be productive of harm to the inmates.