CONTENTS
| CHAP. | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | INTRODUCTION | |
| Evolution of the Modern House—Elizabethan DomesticArrangements—First Signs of Transition—GradualDisappearance of Jacobean Features—Predominanceof the Classic Style—The Gothic Revival | [1] | |
| II. | THE CHANGE IN STYLE | |
| The Native versus the Italian Method—Change in theStatus of the Architect—The Influence of ArchitecturalBooks—The Smithson Drawings | [25] | |
| III. | INIGO JONES | |
| Jacobean Design still Prevalent—Significance of theBanqueting House, Whitehall—The Early Life ofInigo Jones—His Drawings and his Authentic ExecutedWork—His Pupil and Assistant—Work Attributedto Jones—Characteristics of his Genius | [41] | |
| IV. | THE DRAWINGS OF INIGO JONES AND JOHN WEBB | |
| The Whitehall Designs and their Authorship—John Webb:his Relation to Jones and Subsequent Career—ContemporaryEvidence on the Drawings—Webb’s ExecutedWork | [63] | |
| V. | THE TRANSITION IN MINOR BUILDINGS AND INTERIORS | |
| Lingering Jacobean Detail—Some Country Houses of theTransitional Period—Curious Blending of the Oldand New Styles—Charm of some of the SuccessfulExamples—Remodelling of Domestic Fittings | [99] | |
| VI. | SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN | |
| His Life and Early Work—First Design for St Paul’sCathedral—The Work of Building—Other Work,including Greenwich and Hampton Court—ContemporaryEsteem—His Influence on the SubsequentCourse of Architecture—Domestic Work Attributedto him | [141] | |
| VII. | SOME FURTHER WORK OF THE TIME OF CHARLES II. | |
| Sir Balthazar Gerbier’s “Counsel to Builders”—“CaptainWynne” and his Work—Hamstead Marshall and OldBuckingham House—London after the Great Fire—CityHalls and Churches—Some Smaller HousesOutside London | [161] | |
| VIII. | GREAT HOUSES AND GARDENS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY | |
| Houses of the Nobility—Grandeur of the Designs andLay Outs—Boughton House, Dyrham Park, andChatsworth—Nicholas Hawksmoor and his Work atEaston Neston—Lord Burlington and Sir JohnVanbrugh—Castle Howard and Blenheim—Formaland Landscape Gardens | [195] | |
| IX. | GEORGIAN HOUSES | |
| The Character of Eighteenth-Century Houses—Campbell,Gibbs, and other Designers—Interior Design andDecoration—Typical Georgian Mansions: Houghtonand Wentworth Woodhouse—The Woods of Bathand Contemporary Town-Planning—William Kentand Holkham—The Brothers Adam | [237] | |
| X. | SMALLER HOUSES, TOWN HOUSES, AND EXTERIOR FEATURES | |
| Charm of the Smaller Georgian House—Streets andMarket Places of Country Towns—Inns and Shops—LondonHouses of the Period—Their Interior Planning—Growthof the Suburbs in the NineteenthCentury—Exterior Features of Smaller GeorgianHouses: Chimneys, Gates, Doors, and Porches—Cupolas,Lantern Lights, Date-Stones, and Sundials—GardenOrnaments—Ornamental Iron and LeadWork | [287] | |
| XI. | DECORATION AND INTERIOR FEATURES OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY HOUSES | |
| Evolution of the Staircase—Its Treatment in Wood andStone—The Classic Over-Door—Decoration of Walls:Wood Panelling and Carving, Moulded Plaster, WallPaper, and Tapestry—The Chimney-Piece, the Fire-Grateand its Accessories—Modelled and PaintedCeilings—Gradual Decline of the Personal Note inCraftsmanship—Conclusion | [351] | |
| APPENDIX I.—SIR ROGER PRATT | [395] | |
| APPENDIX II.—THE ARCHITECTS OF COLESHILL, BERKSHIRE | [399] | |
| INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS AND TEXT | [401] | |
Fig. 1.—VIEW OF WHITEHALL PALACE AS IT WOULD HAVE APPEARED IF COMPLETED.
(from a water-colour drawing by Thomas Sandby, R.A.)
THE ENGLISH HOME FROM CHARLES I. TO GEORGE IV.
I
INTRODUCTION
In England, more than in any other country, the affections of people in all ranks of life have clung round their homes; and to learn something of how those homes have changed in disposition and appearance with the changing times is an occupation not only fascinating in itself, but one which leads into regions of that personal interest which lends life and colour to the pictures of the historian.
So far as our present conception of a home is concerned, the time of Elizabeth may be held to have seen its birth; for, although the English house has an ancestry which goes back to the Conquest, yet it was in Elizabeth’s days that houses were first built almost exclusively for pleasure and delight. Hers was a great age of house building. Peace, wealth, and security from serious turmoil led men in all parts of the country to reconstruct their old homes or to build new ones; and records remain, either in actual buildings or in old plans, of houses of every size, from the great palaces of Burghley or Hatton wherein they entertained their sovereign, down to the little house, not forty feet square, which was devised for Sir Walter Raleigh in St James’s. Much pains and great skill were expended in contriving these houses so that they should be convenient and well-looking. The planning of them was in the nature of a new experiment, for there was no precedent, either of extent or disposition, which was exactly to the point. The treatment of the exterior—in other words, their style of architecture—was also something fresh; for it became the fashion, gradually increasing in extent, to seek inspiration in this direction from Italy, a country which for more than a century had produced most marvellous buildings, both as to conception and as to the lovely detail with which they were embellished.
This new demand in regard to style was partly met by inviting foreign workmen to this country, and partly by sending English designers to study in Italy; but the knowledge thus acquired was utilised by our native craftsmen in their own way. It influenced them, but did not enslave them. At first it puzzled them, with the result that much hybrid work was done which would have astonished both their Gothic forefathers and their Italian contemporaries, but which nevertheless has an attractive piquancy of its own.