DESIGN No. 16.A COUNTRY VILLA.

Plan of second floor.Plan of basement floor.

Plan of second floor.

Plan of basement floor.

The dining-room had steps leading down to the garden; the kitchenb, sculleryg, and small larderh, were on the right of the entrance, the kitchen and the study having small windows by the side of the entrance,so that all visitors coming to the house might be seen. The servants’ door was in the small yard by the side of kitchen, with a place for coals;ois a small chaise-house, andpa stable for a pony;lis the dust-hole.

Frieze of drawing-room.

Frieze of dining-room.

Section of cement skirtings.

The upper floor had to contain five best bedrooms; these can be seen in the plan. Their sizes were 17 feet by 12 feet, and 16 feet by 10 feet. There were three dressing-rooms, the largest 12 feet by 10, the two smaller each 12 feet 6 inches by 6 feet. The second floor contained two rooms for servants, one 16 feet by 10 feet, the other 12 feet by 10 feet. The basement had a footman’s pantry,12 feet by 9 feet 6 inches, and a dairy of the same size. This had steps down to it in the area. There was a wet larder with a window, a wine cellar, and a beer cellar.

Section through entrance-hall and dining-room.

The interior was plainly finished, with nothing beyond the best modern enrichments. The whole of the interior had Keen’s cement skirtings. The staircase had a skirting flush with the wall, so as not to take away space from the stairs; this is shown atpage 178. There were ornamental roses in the centre of the ceilings of the principal rooms. The section of the interior is made through the principal entrance, across the staircase and dining-room; and in the upper floor, through two of the dressing-rooms.

Elevation of portico.

The only architectural feature in the front of anyimportance was the portico (see page 180). A bold and prominent effect was given to it. The estimated expense of the building was 2151l., full price put down as 2250l.

The vignette is an elevation of an Elizabethan balustrade, in stone, intended to crown a cornice, and to be placed in an elevated position against the sky line.

THIS villa, which has just been erected in Berkshire, in the neighbourhood of Windsor, is intended as the country residence for a lady of rank. The living rooms are large and noble, and the accommodation

Plan of ground floor.

for a small establishment ample. The plate (page 182) shows the garden front, and above is the ground plan. The two principal rooms, the drawing and dining-rooms, are respectively 25 feet by 18 feet and 21 feet by 18 feet. They are to the left of the hall;this, of moderate size, leads to the principal staircase, which is of very easy ascent, each step rising less than

Plan of upper story.

6 inches. The second landing opens to the servants’ staircase;b(see page 183) is the kitchen, size 15 feet

Plan of wine cellar.

by 14 feet, with the larderh, leading directly out of it,—gis the scullery, with an oven, and a shoot into the dustpitm,nis the housekeeper’s room, andjthe butler’s pantry;cis the lady’s room or study. This was enlarged, by taking down the partition, marked onthe plan by the dotted lines, to allow of a splendid oak cabinet being placed there. A door in the room opens direct into that of the housekeeper;kis the dairy,

Section through drawing-room, staircase, and kitchen.

andla place for coals. The wine cellar was at first intended to be placed under the principal flight of stairs, descending a few steps; but a large one,b(see page 184), was afterwards made.

French cut pine woodwork, from the exterior.

The plan of the upper story shows it containing two large principal bedchambers—each with a dressing-room, and a large room with two fireplaces serving as a nursery, but which could at any time be made into two rooms by putting up partitions.

The servants’ sleeping apartments, the housemaid’s closet, and the servants’ staircase, occupy the remaining portion of the plan.

The cost of erecting the carcase of the building, including the wine cellar, was 1108l.The cost of finishing, putting up the principal staircase in Portland

Plan and elevation of iron glazed casement to entrance-door.

stone, and leaving all work required to be painted with two coats, but exclusive of papering, stoves, ironwork, marble mantelpieces, conservatory, verandah and exterior decorations to roof, was 1550l.Mr. Hockley, of Kensington, was the builder. When the mansion was finished so far, all ornamentations, &c., formed an agreeable occupation for the lady to complete from favourite examples seen by her on the Continent. The extra parquet flooring in the dining and drawing-rooms is from Switzerland. This cost 148l.All the stone flooring of the hall, staircase, passages, and conservatory, is covered with tiles from Italy; these are about 8 inches square, but not so well made as the English kind, although more artistic. Each has a small figure put in by hand, which is differenton every tile. The tiles are faced with a white china ground and look extremely well. The common tiles cost 16s.per 100. The grotesque figured tiles,

Plan and view of remains of old house.

of which the illustration on page 189 shows four, cost 2l.per 100. They were supplied by M. Giustiniani, of Naples. The marble chimney-pieces wereto be supplied from Italy. The ironwork of the staircases, and the panel to fill up the opening in staircase, shown dotted in the upper plan, were supplied from Paris. It is different from any ironwork that can be procured here, of elegant design, and covered apparently with a thin coat of zinc. This gives it a silvery metallic appearance, and it does not require

Four of the Italian figured tiles.

painting; it is really a coating of glass, and is termed thelavenantprocess. It it said to be a great preservative of the iron, and can be put on in different colours. Each of the windows of the principal rooms, and the hall, is fitted within with Price’s steel revolving shutters. These cost 75l.The upper windows on the outside have iron balconets, likewise from France, and the roof, surrounding the principal parts,is finished with the French cut pine patterns. They were supplied by M. Jules Millet, of 12, Boulevard du Temple. The entrance door has the two upper panels

French iron staircase railing.

filled with French castings, executed in a fashion different from the English mode; but one quite worthy to be followed. The iron panel is placed onthe outside, with a light iron glazed casement fitted behind it. This in warm weather can be opened, so as to admit fresh air into the hall. The plan and elevation of the casement shown from the inside, on page 187; by the side of it is one quarter of the external iron casting.

It may be remarked that these French patterns, both in iron and wood, are not finished off as clean as they would be in England. The castings appear just as they came out of the sand, and the wood pattern exactly as the machines or saw left them; but they are extremely elegant, and the metallic appearance of the ironwork is very pleasing.

The former house is pulled down, except a portion, permitted to remain, which is formed into a decorative building for the garden; the plan (page 188) showsathe old kitchen,bthe wine cellar made into an ice-house,da lock-up closet,fa prospect tower,ca closet in a small enclosed garden, ande, a garden seat.

On page 190 is a pattern sent from Paris for the staircase railing.

Perspective view.

THIS building was intended for erection on a leasehold estate at a little distance out of London. It would have been of rather plainer character, but the view (page 192) shows the design first made. The frontage, or width of ground for each house, was

Ground-floor plan.

60 feet, the depth 150 feet. The character of the building was of the domestic style of the reign of Henry VII., and the accommodation it afforded is given in the several plans. The ground plan shows two large roomsDandE, the drawing and dining rooms, which can easily be opened into each other bysliding back the inner doors into the partition;Cis the library, with a book-room leading out of it.Bis the staircase, of a size rather larger than that generally allowed in London houses. Very often, sufficient attention is not paid to this highly important part of our dwellings by builders, nor full space allowed for it. A

One-pair plan.

good staircase should have, at every six or seven steps, a landing of at least 2 feet 6 inches in depth. Where winding stairs are used they should have a good sweep; the tread, in the centre, should be 1 foot in width, the riser never more than 6 inches in height—less even would be better. It is also of considerable importancein a staircase that the height of the steps in the various flights should be the same. Some of the most costly and important of the builders’ houses in London, erected on highly rented land, have the staircases so confined that these, an architect’s well-known rules, are wholly put aside. Staircases with risers of 6 inches in height from the ground to the one-pair floor, increased to near 7 inches to the two-pair, the latter flight containing probably 30 steps in a straight line without a landing, render a house almost uninhabitable.

Attic plan.

A servants’ staircase is a most desirable addition toa large house. The present building was not considered of sufficient importance to have one. It was proposed to be placed between the tower and the dining-room, but it was rightly considered that the two staircases should be put together so that the

Basement plan.

landings of each, on every half space, should be on the same level, separated only by a door, and giving the servant immediate access to every floor of the house. A position between the library and staircase would have been most proper, but there was not sufficient width; it would have interfered with thekitchen, and would have made too intricate a plan, which, for houses to be erected on leasehold land, is objected to by builders unless directed by the party purchasing.

Section of roof to larder.

Section of steps to garden.

With a servants’ staircase follow a large housemaid’s closet, sink, &c., which must always be provided wherepossible. The plan of the one-pair shows three large bedrooms and one dressing-room, with the tower room, which was intended either for a morning room, a

The side elevation.

school room, or a boudoir. There is a large conservatory on the principal landing of staircase, and a closet leading out of it. A good-sized aquarium with aregular supply of water could be easily arranged in the centre of the conservatory. The attic plan contains three large rooms for servants, and the tower room was to be used as a smoking room, or as a play room for the children.

The basement contains a private breakfast or diningroom,T, with a large store closet, having an opening one foot in height filled with perforated zinc opposite

Half elevation of small library.

the window of the passage;Nis the housekeeper’s or servants’ hall;Bthe kitchen 23 feet by 18 feet, withGthe scullery behind,H,H, the larders,Spositionfor a lift, andLa place for coals. The basement stairs should have been on the side adjoining kitchen.

It is a difficult thing in this class of house to confine the smell of the cooking to the kitchen. An endeavour was made here to effect it. The kitchenhad no direct entrance to the body of the house, the servants going through the passage, by the side of the area, from which it was well ventilated, to get to the common staircase. This had a window at the top, not shown in the plan. The small section on page 197 shows

Elevation of hall screen.

the mode of ventilating the larder;ais a slab of slate let into the wall,ba pane of perforated zinc,ciron bars glazed with thick glass, so that whatever the weather, there would be full ventilation, the fresh air always entering and the confined air leaving the room. Thisis the usual mode, in large houses, of covering the external passage leading from the kitchen to the house.

Details of hall screen. (See page 206.)

The general view shows the front and side of the two houses. The elevation of the side front is given on page 198.

Plan and elevation of entrance garden-gate.

The three small illustrations on page 199 are various details of the exterior. One is a part section of the roof of turret, showing the timbers and the vane at top, an elevation of one half the upper gable window, and half of one of the small front windows; these portions of the exterior, together with the arcade at the entrance and balustrade over it, were to be executed in stone.

The Gothic window by the side of the arcade is an example from Berstead Church, in Kent. The gentleman for whom the design was made caught a sight of it in the “Architect Sketch Book,” and required itmight be introduced as a small window in his library. An elevation of one half of it is given on page 200.

The general section (page 201) is of one of the houses taken through the drawing room, the staircase, and the library. The staircase is well lighted, having a conservatory and closet on the first half-space landing. The ceiling of the staircase is finished with groining and pendant flowers; the stairs have a plain Gothic iron-railing, painted and lightly gilt; the section shows the party-wall between the two houses.

Balustrading on garden wall.

The entrance is divided into an inner and outer hall, divided by a Gothic screen in carved oak, the various openings of which, together with the upper panels of the folding doors, are filled with embossed glass. This keeps the house warm, and prevents cold draughts from entering; a second glazed screenseparates the inner hall from the staircase; the effect of the screens when there is plenty of light behind is extremely pleasing. It was for such a screen that the door-handle illustrated at an earlier page, as a vignette, was made.

Balustrading in front of house.

Of the first of these screens, that in the hall, only the larger lower and upper panels were to have white embossed glass; the smaller openings were to be filled with richly coloured embossed glass; a small elevation of the hall screen, and portions of its details to a larger scale, are given on pp. 202, 203.

The chimney pieces were proposed to be of cast iron, and to be painted and slightly gilt.

The expense of construction of the pair of villas would be nearly about 7800l.

Front.

Cut-wood canopy to a door at West Brompton, a short distance beyond the Metropolitan District Railway. It has been constructed about twenty years, and stands well.

One of the side trusses or corbels.

Front elevation.

Plan.

THIS building is about to be erected in the county of Norfolk. It will contain a boys’ and girls’ school, with two rooms each, forming a parlour and bedroom, for the master and mistress;ais the entrance porch,danddare the two school rooms, andeandethe living rooms. The centre of the building forms the reading, lecture, and meeting-room for the village. The small roomc, leading out of it, is a book room for the secretary or attendant;b,b, are open yards; each master and mistress have private entrances, and yards to themselves. The construction is of the cheapest kind; on a brick foundation, quarter framing is placed, filled in with brick, and plastered inside and out. The columns in the centre are trunks of trees, standing on stone slabs, and each has a flat stone capping. This building complete should not cost more than 850l.It is much to be desired that every village should have a room set apart, distinct from any public-house or tavern, where newspapers and books can be provided, lectures given, and various entertainments supplied the villagers.

Elevation of front.

THIS design was made for a building intended to occupy a site leading from the High street in a

Plan of chapel and schools.

very fashionable district, immediately out of London. The ground was rather confined in area, and from its position, being behind the houses in the street, it could only be approached by a narrow avenue between two of the houses.

Transverse section of chapel.

The plan was an endeavour to make the most of the space afforded; the entrance to the church, a small tower with an open decorated spire, was placed at the end of the avenue of approach;aa, are the schools, which have immediate access to the space before the altar;bb, the rooms for the teachers or priests, had staircases on each side leading to rooms above. These buildings were kept low, so that asmuch light as possible should enter from the window above the altar. An elevation of the front of the chapel is given in our first illustration. The section looks towards the chancel, showing the chancel arch and pulpit in front, the altar, and the decorated window over it; the latter contains a large cross formed of white embossed glass, on a richly coloured glass ground. Above is the elevation of the porch, proposed to have been placed at the entrance of the avenue of approach.

Porch in the High street.

Perspective view.

THIS design was made for a building intended to occupy a prominent position in a park in Kent; it would have commanded an extensive view over the Weald and surrounding country. The lower ragstone foundation already existed, being portions of an ancient building which had formerly stood there, and this held a fine spring of pure cold water, which runs down into a lake at a lower level in the park. Occupying a position in which it could be well seen, it was desirable that the building should form a picturesque object, and to effect this the Old English style of wooden architecture was chosen.

One-pair plan.Ground-floor plan.

One-pair plan.

Ground-floor plan.

The view shows the back and side of the building, with the entrances, these being here less exposed to the weather than if they had been in front facing the open country. The ground-floor plan shows the cold bath with a small dressing-room; the bathwas octangular in form, and fifteen feet in diameter. A small iron circular staircase led to the upper room; this was eighteen feet in diameter, with a domed ceiling, the sides of the room having iron

Side elevation.

casemented windows, and over them a bold ornamented plaster frieze; the fire-place was adorned with oak carving. The fine prospect from the windows of the Weald, and the lake and park sceneryin front, would have made this an extremely pleasant room.

Section.

The lower story of the building above the ancient ragstone foundation was of brick, nine inches in thickness, with quarters on the outside, brick-nogged;carved oak inch plank was then to be screwed to this quartering, and the inner spaces filled with cement; this it was proposed to dust with small bits of coloured

Entrance.

glass. The building was intended to be strongly constructed, as it was to stand on an elevated site in the most exposed situation in the park. The entrance, of which an elevation is given above, hadtwo carved oak columns, having iron rings fixed to them. A small shield of arms was above the entrance; the whole of the oak was to be stained and varnished. A portion of the exterior is given on a larger scale. The upper story was in quartering, brick-nogged, faced externally with carved oak planks and plaster, and plastered inside as below. The small plan,a, in the illustration, shows this;bis an elevation of one of the carved oak trusses, and these were carried right round the structure.

Portion of exterior.

An elevation of one of the small gables is shown in the next cut with its richly carved barge-board, and turned pendants and finials.

The plan of the iron casements is given, p. 220;ais the frame fixed to the wood quartering,bthe loose frame fixed to receive the loose frame,c dis the glass, andethe hinge and staple; a representation of the small turn-buckle isshown, and lastly the plan of the flooring over the bath; the joists, each 9 inches by 4 inches, and 9 inches by 2½ inches, were strapped down

Elevation of one of the small gables.

Plan of iron casement.

eight or nine inches into the wall, where necessary.

Turn-buckle.

Perspective view.

THIS mansion was erected in Devonshire, for a gentleman having a numerous family. It consisted of three floors:—a basement story, ground

Ground plan.

floor, first floor, and attic. The picturesque style of the time of Henry VII. was adopted, and the construction

Plan of first floor.

was of brick with stone ashlar facings for the walls. The decorated portions were of stone; but red

The attic floor.

brick and stone, or red brick alone, would have been equally appropriate. The red brick with compo-dressing

Basement plan.

and enrichments would have been the cheapest. Considerable attention was given to obtaina picturesque character for the building, and the chimneys were so placed as to obtain one. The height to the top of gable was 38 feet 6 inches. The ground floor, given on page 223, contained two rooms,AandB, each 28 feet by 16 feet, without the bay. The porch was enclosed from the hall.

View of entrance porch.

The upper floor had five rooms, intended merely as sleeping apartments. All had fireplaces except the centre front one, and that is shown supplied with a flue pedestal, a contrivance by which an upper room

The front elevation.

can be warmed by one of the fireplaces in a lower room, which prevents waste of heat. The attic floor had two good-sized rooms without fireplaces, for the servants.

The side elevation.

The basement floor had good accommodation. One large room, that markedn, was for the housekeeper, with space for a bed. It could be used as a private breakfast or dining-room;bis the kitchen, 20 feet by 15 feet 6 inches, with a large space in the bay. Thescullerygadjoined the kitchen;his the larder,qthe wine cellar,ithe beer, andlthe coal cellars.

Transverse section.

Another design for the porch is given on page 225; this is of a more decorative character than that seen in the view. It had on it the shield of arms of the proprietor. It was to be constructed entirely of stone, the portion above the archway being richly carved. The front and side elevations of the exterior of the building, of which representations are given, show the extreme simplicity of the design.

The transverse section (page 228) shows the interior; this is taken through the kitchen and scullery in the basement, looking towards the fireplace and through the living rooms and attic above.

Plan of additional offices.

This design has, with various alterations, been adopted in several places for different parties, stripped entirely of its ornamental character, and merely having four walls and an overhanging roof, in plain cottage style. It forms the cheapest model that can be given for a villa. One was erected a few years back that cost considerably less than eight hundredpounds. It had the basement floor but no attic, the upper rooms being heightened by having an open collar-beam roof. One addition made to it when it had no basement was in extensive external offices, as

Elevation and section of external balustrade and angle buttress.

seen in plan on page 229:f, the kitchen, is 18 feet square, with its sculleryg, 18 feet by 10 feet;his the larder, 9 feet 9 inches square, andkthe dairy, of the same size, with a northern aspect. The two small rooms by the side, one markedn, were intended for astudy or school-room, and a footman’s or butler’s pantry, with a separate entrance and an outlet from the house into the garden; the servants’ closet, and boot and knife cleaning place, were at a little distance away, together with the place for coals and wood. Some details of the exterior on a larger scale are given above.

The vignette shows the best proportion that can be given to stairs intended for a public building; the rise of each step being 6 inches, the tread 13 inches. In private dwellings the tread is made smaller by half an inch. When the rise can be made 5¾ inches only, much greater ease can be obtained in the ascent.

Perspective view, garden side.

THIS structure was intended to bear the resemblance, as near as possible, of a first-class old English half-timbered house, the post-and-pan dwelling of our forefathers, which seems to have been an especial favourite throughout the country. It was easily constructed at a time when timber, chiefly chestnut, was far more plentiful than at the present day. Such were the most picturesque of all our domestic buildings; the timber cottage, with its projecting windows, and highly ornamented barge-boards, is found in every village. The large houses in Cheshire and Shropshire, which still remain, prove that such constructions are as lasting as brick and stone, provided the timber is felled at the proper time, and thoroughly seasoned before it is made use of. Houses of this kind have been seen to rock and bend in severe storms, while adjoining buildings, comparatively strong erections, have been blown down, this was known to have been the case with Park Hall, near Oswestry in Shropshire. Such buildings were called by different names, as will be shortly described in detail, according to the materials of which they were composed.

The design afforded on page 234 was taken from an elevation given in “John Thorpe’s Sketch Book,” one of the richest illustrations of wooden architecture. It was to have been erected in a Kentish village, with

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