Part 8

Again, each house appeals to us as a new creation of our art. We are in much the same position as the portrait painter: the likeness, truly, is that of the sitter, but the interpretation of it, the setting, and the colour--in short, the art of the picture--belong to the painter. So, too, the house as a habitation belongs to and must satisfy the client, while as a work of art it belongs to and must satisfy its designer. In this matter we stand as guardians, alike of our reputation and of the general interest of the public as beholders of the building. The right of the public to be considered is much clearer than many seem to realize. No one who might add to the joy of life by building something comely should add to its gloom by building what is ill-looking.

I do not anticipate that these considerations, or those to which we shall presently come, are new to you. But it is probable that they would appeal to each one in a different order of relative importance, so that in no two of us would our attitude towards the problem be exactly alike. In no house can every advantage be obtained; each must be somewhat of a compromise; in each there must be a sacrificing of what we deem less important to secure what we esteem of greater value. It follows that the variety of our attitude must produce individuality in the result. When, therefore, you did me the honour to suggest that I should bring this subject before you, I felt that the best response I could make would be to try to give you, as from one fellow-workman to another, some account of the way in which we approach our domestic work, hoping, that in comparing this, and the results which we shall show, with other methods and results, you might find some little interest.

Suppose then that we have received a commission for a dwelling house; that we have made ourselves sufficiently acquainted with our new client’s wishes, his mode of life, and habits, by getting him to write to us very fully of everything he would like to be specially considered, discussing points with him, or visiting his home, as circumstances may suggest; and further, that we have made full notes of all the instructions and information thus gathered for our own use; the first thing is to visit the site and devote some time to thinking out the problem on the spot.

The site is the most important factor to be considered, for it usually suggests both the internal arrangement and the external treatment. If the site is a large one the position of the house upon it must first be determined. In past times the house was regarded mainly as a shelter, and this greatly influenced the choice of its position. But we do not to-day so much build shelters for people who live out of doors, as dwellings whence they may occasionally go forth. A primary consideration then must be, to so place the house as to afford its occupants the greatest possible enjoyment of such beauty of adjacent country or grandeur of distant view as the site can command. While doing this, however, we must place and design the house in such a way that it shall not stand out as a disturbing excrescence, but shall look at home in its site, in harmony with its surroundings.

This consideration of the house as a detail in a larger picture will bring us to a determination of its general form, its treatment and its colouring. Some positions demand a lofty building, while others seem to suggest that it be kept as low as possible. And in the country, certainly, the low house is more successful, more in harmony with the scenery; perhaps because it is suggestive more of man’s dependence upon Nature, less of his defiance of her powers. In the choice of materials and colouring, harmony rather than strong contrast should be sought. There is only one sure way of obtaining this at all generally, which is, of course, to keep to local materials and local ways of using them. At any rate I think we may lay it down that strong reasons of use or economy are needed to justify a departure from these. Where a departure is made, let the contrast with what is usual in the district be as slight as may be. We do not enough consider when we introduce for the first time into some valley a bright red roof, how it will haunt the eye from every point of view, and may go far towards marring the beauty of the whole scene by destroying its restfulness. We should let the surroundings which are to constitute the picture suggest the colouring as well as the form of the new object we are about to introduce. Some definite scheme suitable to the position should be adopted, and colours of paint and any enrichments made to contribute to it.

Greatly as must the site influence the external treatment of the house, its internal arrangement will be even more definitely dictated by it. The position of each room in relation to the points of the compass & the outlook should be determined on the spot. It is now pretty generally realised that no sacrifice is too great which is necessary to enable us to bring plenty of sunshine into all the main living rooms. In the South of England perhaps some moderation must be observed in applying this rule, there being no inconsiderable number of days on which a too sunny room may become unbearably hot; and, where the size of the house will allow of it, to have an east and west room is often a great boon. But over the greater part of our country, certainly in the Midlands and the North, the importance of arranging for the few days when the sun is oppressive is small indeed compared with that of planning to suit the many days when every hour of sunshine is of the utmost value. The general rule, then, would seem to be, so to contrive as to get the sunshine into a room at the time when it is most likely to be occupied. Let a study or breakfast-room be east or south-east, a general living-room or drawing-room south and south-west. A good western window in the room we most occupy during the latter part of the day, gives us many an extra hour of daylight; while the opportunity it affords us of habitually seeing the bright colour of sunset is a privilege which is worth some effort to obtain. A kitchen is best north-east or east, for the first coming down into the fireless house may well have its cheerlessness reduced for the servants by what sunshine is to be had at an early hour; later in the day, when the kitchen is hot with cooking, the heat of the sun should not be added. A bath-room and bedrooms, too, are pleasant with an eastern aspect, though some cannot sleep in a room into which early sunshine can come.

Next only in importance to such considerations of aspect, and certainly important enough to modify them somewhat, is the question of prospect; for a pleasant outlook is a boon only less great than a sunny aspect. We must not ignore a fine view even when it can only be had to the north, and much less must we allow any trivial conventions, like the old commonly accepted idea that the front of the house should be to the road, to betray us into sacrificing such solid advantages as sunshine and a pleasant view. In fact, to produce a good plan, one should go to the site without any preconceived conventions, but with a quite open mind, prepared to think out each fresh problem on the spot from the beginning, and to receive all the suggestions the site can offer. I hope you will pardon me if I seem to insist unduly on the importance of so elementary a principle as that of building to suit each site. But one sees the principle so commonly disregarded that it is needful to emphasize it. Not only do we find houses perched uncomfortably on the shoulder of a hill, or thrust into prominence one way or another regardless of their effect on their surroundings; but, in arrangement, the disregard of the site is carried so far that semi-detached houses are even built with their plans just reversed, so that a plan designed for the north end is made to serve for the south, or one arranged to suit the east side allowed to pass for the west. Before leaving the site one should be able to carry away not only detailed notes of drainage, water supply, levels, fine trees, views and aspects, but also a general idea as to the best arrangement of the rooms of the new house, an ideal plan to be aimed at, and a sort of mental sketch in block of the general form the new creation should take externally.

It would be only tedious to you if I were to go through all the items of a house, trying to deal with them in a general way. I will therefore now take one or two definite examples, and explain how and why we worked them out as we did, trusting that the interest which attaches to any actual problem solved may come to my aid and redeem the details from tediousness.

We have chosen for the first example a country house designed for a site in North Staffordshire, partly because this site is not one to very obviously suggest or very imperatively demand a special treatment. The plot of land consists of a small field, long, and rather narrow; it is much the shape of a suburban building plot, though situated right in the country. The main road runs along the north-east end, and the ground rises on the far side of this road, cutting off all view in that direction. The ground falls from the road towards the south-west: the slope being very slight at the top, suggests a level terrace on which to place the house. The land continues to fall away to a stream; across this there is a very pleasant view, which becomes finest to the south of the plot.

[Sidenote: _See plate 1._]

The client required the house to have a good comfortable living-room for the general family life; another good room for entertaining guests and callers; a small den for his own use, with desk, safe, and sample cupboards; four bedrooms, one to be a bed-sitting-room for an only son; and a kitchen with the usual offices. The house was to be arranged to give as much open-air life within as possible. As the site is exposed to the prevailing winds, and the best prospect is in the direction whence they blow, some form of court upon which the rooms might open, suggests itself as a means of obtaining the needful shelter. The stableyard not being very suitable for the purpose, the house is grouped about a very small central court, round which a corridor is planned fitted with sliding windows, so that it can be converted at will into a sort of small open air cloister by sliding the sashes down below the sill. This is roofed over at as low a level as possible, to avoid anything of the feeling of a well, which a court, as small as this needs must be, might soon produce. The main roof also is made to slope away from the court in all directions, so that a good deal of sunlight may find its way in. Upon this corridor the main rooms open with wide double doors, and the court being protected against wind on all sides, it is possible, except when extremely cold, to have the living rooms much more open to the fresh air than is usual. A ventilating stove prevents cold draughts in winter. The kitchen, butler’s pantry, front and side entrances, and stairs all communicate with the corridor, but so as not to destroy the privacy of the living rooms by obliging anyone to pass the doors when going from one to the other. Pleasing vistas are obtained from the rooms across the court, and from the corridor into the rooms, such as it is not often possible to contrive in so small a house. This charm of vista should always be thought of when planning. The living-room, as the most generally occupied, and therefore most important room, is placed at the south corner, having the double outlook to south-east & south-west, and getting all available sunlight and the best of the prospect. It is not enough to give a room windows in the right direction, however; the room must be so arranged that it shall, so to speak, turn its face right; and the windows be so placed that one would naturally look out of them from the most usually occupied parts of the room. For this reason an angle window commanding the pick of the view is thrown out on the south-east side. This brings the sun well into the room, and at the same time provides a good well-lighted position for the piano, from whence anyone can easily face to the whole room while singing. For the same reason the fire is put on the north-east wall; and, that a thorough sense of cosiness may always be obtainable, it is placed in a deep recess or ingle.

Now an ingle affords a very good instance of how easy it is to misuse the old examples which we study, and that in two manners. For while some neglect altogether the suggestions which they offer, others copy the old forms without troubling to understand them. To make use of old features legitimately, of course, one must first understand the reasons which called them into being, the difficulties which they were designed to meet: and when similar reasons or difficulties present themselves to us we may then avail ourselves of the solution which they indicate, not copying slavishly the details, but taking the principle and working it out to suit our own particular circumstances. The ingle had two main uses: the first was to protect a wide open fire from the cross draughts arising from badly fitting or open doors, shutters and windows; the second was to afford sheltered seats near the fire, where the aged and feeble could rest and anyone could keep warm in cold or rough weather. Incidentally, no doubt, our forefathers appreciated the value of contrast, the charm of the ruddy fire-lit space glowing red in the grey ill-lighted building, and the cosiness of the sheltered low recess in the wide and lofty hall. To obtain this charm, as is often done, by forming an ingle so small that one cannot sit in it comfortably, is merely to remove the fire further from the room; while on the other hand, to arrange a large ingle, as is also sometimes done, with a modern tiled register stove set in a chimney breast, is to lose the feeling of sitting on the hearth, and the charm that springs from the fire being able to cast its glow all over the recess and be seen from every part where one can sit. The ingle adapted to modern use, and justifying the space it occupies in rooms of moderate size, must be large enough to be comfortable for one to sit in regularly, a place where one can live, not merely sit to be roasted. The fire must be so designed as to have something of the feeling of the old fire on the hearth, and must not be cut off from the recess or in any way allowed to grow into a fireplace within a fireplace. It is generally well to make the whole recess into the hearth, and we often arrange for the fire to burn in a suitably shaped fire-brick hollow, which answers all purposes excellently. The ingle must be protected from cross draughts, otherwise the fire cannot be sufficiently exposed. Fenders are best avoided, and anything like a loose coal-box is a disadvantage. A coal-box can often be contrived in the thickness of the wall. When properly arranged, and fitted with comfortable low seats, the ingle always proves to be a favourite part of the room; the place where people naturally go to sit and rest.

But I am digressing from the plan, and must return to the living-room which we are designing. There the ingle is of somewhat special construction, having several small windows to afford peeps out towards the court and the view, and to give light conveniently placed for reading; and also having cupboards for the display of oriental pottery. The seats are made long enough to recline on.

[Sidenote: _See also plates 25 and 50._]

A large sunny bay facing the fire is arranged to be used as a dining recess, except in very cold weather. Such a recess relieves a living room from being uncomfortably blocked up with a meal-table. The bay also gives us a west window through which the evening light will come.

In all rooms there is a part by the door where no one willingly sits, because of a certain lack of comfort; it is well to keep such part of the room as small as possible. Very often a room may be actually improved by being reduced in width just where the door opens, while the space cut off may be put to valuable use. In this case the sheltered south-west balcony, which is obtained by narrowing the two rooms opposite the doors, adds greatly to the amount of open air life it is possible to enjoy, and makes it easy to have the pleasure of frequently taking meals in the open: the little window by the sideboard is convenient to hand things through for this purpose. A recessed balcony is, in our climate, much more useful than any projecting verandah. It is possible, owing to the extra shelter, to sit in such a balcony two or three times as often as in the verandah with open ends.

[Sidenote: _See plate 32._]

In this room, a sideboard, a large cabinet and the other important furniture, form part of the scheme: they are thought out and designed with the building. In the treatment of the room advantage is taken of the beams and lintels required for the recesses, and where these are lacking a deep picture rail carrying line with them is adopted, under which the sideboard, cabinet, and most of the windows are arranged to finish, leaving an unbroken frieze above, and giving a sense of order and unity to the whole. This frieze is decorated with a painted suggestion of landscape; but in simpler treatment, if whitewashed, or coloured with the ceiling, it would be light & satisfactory. The lower portion of the walls, under the decorated frieze, is finished in plaster tinted to the required shade by mixing colouring matter with the skimming coat; this forms a good, plain, solid-looking background for either pictures, furniture, or the people who inhabit the room.

Where economy is any consideration we may keep rooms as low as possible, giving additional space outwards, which is as valuable as space upwards for use as an air reservoir, and for all other purposes so much more valuable. This house is nine feet from floor to floor.

[Sidenote: _See plate 33._]

The hall, or entertaining room, being intended for less constant as well as more formal use, takes a somewhat simpler shape. Placed at the west corner with windows south-west and north-west it gets all the sunshine during the afternoon and evening, when most occupied. It is immediately accessible from the entrance, and opens upon the balcony and garden through a double window. The fire is placed in an ingle contrived under the stairs and half landing, an arch being used in this case to carry the chimney stack and form the recess. The flue from the fire is brought over on to the arch by means of a copper hood. A little bay, partly in the porch, lights this ingle. The messenger’s seat in the porch, a cupboard, and a coal box complete the utilization of the space under the stairs, which is thus not only made to add to the convenience, but also to contribute something to the interest of both the room and the porch.

Adjacent to the entrance is the small sanctum. Here, again, something is taken off the square room, which, while improving it rather than otherwise by giving a recess for desk and pigeon holes, enables us to have a small vestibule with cupboard for visitors’ hats and cloaks. A comfortable corner between fire and window is left clear for easy chair and reading stand.

Behind the living-room, with its fireplace at the back of the living-room fireplace, is placed the kitchen. It occupies the east corner of the house, and has its main window to the north-east, the right aspect for a kitchen. There is a small window to the south-east, to light the range and make a comfortable place for sewing or reading. One corner between fire and window should always be kept free from doors in a kitchen, so that there may be a place to sit in; and a still more comfortable kitchen results, when it is possible to collect all the doors on one side.

The larder has its window in the back porch, to get a north aspect; while thorough ventilation is secured by an opening on the south-east under the eaves where the sun cannot reach it. The cellar was added after the preliminary plans were made, the scullery being re-arranged to allow of it. This latter is shaped to obstruct as little as possible the squint window in the living-room ingle, and at the same time faces south, which, as there is no fireplace, is a good aspect for it.

The staircase rises from the corridor, and as it is accessible from all parts without passing the doors of the reception rooms, a back staircase is not needed. Where economy is a consideration the back staircase is one of the first things which may be dispensed with, for it adds so little real comfort in proportion to its cost.

[Sidenote: _See plate 2._]

The bedroom plan follows pretty closely the ground plan, the bedrooms also leading off a corridor round the inner court. All four bedrooms are arranged so that in addition to being convenient as bedrooms, they have at least a corner near the fire comfortable to sit in. In small houses to regard a bedroom as a sleeping room only is a mistake. The accommodation is greatly increased when each member of the household can use his or her bedroom as a private den also. The balcony is repeated on the first floor--the bedrooms being as serviceable without the space it occupies--and by reason of the parapet and overhanging eaves, it is even more sheltered than that on the ground floor; and it is thus possible in two bedrooms to sleep practically in the open air in almost all weathers. It has special value, too, as an addition to the west room, which is designed for the boy’s bedroom and study. Here the bed fits in a deep recess out of the way; a washstand is contrived in the sill of the window of the same recess, which is slightly bayed to give the needful room; and a curtain may be drawn across, cutting off all the special bedroom appliances; so leaving a good comfortable study. A window is put to bring the south-east sun into bedroom No. 3, the wide sill of which in the rather narrow room may be used for a dressing table. In bedroom No. 4 an over-hanging window recess is carried out on the joists, to avoid the want of comfort which one always feels on the window side of a room when the door opens right in the corner, as here. This room has also a little window towards the court to bring in morning sun; and thus all the bedrooms get through ventilation and plenty of sunshine.

Of the treatment of the rooms little need be said. The recesses by the chimney breasts are fitted with cupboards and bookshelves, which are designed to include simple framings or mantels for the fireplaces, and the cornices of which are arranged to match the cornice over doors and windows and to carry line with a picture rail running round the room. Wall papers or other decorations stop at this rail, all above being taken in with the ceiling. This arrangement enables the ceiling to be broken up by the slopes of the low roofs without giving the ugly odds and ends of papered wall, which really are the only unpleasing feature about a ceiling broken up in that way.

During the whole of the planning the elevations are of course kept in view, and the block design carried away in the mind from the site constantly exerts a modifying influence. The difficulty usually is to maintain sufficient simplicity; so many features are suggested by little conveniences of planning that one has continually to cut them out, never to seek for them merely for the sake of effect.