Chapter XLIII: Building After the Restoration: Houses

1. The most notable architect after the Great Fire of London was Sir Christopher Wren, and his master-piece is, of course, St. Paul's Cathedral. He designed, too, most of the city churches. The style was adopted in various parts of the country by various noblemen for building great houses. Brick was regarded as too mean a material for such very grand houses, and stone was used for facing them.

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL, LONDON: SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN'S MASTERPIECE
(page 169)]

2. In the houses which Wren built brick was very largely used. He introduced rubbed bricks, and had them laid with very close joints. We have some very fine examples of such brickwork in gables of various forms in the early part of the eighteenth century--the reign of Queen Anne.

3. Designs for houses did not improve in beauty as the eighteenth century went on. Many of the houses were very substantially built, and were arranged with an eye to comfort and convenience. The hall, which had been the centre of the old English home, became smaller and smaller; the kitchens were placed below the ground-level, and in towns were often reached by a flight of steps down from the street to the =area=, which is still so common in London streets.

4. The =front door= of the house became the great ornamental feature of the building, approached by a flight of steps often protected by very handsome iron railings. Attached to many of the railings still are light upright posts for carrying an old-fashioned oil-lamp. Just a few of these =lamp-carriers= have extinguishers, which were for the use of the link-boys, when on dark nights they had safely lighted the master of the house through the dangers of the streets to his own front door.

5. The brickwork of these houses had become very plain, and less and less stone was used for ornament--a little over the principal windows, and the boldly cut quoins at the angles of the house. Most of the windows were merely oblong openings in the blank wall.

6. The great point aimed at was to get a handsome =doorway=. Sometimes a portico was built out, supported by stone pillars having richly-carved capitals. In other cases a canopy, supported by half-columns, or by brackets, was placed over the doorway. Stone was sometimes used for these canopies, but wood was more common. These wooden canopies and brackets are often very fine pieces of joinery and wood-carving. The canopy sometimes takes the form of a kind of big shell, the ornaments and pattern being finely moulded, and the cornice being deeply and boldly cut. These canopies were painted, and the tops covered with lead to protect them from the weather. As you walk along the streets of an old town, which has not been too much modernized, you will be almost sure to see some specimens of this kind of work.

7. The thick panelled doors of these houses are often grand pieces of work, which would rejoice the heart of a joiner who loves his craft. So many boys now are taught something of joinery at school that there must be a good many of them who know enough to see the beauty there is in a good piece of work, even though it may be quite plain.

8. Another feature in these doorways is the window over the door, intended to give light to the hall. We call it the =fan-light= because it was usually made somewhat in the shape of an open fan, and you will find in fan-lights some very pretty designs cleverly put together.

9. About the middle of the eighteenth century =stucco= came into fashion. It was easy to handle, and ornamental patterns could be readily produced. The ornamental stone and wood-work was imitated in plaster. Like all mere imitations of good work, it soon became poor, and showed itself to be a sham; but it was very fashionable. There was such a rage for it that the brickwork of a house was often covered with a smooth coat of it, and the whole painted white, or cream colour. Some of the old houses of good sound brick were covered in this way, and it was often used to cover up very poor bricks and brickwork. Good plaster-work, no doubt, often served a purpose in keeping out damp, but it was very formal, and not very beautiful.

10. In the middle of the same century a fancy for =Gothic architecture= revived, and many brick buildings were built with pointed arches, doorways, and windows, with turrets and pinnacles, all covered with plaster-work and cement, imitating Gothic mouldings and carvings; but it was only sham Gothic, and not at all satisfactory.

11. Indeed we may say that, as the century went on, houses did not become more beautiful. As the population increased in the town, streets of houses sprang up, some large, some small, built in rows and crescents and terraces, in which all the houses were alike; and very dull and drab and mean-looking many of them have become. When they were built they were made to look neat, or even smart, in front, but little care was taken about the appearance and convenience of their backs. They were not arranged in such a way that each might have a proper amount of light, and that a free current of air could pass through them and around them.

12. In some respects we have improved our houses, but we have much to learn yet. We have, for instance, yet to see that _all_ houses, however small, shall have a proper number of bedrooms, large, light, and airy--for we spend one-third of our lives in them. We have also to see that both beauty and fitness shall be properly considered in building a house. Too often no care is taken to provide proper places where food and clothing can be kept, and where that very necessary but unpleasant process of washing and drying of clothes can be carried on without spoiling the comfort and health of the household. Every house needs a bath-room as much as a grate, for where dirt is there is disease, suffering, and death.

=Summary.=--Stone was used for facing large brick houses in the
time of Sir Christopher Wren and at the beginning of the next
century (Queen Anne's reign). Wren introduced _rubbed brick_,
laid with close joints, and the specimens of that period are very
good. As the eighteenth century went on, beauty declined. The hall
became a mere passage, and the windows were oblong holes in the
brick walls. The _doorways_ were often handsome, with porticoes
and canopies, some of stone, some of wood. Many of these remain
in old town and village streets. The _iron-work_ of that date is
often very good indeed. The doors themselves were usually plain,
but well made and solid. The windows over the doors, usually
called _fan-lights_ from their original shape, give many varieties
of shape.

_Stucco_ came into use about the middle of the eighteenth century,
and became very fashionable, carving being imitated in plaster,
and often covering very poor work. Gothic began to revive, but
plaster, not stone, was used, and it was a very poor imitation.
The fashion for building whole streets, rows, and terraces of
houses in the same style came into use.