Chapter II: Part 2

Abundant access of fresh air is of great importance to health in a residence; unnecessary exposure to wind being at the same time to be avoided. Hence to place a residence in the centre of a close array of trees is not desirable; not only is the access of air, light, and heat prevented, but there is always a tendency induced to dampness in the house. In an open, airy, and well drained situation, the effects of even long-continued wet are soon dispelled, but when all sides of a house are surrounded closely by trees, an opposite result is induced, and, in comparatively dry situations, many evils of a damp one ultimately ensue.

One of our earliest English writers on building, Thomas Fuller (1633), speaking of the choice of situation for a new structure, says: “_Chiefly choose a wholesome air_, for air is a dish one feeds on every minute, and therefore it need be good. Wherefore, great men (who may build where they please, as poor men where they can) if herein they prefer their profit above their health, I refer them to their physicians to make them pay for it accordingly.” And as to light, he continues: “_Light (God’s eldest daughter!) is a principal beauty in a building_, yet it shines not alike from all parts of heaven. An east window welcomes the infant beams of the sun before they are of strength to do any harm, and is offensive to none but a sluggard. A south window, in summer, is a chimney with a fire in it, and needs the screen of a curtain. In a west window, in summer time, towards night, the sun grows low and ever familiar, with more light than delight. A north window is best for butteries and cellars, where the beer will not be sour for the sun’s smiling on it. Thorough lights are best for rooms of entertainment, and windows on one side for dormitories.” And he tells us, “_a pleasant prospect is to be respected_. A medley view, such as of water and land at Greenwich, best entertains the eyes, refreshing the wearied beholder with exchange of objects. Yet,” he adds, “I know a more profitable prospect--where the owner can only see his own land round about.”

Having thus disposed of some of the most important points that should be kept in mind when choosing the site of a house, and of such other conditions as affect its picturesque and sanitary character, a small space may be devoted to the consideration of its internal decorations.

On this point there is no disputing about tastes, but to this may be added that the absence of taste is by no means uncommon. Having fixed on the style of house, the next question for decision, in respect to its general effect, should be that of its internal decoration. Congruity of design should exist between the two, for if an opposite course be adopted, a vulgarity will be introduced that will be highly displeasing to good taste. On the other hand, a slavish adherence to uniformity of internal with external character might produce so severe an adherence to system as to exclude the benefits that arise from judiciously chosen contrast. What has before been remarked in regard to the exterior, applies equally to the interior of a house--each should have in its general effect an agreement in appearance to its objects. In an antique apartment the light character of modern furniture would be evidently out of place, and _vice versâ_.

It is evidently impossible to direct attention to more than a few elements of success that may be arrived at in internal decoration. Independently of this, each person has his own views on the matter, that would be sure in the end to overrule any exact principles, or at least greatly modify them. The following observations however, are offered suggestively.

The facility with which the most beautiful designs in painting, &c., are transferred to paper for paper hangings, has brought these into very extensive use for decorative purposes. Formerly the best patterns were produced in France alone, but of late years the British manufactures have rivalled the Continental. The pattern in respect to size, colour, design, &c., should be so chosen as to be in accordance with the amount of light, the size, and other conditions of the room. A large pattern in a small room is equally out of place with the reverse condition. A light pattern again in a dark room, although advantageous in alleviating sombreness, is also incongruous. The general effect of a room on a spectator is thus largely influenced by these points, and consequently they should be carefully attended to. Frequently paint is preferred for covering walls of apartments, and where many pictures are introduced this may be advantageously employed, because the paintings alleviate the monotonous effect that would otherwise ensue. Painted walls are liable to injury by peeling off in places, especially where likely to meet with blows from furniture, &c. In damp weather, from the absorption of heat they generally become not only wet, but frequently stream with water. If the apartment is “smoky,” lines of sooty hue soon follow, and the room acquires a dirty appearance. This is avoided by the use of paper, which prevents the abstraction of heat and the consequent deposition of water; Beautiful effects may be produced by graining and other devices which are too well known to require enumeration. When flock paper on walls becomes dirty and requires renewing, if painted it looks extremely well, a diaper ornamental surface being produced by such means.

The mantel-piece of a room adds to or detracts from its general effect. In a well lighted apartment, with light furniture, white marble is decidedly preferable. Whereas serpentine, black, or coloured marbles, grey and even red granite, may all agree in rooms but moderately lighted.

The cornice and ceiling decorations equally require adaptation to the character of the apartment. For these purposes beautiful designs have been suggested and employed. The material of which they are usually made is so plastic as to be capable of receiving and retaining the most intricate forms conducive to elegance and beauty. In some rooms such add greatly to the general effect, while in others, especially with painted walls, plain mouldings seem most appropriate.

A profusion of gold or gilding displays want of taste. A glaring example of this might be pointed out--a white marble mantel-piece supported by gilt angels five feet high which “graces” the drawing-room of a mansion in one part of this country. The outer room is a gorgeous display of gold, silver, and vulgarity. It serves, however, index-like, to point out at once the riches and “taste” of the owner. On the other hand, paintings and engravings in gilt frames have an excellent effect in setting off a room, provided that their size is in accordance with that of the apartment.

Stained deals, varnished, afford a good material for panelling, and for covering the walls of rooms. We have in our eye a dining-room thus fitted which has an effect approaching to some of the oaken fittings of olden times. The material is cheap and durable, whilst the surface can always be renewed in its freshness by a new coat of varnish. It has been largely adopted in churches for pews and other fittings, with the best possible results.

The minor objects of decoration, such as handles, finger-plates, bell-pulls, &c. &c., can only be here named. In many instances designs are given in the following pages, suggesting the most suitable either for indoor or outdoor use, according to the character of the room or entrance for which they are intended.

So much for the picturesque exterior and tasteful interior of a house; a few words however may be said in respect to its immediate surroundings, such as the lawns, gardens, pleasure grounds, &c.

The most picturesque villa would be a nonentity in a wrong situation. It would be opposed to what is usually called the “fitness of things;” a phrase that expresses much meaning without an exact definition. Hence “landscape gardening” has become an almost necessary adjunct to the art of architecture. An unframed picture has possibly every merit that the painter’s art can bestow on it, yet it lacks that finish which the exterior confers on it. So the well laid-out garden, the vista at its extremity, the carefully arranged parterre, the judicious management of floral culture, especially with regard to colour; neatly arranged walks, and many other exterior matters of detail, add to, enhance, and occasionally become indispensable adjuncts to the picturesque.

We give two examples of picturesque accessories to garden architecture; the first rather belongs to the secluded wood, to some sequestered spot of sylvan shade, whence rises a spring which tradition may designate as that of some beautiful nymph; where the limpid crystal flows in gentle, yet ceaseless streams, conveying “health to the sick and solace to the swain.” The last, a vignette at the end of this chapter, is the representation of a ruined fountain, designed in 1820 by one of the best teachers of drawing England ever possessed, the late C. J. M. Whichelo. The architect may suggest the addition of a garden, but it is no part of his business to supply the details; these rather belong to the horticulturist. Yet these should not be forgotten; a complete whole is always made up of minute parts, and by these littles an entirety of effect is produced, just as their individual importance is not lost sight of.

In conclusion, it has been attempted in this introductory essay to enable the unprofessional reader to become acquainted with the general principles, and some practical details that should guide him in the selection of a site, and the erection of an elegant, convenient, and pleasant house, both externally and internally. So far as architecture and decorative art can aid such objects, the special details involved have to be perused in the text of this work. Fundamental ideas of such subjects have alone been here treated. A hope may be expressed that any suggestion or advice hitherto offered may not, in all cases, be without value. It is not given to all men to know all things. By the experience of others we gain fresh views of old ideas, invest them with new clothing, and in fact make out of that which is past, the material for something new. We rest on the apparently obsolete for suggestive ideas of improvement. Although the fashion of this world passeth away, yet as a dissolving view it reproduces itself in other forms, which, by the contrast of apparent novelty, and real or supposed merits, gain, either temporarily or permanently, the applause of mankind.

_DESIGN No. 1._

A GARDENER’S COTTAGE.

Some examples of designs for small cottages will be first given in this volume. There are few domestic

structures that have received within the last fifty years a greater share of attention than the English Cottage, especially that designed for the occupation of the labourer. Each detail has received much care; thus, whether its walls should be solid or formed in two thicknesses, as most conducive to warmth and comfort; whether they should be of thin brick or of solid thick concrete; the best kind of roof covering, and indeed all such questions, have been fully discussed.

Besides this, the calculation of cost has been of importance; they are required to return a rent that will pay 5 per cent. on the outlay, and to gain their picturesque appearance has generally been sacrificed.

The cottage examples in this volume have been erected on estates where the only aim was to render them substantial and lasting structures, expense being a matter of minor importance. Their picturesque appearance being in every case insisted on.

Before entering into any description of the designs, it must be pointed out that the plans, with the exception only of a few at the end of the volume, are all drawn to the same scale, that of 20 feet to the inch, and that the elevations and sections are to a scale of 15 feet to the inch.

The details and the vignettes, one of which is mostly given between each example, are of various scales suited to each separate subject.

The cottage design shown in the plate, and which forms the first example in this series, was erected on a nobleman’s estate in the country, for the use of a favourite gardener, a married man without children, and the accommodation afforded was all that he required. It consisted of a lower room fifteen feet by twelve, fitted with a small cottage oven; a scullery ten feet by ten feet, and a larder; the upper floor contained one room of the same size as the lower, and one fourteen feet by ten feet. The building was constructed in a very superior way. It was erected in red brick with compo dressings round the door and windows. The illustrations represent the front and back elevations; and sections through the length and breadth of the cottage, with details of the wood casements, and a plan and section of the cottage oven.

A view of a cottage slightly different in design but having rooms of the same size with similar accommodation, is given. This was intended for the same estate.

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The vignette is an elevation of two lead pipes designed for an Elizabethan building in the country.

_DESIGN No. 2._

A SMALL COTTAGE OR LODGE.

This small building forms the outer lodge to a country park. It is finished in all its parts so as

to correspond in style and details with the old family mansion, and being a prominent object, standing in a cheerful position, each side was made pleasing. It is

so placed that the sun during its daily course shines on all the exterior walls. Cottages should have no

dark corners, the sun should find entrance at all the windows whenever it is bright; the interior is then warm and cheerful. If the plan of a building is either

a square or a parallelogram, and it is placed on the ground so that one of its diagonal lines runs due north and south, the advantage of sunlight at all the openings is obtained, and this has been pointed out by several writers on the subject. The ground plan shows the general arrangement of the interior. The parlour and kitchen are both of the same size (14 feet by 11 feet); it has a small scullery, an open outside porch, and a place for coals; the larder with its window

is under the staircase. The latter is a cottage staircase, occupying only half the usual space. The plan of the upper floor shows two rooms of the same size as those on the lower floor, with the compact reduced form of the staircase. The plate gives the front and side elevations of the building; sections through its length and breadth, and through the two porches back and front, and the dry vault of closet, are given.

The water from the scullery sink is discharged into the dry vault. The staircase, of which a section is given, occupies exactly half the space of a staircase on the ordinary plan. The width is three feet, each step rising in two heights of 6 inches. It is necessary that such a contrivance should have plenty of light. These staircases were first used in France. Loudon, in his “Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture,” gives a representation of one, and remarks that the celebrated American, Jefferson, when

making a tour in that country, was so struck with the contrivance, that he noted it in his journal, which was published with his correspondence. A perspective view of one of these staircases is annexed.

A staircase of this description, if made four feet in width, might take up only one-third the usual space: it would be very applicable to offices and warehouses where room cannot be spared, and where staircases little better than ladders are used, but in such cases a baluster and hand-rail should be placed between each second step, to prevent persons falling.

The “Builder” of November, 1843, gave two views of an ingenious double spiral staircase then exhibiting at a manufactory in Berners Street, Commercial Road. It was described as extremely simple, the object being to provide for ascent and descent without chance of meeting or collision. It consisted of a deal or other board of suitable thickness 6 feet long and 12 inches wide, forming a double _tread_, and the _riser_ crossed, as it were from corner to corner, except as arranged to form a _newel_ in the centre, of about five inches in diameter. The staircase had twenty-two risers, and took one complete turn round.

_DESIGN No. 3._

A PICTURESQUE COTTAGE.

This design for a peasant’s cottage possesses no architectural feature beyond what could be given

to it by any common country village carpenter. It was made from the recollection of one at Blaise Hamlet,

near Blaise Castle, in Gloucestershire, the seat of John I. Harford, Esq., to whom the hamlet belonged. This was celebrated for having about a dozen of these small picturesque structures, apparently put up by the owner of the estate. Nearly the whole of them were provided with rustic seats under a projecting roof, as well as with a pigeon-house at the gable. This was called Vine Cottage; there were besides Sweet Briar Cottage, Rose Cottage, Diamond Cottage, Dial Cottage, Jessamine Cottage, Circular Cottage, and Oak Cottage. Views of all of them were first published at Bristol by Mr. Western.

There are numerous similar hamlets and villages in England, some having the cottages, schoolhouses, literary meeting room, and even the village pump, all in picturesque form, and generally architectural in character. The plan given here is probably not like that of the cottage at the hamlet. It illustrates one room, size 13 ft. by 12 ft., a scullery 12 ft. by 9 ft., and larder under the stairs. The latter are shown with the double-rise step. The upper plan shows one room of the same size as that below, and a closet. The scullery on the ground floor is large enough to form a sleeping room for boys, or to make a small living room. The height of the lower room is 9 feet 6 inches. The section shows the general form and fittings of the rooms. The plate below the plans gives an elevation of the front, showing the rustic seat and the side of the entrance porch, the gable of the cottage formed into a pigeon-house, together with the side front of the cottage and its entrance porch. The small window at the side is intended to light the first steps of the stairs; a small shed for wood or coals is placed at the back. Such a cottage could be built and finished complete at a cost of about one hundred and ten pounds.

_DESIGN No. 4._

A DOUBLE COTTAGE.

These cottages were intended to be attached to some ornamental grounds which were very carefully attended to; and as the building formed a

prominent object, it was rendered architectural and pleasing in character. In plan the cottages are large

and roomy, and they are of the cheapest kind. If constructed in plain brickwork, without the ornamental gable on the porch, the pair could not have cost more than 250_l._, and at that sum they have been estimated for by a London builder. Each cottage has one living-room on the ground floor, _f f_, of the size of 14 feet by 10 feet, with a scullery, _g g_, attached, size 10 feet by 6 feet 6 inches, and a small larder and staircase.

The latter, with ten risers, leads to the upper floor, in which are one large and one small room. The plate gives the ground plan, and the plan of the upper floor. The closets are in the yard attached to the cottages, but not shown in the plan.

The plate gives an elevation of one of the fronts, and a section, taken through the living-room and scullery: a portion of the ornamental gable is illustrated in the previous page.

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The vignette represents an ornamental escutcheon and handle, in brass, for an inner entrance-hall door. The drawing is one-third of the full size.

_DESIGN No. 5._

A DOUBLE COTTAGE AND VILLAGE SUNDAY SCHOOL.

This building was intended to be placed in a village of one of the midland counties, nearly all the buildings in the village being of picturesque character. It was the property of a gentleman who was erecting a large Elizabethan mansion in the neighbourhood; the design is for a double cottage and Sunday school; the latter being under the direction of the clergyman of the parish.

The porch was decorated to give it importance, and form a shelter for the clergyman in passing from one school to the other. One part was intended for boys and the other for girls. The chimneys of the building were grouped together in the centre so as to form a prominent object; they were copied from a very fine ancient example, then existing at a farm-house near Ashford, in Kent.

The illustration gives a view of the front, and the plans. Each of the two principal rooms was 16 feet 6 inches by 13 feet 6 inches, with a scullery on the side 10 feet square, and having a good oven; the larder was under the stairs. The rooms above were

of the same size as those below. One of the cottages had the centre room below as well as that above arranged so that one had four rooms and the other two; but this could be changed at any time, to provide each cottage with three living rooms each. A section through the length of the building and the chimney stack is given in the previous page, and an elevation of the front is given above.

The building was to be constructed with sound stock bricks, and red brick rusticated facing round the upper windows; the finishing of the gables with their small pediments was of cut red bricks. Small compo finials crowned the whole.

The porch had trunks of trees for columns, the entablature and pediment were formed of cut bricks and compo facing; the pilasters on each side of the lower windows were of cut squared flint, peculiar to the county, the whole resting on a plinth of rough country stone. A wooden balustrade of simple pattern surmounted the porch, extending on each side of the columns. These latter resting on a stone slab. The chimney stack is shown, and its plan, on the previous page.

The old stack from Ashford, with the plan at its base, and capping, is also illustrated.

These representations of the two chimney stacks, ancient and modern, are drawn to the same scale, so that the difference between the present and old mode of treatment may be seen. The large flues of the old example permitted the then mode of sweeping, by discharging a culverin up the flue. The occupants of the dwelling could not then have cared much for return smoke in their rooms; which in these large flues, with coal as fuel, must have been considerable, and could only be obviated or prevented by the numerous cold draughts of air permitted to pass through the interior of the building.

The plan of this building was adapted from a very favourite one of the late Sir John Soane. He erected it at Wimpole, in Cambridgeshire, for the Earl of Hardwicke, in 1794. It had a very plain exterior, and the roof was covered with thatch, a very common mode with architects at that time, but now objected to from the serious evil of its harbouring numerous insects--indeed at times they render the building almost untenantable. The walls of the cottages at Wimpole were built in Pisé, or with clay and fine gravel, properly prepared and beaten down in a mould. Each wall was three feet in thickness, the fireplaces and chimneys were of brick. Every opening was covered with strong wood lintels, the whole width of the walls, and two feet longer than their respective openings.

The walls stood on brick foundations two feet above the ground. The cost of the construction was about 450_l._ Design No. 5 could not now be constructed for less than 630_l._

It may be here remarked that nothing certain can be advanced about the cost of a building until the situation and local circumstances are fully known and considered. In the absence of these no estimates can be given with that accuracy which every gentleman wishes for, and ought to be possessed of, before he begins building.

_DESIGN No. 6._

A HUNTSMAN’S LODGE OR COTTAGE.

This edifice was erected in the neighbourhood of some thick plantations in a sporting district. It was constructed of brick, with a wooden porch; the facing bricks of the walls being of a light-yellow colour, with red bricks round the windows; and the whole of the cornices and the four chimneys were of cut red brick. The building seen from among the trees looks

very pleasing. The ground plan shows a front room 13 feet square, with a small scullery behind; the larder is under the stairs, which have the double riser, and a window is placed both at the bottom as well as at the upper part of the staircase, to give plenty of light. The upper plan shows three bed-rooms, each about 10 feet by 6, and a small bed closet for children, the closet having a ventilator in the chimney at the angle. These chimneys, instead of being grouped together in the centre of the structure, occupy the four corners--an expensive form of erection, but one that gives more room in the interior. The elevation of the front is given in the plate, and the section by its side; the small figure below shows the different courses of cut bricks forming the pediment and cornice.

These were carefully executed, and had a good effect. The first figure likewise illustrates the oak finial on the top of the roof. A chimney-piece in one of the upper rooms had a quaint carving in the centre of a fox’s head, a subject appropriate to the pursuits of the occupant of the cottage.

The chimney-piece, and the fox’s head on a larger scale, are here represented. The gateway seen at the side of the building in the view was formed by the workmen out of various old fragments; it leads to a yard in which are various sheds and out-buildings.

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This vignette affords a specimen of ornamental iron railing intended for exterior work, and suitable for any situation in which such may be required, in consequence of the neatness of its pattern.

THE CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION FOR BUILDING COTTAGES.

Considerable pains have been taken for the last fifty years to discover the best and cheapest method of building cottages; bricks, stones, wood, mud, plaster, and lately straw and bitumen, have all been selected. Sound bricks and good building stones, well incorporated with mortar of a good and binding quality, will last for centuries; while those of mud, clay, plaster or concrete are continually becoming out of repair, and therefore ought never to be introduced where sound construction is desired, and better materials can be procured. In our moist climate, unless great pains are taken in compounding such materials as clay or concrete, in constructing walls, and in protecting these against the effects of the weather, they will soon decay. Mud walls, however, made perfectly in the common manner, of clay well tempered and mixed with sharp sand, will last very many years.

The preceding view represents Rose Hill Villa, near Stockbridge, Hampshire. It is probably the largest and most important specimen of such a construction in England, and comprises dining and drawing-rooms, each 20 feet by 18 feet, morning-room, housekeeper’s-room, kitchen, back kitchen, pantry, excellent cellars and all requisite offices; five very superior bedrooms, two dressing rooms, a water-closet on the landing and ground floor, and five servants’ bedrooms. It has a double coach-house, harness-room, and stabling for four or six horses, and in the outhouses a four-roomed cottage for the coachman.

This villa was formerly in the occupation of Fothergill Cooke, Esq.,[A] the inventor of the Electric Telegraph, and is now the residence of Sir Augustus Webster, Bart.

The building is constructed of chalk concrete, and has stood the test of forty years’ exposure without any signs of decay. Mr. James Flitcroft sent in 1843 a view of the villa to the “Builder,” and thus described the construction of such houses in the locality:--The walls are carried above the ground two and sometimes three feet to prevent the damp from rising to the mud, which if wetted would scale off by the action of frost. The kind of earth used is fine chalk, dug from the surface; if timely notice of any building will permit, it is best dug in winter, that the frost may act upon it. Buildings formed of this material can be erected only in dry warm weather. The workmen in preparing this chalk for use put about a cartload of it together, throw water over it, and tread it with their feet, turn it over, again tread and turn it, until it begins to bind something like loamy clay; then let it soak a little while, when it is ready for use. The waller is able to put on a layer of about fifteen inches; he begins at one corner and goes round the building, putting one layer on another, taking care that the lower one is sufficiently dry to bear the upper. In buildings of two stories high, the walls are generally eighteen inches thick. When the walls are got up five or six feet, and pretty dry, the quoins are plumbed, and the walls dressed down a little, in order that the waller may see what he is about. A small short spade is the best tool for this purpose, with short handle and rather bent. The work is then proceeded with as before, until it is raised up to the square of the building, when the

walls get their general dressing, ready to receive their coating.

Mr. Flitcroft describes Rose Hill Villa as coated with stone, lime-coloured and drawn. The columns of the villa are of brick. He states that there are several other buildings of this kind at Stockbridge, Winchester, and other places in the neighbourhood. He describes a better method of constructing such walls by the use of a moveable trough or box about 12 feet in length by 18 inches in depth. This trough rests on bearers put across the wall, with a mortice at each end wide enough apart to receive the sides, and the thickness of the wall; in these are inserted uprights to prevent the sides giving way, with others to go across the top. This mode of construction is however very ancient, and when done on a large scale the primitive method is still pursued.

This method is shown in the preceding engraving, which gives an elevation and section of a wall in process of construction, with the posts, _b b_, the moveable planking, _c c_, and cross pieces, _d_. It will be seen that three courses of bricks are put about every five feet in height. The figures here given are copied from a very old French work on Architecture and Building; they also show the manner in which roof construction was attempted with slabs of the same material, as shown in figs. 1 and 2: the building is supposed to be square, as shown by the dotted lines _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_.

The plan, elevation, and section given below represent a small tomb wholly formed of concrete slabs, the door alone being excepted. This little building forms really a solid concrete monolithic edifice.

A very common method of forming partitions, and even roofs in some of the agricultural districts in Hampshire, is first to put them up with strong wattle hurdles. They are double the size of the common hurdle, and made of a thicker material. When in their place, they are plastered over with concrete, and made about four inches in thickness; they very often require repair. It is said that concrete walls are subject to contraction and expansion, and speedily show vertical cracks at intervals, which in our damp climate would soon permit the wet to enter. There can be no question as to its strength as a building material, as some experiments conducted by the Institute of British Architects gave the following results--viz., “Concrete composed of two parts of lime, thirty-six parts of sand, and five parts of cement, can resist a crushing weight of four tons to the square inch, being twice the strength of Portland stone, eight times the strength of Bath stone, and sixteen times the strength of brickwork.”

In constructing cottages with concrete everything depends upon the goodness of the cement and the care with which it is used. The occupiers of these cottages are frequently their own operators; the work is generally too speedily performed, and the consequence is that the fruits of their labour are in most instances of but short duration.

For obvious reasons it is necessary that the greatest economy should be observed in the construction of peasants’ cottages, and for these reasons the apartments should always be on the ground floor, which will render it unnecessary to build them more than eight or nine feet high. Where mud walls are introduced, the lower they are made the better, in which case they should be made to batir on the outside so as to resist the pressure of the roof, the covering of which should project as much as possible, to throw off the wet and protect the walls. The chimney flues in these clay and concrete walls are formed of drain-pipes, which answer admirably. These humble dwellings should be paved with brick-on-edge paving laid on sand, which is much warmer, and more conducive to health than any sort of rough flagging, plaster, mud, or concrete floor. The latter, although much cheaper, can never be made to look clean. Foundations of clay or concrete walls should be of brick a few courses above the surface, and the walls when dry should be covered with a thick coat of plaster consisting of lime and sand, or what is still better, a coating of good Portland cement. This ought constantly to be kept perfect, as everything depends upon the goodness of the work. Concrete improperly mixed is not so strong as brickwork, but is mere rubbish; but when perfectly done it hardens with age, becoming like stone, impervious both to wet and frost.

Materials can be found in every locality. One of the principal constructors using such, Mr. Tall, who works with an excellently contrived apparatus, thus describes them:--“Clay, which may be burnt into ballast easily and cheaply, and is a most superior material for concrete; gravel, stone, crushed slag from furnaces, smith’s clinkers, oyster-shells, broken glass, crockery, or any hard and durable substance. Where sandstone or any flat stone is to be found, walls can be built even cheaper than of gravel concrete, as a labourer can break the stone.” He gives the proportions of materials used in houses then being constructed at Gravesend, as follows:

£ _s._ _d._ 7 yards of burrs from brickfield, at 5s. 1 15 0 7 yards of gravel stone, at 3s. 1 1 0 1 yard of Portland cement, 16 bushels to the cubic yard, at 2s. 1 12 0 Labour, at 2s. per cube yard 1 10 0 --------- Total £5 18 0 ---------

Three cubic yards of concrete will build 60 yards of 9-inch work, at a fraction under 1_s._ 11_d._ per yard.

Concrete cottages have been built at Setting, in Kent, under Mr. Adkins, architect, that cost only 105_l._ per pair; the ground floor contained two rooms; with the usual larder and closets, and the upper floor three rooms and a cupboard; these cottages had gabled fronts and were picturesque in character. It would be an extra expense over the common method to construct floors and roofing of concrete; the advantage to be gained would be their fire-proof character.

In superior buildings the high tenacious power of good cement is repeatedly, it may be said commonly taken advantage of in the construction of roofs. These are formed by cementing plain tiles, and they have considerable strength. Roofs of 12 feet span, constructed in segmental form, rising three feet, and only of three plain tiles in thickness, successfully resist great pressure, and are durable in a very superior degree; but they require to be well tied in, and formed between iron girders connected together with iron tie rods, otherwise they sink and force out the walls. Roofs of cemented tiles have been constructed from 30 to 40 feet span, and have been found to answer well; hoop-iron bond, laid at intervals between the tiles, is a great advantage. The tenacious power of good cement was proved in a very high degree a few years ago by Mr. Brunel, in the construction of two semi-arches built of brick, springing from a pier or abutment 14 feet in height. One extended 50 feet in length, the other 38; the rise of the arches was 10 feet, the width only 4 feet 6 inches; a weight of about 40 tons was suspended to the extremity of the shorter arch without breaking it.

The result of this test proved that arches of 200 feet or 300 feet span, and probably more, might be constructed in the same manner at very moderate expense, without centering. Iron-hoop bond is said to nearly double the strength or holding power of the cement. Flat experimental beams have been constructed of brick and cement, with hoop-iron bond laid horizontally between the joints or courses of the brickwork, which have given equally extraordinary results.

Concrete for walling was extensively used in England at the beginning of the present century; it got into bad repute through failure of a river wall at Woolwich, where it was either badly done, some mistake was made, or it was unsuited to the position. The wall was constructed of blocks of concrete cast in moulds, and submitted to pressure while setting; a coating of fine stuff being applied for the sake of appearance, ample time having been allowed for the blocks to set and harden before use. The blocks were 1 foot 6 inches high, the binders and stretchers in the course being each 2 feet 6 inches long, the bed of the former being 2 feet, and of the latter 1 foot; the wall was built upon piles, its height above the piles being 24 feet; the thickness at bottom was 9 feet, at top 5 feet with a batir in front of 3 feet in 22.

The face of the wall was composed of blocks, as described, and rough concrete thrown in to complete its thickness, and that of the counterforts. After a frost it was found that this wall was seriously damaged, hardly a single block having escaped, and in many cases their whole face had peeled off to the depth of half an inch. The discharge of a drain from a height of 6 or 8 feet had worn away the lower courses to the depth of some inches. On a like wall at Chatham, similar but much more severe effects were produced.

The failure of this wall costing about 80,000_l._, was a serious matter, and for several years after architects looked upon concrete as being so much uneatable hasty pudding, considering that it was only beneficial when confined in a trench for foundations. Sir Robert Smirke used it in the foundations of the Penitentiary, Millbank, and Sir John Soane in 1830 used it in the foundations of the New State Paper Office (now pulled down) in St. James’s Park. Here the ground had to be excavated to a depth of 22 feet before arriving at a gravelly stratum; at each high tide the Thames filled the trenches with water, which remained in considerable quantity; as this was pumped out, the adjoining party walls of the buildings in Duke-street cracked so completely that they had to be taken down. The trenches were first filled to the height of two feet with broken stones and bricks from the old buildings, and then dry lime and clean river sand, with a large quantity of small broken granite stones, were thrown in from the height above. A body of concrete 8 feet in width by a thickness of 3 feet was thus formed; the water ceased to enter the trenches and the building was commenced.

Mr. G. Godwin, the editor of the “Builder,” in an essay on concrete which gained the first prize given by the Royal Institution of British Architects, appears to have been the first to suggest its use in walls above ground; and for these Portland cement concrete, when properly prepared, is without question an admirable material.

_DESIGN No. 7._

In France it is used to a very great extent, in numerous bridges, and several miles of large sewers. A church (that at Vésinet, near Paris, of mediæval architecture), constructed entirely with iron and this concrete, is completely fireproof. In England a considerable length of sewer has been constructed of concrete at Sidmouth, under the direction of Mr. Phillips; and near London, between the Kensington and Gloucester Road stations of the Metropolitan Railway, a very large handsome bridge, rusticated, and in design similar to, and in every respect in appearance a stone bridge. From some alteration required in the railway, it has been removed.

This mode of construction is now being practically tested in the north of England, at Church Bank, Alnmouth, in its complete form, in a cottage built entirely of concrete, having three rooms, scullery, and other conveniences. The material used in the building, as we are told by the “Builder,” is Portland cement and gravel from the sea-shore. The foundation is in sand 6 inches thick and 18 inches wide; in this there is a base course, and above, the walls are 9 inches in thickness. Part of the erection is two stories in height. The roofs are all flat, and are constructed entirely of concrete and old wire rope. The ceilings are divided into panels by ribs at right angles, and require no plastering. A wall on the upper floor is supported by a concrete beam with a 13-feet span; and a large cistern is formed under the roof of the pantry for rain water. The sides of the cistern forming the walls of the bedroom will test severely the impermeability of the material. No wood is used except for doors, and no iron except five shillings’ worth of old wire rope. This is said to be an experiment made by the Duke of Northumberland.

Another experimental cottage has been constructed under Mr. Edwin Chadwick’s superintendence at East Sheen near Mortlake. In this the walls are formed of light iron framework filled with compressed straw, bitumen, and concrete. The thickness of each wall complete is only about three and a half inches. The floors are of bitumen and concrete, covered with ordinary deal boards; the roof has the same construction as the walls. These, inside, may be either left rough or finely smoothed, without additional cost. In the former case it is said they resemble the ordinary “dashes” of stuccoed cottages; in the latter they appear as if coated with Roman cement, after the fashion of villas and town houses.

If a construction of this kind can be made durable it possesses superior advantages to every other. In England both stone and brick are great absorbents of moisture, causing the occupants of the houses to be afflicted by rheumatism and other undesirable ailments. Any building material that is non-absorbent of moisture is a great desideratum yet unsatisfied.

An elevation of a design for a garden gate and balustrade to be formed of concrete blocks is given in Design No. 7. It was originally intended for the entrance to an old house in Berkshire.

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The vignette beneath is a Swiss pattern of open woodwork used by the author as balustrading. The construction is too simple to require explanation.

_DESIGN No. 8._

A PARK LODGE.

The entrance lodge to a country park may be considered as a superior kind of cottage; it is

often occupied by some favourite domestic or other attaché of the family. It is usually placed in a prominent position, dressed with surrounding trees, and with the accompanying gates, posts, and rails. Considerable attention is always paid to the lodge.

An ugly one is an exception, and is very seldom seen. In most cases the lodge is similar in character to the mansion to which it permits approach: a Gothic house, hence has a Gothic lodge, and an Elizabethan

house a lodge of the same character; frequently it is in the Rustic style that would suit either. Of this the present design and the following are examples.

This design was made for one story only, and it is placed so as to command, or have a view of two roads by which it can be approached; the plan shows a living room, 13 ft. by 13 ft., a scullery, _g_, 12 ft. by 9 ft, a larder, _h_, and two sleeping rooms. It has a porch, formed with trunks of trees, enclosing a seat or bench. The back front is made of a pleasing character, having a covered way to the closet and coal cellar, _l_.

The section shows the height of the rooms, 11 × 6 from floor to collar beam. The construction was to have been in the common fashion in brick, with red brick facing, and compo dressings round the windows and top of chimney stack, the latter in cut red brick. An erection of this kind could not be completed under a cost of about 370_l._

_DESIGN No. 9._

A PARK LODGE.

This design was a second study for the same small building illustrated in the previous design. It was intended for a different site, and so placed as to command only one road of approach. It could have been seen for nearly two miles previous to reaching it, and was placed about twenty feet behind the entrance gates; the front had a rustic porch intended to contain rustic seats. The plan shows a living room 18 feet by 14, a small scullery, _g_, larder, _h_, and two sleeping rooms each 13 feet by 10 feet. The section is taken through the centre of the building, showing the front and back porch. It could be constructed for about 375_l._

Either of these lodges could be constructed in concrete, the walls twice the thickness, the chimney stock in brick and cement, and their cost would be reduced.

_DESIGN No. 10._

AN ENTRANCE LODGE TO A PARK

This lodge stands within an ancient park in Kent. It occupies a triangular piece of ground and commands three roads of approach. The building is

strictly in accordance with the style of the old family mansion within the park itself, which is a celebrated structure of the times of Elizabeth and James I. The

perspective view represents the lodge as seen from the avenue of trees within the park, the road coming

between. In the ground plan, p. 105, _a_ is the porch, _b_ the living room, _c_ the scullery, and _d_ the larder; _g_ are the steps leading to a vault under the stairs, used for coals, and _f_ is the stone cover over the dry well. Considerable care and attention were

bestowed in working out the details of this building, which was wholly erected by the workmen of the estate, with bricks and stone also from the estate. The lower part or plinth of the structure is of ashlar ragstone in random courses, the top course header faced, the joints worked fair, and a sunk splay in the top tooled fair, the course rising nine inches on the

face, with an average depth in the bed of eleven inches. The string over the lower windows is in moulded brick,

faced with compo,--the gables and the chimneys are constructed and finished with cut red bricks. The

finials, of which there are three, are copied from those of the old mansion, and cost each 3_l._ The front and side elevations are here given, together with the details of the entrance porch. The columns were formed of trunks of trees, with an entablature and pediment of brick tiles and compo, with iron ties securing the whole.

The brick walls were splashed externally in four colours, black, white, red, and yellow, which gave a very pleasing tone of colour to the whole. The plan

of the upper floor shows the rooms like the lower, each of the average length of 21 and a width of 10 feet. The staircase leads conveniently to the two upper rooms; _a_ is a trap-door to permit furniture and large baggage to be lifted up from below. The sections show the construction of the roof, the timbers of which were firmly secured by iron straps, _b b_. The chimney forms a prominent feature in the centre of the building, the construction of which is shown in the annexed cut; _c_ are corbel bricks, _b_ the iron strap.

The last two illustrations are sections through the coal-cellar and the dry well. The photographic view shows the small circular gable over the staircase. There are only six of these gables, as a seventh could not be obtained, or it might have been called the “house with the seven gables.” The structure cost 526_l._, the cottage design No. 2, on the same estate, 311_l._, both in full.

_DESIGN No. 11._

AN ENTRANCE LODGE AND GATEWAY TO A PARK.

The first erection of an entrance lodge and gateway to a country park, is often considered of sufficient importance to meet with very full and careful

consideration. If the park is an ancient one, the old castellated style for the entrance lodge will mark its character, and it is generally chosen, although the

building or mansion within the park itself may be of more recent style. The family architect, in such cases, will have to make various sketches before one is selected that gives general satisfaction. The castellated Tudor design shown in the perspective view, was the first one made under such circumstances, and several designs were submitted before it was put aside, and one selected similar in style and character to the mansion within the park, and which was soon carried out.

The ground plan, p. 113, shows the lodge to have very little accommodation, one small room 15 feet by 11 feet, with a scullery attached; indeed, one of the principal reasons for giving up the design was that the steep character of the ground did not admit a larger erection. The staircase of the lodge led to one upper room over the gateway; this was 13 feet by 13 feet. The elevation of the lodge is shown at p. 114.

The details are plain and bold; a shield of arms with quatrefoils is placed over the side entrance; these and the ornaments on the bay-window are the chief enrichments.

The lodge was to have been erected with ragstone ashlar for the quoins and red-brick facing for walls,--the bay-window and all the strings and battlements were to be in Caen stone. The iron gates were to be of wrought iron in the olden style. An elevation of one of the gates is given, showing a thin ornamental pattern within a strong iron frame.

The parts, ¼ full size, are shown; _a_ is the top rail, _b_ the circular bar, _c_ a section and elevation of the hanging rail, and _d_ the meeting bar.

The accommodation required by the gate-keeper who was to occupy the lodge was greater than could be well provided on the site the building was to stand on. What he did ask for was given in a second

design, which, as it shows a different treatment of the elevation, is here illustrated. In this the rooms are

larger, as may be seen by the ground plan; _c_, the back room, is intended to be used as a boy’s sleeping room; _h_ is the larder under the stairs, and _l_ is a place for coals. The upper plan shows the room over the gateway; a second room was to be added by taking up the walls of the lodge.

The elevation of this design was considered more quaint and characteristic of the olden style than the first; its window is copied from one at the old gatehouse to the abbey at Montacute in Somersetshire, both as to dimensions and detail. It is rather late in style, and not a very good example, but it is here given with a few sections and details to a larger scale.

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The vignette affords a plan of an old English garden with its labyrinth, fountains, fishponds, and flower beds.

_DESIGN No. 12._

A STOVE FOR AN ENTRANCE HALL

This stove is intended to fill a recess in the hall of a Baronial Mansion, placed on a marble pavement with groups of ancient armour, pikes and

helmets, and the other like warlike implements of ancient times, surrounding it. The plan shows its interior to be filled with fire-clay. It is only a