Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 22, August, 1878Various
History
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 22, August, 1878
Various
Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- Periodicals
The fifth is of the construction of an English country-house in the
reign of William III. It is of timber, with stucco and rough-cast
panels, and has a large bay-window in the second story, surmounted by
a gable to the street and covering an old-fashioned stoop with seats
on each side. The five houses have a pretty effect, and each has a
home look. The facades only are on exhibition, the interiors being
private. They contrast with others in the "street" in the same way as
the habits of the different peoples. Some build their houses to retire
into, and others to exhibit themselves. Each nation being asked for
the facade of a house, the Italian has built a portico where he
can lounge, see and be seen; the Englishman has in all serenity
represented what he deems comfort, and shuts the front door.
[Illustration: VIEW IN THE PARK OF THE TROCADERO, SHOWING THE
PAVILIONS OF PERSIA AND SIAM.]
The next in order is the United States house, which is plain and
commodious; the latch-string would be out, but that the front door is
everlastingly open. The style is perhaps to advertise to the world
that we have not yet had time to invent an order of architecture or
devise anything adapted to our climate, which has extremes utterly
unknown to our ancestors in Britain. The building is light and airy,
has office-rooms on each floor, and is described by one English
paper as "a sort of school-building which combines elegance with
usefulness." Another paper states that "it exemplifies the utilitarian
notions of our Transatlantic cousins rather than any artistic intent."
These comments are as favorable as anything we ourselves can say: we
accept the verdict with thanks and think we have got off pretty well.
In the squareness of its general lines, with arched windows on the
second floor and square tower over the centre, perhaps the architect
thought it was Italian. Sixteen coats-of-arms on the outside excite
admiration.
The building of Norway and Sweden is a charming cottage of handsome
and ample proportions. It has three sections: one of two stories with
low-pitched roof, and gable to the street, a middle structure with
colonnade, and one of three stories with high-pitched roof. The
windows are round-topped, made in an ingenious way, the upper member
being an arched piece with sloping ends, to match the springing on
the tops of the posts which divide the openings. The horizontal and
vertical bands are enriched by carving.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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