The Country House (with Designs)Châteauneuf, Alexis de
History
The Country House (with Designs)
Châteauneuf, Alexis de
Architecture -- England -- History -- 19th century; Architecture, Domestic -- England; Country homes -- England
I begin to feel that it is probable I have entirely mistaken what you
mean by Grecian style, and that it does not preclude the use of arches,
groined ceilings, domes, &c. I have been the more diffuse on this point
because I own I have a leaning to what we have called ELIZABETHAN;
conceiving, whether true or not, that there is more fitness in it for
domestic architecture than in the Grecian style; that the regularity
and repetition of form, which in a great building is delightful, in a
small one does not please from the diminutive size of the objects. And,
again, as regards the material and colour, as we use Grecian style in
this country, the material is either white stone or white stucco, which
in our climate appears cold, and does not give half so much the notion
of warmth and comfort as the fine rich-toned red brick; and what refers
to the exterior, is perhaps equally applicable to the interior.
Although in a building on a grand scale the mind is pleased with
symmetry and regularity, "in little" this is irksome, and gives the
notion of poverty, in fact, too soon lets you into the secret of the
whole house; there is no surprise, no discovery to make. Shew me a
Palladian villa a mile off, and I could draw you the plan of the inside
at once. Indeed, I could walk blindfolded into the drawing-room,
dining-room, library, and boudoir, and go up to bed in the best
bed-room, without a guide, or a light. Here are no
Rich windows that exclude the light,
And passages that lead to nothing.
A good deal also, I am willing to own, arises from association and
national prejudices; some of our most delightful houses are built in
this style, and they have, at all events within, signs of harmony in
the style of decoration, and in the accessories. The gardens and
out-buildings were often made more appropriate and better suited to the
house than in any other architectural attempts that we have made; and,
I believe, no Englishman ever fancied building a house that did not
have the large bay window and the large fireplace (against all
principles of good grates and Arnott's stoves I admit,) and the low
groined passage and the panelled hall in his mind. But it seems you
think it most difficult
----------"To reconcile
The willing graces to the Gothic pile,"
or rather say coy than willing. I beg you will not suppose I am
opposing your views, all I mean is to canvass and to be sure that I
understand them.
I have to repeat that I agree entirely that the style is best which is
most susceptible of uniting the three arts; but I only wish to know why
the Greek is most susceptible; and what is the kind of sculpture and
painting you wish to unite; in order to see that such a union is
suitable to our climate, and can be obtained at a reasonable cost, for
you must bear in mind that I want to build a country-house, not a
palace!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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