CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF Paul R. Allen Cornell University Library NA7328.S73 1904 The British home of to-day, a book of moi 3 1924 015 354 891 DATE DUE 1flQ0 \ii K JC*"! ■•-■.. ■ -■.■J"5 i *' Ki 2 i I ['iNrfW^IWf^' jsf GAYLORD j PRINTED IN U S A. X fe Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924015354891 THE BRITISH HOME U- OF TO DAY A So ok qfJCoderp ^Domestic- Architecture®, the Applied Arts EDITED BY w. shaw 3PAEROW A.CARHSTEONG © SON.NEW YORK. 3AVfeST Eighteenth Street. mcmiv. 1 : Printed by PERCY LUND, HUMPHRIES & CO., LTD. The Country Press, Bradford; and 3, Amen Corner, London, E.C. The British Home of To-day Prefatory Note The purpose of this book is to give specimens of good workmanship in Modern Domestic Architecture and the Applied Arts. It is meant to be at once useful to the general householder and attractive to the professional student. It cannot claim to represent examples of all the notable work which has been done in recent years by British architects and by British crafts- men. A thorough treatment of the present subject would require several volumes, and a very singular display of mixed traditions and opposed convictions. A book, like an essay, should have a limited design of its own, a unity of intention and impression ; and this being essential, many points of view have to be passed by in silence. But " The British Home of To-day," though necessarily limited in scope, contains a very rich selection from the best contemporary work. The Editor acknowledges with grateful thanks the assistance which has come to him from many quarters. Mr. Norman Shaw, R.A., has taken an encouraging interest in the progress of the book and Mr. James Orrock, R.I., has permitted illustrations to be given of the furniture in his well-known collec- tion. Much help has been received from all the contributors, and particularly from Mr. Aston Webb, R.A., Mr. John Belcher, A.R.A., Mr. R. S. Eorimer,Mr. Ernest George, Mr. E. E- Eutyens, Mr. Eeonard Stokes, Mr. E. Guy Dawber, Mr. C. J. Harold Cooper, Mr. C. F. A. Voysey, Mr. George Walton, Mr. Charles Spooner, Mr. Mervyn Macartney, Mr. John Cash, Mr. Arnold Mitchell, Mr. Alexander Fisher, Mr. W. H. Brierley, Mr. H. T. Hare, Mr. William Flockhart, and Mr. Frank Brangwyn, A.R.A., who designed the badge for the cover and superintended the hand- drawn lettering. The initial letters in the text are the work of Mr. David Veazey. Through the kindness of the Verlag Cosmos, Eeipsic, an illustration is reproduced from the excellent book on English Architecture written in German by Dr. Hermann Muthesius; thanks to the courtesy of Mr. B. T. Batsford, two illustrations are given from Ernest Newton's " Book of Country Houses ;" and the Editor of "Country Eife " has kindly lent several copyright photographs of houses built by Mr. E. E- Eutyens. The Brtish Home of To-day Literary Contents " Plans for the Home." — Three Plates in Colour and Sixteen Illustrations in Monochrome. Written by Arnold Mitchell, Architect. "The Home from Outside."— One Plate in Colour and Fifty-eight Illustrations in Monochrome. Written by E. Guy Dawber, Architect. " The Home and its Dwelling-Rooms." — Written by R. Norman Shaw, R.A., Architect. With a Note on " Colour in the Decoration of Rooms," by James Orrock, R.I. Three Plates in Colour and Thirty-two Illustrations in Monochrome. "The Home and its Bedrooms." — By Frank Brangwyn, A.R.A., and C. J- Harold Cooper, Architect. Twelve Illustrations in Monochrome. " The Home and its Halls." — One Plate in Colour and Twenty-one Illustrations in Monochrome. Written by Mervyn Macartney, Architect. " The Home and its Furniture." — Forty-nine Illustrations in Monochrome. Written by Charles Spooner, Architect and Craftsman. " The Home and its Decorative Essentials." — Two Plates in Colour and Thirty-eight Illustrations in Monochrome. Written by John Cash, Architect. Special Plates in Colours A House at Wokingham. By Ernest Newton . . . . To face Ai. of Text A House at Great Stanmore. By Arnold Mitchell . . ,, Aviii. ,, A House at Puttenham. By C. F. A. Voysey . . . . ,, A6 Project for a House at Bracknell Gardens. By C. F. A. Voysey „ Bviii. of Text The Smoking-Room at Angley Park, Crembrook. By Mervyn Macartney ,, Cviii. ,, Scheme of Decoration for a Billiard-Room. By Frank Brangwyn, A.R.A. ,, Cn Scheme of Decoration for a Sitting-Room. By John Cash ,, C21 The Inner Hall at Cornbury Park. By John Belcher, A.R.A „ Eiv.ofText A I v oving Cup in Beaten Silver enriched with Jewels and Enamels. By Alexander Fisher , Giv. ,, Stained Glass Windows. By Selwyn Image Gviii. , The British Home of To-day Sectional Divisions Section A.—" Plans for the Home." Section B.— " The Home from Outside." Section C. — " The Home and its Dwelling-Rooms." Section D. — "The Home and its Bedrooms." Section E.— " The Home and its Halls." Seclion F. — " The Home and its Furniture." Section G.— " The Home and its Decorative Essentials." Contributors and Table of Illustrations Adam Brothers, Architects : C20, C21 ; E9 ; F15. Bankart, G. P., Worker in Plaster : C15, C16, C17, C29. Barnsley, Sydney, Designer of Furniture and Craftsman : F42. Batsford, B. T., Publisher : A7, A8 ; Bio. Bedford, Francis W., Architect : B48 ; C29. Belcher, John, A.R.A., Architect : B6, By, B8 ; C2, C3, C4, and a Plate in Colour. Bidlake, W. H, M.A., Architect : B15, B16. Brangwyn, Frank, A.R.A., Designer and Painter : C5, C6, C7, C8 ; Di, D3 ; Eio, E12 ; F28, F29, F34, and a Plate in Colour. Brierley, W. H., Architect : B30, B37, B43, B45, B47 ; C14 ; E16. Cash, John, Architect : B46 ; G36, and a Plate in Colour. Charles I. Furniture : Fi, F2, F4, F6. Charles II. Furniture : Fi, F6. Chippendale Furniture : C20 ; F12, F13, F19, F25, F27. Christie, Robert, Cabinetmaker : F35, F47. Clow, W. and A., Wood Carvers : F31. Cooper, C. J. Harold, Architect : B36 ; C9 ; E8, E18 ; F44, F45 ; G9. " Country Life " : B21, B24, B26, B28 ; C18, C19 ; E5. Dawber, E. Guy, Architect : B20, B25, B27, B54, B55 ; C15, C16, C17. Dawber, E. Guy, and Whitwell, Architects : B29. Denington, A., Designer : D9, D12. Fisher, Alexander, Metal Worker and Enamellist : G3, G4, G5, and a Colour-Plate. Flockhart, William, Architect : C30, C31 ; Dio ; E20. George, Ernest, and Yeates, Architects : A2 ; B9, Bn ; E7. Gibbon, W., Draughtsman : En. Gimson, Ernest, Designer of Furniture and Craftsman : F26, F36. The British Home of To-day Gray, W. E., Photographer, London : C5, C6, Oj, C8, C15, C16, C17 ; Di, D3 ; E4 ; Fi, F2, F3, F8, Fio, F13, F14, Fig, F36. Hare, H. T., Architect : B39, B40, B41, B56. Heal, Ambrose, jun., Designer : F38, F46. Heal, Ambrose, and Son, Furniture Makers : D2 ; F38, F46. Henry, J, S., Cabinetmaker : F40. Hepplewhite's Furniture : C20 ; F3. Image, Selwyn, a Plate in Colour. Joe, J., Wood Carver : F31. Kitson, Sydney D., Architect : B48 ; C29. Kodak Company, Photographers : Cn, C13, C23, C24, C25, C26, C27 ; D4. Lee, T. Stirling, Sculptor : G8, G9. Leighton, Robert, Photographer : B12, B13. Lemere, Bedford & Co., Photographers : Bi, B2, B15, B16 ; Ci ; E3. Lethaby, W. R., Professor : G33. Liberty & Co : D9, D12. Lorimer, R. S., A.R.S.A., Architect : Aviii., Ag, Aio, An, A12, A13, A14, A15 ; B14, B17, B18, B19, B22, B57, B58 ; Cvi., Cio, C12, C32 ; Div., D5, D6 ; F31, F37 ; G7, Gio, G32, G34. Lucas, G., Draughstman : A6 ; B25, B27, B39, B53, B55. Lutyens, E. L., Architect : A3 ; B21, B23, B24, B26, B28 ; C18, C19 ; E5. Macartney, Mervyn, Architect : B42 ; E17 ; F39, and a Plate in Colour. Mitchell, Arnold, Architect : A4, A5 ; G37, G38, and a Plate in Colour. Mallows, C. E., Draughtsman : B3, B4, B5, B52, B56. May, E. J., Architect : E14 ; G3T, G35. Milliken, R., Photographer, Kirkcaldy : Cio, C12, C32 ; D5, D6 ; F31, F37 G7, Gio. Moodie, T. A., Draughtsman : B54. Nankin China : F15, F20, F21, F22, F23. Newman, W., Draughtsman : B20. Newton, Ernest, Architect : A7, A8 ; Bio ; C22, and a Plate in Colour. Niven, D. B., and Wigglesworth, Architects : En. Old English Glass : G20, G21. Old English Silver : G22. Owen, William and Segar, Architects : B38. Orrock, James, R.I., Collector and Connoisseur : C20, C21 ; E9 ; Fi, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, Fio, Fn, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18, F19, F20, F21, F22, F23, F24, F25, F37 ; G20, G21, G22, G26. Pergolese, Designer : C2I ; Fi6, F17. Powell, H., Glass Worker : Gi6, G17, G18, G19. Pre-Elizabethan Chair : F2. The British Home of To-day Queen Anne Furniture : E9 ; F3, F5, F6, F7, F8, F9, Fio, Fn, F18, F24. Reynolds, Bainbridge, Metal Worker : Git. Roberts, E. P., Designer : D12. Shaw, R. Norman, R.A., Architect : Ai ; Bi, B2, B51 ; Ci ; El, E2, E3, E4, E6 ; Gi, G2, G33. Sheraton Furniture : C21 ; F14, F20, F21, F22, F23, F47. Spooner, Charles, Architect : B44 ; E19 ; F32, F33, F43. Stokes, Leonard, Architect: A6, A16 ; B12, B13, B31, B32, B33, 634, B35, B52, B53 ; E15 ; G23, G24, G28, G30. Veazey, David, Designer and Metal Worker : G14, G15, and the Initials Letters to the Essays. " Verlag Cosmos," Leipsic : E6. Voysey, C. F. A., Architect and Designer : B49, B50 ; E21 ; F30, and Two Plates in Colour. Walton, George, Architect and Designer : Cn, C13, C23, C24, C25, C26, C27, C28 ; D 4 , D 7 , D8, Dn ; E13 ; F41, F48, F49 ; G6, G12, Gi 3> G25, G27, G29. Webb, Aston, R.A., Architect : B3, B4, B5. Whitefriars Glass : Gi6, G17, G18, G19. Wyburd, A., Designer : D9, D12. pii i tTi 1 1 r f- f fw PLAN OF MR. C E- TODD'S HOUSE AT ST. ANDREWS R. S. LORIMER, A.R.S.A., ARCHITECT The Art and Life Library- First Number June, 1904 Plans for the Home By Arnold Mitchell, Architect [HEN an architect of experience plans a house, he remembers constantly how essential it is to his success that his design should make a good first impres- sion. Examine the various plans by which this paper is illustrated, and you will find that the arrangement of all the buildings has been largely dominated by what one feels tempted to call the problem of the first impression. The Entrance Hall, in even the smallest home, has possibilities of design which no other part of a house possesses. Not only is it the means of communication between the chief rooms ; it either contains the principal staircase or else leads to it ; and in the staircase an architect often finds his leading " motif " for a good effect in house architecture. That happy results may be thus obtained can be seen both in the illustrated plan of little Thakeham, a house by Mr. E. E- Eutyens (A3), and also in the colour-print representing a house at Great Stanmore, where a short double flight of stairs leads to a gallery that runs across one end of the hall, the rest of the staircase being continued on the other side of the house. For this reason, before the first floor is reached, we have to cross the gallery with its view down the long hall. Under the gallery, too, is a low ingle-nook with a wide fireplace, and it is on to the gallery that the drawing-room opens. The dining-room is at the other end. And thus, when the little procession down to dinner takes place, we cannot reach the dining-room door until we have crossed the gallery, passed down two short flights of steps, and traversed the full length of the hall. In the plan of the house in Shropshire, by Messrs. Ernest George & Yeates (A 2), you may notice another effective arrangement in the approach to the Great Hall through the Entrance Hall. At a first glance the Entrance Hall seems to be Ai Arnold Mitchell, Architect the principal hall, and it is a pleasant surprise indeed to come upon the great hall itself, with its fine range of sunny windows all aglow on the garden front. Another illustration — the plan of Major Meares' little cottage, by Mr. R. S. L,orimer (A12 and A14), has for us a pleasant surprise of a different sort. The vesti- bule leads into a corridor that appears to be narrow ; but, around the corner on one side, the stairs are recessed, and when we turn the corridor on the other side, we find a deep square bay that gives quite a noble air of spaciousness to the well-planned little building. In another illustration, representing the house Cold Ash (A16), by Mr. Leonard Stokes, we meet with another effect very similar in kind, for the corridor entrance gives no inkling of the sunny, picturesque hall into which it leads ; and this element of the unexpected is enhanced by the half-hidden stairs. The position of the kitchen is another thing of the utmost importance. It should not be far from the dining- room ; and yet, in even the smallest house, a visitor should find that the secrets of the menu can be kept within the kitchen. When they journey about the house in the smells of cooking, the kitchen is badly placed, and some architect or other invites criticism with our every meal. Mr. R. S. Iyorimer, in his plan of Lord Pearson's little house (An and A15), places the pantry as a kind of little buffer state between the kitchen and the dwelling- rooms — a very excellent arrangement for all cottage homes. There is yet a further excellence in another plan by Mr. I,orimer, the plan of Major Meares' house (A12), for a serving door connects the pantry and kitchen with the dining-room, so that the food need not be carried across the hall. Of course, the problem of the kitchen is much easier of solution in larger houses, as consider- able space can be given to disconnecting passages and corridors. Privacy being all-important in the dwelling parts of a house, an architect should take care not to turn the hall into a means of communication between the front door and the servants' quarters. It is far from easy in domestic architecture always to respect the privacy of the hall, but several of the illustrated plans remind us of some of the ways in which the passage to the front Aii. Plans for the Home door may be made private. The House in Shropshire (A2), and Iyittle Thakeham (A3), are quite satisfactory in this respect ; and this applies also to the smaller House at Wokingham, by Mr. Ernest Newton (A7), and the one also at Great Stanmore where a door opens from the servants' passage into the vestibule of the front door. It will be owned by everyone who has built his own house — a delightful experience — that the measure of comfort to be enjoyed in a home is the result of a scrupulous attention in building to a multitude of small details. When the scheme of the house first begins to take shape, the mind is held by the principal features of the design — the arrangement and disposition of the rooms, the general appearance of the exterior, and so forth ; but, little by little, very slowly but surely, the lesser problems press themselves forward, till at last their claims to attention demand so much thought and occupy so much time, that both client and architect look upon them with a rather astonished respect. And this being so, let us think for a moment of these lesser problems in the building of a home. The choice of a site, and the fact that an architect's plan must always be determined by the character of the ground upon which he has to build — these are things which need not detain us here, for the reason that they are dealt with elsewhere by Mr. E. Guy Dawber. As to the difficulties which often arise between an architect and his clients, they are hindrances to good work which cannot always be avoided, because the practice and the patronage of every art leads inevitably at times to the clashing of strong convictions. But it is distressing when an architect has to spoil his plan in order that he may find a compromise that commends itself to a wife and husband who are at variance on some struc- tural question of real importance. This trouble is one that happens far too often. Quite recently, it condemned an architect to the task of inventing a ridiculous kind of new window, half casement and half sash — the casement half of it being the wife's fancy, and the other half the husband's. In the planning of a small house, the shape of the Aiii. Arnold Mitchell, Architect rooms ought to be considered apart from the size. Square rooms should be built in a small house, because a long and narrow room will appear to be far larger than the same area in a square form ; and, apart from that, an increase in width can be got by means of bay windows, however small and shallow such windows may be. We pass on now to the lighting of rooms, which is always most pleasant when it comes through a window in one of the long walls, and not from the room's narrow end. In small bedrooms, as a rule, only one window should be planned. Cross lights are certainly pleasing, but the sacrifice of wall-space is so great that the gain is too dearly purchased, for much wall-space is required for bedroom furniture. In the sitting-rooms, on the other hand, and especially in the drawing-rooms, variety of lighting is welcome ; but windows must not be placed opposite each other, as that destroys the privacy of a room. The sitting- room windows, again, should have their glass line near the floor, so that those who live in the room may see at their ease what is passing out of doors ; the view from the window is a great refresh- ment, however humble it may be. All good architects recognise this fact, and are prepared to make sacrifices in the external treatment in order that the sitting-rooms may have convenient windows. It is difficult, of course, for an architect to keep his glass line only two feet six inches from the floor, or two feet nine inches at the utmost ; and this difficulty, no doubt, may get him into serious trouble with his design. For all that, it should not be put aside, being one of those things which are rendered imperative and obligatory by the daily needs of a household. In bedrooms the conditions are different, and it is not too much if the distance between the floor and the glass- line measures three feet three inches. Of less importance is the distance that separates the top of the glass from the floor ; but in small houses a minimum of six feet six inches works perfectly well. A tall man when standing erect has a perfect outlook, and that is all that is required. It is quite needless to run the windows up to the ceiling. This is often a stipulation on the part Aiv. Plans for the Home of those who wish to build, but there are other means of changing the air in the room at the ceiling level, without having a hideous casement window carried up to the cornice. A single casement, wide and low, is the prettiest bedroom window, and from every point of view the most desirable, being convenient for the hanging of blinds and curtains, as well as useful in other ways. Some- times, it is true, the height of the window glass has to be increased, as when the ground rises so suddenly and abruptly from outside the window, that it would hide the sky altogether from sight if the window of the room were a long and narrow casement. As to the aspect of the various rooms, there is only one window in a house which should never be warmed by the sun ; and that one window is in the larder. In large houses, no doubt, where servants have their own sitting-rooms, the kitchen may be sunless too ; but, with these exceptions, we cannot open our British homes too generously to the sun's light and heat. We do not get too much of them at any season of the year. Again, let the breakfast-room have an eastern aspect, or a south-eastern, for what is more refreshing, what more gladdening than the sun's radiance in the early hours of the day ? As to the drawing- room, it requires a two-fold aspect, south and south-west, the latter giving it the afternoon sunlight. Housekeepers may contradict me here, and may speak of bleached curtains and faded draperies, but the tonic of the sun is worth purchasing at such a price. There cannot be many differences of opinion as to the best aspect for the bedrooms, for we all feel happier when we awake and dress in a sunny room. For this reason, then, let the general bedrooms have an eastern aspect, preferably a south-eastern, and so win for ourselves this delightful beginning to the day. Pure fresh air, constantly renewed, is a necessary that is usually well supplied in British houses. With the help of a couple of tobin tubes in the sitting-room, and one in each bedroom, it is easy to add to the supply of sweet air admitted into a house during the course of its daily working. A question of greater moment is the means by which the upper air-space Av. Arnold Mitchell, Architect in a room may be kept free at all times from vitiation. It is a question most readily answered by introducing into each room a separate air-flue, similar in construction to the ordinary smoke- flue and placed side by side with it. In other words, these air- flues should be built in all chimney stacks ; they cost but little, either in trouble or in money, and they are wonderfully useful in keeping the whole atmosphere of a house quite fresh and sweet. Plan them so that the air-flues are built side by side with any smoke- flue that is frequently used, they are thus kept warm ; and the result is that the heated air within them rises and escapes through the gratings placed at their tops, and the vacuum thus produced draws up the vitiated air from the room below — draws it up through a grating that connects the air-flue's lower end with the room at the level of the ceiling. Thus, automatically, a con- tinuous renewing of the room's atmosphere goes on. In summer, of course, with fewer fires in the house, the air-flues are less active ; but the open windows are then a better ventilation. One room, moreover — preferably the dining-room — can have its air-flue built near the kitchen smoke-flue, so that the taint of the after- dinner cigar may be drawn away during the night, and not be distasteful at breakfast to-morrow morning. Let it be remembered that the air-flues should not be carried to the top of a chimney stack, as a down-draught caused by a high wind might fill a room with smoke from the adjoining smoke-flue. For this reason the air-flue should be stopped off two or three feet below the summit of the chimney stack, and fitted with gratings on each side face. As to the inlet of the air-flue into the room, it is best to finish it with a grid and silk flaps, as a check to possible down- draughts. Mica flaps are sometimes used for this purpose, but they are objectionable on account of their noise in a gale of wind. Then, last of all, the outlets and inlets should not be less than nine inches by nine inches. Turn we now to another point— namely, the placing of doors. Bedroom doors should be in a corner of the room, and not in the centre of any wall. It is a part of their utility to act as screens when they are opened. When you are lying in ATi. Plans for the Home bed and the door is open, you don't wish to be seen by everyone that may pass outside. This, to be sure, is a common- place of planning, and yet it is often overlooked by architects. A bedroom door may be quite near to a fireplace, if it opens away from the fire. In every house, however small, a closet or cup- board should be built for the housemaid's water cans, brushes, brooms, etc ; and if we fit the closet with a slop sink, and a flushing cistern to keep it sweet, we shall gain much in the proper arrangement of the house. When the water closet is used for the household slops, a house becomes distressing to all visitors. It is well to remember here that all the waterworks in a home should be kept together (if possible). The bath, the lavatory, the pantry, the water closet, can usually be planned in adjacent positions, some on one floor, the others overhead on the next story ; and this not only simplifies the drainage of a house, but lessens the cost of the plumber's bill. In a very small house, where the luxury of a fire- place in the bath-room cannot be enjoyed, it is well to fit the bath- room with a hot airing-cupboard for the linen. Place in this cupboard the hot-water tank for the kitchen range, and the temperature of the bath-room will be always agreeable ; and in winter, too, the water pipes will be protected by the warmth from the frost. An objection is raised at times to the practice of keeping the linen aired in the way just suggested ; it is said that the steam from the bath is injurious to the linen and makes it damp. But this, after all, is merely a theoretical objection, and it happens also to be at odds with the fact. The warmth of the cupboard is permanent, while the steam from the bath is fitful and temporary, so that the odd half-hours of moisture are counteracted by the steady and enduring warmth. It is a good rule to insist that all the water pipes be exposed to view. This would be unsightly in the principal parts of a house, but it is usually possible to run the pipes on the less important walls, where we can reconcile ourselves to a little ugliness for the sake of the practical advantage of being able to mend the pipes without difficulty and at small expense. Of course, every effort should be Avii. Arnold Mitchell, Architect made to keep the water pipes on the internal walls, for the tem- perature of the house protects them in winter from the frost. When hot water and cold are taken to the same spot, let the pipes run together as an additional safeguard against the troubles caused by freezing ; but the cold pipe must be placed on top of the hot one, partly because the iron pipe of the hot water will help to carry the lead one, and partly because the lead pipe, if left unassisted by its companion, will in time sag between its supports. In all houses where the supply of hot water is from the kitchen range, it is well that the bath should be of iron. Porcelain baths are certainly more luxurious and more comfort- able, but they take from the water more heat than iron baths do, and more heat than ordinary kitchen ranges can supply. The amount of heat absorbed by a porcelain bath is exceedingly great ; and unless you provide a separate service of hot water with its own furnace, the strain is too much for the kitchen boiler. The modern iron bath is the best for the daily purposes of most households. It is a good bath when coated with porcelain enamel. But even a better bath is one that is made of copper, as the thinness of this material reduces still further the absorption of heat from the water. ^is^i^rfc A^L-^feCc^X DR. DOWNIE'S COTTAGE AT COEINTON Aviii. R. S. I.ORIMER, ARCHITECT a 3 o X K O < 2 CO o a Z C^ W X -*; J Mi r CJ H O V O 1—1 CJ X i_ < O , J QJ •> U w z o H O -a < w HI H « o fa < Oh I h o Plans for the Home ■•'■'-■- _- - -^-^] A HOUSE IN SHROPSHIRE A2 PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR Ernest George and Yeates, Architects GROUND PLAN LITTLE THAKEHAM, PULLBOROUGH, SUSSEX E. L. Lutyens, Architect Plans for the Home MAESYCRUGIAU MANOR THE ENTRANCE FRONT VIEW OF THE ENTRANCE FRONT Arnold Mitchell, Architect MAE5YCRUCIAU MANOR . CARMARTHENSHIRE CROUND F1J3DR. PLAN ScAug of Feet a 5 MAESYCRUGIAU MANOR Arnold Mitchell, Architect PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR w s o X w « O h to < P-, •,U;. ; o << 1 o z < up g o D a w o S8 s« s^ y o 2 h m a pn o H O -J_> 05 X o CD 3o -M 2 o In uf « H w W & o ■f. 'A <: o < U Plans for the Home OEOlWD PLAN. Ay GROUND PLAN OF A HOUSE AT WOKINGHAM REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF B. T. BATSFORD, LONDON FOR THE ILLUSTRATION OF THIS HOUSE SEE THE COLOUR-PLATE IN THIS SECTION ' Ernest Newton, Architect GROUND PLAfl. GROUND PLAN OF A HOUSE AT HASLEMERE. FROM MR. NEWTON'S "BOOK OF COUNTRY HOUSES" (B.T. Batsford, Publisher). FOR THE ILLUSTRATION OF THIS HOUSE SEE Bio IN THE SECTION ON "THE HOME FROM OUTSIDE" Ernest Newton, Architect Plans for the Home H*f — F — F — F — F — F-^f A9 PLAN OF A HOUSE NOT ILLUSTRATED HERE PLAN OF GROUND FLOOR IN MR. STEWART'S HOUSE R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Architect U4~ -T 1 * LORD PEARSON'S COTTAGE, PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR MAJOR MEARES' COTTAGE, GROUND FLOOR PLAN R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Architect Plans for the Home M-* prfingjtXttyZ?!' "■ A13 MR. STEWART'S HOUSE, NORTH BERWICK MATERIALS: STONE WALLS AND ROUGH-CAST, SLATE ROOFS •«P!7BFW» i, -' :T *- : A14 ^^^^mm^gggpiaamm J.J.J«'i Da*"- MAIOR MEARES' COTTAGE AT COLINTON MATERIALS : STONE WALLS AND ROUGH-CAST TILE ROOFS A15 THE HON. LORD PEARSON'S COTTAGE AT COLINTON R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Architect MATERIALS: STONE WALLS AND ROUGH-CAST TILE ROOFS ►J a S o w H O fe- cn 2 < Oh » ^ lA 11 I ' " H If ! apt " ' ¥ -' ImIIPpIII I 1 Mm* m MIIIHIB! Pi il 3B& . B^jp^e»fe|fe^sa( '••fife' . ' • ■■'',5* iPi Soft fill 3 *1 8 li i 5 s * Is s&- fJ]L tfj, e? \ M jTJ s * V Fh S- - 'T IjF jVJ 3 j %,m« ,,, v Fi(R ^»^te ' '; , ' , , ' Il , ' lift -iiftla b o o 2 O o < < H i H S h OS o h u 2 eg < u o j t. o g o W O h of c/i CD 3 O O o J s, Q 2 D O a « B H O z •Ji J 0- D w z M < W as X3 u ei a o CO o w o •si H P c o w H o a o CD J3 O CO o The Home from Outside PROPOSED SUMMER COTTAGE, ISLE OF WIGHT . C'-TTXCV. I5LE OTWIGH'I »3E FROM A PENCIL DRAWING BY C. E. MALLOWS Aston Webb R.A., Architect HILDON HOUSE, HAMPSHIRE, THE COURTYARD OR ENTRANCE FRONT. THE ILLUSTRATION IS TAKEN FROM A PEN-AND-INK DRAWING BY C. E. MALLOWS Aston Webb R.A., Architect 'X Q •i. c o c X IX X H The Home from Outside THE TOWER. PANGBOURNE, A VIEW OF THE SOUTH SIDE. THE MATERIALS ARE RED BRICK AND STONE John Belcher A.R.A., Architect *?r B? THE TOWER, PANGBOURNE, ANOTHER VIEW OF THE SOUTH FRONT. MATERIALS John Belcher A.R.A., Architect RED BRICK AND STONE The Home from Outsidi B*gj, ••. V, «b THE TOWER, PANGBOURNE, VIEW OF THE NORTH ENTRANCE. BUILDERS : FOSTER AND DICKSEE, RUGBY John Belcher A.R.A., Architect o Q tn H o o X w H o CU cj a |«a wfc,' 2* I J s< w- 1 SH So Q ■i) H P c c w x H I 1 5 4 e t ih J Si"* f fTTj IWfcT TRIM .-UL J|*W fKf I- tJ i jltf £ Fi , '-■■■ -* i: U Li i L .ii 'i 'j£u lBm$m o r£ U ft, n to >-* z c h i- oS H 7; 3 J J " rt a h si z o h (/} X H *~ Q W H, O q w +j OS o o 9 o OJ -M z iij -* s J3 tj l-H <5 < Z u OS „ o w tfl ►J s. (U 4— ' 0) to 3 >H o J w ^ z a o z i/: W W Z OJ ffi "I b£ H J l-H to 2 o ►j a o CD o 3 ? 4-» en Q e l-H H« w W OS n en « PS o < X w z PS o a < PS u The Home from Outside No. j, WEST DRIVE, STREATHAM PARK FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY RUPERT LEIGHTON Leonard Stokes, Architect SHOOTER'S HILL HOUSE, PANGBOUKNE, BUILT OF GREY BRICKS WITH RED BRICK FACINGS THE nnlra HAS A HLED ROOF, A STONE DOORWAY, AND A CORNICE OF WOOD " ' "OUSE Leonard Stokes, Architect The Home from Outside HOUSE AT ST. ANDREWS BELONGING TO CHARLES E. TODD ESQ. IT IS BUILT OF LOCAL STONE AND THE ROOFING IS COMPOSED OF MIXED SLATES FROM EASDALE, CRAIGLEA AND BALI.ACHULISH R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Architect - HF GARDEN FRONT WOODGATE, FOUR OAKS. IT IS ROOFED WITH DARK TILES AND BUILT OF MULTI-COLOURED THIN BRICKS W. H. Bidlake M.A., Architect The Home from Outside ENTRANCE FRONT, WOODGATE, FOUR OAKS SEE ALSO' ILLUSTRATION -P.15 IN THIS SECTION W. H. Bidlake M.A., Architect VIEW OF THE GARDEN PAVILION AT EARLSHALL, FIFE. BUILT OF LOCAL RUBBLE-WORK AND ROOFED WITH ARBROATH LAVEMENT SLATES R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Architect The Home from Outside ;-;--_ :" «£%* OS i^^#M IP P5T1 "r> HI IB! I Or,- 1 .- ^'' J ' * " t i..-:.-'-»i».,.«S -'p-iSii, ill 111' 'JOT;. n -f< Kp ■ I ^ i m < t fa iEfesfii »« tlL^S^^?"^" > JI«M - -I'/jn ,':•/, ft^mBk- — Ft 1_ -i 7 i =-' '" */'£" $Pffc --t'^ia-> i'i*i^>K -*- Si ! ~ ' ~ ^F""_,i — L ~ - "' : — - §§IBe t ST. MARNOCK'S, NEAR DUBLIN REPRODUCED FROM A PEN-AND-INK DRAWING ST. MARNOCK'S. NEAR DUBLIN SKETCH PLAN OF THE GROUND FLOOR R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Architect Q C/3 H o o w ten H ■fl h z X Q a £ rnr Kh <] „ WO h ^ ™w o S^ J CO X cu t/i H c h m do U w = £o feO oa: go o 3 o a w o MO - _ ^ wo OB >° ^3 aa ^-9 w x h The Home from Outside HOMEWOOD, KNEBWORTH, HERTFORDSHIRE, THE SEAT OF THE DOWAGER COUNTESS OF I.YTTON. MATERIALS: TILES FOR THE ROOF AND BRICK AND WOOD FOR THE WALLS. SOUTH-EAST SIDI E. L. Lutyens, Architect > "W VIEW OF THE B24 SOUTH FRONT, FULBROOK, ELSTEAD, REPRODUCED FROM A COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH BELONGING TO " COUNTRY LIFE " E. L. Lutvens, Architect Til H I IoM !•: I'HO.M ( UlTSIDE NETHER SWELL MANOR IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE, THE SEAT OF SIR JOHN MURRAY SCOTT, BART. IT IS BUILT OF LOCAL STONE WITH STONE MUI. LIONEL WINDOWS, THE ROOFING OF STONE SLATES E. Guy Dawber, Architect ORCHARDS THE SEAT OF SIR WILLIAM CHANCE, HART, VIEW OF THE COURTYARD. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION [•'ROM A COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH BELONGING, TO "COUNTRY LIFE" E. L. Lutyens, Architect The Home from Outsii side VIEW SCOT! ENTRANCE FRONT, NETHER SWELL MANOR, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, THE SEAT THE MATERIALS ARE : — LOCAL STONE, STONE FOR THE MULLIONED WIN! SLATES FOR THE ROOFING K. Guy Dawber, Architect ORCHARDS, THE SEAT OF SIR WILLIAM CHANCE, HART. VIEW OF THE EN1 HOI SI IS H II I WITH \ III I I: ROOF, OAK TIMET RS ANF SHIM \\ \] I s BY PERMISSION FROM A COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH BFI.ONG1M B28 RANCE ON THE NORTH SIDE. THE 'HE ILLUSTRATION IS REPRODUCED TO "COUNTRY LIFE." E. L. Lutyens, Architect IThe Home from Outside DONNINGTON HURST, NEAR NEWBURY FROM A DRAWING BY E. GUY DAWBER E. Guv Dawber and Whitwell, Architects HOUSE AT FULFORD IN YORKSHIRE. BUILT IN 1900 FOR MRS. WILBERFORCE. THE MATERIALS ARE 2-INCH BRICKS HAND-MADE FOR THE GENERAL WALLING, RED SAND BRICKS FOR THE DRESSINGS, AND FOR THE ROOFING THICK GREY SLATES Walter H. Brierley, Architect x o V am -^ ^ <; Ha CO - J The Home from Outsid iiiiwii ii iilr Hi SOHAM HOI'SE, NEWMARKET MATERIALS: RED BRICK AND PORTLAND STONE C. J. Harold Cooper, Architect sag: .^_ . i— i !— i 05 ■^ m S-H ._. o 05 b J « l- m g S 3 i ^ Q W ^ 0) C «« 'rt T J k? »> E>-i Ha rQ p— t— 1 IX' h c !Z r-i o S - cw TJ X >-J "C < WW x;H c x He Is "4. Z M < 3 C w o X ^^: H __• - ,— , _ <— < V i — i Z -i"Q y Q X eg T3 ■ 5 13 i ffi o "3 G fc s ft a The Home from Outside PRIOR'S GARTH, IM'TTI.N 1 1 AM. G( B50 DALM1NG THE HOME OF P, II. CHAMBERS, ESQ. C. F. A. Voysey, Architect The Home from Outside Hovses in ■Cadogan-Sqf-Oietsea- R 'Norman Shaw- RvV architect- houses IN CADOGAN SQUARE, CHELSEA BUILT IN 1877 REPRODUCED FROM A DRAWING R. Norman Shaw, R.A., Architect w Q co P o s o w § o a m H H ►4 w Q 55 H O s o w S o w w H o o 2 E o § M B H Q z < Q < en Z o C* M U 3 pa Q< K J g° »i» M o CJ cu u en CD OZ ^ w o to CO -a ii rt c o CD Q do w w W -S z z o o ft. o w s o b w I H S H < W B H O o w < B u CO H o o o X w H o 0) Q O w w B. O s H co W w Q ID o o o X M H ,• tfHIte - : o IS o t-H 0) Q >> p O w W Q m H o a o « M a o w iH H o o < < CO < g o 00 w o W H B o o o a H in W D W « Q W Ix, o o a w > P o < a H § < D O CO o CO pi The Home and its Dwelling Rooms By R. Norman Shaw R.A. ?S a rule, in ordinary middle-class homes, the furnishing and the decoration of rooms are not carried out under the guidance of a controlling principle, or in accordance with a quietly efficient scheme of design. Indeed, the general householder seems to be quite sure that he does well when he buys what he takes to be a sufficient number of " handsome " things, and then throws them together at haphazard, without giving any real thought to their proper arrangement. He overlooks the fact that the objects thus collected and displayed, however interesting in themselves (and, to be sure, they cannot be too interesting), should be little more than a background — a background to those daily scenes from the drama of household life which are acted within the dwelling rooms. It is disconcerting, you will admit, when you find that your host and hostess are less noticeable than their wall-papers and their furniture. Such disenchantments are commonplaces, for those of us who happen to be collectors, in even a small way, fall into error and make our homes too much like little museums — an error, this, that causes a room (and its owner, too, now and then) to be just a trifle tedious. But would not a collector be more than human did he not hasten to show you his recent " finds " or his last costly purchases at auctions ? Alas ! the delightful hobby of collecting has drawbacks of its own, and they are apt to destroy that restraint and repose which should be the first and the chief characteristic of our British dwelling rooms. And here one may say at once, with confidence, that years ago, in the supposed good old times, the times of our fathers and grandfathers, English rooms possessed restraint and Ci. R. Norman Shaw R.A. repose, possessed them in a high degree ; but to these virtues in decoration was often added a singular dullness, a stiff and pain- giving monotony. Who desires to go back to the old craze for dismal-tinted walls painted in oil-colours ? Or, again, has anyone a yearning for moreen window curtains, or the sprawling and ill-drawn patterns on the Kidderminster carpet, or for uneasy chairs covered with a terrible black material made of horse hair ? But, when we think of all this, and of other old enemies to domestic peace and comfort, we should be critics ill at ease in our own minds ; we ourselves have much to change in our surroundings, and many improvements to effect. Let us hope, for instance, that a great improvement in English mural ornament, and notably in wall-papers, will be brought about very soon. The present-day belief that good design consists of pattern — pattern repeated ad nauseam — is an outrage on good taste. A wall-paper should be a background pure and simple : that and nothing more. If there is any pattern at all (and a discreet pattern is certainly an enrichment), it ought to be of the simplest kind, quite unobtrusive both in colour and also in its motive and shape. The general tone of a wall-paper is the important thing to be desired ; pattern is a mere trifle in comparison with tone. The art teaching of to-day gives but little consideration to this fact. It follows in the steps of William Morris, a great man who somehow delighted in glaring wall- papers. The kind of paper-hanging that we need most of all is what I may describe, for want of a better name, as the " tone wall-paper." A dozen or so of good patterns — modest patterns, well-drawn and unassuming — would be enough, if only they were printed in from fifteen to twenty pleasant shades of any normal colour, such as red, green, blue, grey, or yellow, the gamut of the colour ranging from pale tints to dark ones. How easy it would then be to choose a wall-paper to suit the lighting of a room ! At the present time, when an apartment has to be re-papered, the " decorator " sends for our inspection half a dozen thick books filled with samples of profusely patterned papers, so various and so useless that the most patient man soon feels Cii. The Home and its Dwelling Rooms distracted. It is seldom that the pattern and the colour are right in the same piece ; that would be too much excellence, I suppose, altogether beyond our deserts. The only thing to be done (and this one thing is not really safe) is to choose a pattern one knows, that one has seen elsewhere and liked. We all know from sad experience, when ill and in bed, what it is to have always in evidence a patterned wall-paper, a thing that transforms a wall into a labyrinth of curving lines, by which the mind is fascinated and rendered anxious and feverish. Surely we might be spared this distraction ! But if wall-papers should be quiet in design and colour, how is this principle of quietness to be reconciled with the splendour of tapestry, the most beautiful of all coverings for a wall ? The answer to this question is quite simple. Tapestry is a thing apart ; it has always, when good, the desired quality of modest reticence ; though every square inch of it is full of entrancing interest, it keeps its place flat against the wall and never challenges attention. All painters love tapestry as the most exquisite of backgrounds ; even men in black coats and white ties look well against it ! But good tapestry is expensive and rare, and to-day one rarely sees a tapestried room. The material is still used in a good many homes, but the modern way is to employ it in strips and pieces, to frame it in woodwork and treat it as a picture : the real tapestried room has become, or is rapidly becoming, a glorious thing of the past. In such a room the furniture is reduced to a minimum. He would be a vandal who placed a sideboard against a fine piece of tapestry ; and what person of taste would ever dream of hanging pictures on a wall enriched with this fabric and its silent histories ? Bet me say a few words now about the cornice. In treating this almost universal feature in the structure of rooms, two widely different methods show themselves in the practice of architects. The English, from the days of Wren to our own time, have commonly regarded the cornice as part of the ceiling, while the French, on the other hand, usually consider it as the top of the wall, and treat it accordingly. There can be Ciii. R. Norman Shaw R.A. little doubt, I believe, that the French are the more logical. If they paint the skirting surbase moulding a dark colour, such as walnut, they repeat the same colour in the cornice, and by this means they obtain a consistency of structural effect that we English often lose. To the French a wall is a wall, and a ceiling a ceiling ; each has its separate and distinct character and handling ; and though there are many exceptions to these remarks of mine, on both sides of the Channel, still one feels that the common method of the French is sounder and more logical than our usual English treatment of the cornice. But such details as these, though interesting and worth a little consideration, are not matters of commanding importance. The real subject of regret is that very little good art finds its way into our ordinary dwelling houses. There seems to be a curious affinity between the general householder and the rubbish that tries to pass muster as good " new art " furniture. Why this should be so I cannot say, for good art is not so very rare at the present time ; much that is fine and enjoyable is fairly accessible to all, and the advice of experts is certainly much less costly than the unguided purchasing of bad furniture. It is conceit, I fear, that leads to a downfall in most projects of house decoration. The expert is left out of the scheme altogether, simply because every owner of a house " knows what he likes," and can't be happy till he gets the bungling that delights his unformed taste. What little tragedies every architect of note could relate on this topic ! How many hundreds of noble rooms have been utterly ruined by the expensive bad draperies and furniture which the uninitiated and self-assured have bought for themselves in reckless haste ! Still, there are shortcomings within the architect's profession, as well as within the homes which he helps to build. It is much to be regretted that the three great departments of art — architecture, sculpture, and painting — do not learn to work together in harmony. They have long been unfriendly rivals, and it is curious to see the development in architecture which this rivalry has forced upon us in England. Painters often speak of Civ. The Home and its Dwelling Rooms the architect as " the man that makes the box," thereby implying that the business of the architect is to construct the shell of the house, the walls, the flooring, the roofs, etc. ; when that is done, the painter must be called in, so that he may ennoble " the box " with colour, interest, and art. Alack for the painter ! In these latter days the architect has taken a very different view of the position ; he prefers to make " the box " to please himself, in accordance with the dictates of his own artistic egotism ; and the poor painter's needs scarcely enter his mind at all. His delight is to cover the lower portion of his walls with oak or with walnut panelling, to a height of eight or ten feet ; above this he puts gold leather or tapestry; over the fireplace he piles up shelves for Blue China and bric-a-brac ; and should it suit him he does not hesitate to put in cross lights, and windows in all sorts of picturesque, but embarrassing, positions. Alack for the painter ! When he arrives, full of his own glory, his astonishment is altogether unfeigned. " Oh, this will never do ! " he cries. " This does does not suit me at all. Where are my pictures to go ? There is not a single good place in this house for a picture." And it is true. The architect has worked for his own ends, without giving even a half -thought to the painter. Time was when the great architect was the band-master of art, the employer of many perfectly skilled players in the making of that " frozen music " to which Goethe likened the structural symmetry of consummate building. He employed the sculptor, the painter of pictures, the painter of frescoes, the wood carver, the mosaic worker, and many other able master craftsmen ; employed them all, and with so much skill that they worked together both in time and in tune, forming a magnificent orchestration of harmonious effect. Let us think of this : and in this particular at least, let us try to recall and renew the past. There is just one other point that I should like to dwell upon for a moment or two. Why is it that country cottages and farms are often such pleasant places, so aptly furnished and so rich in comfort and in homeliness ? It is not only because the cottages frequently belong to fine old periods in English architec- Cv. R. Norman Shaw R.A. ture; it is also because their owners are natural and modest, and never attempt to do more than they can afford to do well. They are not ashamed to be humble. If this were remembered in our towns and cities, the ordinary householder would have a far better and more comfortable house than he has at present. He would furnish his home plainly, and concentrate his energies and his money to obtain such a work of art as will be a joy to him through- out life. We all remember the self-sacrifice that enabled Charles Lamb to buy his rare old folios. In the same spirit, with patience and care, every one of us may buy at least one work of art — a picture, a statue, a piece of Blue China, anything that is really good and really valuable as art. It may cost £100, or perhaps it may be " found " for £10 ; but let it be the best of its kind. A competent friend is always willing to advise the inexpert, and the possession of one fine thing would give much greater enjoy- ment, and have a far higher educational value, than any amount of modern " handsome " furniture. To come down to breakfast would be a daily joy. The lucky possessor would see his picture or his pot, would dis- cover some fresh beauty in it, and feel happy. A thing of beauty is indeed a joy for ever ; it grows on us incessantly and never palls. Is it not then curious that so many persons should be hostile to beauty, preferring costly trash and ugliness ? i/l/lOWi MsvtsO & £UaJ ■ an COTTAGE AT COUNTON R. S. LORIMER, ARCHITECT Cvi. Colour in the Decoration of Rooms By James Orrock, R.I. T is little understood. Only a man here and there has any knowledge of the general principles which should guide him in the use of colour for the adorn- ment of his dwelling-rooms. As to the gentler sex, is it not a common belief among women that they have been endowed by nature" 1 'with all the gifts that help to make homes beautiful and comfortable? And among the gifts thus claimed, this one of colour takes a high place in the convictions held by the fair. One has no wish to be ungallant, and it is easy to admit that woman has often a true feeling for colour in isolated patches and detached effects ; but when she is asked to devise a large work in orchestrated colour, it is seldom that she meets with even a half success, chiefly because it is her nature to be insistently curious in matters of separated details. For this reason, among others, I have been asked to say a few words on the present subject, and I cannot do better than start with a warning. There are certain colours — popular colours, too — which ought never to be used in the decoration of rooms, simply because they disturb the harmony of others. There is emerald green, for instance, and there are brick red and terra cotta. Again, colour-harmonies are of two kinds, either those of contrast or those of kinship. Colours that " match," as the ladies say, form allied harmonies ; but even those that are too contrastive, that do not agree, may at times be reconciled by placing between them a neutral zone or bordering of black or of gold. It is noticed, for example, in stained glass windows, that the lead lines (technically known as leaded " canes") make peace between many discordant tints and hues. Crii. James Orrock, R.I. It is still more important to remember that there are two great symphonic chords of colour — chords composed not of pure, unmixed, positive colour, but of colour broken and blended into infinite gradations. The first of these chords has its light notes in blue and yellow, and ranges from the most bril- liant blues through a rich gamut of dark greens, grey-greens, and yellows, until at last it brings us to orange and black. The second is composed of red and green, and its harmonies of con- trast range with infinite gradation from the most brilliant tints of red, and the most sombre tones of green, down to russet and deep crimson. As an example of exquisite harmony, let us look for a moment at this piece of old Venetian needlework in silk on a ground of subdued golden yellow. Note the design first of all. It is quite conventional, of course (for no good ornamentation is naturalistic) ; it is formed of a simple running scroll of leaves and flowers, the flowers being the pink, the crocus, the honey- suckle, and so forth ; and the pattern made by them is divided into horizontal bands by lines of Greek ornament. The design is strikingly modest and very effective. Indeed, it is merely a subject for the display of beautifully subtle tints and of strong chord-plots of colour, varying from lines and leaves of lake-black to ruby-red and pale silver-greys and grey-greens. The black notes of colour are used sparingly, and the general effect of the needlework is one which might well be imitated in a drawing- room, where we wish to arrange some fine examples of English water colours and a noble old suite of satinwood furniture. Finally, whatever scheme of colour you may choose for a room, be a musician and keep to your key. Remember too, that, whenever you have a bouquet of beautiful rich tints in a patterned carpet, you should not use a patterned cover for your table i let the material be self-coloured with_a great depth of tone in it. A table-cover of dark green will often keep you from scattering and spoiling a nearly perfected design in colour. J. Cc^^Q (/J*J~e64C~ Cviii. ^$ MA '■■ ■ if ' I Wk Mm i 1 / W57 fc / W/: VT ti If//// /. fTWiH/i f/i <£ The Home and its Dwelling R< )OMS THE DINING-ROOM AT 6, ELLERDALE ROAD, HAMPSTEAD, LONDON" THE ARCHITECT'S OWN HOUSE RFPRODCCFT) FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY BEDFORD I.F.MERE, LONDON 1\. Norman Shaw R.A., Architect o H Q O H w h X > +-* ^" (J rr; 'J J H 4-^ Q Z < P4 w „ H ir: -f < a. K w <; ► J J m h> r^ i — I in - ■: 1 ~* %>■';■■ % l - The Home and its Dwelling Rooms THE TAPESTRIED DININC-RCOM AT S GREAT WESTERN TERRACE, GLASGOW, IN THE HOME OF WILLIAM BURRELL, ESQ R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Architect THE RII I [ARD-ROOM IN OAK AND WHITE PLASTER AT THE LEYS ELSTREE, WITH ELECTRIC LIGHT FITTINGS OF 1HI'. mi.MAKi WROUGHT IRON George Walton, Architect and Designer J -,' w *§ •Brwsl Bi O fc O ■ ■ '% w% g? 4^ , ^ ^ o ~* ^ --J ^ " y '■* K Ed r- SG u « w u t w S H K^ <3 3J S *c O — in *i a; -'■ '! w w 'u g z PQ ■5 P ffi w 5 M I y k '■**» H !-i •s.h 2 Si - ^a MO fcOfc o .o oqes o 8 "a o u -M u < i-T u c h <- O r ^ as ,w w 'Q0 W -5 - « ,0 The Home and its Dwelling Rooms -KV-? ■ ■"' :•"' ■ '*.■•*" jf -'V.-- ■ "t '- j£\/-- ' ■ "-■-'-■■' v -.'-:' ■ ■'■-, \ '■$■-£ -""..•■"*-*v- : ^ ■ -"■ W-i&i ANOTHER VIEW OF THE DINING-ROOM AT BREDENBURY COURT SHOWING THE ENTRANCE DOOR TO THE HALL E. Guy Dawber, Architect A Till Nil VIEW OF Til INING-ROOM AT BREDENBURY COURT, HEREFORDSHIRE, SHOWINI E. Guv Dawber, Architect III: WHOLE FIREPLACE V- - a H O w o 3 3 > O £ o C a: £ o o 1) 'J 4-" 6 UJ o g S Q 9 u Z a. o w 7|l h£ £x '-> &x J H <; fe§ v.- L) 3 O-t/) , ,BS W — < . K feo,w £ u s H^-2 c HC caw 9h a z H z 5 £x -! .'.'■',.> --■:■■ i# ■!'(■■ o Jzg« W i-j-jlO ^lW ttmm 0 < w 5 cu — ^ 9 -J u l< fc>W caw HI H-< a: U Mm CJ X^ ■J— 1 h: " ^ o (-1 < rd O t_i fe" > < ---- w "" ~< CD ~ ,« bf Jua HO- a*X H«2 Oh a 5 hu 'i H - = « H- W"" ' «1» CD Q Zg -o W Ma. cu +-J 1-1 < ^ c c ■4-J ^ < P" >K >*W cu wu W ^a i-< e>E - i 5 -^ ^ z" K o u Pa Zh S£ h'"cfl Wvev~cv«rp'i MRi Hi DOUGAI/S COTTAGE AT COI4NTON DlY, R. S. I.ORIMER. AS.SJL., ARCHITECT The Home and its Bedrooms By C J. Harold Cooper, Architect NE of the most important points in domestic architecture is the approach to a house. The eye should be carried pleasantly up to the hall door by a path or a road having agreeable lines in it. This, of course, applies to a curved road or path. If the line of approach is direct and straight, the border on either side should be in keeping with the door to which the road or path leads — in keeping with it, I mean in colour and in scale. If the approach to a front door be only a step leading from a main pavement in a high street, it can still have a proper tread and riser and be of importance in the welcoming appearance of a home. The moment a front door is opened the homeliness of a dwelling-house should be felt by every visitor ; and this first friendly impression should become stronger as we pass through the hall into the living-rooms, and notice by what means a feeling for unity has been maintained in the furnishing and the decoration. The best way to preserve unity is to have faith in the three old English attributes of good design, i.e., refinement with strength, and honest, sterling workmanship. A nation that detests effusive manners and flowery talk, should be ashamed to fill its houses with bad, showy furniture, ill-made and over-polished ; and certainly it ought never to deck out its dwelling-rooms till they resemble the trumpery waiting-room so much valued by a fashion- able modiste. How often has this been said ? Thousands of times, I have no doubt. Yet the average English home does not improve. It is to-day as bad as it can be in all matters relating both to harmony of colour and to good taste in design. Englishwomen are singularly negligent in these respects. If they would give to the arrangement of their homes a small portion of that time which is spent every week in reading the latest novels, they might with ease learn something very useful about the choice Dv. C. J. Harold Cooper, Architect of furniture, the management of colour in a room, and many other necessary things in the household art of decoration. Knowledge of these'things does not come to the fair as a wedding gift, though the majority of women seem to believe that they do acquire it, somehow, anyhow, without thought and without care, as soon as they are married. It is in the bedrooms, above all, that the trouble- some ignorance of misrule shows itself in the most impudent and uneasy ways. The experience of all architects has long been this — that their clients, with few exceptions, like to arrange their own bedrooms, however appalling the results may be. The bed- rooms are their own provinces, and with the aid of a " decorator " in the next street, the most curious adventures in hideous orna- mentation may be enjoyed at a moment's notice. The " decora- tor " — a persuasive person with a meek smile — comes with a pile of large pattern books, all filled with samples of bedroom wall-papers ; and if by chance two or three of the patterns chance to be quiet in design and good in colour, the unhappy man assures you, with some confusion, that they have got into the pattern book by mistake. "You see," he smiles, "these are expensive papers — for a sitting-room, not for a bedroom." Anything is good enough for a bedroom ; and don't we all know the terror of being ill when a pretentious and hideously beflowered wall-paper meets the eye on every side, and tempts us to count the lines and to follow the twists and turns of the pattern ? Even sick children are harassed by such barbarous and cruel paper-hangings. vSome years ago a clever manufacturer was bold enough to invest a large capital in the making of simple furniture for bedrooms. The furniture was made well, and the manu- facturer trusted to his luck. His courage was so novel, so at variance with the customs of the time, that people became curious and spoke of the matter with a wondering astonishment. That anything really good should > be made for a bedroom was a fact to startle and perplex any average intelligence. But all this was an advertisement to the manufacturer. He made a name for himself and did well. Dvi. The Home and its Bedrooms The whole problem of bedroom decoration may be summed up in four words : be simple, be modest. Do not try to achieve more than your means will allow. If you are poor, do not be ashamed to show that 3^our purse has in it not one sovereign to spare. Plenty of good, old carpenter's furniture may still be found for small sums of money, and some of the best furniture made during the past decade or so may be bought at second-hand for less than you will be asked to pay for the showy, second-rate trash in many shops. This applies also to carpets and curtains. What is needed is taste with discrimination in the art of buying. Then, as regards wall-paper, it is a good rule for the general householder not to choose a patterned paper, but to content himself with one having a uniform colour of a neutral kind, or one of as strong a colour as he likes, if only it is in keeping with all the other colours that happen to be in the room. Such papers not only last well, they make excellent backgrounds, and the cheapest are often the best both in texture and in quality of tone. A patterned paper, however good, is difficult to manage in a scheme of decoration, and very few persons have knowledge enough to manage it in a proper way. What is said here about simplicity applies to all bedrooms, however luxurious they may be in the use made of costly materials. The costliness must not be obtruded. Every article of furniture must keep its own place in the decorative scheme. The general effect must be unassuming. More than this no man can say unless he speaks of some special bedroom and its particular decoration. But we may add a few words in praise of those fitments for a bedroom which project very little beyond the walls. These useful things, when made with skill and taste, are very attractive, for few things are more beautiful than the variegated surfaces of well-chosen woods. It would be a great convenience to the public if these fitments were looked upon by landlords as structural necessaries— a great convenience, because in these days of short leases, fitments are cruelly expensive to tenants when changing houses. Why should not Dvii. C. J. Harold Cooper, Architect bedroom fitments be an essential part of a well-built nouse ? They would add comparatively little to the cost of building, and would form a considerable addition to the value of a house as an investment. Many persons have noticed, I dare say, that a bed- room is not comfortable when it has two doors to it that can be seen. It produces a feeling of unrest, of uneasiness, in much the same way as an open door in a room will stop people from talking freely. Among the rich a bathroom should always be attached to a bedroom, and if the washhand-stand is placed in the bathroom, the bedroom becomes a sitting-room as well. Then, with respect to such modern luxuries as speaking tubes and electric lights and bells, they should be arranged so that the owner of the room can use them all and control them at his ease without getting out of bed — a great convenience, this, particularly in times of illness. One of the chief causes of the bad decoration in most houses may be found in the fact that there is little union to-day between the various forms of art that go to the making of comfortable homes. Architects labour too much alone, or do too much of the special kinds of art work through the agency of the inferior craftsmen supplied by their building contractors. It would be well if the names of all good architects were associated with those of well-known master craftsmen — good designers of furniture, able sculptors and wood carvers, thorough artists in stained glass, and so forth. As the director of a theatre cannot act all the parts in a play, though he should superintend the acting all round, so an architect cannot create with his own hands all the decorative essentials in the building of a house, though it is a part of his duty to supervise everything. And this being so, how important it is that his assistants should be thorough craftsmen, and not merely workmen engaged on a job. ftflfaMtJi t*^4A> Dviii. r- 1 o .5f J Q WW OJ ■J ^ n . . p- 1 h -.< a ^ p rrt " ?r Ih _ < np W l-i The Home and its Bedrooms f ' y~r-T A BEDROOM DESIGNED AND CARRIED OUT IN A GEORGIAN STYLE BY MESSRS. HEAL & SON, LONDON A MODERN BEDROOM WITH CHERRYWOOD FURNITURE AND DOVE-GREY WALL-PAPER. SEE ILLUSTRATION Dl Frank Brangwvn A.R.A., Painter and Designer The Home and its Bedrooms PORTION" OF A MODERN BEDROOM WITH CREAM-WHITE FURNITURE, A GREY CARPET, A GREY FRIEZE WITH A STENCILLED DECORATION AND A GREY FILLING OF PAINTED CLOTH UN THE PANELLED WALL George Walton, Designer CO :- In 1) G X CO Q u _ X .^::._: : D W x 'X jf»*«j;i!i. |j- I I 1 ■ ■ L V o D O The Home and its Be n rooms MODERN BEDROOM AS CARRIED OUT BY MESSRS. LIBERTY & CO, FROM DESIGN'S MADE I.\ THEIR OWN L. Wyburd and A. Deninyton, Designers D9 STL'DIOS BEDROOM AT I'ARKWOOI), HENLEY-ON-THAMES, FINISHED IN ENAMEL WHITE, Till-: FURNITURE OF PURPLE WOOD, AND THE. WALES COVERED VVTTt-i PALE SILK MATERIAL PURPLE-GREY IN COLOUR William Flockhart, Architect and Designer Che Home and its Bedro OMS CORNER OF A MODERN' BEDROOM WITH A LIGHT SCHEME OF COLOUR AND MODERX-MADE FURNITURE George Walton, Designer r- (V H The Home and its Halls By Mervyn Macartney, Architect |N England the history of the hall is practically that of house planning. In the earliest times the hall for all practical purposes was really the house, for it served as living-room, dining-room, and bedroom. To-day the hovel of the Irish peasant, or the cabin of the Scotch crofter, represents very nearly the home of a family in Saxon times. Down to the days of the Wars of the Roses, the hall in English houses served that three- fold purpose. The owner not only lived in it, but ate there and slept there, with his family and retainers; and there were two good reasons for this arrangement ; one being the poverty of the people, the other the necessity in troubled and lawless times for the lord to have his bodyguard always at hand and ready for any emergency. As civilization advanced and the country became less turbulent, these precautions grew to be needless, and people began to recognise the desirableness both of separating the sexes and of setting apart a portion of the house for sleeping accom- modation. To meet these new requirements, other rooms were grouped about the hall, but the hall itself still remained the principal chamber of the house. The solar — the parent of the withdrawing-room — was introduced into the larger houses, and little by little, as the owner's wealth increased, other chambers were added around the hall, till at last, towards the beginning of Henry the Seventh's reign, the planning and construction of English houses were nearly what they remained through the Elizabethan period. The plan, usually, was like an H or like an E, with the hall still the centre of the building, the living-rooms on one side and the kitchen offices on the other. Some of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge show this arrangement, with Ei Mervyn Macartney, Architect the buttery hatches (or what we should now call servery) at one end, and a dais at the other with a private approach. At Lincoln College, Oxford, the hall is as thus described, and, moreover, it retains the louvre in the centre for letting the smoke escape, though, of course, this has been abandoned for a chimney at the side. In these halls the owner dined on the dais at the high table, his retainers occupying the lower part of the hall, where they also slept on straw. A proper regard for cleanliness of person was not a characteristic of that far-off age. The times of the Tudors saw a vast improvement in the conditions of living. The intercourse with more polished nations, like the French and Italians, brought in its train the desire to have more comfort and more decency in the surround- ings of home life. The fireplace had obtained a firm foothold, and a great deal of care and fancy was lavished on it. The smoke now no longer pervaded the hall and blackened the walls and furniture, so it became possible to hang the walls with tapestry. The lofty roof could be done away with, and a ceiling put over the hall. Some of the old halls show this alteration, like Willesley in Kent and Crowhurst Place in Sussex. The hall still remained the central room, and had windows on two sides. The next improvement was the intro- duction of corridors, enabling the inmates to approach the various rooms without passing through one room to another, and this arrangement also obviated the necessity of crossing the courtyard in those mansions where the wings had been extended so as to form with the hall three sides of a quadrangle. The numerous staircases necessitated by this plan were reduced in number by linking up the rooms by means of passages. It is to the practical mind of Inigo Jones that we owe the true house plan — the plan which has come down to our own times. Here the rooms are joined together into a single block, with the hall and staircase in the centre ; and this improve- ment in planning was doubtless the outcome of that study of foreign buildings which occupied Inigo Jones during his journey through Italy and France, as well as in the professional employ- ment he found in Denmark. This new type of house continued Eii. The Home and its Halls in vogue for a long time ; indeed, we may look upon it as the true type of the English home. Numerous examples of its early- strength and upright grace are still extant, as in those Manor Houses and Rectories built in the style which is known by the name of Queen Anne. True it is that the architects of the eighteenth century went away from the type of home introduced by Inigo Jones ; also, in going away from it, they exalted the hall above all the other rooms to an exaggerated extent. Not only was the hall carried up to the full height of the building, it was also lighted from the top ; and this produced a cold effect, and rendered necessary various unhapp}' devices for giving light and air in the chambers on the floors above. It was a faulty scheme of planning due to an attempt to introduce the Palladian style of architecture, without proper regard for the differences existing between the climates of England and Italy. By roofing the cortile of the Italian palazzo our English architects of the eighteenth century imagined that they had solved the problem of producing a grand plan. In the case of town houses this covered-in courtyard was admissible, because, owing to the exigencies of the site, such an arrangement was the only one possible. We have in London countless variations of this plan, the most satisfactory being that of Ware, in which the front and back rooms are connected by a corridor or passage, thus securing complete circulation on each floor. An example of this can be seen at Bloomsbury Square. Unfortunately, an inordinate desire for symmetry led the authors of these designs into difficulties which often resulted in disaster. It is easy to admit that there is a " grand manner " in some of these con- ceptions — a manner not to be found in works of later times ; but, for all that, we are not reminded of home. Such houses with a " great air " seem better suited for the reception of Royalty than for home fife. To be brief, the "grand manner" of the eighteenth century has not been adopted by later generations, and the vast creations of Paine, of Kent, of Campbell, of Vanbrugh strike one as cheerless productions, because of the want of direct Eiii. Mervyn Macartney, Architect sunlight in their halls. Nemesis followed on this obvious con- tempt for hygiene and comfort, and it required only a keen and sarcastic expert to upset the false principles on which the idea rested. Pugin by his writings and drawings brought about the overthrow, and succeeded for a time in turning back the style of planning to mediaeval types. Some of the worst examples of domestic buildings were erected during the first decades of the nineteenth century. Castles having slits for windows — castles with turrets and impossible staircases, with keeps and moats and drawbridges — were introduced as appropriate features in the buildings of an age especially famous for its science and its mechanical inventions. Nothing could have been more absurd : such atavism in domestic architecture was doomed to fail, of course. It carried within it the seed of its own destruc- tion. This brief sketch in outline has now brought the history of the hall within memory reach of to-day. But before we take a glance at our modern efforts, let us recapitulate the distinctive features of the earlier periods. We have seen how in Saxon times the hall was practically the house ; we have seen, too, how in Tudor days rooms were added to the hall at each end ; afterwards, in the Jacobean style, rooms were clustered about the hall on three sides ; and at last under the Georges, the fourth side was added to the number. Through all these changes in the number and disposition of the rooms, the hall retained its old-time distinction as the principal dwelling-chamber. It was towards the middle of the last century that several vigorous minds began to apply themselves to the strictly modern problems of house-building. Norman Shaw, Phillip Webb, Eden Nesfield, and others of less repute, studied the needs and conditions of the times, and devised houses in which those conditions and needs played an active part in the planning. There was no slavish adherence to any style. The earlier ex- amples had a strong leaning towards the Gothic type, especially in the work of Phillip Webb. In the later designs, especially in those of Norman Shaw, the tendency is often classic. In one house, Adcote, Mr. Shaw introduces the hall rather in the Tudor manner ; it has an open-timber roof and resembles a large sitting- Eiv. The Home and its Halls AT CORNI-iURV PARK VIEW OF THE INNER HALL John Belcher, A.R.A., Architect The Home and its Halls room rather than the centre of the household life. In Bryanston, one of his latest creations, the plan is of the classic type, and the hall a halting-place for the visitor. Also, the long corridor robs the hall of its importance. During the last twenty-five years, in many houses, the hall has been approached from the outside, through a vestibule, with a staircase leading from it, often screened by an arcade ; and in such cases the space can be treated as a passage only. Interruptions from passing servants and members of the family prevent privacy. But such halls form a convenient meeting place for conversation, and allow the men of the household a chance of smoking in the company of ladies instead of being relegated to the isolation of a distant billiard- room or smoke-room. The hunting man, the sportsman, are allowed in this neutral zone to intrude their bespattered clothes ; and thus the hall has become again the favourite room in the house. It is interesting to compare the plan of a modern house with one of the Jacobean period, such as the Eltham Club House. For all practical purposes it would meet all the require- ments of the present day. The vagaries of the 18th century, and also of the beginning of the 19th, have to-day been pushed aside, and we have once more reverted to a common-sense treat- ment of the problem of domestic planning. It is also instructive to investigate the changes that have occurred in American plans. Here, starting with the English tradition, the arrangement of the rooms and their relation to each other have produced examples that are most interesting, because the modifications are the result of climate and foreign influence. The Continental plan of com- municating rooms was till recently almost universal, and the extremely British desire for isolation was not felt. Sliding doors and portieres are used everywhere. This plan admits of the rooms being squeezed up, and there's a saving of space otherwise given up to corridors. To-day, the British form of plan is coming in very extensively. It may be from desire for novelty or because the comfort of a room where you can talk without fear of being overheard or interrupted is more appreciated than it* was. I cannot say ; but I do not think it is from any admiration of our methods of planning. The most likely reason for its adoption is Bv. Mervyn Macartney, Architect a hygienic one. Where you have all the rooms communicating, and all are heated by hot air and water, there is a great absence of fresh atmosphere. To me the houses in the States seemed very hot and stuffy, and several American doctors, after attacking the system of warming, have urged the importance of a return to coal fires. The American Colonial house has a " hall way," with a staircase leading out of it. Some examples are excellent, being more or less borrowed from English houses belonging to the so-called Queen Anne period. There is one difference that I noted in these houses, namely, the absence of a vestibule. You enter straight into the hall : and it is this character of openness that strikes you. The whole house, except the offices, is thrown open to you as you enter. It comes as a shock to the retiring and sensitive Britisher who regards his home as his castle, and insists on his visitor being passed in review before admitting him into the house. But even in this respect I noticed a change in our direction in the plans shown me of some large houses about to be erected. In planning, as in most other things, there is no finalitj^, so it is very difficult to predict in what direction the change will take place. But changes there will be. The social life of a nation fluctuates, now in the direction of greater freedom, now towards seclusion. Just at present it would seem that the latter tendency had the greater influence, but later on, perhaps, plans on the Con- tinental principle ma}' come into vogue. In more than one mansion the grand staircase has been abolished, and people ascend to their bedrooms by lifts. How far this innovation may proceed is impossible to say, but if it should become general a main feature of the architectural treatment of a house will vanish. The hall has already been abolished in the building of flats, and the staircase is giving way to the lift. The dining-room bids fair to follow suit. A certain section of society will simply own bedrooms and nothing else. The serious condition of domestic service drives us along in a downward course, when we look at it from an artistic point of view. Rooms in common can never have the same interest as Evi. The Home and its Halls those planned and decorated for an individual. Lavish your marble and gilt as you will, you cannot excite more than a passing thought. I saw halls in New York which for extravagance of material and design could not be equalled by any palace of ancient or modern times, yet no one noticed them. They were traversed by people indifferent to their magnificence — people whose every thought was concentrated on the making of money. Are the social forces gaining the upper hand, and is all art to be used for the purpose of building houses for com- munities, and not for individuals ? Are we all to live in hotels ? This seems a fearful thing to contemplate. But it is quite certain that modern inventions and requirements must have an influence on the architecture of the coming age. It is often thrown in our teeth that we Architects are the most conservative and unprogres- sive of beings, and that we never adopt anything new till it is forced on us. It is said that we have resisted every advance in mechanical invention and construction, that we always look back to past ages for our lessons, rather than investigate new methods of planning for our buildings. The civil engineer is held up as an example of a man who moves with the times and is not hidebound by precedents hundreds of years old. The French have lately broken loose from their excellent tradition, and produced astound- ing edifices in L'Art Nouveau. The mammoth offices of the United States, reaching 40 stories in height, are held up by some as models to copy. We have all seen halls treated in the former style and in the latter, but how many of them impressed us as works of art ? Let me, then, leave to younger men the task of speaking in praise of L'Art Nouveau. To me the hall should manifest the character of the building, and the character of its owner. In the country- it should accord with country life, and be fitted for the needs of people who hunt, shoot and ride. The student of the present subject has unrivalled opportunities of becoming acquainted with the best work, not only of contemporary architecture, but with the finest examples of every age and nationality. He has photographs at his disposal which represent every feature with complete accuracy ; and nearly all known examples worth recording Evii. en H s H CJ 4-1 -a CO o Z d K [OME A.ND ITS HALLS THE HALL, ADDINGTON PARK (FORMERLY ADD1NGTON PALACE), SURREY. TO THE LOWER CORNICE (ABOUT 17 FEET) THE WALLS ARE LINED WITH VERY BEAUTIFUL ITALIAN WALNUT; ABOVE THAT IS A FRIEZE OF OLD TAPESTRY. THE CHIMNEYPIECE IS CHIEFLY OF POLISHED ISTRIAN MARBLE, WHILE THE PANEL OVER THE CHIMNEY-OPENING IS OF ALABASTER ENRICHED WITH ARABESQUES. THE PANELS ARE FILLED WITH GORGEOUS BLOOD-RED BRECCIA. THIS WORK WAS DONE IN [898-1899. REPRODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY W. E. GRAY, LONDON R. NOnnan Shaw R.A., Architect The Home and its Halls THE HALI. IN A HOUSE AT SONNING-ON-THAMES, WITH THE PANELLING ANT) THE FLOOR OF OAK, AND THE OAK FRAMING FILLED IX WITH CHALK. AFTER A COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH KINDLY LENT BY "COUNTRY LIFE" E. L. Lutvens, Architect Q M U D o z X X H ., <: u '■< Ui h ^ i/> ri O W The Home and its Halls IN 1 A HOI'S]': IN STRATTON STREET, LONDON MATERIALS: OAK AND PORTLAND STONE C. ]. Harold Cooper, Architect Til E I !< )M E W'li ITS f f AI.I •{TRANCE HALL, & BEDFORD Siil'AUK, LONDON, WITH ITS QUEEN ANN']-; FURNITURE AND THE STAIRCASE The Home of James Orrock R.I. The Homeland its Halls THE ENTRANCE HALL IN TEMPLE LODGE HAMMERSMITH, LONDON, THE WALLS ARE GREY-BROWN, WITH A GREY- WHITE FRIEZE, THE RUGS AND FURNITURE GIVING THE RICH KEY-NOTES OF COLOUR The Home of Frank Brangwyn A.R.A. The Home and its Halls THE HALL, KINCARDINE, N.B, FROM A DRAWING BY W. Niven and Wigglesworth, Architects \NOTHER VIEW OI-" THE HALL IN TEMPLE LODGE SHOWING THE STAIRCASE AND FART OF THE DINING-ROOM The Home of Frank Brangwyn A.R.A. The Home and its Halls VIEW OF AX ENTRANCE HALL THE LEYS, ELSTRE George Walton, Architect and Designer HERTFORDSHIRE MEW" OF THE LOWER ENTRANCE HALL AT JARDINE HALL, DUMFRIESSHIRE, THE FOUR COLUMNS ARE OF CAMPAN MELANGE MARBLE WITH BLACK BASES AND CAPITALS. THE FLOOR IS OF BLACK AND WHITE MARBLE AND THE WALLS ARE PAINTED E. J. May, Architect The Home and its Halls JTER HALL. THE OUTER HALL AT No. 2, WEST DRIVE, STREATHAM PARK, LONDON, MATERIALS: PANELLING OF PIN]-; AND A PAINTED FRIEZE 'LASTER CEILING, THE Leonard Stokes, Architect INTFRIOK OF THE GREAT HALL, AT WELBURN HALL, KIREVMOORSIDE, YORKSHIRE. THE MATERIALS ARE OAK AND A CREAMY GRIT-STONE FOR THE PILLARS AND THE FIREPLACE Walter H. Rrierlev, Architect The Home and its Halls VIEW OF THH HAIL AT WEI DERS THE STAIRCASE ANT) PANELLING OF OAK Mervyn Macartney, Architect \ IEW OF THE HALL AT IHAM HOUSE, NEWMARKET REPRODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH C. J. Harold Cooper, Architect The Home and its Malls THE HALL AND STAIRCASE IN A HOUSE AT HURY IX SUSSEX Charles Spooner, Architect THE HALL AT PARKWOOD, HENLEY-ON-THAMES THE PROPERTY OF J. S. PIENRY, ESQ William Flockhart, Architect - H < U (1 J — * y, -i-j w l X n c; ■J] > u - <• •J) (J K* p ^ — ^ < h '^ « o a X a a* 3 o o u a z a < h H - ^ ~ o - H a m 2- ^ j 2 •j) < < >-J X H M P The Home and its Furniture By Charles Spooner, Architect URING the last few years there has been a very large growth in the admiration for old furniture and in the desire to collect it. The admiration is widespread, and \ |fj| WZmj^^t ?] often uncritical. Fashion, no doubt, and ^ — * the hope of picking up a valuable thing for a small sum of money, have had a great deal to do with it, but, nevertheless, there is a real desire on the part of many people to buy beautiful things for their daily use, and one is not surprised to find such people turning to old work. It is indeed difficult at the present time to buy a piece of modern furniture with which it would be pleasant to live. The art of furniture making, like many a craft to-day, is in a depressed condition. It is being carried on by very few people, and there is, as yet, but a small demand for it. The great bulk of furniture made at the present time is entirely without art, and as long as it is made under the present conditions it will remain so. The men engaged in the manufacture are to a large extent underpaid and over-driven, and a considerable number have received no proper training ; others work in places where only two or three special kinds of furniture are made, and so they do not learn how to make any- thing except the particular things they are used to. Besides this, the craftsmanship is very much sub-divided, and that lowers the price at the expense, not only of the craft itself, but also of the character of the men employed, by taking away a man's responsibility, by narrowing his ambitions and turning his labour into an unrelieved drudgery. The construction of the work is very often shamefully scamped, many defects being left for the polisher to hide. A good deal of ingenuity is misspent this way, and in " faking " up poor wood to look well in the show- room. What happens afterwards is the purchaser's affair. Fi. Charles Spooner, Architect These slipshod methods are quite modern. Even as recently as fifty years ago the average furniture, although ugly, was fairly well put together. It is instructive to look back at the methods of our forefathers. We shall find them working under very different conditions, and with a feeling of responsibility different from that which is common to-day unfortunately. How far back are we to look ? Furniture has been used by men since the dawn of civilization. There are some pieces of Egyptian furniture to be seen in the British Museum about five thousand years old, and very interesting they are. They show us that the idea of a chair, for instance, has not changed much — the form is similar to that in common use to-day, the same joints as ours are used, and they formed the seats with rushes in the way with which we are all familiar. It would be interesting, no doubt, to follow up the history of furniture from those old Egyptian things down to our own times, but that is not the object of this book, and it would take a large volume to do it properly. The history of furniture runs side by side with the history of the people. To understand it, we ought really to read a great deal about the social and commercial conditions of the time in which the furni- ture was made, and to know the way in which the people lived, what was considered necessary in a house and what materials were available. The pieces of old furniture that remain enable us to picture, more or less vividly, the life of the people who made and used them, and to those who have eyes to see, the work tells to some extent what manner of man the craftsman was who made it. We find many of his moods and feelings unconsciously recorded. The arts of peace were rendered impossible through- out Western Europe by the inroads of savage northmen, who overthrew the Roman Empire, and for centuries life and property were very insecure. When at last these savage people were tamed, and law and order began to be restored, the arts had to begin for the most part over again. From this time growth is continuous. The character of the work of one age melts into that of the next, and although the style of certain periods is Pii. The Home and its Furniture very marked, the change from one style to another is gradual. The greatest and most sudden change of all occurred during the Renaissance period. We can see one general character in all the work made before, and another in the work of all the time after until about the middle of the nineteenth century. Before the sixteenth century oak was used very much more largely than other woods in the North of Europe ; and this, of course, had a great influence on the construction and design of furniture. Oak is a wood with strong characteristics and of a stubborn nature. Craftsmanship at first was rough and heavy — wood was plentiful, but labour was scarce, and tools were primitive ; and thus it was more economical to use the wood in large pieces than to cut it up small. Moreover, life was rough and not as yet very secure. Not much furniture was required : chests and cupboards were the chief things and they were immensely strong and fixed, or so heavy as to be practically immovable. The table consisted of boards laid on trestles, and benches or forms were used to sit on. Most rooms in the Middle Ages had a chest, which served to keep things in, and also as a seat, or table. As time went on it was decorated with carving and painting, and it is not uncommon to find the lid inlaid to form a chess-board. Backs and arms were sometimes added, and so the thing grew into a settle. At first chairs were used not so much for comfort as for dignity. The principal person sat on a chair and the rest on benches or on the floor. The cupboard developed along with the chest. The forms of both chest and cupboard changed very little, they varied, of course, in size and proportion ; but the general shape and construction remained almost the same for a long time. As the furniture makers found out more about their material, and got better tools, they naturally became better crafts- men, and by the twelfth century we find them making very nice things, and they improved more and more during the next two centuries. But there is very little left, even of Church furniture. Whether very little was made or whether it has been destroyed I do not Fiii. Charles Spooner, Architect know. Of course, we know that there were constant wars all over Europe, and although the craftsmen drew together in guilds in the towns and fought bravely for their freedom, it was not till the middle of the fourteenth century that there was much security for life and property. Then, during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, some of the most beautiful of all furniture was made. There is a small sideboard or cabinet in South Kensington Museum, No. 602, Northern French work of the end of the fifteenth century, and it is, I think, one of the most beautiful things I have seen. It has two doors with a fixed narrow panel between them, and once it had a drawer below the cupboards. It is extremely well proportioned and richly carved and moulded. The doors are hung with strap hinges of iron, most daintily made and orna- mented with pierced work through which one sees red leather. Unfortunately, it has been badly used, and is a good deal damaged, but even in its ruin it is a proof of the high standard of taste and workmanship common at the time in which it was made. The walls of the room in which it stood were pro- bably covered with oak panelling, and very likely a table, one or two chairs, benches, and a large chest completed its furniture. I think the perfect proportions of this cabinet, the fitness of the design for its purpose and for the material, and also its simple unaffected form and arrangement, are the chief reasons why it is so beautiful. Indeed, it would be a delightful piece of furniture even if it were unornamented. But the ornament is just what it should be, simply so much added beauty and interest. The carver was a man of fancy, and on the narrow middle panel he has put a figure, I should think S. Michael fighting the great dragon, but it is much damaged. The doors and ends are decorated with an exquisite design of tracery and leaves, and last, but by no means least, there is the spirited artistic cutting of the ornament, includ- ing the mouldings. I would refer those who care to know the conditions under which such work was made, to the delightful description of a mediaeval workshop in chapter xxvi. of Mr. George Jack's book on wood carving (John Hogg, 1903). Under some such conditions only can work of this character be produced. Fiv. The Home and its Furniture The great upheaval caused by the revival of classical learning, the Reformation in the sixteenth century, and the accompanying increase in commerce, changed the character of building and furniture in a very marked way. It must never be forgotten that the art of furniture making is part of the art of architecture. The study of classical literature made people wish to go back to the fashion of building of the old Greeks and Romans — a great mistake as far as art was concerned. The corruption and exclusiveness of the craft guilds caused their suppression, to the great loss of the artistic crafts. But the increase in wealth among all classes gave rise to a desire for more comfort, and consequently to a great demand for furniture ; and in spite of the absurd idea of reproducing classical art some surprisingly beautiful furniture was made. Chairs were brought into general use, and the number of different pieces of furniture was increased. The chest became the chest of drawers, and the dresser was gradually turned into the sideboard. Writing desks and cabinets, folding-tables and small tables became common. Oak, chestnut, walnut and pine were the favourite woods before the eighteenth century, but oak was used more largely than the others. When mahogany was first brought into this country it was thought to be too hard, but as soon as its fine qualities were perceived the furniture makers found out how to work it, and it quickly took the first rank among woods. Besides having a texture that calls for finish and refine- ment of detail, and being very strong, it turns a beautiful warm brown colour with time, and the best has a fine rich figure. It is perhaps the most trustworthy of all woods. It does not warp, twist, or crack with changes of temperature as much as some other woods do, and it can be handled without a great deal of waste. Chippendale was one of the first to use mahogany, and his genius soon showed him how to employ the beautiful new wood and to make the most of it. He first and Sheraton after him developed a style of design quite their own, and perfectly suited to mahogany, which they used largely, and which cer- tainly influenced them a great deal. They both learned much Fv. Charles Spooner, Architect from contemporary French work in the way of refinement and finish, and although they were both guilty of some absurdities and extravagances, an instinctive good taste and sense of pro- portion made them restrain the exaggerated curvature to be seen in the French furniture of the time. The art of furniture making seemed to die with the eighteenth century ; some of the traditions lingered on into the nineteenth century, but the first great exhibition was perhaps the final stroke that completely killed it. In the meantime there has been a tremendous economic change. The development of the factory system with its machinery has quite altered our craft-methods. There have been many revivals of styles, but all these efforts have failed to produce an art which can be compared for a moment with the work they have attempted to revive. It is obvious that no one who could do work as artistic as the old would be content merely to copy. He would want to try to express his own ideas of beauty. The man who copies must be kept from any such attempt : he must do what is set before him up to a certain standard of mechanical excellence, and not have many ideas of his own, or, as I say, he will cease to be a good copyist. He has, no doubt, to learn certain styles, i.e., certain shapes and groupings ; and he repeats them again and again, quite mechanically, and not with a transforming tact. Therefore the demand for work in any past style means the elimination of artistic expression. On the other hand, striving after new effects, and after what may pass for originality, often ends in affectation. There appear to be a limited number of forms, all of which have been discovered long ago. But just as the workers of each past age have used their forms in their own way to express their own sense of beauty, so must we, and we must get our new effects by new arrangements and groupings modified by certain conditions, chief among which is the nature of the material used. In spite of certain similarities, there is a great diversity of character in the different kinds of wood. A good design will accept and express the particular character of the wood employed. Other very important Fvi. The Home and its Furniture conditions are fitness for the use of the thing, whatever it may be, and fitness for its position ; then there is sound construction. This should not be unduly hidden, and it should regulate the arrangement and the forms which are proper to the nature of the wood. Wood is a very troublesome material to use. Differences of temperature and climate make it swell and shrink or twist, however well it may have been seasoned, and the furniture maker has to find out how to overcome these difficulties in constructing his work. It is obviously very difficult, if not impossible, for any one to design furniture well who has not a first-hand knowledge of this difficult and stubborn material, and such knowledge cannot be picked up outside the workshop. Modern methods have separated the designer and the craftsman, so that they seldom meet and are apt to scorn each other. The ideal would be for each man to design and make his own work, but if that is not possible, it is necessary for the designer to have a thorough knowledge of the craft, and to be in touch and sym- pathy with the craftsman, and also for the craftsman to appre- ciate good design and to labour under such conditions as will allow him freedom to do himself justice, and to take interest in his craft. The design for a piece of furniture is not complete until the piece of furniture is finished. The illustrations that follow are of work which has been done under some such conditions. The old work speaks for itself, and most people will be ready to give due appreciation. But if the art of furniture making is not to die out, admiration for old things must not blind us to the beauty and interest of the new. I am afraid that we shall not find either quality in most new furniture, and I have tried to suggest some of the reasons why. Happily, however, a small amount of really good furniture is now being turned out by men who are trying to make conditions under which it is possible to be thorough; and some of this work is shown in the illustrations. Up till now competition has been confined to lower- ing prices, quite regardless of consequences, and this has gone Pvii. Charles Spooner, Architect to such lengths that it is now possible to buy a whole suite of dining-room furniture for a trifle more than it would cost to make a very plain dining-table properly. It is obviously impossible for better work to enter into such competition, and we must be prepared to pay a good deal more money for each piece. I cannot, of course, enter into the question of prices, but what I have just stated will indicate the sort of pro- portion in cost between furniture which will bear comparison with the old, and that being offered for sale in the ordinary way of trade. It is time for the older sort of competition to be revived, so that each may try to do the best and most beautiful work, and not merely the cheapest. In the end, of course, the responsibility rests with the buyer. If he remains satisfied with the poor design, the bad workmanship, the art of making furniture will be crushed out. It is often said that it is impossible for people with small incomes to pay for good work. No doubt it is not easy, and the only way out of the difficulty is to be satisfied with very few and very simple things, made of inexpensive material, and to buy these gradually, perhaps one thing at a time — -taking care that they are thoroughly good of their kind. There is no doubt that our forefathers had no more money to spend than we have, and yet they managed to buy good furniture at prices which might now be called prohibitive. And the fact that these same things are still good and useful proves that such was true economy. It is sometimes said that old furniture and new give a patchy effect to a room. I think that depends upon the individual things. If both old and new are good they will harmonize and look well together. The interesting thing is to see the individu- ality of the owner. Morris' rule is the best guide I know, " Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." C Stovm+Av Fviii. Fhe Home \xi> its Furniture OLD-ENGLISH ARM-CHAIRS PERIODS OF CHARLES I. AND CHARLES II. Collection of fames Orrock R.I, ■■ -■ ■ ■■ .• ' : ' ' * ; -'■ '.■; ARM-CHAIR, TUDOR STYLI BUT MADE IN 1633 PRE-ELIZABETHAN CHAIR ;harles the first arm-chair Collection of Sir Thomas Crawley-Boevey The Home and its Furnituri QUEEN ANNE CORNER-CHAIR QUEEN ANN']-: CHAIR Collection of James Orrock K. IIEI'PI.KWHITE CHAIR IN MAHOGANY OLD-ENGLISH CHAIRS l-.RIOD OF CHARLES THE FIRST Collection of James ( >rrock R.I. The Home and its Kukniture OLD-ENGLISH CHAIRS IN WALNUT PERIOD OF yUEEN ANN! Collection of lames Orrock K.I. CHARLES II. CHAIR CHARLES I. CHAIR gUEEN ANNE CHAIR IN WALNUT Collection of James Orrock R.I. Thk Home and its Furniture OLD-ENGLISH SETTEE IN WALNUT Collection of James Orrcck R. PERIOD OF QUEEN ANNE OLD-ENGLISH SETTEE IN WALNUT PERIOD OF QUEEN ANNE Collection of James Orrock R.I, The Home and its Furniture OLD-ENGLISH TABLE IN WALNUT Collection of James Orrock R.I. * ERIOD OF QUEEN ANNE OLD-ENGLISH TABLE IN WALNUT 'ERIOD OF QUEEN ANNE Collection of James Orrock R.I. Till'. HOMK AND ITS FlTRT < URNITtIRE OLD-ENGLISH CHAIRS IN WALNUT PERIOD OF UUEEN ANNE Collection of James Orrock R.I. OLD-ENGLISH UtM-CHAIK (CHIPPENDALE) UUEEN ANNE TYPE OLD-ENGLISH ARM-CHAIR IN MAHOGANY STYLE OF CHIPPENDALE Collection ot lames Orrock \\. 'he Home \xi> its Furniture OLD-ENGLISH SETTEE, "RIBBAND" STYLE Collection of James Orrock R.I 11V THOMAS CHIPPENDALE OLD-ENGLISH SETTEE AND ARM CHAIRS Collection of James Orrock R. BY THOMAS SHERATON The Home and its Furniture ■V j OLD-ENGLISH CABINET [N MAHOGANY, BY THE BROTHERS ADAM, CONTAINING RARE PIECES OF NANKIN CHINA THE ARM-CHAIR IS REPUTED TO HAVE BEEN MADE FOR WARREN HASTINGS Collection of James Orrock R.I. 'I'm e I [om k \xi> its Furniture OLD ENGLISH SETTEE GOLD AND WHITE BY PERGOLKST- PERGOLESE CM MR. GOLD AND WHITE OLD-ENGLISH SETTEE PERIOD OF THE QUEEN ANNE STYLE Fig CHIPPENDALE ARM-CHAIR CHIPPENDALE CHAIR CHIPPENDALE CHAIR, QUEEN ANNE TYPE Collection of James Orrock R.I. s X U Hi (A oo HZ -■r, it Ul^ c) O u, 1-1 w ■^ a J 03 H < i 14 til i So The Home and its Furniture RIBBAND-BACK CHAI1 OLD-ENGLISH CHAIR PERIOD OF QUEEN ANNE Collection of James Orrock, R I CHIPPENDALE -.NGLISH DINING-TABLE [OFf'OAK, THE LEGS DECORATED WITH CHIP CARVING ON FOUR SIDES OF THE; OCTAGON. THE. TOP CAN BE MOVED OFF THE: WOODEN PEGS Ernest Gimson, Designer The Homk and its Fuknitukk OI.D-ENGI.ISH CHUKS IN MAHOGANY I'.V THOMAS CHIPPENDALE Collection of James Orrock K I. MODERN ENGLISH CHAIRS IN MAHOGANY INLAID WITH EBONY MALI. BY MESSRS. NORMAN & STACEY Frank Brangwyn A.R.A., Designer The Home and its Furniture El—. = MODERN DINING TABLE IN MAHOGAM MADE BY MESSRS. NORMAN & STACEV Frank Bransrwyn A.R.A., Designer MODERN DININC ROOM PANELLED WITH PLAIN OAK, UNSTAINED AND UNPOLISHED, THE FURNITURE OF OAK C. F. A. Voysey, Architect and Designer The Home and its Furniture THK JOINER 1 . B\ J. JOK Till-. CARVING BY W. & A. CLOW R. S. Lorimer A.R.S.A., Designer X X H Til K 1 1()M E AND ITS Fll KN ITU KE SEAT FOR A BILLIARD-ROOM AS CARRIED OCT BY MESSRS. THURSTON & CO. Frank Brangwyn A.R.A., Designer F35 VIODERN CHAIRS IN MAHOGANY IX STYLES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURA Robert Christie, Cabinet Maker and Chair-Maker :- X h P be Q (i) Z < Q 5 n m z X a; h Q .m W •r. Ci 1) UJ G ^3 S-. o w aj H z PQ <; O y. ;- o br •/. '4, CD tt. Q U w r~ i i-1 1) C s_. in rt CJ o a; CD Q 5 3 j3 s Til K II< »M E AND ITS FURNITURE y i *