passages, and cause a more equal temperature in the building; this,
together with the practicability of collecting the soot for agricultural
purposes, might be an inducement to its introduction. Water could be
lifted to the roof of a country mansion by that ingenious contrivance
the hydraulic ram, and passed off to its original source when done with,
the soot being left behind.
The beautiful self-acting machine, known as Gwynne and Co.’s improved
hydraulic ram, is peculiarly adapted for raising or lifting water to any
required elevation. It is necessary to have a fall of water to work it,
and the greater the height of the fall, the more effective will be the
machine. In favourable cases it will raise water thirty times higher
than the fall working it. The greater the height of the lift, of course
the less will be the quantity raised in a given time. This machine can
be made to deliver comparatively large quantities of water, either in
tanks on the roofs of houses, or in farmyards for filling ponds. It will
work day and night without any attendance or expense after it is once
fixed. Two or more rams may be used to force through the same pipe, or
rising main. Where a continuous stream of water to work the machine
cannot be obtained, a spring, or even rainfall, or drainage may be
stored up in a reservoir or dam, and made to work the ram.
The expense of these machines is not excessive, as the following table
will show:--
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------+-------------------------+
|Diameter of|Diameter of| Approximate Number of |Price of Ram, complete, |
|Feed Pipe. | Delivery |Gallons of Water raised|with all the accessories,|
| | Pipe. | in a day of 24 hours. | but exclusive of Pipes. |
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------+-------------------------+
|Inches. |Inches. | | £ |
| 2 | 1 | 800 to 1150 | 12 |
| 3 | 2 | 3000 to 4000 | 24 |
| 4 | 2 | 4000 to 5000 | 34 |
+-----------+-----------+-----------------------+-------------------------+
A small room or enclosure must be erected to contain the machine.
The question of how far the removal of smoke from the atmosphere would
affect the various gases of combustion floating therein is a question
for the chemist. The plan that has been here proposed is founded on the
supposition that Nature’s law, relative to the diffusion of gases,
permits only carbonic acid gas, the chief product of combustion, to
remain in the proportion of 1 in 2000. The introduction of so much water
in the sewer, where its presence already is considered an injury to the
sewage, is an objection, but the present system of drainage requires a
plentiful supply of water, to prevent stoppages or choking. Should the
dry earth system ever be generally introduced, the present sewers would
serve to remove liquid sewage and all products of combustion. The
operation of the sewer in any way in receiving this smoke and soot,
would permit the full and cheering light of the sun to shine alike in
country and town.
_DESIGN No. 36._
A LECTURE HALL, OR LITERARY INSTITUTION.
[Illustration: Elevation.]
This design was made to refront an old chapel in the country which had
been purchased for the purpose of forming a Literary Institute. The
interior
[Illustration: Tablet in front.]
was one large room, the lecturer’s table at the back, a recess and
fireplace behind, a large gallery in front, under which were formed two
small rooms, with a
[Illustration: Elevation of entrance-door.]
passage from the grand entrance between. The entrance-door with a bust
of Socrates over it, under the arch, was made large, to give an
important character to the front. A section of the niche over the
doorway is given, some details of the angle rustication, together with
an elevation of the entrance-door.
[Illustration]
_DESIGN No. 37._
ENCAUSTIC TILES.
A slight digression from the subject-matter of the preceding pages may
serve to break monotony, and introduce to the notice of the reader an
ornamental object--the encaustic tile. They are
[Illustration: Design for a floor encaustic tile.]
now of universal use, both for floor and wall decoration, and have
become general favourites for such purposes. A few suggestions,
therefore, for the purpose of making them more artistic and pleasing
will not be out of place.
The present patterns are almost entirely of a conventional kind, or
according to strict geometric forms. The same pattern is repeated all
over the surface, without variation, and however excellent the pattern
may be, it is designed on the same principle as that of a printed wall
paper.
The design just given puts all geometric forms aside, and introduces a
free-hand treatment, allowing the pattern to be varied on every surface
laid down.
[Illustration: Design for wall encaustic tile.]
The first tile shows eight points in which the stem of the pattern
(suppose that of a flower design) meets in them all. The second tile
shows the stem; the third and fourth the flower pattern varied. One tile
might have more flowers than leaves, another all leaves or buds, and as
all the tiles would fall in their right places, they depend only on the
care of the workmen who place them; the pattern might be varied
according to the number of tiles of different pattern.
For wall linings a trellis work might be shown on the tile, having a
blue ground; some tiles might be without either leaves, stems, or
flowers, and the design would show a flowered trellis against the sky.
The figure given on page 461 shows this.
These tiles are beginning to be used on columns. Some good examples are
to be seen in the South Kensington Museum Galleries. In columns with
trellis work a white marble ground with leaves and roses twined round it
naturally, would look a great deal better than formal lines of stiff
ornaments.
Some of our latest Gothic architects who were at the same time artists,
did not trouble themselves to draw out according to rule the geometric
lines for the foliation of their Gothic windows. They knew the
principles thoroughly, but merely made the vertical lines correct, and
then sketched in the foliation with a free hand. This gave an outline
greatly superior to the usual stiff conventional forms. Some examples of
this may be seen in one of the author’s books, now in the Fine Art
Library of the South Kensington Museum, in which the free-hand designs
(rubbings) are placed by the side of the same patterns drawn out
geometrically.
The vignette shows foreign cut-wood patterns for roof ornament; the
section the method of forming the zinc gutter.
[Illustration]
_DESIGN No. 38._--RESTORATION OF CASTLE GUNNARSTROP, SWEDEN.
[Illustration]
It has been remarked in the Introduction, that the localities in which a
residence can be placed greatly affect their picturesque appearance. The
north and west Highlands of Scotland, in our own country, and a similar
class of scenery in Sweden and Norway, greatly aid by their natural
beauties the best effects of the architect, and generally in northern
Europe, including Denmark with the above-named countries, those
accessories can be largely taken advantage of. An instance of this can
be found in the design now under consideration. In this castle the
gables are carried up to a greater height, and made more ornamental and
of greater importance than with us. In the year 1852 the author was
making a design for a villa for the Count de Bark, a Swedish nobleman.
It was to be erected on the heights bordering the Sound near Copenhagen,
and was seen from the sea in passing, peering above the trees. The upper
part of the villa was made as picturesque as possible, with a tower,
battlements, and turrets. The lower part of the building was very plain,
and the plan merely contained a few living rooms and servants’
apartments; it was much unlike our style, and is therefore not given
here: only the view from the vignette is afforded in this description.
The Count’s uncle occupied the old castle, the Vrams Gunnarstrop in
Sweden, then very much out of repair and unfitted for the requirements
of modern domestic life.
It was planned originally on a grand scale; the fronts had high
triangular gables in steps, and decorated with cut granite ornaments,
but the whole was
[Illustration: The one-pair plan.]
very plain. The north front was in two floors, and the angle towers of
the building had only two floors. The portions between one storey--that
of the ground floor--thus had to be raised. The ground floor was given
to the servants, and the southern portion of the building was to remain
for a time in its then existing state. The plan shows _a_, the grand
staircase, adorned with columns supporting the upper landing. It was 27
ft. in length by 26 ft. in width, and led up to an ante-room _b_, in the
centre of the building, 26 ft. in length by 12 ft. in breadth. It opened
into the first and second drawing-rooms, _c_ and _d_: one 30 ft. in
length, the other 40 ft., and both of a width of 26 ft.
[Illustration: Perspective view of the Count de Bark’s villa.]
The dining-room _e_, entered from the chief drawing-room, was 40 ft. in
length, with a width of 22 ft.; _f_ shows the gallery or library filled
with book-cases, and leading to the day-room _h_; the chief bedroom is
shown at _i_ adjoining, _k_ is the lady’s dressing-room, _l_ the
gentleman’s dressing-room and bath; _m_ is the nursery, with a
servants’ staircase and closet adjoining; _g_ is the servants’
serving-place at the entrance of dining-room. The light portions of the
plan show the additions made; the black, the old portions of the castle.
The two towers contained staircases to the attics which were formed in
the high roofs.
The principal elevation faced the west. The perspective view of this
front is given. Its length is 130 ft., and the height of the principal
entrance from the ground to the top of the gable is 60 ft.
The south and west sides were of an equally picturesque character, but
neither had any central gable. The south had triple dormer windows
joined in the centre with one dormer window at each side. The two towers
were seen rising above the roof, and a wide terrace with open stone
Elizabethan balustrading extending the entire front, with steps down to
the garden in the centre below. The terrace was 130 ft. in length. The
west side had the two gables, one at each end, with three tall dormer
windows in the roof; these were connected by wood balustrading, and a
window with three lights was placed below each. The granite-stone
ornaments in the old fronts were replaced in the new fronts.
The vignette gives a view of a small garden fountain, designed from one
in the old garden at Blickling in Norfolk. The plinth is hexangular in
plan, with the scrolls projecting on the three sides. To the top of the
jet its height is about 9 feet.
[Illustration]
_DESIGN No. 39._
SUMMER VILLA FOR THE COUNT KINSKI, AT TEPLITZ.
[Illustration: Perspective view of Count Kinski’s summer villa.]
This villa was designed about the year 1852, for an Austrian nobleman,
who wished to have a villa in the English Elizabethan character. The
plan was arranged after his own figured sketches, and it is given here
as showing the requirements considered desirable for such a building in
a summer place of
[Illustration: Ground plan.]
retirement, or palace for a foreign nobleman’s occupation. The porch was
approached on four sides by flights of steps 12 ft. 6 in. in diameter;
it opened into a hall _b_, 20 ft. in length by 14 ft. in width. The
drawing-room _c_, of noble size, with two bay windows, was 36 ft. in
length by 22 in width. The dining-room _d_, in the opposite side of the
hall, was 28 ft. in length by 18 ft. in width. The butler’s pantry _k_,
and the servants’ offices and kitchen _g_, with a large store-closet
_h_, and scullery _i_, adjoined. A bread-room is shown at _j_, _l_ is
the servants’ hall, _m_ a china-closet, _n_ a store-room, and _o_ the
servants’ staircase, _q q_ are the servants’ entrances, and _r r_ the
closets.
[Illustration: One-pair plan.]
Returning to the principal portion of the building, the chief staircase,
_v_, opens from the entrance hall, _e e e_ are nurseries, and _f_ is the
library. On the first floor, _a_ is the balcony over the porch; this was
to be used for smoking, &c., _b_ is the best bed-chamber, and _c_ the
boudoir to the same, _d_ is the second best bedchamber, and _e_ its
boudoir, _f_ is the third best bedchamber, and _g_ its boudoir, _h_ is a
bedroom without any boudoir, _i_ is the housekeeper’s bedroom, _k k k_
the men’s sleeping room, _i_ housemaid’s closet, _j j_ closets, _l l_
linen-closets, _m_ a closet or bath-room, _n_ the principal staircase,
and _o_ the servants’ staircase.
The attic plan was devoted to the sleeping rooms, _b b b_, of the female
servants. Here plans are made
[Illustration: Attic plan.]
(the building being so large) on a smaller scale than the other plans in
this volume.
The perspective view merely exhibits the common forms of Elizabethan
character. The tower which formed the entrance was 70 ft. in height from
the foundation to the top of its roof, the height of the ground-floor
rooms was 14 ft. 3 in. They had rich plaster friezes, and the staircase
had carved oak Elizabethan balustrading. The second-floor rooms were 12
ft. 3 in. in height, and were very plain in character. The upper floor
of the tower was open, but could be closed by sashes; this was intended
for a smoking retreat. A small detail of one of the gabled windows in
front is given below. Altogether, the design had a most picturesque
effect, and its style met with approval. It combined utility with
elegance,
[Illustration: Gable window.]
and completely answered the objects for which it was constructed.
Another villa was designed for an Austrian nobleman, the Prince Clary: a
view of it is given in the first illustration of this volume, through
the window of the architect’s study. It was intended as a summer retreat
for the Prince and his friends when engaged in a fishing-excursion on
the noble river the Elbe, on the banks of which it was placed. It
contained a large centre dining-room, 48 ft. by 22, with a saloon or
drawing-room, 40 ft. by 20 ft., and extensive accommodation for the
kitchen and servants’ departments. The upper storey contained 14 best
bedrooms, each with an ante or dressing-room, besides bath-room and the
sleeping apartments for the domestics.
_DESIGN No. 40._
HARRINGTON HOUSE, QUEEN’S PALACE GARDENS.
[Illustration: Perspective view of exterior.]
This building, with which the present collection of designs closes, is
probably the most unpicturesque example in the volume. Its exterior has
been frequently criticised; whatever its merits or demerits may be, it
certainly is wholly unlike, while at the same time it is not inferior,
to the strange style at present so popular with the younger branch of
architectural professors, which appears to be a
[Illustration: Elevation of principal staircase.]
mixture of the Byzantine and Romanesque styles, joined with the Roman
Gothic. Some call it the Missal style, others the Northern Italian. The
sole recommendation of it is that it comes more expensive to carry out
than any other. This house has at least the reputation of being a very
comfortable one, and as more than usually adapted to receive large
assemblies and fashionable parties. Indeed the noble Earl who erected
it was so pleased with it, that on entering, on its completion, he
addressed the following note to the author:--
H. H., Kensington Palace Gardens,
_31 May, 1854_.
My dear Sir,--
I take this opportunity of expressing to you my thanks for having
constructed a house, in my humble judgment, _without a fault_.
Believe me most sincerely yours,
(Signed) HARRINGTON.
To C. J. Richardson, Esq.
And after having resided in it nine months, he again
wrote as follows:--
H. H., Palace Gardens, Kensington,
_2nd February, 1855_.
My dear Sir,--
I pray you to accept my cordial thanks for your most able
architectural skill in the construction of my house. I have lived
in it one season, and have not discovered in it a single fault.
Believe me most truly yours,
(Signed) HARRINGTON.
To C. J. Richardson, Esq.
The site upon which the house stands was taken by the Earl from the
Commissioners of Her Majesty’s
[Illustration: Ground plan.]
Woods and Forests, and it certainly is, or was, one of the best sites
for building in the metropolis. It adjoins Kensington Gardens, looking
on the old winter garden of Queen Anne. Agreeable and admirable a
[Illustration: One-pair plan of staircase.]
site for building as this was, in 1853, it remained for some time
utterly neglected. The first speculator had been ruined, and only one or
two of his houses (one erected by Mr. Owen Jones, the architect) were
[Illustration: Ground-floor plan.]
standing in the road. Soon after the Earl of Harrington acquired the
land, and erected this building, the whole of the road, on each side,
was covered with first-class mansions.
The terms of the agreement were, that the Earl should take plot No. 9
and the northern portion of plot No. 10, having a frontage of 196 ft. to
the Queen’s Road, and a depth of about 260 ft., for a period of 91¼
years, from the 5th July, 1851, at a peppercorn rent for the first year,
of 73_l._ 10_s._ for the second year, and of 147_l._ a year for the
remainder of the term, also a rent of 5_s._ a year in lieu of land-tax
for every year except the first.
The Earl was to expend a sum of not less than 6000_l._ in erecting upon
the ground a dwelling-house of the first-class style of building. The
house was to be insured in the sum of 6000_l._, and the Earl was to pay
jointly, with the adjacent occupiers, the expense of lighting and
keeping up the road, which was a private one, and to pay the gatekeepers
at the lodge. The rest of the covenants of the agreement were such as
are usually found in such documents.
The house was, until the present year, the only Gothic one in the
district, the Earl insisting upon having this, his favourite style,
admitted. It stands in the centre of the road at the highest level, and
is well up out of the ground. The principal floor is 7 ft. above the
outside road of approach, and 14 ft. above the level of the public road.
The whole of the walls stand on a basement of concrete, and the lower
flooring is 5 ft. above the level of the foundations. The basement
story is 14 ft. in height, and of entirely fireproof construction. The
best rooms on the ground-floor are 17 ft. 6 in. in height, the secondary
rooms are 15 ft. high. All the principal staircases are of stone; the
ground plan on page 479 shows the
[Illustration: Section of principal staircase.]
entrance hall, _a_, approached by 12 steps; it is 30 ft. in length, by
21 ft. in width; _b_ is the principal staircase, situated on one side of
the saloon in the centre of the building; the latter is 41 ft. long by
21 ft. wide. The dining-room _e_, and the library _c_, on each side of
the hall, are respectively 30 ft. by 22 ft. The great room, with the bay
window, entered from the saloon, is the picture gallery _f_. This room
is 41 ft. long by 30 ft. wide, without the bay. The drawing-rooms _d_,
_d_, on each side, are each 25 ft. by 20 ft.; _g_, the conservatory,
measures 40 ft. by 21 ft.; this, with the two drawing-rooms and the
picture gallery, can in less than half an hour be thrown into one by the
removal of the large folding-doors in the picture
[Illustration: Ornament for stairs.]
gallery, which can be taken away, frames complete, by simply removing a
few screws. A length of drawing-room is then gained of 125 ft.
The principal staircase is shown in elevation on page 477; the plans are
here given to a larger scale.
The lower plan shows a portion of the first flight and the servants’
passage, _a_, under the first landing; _b_ is their staircase down to
the basement, this should have been shown on the left-hand side. It is
the footman’s staircase, adapted for him to ascend and
[Illustration: Iron railing on staircase.]
descend readily from or to the basement, and the passage _a_ permits
him to enter either side of the house without being seen. The upper plan
shows the two flights, right and left, rising from the principal
landing. Each of these has 22 steps. Three more in the centre lead up to
the gallery round the saloon; the section of the staircase, given on p.
482, clearly shows this arrangement. The staircase front is in Bath
stone. The only ornaments are the decorated corbels supporting the small
angular projections or buttresses necessary to receive the iron
standards of the railing above. One of the corbels and a panel of the
iron railing is given. This is carried up the stairs on both sides and
round the gallery, and is richly coloured and gilt. The only remaining
portions of the ground plan to be described are the secondary rooms. A
side entrance is at _j_, and the waiting room, _i_, is also at the side;
_h_ is the servants’ staircase, going from the basement to the attic. On
the other side of the building _o_ is the Earl’s dressing-room, with a
study or writing room by its side. This has a lift, _n_, from the
kitchen, enabling it to be used as a serving room. The picture gallery
has a flight of steps descending to a large ornamented garden at the
back of the house, _n n_ is the stable yard, and _k k k_ rooms over the
stable.
The section through the complete building, given on page 486, shows the
general character of the interior. The rooms are wholly without
ornament; all have plain cornices formed of running Gothic mouldings.
The
[Illustration]
only decorated portion is the saloon (_inf._), the coved ceiling of
which has the shields of painted and gilt coats of arms of family
connexions, together with
[Illustration]
mottoes and monograms. The skylight is filled with richly coloured
embossed glass, every pane having a shield of arms, its ceiling being
panelled with painted enrichments on a blue ground. A view of the saloon
is given on p. 487; it contains in the centre a statue
[Illustration: Half-section of roof of conservatory.]
by Theed, of Lady Chandos Pole, the eldest daughter of the Earl. The
statues are shown in the plan by the letters _m m_. The ground floor is
supplied with warm-water pipes; these are shown by the dotted lines.
They are sunk in the brickwork forming the substructure of the
flooring, and covered with open ornamental ironwork. The hall has two
warm-water pedestals. The whole of the rooms and conservatory are so
warmed.
The latter part of the interior resembles in some respects a small
chapel. A half-section of a portion
[Illustration: Plan of one-pair.]
of its roof is given on p. 488; it measures 22 ft. from the floor to the
collar-beam. The corbels, from which the roof springs, are decorated
with shields of arms, surrounded by a garland of strawberry leaves.
In the plan of the one-pair floor _a_ is the boudoir or morning room;
_b b b_ are bedrooms; _c c c_ dressing-rooms, and _d_ is the bath-room.
The gallery is shown as completely going round the saloon; its ceiling
is of ground glass arranged in panels, each of which is
[Illustration]
moveable, with a skylight over the whole. There is plenty of light
therefore afforded for the paintings with which the walls are covered.
The small attic plan shows these skylights on three sides only,
likewise the sleeping-rooms _b b_, and the housemaid’s closet _c_. Under
this plan is that of the upper room in the tower with its two slate
cisterns, each capable of containing 800 gallons of water. They are
supported by strong trussed girders fixed in the walls. This upper room
is approached by a
[Illustration: Staircase to lower rooms.]
cottage staircase, the plan of which, with its 22 risers, is shown in
cut on p. 490. It enables the room to be approached without any
structural appearance being seen from without. A half elevation of the
exterior, and another of its section is given above. It is well supplied
with light.
[Illustration: Basement plan.]
[Illustration: Elevation of bay window.]
[Illustration: Section.]
[Illustration: Plan.]