EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL DESIGN.--AN OLD TOPIC BEFORE THE PEOPLE.--THE
ARCHITECTURAL STUDENT'S DREAM.--A BEAUTIFUL HOME THE HOUSEKEEPER'S
AMBITION.--IT COSTS NO MORE TO HAVE A HOUSE BEAUTIFUL THAN
UGLY.--ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION.--CHARLES EASTLAKE'S BOOK.--VULGAR
ARCHITECTURAL REVIVALS.--THE GROWTH OF THE ARTISTIC IDEA.--BEAUTY A
MATTER OF REFINEMENT.
It often happens when one gives especial attention to a particular
branch of a subject his neglect in other lines is measured by the depth
of his attention to the particular branch. Matters which have to do with
the utilitarian features of house-building are considered in this work
much more fully in the text, than has the appearance of the buildings.
It is desired that this fact will not lead any one to believe that
matters relating to the appearance of the exterior have been neglected.
Domestic architecture is an old topic before the people. It is old in
what has been said in regard to the appearance of the buildings. The
subject, as a science to the architect, is new when considered from the
standpoint of convenience. The architectural student's dream is not of
kitchens, pantries, closets, convenient and economical arrangements of
floor space, but is principally of large public buildings, libraries,
court-houses, and cathedrals. When he descends to dwelling-houses, it is
of something unique, or odd,--something that is pretty or rich. When it
relates to details, it is hallways that are peculiar in their beauty,
parlors and sitting-rooms that are full of odd conceits. There has been
a tendency toward strange things during recent years. Matters of this
kind have fed the fancy of many architects. The housekeeper has been
neglected.
Nothing attracts more attention than a beautiful house. It is a pleasure
to every one. It is as important to have a house beautiful as it is that
it should be convenient. The same education and thoughtfulness that will
enable an architect to design a convenient house will make it beautiful.
No one can be conscientious in the consideration of the comfort of the
housekeeper and neglect the smallest detail leading to the beauty of the
house. The housekeeper lives in the hope of having a beautiful home. It
has been the purpose, in writing this book, to bear all this in mind,
and to add the element of convenience to what has been said and done by
others toward making beautiful houses.
It costs no more to have a house beautiful than to have it ugly. Beauty,
like convenience, is largely a matter of thoughtfulness and education.
The only excuse for ugliness in house-building is ignorance. The student
of architecture has had a great deal done for him. And, in considering
that which has to do with appearance, he has only to accept the
advantages of the best architectural schools and offices. Without these
he cannot expect to succeed. To be a designer of beautiful houses, one
must have had the same special training and advantages that are
necessary for success in other lines of professional work. A physician
must know the history of his profession, aside from the more formal
knowledge which leads him through his practice. It is the same way with
the student of architecture. The successful designer of a small cottage
will do better from having a knowledge of the history of early
architecture. Such a knowledge is indispensable, in order to reach the
best results. One who has made a study of Greek architecture is much
better equipped to design a beautiful low-cost cottage, of four or five
rooms, than one who has not availed himself of these advantages. He will
make a better house for the same money. He will do better work with
simpler means. To take another illustration: We may suppose that an
architect has a porch to design, and that the owner of the house does
not have a great deal of money to put in it. There are four turned
columns, a cornice, with a rafter finish, and underneath, a space in
which may be inserted a small band of inexpensive scroll-work. A
knowledge of the earlier architecture comes to his assistance in a
wonderful way. For the turning on the columns the architect may select
that from a column of the early English Gothic architecture of the
fourteenth century. These are simple profiles, which can be turned at no
greater cost, if the drawing is furnished, than some crude, modern
invention of the turner or an uneducated designer. For the jig or scroll
saw work, he can arrange figures from some of the earlier ornamental
forms of the same period, and by drawing them full size the
scroll-sawyer can reproduce a beautiful design, which has a history,
with no more labor than he would give some corrupted design which has
filtered through the minds of careless house-builders. For his rafter
feet, this designer will have no difficulty in recalling some simple
form which has had a refined development. This same line of procedure
can be followed in all details of house-building, and not add one dollar
to the cost of the structure. At the same time it brings about most
beautiful results,--the results of successful experience.
It may be said again that it takes no more money to make a beautiful
detail--one which has been the development of experience and
refinement--than it does something which is clumsy and coarse. It
requires, however, a knowledge of what has been done,--a knowledge of
the history of design. It requires the faculty of using intelligently
the results of the past, not merely as they originally existed, but in
their adaptation to the wants and conditions of the present.
Several years ago Mr. Charles Eastlake wrote a book entitled "Hints on
Household Taste." The book accomplished a great deal, by merely leading
people to think. To this day there are a great many architectural
features which, in the builder's parlance, go under the name of
"Eastlake" designs. There are so-called Eastlake doors, Eastlake frames,
etc. In truth, Mr. Eastlake had little to say about architecture in a
distinctive sense, and many evil things have been perpetrated in his
name. The best thing that Mr. Eastlake did was to teach people that the
furniture and other things which they had around them could be beautiful
and not expensive. That it was not necessary to have a chair or a piece
of wood-work loaded down with something called ornament, in order to be
beautiful. After this people lost confidence in the furniture
manufacturer, and did not depend solely on the price of his wares as a
measure of their elegance or attractiveness. This was the sole work of
Charles Eastlake, with the masses of the people. He was a missionary in
his way. A man of no particular knowledge in regard to architecture or
design, yet one who was the means of doing a great deal for
architecture. He taught people to look for beauty in simple things.
After a time came a certain something in domestic architecture which was
designated as the "Queen-Anne" style. We all know what it is, yet it is
difficult to describe. The veritable Queen-Anne architecture meant
something; the "Queen-Anne" architecture of a few years ago meant
anything--particularly something that was pointed, erratic, and
unusual. It, however, did a good work. It enabled the architects to get
out of the old beaten paths. A great many beautiful houses were built,
which, by the public, were said to be in this style. The name "Queen
Anne" was the vehicle for the passage from an old conservatism, which
had to do only with the commonplace, to something which was fresh and
attractive. In this way a great many beautiful houses were built during
this so-called Queen-Anne revival.
More recently there has been a movement toward the revival of the old
colonial architecture--a style that was developed by a class of educated
builders among the earlier settlers of this country. Their knowledge was
particularly of classic architecture of the period of the Italian
renaissance. A great many strange and unusual things are being
perpetrated in the name of old colonial architecture at this time. At
the same time, a great deal that is beautiful and refined is being built
in this style. In the work of the very recent period which has to do
with this architecture, one may find a great deal of encouragement. It
shows a decided re-action from the extravagant crudeness of the
so-called Queen-Anne architecture, and in the end we will reach
something that is rational and beautiful.
Thus it is to be seen that, in whatever lines architecture is moving, we
shall find good work; that it is not so much the style that it is named,
as the resources of the designer: resources which have to do with his
education, and his disposition to select that which is fine and
beautiful--the sense which leads him to discriminate.
[Illustration: FIGURE B.]
PLANS OF FIFTY CONVENIENT HOUSES.