[Illustration: MARQUESS OF HERTFORD'S VILLA.]
[Illustration: DORIC VILLA.]
The definition of the word _villa_ is a country seat; but the reader
will ask, how can a country seat be in the midst of a metropolis, or in
its brick and mortar confines? The term, however, admits of various
modifications. The villas of the Romans resembled large city palaces
removed into the country, and some of them were four times larger than
Versailles with its three thousand apartments. The villas of modern
Rome likewise more resemble palaces than abodes of domestic
convenience; and one of them, the Villa Mondrogone, has more windows
than there are days in the year. Such are the Italian villas, of which
the name conveys as accurate an idea as the English reader acquires
from the French _chateau_, which, in reality, implies a comfortless
factory-looking abode, with a blaze of fresco embellishments.
The first engraving in the annexed page is the villa, or, we should
rather say, the suburban retreat, of the Marquess of Hertford, designed
by Mr. Decimus Burton. The noble owner, who has enjoyed the peculiar
advantages of travel, and is a man of _vertu_ and fine taste, has
selected a design of beautiful simplicity and chastity of style. The
entrance-hall is protected by a hexastyle (six column) portico of that
singular Athenian order, which embellishes the door of the Tower of the
Winds. The roof is Venetian, with projecting eaves; and the wings are
surmounted by spacious glass lanterns, which light the upper rooms. The
buildings and offices are on a larger scale than any other in the park,
and correspond in style with the opulence of the noble owner. The
offices are spread out, like the villas of the ancients, upon the
ground-floor. Adjoining the front of the villa is a tent-like canopy,
surmounting a spacious apartment, set aside, we believe, for splendid
_dejeuné_ entertainments in the summer. This roof may be seen from
several parts of the park. The entrance lodge is particularly chaste,
the gates are in handsome park-like style; and the plantations and
ornamental gardens in equally good taste. The establishment is, as we
have said, the most extensive in the Regent's Park, and is in every
respect in correspondent taste with the beautiful Italian fronted town
residence of the noble marquess, opposite the Green Park, in
Piccadilly; and its luxurious comforts well alternate with the
fashionable hospitalities of Sudborne Hall, the veritable _country
seat_ of this distinguished nobleman.
The second engraving is another specimen of the Regent's Park villa
style. The order is handsome Doric; but much cannot be said in praise
of its adaptation to a suburban residence. It nevertheless adds the
charm of variety to the buildings that stud and encircle the park, and
intermingle with lawns and bowery walks with more prettiness than rural
character.
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