Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/293

 EXTERIOR FINISHING OF COTTAGES. 269 houses escaped in this way from being plundered by the retreating French army, durin the preceding winter. In the Duke of Northumberland's house, 494 in the Strand, London, there is a gateway painted so exactly like the wall, as to deceive every body. Hinged shutters, when folded back, should be made fast in that position by the same bolt as that which fastens them when closed ; and the strongest bolt for this purpose is one in which the end is turned up so as to form the handle, and render riveting on the knob un- | necessary, fig. 494. The hinges used should be what are called set-back hinges, when it is wislied to make the shutters fit close to the windows when shut, and to throw them back close to the wall when open, as shown in fig. 495. Outside shutters might also be made to slide in grooves, in the manner which we shall notice when speaking of outside blinds. • Thus, outside shutters, which at first sight appear a deformity, may be converted into a source of beauty; for taste, like necessity, must bend to circumstances. The truth is, that the found- ation of aU taste, beyond that which is merely physical, lies in the mind ; and, as a writer in the New Monthly Magazine observes, " every man manufactures for himself bis own sub- limity and beauty." 554. Outside Blinds form both elegant and useful ornaments to windows. The mind is at once reconciled to them, from the idea which they convey of shading and protecting something delicate and refined within. Tlieir expression is the very opposite of that of commonplace window shutters, noble ratlier than mean ; and the reason is, because, in Britain at least, they are almost exclusively used in superior houses. They have not only the effect of shading the curtains, carpets, and other fur- niture in a room, from the direct rays of the sun, and so pre- serving their colours; but, by reflecting back the sun's rays, they keep the rooms cooler during summer, and also darker ; which last circumstance lessens the inducement for flies and other winged insects to intrude themselves. These outside blinds being only necessary during sunshine, various contrivances have been invented for putting them up in a compact form, during the night, or in cloudy weather ; and this circumstance has given rise to boxes with cornices, which are fitted to the upper parts of windows, and joined to narrow wooden facings, or architraves, which extend along the reveals down each side. These boxes and facings are always more or less ornamental ; and hence, even without blinds in them, they confer, when added to windows, a certain degree of dignity and beauty. All the diiferent kinds of outside window blinds may be included in three divisions ; viz., shutter blinds, Venetian blinds, and cloth or curtain blinds. 555. Shutter Blinds of the commonest kind, sometimes called folding Venetian blinds, are nothing more than outside shutters, opening in the middle, each shutter framed so as to form one panel, which is filled in with what are technically called luflTer boards (inclined boards placed one above another in an aperture, so as to admit air, without permitting the rain to penetrate). These luffer boards are either fixed, or turn on pivots in the styles of their frames ; their action, in the latter case, being like that of the common Venetian blinds. In shutter blinds, where the luflfer boards move (which is always the preferable plan, as by it the admission of light and air can be better regulated, the movement is eflfected by a lever handle fixed on one of the luffer boards. These boards might be placed vertically, instead of horizontally ; but the greater length required would render them liable to warp, and of course the shading would be imper- fect. Outside shutter blinds are generally hinged like outside window shutters, and fastened back against tlie wall like them, by bolts, or button fastenings ; but in veiy windy situations they are sometimes made to slide in grooves, which, as they are commonly made, are by no means ornamental ; but by disguising them as string- courses, or labels, and painting them of the same colour as the walls, they may be rendered architectural as well as useful. These blinds, when the luffer boarding is shut close, serve, during night, as a secure window-shutter. In situations much ex- posed to the sun and wind, we consider this description of blinds, either running in grooves with fixed luffer boarding, or hinged and furnished with bolts or other fastenings, superior to any of the kinds of hanging outside blinds about to be described. From