Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/788

 76i COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. jicrmanent ; and the other such as are accidental, or lial)le to vary from temporary causes. The permanent considerations inchide climate, elevation, surface, aspect, soil, water, and the sea ; and tlic temporary or accidental circumstances are chiefly its locality, present state, prospective improvement, and the personal peculiarities of the intended possessor. 1625. Cliiu'ite is, perhajjs, the most important of the permanent circumstances which • etjuire to be kej)! in view in fixing on the situation of a villa ; because it is less subject to human improvement than any other. In every country of any extent, the climate differs in different parts of it, and the popular divisions may be stated to be, the cold, the warm, and the moist. The last is vmquestionably the least desirable ; because it admits of least amendment by human means. The cold climate, provided it be dry, is often one of the healthiest ; and it njay always be improved by planting to afford shelter, and by increasing the di-yncss of the soil by draining. The warm climate, if it be dry, is always agreeable ; and if the heat be intense during summer, it can be readily moder- ated by the shade of trees. A wet climate can scarcely be improved ; it must necessarily be unhealthy compared with a dry one, on account of the moisture with which the atmosphere is always charged ; and it precludes the exercise of the greatest of rural improvements, the surrounding the house with plantations. All other circumstances, therefore, being suitable, a dry warm climate must always be the best for a villa residence. 1626. Elevation is, in our opinion, the next most important circumstance to climate, though some may assign the second place to the character of the surface. The great advantage of elevation is, that it gives a command of prospect, without which a villa may be beautiful, picturesque, or romantic ; but it never can be dignified or grand, and scarcely even elegant or graceful. The term elevation must always be considered as relative ; and not to be determined by measurement. In a flat country, a knoll of 100 feet in height, by raising the ground floor of the house above the level of the tops of the highest trees in the surrounding plain, will allow the eye to range over an exten- sive distance ; to catch a view, in all probability, of some river or stream ; and, in a cultivated country, to command towns, villages, farms, and human dwellings. On the other hand, where the vhole surface of a country is hilly, he that prefers elevation must fix on a hill somewhat higher than those by which it is surrounded, so as, at all events, to look over some of thein. It is not necessary to dignity of effect and variety of pro- spect, that a house in a hilly country should enjoy such extensive views as a house in a plain ; because, in the former case, the variations of the surface produce that expression in the landscape which in the flat country is unknown, and but faintly compensated for by the movement of the clouds, and other atmospherical changes. In every countrj-, however, there is a limitation to the height at which it is desirable to build dwelling- houses ; and this limitation is clearly determined by the growth of the princijial timber trees of the country, indigenous or acclimatised, and the ripening of the hardy fruits. In other words, it is determined by the capacities of the situation for gardening. Whenever a situation is so hign that trees will not attain sufficient dimensions to shelter the house, or fruit not ripen on the garden walls, it ought to be abandoned, unless a better one cannot be found. 1627. T/te Character of the Surface on which to build a villa is the next consideration, and is also one of great importance. A surface may be uniformly liilly, or irre- gularly so; and may consist of ridges and valleys, or of ridges on the sides of hills, rising above each other, without valleys. The variety, in short, is so gi'eat, that it can scarcely be classified with sufficient distinctness. It is hardly possible, however, to conceive a hilly surface in which excellent situations may not be foimd for setting down a villa. Perhaps one of the most desirable is, where a prominent knoll stands forward from a lengthened irregular ridge ; and where the latter has a valley with a river in front, and higher hills rising one above another behind. One of the worst is, perhaps, the steep uniform side of a high hill, closely surrounded by oilier hills equally high and stcc)). On the whole, it may be observed, that though an irregular surface affords the greatest variety of excellent situations for building on, yet, at the same time, it is one in which the inex- jierienced are likely to commit the greatest erroi-s ; and one, also, respecting which it is more difficult to lay down general rules than any other. 1628. Aspirt is next in the order of importance. There are some considerations respecting aspect which a])))ly to every country ; and others to jiarticular countries, or districts of country only. Nothing in the Architecture or ajipendages of a house can com- jiensate for its being set down on the north side of a liigh hill or ridge; where it is pre- cluded from partaking of the direct influence of the sim during three or four months of the year. In most countries, there is some point of the compass from which rain and storms are more fVequenl than any other ; and to set down a house in such a manner as to be exjiosed to these lenijiests is evidently injudicious. An aspect exjiosed to high