Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/806

 78^ COTIAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCIIITECTURE. serve to attract the eye towards a centre, and to form a whole ; this whole, liowever, depends a good deal on the exterior scenery. Fig. 1415. Considerable variety of form, disposition, and outline; and the idea of a whole produced by the central round tower, and its spire-like termination. Fig. 1416. Great variety in disposition, and the group completed by an elevated rectangular tower, terminating in a smaller division of the same with pinnacles. Fig. 1417. A still greater variety of form and disposition, finely scattered over an irregular surface, and the unity of the whole maintained by an elevated central column. Fig. 1418. An extensive habitable-looking assemblage of grand forms. The character is decidedly grand from the breadth ; but the idea of a whole less complete than in the preceding and following vignettes, from the want of a central elevated pro- jection, or tower. This very want, by rendering the edifice less measurable by the eye, contributes to its grandeur. 1663. Whatever may be the Style of Architecture adopted for a Villa, and whether the general form of the house be symmetrical or irregular, there are three points which require the particular attention of the Architect: these are, the porch, or portico; the colonnade, arcade, or veranda ; and the chimney-tops. We can hardly conceive a country- house, of any beauty, in -which considerable attention has not been paid to these three requisites, so as to render them prominent featmcs in the dwelling. 1 664. A Porch, or Portico, can never be dispensed with in a country-house ; because independently of its real utility in protecting the door and entrance, it serves to point out that part of the house to a stranger, to lend importance to it, and to affoi-d an opportunity of architectural display. The porch, or portico, is, indeed, in a great measure, a characteristic of a country-house, since it is not generally found in ordinary street- Architecture ; and, where it does occur, it indicates a superior description of dwelling : whereas, the humblest cottage in the country has, or ought to have, its porch. Porches, then, being comparatively indispensable in the country, and as, in order to enhance the interest of any class of buildings, it is desirable to take advantage of every circum- stance which can add to their distinctive character, this is another argument why the porch should never be omitted. Where a carriage is kept, we think the porch, or portico, ought always to be of sufficient dimensions to admit of driving under. 1665. Colonnades, Verandas, and Arcades, though not so essential to a country-house as the portico, or porch, are yet so characteristic of a dwelling in the country, that we think one or other of them should very seldom be omitted. They are not only cal- culated to be useful, as connecting passages between one point and another ; but as places of shelter and protection for walking in during inclement weather, or for sitting in during hot sunshine. At all events, even if they were of less use than they are, they are so ornamental, and such evidences of elegant enjoyment, that we woidd rather court an opportunity of introducing them, even if they were of little or no use, than forego their effect in an architectural group. Every style of Architecture admits of its particular character of arcade or veranda ; and the forms of the supports, the roofs, the parapets, and the openings between the supports, admit of endless variety of form and decoration. A Grecian house in the coimtry, without a portico or a colonnade, is one of the most dreary of architectural elevations, and is calculated to, call up any associations ratlier than those which belong to the Tusculan villa of Pliny, which " had a spacious portico, a porch built after the ancients, a second portico, and an enclosed portico." But it is frequently contended, a judicious critic observes, that the Roman portico is but ill adapted to our climate ; and that colonnades and porticoes, so delightful beneath the sunny skies of Greece and Italy, are, in this country, at best but beautiful and costly absurdities, in which propriety and comfort are sacrificed to display. It is urged, that, however tasteful they are considered as mere decorations, the application of them, in modern Architecture, is at variance with one of the first principles of correct taste ; namely, that nothing can be essentially beautifid that is misplaced and misapplied. That the colonnade was admirably adapted to the latitude of Greece and Italy, no one can dispute ; but, surely, it does not thence follow, as our objectors would have us infer, that it is worse than useless in our island. As well might these critics say, that an umbrella is excellently contrived to serve as a screen against the rays of a tropical sun ; its very name indicates its destination ; and, consequently, that it is highly absurd to use it for any other purpose than as a parasol. Those who inveigh against the applica- tion of the colonnade, as a mere architectural luxury, at once expensive and inconvenient, appear not only to forget that the sun does sometimes actually unveil his face to us, and that shade is desirable during some portion of the year, even in this formidable climate of ours ; but, also, to forget that what, in a hot climate, is adopted for the sake of shade, may here, with equal propriety, be employed for the purpose of shelter. Neither do they consider that we can derive both advant.ages from it : shade in summer, when the sun is high j and shelter in winter, when that luminary is too low in the horizon for the