Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/813

 PRINCIPLES FOR DESIGNING VILLAS. 1434 789 and a stranger is puzzled and confounded by finding a stream and a small waterfall supplying a lake on what he conceives to be the highest point of high ground. 1672. The Scenery of the Valley of Alton Towers is not here presented as a model for inoitation : on the contrary, we consider the greater part of it in excessively bad taste, or rather, perhaps, as the work of a morbid imagination, joined to the command of unlimited i-esources. Still, however, there are many excellent things in it, and both the good and the bad well deserve the attentive study of the young Architect. Indeed, wc know no place in Britain, and only the Isola Bella on the Continent, capable of affording, both by faults and beauties, so much instruction to the young artist. We say faults, as well as beauties, since we are of opinion that the study of the former, in order to trace the causes which have produced them, may be quite as useful to the student as that of the latter. The house at Alton Towers is a magnificent pile of castellated and abbey Archi- tecture ; and the gallery of armour, the picture gallery, and the conservatory, are in a high degree extensive and splendid. A more detailed description of Alton Towers, illustrated by numerous engravings, will be found in the Gardener's Magazine, vols. vii. and ix. 1673. The Architect who intends also to he Landscape- Gardener should begin by pass- ing a year in a botanic garden, or in such a garden as those of the London or Caledonian Horticultural Societies, in order to acquire a correct knowledge of the names, heights, characteristic forms, and colour of foliage of all the trees and shrubs which will stand the open air in this country ; and of some of the principal families of herbaceous plants. To do this effectually, he ought to make a distinct sketch of one individual of every species and variety of tree and shrub ; and at the same time he ought to make other sketches combining different species and varieties in groups. By reading, he will become acquainted with the native countries of trees, and with the associations connected with them, as to soil, character of surface, &c. For example, certain trees, such as willows, alders, &c., always growing in low moist situations, are associated with the idea of damp, and should never be planted near a house, or where it is intended to convey tht idea of dryness. The time thus spent would also familiarise him with the routine practices of gardening, and with the construction and uses of hot-houses and other garden buildings, to such an extent as to enable him to profit from afterwards reading gardening books ; and thus, by thoroughly understanding the uses of garden structures, to be able to improve them. One year thus employed by a youth of seventeen or eighteen, who had previously received a scientific education, and was accurate and expert in sketching from nature, would form his elementary instruction in landscape-gardening. Let him then be put under an Architect whose practice lies chiefly in the country ; and, after acquiring a thorough knowledge of architectural drawing in all its departments, and makirig himself master of all the best books on the subjects both of Architecture and landscape-gardening, let him endeavour to become an assistant to a Villa Architect. AMiile in this capacity, let him lose no opportunity of sketching landscapes containing villas and garden scenery, from nature ; and at the same time let him refresh liis memory from time to time with the names of trees and shrubs, and their characteristic forms and modes of growth. By such a course of study and practice, a young man who has a natural genius for the arts of design (and no other shoidd attempt the villa department of Architecture) will acquire a sufficient knowledge of landscape-gardening to enable him to lay out grounds, with the same assistance from the kitchen-gardener, as he receives, in designing and estimating a house, from the builder. One thing, however, is essential, and, without it, all the other acquirements are insufficient for enabling any young man to join the tvv'o arts ; and that is, a thorough knowledge of perspective, joined to a great facility in sketching every description of object, more especially landscape and architec- tural scenery, from nature. If there is one test rather than another by which the taste or no taste of an Architect can be detected with certainty (always supposing that he is master of the mechanical rules of the art), it is the degi-ee of perfection which he has attained in sketching general scenery.