Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/819

 13EAU IDEAL OF AN ENGLISH VILLA. 795 the founder in the place of honour, over the fireplace, opposite the great door. Busts on pedestals, and statues, might be placed around it ; armour, I believe, would be out of keeping. There should be handsome chairs and benches of carved wood, ornamented with the family arms ; and marble tables on carved frames ; plain cloth curtains ; and lamps suspended from the roof. To these might be added a few of the articles above enumerated, such as the sporting implements, letter box, &c., for which the hall is the most convenient place. The floor should be uncovered, except, perhaps, in winter, when a few strips of India matting between the doors of the rooms would give it an appear- ance of comfort. It should be warmed with heated air and have a wood fire on particular occasions. In a hall of this kind there might be doors ad libitum, provided they were regularly placed. 1682. The Gallery. To return to our old English villa: having entered the porch door, you would cross the lower end of the hall to the opposite door, opening into the lower gallery, extending the whole length of the hall and dining-room, fifteen feet wide, and twelve feet high. Opposite the door by which you enter is a broad arch, through which appear the staircase, and the lower division of its painted window. The gallery windows are on the same side as the staircase ; at the end, on your right, is the saloon door ; and, at the opposite extremity, the door leading to the offices. The floor is of stone, like the hall, with a broad strip of India matting extending the whole length of the gallery. The walls might be painted of stone, or any sober colour, and be ornamented with the inferior pictures, and family portraits, and a few glazed prints. The ceiling might be either coved or plain. There might be a few ebony chairs and settees, with a table or two, against the side opposite the windows, which should have curtains, without draperies, of crimson cloth. At the end near the saloon door would stand the wood basket and coal scuttles ; and near the same a door might lead to the biUiard-rocm, a low building in the garden. This gallery would form a sort of promenade, and place of recreation for the children and young people in wet weather, and would be an ornamental appendage to the house : it should be warmed with hot air. The door (which should be of two leaves) at the end of the gallery should be in the centre of the side next the saloon, and should be handsome both in its proportions and decorations. 1683. The Saloon, which is generally a sort of vestibule to the living-rooms, might be in form either a square, a long parallelogram, an oval, or circle ; but a parallelogram of good proportions is the most usual form. In the present case, I will suppose the saloon of this last form. The door, by which you enter it, being in the centre of the side next the gaUery, in the centre of the end on your right would be the drawing-room door, also of two leaves : opposite to it, at the other end, should be a like door into the library. In the other side should be two windows, with a glass door between them, opening to the terrace and garden. As this arrangement of the doors would leave no proper place for a handsome chimney-piece, the room might be warmed with hot air (the best mode of heating it), or have a small fireplace on each side of the gallery door. As the saloon is often used as a music-room, we will suppose it to be so in the present case, and furnish it accordingly ; and, as it is generally rather a splendid apartment, I would attempt tc render it something of the kind in this instance. The walls I would divide into rich panels, in which might be some of the full-length portraits of the family, or which might be filled with fresco paintings upon the walls ; and the divisions between the panels should be painted with wreaths, including musical emblems. The doors should be of oak in frames, painted like the walls. Above a rich cornice, the ceiling should take the form of a half cove, leaving a compartment in the centre. In the coved part, over each door, might be painted groups of figures ; or the family arms might be introduced, surrounded by wreaths of flowers, musical instruments, &c. The corners also might be painted in the same style. In the centre of the middle compartment of the ceiling, from a rich boss, should be suspended a handsome lamp, and the boss might be surrounded by a group of figures. A warm fawn colour miglit be the ground of the whole painting, and a good deal of gilding might be introduced in the cor- nices and mouldings. A saloon requires but little furniture, and, when used as a music-room, should have none that is calculated to deaden sound. Modern ideas of comfort, however, make a carpet and curtains indispensable. The carpet should be of thin material, covering great part of the room, but showing about a yard all round it of the polished oak boards. It should, of course, be a bordered carpet ; the colour of the ground a shade of fawn ; the pattern chiefly shades of crimson. The curtains I would have of crimson watered silk, without draperies, supported by large rods of gilt brass, with handsome knobs. The chairs and seats should be without cusliions, and of rather a plain description, so as not to interfere with the splendid effect of the drawing-room. I would have the chairs of ebony, or an imitation ; and there are old carved ebony chairs which might be taken as a pattern. The seats might be of cane, gilt. I would have