Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/829

 BEAU IDEAL OF AN ENGLISH VILLA. bO.5 hang on a roller near it. A small leaden box, with holes in the bottom, might be fixed in a corner of the washing-place, to contain the soap. I would on every account encourage cleanliness among the servants ; and they would have no excuse for being dirty, if proper conveniences for washing were provided. 1704. The Knife and Shoe Cleaning Place should not be far distant from the servants' hall ; and would, of course, contain the necessary conveniences for cleaning knives and shoes, which it is unnecessary to describe. 1705. The Kitchen is one of the most important offices in a house; and is often, in large residences, a very handsome apartment. I remember to have seen one, at a nobleman's house in Warwickshire, which struck me particularly. The kitchen, scullery, larder, &c., formed a range of building on one side of the kitchen-court, separate from the house, but there was a covered way betvv^een them. The building was of two stories, the kitchen occupying the centre. It was a large lofty room, of good proportions, as high as two stories of the building. You entered it at one end, by large folding-doors, from a passage through the building; at the opposite end was the fireplace with the screen before it ; on one side of which was the door to the scullery and bakehouse, on the other side a range of set coppers of different sizes. On one side of the room were two rows of windows, and under the lower row a range of charcoal stoves and hot plates : the latter to keep things warm. The other side had only the upper row of windows, and against the wall was a dresser, above which the copper cooking utensils, &c., were ranged in a very orna- mental way. A long table was in the centre of the room, and over the door a dial-clock. The ceiling had a very handsome cornice, and a boss in the centre, from which hung a brass lamp. Opposite the entrance door, another door admitted you to a passage, on one side of which were the larders, on the other salting-rooms, &c. ; and at the end a staircase led to the cook's apartments over. There was a sort of turret on the centre of the roof, contain- ing a capital clock, which struck upon the dinner bell. The other offices were in the base- ment story of the mansion, and the kitchen was detached, to prevent the annoyance of the smell of cooking, which commonly ascends from a kitchen beneath the house. I thought the arrangement particularly convenient, and the kitchen was really an elegant apart- ment. As, in a large establishment, there is cooking going on through the whole day, it is of importance to the comfort of the family, to place the kitchen in such a situation that the smell of cooking, which is particularly offensive, may not be an annoyance to the principal apartments. A house with the kitchen in the basement story is generally subject to this inconvenience, and it is usually avoided by having the kitchen and offices in a separate building adjoining the house. Underground offices are also dark and uncomfortable ; and, in a country-house of any consequence, it may always be contrived to have them above ground. The kitchen described will give an idea of the principal requisites in this office, and I am not able to enter into the details. A kitchen should always be a light airy room, with the windows, if possible, looking north or east ; and in no case west, where all the windows are on one side. 1 706. The Scidkry. The kitchen should open into the scullery, in which the dishes, &c., are washed, and all the dirty work done. I suppose it should contain proper sinks, a fireplace, a small brick oven and a large oven, if the bread be baked there ; coppers for heating water for the use of the kitchen-maid ; dressers and tables ; plate-racks, shelves for saucepans, &c. ; and it should be well supplied with water. It would be con- venient that the scullery should have a door opening into the kitchen-court near to the coal place, to which there should be a covered way. In the houses of great personages, where a service of plate is in constant use, I believe there is commonly an office called the silver scullery, in which the plate is washed ; but I am not able to describe its requisites ; and it would be unnecessary in a villa of the second class. 1707. The Larders should be placed close to the kitchen. There are usually four offices of this kind in great houses ; viz. the wet and dry larders (the former for un- dressed, the latter for cold meat), a game larder, and a pastry. In ordinary gentle- men's residences, a wet and a dry larder would be sufficient; to which, in the case of a large family, a small pastry might be added. Both larders should have windows, at least, on two opposite sides, and should be cool and dry. The windows should be covered with wirecloth, to exclude flies and insects ; the dry larder having glass windows inside, to be shut when the weather requires it. I once saw a very pretty convenient larder, which was used only foi game, but it would be a good model for an ordinary wet larder. It was built out from the wall of the kitchen, in the form of an octagon, having windows on every side, except that formed by the kitchen wall, and in this was the door. The roof projected over the windows, to protect them from the sun and rain. The ceiling in the interior was coved, and from the centre hung an octagon rack with hooks for the smaller birds all ranged in order ; and round the wall was another rack for pheasants, hares, rabbits, &c. A common wet larder might be built in this form, in which the meat might hang on the rack in the centre, with the chopping-block under.