Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/888

 864- COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA AUCHITECTUliE. 1525 1527 1526 lidJ. VJ_L tU-izl 1528 1529 _r: r' "Jj^: t -^ ] I ^^ ^1 J^ 1 rri 1 r^ rr ■ fi, I, 1 .__ 1 -IHiH) the flat over the library, Sec, may be laid with tessellated pavement, or with the ornamental quarries, or paving tiles, of Mr. Wright of Shelton, near Newcastle under Line, Staf- fordshire ; of which we shall give some account, accompanied by figures, when treating of the finishing and fitting up of villas. The vases at the front and at the garden entrances are to be of baked earth or artificial stone, and the statues either of artificial stone or of marble. If the cost of the latter material be objected to, terra cotta or Austen's artificial stone may be employed, as both are of moderate expense, and stand well in the open air. Should it be preferred, however, vases of a larger size than those near the entrance, and of a different form, may be substituted for statues. The small vases on the piers of the balus- trading are to be of baked earth ; the sculpture group in the centre of the elevation is to be of stone ; and the latticework of the portico of wood, painted stone colour. Tlie piers, &c., of the upper walls are to project four inches and a half; and all the semi- circular-headed openings are to have architraves round them. The iron railing of the terrace is to be according to fig. 1530, to a scale of one inch to a foot, though a plainer sort is shown in the elevations, in order to prevent confusion in the drawing. 1786. To render the Villa fire-proof, various plans may be adopted. We shall first describe one suggested by Mr. Varden, and shall afterwards give some others. 1787. Mr. Varden's Plan. " It appears probable that common fir or oak joists with their lower edges chamfered, and coated over with a mixture of alum, black lead, clay, and lime, or some similar composition, would (if closely floored above with earthenware tiles, bedded all round into the plastering, the joists being made air-tight) resist the action of flames, at least for a considerable time. Fire could not descend through such a flooring so as to communicate with the rooms below, till the tiles used in it had become red hot ; neither could it ascend until the tiled floor above gave way from the burning of the joists ; which, if coated as proposed, would not take fire from below, till the tiling over them acquired a sufficient heat to cause the distillation of the turpentine from the wood. In general, there is not furniture enough of a combustible nature in any room to do this. The battening against the outer walls might be of larch, as that wood burns less freely than most others ; but if the walls were brick, or lined with brick, battening of any kind will be unnecessary. If this plan should be thought likely to answer the end proposed, houses built in the common manner might be altered at a moderate expense, by taking up the