Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/927

 VILLAS IN VARIOUS STYLES. 903 four feet by nineteen feet, exclusive of the bay, five feet deep, and of the entrance recess, eight feet two inches in depth. Behind the library, and beyond the dining- room, is the back staircase, I, from which access is obtained to the vestibule, through the other staircase. Adjoining I are the butler's pantr)-, m, and his bed-room, n. The height of the rooms on this floor is fourteen feet six inches. 1SS9. Plan of the Basement Story, fig. 1591. Either descending the back staircase, or entering by the door seen in the east elevation, fig. 1589, there is, first, a small lobby, n, lighted by the window over the door, those on the staircase, and one, at some distance from the floor, in m. Next comes b, the housekeeper's room, with a store-closet, c. Both these are under the dining-room ; and the first has a bay window, with a side light, through which whoever comes to the private entrance may be observed. The servants' hall, d, is under the morning room, and con- tiguous to the stairs at the extremity of the passage, e, which lead directly up to the inner porch and vestibule. By means of this staircase some light is admitted into the passage at this end of it; and, besides what it receives from a, and through the window in in, it obtains some from the window (near the ceiling) in c, and from the servants' hall, the door of which is glazed with ground glass. The letters f, g, and h indicate three cellars ; viz. for coals, wine, and beer ; i and I are pantries ; k, the kitchen ; and m, a scullery, or back kitchen, opening into the kitchen court, Ti, where there might be an additional place for coals and wood, for the service of the kitchen, &c., and for whatever further accommodation and convenience should be found necessarj', as the extent of this court would be ad Uhitum. Since it will be hardly necessary to advert again to this plan, we may as well make here, at once, the few observations that seem called for. The kitchen and scullery, being towards a spacious court to the north, would be as well situated as if they were entirely above ground ; whUe no inconvenience would be experienced from their present position, as their windows are in another side of the house from that in which is the bay of the library ; neither are there any windows or areas beneath the drawingroom windows. The house- keeper's room is well situated for observing all that goes on below stairs, being placed near the entrance and back staircase, and between the kitchen and ser-ants' hall. Although, too, the door of her room directly faces that of the kitchen, yet, owing to the plan of the latter, the view into it would not be so direct as to prove awkward or dis- agreeable. The servants' hall is equally advantageously placed for immediate access to the vestibule, and, consequently, to any of the rooms, by means of the stairs leading up from that end of the passage. Were it not for these stairs, the servants would have to traverse the whole length of the passage, pass up the back stairs, and then returr again through the other staircase and vestibule, in order to reach the en- trance door, or the drawingrooms. It is hardly necessarj', then, to point out the convenience of having a coal-cellar immediately by these stairs. 1840. The Chamber Floor, fig. 1592. On this floor there are five principal bed-chambers, with as many dressing- rooms, or at least di-essing-closets, at- tached to them, and instead of opening directly into a common corridor, each separate apartment has its own lobby, whereby greater privacy and quiet are secured. Instead, too, of forming a 1592