Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/970

 91-6 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. 1651 Design XXIII. — An Italian Villa on a considerable Scale. l&ll. 77ms Design has been furnished by Robert Mallet, Esq., an amateur Architect of great taste, and by this time well known to our readers by the designs for iron fur- niture, and by various scientific contrivances, some of the more remarkable of which remain to be described. All the general masses, and the principal features of the interior arrangement, are the work of Mr. Mallet ; but the architectural details and finishings are by E. B. Lamb, Esq., whose thorough knowledge of the Italian villa style is evinced by the details given as an appendage to this Design, and whose excellent taste in their display is conspicuous in his revision of Mr. Mallet's elevations. 1912. The Situation of this Villa, Mr. Mallet observes, should be on a rather rapid declivity facing the south-east, so as to give ample scope for forming, at comparatively small expense, those magnificent terraces which vary and dignify the Architecture of the Palladian era. The upper part of the declivity is supposed to be covered with wood, terminating in hills, and the lower part should display garden scenery and pastures, ter- minating in orchards and hop-grounds, beyond which may be a fertile valley, watered by an ample river. There are many such situations in Scotland and Wales, and a number also in England, particularly in the lake district. If the Duke of Devonshire's villa at Chatsworth were to be rebuilt on the same site, something in the style of this Design would be suitable to the situation. 1913. The General Appearance of this Villa is shown in figs. 1658 to 1660. 1914. This Villa should he lighted with Gas, by burners placed outside the windows, with parabolic reflectors, as has been done in some places in England. The exterior effect in a dark night, I am informed, is magnificent beyond description. By these means the heat and smell of the gas in the rooms is avoided, and the light, coming from one side, like that of day, is much more natural and agreeable. As windows are the apertures through which natural light is admitted, nothing can be more appropriate than their employment for the admission of artificial light. The burners, and reflectors, &c., should, of course, be removed during the day. 1915. Accommodation. Fig. 1652 is the ground plan, in which a is the avenue or approach road ; b, the entrance court, flagged with stones of irregular form, as in the streets of Florence and Pompeii, where the material is lava, here it might be granite ; c, situation of the house-porter's lodge, shown in fig. 1 653 ; d, hall ; e, gallery of paintings, &c. ; f, dining-room ; g, drawingroom ; h, library ; i, breakfast-room ; i, principal staircase ; /, lobby and water-closet ; m, ante-room ; n, boudoir ; o, ladies' private room ; p, family bed-room ; </, lady's maid's room ; r, nursery ; s, dressing-room ; t, children's play-room ; u, butler's pantry ; v, plate-closet ; w, pantry ; x, housekeeper's room ; j/, dry larder ; z, stairs from the basement to the oflSces on the ground floor ; a', kitchen lighted from the north ; b', scullery ; c, servants' hall ; d', covered passage from the scullery to the laundry ; e', laundry ; /'/', porticoes, or temples provided with terraced seats, and decorated with sculpture ; g' g', colonnades to the hall, &c., forming an uninterrupted covered way for servants ; h', portico ; i', conservatory ; k', aviary ; I', corridor ; m', portico ; w', parterre ; o', museum, ball-room, chapel, or billiard-room ; p', first terrace eight feet lower than the entrance court, b ; q', second terrace fifteen feet lower than the first, with a covered colonnade for walking under in wet weather ; r', third terrace, with a carriage approach, laid in grass ; s', grass lawn ; ^, situation of stables, shown in fig. 1653; u', terrace seats; v', open area to light and ventilate the passages to the oflSces ; w', these passages ; and x', fountain. The chamber plan may be easily conceived.