Page:Architectural Record 1920-08 Vol 48 Iss 2.djvu/28

 THE ARCHITECTURAL RECORD.

out in the general layout, besides the complete adaptation of the plan to natural conditions that was mentioned above, the very interesting solution of the division of spaces. It is not simply a pleasant combination of garden architecture forms; it has also the quality of the well-planned industrial plant where each process of fabrication is in the right relation to the preceding and succeeding processes. There are some spaces for sitting (the upper terrace and the lower garden); spaces for walking (the green walk, the pleached walk) ; spaces for working; and each of these in the proper place and with the special character it deserves. The terrace, for instance, is the logical extension outdoors of the living room. The green walk takes one through ever-changing aspects.

The greatest pleasure will be found in discovering in these features, which at first seem to have been adopted without thought, a clever adaptation of the great principles of design; in realizing that this architecture, which owes so little to precedents, is true to the best traditions of art; in finding the soul of our art in- stead of the cast-off clothing of former time.

It would be an interesting study to analyze the methods by which the archi-

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tects secure in modern work the charm of these old European country houses, so unpretentious that they seem without architectural merit to the casual observer, even though he be impressed by a pecu- liar quality not found in more elaborate buildings. Superticial students dismiss the whole question by ascribing this subtle quality they cannot otherwise explain to the fact that the buildings are old. Age has indeed a mellowing influence on buildings which cannot be overestimated It gives the roofs those undulating sur- faces which blend their lines with those of the distant hills. It stains the walls and clothes them with ivy. It brings ad- ditions and alterations to the original scheme that are a new and unexpected note. It is not, however, the sole cause that makes the tourist deem worthy of a snapshot a farm courtyard and its ram bling buildings, a manor in Normandy or a peasant’s house in an Italian village There are other reasons, and in their re search Messrs. Mellor, Meigs and Howe have gone much further than most of the men I know. It is to be hoped that they will some time make the result of their studies available not only by its applica- tion to such work as the hillside house here illustrated, but in a didactic form, for the benefit of the profession.