Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/195

 1868.] Monthly Review. 167 while their mass must certainly come from the Italian, their structure and de- coration must surely be derived from the Gothic. The oriel or bay-window must not be omitted ; but that is already Gothic. There would be no great diffi- culty in devising every part of the build- ing — save the roof, which must be " pointed" to shed the snow— inside the Tudor Gothic, sometimes, not very hap- pily, we think, designated "debased." It occurs to us, that, in the balconies, open galleries, loggias and balustrades generally, A r ery good and congruous effects may be obtained by simply in- verting some varieties of Tudor tracery. This general treatment would leave all the ceilings, excepting those of the upper story, either flat or comparatively so, and, with corresponding windows and doors, would thus render the build- ing fitter for seeiDg, hearing, warming and ventilating. Whatever we may feel about its lofty beauty, the pointed Gothic ceiling in domestic architecture, is only adapte^ to a summer state apartment, off to one side of the house, to which the other tiers of rooms would be but as entresols, or to a summer library. It is on account of modern civilization requiring com- parative lowness of stories and square- ness in the cross-sections of ceilings, that the Pallaclian has grown to be such an universal favorite. The Northwestern States have win- ters of severe cold and plentj' of snow, but of great equableness ; and, on the latter account, are as free from the great scourge, consumption, as the North- eastern States are subject to it. Hence, the trans-Mississippi plateau needs also the peaked roof. In fact, this region, where the mercury is frequently below zero as late as March and as early as November, wants much greater provi- sion against the cold, than facility for any summer life al fresco, yet the thermometer in July frequently marks 96 degrees. The Lake-shore States, in the long run, require much the same arrangements for domestic comfort as the Middle States. The whole of both divisions, along with all the Southern and South- western States, are best suited in full Italian designs, with, proportionate^, more compactness and less provision for out-door life, in the two former, and the reversal of these conditions in the two latter. The general climate of Califor- nia asks for the Pallaclian, and that of Oregon and Washington for the Pointed, which will doubtless, also, be indispen- sable in many points of Alaska. Thus it will be seen, that, while the Pointed is our frequent refuge, our abiding stronghold is the Palladian It is the chief charm of this altogether charming style, that it impresses us most, in the most commanding positions, being both for, and of, the landscape, or, well-placed, one of the best points to grasp a prospect, or to include in one. The Gothic, on the contrary, accords best with lower and more sequestered situations, and this, even in its most imposing development, the minster. So constantly was this carried out, so well is it understood, that Bj r ron, from fact, introduced it effectively in the descrip- tion of his own ancestral home, Newstead Abbey : "An old, old monastery once, and now Still older mansion, of a rich and rare Mixed Gothic, such as artists all allow Few specimens are left us to compare Withal: it lies a little low, Because the monks preferred a hill behind, To shelter their devotion from the wind." However snug the harbor of the dell may be, we want a form not only for the broad valley and the hill-side, but well- adapted to the open rolling plains, where- on must always dwell the multitudes of mankind ; and hence it is, that, for a home — weighing all the wants of enlight- ened man, throughout the world — the Palladian style must be upheld, as, beyond all cavil, the most beautiful, the most agreeable, the most commodious, the most comfoi'table, and, therefore, the best. Proceeding from the requirements