Choice of a Site for Building 



27 



have chosen such a site as this from the idea 

 that they would be protected from the north 

 wind, utterly forgetful of the fact, that not 

 only would the site of the house be exposed 

 to all the drainage-water of the hill above, 

 but that chimneys would smoke in nearly 

 every high wind that blew, from its being ' 

 drawn down or deflected from the surface of 

 the rising ground behind the house. 



It is to be noted that while attention is to 

 be paid to the general aspect of the site, the 

 special aspect of the house which occupies it 

 must not be overlooked. The site in its gene- 

 ral features may be admirable, it may com- 

 mand the finest view, take in the grand aspect 

 of forest and mountain, or the quieter points 

 of river, lake, or rural scenery ; it may occupy 

 the healthiest position, and yet many of the 

 advantages may be lost by not paying atten- 

 tion to the peculiar position of the house or 

 the ground actually occupied by it. It is not 

 enough to have a good site, then; it is neces- 

 sary also to place the house upon that site 

 in the best position. We have seen a house 

 placed so that all the advantages of a fine 

 view which the site commanded are utterly lost ; 

 or so placed that all the cheerfulness was ex- 

 cluded, all the gloominess secured. A little 

 forethought would have avoided all this. Of 

 all the aspects which can be given to a house 

 the south-east is the best—/, c, the best aspect 

 for the rooms which are most frequently occu- 

 pied in the day-time. This aspect is not 

 only the most cheerful, but it is the healthiest; 

 healthy because cheerful ; inasmuch as the 

 cheerfulness is derived mainly from the large 

 amount of light secured by the aspect ; and 

 light, or rather plenty of it, is perhaps one of 

 the things most conducive to health. But 

 while the south-east is as a rule secured as 

 the aspect of the majority of the windows of 

 the house, it will conduce much to the 

 pleasure of its occupancy, if one at least of 

 the living or entertaining rooms be provided 

 Avith a window or windows having a due 

 western aspect. This is by no means so dif- 

 ficult a thing to attain as one might suppose ; 

 a very little consideration in the planning of 

 a house will secure it, and it is worthy of 

 being secured even by a good deal of considera- 



tion, if that was demanded. For the after- 

 noon aspect of a house, which this western 

 look-out will secure, is perhaps as important 

 as a morning one, perhaps more so, as busi- 

 ness and the cares and labours of the day give 

 place to the rest and repose of the evening, 

 when good aspect can best be enjoyed; and 

 there is perhaps nothing more enjoyable than 

 the look-out from a sofa or an easy chair 

 upon all the glories of the evening western 

 sky, with its golden sunset, or its shade of 

 clouds. Aspect and prospect are too often 

 confounded, treated of, and considered as. 

 synonymous terms, but they are not so — they 

 mean indeed very difi"erent things. What 

 they do mean, and what are the considera- 

 tions involved in them, the following remarks 

 by Mr. Repton convey much, and con- 

 veying much, are therefore worthy of a place 

 here : — 



" Nothing is more common than for tliose who in- 

 tend to build to consult many advisers and collect 

 different plans, from which they suppose it possible to 

 make one perfect whole ; but they might as well ex- 

 pect to make an epic poem by selecting detached 

 verses from the works of different poets. Others take 

 a plan, and fancy it may be adapted to any situation, 

 but, in reality, the plan must be made, not only to 

 suit the spot, but it ought actually to be made on 

 the spot, that every door and window may be adapted 

 to the aspects and prospects of the situation. It was. 

 a remark of my venerable friend Mr Carr of York, 

 after four score years of experience as an architect,, 

 that to build a house we had only to provide all that, 

 was wanted aiad no more, than to place the best rooms 

 to the best aspects and the best views. Simple as this 

 apothegm may appear, it contains more truth in theory 

 and more difficulty in practice than all the rules that 

 have ever been laid down in books by architects, or 

 the remarks of all the admirers of rural scenery with 

 whom I have conversed. The former never think of 

 aspects, and the latter think of nothing but prospects. 

 I will therefore beg leave to enlarge upon these two 

 subjects. 



"I consider the aspect of infinitely more conse- 

 quence to the enjoyment and comfort of the inhabitant 

 than any prospect whatever ; and e\-ery common ob- 

 server must be convinced that in this climate a 

 southern aspect is most desirable, but few are aware of 

 the total difference in the effect of turning the front of 

 the house a few points to the east or to the west of the 

 south, because, although the south-east is the best, 

 yet the south-west is the worst of all possible aspects, 

 for this reason, that all blustering winds and driving 

 rains come from the south-west, and consequently the 



