252 LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



largest room in the house, the light for this room and the views from its 

 windows may well be first considered, and the shape and arrangement 

 of the house modified to make them as good as possible. 



The service quarters should have ample light and air, but they 

 should not block the light or the view from the living portions of the 

 house. This brings about the common arrangement of the service 

 quarters as an "L," projecting usually from the northeast corner of 

 the house. If the house is large enough, and the style of architecture 

 permits, this "L" may run off at an angle of forty-five degrees. It 

 may thus relate diagonally to the main mass of the house, just as the 

 outdoor service areas, and the planting or other screens of the main 

 view, often will be found to relate, as we shall see. However, it will 

 often be impossible to avoid having the service wing make one 

 boundary of some desirable view, or of some area which is used 

 by the owner and not by the servants. Under these circumstances 

 it will usually be possible to have only high windows on the side of 

 the service wing which lies next to the important view, or otherwise 

 to make the service wing as inconspicuous and as little intrusive as 

 possible. It is often better to use the area thus partly inclosed by the 

 service wing as a forecourt, or in some such way devote it to access 

 and traffic, rather than to use it for any purpose which devotes it for 

 considerable lengths of time to purposes of rest or leisurely enjoyment. 



In designing a house the architect usually first considers what size 

 and shape and arrangement of rooms will be necessary to provide 

 the client, inside of the amount of money which the client can spend for 

 his house, with the living conveniences which he desires, suited to the 

 climate of the region and the particular exposure of the house. Often 

 the practical solution of this problem will produce a house of a certain 

 general shape and size, irrespective of any other consideration, and 

 perhaps the shape and size so determined must be accepted, no matter 

 what other considerations there may be. There are, however, a 

 number of other factors which ought distinctly to motive the choice 

 of the shape of the house. The house is only one unit among many in 

 the design, even though it is usually the dominant unit. And in the 

 choice of its form, the architect should consider the whole composition 

 of which the house forms a part, which includes, also, the trees around 



