STABLE COURT^ AXD OFFICES. 17 



house^ it is better to witlidi-aTT it into some secondary 

 position^ and to mould it more in confonnity with its 

 main pm'pose^ than for architectural display. In such 

 cases^ it perhaps ought to be at once removed into the 

 general flower-garden; but before doing so, a place 

 should be sought for it in. the di-essed gi'oimds in the 

 vicinity of the mansion-house, where it may be decorated 

 with terraces and other ornaments, while it is treated 

 directly as a glass-house for plants, with internal aiTange- 

 ments as above indicated. Wood and iron are generally 

 employed for the frame-work of such houses, as they 

 combine strength and lightness in a higher degree than 

 any other materials. Stone pilasters of slender propor- 

 tions may be introduced, to give a somewhat architec- 

 tiu-al ail' to the structure. The glass which is used for 

 the sashes shoidd be good, and free from impurities and 

 irregularities, in large squares, or in panes, long at least, 

 if not broad, for nothing connected with plant-houses 

 produces so mean and slovenly an effect as short panes 

 of glass T\ith a multitude of overlaps. 



Stable Court, and Offices. — The stables and their 

 appendages may form a suitable part of the mansion- 

 house gi'oup of buildings where the latter are not below 

 the mediimi size ; but when circumstances do not permit 

 tliis arrangement, I would recommend for them a dry, 

 sunny, airy situation, commanding a good supply of 

 water, at a medium distance fr'om the house, but certainly 

 not in a prominent position in the gi'ounds. Scarcely 

 anything is m worse taste than a large rectangular 

 building, with its huge coach-house gates, central pedi- 

 ment, and a steeple or tower, composing together a stai-ing 

 object in the park, and competing with the mansion- 

 house itself. Stables of this description are not uncom- 



