412 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR 



ments run round the back of it, the windows of which look upon 

 the entrance to the villa, and into a pleasant kitchen-garden. 

 From thence an enclosed portico extends, which, by its great 

 length, you might suppose erected for the use of the public. It 

 has a range of windows on each side, *""* on that which looks 

 towards the sea they are double the number of those next the 

 garden. Before this portico lies a terrace, perfumed with violets. 

 On the upper end of the terrace and portico stands a detached 

 building in the garden, which I call my favourite ; and, indeed, 

 it is particularly so, having been erected by myself. It contains 

 a very warm winter room, one side of which looks upon the 

 terrace, the other has a view of the sea, and both lie exposed 



kind of architecture ; and there are some also in Germany and 

 Italy. In the thirteenth century the Gothic style was used aa 

 much in private as in monumental or public architecture. In 

 the town of St. Yrieix there is a very fine house built in this 

 style ; and others are found at Montpazier, in the department of 

 the Dordogne. Rural constructions, farms, and granges arc- 

 found at Meslay in Touraine, and near Coulommiers. Both in 

 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries wooden houses were com- 

 mon all over Europe. In the accompanying illustration is a 

 representation of one of these, of which many specimens may be 

 seen in England. The storeys of these houses were executed in 

 corbel, that is, projecting one over the other an arrangement 



to the sun. Through the folding-doors you see the opposite by which the upper rooms were enlarged, but which rendered 

 chamber, and from the window is a prospect of the enclosed j the lower storeys unwholesome, the light and the air being pre 



portico. On that si'de next 

 the sea, and opposite the mid- 

 dle wall, stands a little ele- 

 gant recess, which, by means 

 of glass doors and a curtain, 

 is either laid open to the ad- 

 joining room or separated 

 from it. Adjoining to this is 

 a bed-chamber, which neither 

 the voice of the servants, nor 

 the murmuring of the sea, 

 nor even the roaring of a tem- 

 pest can reach. This pro- 

 found tranquillity is occa- 

 sioned by a passage which 

 separates the wall of the 

 chamber from the garden ; 

 and thus by that intervening 

 space every noise is excluded. 

 Annexed to this is a small 

 stove-room, which, by open- 

 ing a little window, warms 

 the bed-chamber to the de- 

 gree of heat required. Be- 

 yond this lie a chamber and 

 ante-chamber, which enjoy 

 the sun, though obliquely, 

 from the time it rises till the 

 afternoon." 



The houses of princes and 

 the palaces of emperors occu- 

 pied a great extent; and be- 

 sides baths, gymnasiums, and 

 gardens, they had sometimes 

 attached to them a basilica, 

 a theatre, or a circus. Be- 

 fore the establishment of the 

 Roman dominion in Gaul, 

 the inhabitants, according to 

 Vitruvius, lived in huts of a 

 cylindrical form, covered with 

 shingle or thatch ; and in Nor- 

 mandy many vestiges of these are still to be found. The Eomans 

 gave to those people whom they conquered their religion, laws, 

 and customs ; and the Gauls then built their houses like those 

 of Rome. Numerous villas or country-houses, and rural en- 

 gineering residences, were to be seen in Gaul ; many of these 

 houses, as well as those built in towns, were constructed of wood 

 placed on foundations of stone. Erected in a climate different 

 from that of Italy, the Gallo-Roman houses, especially in the 

 northern parts, were warmed by subterranean flues, called hypo- 

 causts. During the first ages of the monarchy, houses in Gaul 

 or France were made of wood, exactly similar to those of the 

 Eoman period. In a description of the palace of Attila, given 

 by the Byzantine historians, some valuable information is to be 

 found on this subject. Some houses in stone, erected during 



GABLED HOUSES OP THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 



vented from entering freely 

 into the rooms they contained 

 This system of projecting 1 

 storeys is proved to be of 

 Oriental origin, from the cir- 

 cumstance that it did not 

 make its appearance in 

 Europe until after the time 

 of the Crusades. This sys- 

 tem, which was proper in 

 the East, for defending the 

 lower part of the house from 

 the light and heat of the 

 sun, was absurd in climates 

 where these were always wel- 

 comed as delightful visitors. 

 After the thirteenth century 

 houses were constructed so 

 that the gable-end of the 

 roof fronted the street ; and 

 in the Middle Ages " to have 

 the gable to the street " in- 

 dicated the right of citizen- 

 ship. Built without a regu- 

 lar plan, these houses were, 

 owing to the arrangement of 

 the windows, both dark and 

 inconvenient within ; the 

 stairs were constructed out- 

 side, and in front of the 

 building ; and in the recesses 

 thus formed, turrets were 

 built, which in the fifteenth 

 century were greatly multi- 

 plied, and added to their de- 

 coration. Wooden facades 

 were generally more deco- 

 rated than those constructed 

 of stone ; the posts,the beams, 

 and the panels wore covered 

 with a profusion of sculp- 

 ture in wood; the roofs were 

 decorated with elegant crests and graceful spires, surmounted 

 with whimsical weather-vanes. During the Renaissance period, 

 the outward appearance of houses, as well as their internal 

 accommodations, were greatly improved ; the faades became 

 more regular, and wood more rare ; and when used, it was 

 mixed with brick and stone. From this period, sculpturec 

 were spread over the fronts of houses with less profusion, and 

 with more taste. There are many specimens of houses built 

 in the Renaissance style, in France, Germany, and Italy, aa 

 well as in England. The ancient towns of Rouen and Moret, 

 in France, furnish some of the finest examples. From that time 

 to the present day, private architecture has extensively im- 

 proved ; the outward appearance of our houses has become lesa 

 fantastical, and the interior arrangements more convenient. 



the Roman period, are still to be found in France, with fagades Since the mediaeval period the improvements in private edifices, 



very similar to those of modern erection. In the towns of the 

 south, and in the centre of France, such as Nismes, Perigueux, 



and Cluny, there still remain some ancient specimens of this tnre in England will be traced in future lessons. 



both in decoration and adaptation to the comfort of human life, 

 have been considerable ; but the progress of domestic architec- 



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