LONDON HOUSES AFTER THE FIRE 181 



FIG. 119. Staircase of a House between Love Lane and Botolph 

 Lane, London (demolished in 1906). 



unwarrantable extravagance, and Clarendon himself is reported 

 to have eventually looked upon the building of it as a " vanity 

 and folly." But after all it only cost .50,000, which was a small 

 sum compared with the cost of many houses both before and 

 since. It is interesting because of its short life less than twenty 

 years from foundation to demolition and from the character of 

 the design, which follows the lines laid down by Jones and Webb. 

 Apart from the large houses which were built for wealthy 

 persons, the new London which sprang up after the fire must 

 have been widely different from the old. The houses which 

 were burnt down were, many of them, built of wood and plaster 

 relics of mediaeval times. Their fronts leaned across narrow 

 lanes, each story projecting over the one beneath it, after such 

 a fashion as may still be seen, though ever less frequently, in 

 some of our ancient country towns. The houses which replaced 

 them followed in most cases the old frontage lines, but their 

 fronts were vertical and admitted as much light and air as the 

 width of the street allowed. Nevertheless, the width was fre- 



