CHAPTER THIRTEEN 



THE GARDEN-ROOM 



"HE success which has followed the open-air treatment of 

 consumption has led the modern world to realise the bene- 

 ficial effects of an outdoor life; for if it can strengthen the 

 body, and so enable it to throw off a disease apparently 



curable by no other means, it must surely help to prevent the 



healthy from contracting ailments. Human life, like plant life, flourishes 

 in sun and air and grows pale and anaemic when it is deprived of these. 



And so the garden is conceived as an outdoor extension of the house, with 

 its sheltered apartments for sunshine or for shade. 



But in our own inconstant climate it is not always possible to use the 

 garden entirely. It is desirable, for instance, that meals should be taken in 

 summer weather out of doors. But the constant removal of furniture alone 

 would make this difficult for the average household, and so the need of a wide 

 verandah or garden-room is increasingly felt. Here the necessary chairs and 

 table can be left out without damage from a passing shower, and a certain 

 degree of shelter be secured. On summer mornings breakfast in such a room 

 will have much of the charm of breakfast in the garden without its disad- 

 vantages, and in the evening it will be pleasant to sit there and enjoy the 

 prospect of the garden after a day perhaps spent perforce indoors. Such a 

 room should be planned to be free from draughts, and should face south if 

 possible. 1 1 should be wider than the ordinary type of verandah, so that it 

 can be used as a room. The garden adjoining it should be arranged so that 

 its most attractive vistas are commanded from the garden-room. It may 

 often be formed by an extension of the roof supported by posts, or it may be 

 included in the house plan and enclosed with arches. 



A room so arranged will often be welcome even in wet weather, and 

 nothing but cold will make it untenable. It can be adapted for winter use by 

 the introduction of movable glass screens, and thus become a miniature 

 winter garden. 



In some cases a similar feature may be included as an appendage to a 

 bedroom, and such an arrangement is specially desirable in a sick room. 



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