HOUSES AND GARDENS 



it is usual to cover the joint between the plaster and the door frames with a 

 piece called a fascia, and this gradually led to the elimination of the solid 

 structural door frame, and the use of superficial exposed woodwork. By 

 keeping the door posts solid and heavy as befits their structural nature, and 

 by reducing superficial fascias to their smallest dimensions, the structural feeling 

 of the whole can still be retained, or if the plaster is omitted and the timber 

 framing built in with bricks and tiles the fascia will not be required. 



Such a method of construction in internal partitions is especially suitable 

 in a half-timbered house, where it represents the logical continuation of the 

 external structure. 



CHAPTER TWENTY NINE 



THE FLOOR AND ITS TREATMENT 



'T is difficult to over-estimate the importance of the floor in 

 the house, and its successful treatment goes further to secure 

 a satisfactory room than anything which may be done to walls 

 and ceiling. And this importance of the floor increases in 



direct ratio with the size of the room, for while in a normal 



attitude we may not be conscious of the floor immediatly beneath our feet, 

 its distant portions come more fully into the picture. In a level landscape 

 all that the eye can see up to the point where the sky begins may be considered 

 as floor, but where a wall of trees encompasses the observer, the nearer it is 

 the less important become the floor and the more insistent the wall, so that 

 the relative value of wall and floor vary in direct ratio to the size of the 

 room. But the floor has an additional claim in that, unlike the wall or 

 ceiling, it is constantly subjected to the sensation of touch as well as sight. 

 In considering the internal treatment of the house, it is suggested that the 

 claims of the structure should be first recognised, and should only be set 

 aside in favour of superficial decoration when such a treatment more than 

 compensates for the loss of that sensation of reality and sincerity which the 

 actual building alone can convey. 



If we decide to obscure or partially obscure the structure by superficial 

 treatment, it may be helpful to turn to Nature for inspiration, and to 

 think of the best natural floors we know, and thus, for instance, one may 

 evolve a conventional equivalent of a green meadow studded with flowers. 

 But in the floor treatment there is a special reason for not too lightly 

 setting aside the claims of the structure. It is the floor more than 

 any other part of the house which is subjected to a constant wear and 

 tear, and it is here that dirt and dust accumulate. It seems reasonable 

 then that it should present a durable surface, and that it should be capable 

 of being easily cleaned. All this points to the exclusion of carpets in favour 

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