ROSE COURT 



THE little house and garden nowto be considered is adapted forthe ordinary 

 type of building plot, and requires a frontage of about sixty-five feet. Its 

 equivalent in the house agent's lists would be represented by the villa with 

 three or more reception-rooms, each reduced to dimensions which would 

 make them cramped and uncomfortable each demanding, too, its separate 

 fire. The best room would be one facing the road to the north, and this 

 would probably be to some extent preserved from vulgar daily use, and the 

 family would probably be crowded into a little back room where a cumbrous 

 dining table would occupy most of the floor-space. The garden would be 

 "tastefully laid out" with winding walks and shapeless shrubberies. In 

 fact the whole scheme would represent the usual congestion of absurdities 

 for which the dweller in villadom is content to pay a high rent. In the 

 plan here submitted the central feature is necessarily the hall or living- 

 room, and adjoining this the dining-room and drawing-room have dwindled 

 to mere recesses sharing in the warmth of the great central fireplace, 

 and adding to the spaciousness of the hall, of which they are a part. 

 The small study occupies a more isolated position, and the kitchen 

 premises towards the road are conveniently placed for service while they are 

 completely isolated from the family rooms. On the upper floor are four 

 good-sized bedrooms and bathroom, and over these the full development of 

 the attic space would admit of additional bedroom accommodation, or perhaps 

 a children's playroom, in addition to the servants' bedroom, boxroom, and 

 cistern-room. The general character of this interior is structural and homely, 

 and would present that earnest reality of effect which belongs to the confessed 

 elements of its structure. It is the quality which is to be found in old farm- 

 houses and cottages, but may be sought for in vain amongst the uncharted 

 wildernesses of modern villadom. The plan of the garden is somewhat similar 

 to that previously described, especially in that it presents three main vista- 

 lines, each bearing a definite relation to the house. It presents a somewhat 

 similar artistic scheme to a church, and if one considers its central rose garden 

 as a square nave flanked by the aisles which the pergolas suggest, it will be at 

 once apparent that the central flower garden beyond, with its screen of roses, 

 must be the chancel where at matins and vespers pale lilies are the choristers. 

 The orchards are thus side chapels, and between nave and chancel will be 

 seen a miniature transept completing the vista to right and left. The reader 

 will be able to complete still further this picture of a church of flowers which 

 was designed merely to meet the conditions of the site, and with no conscious 

 ecclesiastical idea. The small sketches indicate the general character of the 

 house, and the view from the garden-room looking down one of the pergolas 

 s also shown. 



It will be noted, in this and other of the roadside houses illustrated, a site 

 is indicated with a frontage to the north. This is generally not difficult to 

 obtain on most building estates, because the average builder, obsessed with 

 the fixed idea of the bay-window overlooking the road, and who prefers to 

 display all the glories of the house and garden to the man in the street, 

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