THE ESTATE 257 



The obvious difficulties of lack of room on a steep hillside, and the 

 restriction of the view on the uphill side of the house, make the ideal 

 situation for a house which dominates the hillside the military crest of 

 the hill, or at least the outer edge of some considerable flat area on 

 the side of the hill. This gives all the advantages of view and open- 

 ness on the downhill side, and gives also all the advantages of room for 

 the development of the immediate surroundings of the house on the 

 flat area on the upper side of the house. 



In the valley or plain location the choice of form and arrangement 

 of the house and grounds is not so definitely forced upon the designer 

 by the topography. The location and orientation of the house will be 

 determined more by the other factors which we have already discussed, 

 particularly perhaps by the best disposition of the whole estate into 

 its different functional areas, and the relation of the house to them. 

 But even on approximately flat topography the designer will often seize 

 upon some slight difference of elevation, perhaps to give the house 

 greater dominance, at any rate to differentiate one area from another 

 and to produce something more than merely a flat plan relation be- 

 tween the building and the rest of the estate. 



The house terrace forms in the design an architectural base for the The House 

 mass of the house, and in use it gives a small outdoor area, roofed or ^^^^^^ 

 unroofed, next the house, to which some of the functions of the house 

 can be transferred in pleasant weather. Naturally, it is related for- 

 mally to the house, and almost always it is treated as a part of the ar- 

 chitectural design of the house, being frequently paved and decorated 

 with architectural objects, or with foliage architecturally treated. The 

 house terrace often serves to bring to the door of the house lines of 

 traffic which could not come directly to these entrances without In- 

 truding on the view. As the length is parallel to the side of the house 

 and at right angles to the view, the terrace is usually narrow, because 

 it must be in scale with the house, and because otherwise its outer edge 

 would probably interrupt the view from the lower windows. The house 

 terrace may however be included between two projecting wings of the 

 house, and may even assume the form of a partially Inclosed court, 

 rather than that of a narrow place of overlook. The transition between 

 the house terrace and the grounds will be a question of design which 



