

ENTRANCE LODGE. 

 236 



381 



465. Tlic first view of the entrance front should, in general, be at an oblique 

 angle, in order that two sides of the building may be seen at once ; or, at all 

 events, that so much of two sides may be visible, as to make it evident that 

 the building is a solid mass, and not a mere screen wall. Where the appi-oach 

 is a straight avenue, advancing to the entrance front at right angles with it, 

 a view showing two sides of the house cannot be obtained ; and the building 

 must in that case depend, for the effect it produces, on the height or breadth 

 of its elevation, and on the circumstance of its being with or without open 

 porticoes, projecting towers, or wings. There is no fixed distance, at which 

 it is more desirable than at any other, to see the entrance front ; but there is 

 one fixed circumstance which especially requires the attention of the artist in 

 laying out and planting the approach. This is, that the first view of the 

 entrance front of the house which is obtained within the grounds ought to 

 show it as the leading feature of the landscape, and to be, in fact, the best 

 view of the entrance front that can be anywhere obtained. Before entering 

 the lodge gates, if the house be seen at all, it has no right to appear other- 

 wise than as a feature among other features of the general scenery of the 

 country ; but, within the lodge, the house is the main object of attraction, to 

 which everything else ought to be kept subordinate. 



466. In situations near the sea it is necessary to plant a thick belt, to shelter the 

 gardens from the effects of the sea-breeze ; as on the east coast of both England 

 and Scotland the trees are frequently cut in a sloping direction, as shown in 

 fig. 237. The trees that stand best in these situations are the beech, and the 

 pinaster, and the shrubs that bear the sea best are the privet and the tamarisk. 



467. The view from the drawing-room window. — Having entered the house, 

 and been shown into the drawing-room, the greatest impression made on 

 the stranger ought to be by the view which he sees from its windows. This 

 should be the most striking and the most beautiful view or prospect which the 

 place affords. In order to be striking, it ought, if possible, to be considerably 



