CHAPTER IV. 



First 



impression 

 gained from 

 style of 

 enhance. 



No parts of a scheme for a residential property call for such thoroughness or mature 

 deliberation as entrances and carriage courts. Here at the entrance are obtained the first 

 impressions of the domain, which, like all first impressions, either of a person or of any- 

 thing else, are the ones which last. Existing examples present every gradation from the 

 cheap modern over-pretentious arrangement, to the entrance which properly suggests the 

 impersonal and dignified charm of a truly English home, under whose subtle spell you 

 fall immediately you enter its precincts. This noble type of work, characterised by ample 

 proportions, and yet by restraint and quiet dignity, is what all true designers seek to 

 create, only to find that it is the most difficult to achieve. The same qualities of 

 orderly restraint and quiet dignity are essentials of the forecourt, but here the opportunities 

 are greater. A well-considered grouping of house, stables and outbuildings round a 

 sufficiently large space will usually assure an aesthetic composition which needs only a 

 pair of piers and a short enclosing wall to complete it. 



The design of an entrance, whether in the form of gate-houses, lodge-entrances or the 

 more simple and homely arrangement which gives character to many a suburban residence, 

 has a greater bearing on the aesthetic qualities of the residence than many persons suppose. 

 It gives the first impression, and ought to provide the keynote to what follows. This 

 keynote should above all things be truthful, and prepare the mind and eye for what is 

 to follow. For instance, the classic proportions and detail shown in illustration No. 17 is a 

 natural prelude to the beautiful residence in the Italian manner two hundred yards distant. 

 And that shown in the heading to the next Chapter equally prepares one for one of 

 those quaint yet stately Georgian houses of which one finds so many good examples 

 near London. Of course where an entrance is placed far away from the house, then 

 the local note which accords with the landscape ought to be more pronounced. 



This index to the architectural qualities of the property is capable of much greater 

 development than the mere differentiations between the entrance to a ducal domain and 

 that to a mountain lodge or shooting box. These mark the two extremes, and are not 

 difficult to attain. Scale and refinement would most beseem the one, and rugged 

 picturesqueness the other. What is much more difficult, but none the less important, is 

 to interpret, in the lodges and entrance as a whole, those subtle distinctions not only of 

 style and scale but also the finer qualities of perfect harmony with environment and the 

 expression of the social or intellectual ideals for which the family may be noted. Just 

 as it may be said that a place fits the family, so the entrance should fit the place. 



On large estates, old and semi-retired servants are often placed in these lodges, the Lodges. 

 wife to attend to the gate, the man to keep the entrance clean and tidy. Under these 

 conditions the lodges are usually very small, and often of one story only, the architectural 



Fitness and 

 scale. 



37 



