154 Color of Country Houses. 



tic eye. A harsh, vulgar outline may pass without particular no- 

 tice in a view of rural scenery, if the mass is quiet and harmoni- 

 ous in color ; while a very tolerable composition may injure 

 materially, the views near it, if painted white ; the human eye 

 being so constituted that it will be held in bondage by this strik- 

 ing blot of crude light, and compelled to give it unwilling atten- 

 tion. Where a palace like that at Versailles is erected in the 

 midst of formal gardens and terraces on a very large scale, and 

 so arranged that it is the principal feature from every point of 

 view, it is not inappropriate that it should be of white marble 

 since there is nothing more interesting for the eye to rest on than 

 the building, and the light and shade of the architectural decora- 

 tions, together with the general magnificence of the composition 

 are set forth to advantage. Pure white, even in large masses, if 

 only disagreeable to the cje Avhen it forces into prominent notice 

 objects of secondary importance. 



In country houses the design has to be adapted to the location, 

 and not the location to the design ; it is, moreover, undesirable, 

 and generally impracticable, to make the natural subservient to 

 the artificial. "Woods, fields, mountains, and rivers will be more 

 important tlian the houses that are built among them, and every 

 attempt to force individual buildings into prominent notice, is an 

 evidence either of a vulgar desire for notoriety at any sacrifice, or 

 of an ill-educated eye and taste. 



As for the colors of rural buildings, they should be carefully 

 varied — often cheerful and light, sometimes neutral, seldom dark, 

 and never black or white ; and there is no end to the changes and 

 combinations of tints tliat may be used in painting a house. The 

 constant recurrence of about the same requirements will, of course, 

 lead to much similarity in plan, particularly in small buildings ; 

 but tlic monotony that this Avould occasion may be agreeably re- 

 lieved by variety in color, both in the interior and exterior. Dif- 

 ferent patterns of paper will make two rooms of the same propor- 

 tion no longer look alike, and the same result will be obtained on 

 the exterior bj^ adopting diflerent tints for tlie color of the walls 

 and wood-Avork. Another important point to be considered is, that 

 it is entirely insufficient to use onlj^ one or tAvo shades of color for 

 each house ; every rural building requires four tints to make it a 

 pleasant object in the way of color. This variety costs no more 

 than monotonous repetition, and adds much to the completeness of 



