THE DWELLING HOUSE 



was that two doors could not be guarded as securely 

 as one. 



Windows on the Continent swing outward on hinges 

 like doors; in England they descend and ascend on 

 weights as in America. But in modern architecture 

 they are placed on the exterior of the building, whereas 

 in ancient times they invariably overlooked the in- 

 terior court. This constitutes the most radical differ- 

 ence between the ancient and the modern house. 



It is commonly supposed that another great differ- 

 ence lies in the extent of the ground area in the house 

 of antiquity, in contradistinction to our narrow struc- 

 tures, and in the height of our houses, in contradis- 

 tinction to the low buildings of past centuries. 

 These differences, however, are not as radical as they 

 seem from the superficial description of the dwellings 

 themselves. For instance, we read that the house of 

 Pansa contained fifty rooms on the first floor, and im- 

 mediately the image of an exceedingly large ground 

 space is evoked; but in reality the house was only 

 one hundred feet wide, and two hundred deep. The in- 

 dividual apartments were very small in the days when 

 life lay nearer to the communal state than it does now. 

 On the other hand, three stories were by no means 

 uncommon, although the upper stories were not com- 

 plete till after the fourteenth century. 



We have seen that the original unit of the dwelling 

 was the court, and that this developed into the hall of 

 the Middle Ages the huge banquet-hall, with a door 

 at one end and a dais for the host at the other. With 

 the growing individualization of life this hall became 



[157] 



