Theory and Practice 191 



must be in the habit of living much in the country and 

 with the persons for whom he is to build, by which 

 alone he can know their various wants with respect to 

 comfort as well as to appearance; otherwise he will, 

 like an ordinary builder, be satisfied in shewing his 

 skill by compressing the whole of his house and offices 

 under one compact roof, without considering aspect, 

 views, approaches, gardens, or even the shape of the 

 ground on which the house is to be built. 



It is impossible to fix or describe the situation appli- 

 cable to a house without at the same time describing 

 the sort of house applicable to the situation. This is 

 so evident that it scarcely requires to be pointed out ; 

 yet I have often witnessed the absurdity of designs for 

 a house where the builder had never seen the situation. 

 I have, therefore, long been compelled to make archi- 

 tecture a branch of my own profession. 



Having occasionally observed the various modes by 

 which large houses and their appendages have been 

 connected at various periods, it may not be uninter- 

 esting if I attempt to describe them by reference to the 

 annexed plans. [Plate xvii.] 



No. I. The earliest form of houses, or, rather, of 

 palaces, in the country, prior to the reign of Elizabeth, 

 consisted of apartments built round a large square court. 

 These were formerly either castles or abbeys, and often 

 received all their light from the inner courts ; but, 

 when afterwards converted into habitations, windows 

 were opened on the outside of the building. The views 

 from a window were of little consequence at a time 

 when glass was hardly transparent, and in many of the 

 ancient castles the small lozenge panes were glazed 

 with coloured glass or painted with the armorial bear- 

 ings, which admitted light without any prospect. 



