HOW THE HOUSE WAS BUILT 15 



that every building should look like what it is. How 

 well that fine old architect George Dance understood 

 this when he designed the prison of Newgate ! On 

 the other hand, does not every educated person feel 

 the shock of incongruity when a building presents a 

 huge front as of a Greek temple, and when, instead of 

 the leisurely advance of classically-robed worshipper 

 and of flower-garlanded procession of white-robed 

 priest and sacrificial beast, such as he has some right 

 to expect, he has to put up with a stream of hurrying 

 four-wheelers with piles of railway-passengers' luggage 

 and bicycles chained to their tops ! 



O ! for a little simple truth and honesty in build- 

 ing, as in all else that is present to the eye and touches 

 daily life ! 



Many of my friends, knowing that I dabble in 

 construction and various handicrafts, have asked 

 whether I did not design my house myself. To which 

 question, though I know it is meant to be kind and 

 flattering, I have to give an emphatically negative 

 answer. An amateur who has some constructive per- 

 ceptions may plan and build a house after a fashion ; 

 and to him and his it may be, and quite rightly and 

 honestly, a source of supreme satisfaction. But it will 

 always lack the qualities that belong to the higher 

 knowledge, and to the firm grasp of the wider expres- 

 sion. There will be bungles and awkward places, and 

 above all a want of reposeful simplicity both in and 

 out. If an addition is made it will look like a shame- 



