INTERIOR OF THE HOUSE. 



43 



the dressed grounds, — viz., the servants' apartments. 

 These, when on the ground-floor and under the public 

 rooms, overlook the pleasure-grounds in a most un- 

 desirable manner. To obviate this inconvenience, the 

 clumsy expedient of sinking them, in whole or in part, 

 below the external level of the ground, is often resorted 

 to ; but such apartments, even when furnished with an 

 open area in front of them, have always a damp, un- 

 healthy look, and not only give to the edifice a mean 

 appearance, but also seem to indicate that from some 

 defect in its construction, it had been necessary to stick 

 it into the ground, instead of allowing it to stand on the 

 surface. In either position, they interrupt that feeling 

 of retirement which is requisite to the full enjoyment of 

 dressed grounds. Servants' apartments may be formed, 

 with excellent effect, into a sort of wing or minor group 

 of buildings attached to the main body of the house. 

 Besides these relations to objects immediately contig- 

 uous, the arrangement of the interior of the house 

 should have a reference to the park and the more dis- 

 tant country. The drawing-room should always com- 

 mand the finest views which are to be seen from the 

 windows, whether these occur in the adjacent or in the 

 external scenery. The views from the hall door are of 

 minor importance, but they ought not to be overlooked 

 or neglected. The house, when felicitously arranged in 

 these respects, may be said to preside over the beauties 

 of the place. Other considerations, indeed, may be, and 

 often are, taken into account. If warmth rather than 

 beauty is the object aimed at, the drawing-room front 

 should look toward the south, whatever may be the 

 scenery in that quarter, and the entrance should be on 

 any of the other sides which may be most sheltered or 



