STABLE COURT^ AND OFFICES. 



17 



lioTise, it is better to withdraw it into some secondary 

 130sition;, and to mould it more in conformity with its 

 main purpose^ than for architectural display. In such 

 caseS;, it perhaps ought to be at once removed into the 

 general flower-garden; but before doing so, a place 

 should be sought for it in the dressed grounds in the 

 \TLcinity of the mansion-house, where it may be decorated 

 with terraces and other ornaments, while it is treated 

 directly as a glass-house for plants, with internal arrange- 

 ments as above indicated. Wood and iron are generally 

 employed for the frame-work of such houses, as they 

 combine strength and lightness in a higher degree than 

 any other materials. Stone pilasters of slender propor- 

 tions may be introduced, to give a somewhat architec- 

 tural air to the structure. The glass which is used for 

 the sashes should be good, and free from impurities and 

 irregularities, in large squares, or in panes, long at least, 

 if not broad, for nothing connected with plant-houses 

 produces so mean and slovenly an effect as short panes 

 of glass with a multitude of overlaps. 



Stable Court, and Offices. — The stables and their 

 appendages may form a suitable part of the mansion- 

 house group of buildings where the latter are not below 

 the medium size ; but when circumstances do not permit 

 this arrangement, I would recommend for them a dry, 

 sunny, airy situation, commanding a good supply of 

 water, at a medium distance from the house, but certainly 

 not ill a prominent position idl the grounds. Scarcely 

 anything is in worse taste than a large rectangular 

 building, with its huge coach-house gates, central pedi- 

 ment, and a steeple or tower, composing together a staring 

 object in the park, and competing with the mansion- 

 house itself. Stables of this description are not uncom- 



