11:2 
THE COTTAGE GARDEN Ell. 
AIahcii 4. 
I 
! 
THE SUBURBAN VILLA AND COUN'i'RY 
HOUSE. 
THE IIOUSE-ITS rOSlTION AND AIUIAXGEMENT 
WITH REEEBENCE TO THE GROUNDS SUR¬ 
ROUNDING IT. 
A hesidexc'e and tlie f:;rounds Relonging to it should 
form a well-connected whole. To effect such an arrangement, 
tlie landscaiie-gardener and the arcliitect must work con¬ 
jointly. The ideas of each must he worked out with especial 
reference to those of the oilier if convenience and heauty 
are to he united in the practical realisation of their labours. 
'File truth of this is patent enough to every one who has 
liad any experience in laying-out grounds where the house 
has been erected without any reference to their subsequent 
existence. 
I mention (•(niveiiicnce in connection with elegant and 
njipropriate ai-rangement, because, really, the practical re¬ 
cognition of its value, should form a fundamental principle 
in landscape-gardening ; nevertheless, it is often wholly dis¬ 
regarded. Good taste will not, however, allow it to he 
sacrificed to mere appearance. It is in giving due attention 
to the claims of each, in ornamenting utility, rather than in 
giving ornament the pre-eminence, that constitules much of 
what may justly he termed good taste- in gardening, as well 
as in every other art in which utility and ornament can he 
combined. It is to he w'ished that this simple, principle w’ere 
more generally recognised. The full appreciation of it 
would he fatal to every attempt at tawdriness in the use of 
ornament, wherever it may be necessai’y or advisable to 
employ it. 
On the principle that example is better than precept, and 
that we often glean more valuable inform.ation from witness¬ 
ing the results of a failure in the labours of others, than in 
realising a questionable success ourselves, I shall describe 
the leading leatures of one or two j^laces I have recently 
visited, w'hich hear directly upon this part of our subject. 
The examples given are by no means exception.al. I select 
them as being fresh in my recollection, and because they 
abundantly illustrate the inconvenience arising from the 
absence of a proper connection between the several apart¬ 
ments of a residence, on the one hand, and between the re¬ 
sidence and its grounds, on the other. 
The first example is in a large mansion some forty miles 
from London, the residence of one of our merchant princes, 
and purporting to contain accommodation for a large esta¬ 
blishment. If accommodation consisted only in the number 
and size of rooms and offices, thei'e would, indeed, be nothing 
to desire; unfortunately, however, these qualities do not com¬ 
pensate the want of (mnvenience in their position and 
arrangement, and in those desiderata the residence in 
question is sadly deficient. The body of the mansion is 
square and massive, and on either side is added a wing, 
each exactly resembling the other. The main building* 
contains, of course, the principal rooms, the offices and 
servants’ apartments being mostly confined to the wings. 
'J’he exterior aspect of the house is agreeable. The wings 
effectually break the otherwise blank and monotonous sides 
of the main building, and the w hole, when viewed from 
particular positions, lias a classic opx)earance, and the 
Grecian style of architecture harmonises admirably with 
the smooth lawn and otherwise graceful scenery of the 
park. Rut let us look at the interior, and the great incon¬ 
venience arising from distributing the offices on each side of 
the principal rooms becomes at once evident. The laundry 
and its etcetras occupy the chief portion of one wing; the 
kitchen and various offices the other. Now, hetw'een the 
several apartments themselves, as well as with the other 
parts of the house, a constant communication has, of course, 
to be kept up, and the great highway is between the, entrance- 
hall and the principal ilight of stairs. Can any state of 
things pertaining to the internal arrangement of a residenc« 
he more inconvenient than this to every body concerned ? 
Certainly, the principal suites of rooms are more or less 
isolated on the second floor, hut such an arrangement ought 
not to be necessary in a country house, and it is always 
more or less inconvenient. In this particular instance it is 
especially so, and detracts very much from both the beauty 
and convenience which the situation is callable of affording, 
without giving in .any way a compensating advantage. 
Nor is it w ilhin doors alone that the inconvenience of ar¬ 
rangement is felt. A hadiy-arranged house generally offers 
great, and often insurmountable, difficulties to a proper disposi¬ 
tion of the grounds, and the one in question is no exception to 
the rule. There are no means of connecting, in an appropriate 
and agreeable manner, the private, or what shouhl be private, 
grounds with these corresponding apartments. The windows 
of the offices command all the most eligible positions. Half 
the pleasure l eally pertaining to a garden are consequently 
lost, and a perpetual source of regret is the- result. Not 
even a conservatory, whicliis much desired, can he added in 
any position contiguous to the living rooms. A position, 
by-the-by, in which it should, if possible, be always placed, 
affording as it does so large an amount of pleasure, as well 
as forming a most elegant and appropriate addendum to the 
draw'ing-room. 
The diagram, Fig. 1, will give an idea of the general ar¬ 
rangement of this house, perhaps as inconvenient a one as 
can be imagined, whether considered only with refei'ence to 
itself, or in connection with its surrounding gardens. 
Fig. 1. 
.. 1 11 
orf^iCfSS 
MAMStOM 
OFPICES 
! 
Fig. 2, 
