House and Garden 
Detailed criticism upon designs shown in 
the plates is not to be expected in such a 
book as this. The discussion of their gen¬ 
eral character with a summary mention ot 
one after another is to be found chiefly in 
the chapters which deal with the exte¬ 
rior and interior of the modern residence. 
These are judicious and even sagacious re¬ 
marks ; but they have to be remarks only— 
it is not proposed in this volume to criticise 
in detail the work of any artist or the private 
possessions of any house owner. 
It is fortunate lor those who value archi¬ 
tectural publications that the tenets of the 
architect’s profession in England do not 
forbid a member to publish a book of his 
own executed designs. There are few men 
whose work is more individual and interest¬ 
ing than is that of Ernest Newton. The 
little book of houses he published thirteen 
years ago has had a perceptible influence 
upon a young generation oi American archi¬ 
tects whose attention has been given chiefly 
to the building of dwellings; and the new 
“Book of Country Houses ” 1 he has just 
brought out under the imprint of Mr. Bats- 
ford is likely to be of even greater value. 
It is larger than its predecessor and contains 
nineteen examples of houses illustrated by 
means ol photographs and line drawings. 
'There is considerable variety in the size ol 
the houses and the extent of accommodation 
they afford, lor the collection extends from 
the compact little cottage measuring about 
30x60 feet to the spacious mansion whose 
plan consists oi the rambling and very En¬ 
glish agglomeration oi separate parts, any 
one of which might in itself be developed 
into one of the aforesaid cottages. “ Our 
house-building ought to develop naturally,” 
says Mr. Newton in condemning what he 
calls “ freak architecture” and aiming a shaft 
at the “new art” dwellings of Germany. 
And we see in these latest houses, as in all 
his others, a great reverence for the English 
prototype. In occasional cases that proto¬ 
type has not been oi a very imaginative kind; 
and in spite of the restraint with which he has 
1 “A Book of Country Houses,” by Ernest Newton, Architect. 
Folio 1 ix 14 inches, containing 62 plates and descriptive notes. Lon¬ 
don, B. T. Batsford ; New York,John Lane. >903. Price, $7.50 
net. 
dealt with it, his own individuality clothes 
all of the new work with well-matched pro¬ 
portions, the control of delicate detail, the 
well-studied forms of bays and of gables pro¬ 
ducing the happiest of skylines, and above 
all in the absolute mastery of the use of 
materials. Mr. Newton has no greater ac¬ 
complishment than this; and whether he 
build in the north or the south of his island, 
in flat or in hill country, in the soft and 
mature effects he obtains by a few of the 
commonest materials lies the preeminent 
charm of his work. In the plans of most of 
the houses picturesqueness has been preferred 
to symmetry, and in all of them axial relations 
giving long vistas through several rooms or 
out into the gardens have been set at naught. 
There is reason, doubtless, why the author 
ignores such things which we—influenced by 
classic and French teaching—regard as all 
important. Mr. Newton is not a theorist, 
and he suits his houses to the habits of life of 
his own country. There no fault is found 
with the absolute separation of rooms so that 
each may be entered only from the hall. 
This lack of communication (always amusing 
to Americans) extends so far that food 
must invariably be carried from the pantry 
across a hall in the serving of meals. Neither 
do the English seriously object to the inside 
and the outside of the house failing to ex¬ 
plain each other; nor do they require in 
summer, as we do, the draughts of air 
through rooms, nor provision for sitting out 
of doors. This brings us to the subject of 
the gardens, which we cannot forgive Mr. 
Newton for so slighting in his book. All 
of the houses have the admirable quality of 
fitting well into their surroundings, and the 
garden is indicated as the invariable accom¬ 
paniment. But this is done only in a frag¬ 
mentary way in the perspective drawings and 
by no suggestion whatever upon the plans. 
By his failure to carry his art beyond his 
houses and to suggest complete schemes for 
beautifying their surroundings we must re¬ 
luctantly conclude that this architect prefers 
always to concentrate his powers upon his 
buildings and, if he treat the ground at all, 
to do so as a separate work. Whether from 
such a course or not, it cannot be denied that 
Mr. Newton has realized in his strictly 
architectural work a nearly perfect quality 
3°9 
