DOI Heft:
No. 58 (January, 1898)
DOI Artikel:A modern English country house: designed by Arnold Mitchell
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18390#0291
A Modern English Country House
CORNER OF A BEDROOM ARNOLD MITCHELL, ARCHITECT
stories, as the photograph might suggest. The imparts a distinct sense of cosiness and domesticity,
thick walls between the casements, which in the To the right is the dining-room, panelled entirely
picture are hardly noticeable, in the real building in oak, with no carving of any sort; and this same
look quite equal to sustain the upper part of the joinery by Parnell and Sons of Rugby is a joy in
house. It is curious to find how a photograph itself, so excellently has the wainscot oak been
may mislead one. In the house itself there is not "picked " and worked, that after two years you can
the slightest feeling that the windows interfere with find no place to insert the thinnest of knife-blades,
the sense of structural sufficiency, and an assur- The doors, as may be seen in the illustration, are
ance that they do not should be placed on record framed on the scale of the panelling, with locks of
here, lest the picture might convey a totally false special design, executed by Singer and Sons. These
impression. locks are typical of the high accuracy of mechanical
The interior of the entrance-hall, approached finish an engineer demands. The working parts,
from the terrace, on which is a delightful sundial, made of gun-metal, are so exquisitely wrought, that
happily placed in a projecting bay, is the subject the keys may be turned by the touch of one's little
■of another illustration, although the exigencies finger. That such perfection is costly, goes with-
of the camera have practically left the hall itself out saying. The price of the locks for this one
out of the picture, and show only the passage and room represents more than would suffice to furnish
staircase which lead out of it. On a table facing a suburban dining-room in the most advanced com-
the door stands a model of Cleopatra's needle; mercial art. Throughout the whole building the
which, as most people will remember, was in 1878 joinery resembles that employed in fine cabinet
brought to England in a ship constructed specially work, and, like the plaster on the wall surfaces,
■after Sir Benjamin Baker's design. The illustration is perfect. But perfection is only gained by in
shows clearly the comparatively low ceiling which finite care over details, and here this care has
is the rule throughout the house, a feature which been lavishly expended. The fatal habit to-day is
243
CORNER OF A BEDROOM ARNOLD MITCHELL, ARCHITECT
stories, as the photograph might suggest. The imparts a distinct sense of cosiness and domesticity,
thick walls between the casements, which in the To the right is the dining-room, panelled entirely
picture are hardly noticeable, in the real building in oak, with no carving of any sort; and this same
look quite equal to sustain the upper part of the joinery by Parnell and Sons of Rugby is a joy in
house. It is curious to find how a photograph itself, so excellently has the wainscot oak been
may mislead one. In the house itself there is not "picked " and worked, that after two years you can
the slightest feeling that the windows interfere with find no place to insert the thinnest of knife-blades,
the sense of structural sufficiency, and an assur- The doors, as may be seen in the illustration, are
ance that they do not should be placed on record framed on the scale of the panelling, with locks of
here, lest the picture might convey a totally false special design, executed by Singer and Sons. These
impression. locks are typical of the high accuracy of mechanical
The interior of the entrance-hall, approached finish an engineer demands. The working parts,
from the terrace, on which is a delightful sundial, made of gun-metal, are so exquisitely wrought, that
happily placed in a projecting bay, is the subject the keys may be turned by the touch of one's little
■of another illustration, although the exigencies finger. That such perfection is costly, goes with-
of the camera have practically left the hall itself out saying. The price of the locks for this one
out of the picture, and show only the passage and room represents more than would suffice to furnish
staircase which lead out of it. On a table facing a suburban dining-room in the most advanced com-
the door stands a model of Cleopatra's needle; mercial art. Throughout the whole building the
which, as most people will remember, was in 1878 joinery resembles that employed in fine cabinet
brought to England in a ship constructed specially work, and, like the plaster on the wall surfaces,
■after Sir Benjamin Baker's design. The illustration is perfect. But perfection is only gained by in
shows clearly the comparatively low ceiling which finite care over details, and here this care has
is the rule throughout the house, a feature which been lavishly expended. The fatal habit to-day is
243