DOI Heft:
No. 69 (December 1898)
DOI Artikel:An architects home: Mr. Arnold Mitchell's cottage at Harrow
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19230#0194
An Architect's Home
GARDEN FRONT : GROVE HILL COTTAGE, HARROW
the unequal levels has called for no little dexterity
on the part of the architect, and has imparted a
distinctly individual character to its plan and
arrangement.
Nor is it a homogeneous structure, for the por-
tion lately added, which has practically doubled its
accommodation, is a pure afterthought. Perhaps
the real feature which should be emphasised in
any description is the admirably dexterous manner
by which a small house has been turned into one
which, if not exactly large, is at any rate of important
proportions. One other quality (and it is not irrele-
vant) may be claimed fairly for this house, namely,
that it would serve well as an example for a long
dissertation on modern English domestic archi-
tecture. If one had to lecture to Germans or
Americans, two peoples peculiarly interested in
houses that are also homes, Mr. Mitchell's abode
would be a very adequate text on which to base
the whole argument in favour of the style which has
a dozen nicknames and no true title.
As a glance at the illustrations suffices to prove,
ARNOLD MITCHELL, ARCHITECT
it is a home that expresses by its exterior the dis-
position of its parts. It is no symmetrical cube,
with windows arranged in regular order, but a
group of rooms conveniently disposed, that are
also picturesque when seen from the outside. To
be quite candid, the charm of the house becomes
far more evident to a visitor than it can ever be to
a passer-by. Indeed, if one analysed its art and
its ingenuity detail by detail the sum total that
resulted would show it to be a most acceptable and
lovable home.
In the building of his delightful house Mr. Arnold
Mitchell has acted as loyally in his own interests as
he has acted heretofore in the interests of his
clients. But all the same it is less easy to praise,
not because the praise is less deserved, but because
one realises that if an expert concerning past styles,
and a master of his profession to-day, did not make
his own home an epitome of his taste and his
experience, he would be an unnatural and abnormal
person.
It is a hard task to praise level-headed practical
169
GARDEN FRONT : GROVE HILL COTTAGE, HARROW
the unequal levels has called for no little dexterity
on the part of the architect, and has imparted a
distinctly individual character to its plan and
arrangement.
Nor is it a homogeneous structure, for the por-
tion lately added, which has practically doubled its
accommodation, is a pure afterthought. Perhaps
the real feature which should be emphasised in
any description is the admirably dexterous manner
by which a small house has been turned into one
which, if not exactly large, is at any rate of important
proportions. One other quality (and it is not irrele-
vant) may be claimed fairly for this house, namely,
that it would serve well as an example for a long
dissertation on modern English domestic archi-
tecture. If one had to lecture to Germans or
Americans, two peoples peculiarly interested in
houses that are also homes, Mr. Mitchell's abode
would be a very adequate text on which to base
the whole argument in favour of the style which has
a dozen nicknames and no true title.
As a glance at the illustrations suffices to prove,
ARNOLD MITCHELL, ARCHITECT
it is a home that expresses by its exterior the dis-
position of its parts. It is no symmetrical cube,
with windows arranged in regular order, but a
group of rooms conveniently disposed, that are
also picturesque when seen from the outside. To
be quite candid, the charm of the house becomes
far more evident to a visitor than it can ever be to
a passer-by. Indeed, if one analysed its art and
its ingenuity detail by detail the sum total that
resulted would show it to be a most acceptable and
lovable home.
In the building of his delightful house Mr. Arnold
Mitchell has acted as loyally in his own interests as
he has acted heretofore in the interests of his
clients. But all the same it is less easy to praise,
not because the praise is less deserved, but because
one realises that if an expert concerning past styles,
and a master of his profession to-day, did not make
his own home an epitome of his taste and his
experience, he would be an unnatural and abnormal
person.
It is a hard task to praise level-headed practical
169