DOI Heft:
No. 72 (March 1899)
DOI Artikel:Leonard, George Hare: A nineteenth-century house, [1]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19231#0103
A Nineteenth-Century House
course worked together. The builders of the
nineteenth century have learnt from the political
economists all the advantages of the division of
labour, but they have divided the labourers into
the bargain, and this is a different thing. It is
also a very serious thing. In the wise old days
each craftsman did his work in association with the
rest—
" They helped everyone his neighbour,
And every man said to his brother ' Be of good courage.'
So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,
And he that smoothed with the hammer, him that smote
the anvil,
Saying, ' It is ready for the soldering,'
And he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved." *
People do not generally build like that to-day.
The modern architect takes the job, and puts up
the building ; he leaves his spaces for decoration,
and hands them over to the contractor, or leaves
them to the untrained and untender mercies of
his client. If he meets the middleman who pro-
fesses that he in his turn will find those who will
paint or carve such things as they may deem suit-
* Isaiah xli. 6, 7.
able, he may arrange about percentages, but he
does not bid him " be of good courage."
Palace Gate House, however, was built on the
older principle—the labour was divided, but the
labourers ivere kept together. "They helped every
one his neighbour." The responsibility of the
whole house was shared by all. No one said, " It
is ready for the soldering," or " fastened with nails "
until the time when his work was approved.
If architecture stands first amongst the arts,
since it includes them all, upon the architect must
fall the chief burden, and his must be the guiding
mind. Mr. C. J. Harold Cooper, who built the
house at Palace Gate which serves as the text for
this homily on associated work, is responsible for
the association of craftsmen who built it with him.
Mr. Cooper is not ambitious to be a Jack-of-all-
trades ; it is enough for him if he is master of his
own. It is his business to build houses and to
find others whom he can trust to help him turn his
houses into finished homes. Mr. Cooper says he
doubts if the house in Palace Gate could have
been done at all if it had not been for the endless
patience and care of Mr. Graham S. Nicholas, the
architect who was working with him all the time;
92
PALACE GATE HOUSE: VIEW OF THE DRAWING-ROOM LOOKING EAST
course worked together. The builders of the
nineteenth century have learnt from the political
economists all the advantages of the division of
labour, but they have divided the labourers into
the bargain, and this is a different thing. It is
also a very serious thing. In the wise old days
each craftsman did his work in association with the
rest—
" They helped everyone his neighbour,
And every man said to his brother ' Be of good courage.'
So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,
And he that smoothed with the hammer, him that smote
the anvil,
Saying, ' It is ready for the soldering,'
And he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved." *
People do not generally build like that to-day.
The modern architect takes the job, and puts up
the building ; he leaves his spaces for decoration,
and hands them over to the contractor, or leaves
them to the untrained and untender mercies of
his client. If he meets the middleman who pro-
fesses that he in his turn will find those who will
paint or carve such things as they may deem suit-
* Isaiah xli. 6, 7.
able, he may arrange about percentages, but he
does not bid him " be of good courage."
Palace Gate House, however, was built on the
older principle—the labour was divided, but the
labourers ivere kept together. "They helped every
one his neighbour." The responsibility of the
whole house was shared by all. No one said, " It
is ready for the soldering," or " fastened with nails "
until the time when his work was approved.
If architecture stands first amongst the arts,
since it includes them all, upon the architect must
fall the chief burden, and his must be the guiding
mind. Mr. C. J. Harold Cooper, who built the
house at Palace Gate which serves as the text for
this homily on associated work, is responsible for
the association of craftsmen who built it with him.
Mr. Cooper is not ambitious to be a Jack-of-all-
trades ; it is enough for him if he is master of his
own. It is his business to build houses and to
find others whom he can trust to help him turn his
houses into finished homes. Mr. Cooper says he
doubts if the house in Palace Gate could have
been done at all if it had not been for the endless
patience and care of Mr. Graham S. Nicholas, the
architect who was working with him all the time;
92
PALACE GATE HOUSE: VIEW OF THE DRAWING-ROOM LOOKING EAST