The Studio yearbook of decorative art (1907)

INTRODUCTION

“ Llantwit,” Farnborough, by Messrs. Poulter (page 39) requires to
be explained by reference to the ground plan shown below. It
will then be seen to be a corner door situated in an angle, the
resultant long sweep of roof producing a pleasant, old-fashioned
effect.

If the slope of the roof is thus important, the material of
which it is composed is scarcely of less moment. One of the
most beautiful materials for this purpose is the split stone of the
Cotswold district, which, however, is so heavy that it requires
walls of substantial strength to sustain it. The natural colour is
grey, but the rich and mellow tints which it acquires by age
and exposure are peculiarly attractive. Examples of the above
occur in the buildings represented on pages 12, 13, 29 and 34.
Among more artificial roof-coverings, coarse tiles with prominently
overlapping joints, such as are depicted in the case of a house in
Suffolk (page 21), by Messrs. Horace Field and Simmons, or in
“ Hildercroft,” Sleights, near Whitby (page 41), by Mr. F. A.
Tugwell, are picturesque, and afford, moreover, a welcome variety
by comparison with the monotonously smooth red tiling of more
ordinary use. In brick-building it is much to be desired that,
wherever possible, bricks of the old gauge be employed, working
out at six courses to the foot instead of the four courses generally
adopted in modern times. The narrow bricks increase the
amount of labour by one third, but they are more than worth the
additional cost involved for the sake of the enormous esthetic
value they afford even to houses otherwise mean and commonplace.

The last-named house with its buttressed walls is well suited
for its hillside situation. It commands a panoramic view of the
Esk Valley. The building itself, of which the reproduction shows
the north and west sides, was constructed with two main objects
—sunshine and simplicity. As long as the sun shines, it shines
on the house. For the rest, the dominant note of the exterior and
interior alike is frugality, not only in the matter of abstention from
unnecessary ornament, but also in the homely simplicity of living
to which furniture and decoration conduce.

And here it may be observed that the site of a proposed
house ought always to be taken into consideration in determining
the character and treatment of the building. Thus it is as
absurd to introduce balconies and bay windows and terraces where
there is no prospect to look out upon, as it is to rear a gaunt
barrack without any of these conveniences in a position where
a superb view invites the fullest provision being made for the

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