DOI issue:
Division I: Great Britain
DOI article:Quennell, Charles Henry Bourne: English domestic architexture
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37422#0019
ENGLISH DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE
By C. H. B. Quennell, F.R.I.B.A.
TO the average Englishman, his home is an important factor in
the scheme of his existence. He does not possess in any large
measure those civic virtues which prompt him to take much
pride in the development of towns or the laying out of cities,
but his interest can, as a rule, be readily aroused in any question of
beautifying his own home. Such feeling, too, is not restricted to
one class; the country gentleman living in the house of his ancestors
is sometimes not keener on its upkeep than the mechanic in his tiny
terrace house. It is very pleasant, when travelling on a railway
passing through some sordid suburb, to note here and there houses
which at once evidence that care and love have been spent on their
upkeep. Trim blinds, clean glass, and just a few flowers in the
little slip of a garden give the transforming touch that turns these
exceptions from mere houses into homes.
It is a truism that we generally obtain neither more nor less,
than we deserve—so the grubby man is reflected in the grubby little
terrace house, and the other one, who has that sense of the fitness of
things which is akin to Art, shows us as much in his house. If this
is so, then it is evident that the clients, meaning those who may
build or live in houses, have a large share in the subject of “ English
Domestic Architecture,” and in a great measure the success of our
architects and builders will depend on the amount of real help that
is extended to them. By this is meant a knowledge of the subject,
not only from the point of view of the provision of so many
cupboards and so many rooms in a house, but in addition an
acquaintance with the periods of building that have passed, and
the phases of thought that have induced their being. Such know-
ledge should be obtained, not with any idea of reproducing, say, an
Elizabethan or Jacobean house, which is obviously an absurd thing
to do, nor of fostering the spirit of eclectic dilettantism which is.
perilously prevalent at the moment, but rather that we may regain,
our hold on tradition, and try to maintain it.
Without being dogmatic, it can be maintained that a sym-
pathetic client, and one having knowledge, is the most important
essential in the contract to build a house. Such a one will obtain
his deserts, and his house will have the charm of a home ; it will
be furnished appropriately ; we shall not find reproductions of this,
or facsimiles of that, for the very plain reason that they are not
honest. Our friend may here live, and, in time, die, and in each
year he will have moulded his surroundings to fit him. By his.
i
By C. H. B. Quennell, F.R.I.B.A.
TO the average Englishman, his home is an important factor in
the scheme of his existence. He does not possess in any large
measure those civic virtues which prompt him to take much
pride in the development of towns or the laying out of cities,
but his interest can, as a rule, be readily aroused in any question of
beautifying his own home. Such feeling, too, is not restricted to
one class; the country gentleman living in the house of his ancestors
is sometimes not keener on its upkeep than the mechanic in his tiny
terrace house. It is very pleasant, when travelling on a railway
passing through some sordid suburb, to note here and there houses
which at once evidence that care and love have been spent on their
upkeep. Trim blinds, clean glass, and just a few flowers in the
little slip of a garden give the transforming touch that turns these
exceptions from mere houses into homes.
It is a truism that we generally obtain neither more nor less,
than we deserve—so the grubby man is reflected in the grubby little
terrace house, and the other one, who has that sense of the fitness of
things which is akin to Art, shows us as much in his house. If this
is so, then it is evident that the clients, meaning those who may
build or live in houses, have a large share in the subject of “ English
Domestic Architecture,” and in a great measure the success of our
architects and builders will depend on the amount of real help that
is extended to them. By this is meant a knowledge of the subject,
not only from the point of view of the provision of so many
cupboards and so many rooms in a house, but in addition an
acquaintance with the periods of building that have passed, and
the phases of thought that have induced their being. Such know-
ledge should be obtained, not with any idea of reproducing, say, an
Elizabethan or Jacobean house, which is obviously an absurd thing
to do, nor of fostering the spirit of eclectic dilettantism which is.
perilously prevalent at the moment, but rather that we may regain,
our hold on tradition, and try to maintain it.
Without being dogmatic, it can be maintained that a sym-
pathetic client, and one having knowledge, is the most important
essential in the contract to build a house. Such a one will obtain
his deserts, and his house will have the charm of a home ; it will
be furnished appropriately ; we shall not find reproductions of this,
or facsimiles of that, for the very plain reason that they are not
honest. Our friend may here live, and, in time, die, and in each
year he will have moulded his surroundings to fit him. By his.
i