DOI article:
Bennett, T. P.: Domestic architecture in America
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41869#0165
DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE IN
AMERICA. BY T. P. BENNETT, F.R.I.B.A.
MODERN American domestic architecture has a charm pecu-
liarly its own. Probably its attraction is due to many qualities
which are not altogether easy to define. Unquestionably, how-
ever, one of the most important is its excellent setting. In
dealing with the country residence it is impossible to divorce the architec-
ture from the garden ; the two must be indissolubly connected if a satisfac-
tory result is to be achieved. In many American designs this connection is
very marked and after a few years it is impossible to point to the limit of the
artificial garden or the natural landscape. The best possible use has been
made of trees, shrubs, lawns and other features. Setting is something partly
natural, partly due to good placing and partly to good design. If accident
originally planted the trees, the architect undoubtedly sited the house so
that the greatest effect was obtained from them. It is evident that the
designer has always realised the importance of surroundings and has striven
to gain an effective site for his composition afterwards enhancing the setting
as much as possible.
In some cases water, with all its wonderful light and shade, has been
brought into the scheme. Delightful figures serve to adorn appropriate
positions. Yews and other shrubs are judiciously placed. In every in-
stance there is a high sense of fitness, skill in placing, and knowledge. This
use of surroundings, almost more than anything else, indicates the talented
domestic architect. It shows the right outlook.
Landscape, environment, surrounding, let it be called by any name, is
partly unalterable. There are elements such as climate, soil and altitude
which cause some plants to flourish and others to fail, which help to pro-
duce the scenery and create a more or less typical mise en scene. This
setting demands discrimination in the application of architectural design.
It insists upon suitability of character if the result is to be harmonious—fit-
ness which must be provided by the architect.
The American climate varies widely across the Continent, and so does the
American house. It might be thought at first that Spanish or Italian archi-
tecture being suited to the climate of such a State as California, Californian
architects would specialise in work and design of this character. New
York, Virginia and other districts might be thought similarly to encourage
exponents of other types ; but just as one State has many variations in its
landscape only rendered generally alike by a broad similarity in vegetation,
so the architects have proved capable of designing many types of houses
similar only in a very general way.
This diversity is strongly marked, both amongst the productions of different
men and in those of the same man. It is a quality particularly valuable in
151
AMERICA. BY T. P. BENNETT, F.R.I.B.A.
MODERN American domestic architecture has a charm pecu-
liarly its own. Probably its attraction is due to many qualities
which are not altogether easy to define. Unquestionably, how-
ever, one of the most important is its excellent setting. In
dealing with the country residence it is impossible to divorce the architec-
ture from the garden ; the two must be indissolubly connected if a satisfac-
tory result is to be achieved. In many American designs this connection is
very marked and after a few years it is impossible to point to the limit of the
artificial garden or the natural landscape. The best possible use has been
made of trees, shrubs, lawns and other features. Setting is something partly
natural, partly due to good placing and partly to good design. If accident
originally planted the trees, the architect undoubtedly sited the house so
that the greatest effect was obtained from them. It is evident that the
designer has always realised the importance of surroundings and has striven
to gain an effective site for his composition afterwards enhancing the setting
as much as possible.
In some cases water, with all its wonderful light and shade, has been
brought into the scheme. Delightful figures serve to adorn appropriate
positions. Yews and other shrubs are judiciously placed. In every in-
stance there is a high sense of fitness, skill in placing, and knowledge. This
use of surroundings, almost more than anything else, indicates the talented
domestic architect. It shows the right outlook.
Landscape, environment, surrounding, let it be called by any name, is
partly unalterable. There are elements such as climate, soil and altitude
which cause some plants to flourish and others to fail, which help to pro-
duce the scenery and create a more or less typical mise en scene. This
setting demands discrimination in the application of architectural design.
It insists upon suitability of character if the result is to be harmonious—fit-
ness which must be provided by the architect.
The American climate varies widely across the Continent, and so does the
American house. It might be thought at first that Spanish or Italian archi-
tecture being suited to the climate of such a State as California, Californian
architects would specialise in work and design of this character. New
York, Virginia and other districts might be thought similarly to encourage
exponents of other types ; but just as one State has many variations in its
landscape only rendered generally alike by a broad similarity in vegetation,
so the architects have proved capable of designing many types of houses
similar only in a very general way.
This diversity is strongly marked, both amongst the productions of different
men and in those of the same man. It is a quality particularly valuable in
151