Regency Household: Villa in the Grecian Style

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A GRECIAN VILLA DESIGN No 12 PERSPECTIVE VIEW PLATE XXIV TWO ELEVATIONS PLATE XXV TWO PLANS PLATE XXVI INTERNAL effect rather than external decoration or any thing striking in the elevations has been here studied for these it must be admitted offer little to captivate the eye of a connoisseur although of that description which finds admirers among persons in general whose taste must in some degree be consulted in works of this nature even though it be attended with some inconsistency as to correct architectural character and costume Such a house in fact appears to greater advan tage in reality than it can be made to do upon paper because actual size and substance confer on it an importance which it cannot possess either in elevations or a perspective view where the eye looks for some more positive indication of taste than the order alone however beautiful in itself can produce This is what many are pleased to term a chaste and simple style of Grecian architecture whereas it wants that consis tency and keeping essential to chasteness and simplicity and might therefore more correctly be termed Semi Grecian Such as it is how ever it is not without something like elegance in the general proportions and masses but would require to have all the rest worked up in order to correspond with the order here applied How this might be done will be shown in the Supplementary Volume In the interim let it suffice to observe that this exterior pretends to no more than to announce the style adopted within and we shall therefore proceed at once to an examination of the plan The entrance hall offers a richer architectural coup d ล“il than it is always advisable to make at first because whatever may be urged in favour of first impressions in architecture they may be rendered too forcible and too favourable and so occasion comparative disappoint ment in what follows Yet as in this case the hall is intended to serve as a billiard room it becomes in a certain degree one of the apartments i
and will therefore bear to have more room allotted to it and to be made a more striking portion of the interior than under different circumstances it ought to be in a house of the same extent Besides although this plan contains no more sitting rooms than others that have been shown and which are far less ostentatious as regards their vestibules the apartments themselves are more spacious so that if suitably decorated they would adequately support the display here made Furthermore it should be observed care has been taken that while none of the effect the plan allowed is lost the hall itself is if any thing rather smaller than the adjoining rooms neither does it exceed them in heigth there fore they do not suffer by injudicious contrast in that respect as is apt to be the case in those mansions where the introductory part of the interior occupies the height of two floors thereby making the other apartments appear at first less lofty than they really are Notwithstanding that the eye here takes in at the first glance an extent double the length of either the drawing or dining room this space is so divided by the screen of columns that the limits of the hall itself are clearly enough defined and this portion prevented from appearing extravagant in point of size At the same time while the greater loftiness of the further part shows expansion upwards beyond the colonnades this does not display itself too decidedly all at once but rather gradually reveals itself to the visitor as he advances along The effect of the staircase as beheld through the intervening screen whose columns would be in half shade and thereby detach themselves boldly from the more brilliant back ground upon which the light would fall down from above would be no less picturesque than architectural The recesses with columns beyond the screen are by no means the least effective features in the design nor is their value lessened by their arising out of the plan itself instead of being arbitrarily brought in for the sake of display These greatly contribute towards the richness and variety of the perspective ensemble and are productive of that com plexity which provided it be skilfully managed is no less desirable in this style than in the Gothic Owing to the width of the landing imme diately above them these columns would certainly not have much direct light thrown upon them nevertheless as they would be seen against a deeper shadowed back ground behind them they would be sufficiently
distinct while they would produce an effect contrasted to that of the larger colonnade The staircase itself with two flights of steps branching off from the first one is here rendered more important than considering that it conducts only to bed chambers and dressing rooms might under different circumstances be deemed eligible yet it is not more so than is proper in this instance where it forms a principal though distant feature in the scene As some may after all be of opinion that the apartments are rather too few consistently with the style of living that is otherwise indicated it may not be displeasing to them if we now point out in what manner the whole might be converted into a very superior mansion without greatly deviating from the present plan and that principally by parti ally filling up the open space behind the staircase To effect this what is now the library might be made a second drawing room and the library placed beyond it the study & c being removed to the other side where the kitchen now is Supposing the other offices to be in the basement the kitchen might then be placed on the same level in the space behind the staircase Should there be no room built above it might be made as lofty as we pleased and lighted entirely from the ceiling As a still further improvement however we should rather recommend some apartment on the level of the first landing on the stairs and as windows immediately over those of the kitchen beneath might be thought objectionable this room might be lighted from above and applied to the purpose either of a picture cabinet or library in the latter case thus obtaining a third or morning room beyond the two drawing rooms The cabinet or whatever else it might be would be an occasion for taking visitors partly up the staircase and would thus justify the display there made at the same time it would be raised so little above the rest of the ground floor that it might almost be con sidered as forming a part of it A plan shewing the proposed alteration will be given in the Supple mentary Volume Estimated cost finished with brick and stucco fronts stone cornice and plinths 4930 Extra if with stone ashlar fronts 936

The design and description appeared in Domestic Architecture: Being a Series of Designs for Mansions, Villas, Rectory Houses, Parsonage Houses, Bailiffsโ€™ Lodge, Gardenerโ€™s Lodge, Game-keeperโ€™s Lodge, Park Gate Lodges, Etc. in the Grecian, Italian, and Old English Styles of Architecture. With Observations on the Appropriate Choice of Site; the Whole Designed with Strict Reference to the Practicability of Erection, and with Due Attention to the Important Consideration of Uniting Elegance, Convenience and Domestic Comfort with Economy โ€ฆ With Accurate Estimates Appended to Each Design (1833).

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2 Responses to Regency Household: Villa in the Grecian Style

  1. Jennifer Redlarczyk says:
    May 5, 2026 at 7:15 am

    Wonderful article and visuals. Thanks so much for your efforts and postings.