Before we enter into further details, we shall describe, first, the plan of the house; secondly, that of the farm and garden offices and the hothouses; and, thirdly, the general plan of the grounds. The house, in its external form and interior arrangement, is to be considered as a cottage, or rather as a villa assuming a cottage character. Hence, the centre part of the house, over the dining and drawing-rooms, appears from the elevation of the entrance front to be only two stories high. There is, however, a concealed story over part of the offices, for servants' bedrooms.
The house, of which Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan, consists of: a, The porch, entered from a bridge thrown across the brook, 4, as shown in Fig. 4. b b, Passage from which are seen the stairs to the bedrooms; and in which, at ii, there is a jib-door and a ventilating window, to prevent the possibility of the smell from the kitchen or offices, or water-closet, penetrating to the other parts of the passage. c, Recess for coats, hats, &c., fitted up with a hat and umbrella-stand, tables, &c. d, Drawing-room, with a recess at the further end, fitted up with a sofa and a writing-table. e, Dining-room, with a recess for the largest sideboard, and another for a smaller sideboard and cellarets. f, Library, chiefly lighted from the roof, but having one window to the garden, and a glass door to the porch, h, also looking into the garden, and from which the view, Fig. 5, is obtained. This room is fitted up with book-cases all round; those on each side of the fire-place being over large cabinets, about 4 ft. 6 in. high, filled with a collection of shells, minerals, and organic remains, &c.; and, to save the space that would otherwise be lost at the angles, pentagonal closets are formed there, in which maps, and various articles that cannot be conveniently put on the regular book-shelves, are kept. The doors to these corner closets are not more than 9 in. in width, and they are of panelled wainscot. The shelves are fitted in front with mahogany double reeds, fixing the cloth which protects the tops of the books, thus giving the appearance of mahogany. g, Museum for specimens of minerals and other curiosities, entered from the porch, h, and lighted from that porch and from a window in the roof. h, Porch leading to the garden from the library and museum. i, Ladies' water-closet kept warm by the heat from the back of the servants' hall fire; the back of the fire-place being a cast iron plate. ii, Jib-door. k, Plate-closet. l, Butler's pantry, lighted from the roof. m, China-closet, lighted from the roof. n, Room serving as a passage between the dining-room and the garden and also between the dining-room and the water-closet i, containing a turning-lathe, a carpenter's work bench, a complete set of carpenters' tools, garden tools for pruning, &c., of all sorts; spuds with handles, graduated with feet and inches, fishing tackle, archery articles, &c. o, Inner wine-cellar, where the principal stock of wine is kept. There is a ventilating opening from this cellar into the passage b. p, Servants' hall. q, Outer wine-cellar, where the wine given out weekly for use is placed, and entered in the butler's book. Between q and the passage b, are seen the stairs leading to the servants' bedrooms. r, Beer-cellar. s, Kitchen, lighted from the roof, and from a window on one side. ss, Scullery, lighted from one side. t, Housekeeper's closet. u, Coal-cellar. v, Larder. w, Bottle rack. x, Safe for cold meat. y, Wash-house. z, Knife-house. &, Filtering apparatus. 1, Ash-pit. 2, Coal-house 3, Fire-place to the vinery at 10, in the kitchen-garden 9. 4 4, Brook. 5 5, Public road. 6, Kitchen-court. 7, Concealed path to gentlemen's water-closet. 8, Plantation of evergreens. 9, Kitchen-garden. 10, Vinery. 11, House servants' water-closet. 12, Servants' entrance.
