Town house room proportions

Fifthly. The favourite proportion for a room, is asserted to be, the breadth to the length, as two to three, or nearly in that proportion: hence, a room twenty feet wide, is to be thirty feet long; and twenty-four wide, to be thirty-six long; and so in proportion, till it reaches any width and length. But when the dimensions are contracted, we must recollect that a certain space betwixt the door and the fire-place ought to be preserved; and, therefore, I have found it expedient, in small houses, to give more space, by placing the chimney at a proper distance, and forming a new centre to the room, as explained in this diagram [fig. 183].