The eating-room is of that proportion, about two by three, which is now considered the standard of perfection: indeed, in many modern houses, every room partakes of the same shape and dimensions; such a room requires tables and sofas to fill up its area, and create that sort of intricacy which is so admirably conspicuous in the old houses of the date of Queen Elizabeth, where large bow windows and deep recesses give a degree of comfort worth copying in a modern room. With this idea, the windows of Sherringham [see fig. 244] are proposed to take a new character, as applied to Grecian architecture, which, in fact, has no more to do with a modern sash than with a large Gothic window.
In the centre of this room, and opposite to the fire-place, is a deep recess, which will be one of the most interesting and striking novelties, admitting a small company to live in the room, or out of the room, at pleasure, and commanding a delightful view of the flower-garden, with just so much of the sea as will be sufficient to announce its proximity, without exposing the room to its baneful effects. The view to the east, from this window in the recess, will be so peculiar, that it may, perhaps, be advisable to exclude all views from the windows on the sides, only leaving the upper part for transparent blinds, or stained glass.
