Historic design details

By the recent works of professed antiquaries, a spirit of inquiry has been excited respecting the dates of every specimen that remains of ancient beauty or grandeur; and the strictest attention to their dates may be highly proper, in repairs or additions to old houses; but, in erecting new buildings, it may reasonably be doubted, whether modern comfort ought to be greatly sacrificed to external correctness in detail; and whether a style may not be tolerated, which gives the most commodious interior, and only adopts the general outline and the picturesque effect of old Gothic buildings.