1, 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 hot-houses; 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. 157. is an enlarged plan, consists of: a, The porch, entered from a bridge thrown across the brook, 4, as shown in fig. 154. 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, Drawingroom, 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. 158. is obtained. This room is fitted up with bookcases 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 bookshelves, are kept. The doors to these corner closets are not more than 9 in. in width, and they are of paneled 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 fireplace 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 carpenter's 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 pas sage 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' bed rooms. 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, Fireplace to the vinery at 10, in the kitchen-garden 9. 4 4, Brook. 5 5, Public road. 6, Kitchen-court. Concealed path to gentlemen's water-closet. Plantation of evergreens. 9, Kitchen-garden. 10, Vinery. 11, House servants' water-closet. 12, Servants' entrance. Though it cannot be said that the arrangement of the offices of this house is so good as it would be, if they were placed on each side of a straight passage; yet it will not be denied, that these offices include every thing that is desirable for comfort and even luxury. The chief difficulty which occurs to a stranger, in looking at the plan, is, to discover how several of the rooms which compose the offices are lighted; and this, it may be necessary to state, is chiefly effected from the roof; a mode which, in the case of some rooms, such as a butler's pantry, china-closet, plate-room, &c., is to be preferred; but which in most cases it is desirable to avoid. The three windows to the three principal rooms being on the same side of the house, and adjoining each other, must necessarily have a sameness of view; but the quiet character intended to be produced by the idea of a cottage by a road side, may be supposed to account for circumstances of this kind, and for various others.
