A house in the country is so different from a house in town, that I never could see any good reason for disposing the living rooms above stairs: it may, perhaps, be said, that the views are more perfect from the higher level; but the same degree of elevation may be obtained by building the cellars above ground, and afterwards raising the earth above them, as I advised at DONNINGTON and BLAIZE CASTLE; and surely the inconvenience of an external staircase can scarcely be compensated by any improvement of the views. To counteract this error in modern houses, I have, in some instances, raised the earth to the principal floor; and, in others, where the architecture would not allow this expedient, I have advised a gallery to be added, as at HOOTON and HIGHAM HILL.
