Where the lawn, the woods, the water, the whole place, and the general face of the surrounding country, are on so extensive a scale, the only means of preserving the same character is, by extending the plan of the house also. How can this be effected, unless we adopt the Gothic style of architecture? In Grecian or modern buildings, it has been considered an essential part of the plan to conceal all the subordinate appendages of the mansion, such as the stables, the offices, the garden walls, &c.; and why? Because they neither do, nor can, partake of the character of the house; and the only method by which this extension of site is usually acquired in a Grecian building, is, by adding wings to the house. Thus the same mistaken principle obtains, and is considered material, for it is a part of the duty of these wings to conceal the offices. But, if continuity be an essential cause of the sublime, if extension be an essential cause of magnificence, whatever destroys continuity weakens the sublime, and whatever destroys extension lessens magnificence; therefore, as the offices and court-yards attached to a house are generally five times more extensive than the house itself, where magnificence is the object, why neglect the most effectual means of creating it? viz., continuity and extension, blended with unity of design and character; or, in other words, when it is desirable to take advantage of every part of the buildings, why conceal five parts in six of them?
