X. The Bathroom

The old country-houses of England can generally be adapted, without doing violence to their structure, to the requirements of modern life; and, with a few slight sacrifices of material comfort, it would be possible for a modern family to live in comparative ease in an old-world manor-house. In only one respect would it be wanting. It would contain no bathroom, and none of those sanitary appliances which the smallest modern villa can boast. It has been said that cleanliness is next to godliness, but historic evidence would seem to show that cleanliness has hitherto been the mark of the ungodly, and that it is only when man has ceased to concern himself with the things of the soul that he turns his attention to the care of the body.

In the development of the modern bathroom there is therefore no precedent in the tradition of the house, and in the average modern dwelling it will be well that the suggestion of spotless cleanliness and practical efficiency should be its salient characteristics. The floor and lower part of the walls of tiles, the bath and basin of white enamel with no pipes enclosed, with no dark corners to harbour dust and dirt, and the art of the bathroom as expressed in useless and dirt-concealing patterns rigorously excluded—such a scheme will, perhaps, represent the best that is possible for the average household. Under stricter economic conditions the floor will perhaps be covered with a plain linoleum, a cork carpet, and whitewash take the place of the tiled surface of the wall. The bathroom should be so placed that the plumbing is reduced to a minimum, and the whole system is as simple and compact as possible, free from possible damage by frost, and capable of repair in all its parts without interference with the structure of the house. The quality of mystery has its artistic value in the house, but in the matter of plumbing it will probably only be appreciated by the lumber. In connection with the bathroom in the small house it is generally possible to arrange a linen closet, which contains the hot-water cylinder, which serves the double purpose of keeping the linen dry and the bathroom warm. In a slightly larger house in addition to this general bathroom there may be a bath and basin fitted up in the master’s dressing-room, and fitted washstands with hot and cold water in the bedrooms help materially to reduce the labour of the house. The housemaid’s closet with its slop sink and space for pails and brooms, is also an important feature in the house. In larger houses each bedroom or suite of bedrooms will be provided with its separate bathroom, and here it will often be admissible to indulge in a bath-room which may possess some of the beauties of the classic baths. In the house for an art-lover illustrated a scheme for a bathroom is shown in which a circular central bath lined with mosaic is surrounded by a marble pavement. The bathroom itself is octagonal in form, each angle being formed by a column, between which niches in the walls give spaces for special baths. The roof of blue mosaic represents a mimic firmament, from the centre of which showers descend at will. The whole of this interior represents an arrangement of broad slabs of marble, of which the most prominent is the green Irish Connemara, which, with its deep tones of varied green, seems to suggest the still depths of some mountain pool. To complete the colour scheme one must imagine the deep green tones of this marble relieved by the brightness of the silver fittings and the opalescent tints of the Norwegian midnight sun marble which appears to contain all the hues of a sunset.

The swimming-bath is a luxury which might well form a feature in the large modern house, and, if circumstances allow of the use of marble, mosaic and stained glass arranged in a definite colour scheme it would be possible to realise a dream of the enchanted palaces of fairy land. The bath itself, lined with mosaic of green, blue, purple, and gold, would appear as a little inland sea shimmering with colour. Around it would stand the white columns which support the blue dome, in which golden stars lean over the water.

Broad spaces of white marble would cover the surrounding walls, warmed to an opalescent beauty by the coloured lights from the stained -glass windows, and set with coloured marbles, used as jewels are in the white setting. In the effects of artificial light one may imagine a dim yellow moon reflected in the purple water, which would appear as that sea over which Goorelka sailed in her cockle-shell “enchanted even to the very bed.”