XII. The Billiard Room

In houses which do not possess a separate billiard-room one may sometimes find the billiard table placed in the hall. This arrangement, unless the hall is of considerable size, can hardly be recommended, because not only is the floor space much restricted where an impression of ample space is much needed, but the central and dominant position of the billiard table in the plan suggests that the practice of the game is the essential domestic function. Such an arrangement would be suitable only for a professional billiard player, and the effect might then be emphasised by the modern Jacobean mantelpiece ingeniously adapted to serve as a billiard marker.

Much may be urged, on the contrary, in favour of an arrangement of plan which enables a recess in the hall to be treated as a billiard-room. Here a game of billiards may be indulged in by visitors, or members of the family, without sequestration in a separate compartment of the house, and the dislocation of the social circle thus involved.

The space devoted for the billiard table becomes added to the hall; and thus, without detriment to the general character of the hall, it becomes more spacious than if the billiard-room were planned as a separate apartment, and the players enjoy the advantage of the central fireplace. Where a full-sized table is used, this arrangement will only be entirely successful when the hall is sufficiently large to admit of the billiard recess taking a secondary place. Such an arrangement is shown in the plan and photographs of “Blackwell.”

In the house described as “Trecourt” the billiard-room is shown as a secondary hall, large enough to admit of ample floor space apart from that required by the table and the players, and with a wide ingle fireplace under the gallery, which forms one end of the open timber roof.

In a more economic scheme it will often be possible to arrange a billiard-room either in the basement or roof space. In the former case the billiard-room will be more accessible, but not well lighted, unless, as in the plan of the hillside house illustrated, the fall of the ground admits of window space. This, however, will not be a great objection where billiard playing is an evening pastime. In the roof there will, on the contrary, be ample opportunity for top light, but in the average house of two storeys or more the use of the room will involve considerable climbing.

In these remarks on the billiard-room it is assumed that billiards is a game merely, and not a serious pursuit. The man who takes his billiards seriously will demand probably an isolated apartment for the billiard table. Inasmuch as he will not be content to play only in the evening or amidst the disturbing shadows cast by the side light from windows, it will be necessary that the room should be so planned that it is possible to light it entirely from the roof by means of a skylight, which should be the full size of the billiard table, and immediately over it; and the floor will be so constructed that the table is incapable of the least degree of vibration. But in the average household it will be enough if the billiard-room meets the not too stringent demands of the casual player, and in this case it will not require that special treatment which makes it unsuited for other uses. In its general treatment it is suggested that a certain informal and easy going character is more suitable than formality, and in its decoration the green of the cloth must be considered as the starting point of the colour scheme. The treatment of the shades to the light over the table gives opportunities of design in metal work, and the table itself is capable of great variety of design.