XIV. The Staircase

In the planning of the staircase it is well that it should be in scale with the rest of the house. In a small house it should not be too extensive, but should represent the simplest and easiest way of getting up stairs, and not necessarily a feature in the effect of the interior.

It is not generally advisable to include an open staircase in a hall which is used as a sitting-room, as it will often be a source of draughts, as well as somewhat detracting from the privacy of the room. The staircase is really part of the passage scheme of the house, and especially in cases where there is no second stair it should be so placed that its use will not interfere with privacy of the sitting-rooms. When placed in such a position, for instance, as that shown in the house described as “Bexton Croft,” it can be used by servants and family without detracting from the privacy of the hall.

One of the great advantages of low-ceiled rooms, an advantage which is not always recognised, is that it reduces and simplifies the staircase, and makes unnecessary that long precipitous flight which is usually such a painful feature in the loftily- ceiled villa. It is generally desirable that the staircase should be broken up into short flights of steps with intermediate landings. Not only does this improve the appearance of the stairs, but it also makes it easier of ascent and less dangerous. There are probably few who have escaped from a tumble down stairs at some early stage of their existence; and in view of the prevalence of this method of descent amongst children, the division of the staircase into short flights is desirable. Besides the main staircase, smaller special stairs may often be introduced for convenience of access to special rooms. In the house previously referred to, such a small stair starts on the ground floor, at the side of the drawing-room window-seat. Here a panel opens by touching a spring, and this little stair affords a means of reaching the little gallery overlooking the hall and the bedroom beyond, into which it opens through a door which in the room appears as part of a fitment wardrobe.

In the House for an Art-Lover,” spiral staircases are introduced at the angles of the building, which, besides affording a means of communication between certain rooms, also gives access to the garden. Apart from their practical uses, these little staircases help to give to a house a certain romantic quality. Mere utility alone will never completely satisfy human demands in the home. It is well that a house should be nicely adapted to its uses, but, beyond such practical considerations, it should contain features which add to its mystery and charm.

Something may here be noted as to the general significance of steps and changes of level in the house. It may generally be stated that steps up to a room, or to any feature in the house, conveys at once an impression of dignity and importance. In the church such an impression is suggested by the steps to the altar, and the front entrance of a building always gains in dignity if approached in this way. On the other hand, what is gained in dignity is lost in homeliness, a quality which is accentuated by downward steps. Those old country cottages which one enters from a roadside, which is slightly above the level of the floor, owe much of their charm to this slight change of level.

Much of the artistic effect of changes of level in a house is due to the corresponding changes it affords in the point of view; and in stepping down into a room from a higher level, from which one looks down on the interior, an impression is gained which differs materially from the normal, and whatever quality of homely comforts an interior may possess will be much accentuated when approached from a higher level.