Trecourt

The title of this house was suggested by the fact that the grouping of its structure involves the formation of three courts. Of these the central or fountain court is completely enclosed by the house, and, so far, the traditional model of an ancient type of plan is followed. There seems little doubt that this formation was originally adopted mainly for purposes of defence, and some excuse may be required to justify the perpetuation of such a plan in these days when conditions demanding the fortification of dwellings no longer obtain. It may be urged then that there are many other advantages, practical and aesthetic, which make the plan of building round enclosed courts advisable in modern times. The form of plan which resulted from the necessity for defence inevitably secured the quality of seclusion, and led to the creation of a little inner world, an enchanted territory of courts and enclosed gardens which owed the greater part of their charm to such enclosure. And this idea of the house and its garden as a little fairy-land, sheltered and defended from the bleak influences of the common every-day world without, can only be adequately conveyed by the same expedients which would be adopted by those who were obliged to fortify it against the attacks of enemies.

The court system of house planning has, moreover, other advantages, leading as it does to compactness of plan in a large house, and to an increased facility for lighting the various rooms and passages. Another ancient device for the defence of the house, may here be noted in passing as an example of that process of rational adoption and reluctant reiection of the features of old houses which results in a building which fulfils modern conditions. The enclosure of a house by a moat has much to recommend it from an aesthetic point of view. The reflection of its walls in the still water from which they seem to spring, conveys the idea of a little island home set like a jewel in a zone of silver. But the obvious inconsistenc) of creating an obstruction to the approaches of the house with no practical object, and then making bridges for transit over it, makes the enclosing moat to a modern house appear an archaic affectation, and the most one can learn from it is the beauty of the conjunction of architecture and still water, and the value of reflections in design.

Referring to the illustrations, it may be noted that the use of colour in architectural sketches, especially when it is of that accidental character which the weather gives, has often been somewhat unfairly reprobated. As, however, in the choice of materials for country building, it has been urged that they should be adapted for Nature’s painting, some suggestion of this process must necessarily be conveyed in illustrations of exteriors. Some indication might also have justly been added of the growth of creepers on the walls, and these have only been omitted in order not to confuse the forms of the structure. The relative plainness of the building is an indication that its grey stone walls will be partially adorned with climbing plants, and its red roof stained by the weather with tints which can only be dimly suggested by the sketches illustrated. Referring to the plans of the house, it will be noted that the arrangement is entirely symmetrical; but it is a symmetry which is not incompatible with practical considerations, and does not involve those anomalies of plan which the rigours of the Palladian style enforced on the designers of English country houses in this respect. From the central entrance in the long north front one enters a porch which opens on to an arcade revealing the central paved court, with its fountain and bright tubs of flowers. Immediately adjoining the porch on the right is the business-room communicating with the private study beyond, and in the wing which forms the extension of the north front to the west is the billiard-room with its open timber roof and gallery. Passing along the wide low corridor on the west side of the fountain court, it will be noted that this forms the direct approach from the entrance to the drawing-room; and adjoining it, and forming the connecting-link between drawing-room and study, is the long and low library; its unbroken wall-surfaces lined with books, and its central bay-window commanding the garden court, and beyond it one of the chief garden vistas.

The corridor, which bounds the fountain court on the south, extends east and west, and its lines are extended in the form of pergolas emphasising the unity of design in house and garden. At its centre a bay-window overlooks the fountain court with its arcade to the north, and to right and left, in summer weather, one may catch glimpses of garden vistas checkered with light and shade, and bright with flowers.

From this corridor the great hall, fifty feet in length, is entered, and here broad white wall-spaces contrast with the darker tones of panelling, and the principal features are the great open fireplace and the bay-window overlooking the terraces and gardens to the south. From this hall, drawing-room and dining-room open with wide doorways, and so the route from the former to the latter is another vista of which the terminal features are the alcoves in both rooms, more richly decorated than the rest of the walls, and with little windows where stained glass show like gems in the shade.

In the drawing-room the realities of the structure, the display of which gives a certain earnest character to the whole interior, will be modified by a more elegant treatment, and in the boudoir adjoining it the same feeling suggests the octagonal form developed from the square, and the introduction of slender white columns, above which a domed ceiling represents a miniature firmament adorned with flights of birds.

At the eastern end of the hall is the panelled dining-room, adjoining which the breakfast-room has an eastern aspect. The remaining portion of the ground plan is occupied by the kitchen premises, which provide the usual accommodation required for a house of this size. Of these the kitchen itself has an open timber roof, and the lower part of the walls lined with Dutch tiles.

The first floor provides eleven bedrooms and four bathrooms, as well as two of the servants’ bedrooms, the remainder of which would be in the floor above, the further development of which would provide a number of additional attic bedrooms. The bedrooms generally have been arranged to form suites, each including a bathroom and dressing-room.