Читать книгу The Englishman's House: A Practical Guide for Selecting and Building a House онлайн

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The position of the residence in regard to the sun at different periods of the year is also an important matter. If it stands with each front north and south, the north front will have comparatively little sun, except during summer time; and if the position be north-east and south-west respectively, the cold bitter winds of winter will be severely felt, whilst from the fact that the greater portion of the year the rainy quarter of the wind is south-west, that front or back of the house will be continually exposed to its influence. Consequently, frontages to the south-east and north-west are to be preferred in all cases, when possible, as such position ensures to both sides the greatest average of sun, heat, and light, and protection from the north-east wind of winter or the south-west of the rainy season. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the influence of light on health and its effects on the mind, in the construction of modern dwelling-houses. An excess is easily avoided by blinds and other contrivances; but if the architectural features of the building be such as to exclude the light, an opposite remedy is impossible. Abundant access of light tends to set off all the internal decorations of the house, and spreads a cheerfulness of appearance that is always highly prized. It gives brilliancy of outline and detail to coloured decorations, and, to use a common phrase, is the best possible “set-off” that the architect or decorator can desire. As already pointed out, the effect of light and shade, in regard to architecture, is a condition of success in respect to the picturesque.