Architectural Record, Vol. 7 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Architectural Record, Vol. 7<br><br>None of these restrictions was imposed upon the architect of the suburban villa. The casinos expand themselves into huge buildings capable of accommodating a large company and their retinue, while the parks and gardens which upy a large area, arc treated with the greatest skill.<br><br>Before we proceed to describe the villas in detail it will he well to consider the social conditions of which they arc the expression, the sources from which their characteristic details were derived, and in studying them as a whole to discover, if possible, what constitutes their peculiar charm.<br><br>In the first place we must remember that an Italian villa is not a single building, but rather a great establishment, consisting of the casino, or dwelling of the proprietor, the secondary buildings, such as farmhouses, out-buildings and dependencies, and the park, with its gardens, terraces, fountains and pavilions. It is the park rather than the casino which is remarkable, for the latter is seldom of any great architectural interest, and is considered, not as with us the most important part of a suburban residence, but only as a refuge in inclement weather, or as a shelter at night.<br><br>In considering Italian villas one is at once struck by the judgment with which the site has been selected, the ingenuity with which every natural advantage of the place has been made use of, and the skill with which the architect has so disposed the various parts that all may form a charming whole, while on every side may be new surprises and unexpected delights.<br><br>The buildings are never placed as with us almost at random, but there is always a progression artistically managed from the unconfined naturalism of the lower park to the strict formalism of the grounds which immediately surround the casino. In the Italian gardens there is all the variety and picturesqueness of other parks, without either the puerile simplicity or monotony which too often characterizes our efforts. With them there is never the small ingenuity or the ingenuity in small things - the petty details that confuse our scheme are properly subordinated. Things are done with a more liberal hand. The statues, vases and fountains are of real bronze or marble, not base imitation, in iron or zinc; the porticos. casino and summer houses arc of carved stone, and never of painted wood or rustic work. The architectural features. such as fountains, pavilions and statues, are placed to the best advantage and appear to have been called into existence by the necessity of the site, rather than as if. procured be plent they have found a resting place almost by chance in this place rather than in another.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.