Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1876-02-12
GOTHIC HNIrACS-

Few IeIsoEs who are interested in the I'm
r;oyemsnL OF the archi tecture ofgour houses
car have failed 10 notice. with more or less
pleasure, tue mOdiicat oas OF style that
ave been introjUCei during the last ten or
hi;esn years. Though some OF the expert
menis lave produced results II which II is
difficult TO get accustomed, and which are
more odd than bsautifUl- even Oddly is q
I.iiei { Ola the monotony OF brown or gray
1S!-yeliOw stone which has made many
miles OF our fashionable avenues a weary
desert The fat, unrelieved fronts, the rec
tsngular, hign windows of uniform size and
shape; the lofty flights OF stone stems with
III varied balustrades; the haIfdeVsloped
balconies, consisting OF a single shelf under
the window, and the level line OF the roof
who has counted the repetitious OF these in
Fifth or Madison avenue can hardly help
welcoming any change. Recently. some OF
our architects have introduced variety OF
color in tie stone or brick work; have thrown
on graceful bay-windows, and sheltered the
doorway with pillared porticoes or canopies;
have varied the forms OF the windows 10
give some conception Of the chambers with
In; have arranged light balconies that are at
tractive both 10 passers-by and to the in
mates OF the dwelling, and have given us a
dormer windows at the top OF the face OF the
house. To these architects the public owes
debt of appreciation and gratitude. They
Rave made beginning in what We are con
nOent Will ultimately De complete reyolu-
ton In our domestic architecture.
For want OF better name, il has been
Customary 10 call the work of the group OF
architects who are engaged in Promoting
these Changes the NEW Gothic; but the
name has only very vague application.
Inc gentlemen whose work is thus desig-
mated are in 40 sense members of a school.
and there is but slight similarity in their
methods. Yet there is a certain fitness in
Inc name TO which the new style has given
rise. So far as il l. really an Improvement
on The old. il is the result of the spirit when
controlled the best Gothic work during the
period OF It's greatest excellence. Those who
suppose that the essential element of Gothic
architecture has The pointed arch and the
modes OF construction to which Its use logi-
cally led, have only graSped u portion of the
character OF that superb system. 1t would
be difficult, and indeed impossible TO apply
the Gothic principle 10 our modern houses
If the arch and its connections were the in
dlspensable expression of that principle. M
one Supposes That we can build on CITY los
one hundred feet deep. AMI from twenty TO
thirty feet wide, each of which is a part OF "A
long series Of similar lots, a building with
grained arches aud flying buttresses, with
Wide and high window openings, filled with
stained glass. But the same class OF archi-
tects who built the cathedrals and abbeys of
lhe Thirteenth century-the most splendid
products OF the Gothic system-alsO built
numerous convenient and beautiful houses
In The cities OF That period, when the lots
were small and the streets narrow, and
when other conditions were more unfayor-
able to fine work than those which the mod
ern architect is obliged 10 face. The manner
III which this was done Is described by NJ.
ioiltI-l t DUO. 'IUere were not, he says,
"strictly speaking, absolute rules for the APP
plication of certain forms. The only rule
was that OF rigorous observation of one prin-
oiple. with entire liberty to each to go his
own way within the limits which that prin-
ciple imposed. That principle is this: To
re0der every requirement of construction
ana every means used apparent whe ether the
dwelling were Of brick, of wood, or of stone,
lis form and aspect were the result OF the
use OF these different materials" After
naming a number Of instances of the appli-
cation of this principlc-the uncovered tim
cased stairwayS, &c, the writer says, Ger
tainly this is very different from our houses
OF brick which initiate stone our wooden
partitions Clothed with plaster, our stair
ways which cut across the middle of win
dowS, our light-openiDgs that are large
Tor small rooms as for great, our chimney
hues hat are ashamed 10 be seen, and from
that perpetual cOncealment of everything
which ought TO be in our private dwellings.
where plaster is painted to initiate wood or
marble, or wood 10 initiate stone, and where
the poorest construction hides under an out
side coating of luxury"
IElS is not an exaggerated picture OF a
great many OF our houses, and IL is combat
Ing II that the Gothic architects OF the
day are rendering a service. 1t would be
DUO too far. The more we insist that the
construction Of our house shall be as nearly
as possible what il seems, the better work
we shall get, the richer opportunities we
shall have to make our homes really beauti-
1ul. 1here Is something permanently at
tractive In any thoroughly well-done piece
OF work, whatever its form, because no bad
form can consist with essential excellence of
method. The hopeful feature of the moieru
architecture TO which we have referred is,
that 1T is in some degree animated by the
spirit OF the medieval D,ditre dc tGnTe.-N
T. Times.