The inequalities of the ground, the
character and color of those inequalities, the nature of the air, the
exposure, and the consequent fall of the light, the quantity and form of
near and distant foliage, all have their effect on the design, and
should have their influence on the designer, inducing, as they do, a
perfect change of circumstance in every locality. Only one general rule
can be given, and that we repeat. The house must _not_ be a noun
substantive, it must not stand by itself, it must be part and parcel of
a proportioned whole: it must not even be seen all at once; and he who
sees one end should feel that, from the given data, he can arrive at no
conclusion respecting the other, yet be impressed with a feeling of a
universal energy, pervading with its beauty of unanimity all life and
all inanimation, all forms of stillness or motion, all presence of
silence or of sound.
256. Thus, then, we have reviewed the most interesting examples of
existing villa architecture, and we have applied the principles derived
from those examples to the landscape of our own country. Throughout, we
have endeavored to direct attention to the spirit, rather than to the
letter, of all law, and to exhibit the beauty of that principle which is
embodied in the line with which we have headed this concluding paper; of
being satisfied with national and natural forms, and not endeavoring to
introduce the imaginations, or imitate the customs, of foreign nations,
or of former times.
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