Country Houses
Although Dobson was very versatile, and was able to build houses in Gothic or Tudor style if his clients so desired, his preferred style was Georgian. His country houses are too little known, mainly because they are not so large that they are open to the public, and are often still in private hands hidden away behind parkland and trees. The outstanding characteristics of his houses are his use of beautiful golden sandstone, Corinthian or Ionic pillared entrance porticos, elegant staircases with beautiful ironwork balustrades leading to an upper gallery with an iron balustrade of the same design, and the hall's having a domed ceiling and glass centrepiece. Often, as at Nunnykirk Hall and Longhirst Hall, the ground-floor design includes a curved or bow end at one side of the house. In all of the houses that Dobson designed, the quality of the stonework is superb, and it is believed that he used the same team of stonemasons again and again. It is also thought that this applied to other craftsmen whom he employed.
Read more about this topic: John Dobson (architect)
Famous quotes containing the words country and/or houses:
“Our country is the world—our countrymen are all mankind.”
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“Midway the lake we took on board two manly-looking middle-aged men.... I talked with one of them, telling him that I had come all this distance partly to see where the white pine, the Eastern stuff of which our houses are built, grew, but that on this and a previous excursion into another part of Maine I had found it a scarce tree; and I asked him where I must look for it. With a smile, he answered that he could hardly tell me.”
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