The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
Instruction, by Various

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Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction
Vol. 13, No. 355., Saturday, February 7, 1829

Author: Various

Release Date: February 5, 2004 [EBook #10950]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 355 ***

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THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

VOL 13, No. 355., SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1829. [PRICE 2d.]

VILLAS IN THE REGENT'S PARK.

[Illustration: MARQUESS OF HERTFORD'S VILLA.]

[Illustration: DORIC VILLA.]

The definition of the word _villa_ is a country seat; but the reader
will ask, how can a country seat be in the midst of a metropolis, or in
its brick and mortar confines? The term, however, admits of various
modifications. The villas of the Romans resembled large city palaces
removed into the country, and some of them were four times larger than
Versailles with its three thousand apartments. The villas of modern
Rome likewise more resemble palaces than abodes of domestic
convenience; and one of them, the Villa Mondrogone, has more windows
than there are days in the year. Such are the Italian villas, of which
the name conveys as accurate an idea as the English reader acquires
from the French _chateau_, which, in reality, implies a comfortless
factory-looking abode, with a blaze of fresco embellishments.

The first engraving in the annexed page is the villa, or, we should
rather say, the suburban retreat, of the Marquess of Hertford, designed
by Mr. Decimus Burton. The noble owner, who has enjoyed the peculiar
advantages of travel, and is a man of _vertu_ and fine taste, has
selected a design of beautiful simplicity and chastity of style. The
entrance-hall is protected by a hexastyle (six column) portico of that
singular Athenian order, which embellishes the door of the Tower of the
Winds. The roof is Venetian, with projecting eaves; and the wings are
surmounted by spacious glass lanterns, which light the upper rooms. The
buildings and office