Chapter 12, The route to the house (Der Weg zum Hause), pp. 107–14

A difficult question that arises in the initial planning of a house is how to make a good entrance. The way one approaches, how one enters, where visitors wait to be received, all this needs the most careful consideration. The entrance does not have to be in the street-front, and can be at the side, but how to enter should never be left in doubt. An entrance at the back is definitely to be avoided. In the case of a large house one must first decide whether a drive for vehicles is to be provided, and if so, there must be room for the vehicles to turn before they leave again. For today’s large and long motor vehicles this is not so easy, as a large vehicle requires the outer radius of the drive to be at least 14 metres, as shown in Figure 1.4.1, and this must be provided even with the house forward on the building line. In this case, though, one can make two gates, one for entry and the other for exit. It is sensible to provide a drive that can take motors for the use of the guests, even if the owner himself uses only a horse drawn carriage.

If the house is on a large site and far from the boundary, a porter’s lodge at the entrance is always needed. The porter can then open the gate as the carriage approaches, allowing it to continue on up to the house door. But if the house is near the boundary, the gate can be opened by servants living in the house, although the carriage has to wait as the servant hurries out to do it. A perfect arrival can be obtained with a covered porch (Figure 1.4.2), which allows transition from carriage to house in rainy weather without wetting the feet, but it is an expensive addition only affordable for a large house. If the point of arrival cannot be covered, the best mode of arrival being therefore precluded, it is better to omit such a porch altogether. The whole task will then be made much easier: instead of the main gate, have a garden door, and in place of the elaborate drive, a garden path. As an addition one can build a covered way from the gate to the house, which makes the drive unnecessary. Alternatively one can build a pergola, which when covered in plants at least gives some protection. Planning control demands if the house is a certain distance from the street – usually 30 metres, which is the length of the fire hose – that there must be an entryway, but it does not have to be fully metalled, and a garden gate only 2.3 m wide will suffice.

Figure 1.4.1 Plan of radius for drive

For good supervision of the entrance it is essential that the servants can see the garden gate from the house, and it is usually provided with an electric latch that can be operated from within. It is therefore essential that servants can recognise who has arrived before opening the gate. This issue must be considered from an early planning stage, to assure that the service rooms gain a view of the entrance. But where will the servants be? Often it is the so-called servant’s room that is given easy access to the entrance and overlooks the gate, but this arrangement fulfils its purpose only if the servant remains in his room, which he hardly ever does. He has housework to do, which takes him to the servery or cleaning room, or into the kitchen, and his own room is used only to sleep. Only in great houses like that of a Duke is it possible to have a servant constantly on watch in his room to receive visitors. Therefore it is in all cases better to make sure that the house-door can be seen from the kitchen, the one room where the presence of at least one of the servants is guaranteed. If the kitchen lies not on the same side as the entrance but to the side, a projecting bay can be provided to allow the servants a sideways glimpse of the approach. This has the advantage that visitors do not have the feeling of being scrutinised by the servants. It may also be desirable to run a speaking tube from the house to the gate, so that visitors can announce their identity.

Figure 1.4.2 Various entrance arrangements with waiting places for guests, left, and porte cochère, middle

Once the gate has been opened and the way cleared to approach the house, the visitor proceeds to the house door, where he must ring the bell for a second time. It is most desirable to set the door back a little (Figure 1.4.3), or to provide it with a small sheltering porch to protect the waiting visitor if it is raining. If such a shelter gives more of a feeling than the reality of protection, it nonetheless generates a homely atmosphere and lends the house entrance an inviting impression. To build open steps leading up to the entrance is not recommended, lest in winter they become slippery and cause accidents: a clever designer will usually find ways of accommodating changes of level within the house. The door having been opened and the visitor welcomed, he must wait some minutes before being received: where is this to happen? Precisely in this matter the rules remain rather unresolved in German houses. In blocks of flats the visitor, having handed over his card, has the door off the staircase closed again in his face, or at least reduced to a narrow slot. This always gives the feeling of being neglected, and we have to excuse such bad form as inevitable with the rented flat. But in the case of many one-family houses it is not much better. Here at least care should be taken that the visitor, after the door is opened, is conducted into a small antechamber where he finds a dignified welcome (Figure 1.4.2, compare with Figure 1.4.4). For this purpose the wind lobby can suffice, provided it is well appointed and provided with a seat. This seat is more symbolic than real, for nobody will sit there, but it makes the room welcoming, and conveys the idea that one might spend some time there. When the servant returns, the visitor can be led first into the cloakroom and then to the hall or antechamber. To bring a visitor from the front door straight into the hall and leave him waiting there has the disadvantage that he has in one move penetrated too far, for he still has his overcoat on, and furthermore someone may have been mistakenly admitted to the house who should not be there. For there are also commercial representatives whom the house owner would prefer to see in a special room, perhaps in a waiting room or study next to the entrance, or in a dedicated interview room (Figure 1.4.2). As for the cloakroom, it is important that it has two doors, one for entry from the wind lobby, the other for exit to the hall. This is especially needed for social occasions, even with small groups, when the lack will be felt if everyone has to use the same door to enter the cloakroom as to leave it again, for the participants all arrive and depart at the appointed hour, and those entering will bump into those leaving. Some say there should be separate cloakrooms for men and women, but this is excessive for a middle-ranking house. On social occasions a special room can be set aside for women even on the upper floor, in which case they must pass through the hall. The men, having used the facilities on the ground floor, can then await their womenfolk in the hall. The preparation of such a room, in which a dressing table with sewing kit and other items necessary for feminine attire, used during the kind of social occasions which bring women to a house for several hours, also has other advantages; for the special cloakroom with adjacent lavatory remains private from the men. Almost any other room on the ground floor can serve temporarily as a women’s cloakroom, such as a reception room, children’s dayroom or mending room. This double use then needs to be carefully considered during planning. A dedicated women’s cloakroom for social occasions is an extravagance reserved for the cream of houses and those in which entertaining plays the dominant role.

Figure 1.4.3 Setback of door