Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/americancountryh00howe_0 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY Publishers' Announcement MONOGRAPH OF THE WORK OF McKIM, MEAD & WHITE HE ARCHITECTURAL ROOK PUBLISHING CO. announce the publication of a collection of illustrations relating to State Capitols, City Halls, Clubs, Libraries and Private Residences. It includes reproductions of specially prepared plans, elevations and sections, the drawings of which have been made in the office of the architects, under their immediate direction, preserving much of the spirit of the compositions. The method of reproduction is photogravure. The drawings are published in fifteen sections of twenty plates each (size 14x20 inches) and issued every alternate month. The seventh section is just about to be delivered. To the ambitious archi- tect in general practice and to his assistants the work is practically priceless because it speaks his language, giving facts in response to an urgent cry for facts. It shows how many problems have been solved. FROM THE YEARS 1879—1915 71 /¥ cKIM, MEAD Sq WHITE have authorized the publication / y 1 of their work in such a shape as to be of inestimable value to architects in general practice and to students of archi- tecture who make the Public Library their hunting ground. For the last thirty years we have realized that we are to be con- gratulated as a nation upon the industry and skill of these en- thusiasts, and the quiet analytical study undertaken to-day shows that our former estimate rested upon a very solid foundation. Their method of design was no capricious salutation to a new order of doing things, a new and pleasing rendering of an old problem catching the eye of the best people in the land, but a reassimilation of the best architectural principles the world has yet seen, for all of which we have indeed to be profoundly grate- ful. The thirty years have been a trial for the work and a trial of public opinion throughout the length and breadth of the land and, everyone in it who knows a good thing when he sees it. Of course, we must bear in mind, that this America of ours furnishes for these gentlemen a great, golden opportunity — a great golden opportunity. The opportunity for monumental buildings of this magnificence is not, practicable in England, France or Italy — and Germany, as everyone knows, a world leader in efficiency, to (quote a much abused word just now, astoundingly alive in many things, is singularly deficient in matters architectural. The buildings of McKim, Mead Sq White are not only once again the vitalizing precepts of an ancient tradition modified in Italy and occasionally modified elsewhere, but, retranslated, re- assimilated for the great, glorious country in which we live. Architects the world over guard most jealously their plans, elevations and sections as instruments of service wherein the utter- most secret resides. Until lately this preservation has been deemed natural; still, in the light of modern education, the archi- tect finds that it pays to inform the public. The payment is not only eulogy and dollars, but is visible in the salutation to the standard such work raises aloft. For like the eagle at the head of this column, it is calm, complacent, typifying the worthwhile- ness of the best of the classics in its adaptation to our needs. ONCE IN A WHILE, SOMEONE SETS A NEW PACE IN AFFAIRS ARCHITECTURAL That the house impresses by the subtlety of its charm is not only a compliment to architect, but a tribute to our preference for frontages deserving rather than demanding notice. (See page 304 ) AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY AN ILLUSTRATED ACCOUNT OF SOME EXCELLENT HOUSES BUILT AND GARDENS PLANTED DURING THE LAST FEW YEARS SHOWING UNMISTAKABLE INFLUENCE OF THE MODERN TREND IN IDEALS ARCHITECTURAL By SAMUEL HOWE, architect Exhibitor in Royal Academy of Arts, London Member of Architectural League of New York Author of “Indoors,” “Bronze the Eternal,” etc. 1915 New York The Architectural Book Publishing Company Paul Wenzel and Maurice Krakow 3 1 East 1 2th Street DEDICATION I T would seem that this is an opportunity to salute heartily that spirit of endeavor which tends to pene- trate the mysterious inertia of the architectural kingdom sufficiently to humanize further and more sub- stantially that arrangement of building and garden which goes to the make-up of our homes. The public to-day is to he congratulated upon the large number of drawings and the accompanying chatter which is laid at its feet, and on the fact that there is among us an informal court of examination and analysis, ever in session, which is qualified to examine closely so as to present prominently that which is good and quite worth while and side-track the rest. While it is a great thing to be an architect of houses, it is a far greater thing to be an architect of affairs, a man of affairs, who for the broadening of his mind looks to other sources of human endeavor — the drama, the opera, the painting of a picture, the telling of a story, the play- ing of a game, the unraveling of a political situation, the designing of some method to equalize the burdens resting upon every member of the human family; and for this handful of qualifications, surely the editorial room is, of all places, the melting pot. So I dedicate these pages, such as they are, to Mr. H. J. Whigham as a citizen of the world. .*3) V- w.. - i w: ; f /-x: K< \ WT v\.i\A-v ' ^iSi W^wZ'^ <%ma l v^a Yi, w ^ - > >'*> I l^'M^^Sr , Vvfi’ : — Vi fj ^=- '-. ?\ /* ^=T - • -4^ m- - ] %>'V^U,,S - — -.%-^fc- '* •^7- v4-= /c: “It was late one August afternoon when we walked down Madison Avenue, stopping to note the new residence of which much was expected. Remembering mg promise to his mother, I devoted to the pleasure of this walk a portion of my last day before sailing. Harry is a Beaux Arts man, a medalist! This was his first, work. It was not merely in gratitude of the meed of praise that I bestowed, but, more from instinctive love of beauty, which prompted him to exclaim with no little enthusiasm,, pointing to an old house across the way, literally covered with creepers, ‘What style of architecture is that?’ I found myself saying: ‘You are a poet!’ For I was delighted to find the young remembering ivith no little pride the possi- bilities of their buildings adapted to roof gardens and pergolas which shelter, in the summer season, the early morning and late evening meals with the sparrows as orchestra, the star-pierced sky for canopy. There is no fear for the future of American architecture so long as the architect sees beauty as the man of the world sees it — in a broad, big way.” PREFATORY NOTE I T is said that no part of a book is so intimate as the preface, where it is the privilege of the author to address the public in an informal man- ner, explaining, “Why the book?” The book is not merely a collection of good houses built in one section of the country in furtherance of a particular traditional ideal, but rather a collection which shows unmistakably the influence of the modern trend in do- mestic architecture, wherein the human element plays a prominent part. The one thing which is obvious is that it marks American progress. Our architects are no longer adapters of old ideas, but insurgents. What Ave need is more insurgency in character building, in daily life, in everything! In- surgency is overcoming stupid inertia and brutal resistance and making it- self felt in a practical world. The architect realizes more than the layman that he has loitered so long in the narrow aisles leading to the hall of his mistress, his fair goddess, humming her praise, that he has often lulled to sleep any really human impulse he may chance to have had. Well within sight of the tragi-comedy, with the whole situation in the palm of his hand, he has often encouraged rather than hindered extravagance in manner of design. To-day his work is more spirited, serviceable and human. We are reminded that this is a pictorial age. It is! It is a pictorial age with certain limitations. This is not a sign of discouragement, but of the reverse. Thousands visiting the “movies” testify to the ease with Avhich hu- man intellect is reached by means of pictures. A feAv years ago the client had to do the best he could with pencil notes to which a wash of thin color Avas applied by means of camel-hair brushes. That, and the personality of the architect, justified the signing of the contract! To-day, where is that art of recording upon paper the imagination, the design as Avell as the hope of the architect to reach a certain goal by means of pencil, ink and color? In our search for drawings of houses AA^e are confronted Avith the temptation to say it is all the fault of the photographer, although, forsooth, that hard-working enthusiast was never more entitled to consideration. He is doing splendid Avork! “Very pretty, but the thing won’t reproduce,” say editors of maga- IX X PREFATORY NOTE zines, confronted with the average sketch. Anyone trying to write a book to-day is at his wits’ end to find the right type of material to put in it, and still the offices are crowded with young men with bright ideas, able to draw, yet lacking that illustrative quality without which they cannot reach the pub- lic. The marginal notes on the drawing boards show that many still pre- serve intact the skill to which I refer. Yet what would we do, for instance, without men like Julian Buddy, William H. Crocker, Thomas Ellison and Edward R. Senn? I am citing those whose work I know, whose ability I reverence for skill in studying their photographic work from the archi- tectural standpoint plus the painter instinct. For general inspiration and instruction I thank heartily Mr. Charles A. Platt, and for the privilege of reproducing original drawings Mr. John Russell Pope, Messrs. Delano & Aldrich, Messrs. Albro & Lindeberg, and Mr. Frank Newman, architects. For permission to present in book form his interesting article on the estate of Mr. Pembroke Jones I am delighted to thank Mr. IT. J. Whigham. Regarding the representation of articles and illustrations which have been published elsewhere, permit me first to acknowledge heartily my indebt- edness to the editor of Town Country and the president of The Stuvve- sant Co., who have extended to me so graciously the privilege of selecting from the pages of their magazine articles and cuts which have appeared from time to time. Several of the articles are extended or re-written, and many are new. For the privilege of reproducing certain cuts and portions of articles, I thank heartily Miss Virginia Robie, editor of House Beautiful. I am also indebted to Messrs. D. Appleton & Co. for permission to reproduce, in part, story of the property of Mr. L. C. Tiffany, and to the editors of Architectural Record and Brickbuilder , who have kindly placed at my dis- posal illustrations of a practical and serviceable kind. For valued assistance regarding make-up thanks are due to my dear friend Mr. Floyd Smith. The writing of the book gives an opportunity to express to my young secretary, Miss Rose Friedman, my gratitude for her encouragement and assistance. New York, August, 1915 . INDEX OF CONTENTS BOOK I CHAPTER I THE STUCCO HOUSE The interesting treatment of a romantic estate, the home of Mr. Bronson Win- throp, Sy osset, L. I. — The house of Mr. William A. Delano, Broohville, L. I., dis- closing a hidden bowl-shaped garden in the woods — The property of Mr. William J. Borland, Mt. Kisco, N. Y ., involving an unusual approach with semicircular court — The home of Mrs. C. B. Alexander, at Bernardsville, N. J., embodying significant emblems of decorative value — The Moorings, on Lake St. Claire, the jiroperty of Mr. Russell A. Alger — The country home of Mr. Lloyd C. Oriscom, East Norwich, L. I. — The Lake Forest house of Mr. A. C. Bartlett, a pleasing design with inde- pendent studio — The Italian tendency of the Lake Forest home of Mr. George R. Thorne — Mia Italia, Miss T. H. Graham’s property, Pasadena, Cal. — The Long Island, house and garden of Mr. A. W. Rossiter at, Glen Cove — The Estate of Mr. R. II. Houghton, Nashotah, W is. — The Long Island home of Mr. John A. Garver — Mr. C. E. Proctor’s home at, Great Neck, L. I. — Home of Mr. H. Carpenter, Lake Geneva, Wis. — The house of Mr. Hugh J. McBirney, Lake Forest, III, — The estate of Mr. C. Howard Clark, Jr., Devon, Pa, — Mr. C. A. Coffin’s house and garden at Locust Valley, L. I. — The country estate of Mr. Edward C. Hoyt, near Stamford, Conn, — The property of Mr. Robert S. Brewster, Mt. Kisco, N. Y. — Home of Mr. T. H. Kerr, White Plains, N. Y. — Home of Mr. Clayton S. Cooper, Fieldston , N. Y. — The Cleveland home of Mr. W. G. Mather — The Rev. J. Hutcheson’s home, Warren, R. I. — The house of Mr. L. J. Burgess, Zanesville, 0. — Home of Mr. Guido Hanson, Pine Lake, Wis. — Gardener’s Cottage, St. Martin's, Pa. — Lodge, stable and garage on the estate of Mr. J. B. Coryell, Menlo Park, Cal, — The picturesque estate, near Wilmington, N. C., belonging to Mr. Pembroke Jones — An interesting group of six houses of marked individuality Pages 1 — 171 CHAPTER II THE BRICK HOUSE The Washington house of Mr. Henry White — The country home of Mr. C. B. MacDonald, Southampton , L. I . — The estate of Mr. IP. B. Osgood Field, Lenox, Mass. — The property of Mr. Thomas Hastings, Roslyn, L. I. — Mr. James Parmelee’s Washington home — The home of Mr. Herbert L. Pratt, Glen Cove, L. I. — Harla- kenden House, the home of Mr. Winston Churchill, Cornish, N. H. — The Lake Forest home of Mr. Finley Barrett- — Mr. P. S. Theurer’s house, Kenilworth, III . — Home of Mr. R. M. Ellis, Great Neck, L. I. — Home of Miss Emily Watson, White Plains, N. Y. — Attractive stables on the estates of Mr. Willard D. Straight at West- bury, L. I., and Mrs. L. Z. Letter at Beverly Farms, Mass Pages 172 — 237 CHAPTER III THE HALF-TIMBER AND FRAMED HOUSE The property of Mr. E. L. Wintlirop, Jr., Syosset, L. I. — The interesting little residence of Mrs. Peter F. Collier at Southampton, L. I. — Mr. Robert J. Collier’s estate at Wicatunk, N. J. — The home of Mr. Emerson R. Newell, Greenwich, Conn, — The Vermont home of Mr. Philip B. Jennings at. Bennington — Stable on estate of Mr. Orville Babcock, Lake Forest, III, — Residence of Mr. E. D. Adler, Oconomowoc Lake, Wis. — Home of Mr. J. M. Townsend , Jr., Mill Neck, L. I Pages 238 — 281 XI INDEX OF CONTENTS xii CHAPTER IV THE STONE HOUSE The estate of Mr. E. IF. Russell, Greenwich, Conn. — The country home of Mr. Franklin Murphy, Mendliam, N. J. — The home of Mr. William J. McCahan, Jr., Moorestown, N. J. — Runton Old Hall, Norfolk, England — The property of Mr. W. Warner Harper, Chestnut Hill, Pa. — The Washington house, so prominent in the social and architectural world, belonging to Mrs. Robert R. Hitt. .. .Pages 282 — 314 BOOK II CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM OF THE SETTING OF THE HOUSE The estate of Mr. George R. White at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. — The inter- esting property of Mr. George Eastman at Rochester, N. Y. — The Berkshire estates of Mr. William Hall Walker and of Mr. Warren Salisbury — The romantic Brook- line garden of Mrs. John L. Gardner — The home of Mr. James Rhodes at Ardmore, Pa. — The picturesque formal garden of Mr. Joseph Choate at Stockbridge, Mass . — - A scene on the estate of Mr. Chester Thorne at Tacoma, Wash. — The Newport garden of Mr. Storrs Wells — The Tudor Hall on estate of Mr. Stuart Duncan at Newport — A group of suggestive treatments of the setting of house Pages 315 — 315 CHAPTER II WATER AS A DECORATIVE AGENT Cascades in the rock garden of Mr. John D. Rockefeller on Pocantico Hills, N. Y .—The fountain scheme on the estate of Mr. Louis C. Tiffany, Cold Spring Harbor, L. I. — The Spaulding estate at Prides Crossing, Mass.— A group of six illustrations of water as an element of beauty Pages 310 — 402 BOOK III CHAPTER 1 GARDEN CITIES, LEGENDARY AND REAL Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I., an American suburb with the pic- turesqueness of a Cathedral city of medieval days — Roland Park, the engaging and deservedly popular suburb of Baltimore, Md., and its recent addition, Guilford District — A Hillside Garden House without a Name, bristling with per- sonality Pages 403 — 421 LIST OF ARCHITECTS WHOSE WORK IS HERE ILLUSTRATED Note: — The sketch plans and other views have been prepared from blue-print copies of working drawings , from detailed drawings and photographs taken at various times, and such data as have been procurable from office of architect. At the same time, there may be some little inaccuracies for which the architect is not in any way responsible. Some sketches he may never have seen. Albro & Lindeberg, New York Home of Mr. A. W. Rossiter, Glen Cove, L. I. - “ “ “ T. H. Kerr, White Plains, N. Y. “ “ “ Clayton S. Cooper, Fieldston, N. Y. “ “ “ George Davidson, Madison, N. J. - “ “ “ A. W. Markwall, Short Hills, N. J. - “ “ “ Orville Babcock, Lake Forest, Illinois Stable on estate of Mr. Orville Babcock, Lake Forest, 111. Home of Mr. P. B. Jennings, Bennington, Vt. House at Hewlett, L. I. Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. Atterbury, Grosvenor, New York Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. - Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Bailie-Scott, M. H., England Runton Old Hall, Norfolk, England .... Barney, J. Stewart, New York Bungalow on estate of Mr. Pembroke Jones, Pembroke Park, N. C. Bates & How, New York Home of Mr. C. E. Gardner, Lawrence Park, N. Y. Studio Building at Sagamore Park, N. Y. Bigelow & Wadsworth, Boston Home of Mr. G. R. White, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. - Bosworth, W. W., New York Garden on Mr. J. D. Rockefeller’s Estate, Pocantico Hills, N. Y. Brite, James, New York Home of Mr. H. L. {Pratt, Glen Cove, L. I. Brust & Philipp, Milwaukee Home of Mr. Guido Hanson, Pine Lake, Wis. “ “ “ E. A. Adler, Oconomowoc Lake, Wis. PAGES 60-65 - 124-129 - 130-131 166 167 172 276 - 268-275 372 - 406-415 - 406-415 - 416 419 - 300-301 - 156-165 168 238 - 318-321 - 378-381 - 218-225 - 144-147 277 xiii XIV LIST OF ARCHITECTS Carrere & Hastings, New York Home of Mr. Thomas Hastings, Roslyn, L. I. “ “ “ A. I. du Pont, Wilmington, Del. “ “ “ W. H. Walker, Great Barrington, Mass. Garden of Mr. J. A. Blair, Oyster Bay, L. I. Coolidge, J. Randolph, Jr., Boston Garden of Mrs. John L. Gardner, Brookline, Mass. Davis, McGrath & Kiessling, New York House at Garden City, L. I. - Delano & Aldrich, New York Home of Mr. Bronson Winthrop, Syosset, L. I. “ “ “ W. A. Delano, Brookville, L. I. “ “ “ W. G. Borland, Mount Kisco, N. Y. “ “ Mrs. C. B. Alexander, Bernardsville, N. J. “ “ Mr. Lloyd C. Griscom, Norwich. L. I. “ “ “ Robert S. Brewster, Mount Kisco, N. Y. “ “ “ W. B. Osgood Field, Lenox, Mass. - “ “ Miss Emily Watson, White Plains, N. Y. - Stable on estate of Mr. Willard Straight, Westbury, L. I. Home of Mr. E. L. Winthrop, Jr., Syosset, L. I. Ellicott & Emmart, Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Embury, Aymar II, New York Home of Mr. R. M. Ellis, Great Neck, L. I. Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. - Eyre, Wilson, Philadelphia Home of Miss Louise Alger, Great Neck, L. I. Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Farquhar, Robert D., Los Angeles Home of Miss T. H. Graham, Pasadena, Cal. Flagg, Ernest, New York Home of Mr. F. G. Bourne, Oakdale, L. 1. - Fowler, Laurence Hall, Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Garfield, Abram, Cleveland Home of Mr. A. S. Chisholm, Cleveland, O. “ “ “ H. G. Dalton, Cleveland, O. - - 198-207 282 - 326-331 370 - 336-339 170 4-13 14-19 20-25 26-33 42-45 - 118 123 - 192-197 - 232-233 235 - 240-245 - 416-419 231 - 406-415 376 - 406-415 - 416-419 56-59 236 - 416-419 171 369 Gilchrist, Edmund B., Philadelphia Cottage, Gardener’s, St. Martins, Pa. 148-149 LIST OF ARCHITECTS xv Glidden & Friz, Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. ------ 416-419 Green, I. H., New York Home of Mr. Bradish Johnson, Islip, L. I. - - - - - - 400 Greenley, Howard, New York Home of Mr. C. A. Coffin, Locust Valley, L. 1. - - - - - - 108-111 Hastings, Thomas, New York Home of Mr. Thomas Hastings, Roslyn, L. I. - - - - - - 198-207 Hewitt & Bottomley, New York Home of Mr. J. M. Townsend, Jr., Mill Neck, L. I. - - - - - 278-279 Hoffman, F. Burrall, Jr., New York Home of Mr. C. B. MacDonald, Southampton, L. I. - - - - - 184-191 Howell & Thomas, Columbus, O. Home of Mr. L. J. Burgess, Zanesville, O. - - - - - - - 140-143 Hunt, Myron & Grey, Elmer, Los Angeles Home of Mr. H. E. Huntington, Pasadena, Cal. ----.. 371 Hunt & Hunt, New York Home of Mr. Howard Gould, Port Washington, L. 1. - - - - - 312 Keen, Charles Barton, Philadelphia Home of Mr. C. Howard Clark, Jr., Devon, Pa. ------ 102-107 “ “ “ Chauncey Olcott, Saratoga, N. Y. - - - - - - 281 Kilham & Hopkins, Boston Garden of Mrs. W. Scott Fitz, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. - 396 Little & Brown, Boston Home of Mr. Charles E. Proctor, Great Neck, L. I. - - - - - 84-95 Garden of the Spaulding estate, Prides Crossing, Mass. ----- 394-395 Magonigle, H. Van Buren, New York Home of Mr. Franklin Murphy, Mendham, N. J. - - - - - - 292 297 McGoodwin, Robert R., Philadelphia Home of Mr. Robert R. McGoodwin, St. Martins, Pa. ----- 169 McGoodwin & Hawley, Philadelphia Home of Mr. W. Warner Harper, Chestnut Hill, Pa. ..... 302-303 Mcllvain & Roberts, Philadelphia Home of Mr. James M. Rhodes, Ardmore, Pa. ------ 340-341 McKim, Mead & White, New York Garden of Mr. Joseph H. Choate, Stockbridge, Mass. 342-345 XVI LIST OF ARCHITECTS Mellor & Meigs, Philadelphia Home of Mr. L. T. Beale, St. David’s, Pa. ....... Morris & Erskine, Philadelphia Home of Mr. Samuel N. Rhoads, Haddonfield, N. J. Newman, Frank E., New York Home of Mr. E. W. Russell, Greenwich, Conn. ..... 284 Newman & Harris, New York Home of Mr. Edward C. Hoyt, Stamford, Conn. ...... Owens & Sisco, Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. ...... Palmer, Edward L., Jr., Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. ...... Parker, Thomas & Rice, Boston Stable on estate of Mrs. L. Z. Leiter, Beverly Farms, Mass. .... Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York H ome of Mr. G. W. Bacon, St. James, L. I. “ “ “ A. M. Brown, St. James, L. I. Platt, Charles A., New York Home of Mr. Russell A. Alger, Detroit, Mich. ...... “ “ “ W. G. Mather, Cleveland, O. ...... “ “ The Rev. Joseph Hutcheson, Warren, R. I. “ “ Mr. James Parmelee, Washington, D. C. - “ “ “ Winston Churchill, Cornish, N. H. ...... Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. ...... Polk, Willis, San Francisco Stables on the estate of Mr. J. B. Coryell, Menlo Park, Cal. .... Pope, John Russell, New York Entrance to and Temple of Love in Pembroke Park, N. C Home of Mr. Henry White, Washington, D. C. “ “ “ Robert J. Collier, Wicatunk, N. J. - “ “ Mrs. Robert R. Hitt, Washington, D. C. - “ “ Mr. Storrs Wells, Newport, R. I. “ “ “ Stuart Duncan, Newport, R. I. Price, William L., Philadelphia Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Schneider, Charles S., Cleveland Home of Mr. Charles S. Schneider, Cleveland, O. Schuchardt, William H., Milwaukee Home of Mr. R. W. Houghton, Nashotah, Wis. Frontispiece of book, Title-page, 373 375 291, 313 112-117 416-419 416-419 234 280, 366 365 34-41 132-135 136-139 208-217 226 416-419 150-155 156-165 174-183 250-261 304-311 350-355 356-365 416-419 374 66-73 LIST OF ARCHITECTS Seipp, E. A., Chicago Home of Mr. P. S. Theurer, Pine Lake, Wis. Shaw, Howard, Chicago Home of Mr. A. C. Bartlett, Lake Geneva, Wis. “ “ “ G. R. Thorne, Lake Forest, III. “ “ “ H. Carpenter, Lake Geneva, Wis. “ “ “ Hugh J. McBirney, Lake Forest, 111. “ “ “ Finley Barrell, Lake Forest, III. “ “ “ Edward Morris, Chicago, 111. - Sill, Howard, Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Spahr, Albert H. Home of Mr. J. F. Byers, near Pittsburgh, Pa. Stephenson & Wheeler, New York Home of Mr. John A. Garver, Oyster Bay, L. I. Sterner, F. J., New York, Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. - Street, J. Fletcher, Philadelphia Home of Mr. W. J. McCahan, Moorestown, N. J. Tompkins, J. A., New York Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. Tubby, F. T., New York Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. - Walker & Gillette, New York Home of Mr. Warren Salisbury, Pittsfield, Mass. Wambolt, Robert H., Boston Home of Mr. G. R. White, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. Warner, J. Foster, Rochester Home of Mr. George Eastman, Rochester, N. Y. Warren & Clark, New York Home of Mrs. P. F. Collier, Southampton, L. I. “ “ Mr. E. R. Newell, Greenwich, Conn. Wyatt & Nolting, Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. xvii 230 46-51 52-55 96-97 - 98-101 - 227-229 237 - 416 419 423 74-83 - 406-415 - 298-299 - 406-415 - 406-415 - 332-335 - 318-321 - 322-325 - 246-249 - 262-267 - 416-419 Wyatt, J. B. Noel, Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. 416-419 LIST OF PLANS RELATING TO SOME OF THE PROPERTIES Note: — For a long time it lias been the habit of architects the world over to jealously guard their plans. The American architect of to-day, however, realizes not only their value as instruments of service, telling the story in a vivid, direct and unequivocal manner, as memoranda of the general scheme, but their educational importance, which is far-reaching, a splendid tribute to their service. We have been so fortunate as to be permitted to include forty-three plans which do much to throw light on the problem. It is interesting to note that the sketch on page 134 gives the property of Mr. W. G. Mather before it was developed. The one on the opposite page shows the alteration. The drawings on page 138 illustrate the property of the Rev. Mr. Hutcheson at the time of purchase and scheme as carried out by Mr. Platt. Plans of portions of properties will be found on the following pages: 13, 19, 23, 31, 40, 49, 65, 121, 128, 141, 149, 163, 183, 190, 196, 206, 216, 226, 233, 244, 258, 267, 273, 299, 303, 309, 328, 335, 354, 362 370, 384. House plans noting only the arrangement of rooms are shown on pages 100, 147, 287, 291. Subsidiary details are illustrated on pages 9, 386, 392. xviii LIST OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS WHOSE WORK IS HERE ILLUSTRATED Note; — In preparing the sketch plans and other views of country properties the utmost care has been exercised that the so-called new art of the landscape architect may be properly illustrated. The sketches are a compilation of data procured from various sources, at various times, under varying con- ditions. Everyone realizes the fugitive nature of trees, shrubs and flowers, and while they occupy a prominent place in the landscape and in our hearts, it is not easy to record by means of pen and ink. The illustrations are presented as memoranda of intent rather than of completed fact. Besides, we must bear in mind that the loss of color and texture has undoubtedly proved fatal to many schemes Duhring & Howe, Philadelphia Garden of Mr. W. Warner Harper, Chestnut Hill, Pa. Forest, Ailing De, Rochester Property of Mr. George Eastman, Rochester, N. Y. Greenleaf, James, New York Property of Mr. H. L. Pratt, Glen Cove, L. I. Langdon, James G., Baltimore Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Nichols, Rose Standish, Boston Garden of Mr. C. B. MacDonald, Southampton, L. I. Olmsted, Frederick Law, Brookline Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Olmsted Brothers, Brookline Property of Mr. Franklin Murphy, Mendham, N. J. “ “ “ W. Warner Harper, Chestnut Hill, Pa. “ “ G. R. White, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. “ “ “ Chester Thorne, Tacoma, Wash. Forest Hills Gardens, Forest Hills, L. I. Roland Park — Guilford District, Baltimore, Md. Vitale, Ferruccio, New York Property of Mr. W. H. Walker, Great Barrington, Mass. View on Estate of Mr. Samuel Heilner, Corno, N. Y. - 302-303 - 322-325 - 218-225 - 416-419 - 184-191 - 416-419 - 292-297 - 302-303 - 318-321 - 346-349 - 406-415 - 416-419 316 , 326-331 401 xix "v. '/V ^ VV »• MODERN QUEENS, LIKE THOSE OF EGYPTIAN DAYS, LOVE WHITE HOUSES Creepers and barberry hedge, with their rich color and pungent perfume, make a feast fit for gods 9 CHAPTER I THE STUCCO HOUSE The interesting treatment of a romantic estate, the home of Mr. Bronson Win- throp, Syosset, L. I. — The house of Mr. William A. Delano, Brookville, L. I., disclosing a hidden howl-shaped garden in the woods- — The property of Mr. William J . Borland, Mt. K isco, N. Y., involving an unusual approach with semicircular court — The home of Mrs. C. B. Alexander, at Bernardsville, N. J., embodying significant emblems of decorative value — The Moorings, on Lake St. Claire, the property of Mr. Russell A. Alger — The country home of Mr. Lloyd C. Griscom, East Norwich, L. I. — The Lake Forest house of Mr. A. C. Bartlett, a pleasing design with independent studio — The Italian tendency of the Lake Forest home of Mr. George R. Thorne — Mia Italia, Miss T. H. Graham'’ s property, Pasadena, Cal. — The Long Island house and garden of Mr. A. W. Rossiter at Glen Cove — The estate of Mr. R. II . Houghton, Nashotah, Wis . — The Long Island home of Mr. John A. Garver — Mr. C. E. Proctor's home at Great Neck, L. I. — Home of Mr. H. Carpenter, Lake Geneva, Wis. — The house of Mr. Hugh J. McBirney, Lake Forest, III. — The estate of Mr. C. Howard Clark, Jr., Devon, Pa. — Mr. C. A. Coffin's house and garden at Locust Valley, L. I. — The country estate of Mr. Edward C. Hoyt, near Stamford, Conn. — The property of Mr. Robert S. Brewster, Mt. Kisco — Home of Mr. T. H. Kerr, White Plains, N. Y . — Home of Mr. Clayton S. Cooper, Fieldston, N. Y. — The Cleveland home of Mr. W. G. Mather — The Rev. J . Hutcheson's home, Warren, R. I.- — The h ouse of Mr. I. J. Burgess, Zanesville, 0.- — Home of Mr. Guido Hanson, Pine Lake, Wis. — Gar- dener's Cottage, St. Martins, Pa. — Lodge, stable and garage on the estate of Mr. J. B. Coryell, Menlo Park, Cal. — The picturesque estate, near Wilmington, N. C., belonging to Mr. Pembroke Jones — Group of six houses of marked individuality . S there any danger of overdoing the description of that form of white house which owes its attraction to a surface of stucco? We all know it as being worked upon a foundation of brick, hollow tile, stone, or wire lath stretched upon a wooden frame. In some subtle way, it seems that from the com- monest and most ordinary materials the most picturesque re- sults are often obtained. Analyze, if you will, carefully and impartially the illustrations accompanying this chapter, to find how much the attraction of the house centers in the material, and the influence it exercises upon the land- scape. Stucco in almost any form, age, or condition seems to grow intui- tively more beautiful every day. The surface resembles a canvas on which nature seems to breathe a benediction, adding little markings of its own. There is no end to its language, to its attraction, its coloring, its texture. 3 4 THE GARDEN VIEW SHOWS THE PROJECTION OF THE EASTERLY WING AND THE LOGGIA It gives a very good idea of the character of the little central garden with its tiny fountain, its quaintly detailed fence. Reference to the accompanying plans will add interest to this view. One discloses the general lay of land; the other the disposition of rooms and the exact position of garden, loggia, fence line and pavement. It pays to study the plan, which is the geography of the whole scheme VIEW OF ENTRANCE COURT FROM SUMMER ARBOR AT THE TOP OF THE HILL The pathway radiates so as to increase the apparent length of the walk. It opens widely at the court end and narrows considerably near the arbor. The distant shore is visible over the ridge Mr. Bronson Winthrop’s Home, Syosset, L. I. Delano & Aldrich, architects Illustrations from original drawing and photographs by Edward R. Senn T HAT the site has had much to do with determining the general treat- ment of the interesting property acquired some ten years ago by Mr. Bronson Winthrop is seen by a mere glance at the photographs. A visit to the neighborhood discloses still further the nature and color of the scenery in that section of Long Island which has so evidently an individ- ual note of its own. The house is built upon the southerly slope of the well-known hill prom- inent in the vicinity of Hempstead and Oyster Bay. While it is so located as to secure the enjoyment of the sun whenever it is shining and the shelter of the native woods from the northerly and easterly winds, it is kept out of sight by being removed a distance from the brow of the hill, and is reached by a deeply cut roadway leading into the old country lane which connects with the Flushing and North Hempstead turnpike. The old country lanes of the neighborhood with their diversified textures and the orchards, the native woods, and even the sand banks, have been remembered in designing and laying out the general scheme, in contriving and subdividing this property, so that while it is new in idea it is old in appearance. It is mel- 5 6 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY low in tone. This quality has been secured in a hundred ways by the free use of local sand with a finishing coat of stucco for the walling; by the plant- ing of creepers varying in texture and color as well as drawing, which though green are also gray and dusty purple at times; and by the way certain ma- jestic trees, locust, pine and cedar, have been lifted from their local beds and replanted where likely to he of more value to the picture. It is maintained by some that in the arrangement of the setting which has involved the re- moval of many trees of an uriusual size the designer has transfused much of THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO FORE-COURT VIEWED FROM DRIVEWAY The view gives an excellent idea of the general character of the setting hereabouts. It varies greatly the woodland with the magnetism of his own robust personality. Locust trees have been planted at the westerly end of the house, bringing unmistakably the graceful quality of domesticity, the charm of repose. From the little sun-parlor a path has been cut leading down to the en- trance court, which is reached by a short flight of rough steps. Here also is a small pool and a tiny fountain. The entrance court and terrace have been cut deeply into the shoulder of the hill. A pleasing vista is to be en- joyed looking from this sheltered spot up the slope to the sun-parlor with its entanglement of creeping roses backed by Japanese cypress, planted at set intervals. MR. BRONSON WINTHROP’S PIOME, SYOSSET, L. I. 7 The general scheme is rather large and ambitious in its inches, but never does it get away from the idea that while by some it might he termed a manor house, it is instinctively and essentially a manor of Long Island. It is as unassuming as the peasant cottage at Gruchy where Millet was born, or the home so long associated with the poet Goethe. Extending west- erly some nine hundred feet and one hundred and twenty feet wide, Ranked by a double avenue of Norway maples, is a splendid green, a lawn for re- ceptions, at the end of which is a tennis court surrounded by a pergola. THE HOODED ENTRANCE ACCENTS THE LONG NORTHERN FRONTAGE The front door opens directly into a paved central hallway, which is comfortably furnished Yes, and attention is also bestowed upon the flower garden upon which the central hall opens, and the bulb garden which is reached through the east- erly porch. Here tulips stand arrayed like soldiers in gay company, flaunt- ing their colors like a parading army. Violets are here, recalling the azure of the sky. Of course, the garden is bordered with privet and accented at intervals with box and into the little kingdom comes an occasional cedar enriching with its shadows and perfume. The garden is bordered with a simple paling, unassuming in the extreme, and the trellis-like structure of the porches maintains alike the general idea of that form of carpentry work with which some of the intimate memories of Colonial times are associated. 8 THE COURT BETWEEN THE EXTENDING WINGS OF THE SOUTHERN FRONTAGE ENCLOSES A GARDEN The porches are ingeniously constructed of substantial trellis work. They open direct from the living and dining rooms. An interest- ing essay could well be penned regarding the chimneys and windows. They mean so much to a long house of this character. This co-partnership of lines and proportions horizontal and perpendicular, an ever-engaging problem for the architect, often spells mystery for the public perplexed in other ways. What normal mind concerns itself with complexities when so beautiful a property is before it? MR. BRONSON WINTHROP’S HOME, SYOSSET, L. I. 9 As the main drive swings around into the entrance court there is an old pond, fed by underground springs of great age, on whose shiny surface, mir- ror-like, the scenes of to-day pass as in the days when Long Island, then known as Nassau, was first dotted with happy homes, and the ponds of the locality were valued by stray cattle and Indians as indeed jewels beyond price. It might readily have been drained, loaded with heavy clay so as to earn the classification of a water garden, a lotus-pond, and have been lined with pockets SKETCH PLAN OF HOUSE WITH ENCLOSED GARDEN AND ENTRANCE COURT The sketch shows general geography of place and many minor comforts. For position of house and its relation to garden upon estate turn to accompanying plan illustrated on page 11 or half sunken tubs or broad borders of iris and other marsh-loving plants ; but no, it is here treasured as a mirror pond, and its value is shown in many ways. As the visitor enters the main drive the bright tantalizing gleam of the water is seen at a distance under the trees. It glistens brightly among the pines and cedars, the old apple trees, the dogwood, and is a stimulating little surprise in the plantation. We don’t have to be Orientals to treasure within a veneration for the crystal springs, forever fresh, clear, inviting, and yet mysterious. D to O r- 1 . L -i-* c 5 s ^ M O £ 45 o - o CB £ 2 *, !: U® iO k^. a ^ ^ ^ Sb c ., 2 -G G CL > ■ ^ i 2 £ ^ ^ fc£ O s t-> | ^ c 3 - r ci' Cb’-n hv . , r i <1 j H CL - b cB Oj ® B H O C Eh £ o w o -H Eh £ o £ « w 33 Eh a 33 Eh O 33 C /2 £ o Q © 4 -T _» ^ a! - w _ o g’S S.M «-W £ Qj G 5 Ph.G rj GO -m ! i «.§ s ; ^2 .|— i ^ Ct : O 3 G G « 3 3 ! C % CO I 1 i . 02 ^ .£ 4 o o ‘^ : ^ c/T G -G : -G CJ 02 ^ ^ O X -2 'o.S I) 4 ' « «J T 3 -G iL G ^ O co be G G b ctp oj d) S ^ X > G _ ^Gr-G ^ ^ 4 > 3 ■ G ^ G be G 02 be- Cjj^COp — ' ^1 Nh X ® 'L G 3 H ^ G E G ^ O O r^ ,H O , .3 H . ^ be © G . -G § o£r ^ P f O C -H ^ oCo x e H -G X ^ 3 • ^G ' ' cG ce 3^"^3 e * J! .h » » w .2 p ,-H c ® S'® £ « Ls’g b|- s s °^= • , G 4 —^ . epH CL Cl n , ^ 1G . Cl x G y A) ^ ^ C O ^ih oC £ *g2 P cl CL 2 G G x . r c 0 ce U 2 Cl — qj x .G c ■ • ^ _P G3 ce ^ gl < « O^S E B £2 be_ ^ G ; be g o g i -3 i be G M ^ . < - ri H Cl x 0 ^ 7 ; ■-P G > O tn )> - G be t : jy cl x G — i» s Ec«^ 3 P G s : 4 -h o ^ i_i Oh cl «+h CL n G , r! O ,G e+H .G 4 -> 10 i^Miii'Z \ MIIWA* -f SKETCH PLAN OF PORTION OF PROPERTY, SHOWING SOME PROMINENT DETAILS The turnpike, driveway leading to house court, and the arbor at the top of the hill are here. The accompanying plan of the house shows the rooms in detail. This sketch reveals lay of land 11 H CO & c O o K 2 W 3 DC > Eh v fe u O 2 2 8 c oq . o p PS os « W c H 8 co S H rg £ § «4H W _ S I W 2 P 5 « £ w c H co co pH H O l-H H m E bC .5 ‘So § £ I § L) o Q &H o <1 kH Eh & O' p p &H a o P O p 12 MR. BRONSON WINTHROP’S HOME, SYOSSET, L. I. 13 The house is evidently an illustration of individual thought. Obviously the architects have not concerned themselves with reproducing ideas which have become well known elsewhere, but have endeavored to solve for them- selves the various complexities of the problem as they have arisen. In many ways it is a bright and cheerful property, unlike some European estates, which, owing to their use of evergreens and certain Jacobean and Tudor en- richments, have at times made for themselves an effect too often dark, pom- pous and melancholy. This Long Island manor is lifted from that category by the subtle introduction of color, and by the skilful changes of texture, which lighten the scene amazingly. Doubtless, like many of the old places, it will in time be overrun with brambles and briars, in delightfully pictur- esque profusion. Still it has been so studied that the lake is not likely to be stagnant beneath marsh plants, nor is the driveway likely to he choked by jungle and nettles. The view from the little sun-parlor or tea house extends from Oyster Bay harbor across to the Connecticut shore. The hill is four hundred feet above the water level, so that it permits also at certain times a view of the At- lantic across the Island. Rocky Point, Oak Neck, Great Captain Light out in the bay can well be seen. Early in the eighteenth century Dutch farmers from Kings and Queens Counties moved into this neighborhood, settling in Wolver Hollow, now known as Brookville; others made their homes in Cedar Swamp, the Glen Head of to-day, and still others were so fortunate as to find sufficient attraction to establish themselves in Eastwood, which for some reason or other is now called Syosset. It is doubtless interesting to recall that to the Winthrop family, descend- ing from the English branch, we are indebted for three Governors, in addi- tion to others well known for their prominence in the field of law, sociology and politics. The famous old Puritan, John Winthrop, was for many years Governor of Massachusetts; Iris eldest son was one of the Governors of the colony of Connecticut. In 1661 the town of Middletown granted to “our much honoured Governor, Mr. John Winthrop,” a portion of the rugged north hills known as the Governor’s Gold Ring. This tract of land was famous for its lead mines, supplying bullets for the colony’s use during the war. The intrepid scientist spent days washing ores and assaying metals without any “find” of great value. However, he is said to have secured enough gold for a few rings. Mr. Beekman Winthrop, a cousin of Mr. Bronson Winthrop, was recently the Governor of Porto Rico. THE NORTHERN VIEW GIVES GROUPING OF ROOF LINE, CHIMNEYS, GABLES Perhaps it is impertinent in disregard of the usual, in reservation of enrichment for the interior 14 Mr. W. A. Delano’s Home at Brookville, L. I. Delano & Aldrich, architects Illustrations from original drawing and photographs hy Edward R. Senn N this age of great wealth many of our newly designed gardens are inspired primarily by an architectural motive. So it is certainly very comforting to realize that once in a while some- one approaches the subject from a more warmly human con- sideration, realizing the welfare of the trees and plants and the quickening influence of their association upon our daily life at the risk of making the house merely an incident in the general scheme of things. It is pleasing to hear of someone going into the woods to build a house and to plant a garden, yet so contriving the design that the woods remain intact and unimpaired, entering into the design, forming a setting for the richly planted border of flowers; in other words, that the wildness and general abandon of the woods becomes, as it were, a climax which is fostered by the artificiality the composition has entailed. The accompanying views illustrate graphically one such occasion where a man of affairs, who happens to be an architect and the owner of the prop- erty of which he makes a residence for his family, is inspired by some such motive. It is interesting because among other things he is known as a beauoc arts enthusiast, for years closely associated with serious academic schemes of considerable moment. The legal fraternity of England say that a man who will insist upon acting for himself in a professional capacity has a fool for a client! However, the designer of this interesting place evidently does not come under that category. Among the oaks and hazels, the chestnuts, locusts and cedars of Long Island in that particular portion of the “Land of Pastimes” lying between Brookville and Syosset is Mr. Delano’s property of some thirty acres, which has in its make-up as viewed to-day both individuality and romance as well as distinction. It is a house on a hillside with a hidden garden, literally a nook or bower in the wood, picturesque, very informal, bearing no architectural relation to the house. The layout is fantastic, full of lit- tle whimsicalities, glowing with sunshine and color and fragrant with the perfume of many flowers. Approaching the property from the main road the house is to the left 15 16 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY or southern side of the driveway facing the meadow land, overlooking the valley with its broad, hollow woodland in the neighborhood of Wheatley and Old Westbury. It is so located on the hillside as not only to invite a full enjoyment of the distance but also to be kept as close down to the ground as possible and to he sheltered from the wind storms, living up to the general idea implied by the design, that it be a garden house, a cottage in the woods, THE ENTRANCE PORCH IS REACHED BY DESCENDING FROM THE ROAD The house makes an interesting sky-line in which the trees and bushes play an important part happy among the trees and shrubs rather than a thing standing alone sep- arate and distinct, dignified possibly hut too isolated and detached. It is a small house with an exalted roof and gables somewhat after the type favored in England of late, delightfully informal and comfortable. The window openings are dressed after the fashion of the Tudor period by bricks cunningly set into the heavy walling. The garden elevation dis- closes an interesting sleeping porch and in many ways the roof line is pic- turesque with its gables and chimneys. The entrance is reached by descending several steps from the drive- way. There still lingers a number of old apple trees which suggested somewhat the shaping of the terrace, and one which is low in branches and MR. W. A. DELANO’S HOME AT BROOKVILLE, L. I. 17 fantastic in drawing guards the fountain that drips from the ivied wall at the end of the pergola. In an unusual and romantic manner the outline of the terrace is built “dry” with pockets for creepers. Its slight elevation is also accented regularly by low shrubs planted at intervals, a friendly accent changing the texture of things acceptably. Glancing at the plan accompanying, it will be found that A shows the position of the family living room with its big fireplace, its numerous casements opening to the ground and onto the loggia indicated by the let- VIEW DISCLOSING END OF HOUSE AND PORTION OF TERRACE The terrace is of the domestic type, informal but graceful and accented with bushes ter J. B denotes the paved entrance hall and C the dining room. D marks the den, F the servants’ hall. Approaching from the main road and turning to the right in a north- erly direction we are compelled to climb the bank by means of rude stone steps until we reach the center of what would ordinarily be the darkest sec- tion of the little wood where the path swings round in a circle in the middle of which is hidden a bowl-shaped garden. This is a surprise. The grove which enclosed this unexpected bower spreads itself over the broad shoulder of the hill very much as it chooses and has been transformed into a fairy glen by skilful planting and also by the timely omission of the usual architectural 18 Casements from the principal rooms open directly upon the terrace toward the meadows. It is a house for the lover of outdoors MR. W. A. DELANO’S HOME AT BROOKVILLE, L. 1. 19 trimmings. Towards the north and west there is an opening in the grove, the one giving an unexpected picture, the other admitting the sunlight. Here an orange gleam flames in among the shadows, revealing the center of the howl with a sunken fountain and a thin jet of water. With this as a center the architect has worked insidiously to build up a picture; from it in various directions the pathway opens up into other little surprises, other sections of the hidden garden. He has evidently realized that a wood is something more than a collection of trees ; it is a glorious opportunity, a rich treasure with which to add at right places the rare element of color. A rose bower, a Japanese tea arbor, are here, and visible only from a certain angle a white statue of a child at play. Encir- cling the sunken bowl is a broad, well-selected border of flowers, Chinese lilies, dahlias, great va- riety of phlox and a remarkable collection of asters. These in turn are sheltered and backed up by a high hedging of privet, per- mitted to grow pretty much as it will so that it runs into and forms part of the low hushes of the neighborhood, and climbs into the lower branches of the cedars and locusts. The Japa- nese arbor is a resting place for afternoon tea and here it is that the antics of the cupids can best he enjoyed. The one on the western pedestal across the howl, a dancing figure playing the tambourine, seems to chal- lenge the cupid in the center of the rose bower beyond. A formal arbor commands an uninterrupted view of the historeial sec- tion which is forever associated with Oyster Bay. This grove husbanding the hidden garden stands three hundred feet above the sea in the center of a pano- rama which is not alone interesting from its pictorial but its social radius. Showing some preferences of the architect. 1 1 also discloses the hidden bowl-shaped garden and the steps up the hank by which it is reached. Here also are the orchard, the rose garden and the Japa- nese arbor, the fountain bower and amorini 1) D 013 -C *G -• -> H .rv c 3 £ r C eg cC gj O OJ AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY Love of creepers on the house walling has here survived the chilly breezes of academic criticism. The designers have not pinned their faith to richly moulded window and door heads as the only legitimate form of architectural expression. They have extended somewhat the accent of the gables by the wise use of a trailing vine named by scientists Euonymus radicans. This greenish, whitish, purplish vine, which is always beautiful and when seen in any light has white markings recalling the brightness of the walling. As a base to the house has been planted a dwarf hedging of the domestic barberry, the leaves of which are a light green. Late in the SECTION THROUGH ROADWAY AT ENTRANCE LEADING TO THE COURT The sketch discloses the general planting scheme, the poplar, maple and a portion of trellis. The rough stone wall is laid in lime mortar with thick layer of cement to form a coping. The masonry is very irregular. Turn to the accompanying plan to get a full understanding of this drawing season the leaves turn orange and red and tawny russet, and in the winter the branches are decorated with brilliant scarlet berries. The painter instinct of the architects has prompted the introduction of the warm gray of the distance as the local color of the panelling to the principal rooms. The French, ever skilful in their background, have devised this peculiar mixture all their own and have found it very serviceable. It is a gray which is warm and seems to have the ability to reflect daylight. It was doubtless suggested by the distant landscape, having a wonderful depth when viewed in a certain light. It has at least one excellent quality in a sun- shiny climate, whatever it may have where the days are too dull and life too dreary, in that it brings out the fidl value of mahogany and the bright colors of the chintz so favored in country houses. MR. W. G. BORLAND’S HOME AT MOUNT KISCO, N. Y. 25 It is said to take a big architect in these days to design a small, com- fortable house, a house that is brimful of personality, that is good to look upon, utilitarian yet romantic in idea, that at the same time is not overwhelm- ingly architectural but distinctly pleasing and sure to develop harmoniously as it ages. In other words, it is said to take a big man to do any small thing thoroughly well. Abernethy, the famous English physician of the first quar- ter of the nineteenth century, did not recommend carriage exercise for the poor people of his active practice, but rather devised a formula which im- proved their diet, lengthening their lives, extending much their days of hap- CROSS-SECTION THROUGH COURT WITH DETAIL OF FOUNTAIN The second view shows the general planting scheme from another angle. The central portion of the walling is thickly coated with cement concrete and left for the creepers and weather markings to color. This change of texture is delightful and somewhat unusual in modern work piness. Tolstoy, speaking with his passionate eloquence of the difficulty of telling a short story in a brief, pertinent manner, or of composing a simple melody, appealing alike to our hearts as our senses, earned, with some of our architects of to-day, our gratitude, because of the close attention they pay to our daily requirements. They think so much more of the living needs of a small family than of the stilted proportions of their art. 26 VIEW FROM DRIVEWAY, SHOWING COURT, HOODED ENTRANCE AND WROUGHT-IRON WINDOW CASEMENTS This sunshiny picture deserves considerable attention. The wall surface will shortly he humanized with weather staining. The bright light brings into prominence much of the detail which promises well for the future and the shadows are entertaining. Refer to the plan to get the general value of the scheme, the semicircular approach to the fore-court and the outline of the planting, the plan also throws considerable light upon the service court and service wing. It locates the terrace with its entrance and a portion ot garden Mrs. C. B. Alexander’s Home, Bernardsville, N. J. Delano & Aldrich, architects III ustrations from original drawing and photographs by Julian Buckly HAT hillside, garden and landscape meet in some portions of New Jersey’s hospitable borders in a very picturesque em- brace has long been known. Every now and again the state increases its popularity and its interest by husbanding still one more home of the privileged. And it is perfectly natu- ral, for many of the townships are both beautiful and con- veniently reached from the metropolis. There is an unusual variety of sites, hillsides that are pastoral and rocky sites that are rugged, inviting stern treatment by owner and architect. These are certainly stimulating and not a little of a challenge to the imagination. At times they are very costly, so that it is not to be wondered at that the pastoral property is a little more popular for general service. There is about it often a quality which in- vites by reason of its color, its texture, its adaptability. The home of Mrs. C. B. Alexander at Bernardsville is one of those graceful testimonies to the practical acceptance of the idea that a home should be quiet and restrained in outline, that it should be free from ostenta- tious display, comfortable within, and so contrived in general layout as to take its proper place with the surrounding properties. There is about it cer- tain English and French characteristics. It is wholesome in idea, being un- usually exempt from any affectation. The plan is thoughtfully laid out. and the rooms so contrived as to make the best of everything. They open well and liberally. Things are generally on a center. The quality known as scale and balance is well preserved. There is about it a certain architectural right- eousness, a naive austerity, a sacrifice to truth and potency, that is accept- able. The windows depend upon their proportion rather than their embel- lishment for their interest. Not a moulding appears on the outside of the house, with the exception of the head to the triple window in the gable, which shelters the sleeping porch of the upper floor. Wrought-iron English ease- ments have been used for many of the openings. They have been imported for this purpose and give a little personal quality which is acceptable. The house is built of hollow tile which is used for all exterior walling. The roofing is of slate graduated in width of courses and varying in color, the 28 END OF HOUSE, SHOWING MAIN GABLE, TRIPLE WINDOW TO SLEEPING PORCH AND BIG CHIMNEY The view exhibits the direct scheming of windows and casements, the loggia opening from living room and a portion of the fence sheltering the garden. The architect has here thought well to import from Northern France a fence of split saplings which are exceed- ingly picturesque. They are pointed at each end, woven together with wire and secured by heavy chestnut posts sunk in the ground MRS. C. B. ALEXANDER’S HOME, BERNARDSVILLE, N. J. 29 tones running from blue to purple. Roughcast cement stucco is skilfully floated upon the walling — a veritable canvas on which the weather changes will soon weave a diaper of markings, quaint and rich, low in tone, varied in TERRACE WITH ENTRACE TO DINING ROOM AND HALL Inserted in the wall at the far end as a decorative note is the Madonna and Child, terra cotta of the Della Robbia school, bright in color, and with the usual blue for background. In harmony with the blue is the painting of the window shades and frames color, and becoming more beautiful every day. There always will be about this form of surfacing an interest alike to the painter, the poet and all others of cultivated ideas. It is a surface which furnishes an excellent back- ground on which the shadows and reflected lights have a certain subtle part- 30 THE LIVING ROOM WITH ITS PANELLED WALLING, TAPESTRIES AND QUAINT PAVEMENT OF RED WELSH TILING The detailing of this center of things domestic is unusually attractive, revealing not a little the personal preferences of the owner MRS. C. B. ALEXANDER’S HOME, BERNARDSVILLE, N. ,J. 31 nership and sympathy. It is this tone which gives quality to the green and to the grays of every season of the year. Its value is to he seen in the contrast of the flowers, planted in the window boxes and in the low, dull green of the cedars and boxwood near the entrance. The principal rooms on the ground floor are paved with Welsh tiling. This is also to he seen in the living-room, hall and the dining-room. The terrace and the flooring of the porch are paved with red brick laid alternatingly in groups of three, checker-hoard fashion. SKETCH PLAN OF PORTION OF PROPERTY Showing general arrangement of rooms, entrance and fore- court, with terrace, garden and servants’ wing. The service court is screened from garden and terrace. The sketch reveals outline of planting and fence line and outline of wood on northern side The architects have paid no little attention to the adornment of the terrace, perhaps I should say the ennoblement, by the introduction of two terra-cotta plaques, a Madonna and Child. They are to be seen, the former in the center of the end walling, the other one between the window casements to the dining-room. Over this one a light is suspended by a delicate wrought- iron bracket. Here is also to be seen a circular marble table for the family to dine literally under the sky. The entrance is through a driveway into a fore-court, and so under a hooded doorway into the hall, so that the privacy of the family is in no way disturbed. The floor above is somewhat unusual, with its fireplaces in every room, its private baths, its liberal closets, its accommodation for maids, 32 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY wherein they have their separate staircase and hallway. In a word, it is an arrangement that spells comfort. The garden is sheltered from the northwest and yet gets the full benefit of the sun. A stone walling runs across the end of the garden gracefully swelling out in the center to accommodate a small fountain and having two broad stairways leading to the wild garden. All this of the natural Jersey rock well-covered with lichen, moss, metallic oxides and weather discoloring, THE HOODED DOOR AND WINDOWS ARE WELL PROPORTIONED View of entrance from fore-court. Mediaeval frontages presented much this severe form when first they were built, and weather stains spread over the surface, toning it acceptably MRS. C. B. ALEXANDER’S HOME, BERNARDSVILLE, N. J. 33 so that it goes very well with the shrubs, the long grasses and the under- brush. And perhaps it is from here that the most satisfactory view of the house is to be had, and this, in the summer season of the year, will doubtless be the center of things. Those, however, who love color and are very much alive to the significance of the Della Robbia reliefs, will remember with pleasure the blue of the background, that remarkable tone cherished so long by the great Italian sculptor, for it has found a living form of sympathy in the great masses of larkspur and heliotrope planted in the garden. Even the Venetian blinds, window frames, hood to the entrance, have all accepted the blue as their decorative and distinguishing coating. And it is the rich, clear, transparent blue, going so well in contrast with the cream tone of the walling, which gives no added importance to the green of the foliage. This emphasis is so much more satisfactory than the magnificent medley of pri- mary colors too often favored by well-meaning but poorly informed people who fail to realize the chemical action of light and weather upon common everyday paint and stains. Of course, to preserve the balance white flowers abound and foliage that is pencilled with white and gray, and a rich varia- tion of flowers of delicate tone. We must not forget the silver-like sheen of the stone flagging and the important part that the wide mortar joints play in the story. For, after all, white is of inestimable value; without it the combination would be graceless. It often justifies the innocent pride the blue seems to have among the primary colors. It is this form of house designing, of home building in this great Amer- ica of ours, showing the skilful adjustment of many of the outlines and pro- portions of Europe which is particularly encouraging and stimulating be- cause it exhibits, among other things, a keen realization of the beauties of our own plants and trees and illustrates their importance in architecture. 34 FRAMED BY ELMS, THE HOUSE MAKES AN AGREEABLE CLIMAX TO THE LONG AVENUE From the entrance the visitor passes through the large central hall, leading to the loggia and terrace gardens at a lower level. To reach a full understanding of the attractive view, it were wise to refer to the accompanying plan of a portion of the property. The road- way is flanked by an avenue of elms and enriched on the right-hand side by considerable planting. The low bushes screen the tennis court which has recently been laid out. Between the elms will be noted some of the original trees of the property, large and fully grown Mr. Russell A. Alger’s Detroit Residence Charles A. Platt, architect Illustrations from original drawing and photographs by Julian Buckly OME people say that the Moorings is popular because of its frontage upon Lake St. Clair. Others, speaking with what eloquence they possess, attribute its attraction to the woods of the district, the woods for which Grosse Point has always been famous. They refer with no little pride to the native elm, maple, ash, and the balsam and pine, which cling so tenaciously to the soil in spite of the high breeze, and they also dwell upon the fact that here is preserved intact the long avenue through which the old house was reached and still remains. Others again talk of the way in which the new house sits on the most elevated portion of the site and is terraced to the water-edge, so as to leave the long pergola screening the flower garden, making a frontage imposing at a distance, comfortably nearby and delightful to the guests at all times. But the real secret of the attraction of the place resides in the fact that small as it is in inches, for to he correct this portion of the property consists of some six or seven acres, it is big in idea. It might very well be termed a big little place. Whether you enter from the northern frontage, leaving Jefferson Avenue behind you, or ap- proach the place by a motor boat, it is impressive. Both the northern and the southern frontages are pleasing in the extreme and in a way they are delightfully deceiving. Says one: “The property seems to own you body and soul, whithersoever you look at it; it is fascinating by day, it is engaging at night.” The sea wall has been so contrived as to provide for a bowling green in the center and a landing stage at the side. The house is built sufficiently close to the ground to he a part of the natural terrace, to shun the high winds hut enjoy the views. The views are many and very beauti- ful. Grosse Point Lightship is right ahead, looking south, when the mists permit; Askins Point of Canada can be seen and the Island of Fishes, when the mirage from the swamp behind is not too thick. Windmill Point is very much in evidence, and at times the well-known Belle Isle. The prop- erty is located close to the Country Club. The house is unusual in its plan. It opens up well and is very much of a surprise. If we enter from the northern frontage we reach the 36 THIS VIEW GIVES MUCH OF THE NORTH-WESTERLY FRONTAGE AND END OF HOUSE It also pictures the mirror pool in garden, the gate-way leading to drive entrance, the broad bordering of flowers and other details MR. RUSSELL A. ALGER’S DETROIT RESIDENCE 37 central hall which is the soul of the place, and from it pass through the li- brary into the loggia and out down a number of steps to the lower terrace. Here, descending again, the bowling green is reached. Or we can stay in the central hall and enjoy all this from a distance by contenting ourselves by a visit to the long balcony on which the hall opens. Here can best be enjoyed the pageant of the lake with its crowd of cargo-boats, barges and steamers, for the architect is a great rogue; like the magicians of Egypt he has been able to do much with these enchantments. Old Detroit has disappeared beneath acres of new buildings. Much of its history has been forgotten; the Indian wigwams or the far-sighted generosity of Pontchar- train is a memory. Moorings is a story of one clear-thinking architect and his vigorous handling of a rather difficult and unusual problem. It is the spirit of the thing that pleases. It did not jump up in the night. It was not created off- hand. It was a vision wherein the clear-sighted and patient worker toiled to one definite and distinct climax. The property was laid out first in small, to put it technically — that is, a model was made of it, a model for scale and a survey which shows the elevation of every section. It is always difficult for a client to visualize plans. Varying levels confuse. It is no easy matter to understand satisfactorily other technical points or the need for planting to screen the entrance and the service porch. This re- duction of the scheme to the model was a splendid means of winning success by deserving it. The mind is schooled with the philosophy of life and we are able to realize the need of certain things before they are planned. In this property the house occupies so natural a position that, in spite of the fact that we enter what would ordinarily be termed the second floor, and go down into the billiard-room or out onto the terrace, we quite as naturally ascend to the bedrooms above, or stroll out to the pergolas to enjoy the distance; we are obeying instinctively the arrange- ment of the architect. He is our mentor, our guide, omnipresent though invisible. We fall in line with his wishes, we see the picture as designed by him, finding it none the less engaging and delightful because we are uncon- scious of any pre-arrangement. We are well rewarded. It is a white house of concrete, the dressings of which are of limestone, the same practical material being utilized for the entrance hall and the main stairs, the pediment to the northern frontage and as an enrichment to the central window and the little circular detail immediately above. The house is roofed with red tile which overhangs very much after the fashion of the houses in the northern section of Italy, yet the roof is kept well up above the ceiling of the bedrooms, so as to give a neutralizing chamber de- 38 39 THE CENTRAL HALL IS FULL OF COLOR WITH PAINTED CEILING, TAPESTRIES AND UNUSUAL FURNITURE It is the soul of the place, from which the library, dining room and loggia open, and the direct view of the lake is to be enjoyed, eie we realize the value of the site, the full importance of its location, and the worthwhileness of the general scheme. The hall is Italian in idea and full of interesting detail. Could wall enrichment be fuller of color, richer in suggestion than these tapestries? 40 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY signed to eliminate that dread of all country houses, heat overhead where it is not wanted; by a system of cross -ventilation the bed chambers are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. It is an all-the-year-round house, a fireproof house — this latter goes without saying in these practical days — a house wherein domestic com- fort has been studied more than is usual and where the decorative ac- cent is splendidly in the right place, and for a definite purpose. Thanks to great beds of lark- spur, blue is tbe prevailing color of tbe garden in the month of Au- gust, following the pink and white of the Japanese anemones. Still it is an old-fashioned garden with old-time colors and perfumes, all very cleverly screened by the per- gola, which in turn bears upon its well-proportioned frame a rich mantling of wild grapevine. “For,” says Mr. Platt, “the wild vine of the grape has a quality our domes- tic variety fails to possess; the leaves are very large, thin and translucent ; the y are lighter, brighter, more cheerful, and form, as it were, a more graceful shelter to the pergola.” The fore-court is accented in several ways; at the termination of the elm avenue two recumbent figures of the lion ap- pear well scaled with the building, very simple and stately in drawing. The court is circular in movement and the corners which form the cir- cle are planted with rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs which mass satisfactorily without disturb- ing things, and while they give a pleasing note with their color, tex- Showing the elm tree avenue approach, the flower garden and the vine-covered pergola MR. RUSSELL A. ALGER’S DETROIT RESIDENCE 41 ture and drawing, content themselves with spreading instead of aiming to hide the windows and block the light. Turning to the sketch plan of a portion of the property, we note that it is through the entrance marked B that the central hall A is reached. This is the soul of the place; opening from it is a long balcony facing the lake. To the right is the library C, to the left the dining room D, and extend- ing from both of these are a conservatory and loggia E and F. G accents the breakfast room and H the garage and I the small private dock, which is re- cessed so as to give ample protection from the exposed frontage upon the lake. The popularity of the Moorings is not due so much to the general de- sign as such, hut rather to its intimate relation to the lake; that is, to the fact that into the scheme has been brought the lake. The lake with its mys- tery and charm belongs to the picture, or may we not even say it belongs to the house? To get the full pleasure we should look to something more po- tent than that which is transferable by means of paper, for at best sketches accompanied by letterpress convey an idea, a memory, hut that is all. The merest glance from the end of the avenue, as the sun rises or sets so as to include the flash of light upon the surf ace of the water of the translucent purple of the distance, the movement of the tree-tops as they gently sway in the fresh breeze, would speak better than anything we have wit enough to add ; because it would disclose in a subtle and persuasive manner the orig- inal idea of the designer when he first attacked the problem, grasping its privileges, its opportunities. Delightful also is it to realize that the lake is for others, for there is nothing selfish about the design. Is it not a possession without ownership? F g £ is 42 Home of Mr. Lloyd G. Griscom, Norwich, L. I. Delano & Aldrich, architects in ustrations from the architects’ original pen and ink drawings AS it not that resourceful painter, writer and prince of good fellows, John Lafarge, who spoke so frequently regarding the sketch as an instrument conveying an idea, saying that somehow or other we try to make our drawings as ugly as as possible? He was speaking of decorative work. The comment was the outcome of a visit from a young drafts- man presenting to the master his sketch for criticism. The sketch was one of those fatally pretty affairs we all know. Is it not with drawings as with personalities? It is the dull, dreary person we avoid. Here is a drawing so decorative, so human, that we find ourselves for the moment gazing at it as a work of art, when, in reality, it is a memorandum of an idea. And this altogether oblivious to the fact that it is once again Bismarck’s criticism of the average newspaper — as merely printer’s ink upon paper. If we find our- selves held momentarily h} r the drawing it is the fault of the architects, who have themselves to blame! Thanks to the drawings, however, the spirit is intensified rather than concealed, and behind the decorative quality resembling a wood-cut and the suggestiveness characteristic of an etching the potency of the scheme is here visible and unmistakable. The suburbs of New York owe much of their beauty to this improved study of material and to the local color. This term, once found only in the vocabulary of the painter, is accepted to-day with reverence because it is understood. We are delighted to find it spells something good for the countryside. There is in the work of the architect less pose and artificial- ity, more balance. He is no longer ashamed to have his work chic; he prates less frequently of his anaemic mistress-style, and while he still imports antiques he brings with them a saving element of common sense, which tends to coun- sel us regarding their best disposition. The suburban home to-day is more beautiful because it belongs to us, to our time, to our ambitions, and to our pocketbooks. We have learned that the country property, whether it he two or a hundred acres, must he studied as an entirety, which means that architect or owner becomes, in a way, and for a time, something of a painter. In this way our house building has become less of a tragedy. 43 It >, -c 0 y cXJ^ + -'^- fjn 3 s- £ -*-» § * a S> _, « 60 -S -S ^Ci js O t «s « g 13 c 5 s -S Js « S O MM ocS Jj -©^^fi©, 2 qycoz 2 --© . hh 0 / -*- , 7 J ^ccrt F aj^H ©2 a/ ay bD 0/3 ^ g -C ©cj£~>>£ . >>.£ 3 ’3 J. 3 §> g> mm “ | .£ 4 3 '§>£ 3 «-| “"I-S c ° i ^ « »! 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And we recall that the archi- tect, in his handling of the country-house problem, resem- bles the playwright, because in his effort to present at the theater a phase of society or to point a lesson, he is compelled to study background and setting. He cannot afford, in any way, to be indifferent to the claim of costuming, music and lighting. True, the playwright is not embarrassed with the lay of the land, but he has to put up with the caprice of the star who demands the spotlight in addition to other artificialities and is arrogant regarding entrances and accents of other descriptions. The playwright’s struggle with the presentation of a high- class comedy resembles greatly the architect’s handling of the country house. His background is a living thing, subject to the fluctuations of the seasons, and being a portion of the earth humanized it must be sheltered and pro- tected, as must also the inmates of the house, while the fantastic backing of the dreams of the playwright is a painted canvas struck or set to fit the ca- price of the hour. Even so it must be studied, thoughtfully designed, for it is an essential portion of the story and no longer are we living in the time of the immortal bard. “The play is the thing” was written at a time when scenery was practically unknown. Hut to-day it is important. Who could do without it, for it is the very ground of the story, illustrating the time, the place and the occasion? It is by the brilliancy of scenic effects, the machin- ery of the stage with its lighting, movement and the rest of it that the public is entertained, as well as with the play. When the curtain is down and the audience leaves the theater it takes with it an intimate memory of the beauty of the scene as an entirety as well as the sparkle of the conversation, the dramatic situations. It were as difficult to remove from the picture dia- logue as scenery. The architect is also concerned with the picture as a whole. And like the playwright he is indeed embarrassed by the detail demanding attention. He has to fit the house to the site very much as the writer ad- justs his scenes to the equipment of the theater, to the intellectual capacity of the audience, to the well-known impatience of the age — to the limit of its endurance. 47 48 ENCIRCLED WITH NATIVE WOODS. THE STUDIO AND TERRACE DOMINATE ONE END OF THE COURT The studio is an independent building with anterooms, loggia and arbors opening upon the terrace, from which steps lead to the court. That section of the public disclaiming the influence of environment should study this scene, estimating its influence on the average person MR. A. C. BARTLETT’S HOME, LAKE GENEVA, WIS. 49 These very interesting views show one method of so designing a house that it fit the specific background and that it make of the occasion the very most that is possible. Here is a property where a house is so enclosed in a dense wood that shade and shadow as well as the whisper and majestic movements of the trees enter day and night into the scene and form part of it. It is indeed a house secreted and retired, a veritable nook in the woods. The sunshine plays an im- portant p art i n t li i s scheme. The painter with- in the architect here once again invites our salutation and receives it because he shows his keen realization of the responsibility of the occasion. Yet he is a great rogue. Of course, he could very well do without pro- jecting mouldings and carvings, changes of tex- ture and artificial coloring, because the trees help him so splendidly with their wonderful shadows and re- fleeted lights. To my mind this type of design is one that should be encouraged greatly where an oppor- tunity occurs in this way. People returning fro m Italy rave about repose and scale, the absence of this, that and the other, and forget the important part played by weather incrustations and coloring, and the part also that the background contributes to the general scheme. So many people demand ornament. This happy little place is far away from the clamor, rush and excitement of the world. Reflected lights count here and, as if adding to the painter’s delight in mystifications and color, a pool ap- pears that the sky may be mirrored in it. The magic of its bine increases the value of the greens of the foliage. It tempers as well as modifies and cools the reflections. It transmogrifies the picture in certain seasons, and when the THE PLAN OF THE PLACE IS EVERYTHING The skill in devising rooms in relation to outlook and in- tercommunication is here shown. The relative scale between rooms is of interest, the loggia and gallery well contrived THE HOODED ENTRANCE TO THE COURT It is on this moulded archway, with its original grouping of windows, plants and trellises that so much praise has been bestowed. Against the wall on the far side of court is a long figure panel in rich colors winds ruffle its surface and whip the outline into and out of all shape it brings a scene of humor that is indeed entertaining. The sun plays an important part upon the main or southern frontage. It enters the loggia between the library and dining-room, reaching the gallery, and from there extends into the court again. Later in the day it climbs the fence on the western side of the court, gilding everything till evensong, then hides behind the big trees till morning. The house is reached by a circuitous route through the woods and the entrance is on the eastern side by means of what has been facetiously termed the “dog trot.” It is a hooded entrance leading to the court as well as to the gallery of the lower floor and to all the important rooms. Splendidly does the house open up and yet there is a sense of seclusion and privacy in the planning. It is a well-contrived place for the reception of guests. The lettering of the accompanying sketch plan indicates the principal rooms. A, B and C give the position of the studio suite. I) is the dining- room and E the library. F shows the den, G the kitchen, H the service hall and I the billiard-room. It is the design of an architect working with, or at least inspired somewhat by his brother-artist, the painter, son of the owner, and his immediate needs as well as the requirements of the family 50 MR. A. C. BARTLETT’S HOME, LAKE GENEVA, WIS. 51 have entered into the scheme of things. Modernity and moderation or ap- propriateness are written large across the face and are to be seen in the plan. In some subtle way this little, informal co-partnership has led to unusually interesting results of an intimate nature to which a sensitive mind will nat- urally respond with delight. Although modern in conception, modern in execution, modern in its make-up, it is very old, prehistoric in fact, in some of its detail and arrangements and in its manner of using concrete. The ancient Assyrian handled some of his little country terrace garden manipu- lations very much after the manner adopted here. His general conception of things is to he seen in the structure of the pergola and in the design of the fences. Yes! if you please, plain, everyday fence lines can be made in- teresting! The classics did it. I, for one, am delighted to see the moderns adopt the same course. It is a solution of an unusual problem which is very delightful because of the things it does not do and the method by which certain little essentials are glorified with scarce the expenditure of the dollar, without the utiliza- tion of some grandly extravagant ornament, and this is the house of a painter, of a designer of decoration, of a gentleman whose work is well known for its breadth of understanding as well as for the excellency of its drawing and the charm of its color. Mr. Frederic Bartlett’s paintings are ambitious and imbued with the story-telling quality. It is also an interest- ing house because, with all its modernity, it shows a right hearty respect for architectural traditions. It recalls some of the scenes in northern Italy. The arrangement of the openings is well studied. The sense of proportion has had much to do with the shaping as well as the locating of windows and doors. Each frontage has one distinguishing accent when viewed from the outside, and when the court is entered, the court which runs north and south, another type of picture is disclosed. Still, like the scene at the theater, there is one center of everything. In the house problem there is no spotlight with its arrogant preferences, at times so wonderfully disturbing to the audience however it may Hatter the player, but the sun, nature’s smiling luminary, knows no such dictation. Its entrance into rooms, into the remote corners of the property, depends largely upon the thoroughness and care of the architect. “Does the sun enter here ? For how many hours do we have the sun?” is perpetually heard. Many country houses have been ruined simply because they were not properly lighted. It is as important as drainage. This lighting is an omnipresent element of ar- chitectural, I may say of human necessity, for, in a house scheme, the au- dience is always at home. The scenery cannot be re-painted or touched up, nor can the curtain very well be rung down. 52 THIS REMINDS US OF THE VILLA OF A PROSPEROUS ROMAN IN THE TIME OF THE EARLY RENAISSANCE Mr. G. R. Thorne’s Home at Lake Forest, 111. Howard Shaw, architect HAT this house has a strong personality everyone must admit. It might well be classed as the villa of a prosperous Roman at the time when that all-conquering force held absolute sway in the northern section of Italy during the grand period of the Renaissance, so Roman is it in spirit and idea. It is now some little time since the native forest bordering Lake Michi- gan was disturbed and trees cut and uprooted to make way for this house, built for Mr. Edward L. Ryerson of Chicago and a few years later sold to the present owner, Mr. George R. Thorne. It made at the time no little talk even in this locality of big things. The Chicagoan is generally acknowl- edged to be a doer rather than a dreamer, and while the rest of the country hesitates, investigates and searches for a precedent, behold, he builds ! The idea that the A m erican is the Roman of to-day might well emanate from this enterprising section, where timidity seems to he unknown. The villa is unusual in proportion, up-to-date in plan, old in spirit. The walling is of solid concrete, after the Roman fashion, not of Traver- tine. Rather is it of the concrete of the sort described by some classic writers as Opus-incertum. Rough and vigorous is the material of which it is made. The sand is coarse, the stone small, the cement well burnt. The surface of the walling does not reveal the markings of the wooden forms, as in the case of the ancient foundations of the temple of Titus re- cently exposed to view, because the modern bush hammer has here been applied so vigorously upon the surface that the walling speaks its own language, direct, recognizable everywhere in the building world, the lan- guage of modernity and utility, a wholesome force which endures. Unlike the more usual surface of cement applied to brick or frame, this weathers delightfully. The walls are some two feet in thickness throughout, running from the footing to the underside of the springing of the roof. Inserted vertically some eight inches apart are porous tiles three inches thick to prevent the dampness from penetrating. The roof is not of the heavy stone type fav- ored in classic times, but is so constructed that, while it does not endure for so long a period, it is infinitely lighter in weight and for many reasons more desirable for our general use. It is of slate, variegated in shape and WORTHY THE ENTRANCE FOR A DOGE OF VENICE, IS THIS ARCADING Delicate, lace-like shadows from the royal oak bestow a gracious benediction upon the threshold 54 MR. G. R. THORNE’S HOME AT LAKE FOREST, ILL. 55 color, which is green and purple in tone. Its liberal projection casts a welcome shade over the upper window during the heat of the day. The blinds outside are painted somewhat after the fashion of the bluish-green so frequently associated with the older section of picturesque Munich. It is a well-contrived house running east and west, facing north and south. The large square living-room is in the center of the block, the meet- ing place of everything and everyone. It is a big open court in effect, splendidly lighted, its casements opening to the floor upon the terrace which faces the south. The gallery immediately behind is of the same im- posing length, hut of a different proportion, giving reasonable wall space for pictures, and the staircase is a little apart, within a liberal recess and with walling of its own, enclosed, out of sight, wide in reality and wider still for those invited to ascend. The staircase is a private alleyway rather than a mere architectural problem the solution of which is an occasion for dis- play. Like many of the older houses of Italy the grounds and the lower rooms are beautiful and big enough for everyone, and on them is distinctly the architectural accent. This concealment of the entrance to the many rooms above, the more intimate family apartments, is excellent. The house is not raised on an artificial level; it has no superimposing base, but stands within a few inches of the natural surface of the ground, sufficiently high to secure protection from a chance washout or during the dreary season when nature is mantled heavily with snow. The dining-room with its dining-porch opens from the easterly side of the living-room. It is approachable also from the gallery. The service wing is a further ex- tension. The library opens upon the westerly side of the living-room and it also has its enclosed porch and, like the dining-room, is reachable from the gallery. The extension of the western wing is for the accommodation of the guests. It has a private entrance and many other provisions for their comfort. Much attention has been bestowed upon the materials. This is notice- able both within and without. The house is of a large scale and materials count here in the composition more than in the average case. They have entered largely into the interpretation of the design. It is a concrete house, but the pavements are often of red brick or red tile. The pavement of the terrace with the steps to the loggia at each end of the southern frontage and the northern entrance is brick upon edge. The paving of the loggias is of red tile. The long gallery is also paved in much the same manner. This has a way of tying the place down to the ground. The red is good to live with. Low and rich in color, it speedily mellows delightfully with age. The entrance from the northern side is worthy the frontage of a palace. 50 SIERRA MADRE VILLA WITH THE SERENITY AND REFINEMENT OF SOME OF THE FLORENTINE PALACES A graceful retreat among the mountains far from the turmoil of city life. A spirit of peacefulness prevails Miss T. H. Graham’s Home, Pasadena Robert D. Farquhar, architect Illustrations from photographs by Graham Photo Co. IA ITALIA” is the name so graciously bestowed upon the villa recently built for Miss Graham in the Sierra Madres of southern California. The first view is very pleasing, some- what startling perhaps, as though the realization of a dream. As a matter of fact, it is rather the result of a ripened expe- rience during an extended residence among the picturesque cities whose shores are laved by the luminous waters of the Mediterranean. Stimulated by the exalted altitude of the background, the house is built upon an elevated terrace-like bank so far above the plateau level of the foot- hills as to resemble somewhat a stage setting for a drama. The little place is vividly white, contrasting with the luxuriant foliage of the lordly euca- lyptus trees behind it, their rich mantling bringing into prominence the out- line of the interesting composition. The house is within a few minutes’ walk from the trails leading to the small canons which cut into the mountain side, in constant enjoyment of the breezes which blow in from the Pacific. Although small, it is somewhat conspicuous in that section of the Sierra Madre which is enclosed by the wide and beautiful valley of the San Gabriel River and its upland beach, midway between Pasadena and Los Angeles. It is an all-the-y ear-round house, built substantially of concrete and stone to withstand the penetrating nature of the mountain mists and dense fogs, with no effort at grandeur but with a certain novel simplicity of outline that is singularly pleasing. The walls are thick, super-imposed and so constructed with flat arches as to support the upper floor and the colonnade which runs along the front and ends of the house. This upper floor is reached by a wide, open, outside staircase so that the upper chambers have their own independent entrance direct from the garden in addition to the usual inside stairway from the hall. The overhanging roof of red tile, the pergola which crowns each bay, the calm severity of the order between and the general arrangement of openings show unmistakably the influence of the villas and minor palaces built on the outskirts of Rome during the days of Dante. Indeed, the com- position shows frankly its indebtedness to the Rome of the classics. 57 THE OUTSIDE STAIRS, AN AUXILIARY ENTRANCE TO THE UPPER CHAMBERS It is encouraging to see this modification of Roman architecture in our favored land 58 MISS T. H. GRAHAM’S HOME, PASADENA 59 The staircase as an architectural feature for the outside of the house has entertained the designers of the French chateau for many centuries. This interesting element was for a long time a close competitor with the circular tower and the roof. It was the central accent of many well-known compositions. This is to be seen to-day in the buildings of the broad valley of the romantic Loire. The designer of this attractive California house, while maintaining the advantage of a direct entrance to the upper chambers, has relegated this serviceable feature to the end of the house, leaving intact and undisturbed the central part, the entrance court and approach, very much as did the Pompeians, so there is ancient and distinguished authority for this form of design. It was from a villa of this description that Pliny, the Younger, addressed by letter Domitius Apollinaris during one of the many summers lie spent in his country house in Tuscany, and again a friend, Gallus by name, when within seventeen miles from Rome in his sub- urban house. These letters describe vividly the beauty of country and town life as enjoyed by the wealthy Roman in the first century. They gave graphic pictures of the scenery, naming with infinite care and deliberation the trees and shrubs of the gardens, the materials of which the houses were built, the general division of the rooms, realizing their advantages and the way in which they are so strangely similar to that form of building which is favored in our own time. It is doubtless interesting to remember that the famous letter to Tacitus, in which Pliny describes graphically the terrible tragedy of Vesuvius, was penned in a villa of this description belonging to his mother, and within sight of the volcano. In laying out the property of Miss Graham an effort has been made to get the most out of a long narrow site which has considerable variation of level, a somewhat formidable frontage upon the main road leading directly to the foot hills and blessed by a stream of running water. The house is built upon the upper section of the property, running east and west, and stands boldly in front of the eucalyptus trees, behind which is an elevated tank for the house supply. The principal entrance is at the rear. Advan- tage has been taken of the extended frontage to permit a somewhat unusual driveway from the lower level, going along the far side without disturb- ing the general picture, and yet in full enjoyment of the orange and lemon trees and the flower garden. Of course, first impressions count for so much and the laying out of a place is everything. “Mia Italia” is a happy name for so interesting a property and to the distinguished owner it must always he gratifying, recalling as it does the many pleasant years spent in sunny Italy. 60 Long Island Home of Mr. A. W. Rossiter Alhro & Lindeberg, architects Illustrations from original drawing and from photographs by Julian Buckly ERE is a new house in an old setting. The approach also is excellent. Big chestnuts and far-spreading elms line the driveway to the front porch so that the first impression is practically all that can be desired. The scene is in that favored portion of Glen Cove, Long Island, which for many years has been characterized by the name of Red Spring Point. An examination of the views of the country house which Mr. Ar- thur W. Rossiter has recently built is encouraging because it illustrates an up-to-date method of attacking an old problem. From the entrance the great pageant of the Sound opens up with its surprising picture. The house has been built several feet above the original level a little to the north of the former homestead, so unfortunately destroyed by fire some few years ago. The small circular lily pool in the sunken court is to-day the approximate center of the old building. The plan tells the story. It is an L-shaped house with the service wing running in the northeasterly direction convenient to and in line with the dining-room. This elevation of the ground floor level by artificial terracing has improved things amazingly, by bringing into prominence the ever engaging panorama of the Sound with its endless procession of boats, its vivid outline of City Island, surrounded by barges, freight boats and yachts lying at anchor. The garden is not only protected from the public gaze and the wind, being located several feet below the level on three sides, but, thanks to the thick foliage of the old trees and bushes lining the outer border, it is exceedingly retired, sheltered, an agreeable setting for the subtle comedy of domestic life. The garden is protected on the easterly side by a thick hedge. Here the ground drops suddenly some twenty feet or more and slopes gently back into the meadow. There is an interesting view from this small loggia which has recently been converted into a breakfast room. It is very de- lightful in many ways. It is a view with a peculiar personality. Right royally does the design show that advantage has been taken of the site and the trees. The house is attractive in appearance, simple in outline. There is a frankness and wholesomeness about the composition which is delightful 61 CO =2 c -C -3 a c c O !l 8 2 * -c ■“ -S & S : s! 5 . •- — C >%rr- II -s MO c = „ w - "K 0j 1- '+H S- C l, jzrz c cc ■ M « S ^ g <5 ^ 2^2 > w cs 2 c 2 £ ^ -C ^ «! - ^ -M ^ ^ £ *■ -r. ~ — s g 05 J >,.2 1> fi - s sll ijj £ .2 5= ^ a e ^ -c o JJ p ^ ^ 2 ~ * s § .2 -s ° ~ ° £ * 2 | IS i.is2r § J "5 rrt 8 8 2-8 F "J =- Ph , • £ „P co 2 .2 U fH H h 2 t , • -a " * ' 13 M a' c '“ c 5 5 1 && s ! 3 g a t- 2 c :i - 5 § g > 2 2 . ^ 'P 'a £ ■£ -£' *- a - £ 5 j, % M-jr £ j= 5 « .2 c * IS- = ~ -e JS z * S ^ .£ gS2«S o ^ _ O - £ s | s IS ?r ^ •c'S Olj Q nj — 3 CO «H G ~ 62 LONG ISLAND HOME OF MR. A. W. ROSSITER 63 as well as serviceable. The plan provides a direct and convenient arrange- ment of rooms with a loggia at each end of the house, the living and dining- rooms between. The loggias are paved with red brick. The one leading from the living-room has a large, open fireplace; they are pillared in a delightful manner, encroaching a little upon the terrace and giving an in- teresting accent to the elevation. The stuccoed walling promises to weather- stain shortly; as it tones with the color of the setting it will resemble some- what the old houses of southern Europe. Travelers point to the chalets of the Tyrol, to the hillside and valley houses of Spain, claiming that in some remarkable manner that fascinating land of dreams holds and cherishes within her wide boundaries more than her share of the world’s beauties. We are told that her sunlight is brighter, her mountain air softer than ours. Of the exquisite texture of her trim thorn hedges, ilex-woods and myrtles, the startling blue of her cloud-emblazoned sky, flaming acres red with poppies, golden corn fields and vineyards, we often hear. Still, the brilliancy of the sunlight is more noticeable upon the houses and notice- able because of the potency of the setting. Nature seems to find here an informal playground, something to toy with, built by man. There the whitened surface of the houses is often a quaint epitome of the district, every foot disclosing a different version of the story ; as the plaster has been patched in places the repair counts occasionally as an accident which soon mellows acceptably. The house will doubtless be remembered by some because of its treat- ment of openings which upon the southern frontage are very large. The roof is kept low, and while the overhang of the eaves is considerable the projection of the gables is slight and there is not any attempt to magnify them into a decoration. The purlins project sufficiently to carry the over- hanging rafters. At stated intervals the shingles are doubled up, over- lapping so as to form strongly marked horizontal bands. This increases the apparent length of the roofing. It also lightens it somewhat in effect. The value of horizontal lines is also shown in the projecting trellis-work at each end of the house where the creepers will shortly hang over, giving a delightful shadow and lessening the need for the striped awnings, by pro- viding a living transparent green, the tendrils and foliage of which change with the seasons. These are some only of the points to which praiseworthy attention has been given. They are points, the result of study upon the ground in our own country under local conditions. And it is a type of study much needed if we are ever to take advantage of the best elements of the architecture of the old countries. Houses like this answer immediately the impatient question, “Shall we ever have an American style?” AN AGREEABLE SETTING FOR THE Stately cedars accenting upright lines number SUBTLE COMEDY OF DOMESTIC LIFE among elements which have received attention 64 LONG ISLAND HOME OF MR. A. W. ROSSITER 65 Realizing that after all the plan is the king or constitution of every project toward which we naturally turn as authority for discussion, look at the acompanying sketch. It resembles a remark on the margin of a valued etching, and is an intimate memorandum, serviceable alike to everyone. We learn that A is the living room, with its wide casement opening upon the sunken lawn connecting with B the dining room attached to the long service wing; that C designates the entrance hall, and that the letter L , which appears on two occasions, indicating the importance the de- signer assigns to outdoor rooms, shows the position of the loggias, which accent each end of the house. The loggias occupy a very promi- nent position in the general scheme. The one near the entrance has a length of five bays. It has also a large open fireplace, so that it could well be used late in the autumn and early winter as an outdoor room enclosed with glass. We should re- member that it opens from the hall and living room. The smaller log- gia at the easterly end has also its individual note, for it has an exten- sive view across the country from a considerable elevation, being locat- ed on the extreme edge of the bank. It makes a singularly attractive picture from the terrace below. Since the architects have concerned themselves personally with creepers, learning their requirements and realiz- ing that as creatures of life they require certain practical provisions of a structural nature, they have designed trellises blocking them out from the buildings to give something to which their delicate tendrils can cling. The interest in this house centers also upon the vigorous manner in which the architect has attacked the problem. Ruthlessly lias he swept aside certain too frequently acknowledged precedents, contenting himself with practical service to the occasion. THE PLAN TELLS THE STORY We see the location of the big trees bordering the entrance, the equally prominent shrubbery upon a lower level, the two terraces and garden with circular pool; still there are other elements of beauty DETAIL OF ENTRANCE PORCH AND BAY SHOWING GABLES AND CHIMNEYS It is a substantial house embodying certain characteristic details of the Elizabethan period 66 THE DRIVEWAY IS CONCEALED UNDER A HEAVY MANTLING OF SNOW The owner’s love for the native woods is vividly shown. He was loath to sacrifice any trees. Doubtless in many ways the trees respond to this consideration, protecting the house from high wind Property of Mr. R. W. Houghton, Nashotah, Wis. William H. Schuchardt, architect H ERE is an unusual presentation which is so full of surprises that we are tempted first to speak of the setting - rather than of the house. As we look at it and realize the density of the wood we see in a mo- ment that photographic views of the interior were not possible at any other period of the year. We are thankful indeed for this winter view. The house is built upon the easterly slope of one of the many beautiful lakes in the vicinity of Nashotash, Wisconsin, a little west of the energetic city of Milwaukee. The snow has given an informal and naive setting, chang- ing the values as the painter would say, bringing into prominence the rich browns of the roofing, the half reflected lights of the windows, the curi- ously mottled effect of the rough-cast upon the walling. It has given a sharpness and brilliancy to every outline. The chestnuts and oaks remain undisturbed as though companions to the wholesome looking barge boards which accent the projecting eaves. These vigorous and stately timbers ap- 67 FROM THE VERANDA WE GET AN ADMIRABLE VIEW OF THE LAKE The design provides for a large sleeping porch in each gable over the loggia pear also within the house, reminding us of the rich forests covering the great bosom of mother earth in this section of the state. The house is built upon the extreme border of a glen. A few feet from the edge of the long loggia the ground slopes about forty-five degrees, running down towards the lake. It is approached by a long driveway through the wood with practically no sacrifice of the timber, without any at- tempt at a garden, a border of flowers anywhere, or an added color note of any description whatsoever. The picture is beautiful. The property of some sixty acres remains wild, rugged in part. It is literally and essentially a house in the native wood. A house for the summer, filled with resinous per- fume, a spice-like scent resembling a sylvan incense. The trees not only cast a graceful diaper upon the scene but they jostle its projections, making the air melodious when they are fretted with the wind. No tree has here been sacrificed for any flowering plants, terrace or pathway. It is practically a large, well-arranged camp, with many of the conveniences of the city, the wildness and abandon of the forest, plus the ability to entertain hospita- bly. It is evidently the work of a good, live, up-to-date architect who has studied the lay of the land and its opportunities, and the desire of the fam- ily to enjoy freedom from the conventions, taking advantage of certain 68 THE DINING ROOM IS HOSPITABLE IN APPEARANCE AND CONVENIENT It connects with the living room and opens direct upon the long veranda overlooking the lake views across the water in a southerly direction, and also of the welcome sum- mer breezes from the same quarter. The building is located so near the edge of the bank that it was found wise to let the service wing follow the original line of the glen, a scheme which has added greatly to the comfort of the domestic service also, leaving undisturbed the northern exposure of the breakfast porch. The block of the house receives the full advantage of shade from the overhanging trees and protection from the glare reflected on the surface of the water, and thanks to its position, the benefit of the air. It has some of the stately proportions of the Tudor period. The porch and bay over is not unlike some of the castles at Nuremberg. The roofing is excellent. Look at the size and construction of the living room with its big win- dows, its long, westerly loggia, heavily beamed ceiling, and its inviting in- gle; for the summer nights are occasionally cold and the firelight always picturesque. It might well be classed as a one-roomed house, so big, open and hospitable is it in its general appearance and make-up. The dining room is small by comparison and very cozy, screened off behind the bookcases, hav- ing its own hearth and porch. The living room, or house place, as it might well be termed, following the custom prevalent in the northern section of 69 THE UPPER HALL SHOWS MUCH OF THE SERIOUS CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE We get here a detail of the newel post and balustrading, and an idea of bedroom doorways England, has within its area many little surprises. Not only does the sun smile upon the big ingle-nook of goodly proportion, upon the large Colo- nial writing table in the center and upon the shelves of books in faded covers, but it vitalizes and inspires everyone. From an unexpected angle tbe visitor catches a glimpse of the ragged edge of the lake, which changes with the season. Following the lay of the land the floor of the house has been kept as close to the original surface of the ground as consistent with good build- ing. We pass down two steps from the entrance hall and again down to the long loggia which is but a few inches above the natural level. Remember- ing the comfortable old taprooms of the village wayside inn, the delightful cozy parlors behind the bar, the setting of romances of merry England dur- ing the latter part of the Victorian era, the architect has imbued the general scheme with many features that are singularly pleasing, viewed either dur- ing the day or in the evening. We are reminded here of the fiction of Charles 1) ickens, who so frequently located his stories in the taproom, the meeting 70 SKETCH SHOWING THE DIRECT METHOD OF HANDLING THE STAIRCASE PROBLEM The wall surfaces are frankly treated, giving an admirable suggestion of half timber work place of the neighborhood, the center of things very much alive: the picture at Nashotash is so much more human than the average country house of to- day. It is not overwhelmed with style. The little casements between the two doors at the easterly end of the dining room, the treatment of the small closets and of the service entrance under the stairway, the detailing of the stairway and its beamed ceiling of the upper hall, illustrate vividly the re- gard for the daily comfort of the family and the innate love of a romantic as- sociation. There is not anything coarse about this detailing; it is all good, direct in idea, with the accent in the right place. There is considerable char- acter in the balnstrading and newel posts, in the trim and hardware generally. The design is free from that coarse, that brutal form of construction thought by some to be essential to a house where good solid timber is plentiful. Here is a spirit of restraint and respect for the individuality of the various crafts. Stucco and brick work have here a prominent part. The color of the interior is pleasing. The wall is the shade of autumn 71 A SCREEN DIVIDES THE LIVING FROM THE DINING ROOM It must be remembered as an unusual house, big in idea, hospitable in intent and very spacious leaves appearing in diaper form upon the surface with a cool, gray back- ground, recalling the silvery bark of the white birch. It has the effect of an old Louis XV damask, with its smoky moonstone blossoms and quaint arabesque ornament. The wainscoting and beaming of the ceiling is charged with a warm tincture which is rich, fulsome, rather dark in places, yet trans- parent and agreeable in tone. This also has, thanks to the inequality and open texture of the grain, an element of silvery gray when viewed in a cross light. In other words, the architect has remembered that upon the color of the woodwork do many famous hostelries depend for their charm. The main girder crossing the living room is solid. It is supplemented in places by heavy wrought-iron bands. Surely there never was a more liberal chamber plan, with its sleeping porches over the long loggia, the comfortable bath- rooms, open fireplaces, ample closets and wide passages. A visitor says, “It is a place you want to live in forever and ever, you can repose with the thought that it will not be off color or out-of-style next season; it breathes the air of contentment.” Many of the older architects of other civilizations were too unskilled in the proper adjustment of their building material to the needs of the im- proving education of the people; they were too much engrossed by the friv- 72 THE NATURAL CENTER OF THINGS DOMESTIC WITHIN THE HOUSE The picture discloses intimately the great inglenook, big window and the timbers overhead olities, the fashions of the hour, too cumbered by them, and their work shows manifestly that they were hampered. Here, however, in this new age of ours, an age which desires, above all. to serve the living as well as reverence the dead, there is a distinct reflection of a personality we to-day classify as modernity. To give an instance of this restful effect, this sense of comfort, this ever-obvious quality of repose and domesticity wherein it recalls the best, the spirit of the picturesque hostelries of the older countries, look for a moment at the front entrance on the easterly side. Examine it on the plan, look at it in elevation, study at a distance and near to from the perspective. It is scarcely too much to say that here the architect reveals himself. It is the most delightfully plain little piece of unaffected construction that anv enthusiast could ask for. It leaves but little to he desired. You cannot add to it without spoiling it; to change it in any way is to disturb the repose, to make obvious an omission. 73 ^ — § ape* o as r > 0j I Ss.f. - a-s 60 5 c ~ -s = 5 ■Sgfg; r- r ,J 0 - s s 5 S = —-2 ^ cs » - ~ J ."S ~ i|£ £ 3 •§ ^ feCl ^ S rQ 74 Long Island Home of Mr. John A. Garver Stephenson & Wheeler, architects Illustrations from photographs by Julian Buckly HIS I jong Island home makes an unmistakable appeal — an appeal which is a precious heritage of the past, possessing, over and above everything else, the rare quality of frank- ness. It has been designed and built very much after the fashion practiced by the church in erecting its abbeys, col- leges and cathedrals in medieval times. Its picturesque out- line recalls also the direct planning and structural integrity of the minor manor houses and pleasing little hostelries of the hillsides and valleys of rural England, conceived and contrived from the hearthstone outward, rather than from the outside towards the center of the building. This latter method often led to a systematic assemblage of frontages too often false, making serious demands upon the plans by forcing, as it were, a compro- mise or a surrender of privileges. The architects of Mr. Carver’s home have not been content merely to contrive the building so as to make it fit the site, the family and the appro- priation, but have endeavored to preserve intact the natural beauties with which the property is so richly endowed. Here are splendid oak trees and two remarkably fine maples, and a pine that has weathered many a winter. Here is an old garden. Indeed, the site is not only rich in memories, diversified in outline, favored with a flower garden skilfully hedged and sheltered, but it stands in a position commanding a wonderful view. It is located a mile or two back from Oyster Bay. From the windows of the lower story can be enjoyed its placid waters with the rich encirclement of native woods, and, beyond, the greater pageant of the stately Sound. The study of this phase of English architecture is excellent. The men engaged in the search for the underlying principles of this form of Gothic expression must be sincere artists because the style, if so it can be called, is exacting, and while in no way foreign to the soil has much to be overcome in its acceptance in this country. It is an individual style. It makes serious demands upon the workman. It is energetic, being full of mysticism and requiring, nay, insisting, upon work-enthusiasm. For years it has been associated with monastic, romantic and social activities, with 75 A PLEASING RETREAT, A LITTLE HAVEN OF REST NEAR THE ENTRANCE Full of character and inviting is this cozy corner; a step from the upper terrace to the hall 76 LONG ISLAND HOME OF MR. JOHN A. GARVER which the craft worker was closely allied. And to inject this form of architectural expression into our own country at this time requires no small ability. As a matter of fact, the architect finds himself very much alone, struggling with a problem difficult to understand, hard even to define. Here is a method of domestic building, picturesque beyond words. In this all agree. Years before the Beaux Arts architectural school of France was ever thought of, long before architecture was reduced to a calculat- ing science, forced to conform to a jelly-mold fashion, to certain set pre- cepts, wherein individuality was discouraged, even stifled, this style was known far and wide as the architecture of the “plain man.” It originated witli and belonged to men with an instinctive preference for common-sense outlines, for direct scheming, for frank handling of materials. Before we can enjoy in our own civilization the captivating little hos- telries or minor manors so revered in England, we must imbue the work- man as well as the architect with real enthusiasm and love for his own individual craft. This is a truism which every worker at the drawing board realizes. “Oh,” says one, “we can sketch the thing on paper all right. That’s easy. But the charm of the old is in the execution, as well as in the general scheming of things.” The love for gables, dormers, overhanging upper stories, lean-to roofs and ridges following the gentle slopes of hill- sides, exalted chimneys, quaintly overhanging oriels, pierced and carved finials and barge-boards must not end with the drawing. It is not pencil work, but chisel work that we want. And the chisel cannot always be oper- ated by a machine. We must have, too, plasterers who will transmit, by the trowel, in a free, whirligig fashion, their own “finish,” an informal handwriting, a naive and very interesting addition to the wall surface. But this desire we complicate by demanding other things as well. Here, for instance, in this home on Oyster Bay we have a house which is semi-fire- proof ( that is, the walls and the floors are of brick and concrete ) , a house enjoying telephonic connections with the outside world and electric light, windows, leaders and roofs that are wind and water tight, first-class plumb- ing and many other things never dreamt of in the palmy days of the ancient manor. The problem was not simple. Mr. Garver’s house, standing so proudly surrounded by great trees on the highest portion of its undulating acres, is of liberal measurements. It is long and rather low in elevation, it is particularly pleasing in arrange- ment of gables, and it assigns to a prominent place the picturesque re- minders of traditional building, when men lived rugged lives in the open and the house was practically only a picturesque protection from the in- clemency of the weather. The length reaches almost two hundred feet. It 78 LIKE A WELL-WRITTEN STORY OF CONTEMPORARY COUNTRY LIFE, THE HOUSE REFLECTS THE FAMILY oinding us of England, it is picturesque and unassuming, intensely practical, yet very beautiful, mellowing with the landscape LONG ISLAND HOME OF MR. JOHN A. GARVER 70 was, indeed, designed to make the most of its opportunities. It has been sympathetically contrived to harmonize with the site, a site occupied for many years by another homestead. All this has been accomplished with but little disturbance. Even a portion of the old foundation, running east and west, has been used in re-building. The northern frontage is accented by the front entrance. From the windows on the northern exposure the gardens are ever in view. The architects preserved intact the idea of the central hall, extending it through the house. This is not simply a transformation to America of to-day of the old spirit of domestic building as practiced in Central Europe ages ago. Rather is it a re-assimilation of the needs of a home. The architects have evidently attacked the problem of building very much as a playwright struggles to stage a drama of the present time. Every detail is intensely human, practical and worthy of regard. Look at the porte- cochere. Here is a feature delighting the heart of the ordinary academician, giving him splendid opportunities for curved rooflines. This stilted accent has been the making of many a facade. The views before us show this serv- iceable entry to be a mere incident in the composition. The porte-cochere is connected with the vestibule of the hall by a cloister-like passageway with an open timbered roof and balustraded framing. In no way does it disturb the general arrangement of the composition. The entrance to the library is distinctive. It is approached from the hall by a wide passageway, under a four-centered Tudor arch. The visitor descends four steps within a splayed jamb, receding embrasure fashion. It is an interesting threshold. To the right of the entrance is a reading bay. Straight ahead is a hooded fireplace of stone, occupying the center of prominence in the middle of a large ingle-nook. Books are everywhere. Each foot of the wall where possible is utilized by cases for shelving which bear eloquent testimony to the fact that the owner is a reading man, num- bering among his personal friends many well-known and revered authors. Beyond the ingle-nook of this library is the family loggia, paved with Welsh squares. Here also the piers are buttressed and the openings arched, fram- ing the landscape and inviting a view which extends for many miles. The living-room, dining-room, hall, all have their own distinctive bay windows, which project so that the color and perfume of the flower border enters the house. These bays are located to fit with the inside rather than the outside of the house. There is also a stimulating bay to the chamber floor, a grace- ful memory of the satisfactory stairways so well remembered by those who have spent a portion of their lives in the colleges of Oxford or Cambridge. ARCHITECTURE IS SAID TO BE THE RIGHT TREATMENT OF OPENINGS In delightful variation is this interesting study in oriels and bays. Look at the wealth of casements 80 LONG ISLAND HOME OF MR. JOHN A. GARN ER 81 There are sheltered benches flanking the southern entrance to the hall, the northern porch and the loggia leading to the rose garden. It is these little things which remind us of the wisdom of so contriving our homes that they enter into and become indeed a serious part of our lives. A COOL RETREAT FROM WIND AND SUN The loggia is the meeting place of the family. It opens from the library, is splendidly sheltered and in full enjoyment of a distant view Of course, the ceilings of the library, hall and passageway are panelled and the walls of the dining-room know, indeed, no artificial covering. Every effect is accomplished frankly and naturally. There is not anywhere a vestige of affectation. This may also he said of the furnishings, which, in the simplest detail, exhibit the same sincere, frank understanding of the true significance of the beautiful style in which the house was conceived. 82 IT IS A NEW HOUSE IN AN OLD SETTING, A SETTING WHICH IS APPROPRIATE AND VERY BEAUTIFUL The old maple trees on the southern frontage and the great evergreens, to say nothing of the old garden with its converted well- house, its readjusted hedging, its winding roadways, its meadowland, look all the better for this skilful addition to an interesting property LONG ISLAND HOME OF MR. JOHN A. GARVER 83 Turn again to the bay windows noting the detail of the construction, remembering that the general temper and disposition of the time is revealed in the ornament, and that the inner life of a people is disclosed in the fur- nishing of their homes. The legs and stretchers of the high-backed chairs and tables, settees and low stands foi plants in the hall, dining-room and library exhibit an intimate connection with the lathe work of the mitred corners of the hay windows. This same relationship is sustained between the turned balusters of the staircase and the balusters of the covered pass- ageway between the porte-cochere and hall. So, throughout the house, the general spirit of extreme simplicity dominates both the ornamental por- tion of the framework and of the furniture. Much of this restraint is char- acteristic of the Jacobean days when the Italian motives were being ab- sorbed by the English. The library shows a softer treatment, typified in its characteristic chairs. The frames are covered and sometimes upholstered. There are chairs of this type in Holyrood Palace at Edinburgh and in Cluny Museum at Paris. A fascinating account could be written of these high-backed chairs which have entered so largely into the lives of the most troubled days of Central Europe. Their moulded, pierced and carved stretch- ers, their lightly curved arms are familiar as well as charming. It is not enough to say that this is once again an excursion back among the by-ways of merry England, or to claim for it a new departure, a new adventure; rather is it a new assimilation, a calm and deliberate presenta- tion of an old theme with a still older dress, and yet — and this in a whisper, in view of the costuming of the period — a dress deliciously free from con- sciousness. This is essentially a country house and will he so remembered by visitors because of its delightful connection with the garden and the old apple or- chard, the long rose walk and the old pump house. There is here no stately terrace of varying levels or statuary or costly fountains or active water courses diverted in set, serious ways We look in vain for carved or cut monstrosities, wherein nature’s beautiful bushes and trees are made to re- semble gargoyles, imps or misshapen urchins, cubes and squares and globes of crippled foliage. Instead, there is a wonderful meadow-land ever chang- ing, ever beautiful, ever comforting, which is big in idea, wholesome in sen- timent and good to live with. We can always construct an Italian garden ; we can subdivide, cut up and belittle with stone and plant posies, but it is difficult to find a more stimulating setting for a homestead of this type than the natural meadow-land, one of the glories of our America. A BROAD PAVEMENT LEADS FROM THE HOUSE TO THE SEA It is this view with big oak and chestnuts which makes us classify the house as that of a painter 84 ? Mr. Charles E. Proctor’s Home, Great Neck, L. I. Little & Brown, architects of alterations Illustrations from photographs by Julian Buckly E are to be congratulated that once in a while a painter or a poet builds for himself a house. He builds generally as lie pleases, paying hut little attention to the usual. No one has yet been able to devise a means whereby a limit can he put to the vain imaginings of this fascinating personality and hut few men of the world make the attempt. This is very much the way the visitor feels who is so fortunate as to he permit- ted a close and intimate examination of the country property of Mr. Charles E. Proctor, which runs down so close to the water’s edge at Great Neck, L. I., as to be conspicuous for its beauty in that section of the north- ern approach to the metropolis which is so important. Mr. Proctor is a land- scape painter of such prominence that he might well enter the list with those who make painting their profession. The house is one of those well-arranged, picturesque places of cement and stucco that concern themselves more with comfort and beauty than with architectural style or period of any description, and that depend for their many attractions upon the unusual or skilful manner in which certain plain, every-day things have been contrived and the efficiency of an attractive set- ting. Shadowlane has something more than the usual sunlight, direct, vivid, omnipresent. On the edge of the water it is like a poignant and absorbing little drama, for, while overlooking the sea and coming so closely into the sphere of that capricious charmer as to receive at all times day and night a wondrous light, radiating and transmitting to every element a bewitching and unexpected glamour, it still shares with the rest of the landscape the di- rect sunlight. All important is the lighting of a picture or a stage. Here is a canvas on a large scale with footlights that enrich the shades, soften the shadows. The scene is very beautiful. The visitor instinctively realizes that it is as a painter that the owner has worked conscientiously with the theme, and that he has engaged himself so industriously that everything entering therein shall be charged with some peculiar mission, shall be inter- esting for its own sake or because of its intimate association with some other phase of the larger story. THE MARBLE BOWL BORDERED WITH AGERATUM IS THE ACCENT OF TERRACE This little annual echoes the azure sky and forms an interesting encirclement for the fountain 86 MR. CHARLES E. PROCTOR’S HOME, GREAT NECK, L. I. 87 It pays to investigate this interesting country house solution of a fas- cinating problem, for it illustrates in so many ways what has been accom- lished by thoughtful study in other lands, under other conditions. The pain- ter’s approach to the problem of house designing varies greatly from the system of study adopted by the architect. The painter or the poet re- sembles not a little the writer or the teller of a story in that he is con- cerned most of all in the production of something which is beautiful, in- teresting and engaging. In a word, lie is content to make a hit and does not burden himself much, if at all, with such inanimate qualities as history and archaeology. Shadowlane is interesting because it exhibits the prefer- ences peculiar to a painter. That is the house has been studied very much as a landscape picture. It pays to investigate it in detail, for it shows the skilful way in which advantage has been taken of certain structural methods adopted by the Orient and by Spain, methods which are common in northern Italy, but which have been ruthlessly swept aside by France and were rarely, if ever, known in England. Examine, if you will, the shaping and proportion of the openings. The one problem of line has received infinite regard. Look at the eolonnading to the southern loggia and at the depth of the reveal, the splay of the piers. There is a fulness of line which is delightful. This quality is also to be seen in the large northern window to the studio, in the upper window and pediment which accents the gable at the northern entrance, at the arched entrance to the gate house, and elsewhere. It is discernible in the shaping of the minstrel’s gallery in the studio; it is one of the distinctive characteris- tics of the steps of the terrace by means of which we descend to the garden. The pathway leading from the bank to the water’s edge is curved, the long pergola which girths a portion of the sea frontage follows a sweeping line. The boat house is circular, it has an overhanging, conical roof. It is by means of six flat arches that the private landing conveys the visitor to the float. The painter evidently is a practical believer that the line of beauty is not that which runs directly between two fixed points. lie evidently be- lieves in the line that “counts” as in the color which harmonizes. Too many disregard utterly the possibilities of line. Again, the property is not cut up by a deliberate attempt to level everything off; by a series of terraces the original undulation of the grounds has been respected, the rootage of the old trees undisturbed. In a graceful *vay the long pavement extending from the southern front slopes gradually to the edge of the bank. In many other places has the harshness of the straight line been avoided. The para- pet walling surrounding the entrance court curves agreeably. The long THE GARDEN APPROACH SHOWS OCTAGON TOWER OF ORIGINAL HOUSE It illustrates the dining room wing, one of the recent and most serviceable additions to the property 88 MR. CHARLES E. PROCTOR’S HOME, GREAT NECK, L. I 89 lily pool lias semicircular ends. A marble bowl-shaped fountain accents the center of the garden terrace, and so it goes. It is an old property thickly wooded with oak, locust, maple and chestnut trees. Many of them are of an unusual height, very sturdy and majestic in appearance. The original house was built some years ago and the present owner has added to it an easterly and a westerly wing, utiliz- ing to advantage the original portion and preserving intact the two octag- onal towers with their pyramid roofs, and developing further an extended loggia which connects them. These wings have an important bearing upon the general composition and significance of the place. The studio wing, running in an easterly direction, might well he renamed the chapel, so ec- clesiastical is it in design, with its vaulted rooting and vigorously moulded Gothic ribs springing gracefully from massive piers, its exalted mantel over the fireplace, minstrel’s gallery and great organ at the end, and flooring of blue and brown tile curiously interlaced. In proportion and measurement it resembles somewhat the guard room of the Hotel de Cluny, now one of the most interesting museums in the old section of Paris. The fireplace is practically a reproduction of the one so prominent in the great hall of the Chateau Langeais, long known among the most picturesque and attractive French houses which mirror themselves in the waters of the romantic Loire. It was in this great hall that the “Duchess of the wooden shoes,” a term of endearment applied by the peasants to Anne of Brittany, was at the age of eighteen married to Charles VIII of France. We turn naturally to the organ as the accent of the house. All*. Proc- tor was so fortunate as to discover and to rescue from the flotsam and jet- sam of Barcelona a richly carved and decorated reredos belonging to an al- tar long forgotten, which he has incorporated skilfully into the ease of the organ in the minstrel’s gallery. Here, under a canopy, is the sacred figure of the Madonna and Child. The canopy and niche have received gold and white, and that form of rich, low color which tends to make of it a ser- viceable background for the figure. Here appears a diaper decoration of strange significance and considerable brilliancy in places. At times the gold ornament is burnished, again it is luminous, but soft in tone. The fig- ures are curiously wrought and with considerable skill. Rich reds of the rose, pink, and white which is gray with age, are to be seen upon the cos- tume of the Madonna. From one of the minor windows at certain sea- sons of the year the setting sun by a fantastic reflection seems to bestow an evening blessing. All this forms the central motif of the organ case. It is incorporated in and forms part of the framing, which in a correct and academic manner comprises a group of columns in two orders with base ¥M 90 THE STUDIO MIGHT WELL BE RENAMED THE CHAPEL, SO ECCLESIASTICAL IS IT IN ITS COMPOSITION After all, upon the structure of the vaulting does the quality of the sound often depend, and here the organ demands classic arches MR. CHARLES E. PROCTOR’S HOME, GREAT NECK, L. I. 91 entablature, cornice and pediment complete. These columns enclose two large, upright panels and in the upper section one single panel. The base is further enriched by three paintings which run horizontally and are of a smaller scale than the rest of the composition. The columns stand free and clear and the entablature is broken, coming forward so as to receive the pro- jection of the abacus and cap. The columns are fluted and carved, enriched with parchment color, violet and apple green. It is this form of decoration which does so much to give value to the paintings of the panels. The can- vas to the left illustrates Mary’s visit to St. Elizabeth, “My soul doth mag- nify the Lord.” The canvas to the right illustrates the story of the Nativ- ity; the one above, the topmost canvas of the composition, presents the crown- ing of the Queen Mother. The scenes in the base illustrate the Agony of Gethsemane, the Scourging and the Sorrowful Way. We recognize in this rich contribution from Barcelona, the capital of a sea-girt principality of Spain, the stimulating use of white and gold as a decorative note. It is this which forces into prominence the splendid pur- ple, the emerald, orange and flesh tints, the translucent greens, pearl tones and violet. There still lingers about the sacred figure and the old canvases an air of mystery and charm which is unmistakable and becoming to a deco- ration of age and association. Such valuable relics usually find a place in a museum or are displayed as an interesting illustration of the skill and equipment of a painter craftsman, their significance slighted or ignored, their message forgotten. The home is so much warmer and more human than the museum. Those who assign to inanimate objects human emotion might well be forgiven if in their enthusiasm they claim for this decora- tion a sense of gratitude for its hearty welcome in the new world. Surely to all of us the organ is a favored instrument of intimate appeal. This interesting chamber will also be remembered for its gilded and heavily carved pillars which formerly supported a baldachin over the altar of one of the chapels in the Basque section of the Pyrenees. The designer of the ornament has evidently remembered the shepherd of this fascinating locality. This is to be seen in the grapevine movement and in the blossoms and fruit with which the detail is enriched. At night the studio is illumi- nated by sanctuary lamps and Venetian lanterns suspended high overhead to which electric light has been added. Here also are candelabra and sedilia- like chairs from Venice, and to add interest to some remote corner occasion- ally a costly piece of drapery of a delightful tone is to be seen. The study of the decoration of the breakfast-room must have been an agreeable theme to the painter. It has been altered somewhat from the orig- inal plan, an octagon, and is to-day practically a circular room, thanks to the THE FIREPLACE RESEMBLES ONE IN THE GREAT HALL OF CHATEAU LANGE A IS We recognize that it was in that romantic chateau that Charles VIII married Anne of Brittany 92 MR. CHARLES E. PROCTOR’S HOME, GREAT NECK, L. I. 93 trellis work covering the wall. This unusual accent within the house is cut into fantastic shapes and is painted the mignonette green of the French army field service. Certain ornament is brought into relief by cream and white, all of which is an excellent backing for the marble table in the center THE DETAIL OF THE DINING ROOM DOORS IS UNUSUAL An agreeable contrast of texture between the small decoration of the panels and the more robust treatment of ceiling, side wall and floor. Here is a bright spot of rich color beautifully toned like an old missal and the projecting moulding which surrounds the fireplace and it is also of service to the vase and other ornament of the mantel. Ferns and palms look as if they grew here. Trellis work radiates towards the center of the saucer- like dome ceiling. The panel openings vary in outline. The piercing is pleasing, bringing into the design the delicate question of shadows and de- tached ornament. It is all very light and graceful. In a whimsical man- 94 Here the color is rich and the lighting direct, bringing into prominence the extreme delicacy of the paintings. The antechamber is an opportunity, a promise. At times it indicates, truly, the taste and preference of the owner; it is often tantalizing and satisfying MR. CHARLES E. PROCTOR’S HOME, GREAT NECK, L. I. 95 ner the panels of the walling have false perspective. The background is of stucco, rough in texture, silvery gray in tone. It is through the long hall of the original house that we enter the din- ing-room in the westerly wing, either by means of its independent entrance from the terrace, or by passing through the breakfast-room. Doubtless the painter had in mind the magnificence of some of the mountain houses in the northern section of Italy and the chateaux of the Pyrenees when he de- signed this room. There is a sense of grandeur in the heavily-beamed ceil- ing, the moulded and carved joints, the panelling of the main girders, the splendid fireplace with an exalted mantel extending well-nigh to the ceiling, its quaint pavement of colored tile, its long benches in front of the dining- table and its falling of gray stucco. It is dark and rich overhead as befits an apartment used principally after sundown and depending upon artificial lighting. The doors are panelled and decorated in color. By an interlacing arabesque ornament the rails and panels are in contrasting shades after a fashion prevalent many years ago. The trellis form of decoration is notable in the terrace, for it gives an excellent opportunity for the creepers to add interest to the wall surface. We must not forget the semicircular awning to the long loggia. The sky- line has been improved greatly by the wise use of dormers which vary some- what in their outline. Like every other well-designed country house with good, liberal wall surface, Shadowlane will shortly be diapered in places by lichen and rusty moss. It will be fringed here and there to bring into con- trast the weather markings and the bright silica particles of the stucco. This livery of nature is both beautiful and serviceable. The circular pool in the center of the terrace is bordered with ageratum, a little tropical charmer with soft plumy head and tubular flowers, echoing the cerulean of the sky. It performs a very graceful and serviceable office, blooming all summer long. It was named by the Greeks for its inability to obtain a great age. Midway between the water and the flagging it is an agreeable contrast of which we never tire. Bordering the foot path leading to the boat house is a broad bed of begonia which is pink, orange, scarlet, deep rose and red lead color. This jewel-like blossom of a plant now so popular was named by Plunder after Michel Begon in the early portion of the seventeenth century when that stimulating administrator of the French and patron of the scientists was living at Blois, a short distance from the Chateau Langeais. THE ENTRANCE IS UNUSUAL AND INTERESTING This is due largely to the construction and proportion of gable Mr. H. Carpenter’s Home, Lake Geneva, Wis. Howard Shaw, architect Illustrations from photographs by Henry Fuermann H ere is the work of a modernist, an individualist, a man who, while realizing the needs of the day, is in no way forgetful of tradition, rev- erencing the teaching at its true value. In other words, this house recently built well within sight of Lake Geneva is the work of a man who thinks for himself in matters architectural. It is to be seen in many ways. The pictures before us give some of the story; the plan reveals more inti- mately the source of his composition and the practical manner in which he has attacked the problem. The library, hall and dining room — that is, the three big things of the house — run through, having a frontage on the southern terrace as well as , O *" ft •£ _c uS? f- CO cC c ^ o £ Cj'f g ft]5j w ©J 4-> *-i © =0 ^ r© Coo w 4> ■m C 02 ? E * SE u «r « cs o o c be H IS s X cs | £ s So? © .c HC o 4-> CC t c be © .S ^ ^5 .t$ O » »C i’O n3 O C^= be £ .S ’© ,0 ? 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McBirney Howard Shaw, architect Illustrations from original drawing and photographs by Henry Fuermann THE FRONT ENTRANCE WITH UNUSUAL GABLE There is much originality in the detail of overhanging rafters and purlins, in the metal hood arching, the front entrance recall- ing the cloister within, and other testimony to the acceptance of many of the most serviceable ideas of the modern school F ROM the very instant we enter we feel that this is a house of sur- prises. And that is saying a great deal, when we remember the other interesting homes built of late in the pleasing suburb of that tireless and resourceful industrial center which we crystallize in one word — Chicago. The home of Mr. Hugh J. McBirney is planned to fit one of the open sec- tions of Lake Forest, where thick copse and wood give way to meadow land. The surprise is a long vaulted and red-tiled gallery or cloister con- necting the front entrance with the southwesterly frontage on the far side of the house. The vault is of stucco. It begins immediately under the entrance gable and is fur- ther accented by a semi- circular hood and is as vigorous in texture as the outer walling, being frankly a structural as well as a decorative fea- ture. This very unusual treatment of things do- mestic adds to the interior m u c h seriousness and c h a r m , a picturesque quality of unexpected in- terest to the casual visitor. 99 100 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY It is known technically as a barrel vault with intersecting penetrations, and is supported by well-built piers with chamfered corners. Not unlike the medieval days, the cloister has a small aisle also vaulted, giving entrance to the main stair hall and doing a host of things to make the homestead a series of pictures with in- viting perspectives, and shadows that bewilder and invite. The accompanying sketch shows by means of letters the position of the cloister- like connection between the front and garden entrances indicated by the letter A; B shows the living room and C the room set apart for the family dining ; D is the main stair hall and E the tele- phone closet; F is the little liower room under the stairs complete with plumbing connections, sink and special taps for filling vases; K is the serving pantry directly opening into the kitchen. The plan marks by dotted lines the treatment of the vaults and ceiling. The liv- ing room will be remem- bered for its sturdiness. Into the hood of the fire- place has crept much of the vigor of the cloister. It is big of scale. The interlacing ribs of the hood are interesting in many ways. Viewed in a cer- tain light they seem to suggest a structural motive, and yet they are decora- tive in idea. The manner of treating the door and window openings is also original. Dispensing with the customary architrave, the architect has here added another of those individual schemes of his which are very gratifying. It is instructive to note the original manner in which the chimneys are treated. Took, for instance, at the chimney which takes the Hue of the living- S KETCH ED DETAIL OF CENTER OF HOUSE The drawing gives the unusual cloister-like manner of connecting the front and garden entrances, forming also an interesting ending to the living room. We see the way in which the main and rear stairs are skilfully contrived LAKE FOREST HOME OF MR. HUGH J. McBIRNEY 101 room fireplace and see the use of metal in the hood on the outside. The accompanying illustration of the garden view shows the detail. The hood projects. It is not pierced, but impressed with good vigorous ornament. Metal as a decorative element is decidedly new upon this continent. The same material has been used for the dormers. Here it counts as cornice and is built up after the fashion of a coronet. It appears very prominently, crowning the sleeping porch over the enclosed court, and is dis- tinctive because of this bat- tlemented upper edge. Like most of the work from the same distinguished office, we recognize the sturdiness of the composi- tion. It is distinctly a man’s conception of what a house should be, and a man’s handling of material, of outline and proportion. Provision for the immediate future and welfare of plants and a recognition that na- ture will play a part by enriching the surface of the walling are shown. The sunken garden with its square flower beds, placed diagonally, separated by stone flagging, its apse-like termination at the extreme HERE IS THE HALL FROM GARDEN ENTRANCE This feature, so unusual in residences, recalls unmistak- ably the cloister of the abbey, the screen of the manor house. Fortunately some of the trowel marks remain in the plaster work. The paving is of large Welsh tiles of a rich red end, its distinctive porch reached by means of steps from the southern court, its broad bordering of herbaceous plants and its view make a picture of many surprises. This checker-board form of layout is unusual and has many advantages, not only because it permits easy access to flowers, but because it invites diagonal vistas of blossoms and does a host of things which lead to their daily comfort. Flowers within reach is one of the demands of the house- wife. There is a quaint old-world grace about the flagging, the broad open joints of which invite ferns, stone crop, and Alpine plants. 102 THE ENTRANCE IS A DEMARCATION, A NEIGHBORLY REMINDER BEREFT OF ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE House of Mr. G. Howard Clark, Jr., Devon, Pa. Charles Barton Keen, architect HE very outline of this place breathes antiquity. In many ways it is a Georgian house of the type adopted when the most promising and successful people of this country were beginning to build houses in a workmanlike and satisfactory manner, houses which were to be permanent and lasting. Naturally they turned to the later Renaissance of England for inspiration and to-day we are to he congratulated that there still linger houses of this comfortable, satisfactory type for which the Georgian period was famous. It is a common-sense style with abundance of character, a style to which the individual note can readily he added without putting the whole composition out of tune. It is a broad middle-class type of architectural ex- pression which can be adjusted to any site, almost to any purse. The City of Brotherly Love and its neighborhood made of this period an expression, intimate, characteristic, wistful, their own — somewhat unlike the treatment adopted by the wealthy of the Southern States, who accepted the general scheme of things as contrived by the early architects. We see this at Home- wood, Whitehall of Maryland, Hardwood House, Paca and Brice Houses and the house known as Woodlawn of Virginia. And the inspiration of that early work is to-day very vividly before us in the House of the Sisterhood of Notre Dame, Maryland, and Carter’s Grove close to the James River. The Philadelphia interpretation of the Georgian is in a way unique not only in what it does but in what it omits. This self-imposed restraint is to he seen in the walls of their houses within and without, everywhere. Good propor- tion takes precedence of extravagant themes, which, while very pleasing, are soon wearisome. In the houses of the lordly cavalier the curved line and ro- coco ornamentation of the French are omnipresent, and while the Philadel- phian rejected the enrichment he gladly accepted the general plan, which he found to be admirable. He preferred the Georgian treatment of panelling and arcading as more robust, more wholesome, he called it. It is said that when the charter for Pennsylvania was passed for signa- ture before England’s king, the question of name was still unsettled. Will- iam Penn suggested New Wales; another Sylvania. Seizing his quill, the king prefixed the syllable “Penn” in honor of the many distinguished 103 ]0i HOUSE OF MR. C. HOWARD CLARK, Jr., DEVON, PA. 105 services of his father, the Admiral. To-day the name “Pennsylvania” spells the immeasurable quality — courtesy, consideration, modesty and friendliness to the world and brotherhood to mankind. In much the same way has the refining influence of his strength of character permeated the architecture of that favored state. The spirit is still to-day active in its pro- test against extravagance of any description, its graceful plea for restraint against superimposing upon our daily life ornament for its own sake. The house of Mr. C. Howard Clark, Jr., at Devon, Pa., is long, dis- tinctly serious in outline and proportion. The central part is very dignified. The architect has taken as his inspiration the Doric order and of it he lias made good use. It was the fashion to utilize this order about the time when William Penn’s prominence was first noticeable in England and at a time when the architects were building some very important public buildings. It is the work of John Vardy, Kent, Gibbs and Ware, making admirable use of it in private houses which endears it to 11s. It has the element of repose, of great respectability and wonderful calm. Incidentally it is an economical order to follow. It imposes but few conditions upon the designer, but what it does require must be respected and obeyed. I11 length the frontage of the Clark house exceeds two hundred feet. The central portion husbands the living-room, hall and dining-room with some minor divisions. Extending on each side, connected by enclosed corridors which are treated architecturally as blank arcades are two prominent and serviceable wings. The one is a loggia, large, windowed on three sides, open, practically an outdoor detached garden house. It is in the other wing that the kitchen with its various rooms is to be found. The wings and the connecting corridor have rooms above. The roofing is interesting. Into it lias been put much thought. It is accented in the center by a Doric pediment and supported by four col- umns about four diameters apart. They are academic in their outline and correct. Rustications appear at the corners, and through the middle, run- ning belt-like round the house a broad, projecting band appears. It is a brick house, floated with white stucco. Of course, like every other Phila- delphia house, it stands upon a base of local stone. The threshold is stone, well laid, liberal in its inches. Practically the two frontages are identical. Still, in the garden frontage there is this variation: the central pediment comes forward, sheltering the porch. Very beautiful is this, the all-important accent of the garden front. It stands upon a terrace of noble dimensions. It has a lawn closely trimmed, surrounded by a low parapet walling pierced at prominent places. From this steps lead to the meadow. Yes, the roofing has been admirably contrived. It is of interlocking dull-green tile, very beautiful and likely to become more so. Look at the chimneys. They 106 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY are big, well balanced, well placed. The pyramid roofing of the wings is distinctive and we must remember this is a new bouse, a white house, and allow, if we can, for the rich foliage which will shortly own the trellis, form- ing a secondary band round the wings, a hand of color varying in its draw- ing in place of the shadow cast by the hood so frequently found hereabouts. THE ENTRANCE IS CROWNED BY A STATELY PEDIMENT At once the triumph of the architect, the opportunity of the host; here he re- ceives his guests at the place of honor on the northern side of the house Within, the house reveals the plan adopted by the well-informed, luxury- loving Southerner. It opens well. It is welcoming in its aspect. The hall runs through the center of the house with the principal rooms on each side. The living room is nearly fifty feet in length with a breadth of about one- half. It has two fireplaces. It is splendidly panelled. By the way, in the cornice of the hall is much of the seriousness of the Doric. An element of repose is obvious everywhere. It is unmistakable. It extends to the furni- ture, which embraces much of the teaching of the modern school. The pre- HOUSE OF MR. C. HOWARD CLARK, Jr., DEVON, PA. 107 vailing color tone is a rather low and quiet composition of warm buff and silver grays with occasional rose and gold in small quantities. A cool gray- ish green is much in evidence. Rugs of the Orient cover all the floors; fumed and polished oak of the forest the walls of the den. The risers of the staircase are floated with white enamel as is the balustrading; the treads are oak, the handrail mahogany and the walls to the top of the house are enamel which is pleasing in its general appearance. It is splendidly wooded hillside property and the native trees are let alone. At one time chestnut with its big leaves, its robust growth domi- nated the scene. The house is well placed. The gardens terrace consider- ably up at one end. Meadow land extends a long way in front of the grass terrace, enjoying the sun most of the day. The original level of the ground has been preserved intact. This is one of the distinguishing features of landscape gardening in the vicinity of Philadelphia as understood and prac- ticed in England. The original levels are respected. There is but little ar- tificial cutting, leveling, terracing. All of which means that the hillside is not disturbed in any serious manner. It is subdivided, hedged in, fenced around, thoughtfully planted, but the general contour of the land remains undisturbed. All of this helps to spell neighborliness, kindliness, good feel- ing. In other words, there is no hard and fast harrier which relegates to it- self the series of superior platforms. In all this we have another illustration of the potency of the modern spirit in affairs architectural, the cultivated preference for one good thing at a time, which differentiates between the scholarly and appreciative mind and the merely fashionable person. It exhibits the intimate and thorough study of the property, the conscientious labor in locating the accent. It shows also the influence of the site upon the general scheme, and that the architect realized the most desirable locality on which to focus his strength. HERE IS A PLEASING CONTRAST BETWEEN BAY AND HOOD OF ENTRANCE PORCH It is by a semicircular drive leading from the main road that the front door is reached Mr. G. A. Coffin’s Home, Locust Valley, L. I. Howard Greenley, architect Illustrations from photographs by Floyd Baker I F you would know the man of to-day, study his house. It is a rare treat to find among the more recent properties of these great United States an encouraging testimony to the efficacy of the broadening outlook of our best people. The country house of Mr. Charles A. Coffin, from its very 108 MR. C. A. COFFIN’S HOME, LOCUST VALLEY, L. I. 109 inception, belongs to Long Island. It forms a part of it. It is not like a suburban house adrift, or a city house removed, but is a house designed for this section of the country. Not only is it built of local materials and con- ceived to suit the site, the family and the pocketbook, but it is of the country and evidently proud to be there. In many ways it is very interesting. It lias a frontage upon the main highway leading from Glen Cove to Oyster Bay and is well within view of the new Piping Rock development. It is a richly wooded property, with maple, locust, hickory, wild cherry and beech trees. The surface of the ground is undulating and for many years about one- third of it was utilized for agricultural purposes and the rest left undis- turbed as natural woodland. In locating the house, advantage has been taken of a knoll which rises a few feet above the ground level, arid of the position of a large hickory and a wild cherry tree and subsidiary planting. It has also permitted the utilization of a splendid view. It runs east and west, having a prominent northern and southern frontage. The extension in a westerly direction is encouraging for many reasons. It has an impressive and an inviting per- spective, and, thanks to a series of open spaces, terraced and enriched with lawns, with broad borders of flowers, so that the distance is made to appear as a picture within a picture. The house is some two hundred feet in length. It might lie termed an open-air house, a house with an extremely large living-room, with many porches, some covered, others open, and casements where possible. It is evidently the house of a man who loves the great out-of-doors and who has determined to make the best of the rural charm, the abandon of the woods. It is not only picturesque in outline and very unusual, but also serviceable. Within and without the general keynote is white with a roofing of red tile. There is not about it anything small or belittling in architectural detail. Provision has been made for creepers, so that in a short while the whole frontage will be covered with an ever-varying texture. It is practically fire- proof, and is an all-the-year-round house. The plan provides for a den, a writing-room, a small room for tbe flowers, a reception room and the rest of it, and, of course, the usual service quarters, with modern luxuries and necessities. Tbe interior walls are just as strong and satisfactory as tbe ex- terior. There is a certain picturesque abandon about tbe composition which is tbe natural outcome of skilful scheming. The fortunate visitor will always remember tbe place for its unusual attraction in the woody section, far removed from tbe main road. Some of this is so wild that it can hardly be spoken of as a garden, yet it is classed a wilderness. Here are large clumps of beech trees, under the shade AN INTERESTING STUDY IN PORCHES AND BAYS The view shows something of the roof and the way it is contrived to fit the unusual plan. It is the product of a resourceful mind which has found profit in the study of English work of which a rich diversified order has been systematically worked out. In cer- tain seasons of the year will he found the wild honeysuckle or pink azalea, the fire-cracker plant whose brilliant vermilion tubes brighten many a dull shadow. The dutchman’s breeches with dainty heart-shape blossoms which hang tremblingly from a slender stem, yellow butter-and-egg, touch-me- not, and the butterfly weed, jewel-like in growing, and the common barberry, mountain ash, elder, and fringe tree, and, of course, common, everyday su- mac, add to the rich pageant of glorious color. Here upon a raised portion of the property is a bungalow, a camp, a woodshed, a spring, all hidden in the natural undergrowth, the high bushes and the low trees. The planting is also interesting in its use of berry-bearing shrubs, which sing their little song in the winter, when the snow is upon the ground, the snow forming a back- ground for the berry. It is this type of thing, this method of humanizing 110 THE LIVING ROOM IS BIG IN IDEA, WELL LIGHTED, BRIGHT AND CHEERY Being well placed, it is the natural center of things within the house. It opens in every direction. It is well supplied with dwarf bookcases so that the books are well within reach the property by the thoughtful and free use of color and planting that ap- peals to the visitor. Would that it were contagious! Is there anything more engaging, anything which makes a more exact- ing demand upon our skill, than this construction of suburban homes, which are located sufficiently near the city to enjoy its conveniences and yet suffi- ciently within the fascinating center of country privileges to enjoy out- door sports and the wild abandon of the open? This demand upon the architect has been fearlessly met by some men in general practice, who have succeeded in making their classic mistress ignore to a degree her irrevocable laws so that our architecture is more warmly human and very much more sat- isfactory and better to live with, conforming better with our ideas of the amount of money the citizen is justified in spending for his home. Ill 112 Home of Mr. Edward G. Hoyt, near Stamford, Conn. Newman & Harris, architects Illustrations from photographs hy Wurts Bros. T is when we see houses like the one recently built hy Mr. Edward C. Hoyt that we feel encouraged for the future of American homes. It is distinctly the proper and obvious solution of the problem from a broad and wholesome stand- point. It is designed after a fashion which is international, in that it is broad and vigorous and world-wide in idea, and while old in method of building, and of well tried and dependable work- manship, it is new also in its skilful use of cement, of hollow tile and other up-to-date materials. It is well planned, well roofed, well and creditably detailed. It has less frivolous ornament than any house of its size that has been built hereabouts for many a year. What ornament it has is in the right place and is the natural and logical outcome of a well determined and decorative scheme, so that in many ways it has beauty of a reasonable type. The property is located at Noroton Hill, near Stamford, Conn. It is set so far back from the main road, the Boston turnpike, as to he somewhat out of sight. The view from the long westerly terrace opens up panoramically in the direction of Long Island Sound. It is a splendid picture. There is something particularly interesting in this Tudor manor of England standing here high up on the shore of an American sound, in full enjoyment of pass- ing ships of every description, a picture instructive in many ways, stimulat- ing, inspiring, challenging. This house of Mr. Hoyt is typical of the improved and the reawakening sense of our architects and of our property owners. Splendidly does it typify the kind of things we desire, the type of thing for which we are pre- pared to stand and of which we are justly proud. The house is built of brick, floated with stucco. The windows have dressings of limestone of which the fireplace of the entrance hall is also built. This material is also used for the door jambs, for the weathering of the but- tresses, the base of the chimney stacks, and for the coping around the porte- cochere entrance. It also appears as a subsidiary base on which the house stands very close to the surface of the ground. The house is roofed and shingled with rived, that is split, shingles of cypress, which live forever. 113 ] 14 THERE LINGERS IN THE DINING ROOM A SENSE OF OLD-WORLD HOSPITALITY It has some characteristics of an American interior. It welcomes heartily distinctive details of Jacobean days with its breadth and potency, its wonderful color, its suggestive — we may well say historic — detail, the drawing of which is alive with quaint traditions. This is not confined to the furniture. It extends to the arching of the fire opening and wall panelling, the floor joists and beams 115 THE HALL IS A SQUARE ROOM, BIG IN IDEA. NOTE THE STONE FIREPLACE AND THE OAK WAINSCOTING The wainscoting is designed to conceal the entrances to the adjoining rooms, a method much favored in older civilizations, getting away from the more ordinary beamed ceiling. The architect has contrived to add interest to his composition by suggesting a form of ornament old in the days of the Crusaders, the central motif of which is the square and the circle. The ribs interlace delightfully FACING LONG ISLAND SOUND IS A WIDE PAVEMENT OF RED BRICK Picturesque is this elevation with its overhanging, half-timbered gabling and projecting bays 116 HOME OF MR. EDWARD C. HOYT, NEAR STAMFORD, CONN. 117 They neither disintegrate, warp, twist nor rot. The barge boards are care- fully thought out, well moulded, sympathetically cut in divers curious and interesting ways. Within, the ceilings are of interest, carefully moulded with ribs that take up a somewhat fantastic outline; that of the hall is a graceful evolution of the square, set diagonally within a circle, an ornamental form of great his- torical importance. The billiard room is beamed heavily with oak. The din- ing-room has for its ceiling enrichment a running ornament on the under side of the subsidiary beams which appear to extend the length of the room. This Connecticut dining-room has much character, not confined within its own walls, but beyond, by means of a subtle introduction of casements: the one long and low, the other tall, permitting a view into a hreakfast-room be- yond, and again through a casement to the horizon line, wherein the early morning sunlight gladdens the breakfast-table. The breakfast-room has also an open porch of its own, a sort of early morning hiding place for momen- tary concealment or a continued siesta. The suburban district of New York has witnessed many improvements of late, hut not anything more vital than the method recently adopted by architects and others in their vigorous handling of a complex subject. The up-to-date method of attacking the problem of suburban homes in- vites much which is not usually classified under the dignified head of Archi- tecture. After an engaging and somewhat extended flirtation wherein we have sought to build in this vicinity copies or adaptations of houses foreign to our soil, we have decided to readjust and concern ourselves with that form of building which fits the ground near our city and which brings to our hearths the rich pictures of the neighborhood. We are just a little tired of being archaeologists, copyists, adapters. This has led to a healthier and more worth-while house, of which this is a splendid example. For it lias within itself local ideas as well as local color and an individuality which is unmis- takable and worthy. 118 VIEW OF ENTRANCE TO PROPERTY, WITH LODGE AND BRIDGE SPANNING THE BROOK Our photographers have the happy knack of selecting a satisfactory view. Is not this French chateau in an American wood an agreeable surprise? It has the high-pitch roof, the central chimney so frequently associated with the country house of France Mr. Robert S. Brewster’s Home, Mt. Kisco, N. Y. Delano & Aldrich, architects Illustrations from original drawing and photographs by Harry Coutant ES! A chateau from the land of ancient courtesies and courtly manners, the mother of republics and of graceful accomplishments, in the very heart of our American woods, and quite at home too, thank you, and looking as natural as if its white walls, well-proportioned windows and arch- ways, lofty roof lines and sparkling fountains, were deep in the great mysteries of the majestic Fontainebleau. It is somewhat startling, hut very delightful to find within the hilly section of Westches- ter County, half hidden in foliage, a house so sedate in idea, so restrained in outline, so free from extravagance and withal so wholesome in its make- up. It is a country home, well planned, thoughtfully contrived and ingeni- ously introduced into the woodland without a heartless cutting away of things, a too free changing of levels, or the adoption of some big engineer- ing scheme, reducing the grounds to an artificial platform. The garden and courts have been laid out and the house located with reference to the view. The outline has been determined in form somewhat by the steep- ness of the hillside of which they are a j^art, so acceptable do they seem to he to the sympathetic visitor. In a word, Mr. Robert S. Brewster’s sum- mer home at Mt. Kisco, New York, conforms to its site and fits into its surroundings. The house is well studied from within, it fits the family as well as the site; the block plan reveals the general layout. The rooms are grouped with regard to the compass point, and in a right-about-face manner it fronts the north, makes much of the south and west, and rele- gates the service wing to the eastern section with its yard, for even here the architects have not forgotten the early rising of the sun and the attrac- tion of breakfasting in the open, just as that luminary rises with its gorgeous benediction upon the day, for a porch is shown opening from the dining and breakfast rooms upon the grassy court. The problem of daylight for the house as for the picture is funda- mental. The citizen of to-day assigns to the already heavily burdened archi- tect the responsibility of so arranging the rooms that they are well lighted, — light being as important to general comfort as intercommunication. FROM THE LIBRARY THE This view is from the northern TEMPLE OF LOVE IS SEEN ENSHRINED IN THE WOOD court marked by low marble-capped stone walling, notable in plan 120 MR. ROBERT S. BREWSTER’S HOME, MT. KISC'O, N. Y. 121 Yes; the plan is excellent, and is an important tribute to the ingenuity of the architects, who have managed to keep the service wing out of sight; the house, as it were, is all frontage, or all presentable, and yet the work- ing portion is well taken care of, with its own independent yard. A long gallery conceals the service wing from sight. It is flanked by archways looking into the rose garden and leading into the central hall. The living-room opens upon the northern view of the wood, from which at well determined places long, narrow alleyways are cut, giving inter- esting perspective views into the recesses of the foliage. These architectural accents are valuable and are decoratively acknowledged by fountains standing upon the upper terrace walling. Water plays an important part in this scheme, being pumped from the little brook running from the arched entrance of the property and stored in large tanks at the top of the hill well behind the tall trees and equally well out of sight. It is an interesting element of the picture wherever seen, and in some adroit fashion it is pretty well on view all the time. There are seven well-arranged fountains and one tinjr pool in the lower ellipti- cal sunken court around which we pass in going to the far-away portion of the property deep in the valley. The block plan shows by letters: A, B, C and D, A indicating the upper court and D the lower wild garden, the varying im- portant points which differ considerably in level, yet which are connected hy marble stair- wavs, rustic runways or vaulted pergolas, according to the position which seems convenient or desirable, and so subtle is the descent that in no way is the varying level a matter that concerns the visitor. lie may walk from the Temple of Love enshrined among the locusts, cedars, hemlocks and pass readily into the upper court under the segmental runway to the main pergola, entering the elliptical garden, again descending to the valley, scarcely realizing that he has passed many feet below the level of the house. The block plan shows by figures: 1 indicates the living room, 2 the SKETCH BLOCK PLAN Outline showing house, upper and lower courts, with fountains and pergola, connecting runways with the staircases leading to lower garden 122 THE WALLED GARDEN, ELLIPTICAL IN OUTLINE, IS CONNECTED WITH COURT BY PERGOLA The enclosure is so adjusted that the visitor to the valley scarcely realizes that he is descending many feet below the level of the house. We are thankful to see some one extend these academic proportions into the native woods without too great a sacrifice of the trees. In this case the elliptical-shaped enclosure is of singular interest. It will become a garden of surprises, rich in its pageant of rare color, shining like a well-polished jewel in a glorious setting. Note the flight of stone steps by which the valley is reached MR. ROBERT S. BREWSTER’S HOME, MT. KISCO, N. Y. 123 library, 3 the dining-room, 4 the central hall, 5 the servants’ wing with its kitchen, pantries, servants’ hall and rear staircase. The entrance is from the court lettered B. Here carriages can arrive and depart comfortably, ample room and privacy for the court being well preserved. It is all part of the general scheme of things, so is the sunken court enclosing the lower garden which diverges somewhat from the center of the house axe in its wise adjustment of the site. The garden is sympathetically divided into flower beds and borders, occasionally dry walling appears with pockets for creepers and plants and for things that interlace generally and promise to be of great interest when more fully grown. The walling of this and other parts of the property is constructed of stone quarried on the site and full of metallic deposit, varying greatly in its color and texture. It goes without saying that this is the way of men who have refused to yield to the imprisonment of historic styles as such, because of the many phases false to our ideals of civilization and to our understanding of true beauty, expressed in the word service to that which is best and most inspir- ing in our nature, and who have found pleasure in devoting days to the labor of so grasping the opportunities and limitations of this particular site, family and occasion as to manipulate something not only free from af- fectation, but which shows they have struggled manfully with the problem from the ground up rather than from the drawing-office down. In other- words, they not only accepted, but glorified, in the responsibilities and limi- tations. There is a wholesomeness and strenousity about everything, a consistency, a rhythm that is acceptable. 124 A TWENTIETH CENTURY GARDEN HOUSE, AN UNUSUALLY ATTRACTIVE SETTING FOR ENTERTAINMENTS What a scene for a masque, for the presentation of a midsummer pageant! The stage is set and increasing in beauty every season Mr. T. H. Kerr’s Home, White Plains, N. Y. Albro & Lindeberg, architects Illustrations from original drawing and photographs by Julian Buckly and others S everyone knows, some houses have the advantage of a splen- did setting thrust upon them, others depend for their inter- est upon the resources of the architect. Remembering this and realizing that the practical value of professional service is one of the vital topics of human interest and discussion, applying to architect as it does to lawyer and physician wherein results tell, it is entertaining to examine the house recently built at White Plains, New York, for Mr. Thomas H. Kerr. Here the archi- tect has had to make his own site, his own background, bringing to bear his own personality. There are a few handsome trees upon the property but no particular view in any direction. Credit is due to the bold, vigorous way in which the scheme has been so contrived as to make the best of the slop- ing meadow land. It is a small property of some eight or ten acres; still, hv keeping the house well up, by staging it, so to speak, it has become interesting. This is one of the occasions where it pays to study the site from an academic outlook, and where the architect has certainly succeeded in becoming so imbued with the subject, with its numerous and engaging rami- fications, as to design a house which is not only imposing but comfortable and good to look upon. The views give something of the story, hut neither the color nor perfume, still less the brilliant sparkle of the sun. Without an equally conscientious study of the planting scheme, the utilization of cer- tain well-known shrubbery and the assignment of common everyday bricks to a prominent place; without the well-contrived terracing, parapet wall and approach, and without the lily pool, the house pure and simple would have been just one of those good-looking hut somewhat ordinary buildings. But this house, the staging of which is so skilfully foiled and so decorative, so led up to by plants and flowers, has become an engaging picture. Into the composition has crept the delicate quality of romance and a still further promise of charm in the near future. The terrace garden is full of color, a fragrant potpourri of fancies and frivolities, of water lilies and pink oleanders, movement and reflections, recalling classic days and haunts of the fairies and wood nymphs when examined in the twilight. This goes 125 IVY-BORDERED POOL WITH LILIES, OLEANDERS AND BAY TREES The reflection of the colonnaded porch at each end of the terrace recalls classic days and dryads 126 MR. T. H. KERR’S HOME, WHITE PLAINS, N. Y. 127 admirably with the round-topped elms, bottle-green chestnuts, stately pine and maple trees bordering one side of the property, casting a shadow upon the roadway. In many ways it is an up-to-date, sober house with modern conve- niences, modern characteristics and luxuries; and yet, strange to say, we are attracted most of all as far as the exterior goes to that form or proportion THE HOODED ENTRANCE HAS ITS OWN GABLE Cedars and box bushes dank the doorway, and as the picture shows, we get a framing of oak trees of both ornament and construction which are well nigh prehistoric. The loggias at each end were old in spirit in the days of the graceful and critical Athenian. The ivy-laden trellis arching the entrance to the long living- room at White Plains reminds us once again of the agreeable manner of accenting with vines, laurel wreaths and palm branches the doorways to the dwelling place and temple in classic times. The painted treillage screen lattice-work invites the free use of crimson ramblers, wistaria and other creepers of our time, such as the domestic grapevine and the wonderful A THIS SKETCH DISCLOSES THE GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF THINGS It also gives an insight into the arrangement of rooms on the ground door and door above 128 MR. T. H. KERR’S HOME, WHITE PLAINS, N. Y. 129 euonymus. Ivy also borders the water garden with its iris, and lilies of delicate shades blooming only at night, when it appears as a dim garland mirror diapered with stars and fireflies. Although to all intents and purposes the central hall with the library and dining-room is one long chamber, so far as the decoration is concerned, they each have a separate treatment. Heavily panelled is the ceiling to the central hall. The fireplace is of Istrian marble of stately proportion. Here also is a practical testimony to the industry of the cabinet workers of the Renaissance of Italy. Mr. Kerr has been so fortunate as to secure from various sources furniture which might well be added to the national collection. Some of the chairs are remarkable, not alone because of the oddity of their shape, the delicacy of their carving, but for their associa- tion. It is not often that chairs intended for the gondola, so constructed that they give satisfactory support, are found in a country house. Here also are high-backed settees, cabinets that may one day have held within their secret drawers documents of great value. The dining-room is of the style of one of those eighteenth century excursions into classic decora- tion of which so much was said in the early days of George III, and which is once again, and this time in America, receiving considerable attention. The wall panelling and ceiling ornamentation are like those adopted in the Adelphi region of London from the designs of Robert Adam, the Scottish architect. This enterprising enthusiast succeeded in recomposing some of the sterner forms of classic adornment so that they became available to modern usage. The dining-room at White Plains is an excellent illustra- tion of the method of procedure. Upon a ground of light gray, rosettes and garlands of white appear at set intervals, in much the same manner as that adopted by Wedgwood, the sculptor and ceramist. The moulding and arabesque ornament is low in relief, cameo fashion, very delicate in drawing and exceedingly refined in idea. To the panelling, which is always broad, preserving large surfaces, is added an occasional pastoral or dancing scene, a classic subject treated in a classic way, winsome and capricious at times. A figure subject of this description accents the panelling over the door and window head. It also appears as a center to the ceiling. The room is fur- nished with mahogany, rich and dark, and has also among other attractive bric-a-brac some fine pieces of Sheffield plate, tall and slender candlesticks, and a convex mirror which reflects amusingly. 130 The Home of Mr. Clayton S. Cooper, Fieldston, N. Y. Albro & Lindeberg, architects Illustration from photograph by Harry Coutant N all parts of the world there is a charm about a small house by the wayside. There is mystery in it, a secret as to the farther side, particularly when it is so placed that the sun resides there the greater part of every glorious day. These houses are usually found in the suburbs, where the ground is measured by the foot, dominated by the building line and rural district regulations and yet, thank Apollo, we can do as we like at the back. Yes, we can plant flower borders, or have a big wide open lawn, more or less sheltered by trees and enjoy privacy at the back. This is very much the way we feel when we look at the small property in the vicinity of Van Cortlandt Park, recently built by Mr. Clayton Cooper. It is just one of those captivating places an architect loves to sketch in the margin of his drawing board or the real estate man pictures through the smoke of his cigar, as a place he would love to own for himself. It is large enough for a reasonable family, it is convenient enough for anyone in all conscience. The entrance is in an inconspicuous place. Entering in a small but well-shaped hall, after descending a few steps from the roadway, we descend further into the living-room, which occupies the end of the house, and walk out upon the loggia from which we view a long, enclosed garden, where in the open we can read Dostoyevsky. Further steps down take us to the room assigned to the royal game of billiards, immediately under the living-room. The service quarter is worked out well with its own stairway and bathroom for maid. A long, four-lighted window illumines the kitchen on one side, a three-lighted one on the other. Of course, the living-room has a splendid accommodation for books along the north wall. The end of the house has a small garage. The words: comfort, convenience, picturesque- ness, independence, can well he used in describing the place which does so much to cultivate an ingratiating affability, needed by all, and the ex- quisite sense of privacy essential to a writer. This happens to be the home of a writer. It is just the place for delineating character, inventing subtle, living and convincing phrases, transmitting them to a world which at times has been known to be human, or sufficiently human to show appreciation. 131 132 THE LAKE FRONTAGE WILL APPEAL TO THE LOVER OF BIG SCHEMES BECAUSE OF ITS MAJESTY It has the stately outline of the National Capitol, with its terraces and lake approach contrasting splendidly with the rich settin: Home of Mr. W. G. Mather, Cleveland, O. Charles A. Platt, architect ill ustrations from original drawings and photographs by Julian Buckly WINN, the estate of Mr. William G. Mather of Cleveland, is an interesting treatment of a lake frontage. In many ways it varies greatly from the neighboring lakeside prop- erties, which, although they are very picturesque, standing back from the water some considerable distance, surrounded by gardens and terraces, and having a certain connection with the lake, vary but little from good-looking homes in other sections of the country. In a word, they too often miss a golden oportunity. Gwinn is literally upon the lake, some twenty-eight feet above the surface of the water, and so close to the edge of the bank as to be a part of it. Enthroned among the venerable elms, the house owes much to Cake Erie and the reflec- tion nearby humanizes delightfully the edge of the water. It is but a small property, some five acres in extent, yet the frontage has been so contrived as to make the most of the occasion. Doubtless the Lake, driven by fierce winds, constantly eating into the bank suggested somewhat the crescent- 1 ike shaping of the new breakwater, which, after the practical method of our time, has been constructed solidly of concrete, superimposed in places and liberally battered in front. This keeping of the building as close to the water as possible permits an intimate association with the great open area, and increases the apparent height and dramatic appearance of the house, which seems to find its foundations on the lake itself. The majesty of the front is increased by the height of the bank. The venerable elms, many of them a century old, the maple and oak make an admirable set- ting. A portion of the crescent-shaped breakwater has been so thickly planted as to add to the brilliant light the delicate tone of green and so offset the glare, inseparable from a prominent position near the water. The accompanying sketch of the original condition of the shore front shows the grove of trees upon the easterly side, the general character of the layout, the ragged water edge and the irregular bank, the diversified nature of the woods, the westerly boundary of Lombardy poplars. The central line indicates the position of the house. The woods are very beautiful. Occasionally a birch, sycamore or black walnut tree adds richness. The out- 1 33 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY 134 line is determined by the lofty elm trees. Those at the outer edge of the bank have evidently received for many years the full force of the wind, being gaunt in limb and stripped of foliage. Such, in brief, was the condi- tion of the property when the architect formulated his plan for the improve- ment of things. If the lake frontage appeals to the lover of big schemes because of its majesty, its immense scale, the noble order of its semicircular portico and exedra-like exten- sion of the lower terrace and approach, due not a little to the original setting and the relation between the house, the hank and the lake, so does the southern or garden side of the house appeal to the lover of flowers, of sun- shine, of shelter. Here the scale is different, more human; and, thanks to the general arrange- ment of everything, to the na- ture of the heavy foliage upon the westerly exposure, the gar- den is sheltered from the pre- vailing winds, and yet in full enjoyment of the sunshine. The second sketch plan show- ing the property as developed by Mr. Platt discloses graphi- cally the entrance driveway leading towards the circular court at the westerly end of the house. The service drive leads from the boulevard. The south- ern frontage is therefore free, open to the long lawn bordered by English elms which are very stocky in outline with a crown that is compact and a leafage that holds its color late into October. This avenue of stately elms is very beautiful. It was possibly due to this that Mr. Mather ac- quired later considerable property upon the far side of the public highway, where he located the servants’ quarters, stable, and the rest of it, and where the long vista opened through the newly planted parkway beyond. This The ragged water The central line shows the inidde of the house. Few of the trees have had to be sacrificed, which is fortunate HOME OF MR. W. G. MATHER, CLEVELAND, 0. 1 3 £ view is enjoyed greatly from the library windows indicated on the plan by the letter B. The principal rooms are noted as follows: C marks the inner hall and 1) the dining-room, which connects with E, the morning room. G shows the position of the reception room to the left of the entrance, and F of the withdrawing room to the right. A accents the semicircular portico from which the great panorama of the lake opens up. The main arbor in the garden is designated by the letter I, and the long pergola is marked K. The plan shows the flower beds, their relative size, and the place where the fountains appear, the tennis court and the greenhouses and cottage for the gardeners. The large octagonal foun- tain in the center of the garden is presided over by a graceful figure of bronze from the fa- mous Goddess of Fortune at Fano, an ancient walled town on the projecting spur of the Apennines, between Ancona and Ravenna. This graceful tribute to the skill of the sculp- tor of the Renaissance of Italy looks very much at home in the New Republic, fitting the garden admirably, finding no little sympathy with the lordly elms and the carefully ar- ranged palette of colors at her feet. Like the house, she also faces the lake. There is an- other fountain in the grove on the same axial line, somewhat concealed by the big shadows. It marks the crossing of the paths and is a little winsome artificiality among the venerable oaks. Very refreshing is this bubbling over of the stream imprisoned momentarily by the dolphins. A third fountain is the one which accents the landing upon the upper terrace, of which the little bronze bov is the central figure. This amorino is full of life. It illustrates PROPERTY AS DEVELOPED BY MU. PLATT Here is the new lake frontage with terrace approach and the long elm-shaded lawn which centers the scheme. To the right the original grove remains intact the delight a child feels in grasping a living creature that resists embrace. 13G FROM DRIVEWAY WE GET A PLEASING PICTURE OF THE EASTERLY FRONTAGE Pedimented portico, entablature and cornice have much of the quiet dignity of the stately Ionic order The Home of the Rev. J. Hutcheson, Warren, R. I. Charles A. Platt, architect III ustrations from original drawings and photographs by August Patzig T HE visitor to Villasera, the home of the Rev. Joseph Hutcheson, will admit freely that the orchard is the center of attraction. There is said to be a leading spirit, a controlling idea, in every worth-while scheme. In this Rhode Island property, in the suburbs of Warren, overlooking Nar- ragansett Bay, the most prominent and most beautiful thing about the place is certainly the orchard, or, as it has been deservedly rechristened, in respect to its rich glow of color, the walled garden. It was early summer when first the architect examined the little estate. The apples were just forming. The place was very wild. The house, such as it was, fronted the main street, turning much of its back toward the Bay. It was approached by a rough roadway leading to the outbuildings and after a while to the shore front. Glance at the plan of the property in its original condition and you will see how it all looked, and you will note the fence line interspersed with bushes and small trees, the splendid old orchard, 137 138 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY rather crowded perhaps, but still vigorous in spite of its years, picturesque and romantic, possibly profitable to the market, and full of that remarkable drawing which only an old apple or fig tree possesses. There are said to he few things more beautiful or altogether more satisfying and stimulating to a sensitive person than the view of a summer sky seen through the thick fo- PROPERTY IN ORIGINAL FORM The sketch discloses the position of the old house with its small outbuildings, roadway, fence line, bushes and orchard PLAN AS IT IS TO-DAY Thanks to the improved design, the old apple orchard becomes a walled garden and is rejuvenated by improved scheme liage and overhanging houghs of the apple tree. The leaves make a won- drous diaper of rare beauty. Turn if you will to the sketch plan as it is to-day. Here the old apple orchard has become a walled garden. True, we miss some of the trees in the center and note their place has been pre-empted by a mirror pool upon the broad stone curbing of which stand low hushes in fat earthenware jars, a little friendly competition with the red above, which at certain angles ap- THE HOME OF THE REV. J. HUTCHESON, WARREN, R. I. 139 pear in the reflections upon the surface of the water. Here also is a broad bordering of flowers of many colors; the deep blue of the delphinium, the purple of the iris, is here among the backing to the smaller blossoms among the shadows, and as a climax to it all we realize that something else has been added to the scene by the wise omission of the wall at the southeasterly end, the charm of distance and opalescence with magic grays and silvery tones forever associated with the sea. In the center of the mirror nool is a small fountain, just suf- ficient to give a lit- tle sparkling note, a sense of move- ment to the sur- face, of murmur- ing amid the flowers a n d the sunshine. Further study of the plan reveals the value of the scheme as a whole, and from the ac- companying views we find the house to have a fine clas- sical portico and to be correct, calm and very effective in line. It is ap- proached through an avenue of elm trees. It was to secure satisfactory root- age to some of these promising tenants that much of the original rock had to he blasted. The scheme provides for a tennis court, garage, stable, gar- dener’s cottage and vegetable garden, and a well-proportioned shelter at the northwesterly end of the garden. It will he noted that the shore frontage, toward which the property gently slopes, has been severely let alone, and that the planting lias been so arranged as to make of the frontage from the Bay a well-balanced picture. It is a small property with a singular charm. The visitor feels that everything is related to that walled orchard with its wondrous light. THE NORTHEASTERLY VIEW SHOWS THE ARBOR The potency of the new planting scheme is most satisfactorily re- vealed by examining closely the accompanying plan of property as it is to-day. The mirror pool takes the place of some of the apple trees FRONT VIEW, SHOWING BAY OF LIVING AND DINING ROOM WITH LOGGIA The bays, arcading, long windows, and overhanging roof are responsible for a pleasing elevation Home of Mr. L. J. Burgess, Zanesville, O. Howell & Thomas, architects Illustrations from original drawing and photographs C OMMEND me to the man who finds pleasure in serviceable features adding to the comfort of the home lover. By common consent we get more out of a square house, dollar for dollar, than of a house of any other kind. It is economical. Economical is it as to space and running expenses, excellent for domestic service, and for heating inviting a good, general system of intercommunication between rooms. A square house is workable and adjustable to many subdivisions. Some people condemn this description of building because, forsooth, in the hands of certain architects it verges on the commonplace. “There are so many square houses, we tire of them,” say they. This is high praise! The internationalization of this form of dwelling is one of its strong points. H aving the cosmopolitan appeal, it has become universal in its make-up. By means of two five-lighted bays, semicircular in plan and connected by a well-proportioned loggia, this interesting house at the extreme edge of the city of Zanesville, Ohio, assumes considerable importance. 1 40 HOME OE MR. L. J. BURGESS, ZANESVILLE, O. 141 It is interesting to learn from the accompanying sketch that gives the principal rooms that A is the hall, B the dining room, C the living room, I) the music room, E the reception room and F the sun parlor or living porch as you will. It is through the loggia, here indicated by the letter G, that we enter the house. K is the kitchen and accompanying service wing. PLAN SHOWING ATTENTION BESTOWED ON GENERAL SCHEME The house is very pleasing, upon an exalted terrace among shadows of oak trees. The stucco re- flects brilliancy of light, making an interesting contrast to delicate shades of green and russet of flic foliage. The service part is separate, with its stairway, its own bathroom and porch for the maids The trim of the hall and living room is of red gum, oiled and waxed. The ceiling of the former is panelled with the same material. The side walls are of gray sand-finished plaster. On the upper floor there is an unusual provision for amateur photography. This is for Mrs. Burgess, who has found it of great service. Throughout the house there is a graceful testimony to the love of color. Some of the fireplaces are decorated with tiles imported from Holland. The child’s room has a built-in wardrobe and a cabinet for toys. We must not forget the room in the basement, finished with dull-red brick walls, beamed ceiling and open fireplace, popular for winter entertainments. 142 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY In the interesting case before us, it is evidently so well within the grasp of a cultivated mind as to include in its design many other sympathetic ideas of a descriptive character. It is interesting to see the prominence given to the circle as a decorative and structural element. This is obvious in the arching between the square piers of the loggia and in the treatment of the spandrils immediately over them, where a small mosaic of glass enamel appears lunette fashion. Even the trellising fol- lows this outline. The cir- cle has been remembered in the drawing of the small areas which light the basement and in the foun- tain upon the rear terrace. Fortunately the site is very high and is thickly covered with old oak trees reaching high overhead. The view to the west over- 1 o o k s the Muskingum Valley. The living and reception rooms are so lo- cated as to make the most of the sunlight. On the westerly frontage there is THE TERRACE MAKES AN ATTRACTIVE PICTURI The mirror pool and fountain make a valuable note, a spot of bright light ever to be enjoyed, a sense of movement and life. Water has the quality of transmitting light a small semi-informal garden with a little foun- tain and pool upon the terrace, making it of in- terest. Throughout, the house is decidedly modern in character, embodying many features of the present phase of Germany. Occasionally we find some- thing unmistakably Italian in incentive, but this displays the influence of the German mind. The human element and the pleasure of entertaining in a social man- HOME OF MR. L. J. BURGESS, ZANESVILLE, O. 113 ner may be responsible for tlie provision for musicales and charades, for we see in tlie arrangement of the floor levels that the floor of the music room and reception room, adjoining, is two steps above the main of the house, being just sufficient to give an opportunity for an evening at home in a dramatic fashion, with customary accommoda- tion for scenic effects. The music room is practi- cally a part of the living room, being separated only by an arched open- ing and the two steps. All this is very delightful. Over the mantel of the re- ception room is a convex mirror reflecting the mu- sic* room and the sun par- lor or living porch be- yond. Mr. Burgess was so fortunate as to discover in Munich some admir- able panels of stained and painted glass which have been incorporated into the windows. The living- room of course becomes a center of attraction in the family and of great serv- ice with its recesses for the accommodation of books and splendid bay, the casements of which open out and have leaded glaz- ing. It is well lighted from both sides of the house. The side walls are covered with a woven fabric, golden brown in tone, which goes well with the dark brown of the woodwork. The dining room ceiling is vaulted. What ornament it has is of interest, the work of modellers famous in the district. Idle lighting fixtures are of silver from the Birmingham gild of England. SEMICIRCULAR BAA'S OPEN ON FRONT TERRACE An attractive arrangement of windows and an agreeable setting to which lace-like shadows contribute liberally. The scene is full of color. The color is the result of good material 144 FROM THE MEADOW IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE WE GET AN ADMIRABLE VIEW OF THE GARDEN ELEVATION THE ENTRANCE WITH CIRCULAR DRIVEWAY IS HERE VERY WELL ILLUSTRATED The trees lining the approach give it an excellent impression; the window heads are interesting Home of Mr. Guido Hanson, Pine Lake, Wis. Brust & Philipp, architects Illustrations from original drawing and photographs E VERY once in a whole some one builds a house defying our limited ideas of classification. We are tempted to class it by some other term. Loving a bungalow and that gypsy camp life with which it is generally associated, we want to speak of it under that intangible nomenclature, for while it has characteristics of the charm and abandon of life in India which gave us the word, it has a rather more serious air, as becomes a house quali- fied for the serious affairs of life. This is very much the way we feel when we look at the little place recently built in the thick, woody section around Pine Lake, where it is well-nigh hidden among the oaks and chestnuts. The owner is to he con- gratulated that his property has a large open breathing space, a meadow on the high spot of which he has built. He is further to he congratulated on the richly wooded background which set the pace, so to speak, and which fills 145 146 THE LIVING ROOM IS UN USUALLY LARGE AND LIGHTED FROM ALL DIRECTIONS HOME OF MR. GUIDO HANSON, FINE LAKE, WIS. 117 the daily life with perfume, color and, occasionally, with movement, always with cool shade and transparent shadows. I say “congratulated” because these are things money cannot buy, but even the pennies of the poor can damage irreparably, nay, destroy. This little place literally in the wood — call it a bungalow or house, as you will, and for my own part I would rather call it a camp — must be delightful for the summer. Thanks to the architect, it has assumed quite a little prominence with all its deliberate refusal to avoid serious proportions. From the pillared entrance, semicircu- lar in plan, and brave with canopy and tiled door, the windows with their arched re- cesses overhead and oriel at the stair land- ing, the loggia and covered p o r eh ex- tending to the ser- vants’ quarters, from the stately fashion in which the living room ceiling is treated, the scheming of the mi- nor rooms, the un- usual stairway, the detailing of the fire- place, and in many other ways do we note the attention which has been bestowed upon small things, things of great importance. It is pleasing to see from the views that the owner realized that upon the furnishing and decoration much depends. He has kept it simple. He has also arranged to introduce into the kingdom a sense of brightness and good cheer. Possibly the color has much to do with this, for we find no little care has been exercised in that regard. Over and above all does the man of the world look to other things for his pleasure, being less concerned with the fitment, the habiliments of the bungalow than with the bungalow itself and of the part it plays in his daily life, for it is the land of individual freedom. THE SKETCH PLAN SPEAKS ELOQUENTLY FOR ITSELF Here is a small house with a great idea — one very strong feature big and worth while. A room big enough for a dance. The servants’ quarters are indicated but not detailed. The prominent view is from the porch on terrace overlooking valley in the greater distance A PORTION ONLY OF AN INTERESTING DESIGN In the hands of a sympathetic designer, a gardener’s cottage makes an exceedingly pleasing addition to any hillside property Gardener’s Cottage at St. Martins, Pa. Edmund B. Gilchrist, architect Illustrations from original drawing and photographs I N the delightful little gardener’s cottage at St. Martins, Pennsylvania, can readily be seen the underlying principles of good bidding design and the straightforward use of honest material. It is built of rough stone heavily coated with stucco, and has a walled garden with pathway and steps leading down by easy stages to a deep and irregular ravine. It is located in a thickly wooded section through which runs one of those fas- cinating brooks for which Pennsylvania is noted. 148 GARDENER’S COTTAGE AT ST. MARTINS, PA. 149 Into this house lias gone much that is very pleasing and that appeals alike to the painter, the poet, the writer and the traveler in foreign parts who is accustomed to find in buildings a certain quality of charm and ro- mance. For instance, here is a conspicuous absence of frivolous self-con- scious detail, of false construction and of false accent. Circular headed arches carry the gable over the entrance porch. The eaves are well con- trived. The dormers are content to give light and are able to do so without disturbing the skyline. The window sills are of brick or moulded wood. The walls are thick, giving a good liberal reveal. Here are piers that batter and hardware that recalls once again the heat of the anvil and bears upon itself testi- mony to the di- rectness of the hammer. T h i s technical detail is well; still the eye of the domestic person will turn with pleasure to the large kitchen fireplace w i t h boiler, movable iron griddle sock- eted to the hob with hook above for roasting, to the broad fender on which stand kettle and plate of buttered toast, to the big oak press of the SKETCH OF COTTAGE, GARDEN AND RUSTIC PATH TO WOOD Walled enclosure and rustic steps leading down to stream hidden in underbrush. The flagging to entry testifies upon its broad face to the activity of the tireless stream, the melodious prattle of which makes merry in the ravine. Only the hard stones survive the ceaseless wear neighboring room for daily use and storage rather than ornamental, to the long, comfortable sofa under the low, latticed window, and smile compla- cently. The lettering on plan shows A to he living-room, II entrance hall with open stairway leading to rooms above, and C kitchen. 1) denotes position of fence line from which ground suddenly falls away, and E stone porch with archway and room above, and gabling, an agreeable and pleas- ing picture, all must surely admit. I— H <— « .§ fi 8 ■ * ° & ^ § § », c ‘ -- ^ ©~ & > - +> u 72 J £ c o ?- .tJ qj ^ +- £ « .J* ^ -M - 1 £■£ £ 5 c c c ■*; c *, r- 2 Ji .S ? ^ -' rz S 'C E £ '5£ = Ei8“ £ .ilf'-sl 2, 2 ^ « .2 ■© 3 gj" J^S« * — c3 aS co - s -i=;r 1 2 i! II 1^1 -h .Si o > & ,© S s ' ^ - — 2 t>> c ll W C5 ^ CC ^1 sf 1 "5 2 3 ^ ■ «- 1 1 5 2 . S © © s -■©.§£ •Hi H s £ a £ Oj « p-.t; _&§ _ p= - £ - *- - g o ^ !S crt O k " c « " © 1 Z 5 ^ il '^ L a «fi £ iH £ C-^ C h-h 5 jj *■• 2 -c -s >- £ 14 g g t- £~ G lli i g'.sj' ■5 = ^ «, E- a, « .2 r= g E _e • >- f -1 £ cl, £ •£ ajj o - +i C u > js a -m .© r 11 £ 150 Estate of Mr. J. B. Coryell, Menlo Park, Cal. Willis Polk, architect Illustrations from photographs hy Gabriel Moulin S not the Californian a great rogue? He is a lover of ro- mance, and yet one of the most up-to-date utilitarians of our continent. We are proud of him. Look at his power of assimilation, his adaptability. He is an optimist. Not con- tent with stealing our hearts by setting a new pace, a new standard, he declines to accept seriously this life as the ulti- mate end of things and insists upon smiling at the vexatious problems of the hour, while we of the East pause to analyze and reconsider. He enriches the home with the timely addition of fruits and flowers, defying time, sea- son, distance, and places within reach of our women folk jewels of peculiar charm. He arouses Dame Architecture so to transmit ideas of building as to produce at a reasonable expense a maximum of beauty and romance. The Easterner must, perforce, brave the dangers of the northern Atlantic to get from afar architectural inspiration; the Californian is more fortu- nate. Can he not glean inspiration from the missions, from heroic workers who, in their tireless zeal for religious life, erected of the common clay and an occasional bough of a tree a temple of great charm? Enshrined in the missions of California are lessons, even in building, lessons in tabloid form that a child might learn, exhibiting many subtle methods of using local ma- terials to exalted ends, and of adapting them to the ever-varying demands of the individual and the occasion. The accompanying views of an interesting group of buildings at Lloy- den, the estate of Mr. Joseph 11. Coryell, at Menlo Park, about thirty miles from San Francisco, on the old Spanish highway known as El Camino Real, illustrate graphically one of the many methods by which the story of the missions is re-translated into every-day requirements. Here, also, is a whisper from the four great continents. The group reveals in its long, open shed of the primitive, an adaptation of the Cliffdwellers. The square enclosed court of the fighter recalls the days of the Middle Ages. The two-storied house of the lover of domesticity is, as it were, a contribution from many lands and many ages, adapted to suit all, expressing all, and ever improving, and crowning the group is the gable suggesting the spiri- 151 152 THE ENTRANCE TO THE COURT IS BETWEEN THE CARRIAGE HOUSE AND THE LODGE ESTATE OF. MR. J. B. CORYELL, MENLO PARK, CAL. 153 tual impress of the Church. The group also gives something of the cul- ture of Europe, the skilful craftsmanship of Asia, the imagination of Africa —shall we ever forget the solemn seriousness and poise of an Egyptian statue, or solve satisfactorily the mighty mystery of the Sphinx? — and the progressiveness of America. This glimpse through the veiling of history and romance does not didl for an instant, but quickens, somewhat, our sensibilities to the many attrac- tions of the scheme before us. It is a setting for the picture. This low, broad, red-tiled, wide-gabled group, partly covered with Virginia creepers, is a picturesque solution of an every-day problem, a col- lection of buildings, independent in themselves, and yet forming a part of the general plan. To the right of the central court, as we enter, is the lodge with its lounging room for the coachman and chauffeur and its sleeping rooms above, and in the rear, loose boxes and other stabling for horses. To the left is the vaulted carriage house, some thirty-four feet long by twenty-two feet wide, the side walling of which is subdivided by recesses extending into the vaulting overhead. Beyond this and having its own en- trance is the gardener’s cottage, with kitchen and bedrooms on the same floor. Immediately behind the central court and on the same axial line is the garage, with its work bench and two counter-sunken pits, bordered by a well-contrived curbing leading to a convenient position for examining, clean- ing and repairing. One of the most engaging and satisfactory features of the composition is the naive manner in which it is constructed. Although modern in conveniences, it is old in spirit. The walls are so thickened as to give a deep reveal to all windows and doors. Piers are resorted to to invite arched entrances in the rear walling of the open shed, to the wall con- necting the central court with the garage and to the little arcading or loggia and elsewhere. All piers are superimposed at corners by the addition of metal beads of cast iron. They are also buttressed in places. Stepped or weathered buttresses give, not alone a satisfactory structural quality, but a very pleasing reminiscence of the n issions. The circular window in the gable of the carriage house is of an interesting outline, a square and circle interchanging, with splayed jamb. The stable is a cement concrete building of parchment-like tone, rough in texture. From this wall the bay of the lodge projects slightly and is very effective. It is so contrived as to find in the overhanging roof an agree- able and welcome shelter. The low-arched entrances are accented by moulded string courses which return upon themselves. The gabled termination of the chimney is distinctly Oriental in spirit. The color accent of the group is, naturally, upon the every-day clay roof-tiling, which consists of a series MASSIVE PIERS AND WROUGHT-I RON GATES— A STATELY ENTRANCE Here, on the old Spanish highway known as El Camino Real, trodden by gentle ereole or crafty robber, we are welcomed to a vast woodland garden rich with delicately interlacing foliage of the majestic eucalyptus. Occasionally a stalwart oak reaches forth its great motherly arms, extending to all comers the protection we all love at times of alternating ridges and furrows running continuously from ridge to eaves. The design also provides for a cresting of the same character. The tiles vary in color, texture, and in the way they transmit, absorb or reflect light. They are arrogant, independent, little particles of inanimate absurdity, more fantastically human than anything yet devised by man as a roof covering. They love their own way. They wind and twist in the drying and vary in thickness, in their manner of holding weather markings and incrustations, moss and lichens. The setting to the group is diversified in outline and ever beautiful. The lordly eucalyptus of great height, the spreading limbs of the live oak, force into contrast the stern, rectangular lines of the building. The live oak is an evergreen. The boughs are curiously gnarled and twisted. They are low and spreading, casting a graceful shade over everything. In the sun- light the leaves and twigs diaper the wall, humanizing it as the canvas of a painter. By a sort of spontaneous instinct does the architect reverence and en- 154 ESTATE OF. MR. J. B. CORYELL, MENLO PARK, CAL. 155 courage in others incense-burning to the mission style of building, the style transmitting to us some of the best of the ancient Spanish civilization and that of the Orient, as they see it and assimiliate it in their own way. It has, as it were, an emotional quality, appealing to the comprehension of the man of the street. Has it not shaped and inspired our furniture and decoration by teaching us to be direct and reasonable in our desires? We do not need to be skilled archeologists or earnest seekers of the delicate differences of architectural periods of France, in order to grasp the strange significance of the missions, the message of which is not only spiritual, but intensely prac- tical, concerning itself with the very habitations of man. They were re- sourceful workers. In a subtle manner these enthusiasts dwelt among us, and of local materials built houses, as well as cloisters and churches, of a vigorous and wholesome fashion full of poetic ideals, original in transmis- sion of Oriental themes, so that to us moderns there is verily a magic in the name we voice with reverence. Yes, the Californian is a great rogue. 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B P CO " — 4 / pS -C ■ a |f“ > be G r-i +j beg c ^ ^ ^ fee zr ' u ^ ^ C co Jd ^ ^ G 2 , ^ r- D-, g geS c o . : o; G G G G ' be p -G G 3 • 5 G 33 ^ 2 < ^ o r- B ^ CD j! o o o oO S G pC c 1 / 1 / ^ G 0 / 4 -^ ed^ J-rG-G, oo 5 SohC ; 156 The North Carolina Estate of Mr. Pembroke Jones J. Stewart Barney, architect of Bungalow John Russell Pope, architect of Temple of Love and Entrance to Park 111 ustrations from original drawing and photographs by W. H. Kirk and others ORTUNATELY an ideal has many aspects and interpreta- tions. Otherwise the ideal home, once discovered, would be duplicated all over the country and we should be reduced to one size of house and one style of architecture. There is only one permanent feature of all ideal homes, and that is ex- actly the fact that they cannot he duplicated. The most delightful homes are those that have been lived in by a number of generations of one family. They become then a composite expression of a section of the race. Rut a home which has only recently been created may very soon pos- sess that wonderful quality of appropriateness, if the creator he a person of strong individuality with a love of the country. In the second place, the best kind of home is one which has its roots in the soil, which grows into the landscape as if it had always been there. Your architect may gather his ideas all the world over. He may borrow from the English Gothic or the French Renaissance. Any good artist is a plagia- rist. But he must make his knowledge of styles subordinate to the nature of the country he is building in and to the character of the person he is building for; otherwise he produces merely a house, and not a home. The wooden Colonial style of country house has one advantage over all others. It is distinctly American and natural to the country. You may not like it as well as some others, but you can never feel that it is inappropriate. It harmonizes with nearly every kind of American landscape. Such a house is Airlie, in North Carolina, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Pembroke Jones. A mere glance at the picture of the long white structure brings up memories of old Colonial days when all men were gallant and all women were beautiful. Obviously it has been lived in for a long time and has been required to meet the needs and tastes of succeeding years; for additions have been made and wings thrown out here and there until it is a house of many mansions. There is a peculiar fascination about these old family dwellings that have taken on the varied accretions of time. Outwardly they grow into the land- scape to a far greater extent than a house that has never been altered; for 157 3 S E S!“-P £ &3.S Ji " 4 \sl S%o 8 fi ^ig-i^rr* ^O g>£ g S oi 0-» 'S | « » 1 - 2 1 - ^ OrQ « §3 ^ s.-g nj t? .J- * -3 2 £ ; «> f ;s c « r - ■ • ' t U. w JC ii OW 2 ^ >»- o .£ ^ S ^ y fl "* . ** O .S TL J_, — C$ «+_( U ojj c a £ 3 =e 2 A &=£ 3 .§ b ^ c > II 5 1-1 g|&l a |* O +J 3 „ "3 P 3 £ . «« » c c P c 5 ^ 2 .S - £ ° E 3 3 s £ -* l C^ ,a S ts £ 60 o =e r^si c6 <£ •- ^ v r £ C » S •- > CL- -c * — 3 3 3 4_j •— — . s's ’1 1 js^H' ce „ £ 2 - c By c s ®32- c % £ -s &b £ -b „ , »£ " 2 ' - £ ° si * 3 ; S 5 . - b -S a ! - | IS § ^g^-g % « 1® * J ^«.S 5^S : 3 -§*.£; ~ £ e s 2 tT 3 ~ 3 : ns?23-M;-;q~' * .E -3 £ £ 3 =<-< . _e & o’ 2 +2 ° 3 3 < so j-goin-s'-g, S -m - • £ a „ . 2 ® a . 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Th '+ h .S^ oj I* 158 THE NORTH CAROLINA ESTATE OF MR. PEMBROKE JONES 159 the alterations and additions are necessarily made to conform to the land- scape. When yon build a new house you can more or less mould your land to your ideas of architecture, but once the house is built it is impossible to do very much with the land, and you have to make your additions to fit into the general scheme of things. Internally also a house with added wings has nearly always the effect of being thoroughly livable, for the additions have been made by people who knew the house by experience and know what is needed to make it complete. The roofs of Airlie, with their many angles and corners, suggest all man- ner of surprises and ramblings, and the interior does not belie the promise. You never get to the end of such a house. There is always a new room, or a j>assage leading to unknown territory. One might live there for a week and never guess that there was a covered tennis court right in the middle of the house just off' the breakfast room. In outward appearance the house has the effect of being thoroughly rooted there for all time, and you come upon it standing in the open after a drive of three-quarters of a mile or so through woods of magnificent pines and live oak. It is a splendid plan to have an approach that winds in long curves through trees, so that one is constantly getting new vistas with a glimpse or two of the house itself towards the end. This particular ap- proach is perfect in that respect, for it bridges a considerable inlet of the Sound when one has no idea that the sea is anywhere in the neighborhood, and then passing through isles of live oak with the drooping festoons of moss which are so characteristic of the South, it makes a great sweep round the open expanse of lawn up to the pillared entrance which faces the open water. In that way a double surprise is arranged, since one discovers the house and the arm of the sea at the same time. The climate of North Carolina lends itself to many beautiful effects of color at times of the year when there is no color elsewhere. The live oaks give a constant background of green, and even in March there is plenty of blossom. Camellias bloom out of doors; the beech trees are a mass of pink blossoms and the jasmine shows its white stars against shiny green leaves. Then there is “pettisporum,” the most fragrant flowering shrub in all the Southern land. They call it Daphne on the Riviera, and the smell of it brings memories of warm evenings on the Californie hill at Cannes. Spinea, too, is out in March, to say nothing of the magnificent magnolia. Later on the roses make Airlie a paradise of pink and white and yellow. Rut it is in the earlier spring that the frozen Northerners are fascinated with the flowers of North Carolina. One of the most delightful features of Airlie is Pembroke Park, which 160 THE NORTH CAROLINA ESTATE OF MR. PEMBROKE JONES 161 adjoins the property. That is a stretch of three thousand acres of woodland which Mr. Pembroke Jones has acquired in recent years as a pleasure ground for his family and his friends; and all of North Carolina seems to be included in the category. The difference between a park and nature’s for- est is simply that the owner has made twenty-eight miles of road good enough for horse and buggy through his property, so that now it is easy to enjoy nature’s beauties. Also, he has built for himself a Bungalow of which pictures are here shown. Wishing to have a little rest house in the Park, Mr. Pembroke Jones turned to one of those charming books issued by popular firms of house- constructors wherein the reader is taught how to build a simple house with all the requirements of home for the modest sum of fifteen hundred dol- lars. lie was interrupted, however, by an artistic architect friend called Stewart Barney, who assured him that he was losing a great opportunity for getting something just a little more expensive hut ever so much more beau- tiful. The friend drew the plans, and the result was a wonderful French pavilion with a large living room in the center, three or four perfectly ap- pointed bedrooms in one wing and a kitchen fit to cater to twenty guests in the other. The doorknobs alone probably cost more than the bungalow of the book. But the result was all that could be desired. For this French archi- tecture curiously suits the groves of wonderful live oaks in which it is placed. And the name of the Bungalow has been preserved to indicate the rural simplicity of the life which can still be led there if one wishes to lead it. Near the Bungalow the road crosses a little stream which is bridged in the same style of architecture. And one might swear that it was just there that Melisande sat and dropped her ring into the water. Indeed, the whole effect of the oaks with their drooping moss looking like trees in a dream is that of a Maeterlinck drama. After a visit to the Bungalow, one’s opinion of Oscar Hammerstein goes up several points; for in his production of “Pel- leas et Melisande” he created so exactly the atmosphere of these mysterious southern woods. The Bungalow is not always Maeterlinckian. Occasionally the pavilion is alight with the glow of modern electricity and a fair portion of North Carolina society is gathered there to discuss true Carolina cooking in prepa- ration for a coon hunt. The guests ride or drive through the woods after the dogs, while an army of negroes run ahead carrying torches, the horses in galloping confusion after them. If the moon is shining and there is just a touch of frost in the air so much the better. You will never forget such a night in the dream forest of North Carolina. 162 TEMPLE OF LOVE, A SHORT DISTANCE FROM THE SOUTHERN ENTRANCE TO THE BUNGALOW Like the mythical legends of the Greeks, even our prosaic day cherishes the idea that dryads and wood nymphs haunt the forest THE NORTH CAROLINA ESTATE OF MR. PEMBROKE JONES 163 The estate is about nine miles from Wilmington. It is very large. The frontage upon Wrightsville Beaeh is thickly wooded with live oak, magnolia trees, Norway pine and fir. Deep in this forest grove is a bronze figure of Cupid, the God of Love, recalling very graphically the outline of the temple in the old garden of Villa Borghese, the Italian home of Cardinal Seipone, who was popularly known as the “delight of Rome” and one of the earliest and most generous patrons of Bernini. PLAN WITH BUNGALOW, COURT, TERRACE, POOL AND PROMINENT VIEWS The sketch gives the roadway with outer and inner court and approach with steps to upper level. To the right is the long terrace facing the shore; to the left, the circular pool with its square island, in the center of which tenderly shaded is the white-pillared Temple of Love Drawing an imaginary axial line through the center of the Bungalow and its accompanying terrace scheme, it will he found that the opening of the woods upon the northern side has been utilized for a large circular pool in which upon a square island has been erected the temple of love. Of course, the temple is white, hut not the white of Italy’s statuary marble nor the polished equivalent from some neighboring state, but following the prece- dent of the great craft workers of the Renaissance, local materials have been exclusively used. It is of concrete. Not the grim, prehistoric monster charged with the responsibility of maintaining within its grasp millions of gallons of water or of conveying thousands safely over a deep abyss, but a concrete m-a js » a .2 c O IS -P G D ^ -C -M • ^d= J'C'5 £ C ° Qy G- >-.^0 r 1 be X .£ ^ :G -G c f__, bG 1> G3 -G — ^ Qj > G > ^ 5 a H << m /S o a a a H <; 6 a a a a H a o £ ^ J3 .a c £ ' Qj O §• -fl +* C rr> 4; > > a « i ; » ’g — 1 _e to |.S o£ co ,_ „ Q J ^ G O G !u G rt , G C/2 5f> C . H C o3 T3 Qj G .E be . 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Qj pG X ; ^ : i a £ c .2 ^ s ^sT,^ C jT u „•£ Sac'S 2° 0.2 .S c £8^«§£8Safi J ”3 a d- S' ^ co a ^j I G r co g g -73 - G o •—< £ T H G 1; A 0/ . . be be Qj G ■_C -W *- G 12 Qj GG^; SPsjsS 4 ; °?= ? 2 ^^“""SSCa C !> t - — _* ; i • *-" ^ Qj G - .2 £ ^ c ss £ £ £ V - S w ^ips u “' j t- , a- , aj « ^ l G c > c/!J GG'- 5 r - ( 3 be •£ > -m G e r*GGGGbi G g gs x « d 4- g j C CcS G co Qj X co C .-h C Qj G G •-- — ^ C o a 164s THE NORTH CAROLINA ESTATE OF MR. PEMBROKE JONES 165 made purposely for the occasion. And, if you please, held here in suspension, as it were, by a skilfully fired clay — known as cement — is a collection of peb- bles and shells from the seashore and the gravel pit, full of color. True, they have been so knocked about under the stress of things that their edges are rounded and they know neither shape nor size, but the texture of a col- umn east with this material is exceedingly interesting and is no little of a challenge to the imagination. Here is once again the oldest and the newest form of building material and when made in this peculiar manner one of the most winsome and pleasing, having much of the color and open grain of travertine and affording a splendid lodgment for lichen and moss. In many ways the gardener and engineer have come to our rescue. For- merly we cut down our trees, now we move and replant them. On many occasions we leveled our site to an artificial platform and now we glory in the various little differences and frankly acknowledge them. Formerly we dammed our water courses and filled or removed our tiny lakes, now we embody them in the scheme, cleansing them and reimposing the stone where necessary with cement concrete to offset the inclemency of the weather. This interesting park solves for 11s many perplexing problems in a manner that is new to many. Many of the live oaks attain considerable height, others are low and broad, their horizontal limbs of an incredible length, reaching out in every direction. Their dome-like heads contrast pleasingly with the pyramid out- line of the Norway pine and fir. The grove near the house and the sister grove near the Bungalow are enriched by the addition of magnolia trees, the blossom of the camellia and peach trees. It is a place of astounding natural beauty. There is not here, however, any topiary garden, set serious and content, a law unto itself, nor is there any subdivision of a grove which can he classified as a pleach alley-way, neither is there any small, stately par- terre nor quaint arabesque of box, and yet, taking a view of the park as a whole, there is all of these rolled into one magnificent picture. The place is neither spoiled nor belittled by foolish subdivisions. It is picturesquely irregular with a charm as of a fairy land, and yet by no means without its majesty when viewed in a certain light. The decorative elements which have been added to the scene are doubtless of Greek origin, though they show obviously the influence of the translation of the Renaissance. 166 THE HOUSE OF MR. A. W. MARKWALL AT SHORT HILLS, N. J. The pride of this little knoll is a well-designed homestead far removed from the rest of the world. Some people would he tempted to add a formal garden to go with the formality of central feature, endangering its character. Is it not better as it is, with the superb trees as comrades? A Collection of Six Interesting Houses Designed by various architects Illustrations from photographs by Tehhs-Hymans, Ltd., and others T he six unusual designs here shown, closing the chapter upon stucco houses, have been built during the last year or so and are well worthy a more extended notice than the brief caption appearing at the foot of each illustration. They have been selected as indicative of a class wherein men of prominence and good judgment have sought to serve the occasion rather than merely express themselves. They must appeal to the student of interesting things because of their appropriateness to the ground of which they have practically become a part as well as to their originality. We are indebted to the following architects: to Albro & Lindeberg for the unusual house at the head of this page and the one opposite; to Bates & How for the pleasing house depicted on page 168; to Robert R. McGood- win for the attractive view of the house he designed for his own occupation on page 169; to Davis, McGrath & Kiessling for the house with twin porches on page 170 ; and lastly to Abram Garfield, the son of the martyred Presi- dent, for a portion of an interesting house at Cleveland upon page 171. 167 168 THE ATTRACTIVE HOME OF MR. CHARLES E. GARDNER IN LAWRENCE PARK, N. Y. It has the rocky foreground and rich herbage which the New Yorker’s memory is apt to evoke as associated with the upper section of the city, where the landscape is so beautiful, so full of color and so varying in texture. The varying levels give golden opportunities to the architect who has of late years accepted the challenge to his imagination and skill by an adjustment of the ground and the planting so as to produce a picture within a picture, speaking well for a more wholesome understanding of the fascinating art lf>9 THE HOUSE OF MR. ROBERT R. McGOODWIN, RECENTLY BUILT, AT ST. MARTINS, PA. By close attention to detail does the house assume problem importance. The big bays count for much, as do the circular heads to the lower windows and front entrance, in this design. Prominent is the battered stone walling admirably laid and promising good rootage for rock-loving plants. It is a house of fewer moods and stronger purposes than we see every day, which bespeaks a freedom from bondage and from tradition, and a determination to encourage individual thought and action. Much of the character is due to the roofing 170 HOUSE ON STEWART AVENUE, GARDEN CITY, L. I., INTERESTING IN MANY WAYS The treatment of the twin porches with their pergola-like roofing, promising serviceable support for creepers, is sure to find favor in the eyes of many. Something might well be said regarding the excellent detail of entrance, overhang of roof and capping of chimneys, not only for the aesthetic importance of these elements, but also for their practical value. The complexion of the house is likely to undergo considerable change during the next few years, when the pergolas will be mantled with heavy creepers, softening the outline A COLLECTION OF SIX INTERESTING HOUSES 171 The stucco house is for well-bred people to whom the habitation is often but an attractive incident in the landscape rather than a thing set apart, glo- rious in its own grandeur, brave in its architectural importance as a superb creation. The plea for the stucco house recalls the gracious tribute recently paid to Anatole France, of whom it is said that he maintains with singular adroitness and deliberation the emphasis of under-statement. ITe is content to speak of things in a moderate and reasonable fashion. The stucco house is one that is rarely burdened with detail, witli ornament as such of any description, everlastingly beautiful, eternally young. With a certain naive economy of emphasis it seems to exhibit an overwhelming desire to do hom- age to the landscape and to other building materials. The popularity of the stucco house owes much of its attraction to this one virtue. It has a way of adding light to the picture. A critic says: “Commend me to the house of stucco because it resembles some of the most hideous men of mod- ern times who forget themselves and who charm by the self -en- forced elimination of their own preferences and who, declining to take life too seriously, find virtue in the opinions and ambi- tions of others. Such men are valued as com- rades in this workaday world. They shine among their fellows not for their countenance perhaps, but for their tender courtesy, the deity within.” Is not the mountain top often brightened 1) y a few square feet of lime white, mere whitewash, which the Cleveland home of mr. a. s. chisholm shines like a morning star View shows casement openings of sun parlor adjoining . flower garden. They are semicircular headed. The beauty of the 111 tile gTCcit firmament ( cornice is enhanced greatly by translucent shadows of the foliage A GRACEFUL CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF LIFE IN THE COUNTRY Upon the broad flagging, of Chicago’s discarded pavement, tubs of oleanders stand (see page 237) 172 CHAPTER II THE BRICK HOUSE The Washington house of Mr. Henry White — 'The country home of Mr. C. B. Macdonald , Southampton, L. /. — The estate of Mr. W. 11. Osgood Field, Lenox, Mass. - — The property of Mr. Thomas Hastings, Roslyn, L. I. — Mr. James Parmelee’s Washington home — The home of Mr. Herbert L. Pratt, Glen Cove, L. I. — Har- lakenden House, the home of Mr. Winston Churchill, Cornish, N. II. — The Lake Forest home of Mr. Finley Harrell — Mr. P. S. Theurer’s house, Kenilworth, III . — Home of Mr. R. M. Ellis, Great Neck, L. I . — Home of Miss Emily Watson, White Plains, N. I ". — Attractive stables on the estates of Mr. Willard I). Straight at West- bury, L. I., and Mrs. L. Z. Letter at Beverly Farms, Mass. I N common with men and women, the brick house is seen at its best when the sun shines upon it! We are attracted by its glorious color, by the rich purple and black headers, by the orange and browny yellow, the dark sienna and vermilion stretchers, by the lace-like di- vision of the jointing, by the brilliant light on the moulding, pillar or broad band of Bath, Caen or Indiana limestone. We love it when we see it in contrast with a stern academic ac- cent, a pediment or door head. To say a few words on its behalf is like trying to do justice to your family. Those who know anything about brick, the servant of mankind in the building world, are as much embarrassed in their search for the proper commencement of a description as they are to put a time limit to the stuff they write. I say this advisedly in view of the fact that almost every house is a brick house. True, we do not think of this Valuable agent as others do: that it were better when viewed behind a screen of some description, and that a thin veneer of marble or stone were an admirable veiling to its countenance. We are thankful to realize that, like the best people, it bears more than its share of the burdens of life. We have until lately denied it the center of the stage. We frankly restore to its sovereignty this valued material, honoring ourselves in the restoration. 173 174 THE VIEW OF THE MAIN ENTRANCE, WHICH FACES THE NORTH, HAS CONSIDERABLE CHARACTER The character is due, in the main, to its position upon the site and the elliptical driveway encircling the fore-court and leading to the porch. The house stands well above the city roadways, some twenty feet above the level, overlooking in the distance Meriden Hill The Washington House of Mr. Henry White John Russell Pope, architect Illustrations from original drawing and photographs hy Wurts Bros. VISITOR writes: “Washington is beautiful!” Yes! like Paris, where beauty is demanded as a national necessity, a stimulus realized by everyone, the citizen of the New World responds to the charms of the goddess and is not at all times dominated by the scramble for wealth. Washington has been classified as the picture city of the future. It is a picture to-day. L’Enf ant’s century-old dream has in the main proved a reality and the capital is famous the world over for its wide avenues, dignified and stately buildings, wherein the architects of this favored land have assimi- lated thoughtfully the best of the English and French versions of the Pal- ladian so that new Washington is in a way superior to Paris, London, Berlin and Petrograd, which are merely seats of government. Washington is to-day entrusted, as it were, with a new ideal, something intensely practi- cal and which involves not simply architecture hut ethics of a high order. We are told that the private residences in the capital of the New World are exhibiting signs of a moral improvement. This may be a surprise to some who know Washington for its cool, calm, majestic Capitol, its monument, its freely-acknowledged official style of architecture. It is not simply famous for its wonderful layout, its academic plan, its remarkable views, its mag- nificent distances and its conspicuous freedom from commercial buildings and conditions that disturb. As though hy common consent, many worthy citiezns have of late for their private residences avoided adding to the white buildings. They still build small palaces, very beautiful, very comfortable, very well proportioned, but they do not stick out or speak too loudly among the congregations crowding the grand avenues. Rather do they frame offi- cialdom, forming, as it were, a ring round the city, a ring of rich, low-toned red, buff, dull yellow or orange. At the moment there are houses of this type, completed or under way, after the fashion of the Florentine palaces in the great century of the Renaissance. In plan and in general detail they resemble greatly the Genoese palaces of the hillside, the Venetian palaces at the water’s edge. In those days the personal equation was big and we natu- rally recall with pleasure those most intensely connected with the building, 175 176 From this elevated terrace the whole panorama of Washington unfolds with its wonderful distances, its inspiring vistas THE WASHINGTON HOUSE OF AIR. HENRY WHITE I ( i Peruzzi, Sanmichele, Sansovino, Palladio, and Michael Angelo. And to Rome, the Eternal City, we look because of its majestic scale, the bigness of her buldings, the remarkable reticence and sobriety of their outlines. Here was — and many of them remain — a singular absence of external orna- ment hut wonderful plans. Her palaces and villas were often frankly built of brick, red, yellow, orange, brick that was both narrow and thin and brick that was short and wide. Like the all-conquering Romans they reverence the common material, handling it superbly, restoring it to its sovereignty in the great realm of the builder. At present there are in Washington a number of admirable houses, palaces within and red brick without, very hu- man, very unobstructive. They set a pace, marking a new era, showing that those who have lived abroad have, from the land of ancient courtesies, re- acquired good manners in matters architectural. And they owe their exist- ence to the energy of our wide-awake, up-to-date architects, to those who are known as Beaux Arts men. A few years ago they also, with others, crowded the architectural schools of Paris. Why? Why? Why? It may well he asked. And yet the answer is obvious. They were there to learn what is good and worth having in architecture. In other words, they were qualifying to help the wealthy who have formed the habit of spending a portion of each year abroad or of living abroad. “Professor, after two years in the Paris school, two years working in your private office, two years traveling and sketching under your direction, I am going home. What have you to say ?” said a student, thinking that possibly there was reserved to the last some little secret, some combination, some re-presentation of the old classic formulae to he vouchsafed as a parting gift. The old professor astounded him by replying: “Forget all that you have learned, all that you have seen, all that you have heard. Attack, when you return to your own land, the problems as they arise, viewing them from your own standpoint. Use your lessons as equipment, not models. Your country is wealthy, but it Rings its wealth too freely in the face of the pub- lic. Not content with a palace within, it would have a palace without, piling up. So misplaced, wealth is despised and architecture too often ridiculed. In the best of the minor palaces and villas of Rome is there a standard by which you can go? Beauty resides there. Many of the little places are small in their inches, mellowed in their appearance, hut ever worthy of sincere regard. They are like a beautiful woman known for her charm, not for the style of her head-dress. Styles in head-dress change over night; houses live forever and the man is known by the house as he is by the com- pany he keeps.” As everyone realizes, there are just two things to consider in the build- 178 A HALL WITH THE CALMLY CORRECT PROPORTIONS OF THE IONIC, NORTHERN LIGHT AND MARBLE PAVEMENT An antechamber. To everyone it is of interest, whether as a momentary abiding-place or as a passageway to the innermost circle THE WASHINGTON HOUSE OF MR. HENRY WHITE 179 ing of a country house, the site and the architect. Of course money is de- sirable, not too much of it nor too evident, and the personality of the owner has been known to transmit qualities unattainable by architectural propor- tions. It is as a setting for the Henry White house at Washington that I have ventured to speak in this way. It is just the kind of house we need as a standard. To the full surely has money been expended upon the exteriors of private residences in New York and elsewhere. There are some horrors in this city of towers and bridges, where, by virtue of its prominence as a utilitarian metropolis, a palace should stand for high thinking and he unas- suming in general appearance. So say the sociologists. It is delightful to feel that the picture city sets a new pace, is more conscious of the modern appeal. The White house has been forced into prominence by an unusually attractive site of which the most has been made. Topographically it is of pe- culiar interest. Part of it is twenty feet above the level of the city streets. There is, in the approach, a certain dignity and well-ordered artificiality which is inevitable and desirable. In general the house and the site resem- ble greatly the town houses of many of the aristocracy of Italy and France. It varies hut little in its inches from a portion of ground set apart by Louis XV for the Petit Trianon. It resembles in many ways the Florentine pal- aces. The plan is excellent in measurement and general arrangement of rooms. It appears to be somewhat of a reminiscence of Villa Farnesina, built on the outskirts of Rome from the designs of Peruzzi for a Roman banker. The detail recalls much of the delicacy and charm of the palace Massimi, also in the Eternal City. The White house is located well at the far side of the property, permitting a dignified aproach by means of a circui- tous driveway cut deeply into the bank. This plan permits a fore-court, a stately element of aristocratic luxury. The natural level remains undis- turbed; the big trees are in no way damaged. The central portion is let se- verely alone, bordered with hedging. The roadway is very effective. It is a stately entrance though exceedingly quiet in detail, with just sufficient accent to add interest to vouchsafe personality and distinction. On the southern side of the house there is an equally notable feature, an exalted terrace held in place by a high retaining wall. Here the great panorama of Washington unfolds, a splendid picture. Surely this walled garden is enjoyed to the full. Upon it stands the long southern loggia from which the dining-room and li- brary open. Ruskin wrote that the finest decoration for a dining-room was a well-cooked dinner. Here is a feast for the gods, day or night, forever changing, ever stimulating, forever satisfying. What a place for a prome- nade, for conversation, for a siesta! The accent to the northern frontage, the T 180 THE dining room, splendidly contrived for entertaining, opens on loggia, library and hall It is furnished with Chippendale mahogany of the time when Oriental enrichments were adapted by that resourceful craftsman THE WASHINGTON HOUSE OF MR. HENRY WHITE 181 entrance side, is the portico, which is classic in a way and yet which might well have been designed by Gabriel, the architect of the Petit Trianon. Whether viewed in plan, in elevation or perspective it is full of subtle charm and little surprises. Delightfully does it open into the central hall and well does it stand free and clear from the frontage, an accent of peculiar interest. Within, the spirit of restraint is very obvious. The plan is direct, the circulation excellent, the scheming satisfactory. From the entrance hall the house opens up well, direct, and the color sense is entertained by the general melodious palette in which no particular tone has the ascendancy. Of course the salon and the little green parlor are distinctly feminine with furniture that is usually found in the minor palaces of the French kings and yet very unassuming in its arrangement. As a whole, taking the inside and the outside of the house, its first and its last appearance, its color note, its plan, its detail, its view from the front, from a distance or from nearby, it is the house of a man primarily, distinctly, unmistakably a man of this world, conscious of its limitations, its ambitions, its triumphs. In no sense is it a reproduction. Rather is it a type of modern reassimilation of the good which has gone before. So adroit is this reassimila- tion that no one can say where one incentive begins or the other leaves off. Like a piece of literature or a beautiful musical cadence no one can tell the source of the inspiration, and he is the wisest who takes it as a whole and is glad to have so excellent a standard by which to measure himself and the houses around him. Not only is the White house built of brick well and truly laid with stone trimmings and enrichments, but brick is also the interlacing decorative accent as well as the structural material of the George IT. Meyers and the John R. McLean residences as it is of the house of Thomas Nelson Page, the new Ambassador to Italy. Yes, as the visitor writes, Washington is beautiful. Possibly one of the great agents for its beauty is the consistency which is so melodious a keynote among the recent buildings of that city of pictures. “I like to think,” writes this visitor who speaks of Washington as a beautiful city, “that in this ever-broadening of the great spirit of public service and private worth he is the best citizen who realizes to the full the possibilities of the common, everyday material, the material at hand. It is of this that the greatest buildings and the greatest characters of the Renaissance were cre- ated by men whom we to-day classify as architects or ambassadors. They gloried in the commonplace! They ennobled it in their naive transforma- tion.” 182 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY The accompanying plan of the property cannot fail to interest because it is so unusual in outline, in outlook and in approach. It is one of those properties that stand high ; which tower over the neighborhood, in a measure. THE SKETCH PLAN OF PROPERTY IS BOTH INTERESTING AND INFORMING It shows the elliptical driveway to entrance, rising many feet above main road and gives some- thing of the treatment of Belmont Street frontage with the terrace from which so much of the city is visible, the planting scheme and location of some of the principal rooms of the house The elevated position lias much to do with the whole scheme. May I ask you to examine the plan? Examine it from the north and the south; think of its varying level. There is an elevation of some twenty-odd feet between the porch and the roadway. The sketch shows the central axe of the house and also gives no little explanation of the view from the terrace, and taken with the other picture it reveals many little things hard to explain in the THE WASHINGTON HOUSE OF MR. HENRY WHITE 183 ordinary way. From it we learn that A indicates the central hall and B the little reception room. C is the drawing room and D that center of things hospitable and convivial which is generally understood by the magic word — dining-room. Opening upon the loggia and terrace, it permits a splendid view of the city. E is the study or library and F the inner staircase hall, set apart, out of sight, away from the entrance, yet ever convenient. G is THE RECEPTION ROOM OPENS FROM HALL AND LIBRARY An engaging center of things feminine with gracefully designed furniture so unmistakably French, and wall covering of myrtle green damask, a cool tone of which, like forest green, we never tire the entrance porch and H the long loggia. This many-columned loggia is a picture gallery, showing the city and its life from a new vantage ground. The plan also shows the service quarters — essential and ever-important con- trivances that add so much to our comfort but that are too often left to our imagination, where they hold, indeed, a large place; too often, however, they are conspicuous hv their absence in real life. 184 Mr. C. B. Macdonald’s Home, Southampton, L. I. F. Burrall Hoffman, Jr., architect Rose Standish Nichols, garden architect Illustrations from original drawing and photographs by Floyd Baker UST now the Georgian style is very much in vogue and this period of the latter Renaissance, the Renaissance of England, is indeed welcome here. Within its make-up is something more potent than the rebirth, the reassimilation of classic proportions as translated by France, Italy, or any section of Southern Europe, for into the Renaissance of England went the clarifying influence of English opinion and of English re- straint as well as the obvious realization of the daily requirements of the English. In other words, the Reformation left its mark across the face of every house or hall, church or palace built at that time. It is primarily a common-sense style of a self-respecting people. Much of the culture, the refinement of the Italian as generally understood, with its stateliness, quiet dignity, breadth and repose, is preserved, as also is the personal note of the great architects of the English, who benefited by Continental study. The personality of Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren and their school is obvious. An informal copartnership of owners and architect lias done much to spell wholesomeness and to induce the architect to extract more character from his material, giving more homage and attention to outline, proportion and workmanship than to ornament. This led to an extended study of plain spaces as well as of carving, such as the work of Grinling Gibbons, Ripley and their school — a splendid school of craftsmanship, proud of their individ- ual trade. And more potent than this skill in wood-carving was the atten- tion bestowed upon plastering, upon the manipulation of iron and upon brickwork. Enforced economy made the frequent use of marble difficult, at times impossible, and it improved greatly the manufacture of brick, which was so made that it could be carved, rubbed, and moulded. In a word, the quickening and vitalizing influence of the Georgian style which is in vogue just now is welcome because it exhibits so splendidly the right use of plain, everyday materials. Mr. C. R. Macdonald’s house at Southampton, standing on an elevated site overlooking Peconic Bay and the National Golf Course, owes much of 185 186 AT THE END OF THE HOUSE IS THE GARDEN, ALREADY RICH IN COLOR AND VERY INTERESTING A low walling shelters it from the wind and permits the sun to vitalize the flowers and evergreens. It is a garden for all seasons MR. C. B. MACDONALD’S HOME, SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. 187 its general proportion and idea to one of the English halls built in the time of the first George and there is documentary evidence that the owner of Groombridge Place, Kent, consulted Wren regarding the design, and consulted him at a time when he was at the height of his career. The house is well planned to fit the site. It is one of those long, low, red brick houses which open up well from a central hall. The hall in this ease is a room, big and comfortable. It gives to the visitor a hearty wel- come and splendid impression. Probably few people realize the force of this Georgian planning, this liberal treatment of spaces subdividing the block of the house into big, square rooms rather than passageways. It is so adjusted to the site as to invite, from its many windows, a frequent view of the distance, a stimulating enjoyment of the landscape. From the hall the library is reached with its segmental bay. Casements open upon the grass terrace, a splendid open area as deep as the house is wide and which is united with the house by a long, low, stone-capped wall. This, in varying heights, also encircles the gardens, tying everything together. It is from this westerly terrace, down a flight of semicircular steps, that the meadow is reached, from which the most satisfactory view of the western frontage is possible. It is indeed a long, low house, with all its exalted roof and its massive, well- formed chimneys and its dormers. The idea of length is increased greatly by its projecting cornice and eaves and by the deep band of stone which runs the entire length as if noting the height of the principal rooms. Here also in the center of the gable is a segmental iron balcony reached by the case- ments of the principal chambers. Tbe length is also greatly increased by the coping and base to the terrace wall, long horizontal lines which count for much. The brick rusticated quoins at the corners add interest, as do the white window frames, which are unusually wide, another Georgian accent. Returning to the central hall, it will be noted that the upper section of the house is reached by a liberal, well-proportioned stairway with iron balustrading, delicate, thin, yet strong and sufficient. There is here a stimu- lating seriousness. A faint memory of the Ionic order projects slightly from the wall with its entablature, cap and base and the memory of Italy’s cool and calm pavement. The design is excellent. Alternating squares of black and white marble are in themselves an essay on gentility. It is by no means grand or forbidding, for, as the view shows, across its checkered countenance rugs extend a wealth of color. The drawing-room is the big room of the house. It runs east and west, opening directly from the entrance hall and from the grass terrace. It is also reached from the sun-parlor, which, in turn, centers with and is practically a part of the garden. The panelling is of birch stained a red- 188 THE DRAWING-ROOM IS WALLED WITH BIRCH OF A REDDISH BROWN AND DRAPED WITH RED BROCADE MR. C. B. MACDONALD’S HOME, SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. 189 dish brown and the windows are draped with taffeta of a color not unlike the red of the tomato or old-rose. Relieving the formality of the panelling, mirrors are hung, the frames of which are diversified in outline and very in- teresting. Mirrors have also proved of service in the hall, but the frames in this case are even more free in their drawing, bearing as they do a festive air as if conscious of the vanities and frivolities of the age. Considerable attention is given to the underlying spirit of the English THE PRINCIPAL ACCENT OF THE HOUSE IS THE HALL With its Ionic pilasters, wrought-iron balustraded staircase and black and white marble paving form of country house. It is to he seen not only in the selection of marble as the pavement of the hall, one of the most effective, satisfactory and serviceable forms of interior decorations the Georgian period devised, hut will also he be recognized in the design of the drawing room, which by its broad, wholesome wainscoting, its liberal hearth and its rich color, discloses the keen appreciation of the cool evenings of the autumn, when an open fire is a delight. In other words, this drawing room is not a toy parlor for the frivolities of city life, looking to an apartment as a setting for fan- tastic costumes, singularly out of place in the country. No. This is a Long Island parlor, open to the vicissitudes of that ever-changing and law- 190 AMERICAN COUNTRY HOUSES OF TO-DAY defying weather characteristic of its position overlooking the bay, influenced directly by the salt-laden air, which, as everyone knows, plays havoc with delicate decorations. The sun-parlor is an interesting apartment with its pavement of English tiles of a mottled brown tone, having upon the east- ern and western sides large easements opening to the floor and yet larger windows overlooking the garden. The only wall surface is accented by a recessed fountain, prettily schemed and very active in its effort to cool the PLAN OF PART OF PROPERTY WITH DRIVEWAY TO CIRCULAR ENTRANCE COURT The principal rooms are indicated, the servants’ quarters, the extended view across the valley from the main terrace, the upper and lower gardens, which are enclosed with a brick wall air, adding to the scene a delicate sense of movement and sparkling light. It is well named. Literally, it is dedicated to the fullest enjoyment of the sun. It is, so to speak, an outdoor room, and yet but a step from the broad open hearth, which cannot fail to he the center of attraction when the au- tumnal storms are driving everyone indoors. The study of the original plan and accompanying sketch shows A to indicate the position of the library, opening upon terrace, from which we get an engaging view across the valley over the sand dunes to the sea, stretch- MR. C. B. MACDONALD’S HOME, SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. 191 ing even to the distant horizon. This view is facilitated greatly by the broad segmental hay with its three wide casements opening to the floor. B shows the position of the large drawing-room leading into the sun-parlor, marked C, opening upon the southern end of terrace approach to the walled garden. D is the entrance hall, the general center and important axis of the house as schemed, while E is the dining room. F is the little reception room opening from a private hallway, with G, the golf room, adjoining. The cross-hatched section indicates the service quarters. H is the garage and stable almost out of sight among the trees and well below the broad shoulder of the hill, yet reachable by a service roadway of its own. From the terrace we descend into the walled garden. It is in two sections, with a variation of a few feet. The wall is not only for seclusion, but for shelter from the wind. The upper garden is planted almost entirely with evergreens, except for a belt of herbaceous plants bordering the wall, so that this section appears equally interesting in winter and in summer. The lower section, or flower garden proper, approached by a number of broad steps, would be entirely open to the sun were it not surrounded by an old- fashioned English arbor, covered with grapevine, which furnishes shade to the walk on all four sides. The planting consists mainly of old-fashioned annuals and perennials, accented by standard roses and lilacs, but without bedding plants, which require the protection of a green-house. Yes, just now the Georgian style is very much in vogue and this period of the later Renaissance of England is indeed welcome. It appeals to our robust citizens by the sturdiness, the wholesomeness of its make-up. It is a man’s style, that is, a man’s conception of a house far and above the frivolities of fashion, the mere fantastic encasement of fancies which change overnight! It is a style, that is, which while permitting certain feminine in- dulgences is forever observant of essentials, splendidly dictatorial, excel- lent to live with, superbly indifferent to trivialities, assigning to inanimate objects human emotions and appearing at times to he jealous of inane foibles, bric-a-brac. The welcome of this style is hearty, coming about as it does in the ordinary course of things, when the American citizen has at last realized that in order to make real and healthy progress in the world of affairs social or financial, he must assign to each day something for the wel- fare of his body. So it is contrived and planned, fitting not alone the site hut the life of the owner who loves games and who enjoys sports. This Southampton house, overlooking Peconie Bay and far beyond, is of the style adopted by a good healthy man who knows what he likes, who does not change, who realizes slowly, perhaps, hut definitely the style of house he wants for the woman he loves. H P$ P O o w o a a bD ^ .c £ G ^ A O £ t 3 O C/3 PS w CO w ffi H co Z W w pp o co K o '-> a j ^■s I * 5 9 'C c c .5 53 iS O O PS w Ph a z :3 Ch 9 S -Jj 1/ ^ &c o c ■ M > a3 ce rS *a o X s V § c D 2; w H 53 H fe O O e £ O H £