LEAF-ROOFED VERANDA CEILING 115 



A short thousand feet, and we stand on the wide veranda of 

 a long, low villa. "The Gables" featured a dozen outside balconies. 

 Hall, parlor and dining room were on the ground floor as well 

 as the kitchen extension which joined the dining room by a long 

 butler's pantry. Yes, it was winged, and its isolation meant freedom 

 from clatter, heat, and odors. Overhead were servants' rooms, bath, 

 house-maids' sink room, etc., and laundry and cellar beneath. 



The second floor had many connecting rooms, and increased area 

 was obtained by building the front line of the house over the fifteen 

 foot veranda, all overhang being thoroughly deadened. 



Third floor rooms were made unusually cool by the high studded 

 loft with three ventilating windows hinged from the bottom to keep 

 out rain. These opened inward, were chain-hung at top and proved 

 practical ventilators. 



Leaf-Roofed Veranda Ceiling. 



The ampelopsis has taken possession of the veranda ceiling, 

 and one sits beneath a leafy canopy, while English ivy keeps the north 

 stone posts green all the year. As the ceiling boards will last at 

 least ten years and possibly twenty and can then be renewed, the 

 unique beauty of this verdure-bowered ceiling made the doing worth 

 while. Occasional sprinkling with insecticide downed fly, mosquito 

 and spider. An improvement would be an indestructible cement 

 ceiling. 



All balconies are well flashed, canvas-covered and thor- 

 oughly painted. Door sills are sharply sloped and have triple rab- 

 bets. A poorly built balcony invariably leaks and is a large factor 

 in falling ceilings and stained walls, and window frames about caps 

 and sills need special flashing and close jointure. 



Open and roofed verandas extend on four sides of The Gables, 

 and include a servants' porch broad enough for an outdoor dining 

 room at the rear of the house, well screened from the front entrance. 



In Gables we succumbed to the arguments of the wall- 

 paper salesman, only to find that sand-finished walls intended for 

 paint or muresco and stencil treatment rebel when papered. Fall 

 winds sweeping through open doors and windows stripped off roses, 

 pansies, and nasturtiums by the yard. 



Buena Vista. 



Here is shown Buena Vista, which, with its length of 228 feet, 

 stretches a full city block. It is built to fit the contour of the ground. 

 When I first bought the farm and named it Hillcrest, I walked out 

 on these ledges and planned to sometime tie the lichen-covered stone 

 outcroppings together with a Moorish castle. After years of wait- 



