TRIM 325 



Verdure-crowned Lintel. 



One of the most pleasing ornaments for an entrance was made 

 by leaving an exterior opening two feet high in the house wall over 

 the door lintel the entire width of the doorway, forming a unique 

 fronton by glassing it without and within, in reality a zinc-lined giant 

 wardian case. Planted with ferns and red-berried plants, it rarely 

 required watering. In cold weather the inner hinged glass was raised. 



One dining room had a rectangular shaped skylight so located 

 as to be mainly in the shade. In the oak paneled and walled sides 

 reaching nearly to ceiling line were windows set five feet from the 

 floor. At one end of the room was a tall hooded mantel, at the other 

 a picture windowed bay, and lights and shadows were thus evenly 

 balanced. 



Beamed Ceilings. 



Beamed ceilings are preferably composed of large beams which 

 are also less costly to build. Beaming where side walls join the ceil- 

 ing can often be dispensed with and a cove made in the plaster. Two 

 big cross beams set well apart give sturdy strength and beauty 

 unknown in a cut up and costly paneled ceiling, while cambered beams 

 in a high studded studio or billiard room often transform it into an 

 imposing hall. 



Plaster ribbed, decorated beams, though expensive, give an air 

 of elegance. They may also be made two or even three feet wide 

 and edged with wood. 



Another good overhead treatment can be obtained with beams 

 paralleling the four sides and placed a couple of feet from the side 

 wall which is also beamed where wall and ceiling join. From these 

 short beams spaced in proportion, the long ones are tied together, 

 leaving a blank space in ceiling centre for decoration. 



A wooden ceiling, if not of stereotyped T. & G. beaded stuff, is 

 a desirable finish and eliminates all risk of falling plaster. 



Stairs. 



The stair-builder at times harks back to the tortuous winding 

 stair of the early Gothic, coeval with the unpretentious stair of early 

 France and Germany, surpassed even in that day by the beauty of the 

 broad, severe lined and dignified marble staircase of Italy. 



The staircase hall often makes or mars the house, and the prob- 

 lem of stair building is intricate. 



A featured hall or stair, or both; the entrance room square or 

 rectangular, with side or inner stair alcove partially concealed ; the 

 comparatively narrow staircase or a broad steamer or platformed 

 affair eating well into the hall area, are work-outs worthy the best 

 planning. 



