Halls and Stairways 



143 



room, this is un- 

 do ubtedly so. 

 Nevertheless there 

 is a decided ten- 

 dency toward its use 

 in this country. The 

 trouble lies in the 

 fact that it is gener- 

 ally made too "pret- 

 ty," the chief fault 

 with all our halls. 

 We have spent much 

 money and elabor- 

 ated upon the old 

 Colonial models, but 

 it seems as if much 

 of this were done 

 very unwisely. If 

 the fireplace be used 



at all It should be An example at Cambridge, Mass., showing a simple ironwork and hall seat. When the 



i i hall is used as a reception room the seat is an important consideration, and its location so as to 



Simple ana Severe 111 j, e |, anc iy an< j yet not under foot is not always an easy problem. The above treatment is unique 



d C S 1 P n , Carrying an< * certainly successful and seems to be handy to the front door, which is important 



with it a distinct feel- 

 ing of strong repose and dignity, com- 

 manding respect rather than offering 

 fellowship. A largeness of scale will 

 help to effect this; thus a 6-foot open- 

 ing is to be preferred to one of smaller 

 width. 



The great trouble with our stair- 

 cases is, as in the case of the hall, a 

 meaningless smallness of scale approach- 

 ing often to insignificance. It is not 

 the chamber, in which the bare foot and 

 the rounded turn of the shoulder suggest 

 like softness or luxurious repose, but 

 the shodden foot and the movement of 

 traffic. In other words, the staircase 

 is not asleep, but wide awake to its 

 own importance. Of course it is allow- 

 able to make the details a little richer 

 than those of the hall, but any leaning 

 toward minuteness is very much in the 

 wrong direction. The importance of 

 easy stairs has already been touched 



Upon the One thing OUr architects have A simple staircase well adapted to an unpretentious house 



