The House of Herman B. Duryea, Esq. 



Old Westbury, New York 



R. DURYEA'S house at Old Westbury, Long Island, is a striking structure, built 

 in the pleasant woods for which the neighborhood is famous. It is placed on the 

 slope of a hill, the entrance part in three stories, the garden part in two stories. It 

 has a striking exterior of white stucco, the somewhat severe front lieing relieved 

 by an ornamental centerpiece and balconies in the second story. The garden front is much 

 freer in treatment — is, in fact, a festal composition of quite unusual charm. Two wings extend 

 from the main building, and end in open rooms, or porches, with trellised arches and walls. Above 

 each window in the wings is a sculptured relief, emblem of the ornamental character of the rooms 

 within. A columned center em- 

 phasizes the middle of the main 

 building, and above, behind a 

 balustrade, is the oval exterior 

 of the hall. 



The location of the house 

 on the hillside, and the attend- 

 ant fact that the front portion 

 has a lower story which does 

 not appear in the rear, are dis- 

 tinguishing characteristics which 

 vitally affect the plan, and make 

 the interior one of most un- 

 usual interest. The halls and 

 corridors are its most striking 

 features, and are arranged and 

 developed in a very original 

 way. The entrance hall is 



square, the pilastered walls of 

 pink Caen stone. Steps be- 

 tween a screen of Doric columns 

 lead to a corridor connecting 

 with a suite of bedrooms on 

 the right, and with the service view of the garden from the loggia. 



[43] 



