﻿March, 
  1907 
  

  

  AMERICAN 
  HOMES 
  AND 
  GARDENS 
  

  

  91 
  

  

  A 
  Cottage 
  Designed 
  With 
  An 
  Artistic 
  Purpose 
  

  

  By 
  Joy 
  Wheeler 
  Dow 
  

  

  EN, 
  fifteen 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  

   architect 
  could 
  have 
  de- 
  

   signed 
  this 
  cottage 
  to 
  be 
  

   here 
  described, 
  but 
  no 
  one 
  

   would 
  have 
  taken 
  the 
  

   plans, 
  no, 
  not 
  even 
  as 
  a 
  

   gift. 
  And 
  so 
  fearful 
  was 
  

   he 
  of 
  their 
  non-acceptance, 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  

   day, 
  by 
  Mr. 
  and 
  Mrs. 
  Cromwell, 
  that 
  not 
  a 
  

   sketch 
  or 
  outline 
  of 
  the 
  elevations 
  was 
  al- 
  

   lowed 
  to 
  escape 
  his 
  studio 
  until 
  the 
  floor 
  

   plans, 
  which 
  scarcely 
  suggested 
  the 
  Goodey 
  

   Coles 
  atmosphere 
  in 
  old 
  Ipswich 
  of 
  the 
  in- 
  

   spiration, 
  were 
  accepted, 
  and 
  the 
  blue 
  prints 
  

   formally 
  delivered. 
  We 
  can 
  not 
  but 
  admit 
  

   that 
  what 
  is 
  being 
  confided 
  might 
  establish 
  

   a 
  dangerous 
  precedent 
  to 
  allow 
  the 
  mere 
  

   reputation 
  of 
  an 
  architect 
  to 
  invest 
  him 
  with 
  

   the 
  prerogative 
  of 
  designing 
  a 
  cottage 
  — 
  a 
  

   home 
  for 
  a 
  client, 
  without 
  the 
  customary 
  pre- 
  

   liminary 
  sketches 
  in 
  perspective, 
  at 
  least. 
  

   We 
  honestly 
  believe 
  there 
  would 
  be 
  but 
  one 
  

   chance 
  in 
  a 
  hundred 
  of 
  the 
  owner's 
  being 
  either 
  pleased 
  or 
  

   satisfied 
  with 
  the 
  result. 
  

  

  The 
  art 
  of 
  this 
  cottage 
  or 
  of 
  any 
  other 
  cottage 
  or 
  thing 
  

   equally 
  pleasing 
  to 
  those 
  inner 
  susceptibilities 
  which 
  must 
  be 
  

   touched 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  success, 
  is 
  entirely 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  luck, 
  

   however, 
  in 
  the 
  opinion 
  of 
  those 
  — 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  ma- 
  

   jority 
  — 
  who, 
  believing 
  that 
  the 
  secret 
  of 
  success 
  in 
  most 
  

   things 
  depends 
  upon 
  personal 
  endeavor 
  and 
  perseverance, 
  

   exempt 
  the 
  indescribable 
  charm 
  of 
  beauty 
  as 
  something 
  in- 
  

   tangible 
  unattainable 
  without 
  formulas. 
  And 
  it 
  may 
  sound 
  

  

  The 
  Semi-enclosed 
  Piazza 
  Has 
  Plain 
  Colonial 
  Columns 
  Like 
  Its 
  Prototype 
  

  

  as 
  heretical 
  as 
  it 
  once 
  did 
  for 
  Galileo 
  to 
  say 
  the 
  earth 
  moved, 
  

   for 
  any 
  one 
  to 
  contradict 
  and 
  reverse 
  the 
  accepted 
  theory, 
  

   and 
  say 
  that 
  while 
  esthetics 
  may 
  have 
  no 
  mathematical 
  rules, 
  

   nor 
  indeed 
  grammatical 
  rules, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  sensitometer 
  — 
  bor- 
  

   rowing 
  a 
  photographic 
  term 
  — 
  -with 
  which 
  some 
  people 
  are 
  

   born, 
  whereby 
  the 
  hand 
  is 
  controlled 
  unerringly 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  a 
  

   geometrical 
  problem 
  with 
  T-square 
  and 
  triangles. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  

   luck 
  of 
  temperament 
  — 
  the 
  luck 
  of 
  circumstances 
  at 
  birth 
  that 
  

   means 
  success 
  or 
  failure 
  in 
  life, 
  and 
  human 
  endeavor 
  will 
  

   avail 
  nought 
  without 
  it. 
  

  

  