February, 1913 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



59 



The woodwork which forms the background for the treasures in Mr. Drake's home is a fine example of fine, early architectural work of the sort 



The Home of a Veteran Collector 



By Henry F. Leighton 

 Photographs by T. C. Turner 



OW very rarely does the exterior of a house 

 present any real indication of what its inte- 

 rior may contain. Even more rarely is any 

 hint of its interest and beauty given in a city 

 home where the frontage of an individual 

 dwelling is necessarily limited, and seldom, 

 if ever, does the imagination receive any stimulus from the 

 facade of a house which is one of a long row of similar 

 structures, such as were so often built in the larger eastern 

 cities a century ago. 



In a certain street in a very old section of New York is a 

 row of old-fashioned houses of red brick trimmed with 

 brown stone. Each house possesses a high stoop, and its 

 main doorway is placed between tall fluted pillars and the 

 windows, which are arranged with small panes, are fitted 

 with blinds painted dark green. Upon the other side of the 

 street are similar old houses, and almost all of the old 

 homes in the block are occupied by the smaller manufactur- 

 ers of clothing or furs, and the steady whirl and constant 

 buzzing of their machinery last sometimes until far into the 

 night. One of these old brick residences which retains all 

 of the simple quiet grace and dignity of a former age is a 

 veritable treasure-house, for it is the home of Mr. Alex- 

 ander M. Drake, well known in the world of art and letters, 



and one of the most famous treasure collectors in America. 

 The contents of this remarkable house represent the 

 fruits of much traveling and long sojourns in foreign coun- 

 tries, as well as an appreciation of the American collector's 

 opportunities to pick up in his own country objects worthy 

 his attention. A close study of circumstances and condi- 

 tions at home, in connection with the vast and ever-increas- 

 ing tide of immigration which is being continually poured 

 into our own country, led Mr. Drake years ago to appre- 

 ciate how there may be brought to our very doors, treasures 

 whose number and value are seldom realized except by 

 those who have carefully followed and analyzed the situa- 

 tion. All collectors of antiques and other things, even 

 those who take infinite pleasure in the fact of possession, 

 find that a large part of the joys of collecting consists 

 in "unearthing" the treasures they are to acquire, and even 

 in all the accompaniment of the excitement incident to their 

 acquisition. While no two collectors are alike, and few col- 

 lect in just the same way, it may happen that browsing about 

 in remote corners in Spain or in Russia may not be very 

 unlike similar "browsings" in the foreign quarters of New 

 York or of Philadelphia, or any other great American city, 

 in that in both cases some rare find may be discovered where 

 hardly expected, and secured with much the same compli- 



