August, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



269 



The north side of the house shows a characteristic variety of sizes and shapes of doors and windows 



roof constitute its chief characteristics. Here the settles 

 are placed at either side of the doorway which is graced 

 with an antique brass knocker. A fanlight of leaded glass 

 is placed above the door and lights the hall. The door 

 itself is of the kind sometimes known as a "Dutch" door, 

 being divided horizontally into two sections so that one 

 part may be opened while the other is closed. This 

 fashion originated either in Flanders or Holland long cen- 

 turies ago, and as one of its many advantages, it was claimed 

 that it would keep children in the house, and pigs and 

 chickens out. The "Dutch" door of this old Hackensack 

 home opens into an interior planned 

 much like many other old homes of the 

 same period. A broad hall divides the 

 house, and at the rear end of the hall, 

 opposite the entrance, another door 

 opens upon the lawn and gardens where 

 bloom many varieties of old-fashioned 

 flowers, surrounded by cinder paths and 

 clipped hedges. 



To the right as one enters the hall 

 are the living-room and the library or 

 study. The rooms are large and low 

 ceiled and the great thickness of the 

 massive stone walls makes necessary 

 deep recesses, in which are placed the 

 windows with their small panes of glass. 

 The original woodwork is still in place 

 and is painted the ivory white of 

 Colonial days. During the long cen- 

 turies of occupation by one family, many 

 relics of former days have been accum- The entrance 



ulated and it is interesting to find them in the places 

 which they have always occupied. The fireplace is provided 

 with the old brass andirons, fenders, and other fittings 

 which generations of Brinckerhoffs have used, and here still 

 hangs the old iron wrought crane, placed there long cen- 

 turies ago to hold the iron kettles of Dame Brinckerhoff. 

 The fireplace is deep and cavernous, and its lining as well 

 as its hearth is of bricks brought over from Holland as 

 ballast in small sailing vessels, more than two centuries 

 ago, before bricks were made in this country. A beautifully 

 designed mantel of wood frames the fireplace and upon its 

 shelf is a pair of old pewter candle- 

 sticks of a kind seldom seen excepting 

 in the homes of old Dutch families or 

 of collectors of old household treasures. 

 Old portraits and silhouettes hang upon 

 the walls and old books, some of them 

 brought from Holland by the original 

 Brinckerhoffs are upon the book 

 shelves. 



The living-room opens into the 

 library or study through a low door- 

 way. A bookcase of uniform height ex- 

 tends on all sides of the room. On 

 the walls above the bookcases are many 

 old prints of notable Dutchmen and 

 Englishmen, who were prominent in the 

 affairs of New Amsterdam. Here are 

 many heirlooms in the way of furni- 

 ture, and an old spinning-wheel which 

 is a relic of the primitive days when the 

 mistress of this old home and her 



