August, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



287 



Mr. Otis of ancient Dutch 



The living-room, showing entrance to the dining-room on 



esting House is the Japanese tearoom. The walls of this some four poster 

 room were left rough, with hemlock studding, 

 himself covered the 

 spaces between the 

 studding with bur- 

 lap, and then, 

 over the burlap he 

 stretched antique 

 Japanese grass cloth, 

 beautifully decorated 

 by hand with the ex- 

 quisite forms and 

 colors which only the 

 Japanese artists 

 seem to fully under- 

 stand. 



There are two 

 other treasures i n 

 this room. A won- 

 derful window pur- 

 chased in Antwerp, 

 from a house said to 

 have been the home 

 of the great artist 

 Peter Paul Rubens, 

 and a piece of Chi- 

 nese embroidery 

 three feet by six, 

 which was taken 

 from a Chinese 

 temple, and which 

 glows with wonder- 

 ful rich old colors in 

 elaborate designs. 



Of the down stairs 

 bedrooms, the 

 owner's room is the 

 finest, with its hand- The Rubens window in the tearoom 



the right 



bed and a 



marquetry, 



really wonderful writing desk 

 though the other, called "the 

 Dutch room" is very 

 lovely, too. It has 

 painted furniture, 

 from Holland, 

 showing quaint 

 Dutch scenes and 

 maidens with red 

 cheeks and wooden 

 shoes, and has some 

 fine old Delft pot- 

 tery. Mr. Otis, an 

 enthusiast for all 

 beauty, has a par- 

 ticular love for fine 

 old pottery and 

 china, as this Delft, 

 and the fine collec- 

 tion of Staffordshire 

 china in the dining- 

 room, will show. 



Of course, Mr. Otis 

 added a porch. What 

 is home to-day with- 

 out a big veranda? 

 And the garden that 

 he dreamed of came 

 into being, too, and 

 stretches now in front 

 of the house, down 

 to the water, so that 

 one looks out at the 

 Sound across a mass 

 of old time flowers. 



And so "The 

 Homestead" had re- 

 newed its youth. A 



