88 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1905 



a bathroom containing a bath of unusual size. The roof 

 of the porte-cochere forms an upper porch connected with 

 this room, and is an agreeable resting place of a hot evening. 

 Another bedroom and bathroom completes the rooms on this 

 side of the main hall, and other rooms of the same kind fill 

 up the space on the north side. 



The third story also contains bedrooms and bathrooms, 

 chiefly available for guests. It has, in addition, two special 

 features of unusual interest. These are a dormitory, as it is 

 called in the nomenclature of the house; a large apartment 

 in which a number of men can find sleeping quarters in 

 crowded times. The other feature is a vast array of closets, 

 devoted to every possible purpose, a housekeeper's delight 

 of unusual extent and an arrangement as novel as it is useful. 



It need hardly be said that a house of this description 

 is provided with every possible convenience for use, and rep- 

 resents the very highest achievement in house building. It 

 is a house whose architectural treatment within is as fine as it 

 is without. Necessarily there can be little relationship be- 

 tween the two. The stately sobriety that characterizes the 

 exterior gives way, as a matter of course, to an enriched and 

 varied interior. Yet a prime essential of all household de- 

 sign, both within and without, is character, which this 

 house has in an exceptional degree. The architects' oppor- 

 tunity here was of a kind to delight the trained and artistic 

 designer, and a very great deal of latitude, and certainly very 

 generous support, was given to the efforts of the Messrs. Day 

 to produce a house that would be at once notable and suc- 

 cessful in its domestic qualities. Their province was not to 



design a " grand " house, but a good one, and they suc- 

 ceeded in this to an eminent degree. 



Like many large houses that of Mr. Bergner is filled with 

 a rich collection of furniture, gathered by the owner, and dis- 

 posed without reference to the architecture of the rooms. A 

 certain amount of incongruity necessarily resulted from this, 

 but so much of the furniture is good in itself, and its very 

 abundance speaks so loudly of good intentions, that the re- 

 sponsibility for it needs only to be noted. 



Like every considerable estate, the property of Mr. Berg- 

 ner contains a number of subsidiary buildings, each necessary 

 to his well-being, and each essential to the living qualities of 

 the dwelling. The house itself is, of course, the most im- 

 portant structure on the estate, the building for which every- 

 thing else was erected, and the center, both literally and 

 almost geographically, of the entire property. These sub- 

 sidiary buildings include a power house, barn, conserva- 

 tories, stable, spring house and a tennis court. The property 

 includes land on both sides of the Wissahickon, which, 

 almost in line with the house, is crossed by a graceful rustic 

 bridge. The glen, of which an illustration is given in the 

 photographs, is a minor stream that runs through the estate, 

 to which it particularly belongs. One need not add that the 

 scenery around this spot is picturesque in a most eminent 

 degree, for the photographs show that as well as photo- 

 graphs can, although the lover of the Wissahickon will 

 loudly proclaim that no mere picture can portray or repro- 

 duce the wild grandeur of that lovely spot and properly 

 convey its delights to those who have not seen it. 



The Residence of Mrs. Lucy B. Chandler 



Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 



|N page 89 is an illustration of a house re- 

 cently built for Mrs. Lucy B. Chandler, at 

 Chestnut Hill, Mass. The design is simple 

 in character, yet interesting in its detail, 

 while it is very pleasingly placed among a 

 group of oaks, which form a good setting 

 for the house. The house rests upon a foundation of split 

 and natural faced local stone. The whole of the exterior of 

 the building is covered with shingles. The body of the house 

 is stained a warm hemlock brown, while the trimmings are 

 painted white. The roof is covered with natural shingles. 

 The doors and blinds are painted bottle green. The chim- 

 neys are of red brick laid in Flemish bond. The entrance 

 is into a vestibule, through which the living-room is 

 reached. 



The living-room is treated with white enamel paint, and 

 has a paneled dado, formed by the placing of a chair rail 

 three feet from the floor, with a plaster base, and the whole 

 painted the same color. There is a baywindow at the front 

 furnished with a seat, and an ornamental staircase with 

 turned posts, balusters three to a tread, and a mahogany rail. 

 The fireplace is built of brick, with facings and a hearth of 

 unglazed tile, and a mantel of Colonial style. 



The den, opening from the living-room, is placed to the 

 left of the entrance; it is trimmed with cypress, which is 

 finished in a soft Flemish brown. It also has a baywindow 

 with seat, and an open fireplace built with brick facings and 

 hearth, and provided with a mantel of Colonial style. 



The dining-room is treated with white enamel paint, and 

 has a wainscoting five feet six inches in height, which is 

 formed by placing moldings on the plaster wall and leaving 

 the plaster to form the panels; the whole is painted white 



with good effect. Above this wainscoting the walls are cov- 

 ered with a tapestry wall decoration. This dining-room has 

 a corner china closet of the Colonial style built in, and an 

 open fireplace with brick facings and hearth, and a Colonial 

 mantel. The china closet between the dining-room and the 

 kitchen separates the two, and precludes any possibility of 

 the kitchen odors permeating the remainder of the house. 

 This china closet, of slight dimensions, is fitted with china 

 cupboards, drawer, dressers, etc. The kitchen is furnished 

 with all the best modern fixtures, a large store pantry, and a 

 lobby large enough to admit an ice box. 



The second story is trimmed with whitewood painted 

 white. This floor contains four bedrooms, seven closets, linen 

 closet and two bathrooms. The latter are furnished with 

 porcelain fixtures and exposed nickelplated plumbing. One of 

 the bedrooms has an open fireplace, and two of them have al- 

 coves. Two bedrooms and a trunk room are on the third 

 floor. The cellar, cemented, contains a heating apparatus, fuel 

 rooms, laundry, etc. The whole house is built in a thoroughly 

 first-class manner, with good material and workmanship, and 

 without any elaborate detail being used in the finish. The 

 hardware which is used through the house is of brass, with 

 glass knobs in the main portion of the house, and white 

 porcelain in the servants' quarters. The floors throughout are 

 of hardwood, best quality of rift hard pine being used in 

 the first story and cull from the same in the second story. 

 There are bells from all the rooms to the kitchen, with an 

 auxiliary bell to the servants' quarters, and also a speaking- 

 tube from the second floor to the kitchen. The house is 

 lighted by gas and electricity. 



Mr. Ernest M. A. Machado, architect, 9 Cornhill, Bos- 

 ton, Mass. 



