August, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



1 1 1 



3 — A Very Delightful Hall in an American Dwelling House 



the balustrades of the gallery is a questionable expedient. 

 The hanging of embroideries, tapestries or vestments from 

 the galleries of vast halls is often resorted to by the best 

 architects and decorators, but this method of decoration 

 should be used with conservatism. 



But let us rest our eyes and relax the tension of our 

 nerves by a return to the hall in Lancashire. " The poor 

 taste of the rich " is not proverbial in America, however, 

 more than is the good taste of the rich proverbial in 

 England, only English Country Life, from which our illus- 

 tration is taken, looks out not to encourage the poor 

 taste by publishing it, for the influence of pictures is so 

 far-reaching- as to make or unmake a nation. 



4 — Avoid Piano Lamps as a Means of Decoration 



A very delightful hall in an American dwelling house is 

 presented in No. 3, demonstrating the power of a moderate 

 amount of money judiciously employed. There are no harsh 

 contrasts, no scarves, no bric-a-brac, no superfluous ornamen- 

 tation. Compare the lines of the chair in the foreground 

 with those of the Empire chair in No. 2. The Empire furni- 

 ture is a very unaccommodating and trying style, which the 

 decorators, for obvious reasons, do not tell you. Even when 

 its lines are good it should be used sparingly and with great 

 care, but when its lines are ugly, as in the chair in No. 2, you 

 had better confine your Napoleonic enthusiasm to his bi- 

 ographies. Every hall in American Renaissance should have 

 a cornice and wainscot after the manner of what we see in 



5 — One of the Most Dignified of its Class in America 



