September, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



159 



the lower walls are thickly overgrown with vines, which, in 

 time, no doubt will completely cover all the stonework. 



Then within. The door at the porte-cochere opens im- 

 mediately into the hall, an immense room, two stories in 

 height, and extending clear through the house to the main 

 door on the terrace. It is lined throughout with oak, the 

 wall surfaces being divided into bays by paneled pilasters : 

 single great arches below, two arches to a bay above. The 

 lower arches are openings to corridors, or recesses, one of 

 which contains a fireplace, and all large enough to serve as 

 ingle-nooks. The upper arches inclose an ambulatory car- 

 ried completely around the hall, adding vastly to the interest 

 of the perspectives seen from below, as well as to the spacious- 

 ness of a room already large in its own proper dimensions. 

 The beamed ceiling is dull red, with borders of brown; the 

 ambulatory ceiling is of solid red. There is no central chan- 

 delier in the hall, which is lighted by side lights. The rug, 



borders of darker hue, embroidered in flat colors. The wain- 

 scot is white wood, as well as the door frame. The curtains 

 are the same material and color as the walls. The furniture 

 is gilt with tapestry covering. The mantel is white marble. 

 It is a small room, lighted by a large baywindow, but very 

 soft and charming in color and in furnishing. 



The dining-room and breakfast-room are practically one 

 apartment, the latter being but an extension of the former. 

 The dining-room opens directly from the passage from the 

 hall, and being used only in the evenings is somewhat dark 

 in comparison with the further portion set apart as a break- 

 fast-room, and used also as a dining-room when the family is 

 small. The woodwork is oak, the walls, hung with red 

 damask, being divided into panels by pilasters, which support 

 a shallow but richly carved frieze. The ceiling is of white 

 plaster, with decorated ribs arranged in an interlacing de- 

 sign. The rug and curtains are red. The fireplace, of stone, 



" Woodcresl " — The Morning- Room 



which covers almost all of the floor, is green, and there is 

 much green furniture. A great, carved table stands in the 

 center, and pots and jars with growing plants are disposed in 

 the corners and at the arches. 



On each side of the hall the central bay opens into a pas- 

 sage, with an arched coffered ceiling, that leads to the other 

 rooms. The walls are paneled throughout. These passages 

 are necessarily dark in the daytime, since they receive light 

 only from the ends and from the doors on the sides ; but 

 great globes of electric lights brilliantly illumine them at 

 night and bring out admirably the well-studied detail with 

 which they are finished. The passage to the left, as one 

 enters from the porte-cochere, leads to the dining-room ; the 

 corresponding passage on the other side is the approach 

 to the library. 



The reception-room is to the right of the passage to the 

 dining-room. The walls are hung with drab silk, with 



is surmounted with an overmantel in relief. The andirons 

 are of bronze carrying standing figures. The room is lighted 

 by brackets applied to the pilasters, and a number of family 

 portraits are hung against the walls. At one end is a superb 

 French cabinet, with a portrait painted on the central panel, 

 and containing a magnificent collection of rare old porcelain 

 and glass. The breakfast-room is practically identical with 

 the dining-room in treatment and in color, but the walls have 

 no pilasters, and the more ample windows make it a much 

 more brilliantly lighted apartment, and one entirely suited 

 to its purpose. A window in the dining-room opens onto a 

 side porch, spacious enough to be used as an outdoor room, 

 and furnished accordingly. It affords many charming 

 glimpses of the surrounding country. 



From the dining-room a door and passage lead im- 

 mediately to the serving-room and pantry, and connect with 

 the kitchen and cellars. The kitchen wing is entirely given 



