October, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



22. 



house, but what the original architect would have done had 

 he been called upon to design a larger house and one of 

 the dimensions now decided upon. 



This is obviously not only the correct point of view to take, 

 but the only one, and the very admirable way in which the 

 building has been extended is satisfying evidence of its truth. 

 The house has been expanded and extended, therefore, in 

 strict harmony with the older part. The latter is two stories 

 in height, with a low, sloping roof, in the center of which are 

 two large dormers opening immediately above the colonnade, 

 which reaches from end to end of this part. Both the colon- 

 nade and the roof have been omitted in the new parts, which 

 are two stories in height, plainly boarded on the outside, but 

 actually, like the older part, built of brick within, surmounted 

 with a severely molded cornice, above which is a pierced 

 balustrade or parapet. These wings are recessed behind 

 the front wall of the old building, but at the end the final 

 pavilions, with plain corner pilasters and pointed pediments, 

 are brought forward. Not all of this work was done at 

 once, and as a matter of fact neither wing is quite alike, the 

 windows of the second story being below the cornice in one 

 and cutting it in the other. The entire front — and the 

 building is elongated in plan, its depth being somewhat shal- 

 low in comparison with its great frontage — is thoroughly 

 harmonious, than which greater praise could not be given. 



Inside the house the story is somewhat different. The 

 plan of the older part was thoroughly typical of its day, and 

 consisted of a central hall, from which opened four rooms : 

 dining-room and kitchen to the right; two parlors to the 

 left. All of these rooms were small and quite unsuited for 

 the generous hospitality planned for the modernized dwelling 

 and which has since been carried out within it. It was ob- 

 viously necessary to effect a complete transformation of the 

 interior; but, while unavoidable, it was, at the same time, 

 determined to retain the old style and feeling as far as pos- 



sible. It is sufficient to add that the interior restoration has 

 been as fortunate and as successful as that of the exterior. 



The hall, which opens at the further end onto a porch 

 overlooking the garden, retains a number of its original 

 features. The staircase, beyond an arch supported on pan- 

 eled pilasters, is new; but the hand rail is thoroughly Colo- 

 nial in feeling and thoroughly in harmony with the other 

 woodwork. The door frames are decorated with small, 

 carved rosettes and have carved cornices; the superb doors 

 are of solid mahogany. The yellow wall paper and the rugs 

 of deep red laid on the hardwood floor give a distinct charm 

 and gaiety to the hall, with the real quality of a joyous wel- 

 come. 



On the left is the dining-room, completely occupying the 

 space formerly filled by the old parlor and library; the divid- 

 ing wall has been removed and the central beam supported on 

 pairs of columns. The original frieze — a delicately mod- 

 eled band — has survived, and its pattern has been reproduced 

 on the new parts. Architecturally, therefore, the room re- 

 tains the definite character of the period at which the house 

 was built. Most of the mantelpieces in the old house had 

 been more or less defaced before it came into the possession 

 of its present owner; but the new ones have, in each instance, 

 been very charmingly designed in the older style, and are 

 completely in keeping with the rooms in which they stand. 



The dining-room is a green room; the walls hung with 

 green silk, mildly flowered; the window curtains are of green 

 plush; the rug is green. A wainscoting of white wood en- 

 tirely surrounds the base of the walls, and each ceiling of the 

 two parts forms a single square panel, plainly molded. There 

 are two mantels, one for each part of the room, and the walls 

 are hung with prints and photographs, many of them having 

 direct relation to Princeton. A sideboard — seen in the 

 photograph to the right — once stood in the house of Richard 

 Stockton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence, 



" Drumthwacket " — The Dining-Room 



