November, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



3i5 



The House of Daniel F. Ginna, Esq 



Plainfield, New Jersey 



iHE house built for Daniel F. Ginna, Esq., 

 at Plainfield, N. J., is designed and carried 

 out in a simple type of the New England 

 Colonial architecture of the Georgian 

 period, and its tall, stately columns and por- 

 tico at the front form the principal char- 

 acteristic of this particular style. The entire outside is cov- 

 ered with clapboards and painted white. The roof, covered 

 with metal, is painted red. The blinds are painted green. 

 The red brick which is used for the underpinning is also 

 used in the chimneys, and both are laid in red mortar. The 

 front of the house is supplanted by a grassed terrace, and 

 the building has a very pleasing setting among a clump of 

 pines and poplars. 



The house has been designed and planned, in every sense 

 of the word, as a home ; the arrangement of the rooms shows 

 this conclusively, for they are large and commodious, and 

 yet perfectly simple and dignified in their treatment and 

 form. The family and private piazza at the side of the 

 house is so designed and located as to afford ample shelter 

 from the sun, and at the same time be swept by the prevailing 

 breezes. At the other side of the house, and as a necessary 

 adjunct, is the porte-cochere, while at the front there is a 

 portico and entrance to the main hall. This hall forms a 

 very interesting entree to the entire general scheme, for, upon 

 entering, a vista is obtained of all the principal rooms of the 



first floor. Is is of considerable length, and in order to 

 break its elongated effect massive beams have been placed in 

 the ceiling at certain distances apart, and the whole sup- 

 ported on Colonial columns and pilasters, forming a colon- 

 naded effect. 



The typical Colonial staircase built in at the end of the 

 hall, and rising from either side to a broad platform, is the 

 principal feature of the hall. The risers, treads and balusters 

 are painted white, and the rail, of mahogany, sweeps down 

 over the newel post, which is formed of a cluster of balusters. 

 Underneath the landing there is an open fireplace, built with 

 pressed brick facings, tiled hearth and a mantel-shelf. 



To the right of the entrance is the reception-room, which 

 is treated in the Empire style, pink, green and white in color, 

 the walls being paneled with silk. 



The library is treated with white enamel paint, and the 

 walls are covered with a soft green texture. The fireplace 

 has a green tile facing and hearth, and a mantel. The 

 billiard-room, which is placed beyond the library, is trimmed 

 with cypress, and is treated with stain in the forest-green 

 effect. It has an open fireplace, built of field stone, with 

 facings of the same, and surmounted by a massive stone shelf. 

 The den at the rear of the library is finished in a Flemish 

 brown, and it has a lavatory and an open fireplace. 



The dining-room, which is placed on the opposite side of 

 the house, is treated in white, while the walls are covered 



The Living-Room 



