20 AMERICAN HOMES 
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AND GARDENS 
This well-planned house is set upon an elevation which commands superb views in every direction, across field lands, toward mountainous country 
A Brick House of Distinction 
By Henry Norman 
Photographs by T. C. Turner 
NIE most successful examples of domestic 
architecture in America are, perhaps, those 
houses which have been built near the larger 
cities, a success achieved despite the limita- 
tions often set by suburban plots. In the 
present instance under consideration, the 
house designed for Mr. I. Sheldon Tilney, by Messrs. 
Walker and Hazzard, architects, New York, there pre- 
sented to owner and architect alike the opportunity of evolv- 
ing a homelike dwelling unhampered by a cramped area, and 
of working out a house with direct reference to the unusual 
beauty of the locality and its accessibility. When an archi- 
tect is given a commission to plan a country house of these 
proportions, to be erected upon a site that offers an endless 
variety of vista, views across broad fields and mountain foot- 
hills, he finds an inspiration that awakens him to a deep in- 
terest in the problems before him. 
A few years ago the owner of this house acquired a tract of 
some sixty acres in extent, situated at the summit of the first 
range of the Orange Mountains, in New Jersey, but con- 
venient to the main road and easily accessible. In selecting 
the site the fact was borne in mind that it must be suitable 
for a country house along broad and generous lines. There 
is not a lovelier spot in eastern New Jersey than that which 
was chosen, offering as it did a certain ruggedness of scenery 
that was quite unlike that of neighboring sections. The 
acreage chosen, furthermore, had the marked advantage of 
possessing an unusually broad frontage. Therefore, the 
house was placed back some distance from the road and its 
grounds planned to be entered by a long, straight avenue 
lined with trees. While these have yet to attain their 
growth, this avenue even now presents a very lovely appear- 
ance when the foliage is out. Just in front of the house the 
avenue terminates in a broad, sweeping circle, lending to the 
home an effect of old-fashioned dignity. 
The house is of red brick with white joints, a variety 
selected for massing in broad spaces, lending its roughness 
and unevenness of texture to the results of weathering in 
such a manner as to produce a most attractive, velvety sur- 
face in effect. This forms an admirable background for 
such planting as has been begun, and for that which will 
follow, probably, in the course of time. In its lines the 
house is broad and low, with strong emphasis upon the 
roof-lines and cornice. The exterior effect of the fenestra- 
tion is particularly good in the main portion of the house, 
the white trimmings of which form a happy contrast to the 
tone of the brick walls. The entrance-porch is simple and 
elegant in design. Indeed, simplicity is the keynote of the 
design of the house. One notices with satisfaction the re- 
straint that has been shown in the detail throughout the 
