44 AMERICAN HOMES 
Front of the interesting stucco house of Mrs. Valentine, at Bay Ridge, 
New York 
necessary to create what might be called a “‘setting.” For 
this reason it should be carefully studied by the homemaker 
who has not a great deal of space to build upon. 
Upon the high ground of Staten Island, G. M. Pinney, 
Esq., has built a charming home, planned by Kirby & Petit, 
architects, New York, who must have 
drawn their inspiration from certain old 
houses built by the early Dutch or Eng- 
lish settlers near Hempstead, Long Is- 
land. ‘These old homes are models of 
austerity and severe dignity, but in the 
Pinney house all of this austere dignity 
seems to have been preserved, with the 
addition of just enough decoration to re- 
lieve its uncompromising exterior. The 
designing has been carefully done, and 
with such fidelity to tradition that it 
pleases without one discordant note. 
The house is of frame, with well-studied 
fenestration and well-planned porches 
and chimneys. One can hardly imagine 
a house of this type being provided with 
an ample array of porches and verandas 
without considerable violence being done 
AND GARDENS 
February, 1912 
The Valentine house is one of the most successful houses of its type on 
Long Island 
between the Atlantic Ocean and New York Bay, and in many 
places affords broad sweeping views across hills and plains 
and bodies of water, and this beautiful house seems to have 
been planned with special fitness to its location. There is 
not a direction toward which its verandas do not afford a view. 
The modern English type of suburban 
house is almost sure to be successful if 
handled with reasonable restraint. The 
home of Alfred Cluthe, Esq., at Glen 
Ridge, New Jersey, is very interesting, 
and there is scarcely a part of the country 
in which such a house would not be suit- 
able. ‘he Cluthe house, D. S. Van Ant- 
werp, architect, Montclair, New Jersey, 
is long and narrow, placed lengthwise 
with the street, which makes it appear to 
the greatest advantage. The walls are 
of stucco, and the roofs are of shingles 
so applied that they present much the ap- 
pearance of thatch. Two wings, one 
containing the kitchen and one a screened 
piazza, are so planned that they extend 
the main building and balance the com- 
position. ‘The trellises at each side and 
to tradition, but here the arrangement is 
over the windows of the main floor agree 
so good that it is happy indeed. ‘The 
floor plans of the Pinney house fulfil 
every promise made by the broad simple 
expression of the outside. Like the old farmhouses from 
which it has been adapted, it is divided by a wide hall with 
an entrance at either end. The main floor is divided into 
reception-room, library, dining-room, and the usual service 
quarters, and the upper floor contains four large bedrooms 
with two baths, and two bed- 
rooms and a bath for the 
maids. One small point of ig 
excellence in design should be ™* 
especially noted. This house 
is so well provided with an 
unusual amount of porch and 
veranda space that to add to 
the wing another porch for 
the servants would be to 
overload the building with 
verandas. The place by 
which the little piazza for 
the servants is modestly 
screened and covered by the 
upper story is so charming 
that it should be emphasized 
here. Staten Island is placed 
btm $asfv 
PLAN FIRST FLOOR 
Floor plans of the Valentine house 
The brick house of Harry H. Gifford, Esq., at Summit, New Jersey 
completely with the character of the 
building, and the ‘‘curves”’ in the cornice 
line offer just the variety required to 
avoid being monotonous. This house would be beautiful 
anywhere, and it represents a type which should be more 
widely employed in suburban building. 
The house of Mrs. Valentine, designed by Messrs. Slee 
and Bryson, architects, Brooklyn, New York, with its stucco 
walls, tiled roofs and arched 
entrance portico, may have 
been inspired by a study of 
some of the old California 
missions. The house is very 
interesting and would be al- 
most as appropriate any- 
where else as at Bay Ridge, 
Long Island, where it is 
located. The use of stucco 
provides a wall of sufficient 
texture to avoid being dull in 
large spaces. A stucco of 
rough gray or yellow is par- 
ticularly successful with white 
painted woodwork, green 
blinds or shutters, and red 
(Continued on page 72) 
