88 AMERICAN 
of light and shadow on the 
walls, one of the chief 
charms of stucco construction. 
The porches and veran- 
das of the Wilmette house 
are so placed that they ex- 
tend the broad horizontal 
dimensions, thus still fur- 
ther emphasizing the 
“spreading” effect of the 
building, an aspect that es- 
pecially characterizes ‘“‘West- 
ern Architecture” in general. 
The architect has placed 
before the house a low ter- 
race and the way in which the 
approach to the dwelling has 
been arranged, so that it is 
thoroughly practical and yet 
not at all in evidence, is one 
of its most interesting points. 
The floor plans are indi- 
cated, as they should be, by 
the exterior. Here, with 
abundance of floor space to 
plan with, a few very large 
rooms have been devised, 
rather than a greater number 
of smaller ones, the result 
being that the interior of the 
house well accords with one’s 
idea of what it should be 
from an external inspection. 
The door at the main entrance opens directly upon a 
square hall from which broad openings invite the visitor 
into the living-room upon the left and into the dining-room 
upon the right. 
At either end of the long vista thus obtained are to 
be found generous casement windows reaching from the 
floor and opening out upon wide verandas, which extend 
the spacious appearance of the premises. 
~The living-room of this house might be called literally 
the heart of the house. It is large and lofty, extending to 
the roof of the dwelling. ‘This living-room has a deep bay- 
window at one end, and a wide and deep fireplace just op- 
posite this. The long, narrow, panel-like windows of the 
bay, with their small 
panes of leaded glass, 
extend almost from 
floor to ceiling and 
bring the living-room 
into very close com- 
munion with the trees 
and shrubbery just 
outside. Small win- 
dows placed closely 
together form a 
frieze just below the 
lofty ceiling and flood 
this beautiful room 
with light and abun- 
dant sunshine. Over 
the deep fireplace, 
and extending  en- 
tirely across this end 
of the room, is a bal- 
cony, made possible, 
of course, by the un- 
usual height of the 
room. The balcony is 
HOMES 
A corner of the spacious, well-lighted living-room 
The dining-room, looking through the reception- and the living-room 
AND GARDENS March, 1912 
reached by a short flight of 
stairs leading from the hall. 
These large and lofty living- 
rooms are becoming increas- 
ingly popular not only in city 
apartments, but also in coun- 
try and suburban homes. 
Their great height makes 
possible many decorative ef- 
fects which could not other- 
wise be had and they are par- 
ticularly adapted for music- 
rooms or living-rooms which 
serve likewise as music- 
rooms, as their height sup- 
plies the space required to 
obtain the best acoustic re- 
sults. The objection is some- 
times made that such rooms 
are not homelike and cannot 
be made to present that do- 
mestic and “cosey’”’ appear- 
ance which is so desired in a 
country or suburban home. 
In this instance the architect 
has certainly overcome this 
objection, for here the large 
floor space and the unusually 
high ceiling have resulted in 
no lack of domestic cheer or 
charm. A living-room in 
Wilmette would hardly be 
complete without a broad 
veranda where one may sit and listen to the roar of the 
waters of old Lake Michigan. The architect has built 
on this house a veranda which is reached directly from the 
living-room, but which is entirely apart from the smaller 
porch which gives the entrance to the house. 
Small windows placed closely together and next the ceil- 
ing occupy two sides of the dining-room. ‘The wall spaces 
just below this frieze of windows afford opportunity for 
the arrangement of dining-room furniture. Below one group 
of these windows a broad shelf is placed and around the 
two sides of the room not occupied by windows there runs 
a frieze which renders the treatment consistent. Here the 
woodwork is of dark oak and furniture of the same wood 
and finish has been in- 
troduced. Two win- 
dows open into a ver- 
anda which is en- 
closed by a high para- 
pet, thus providing an 
out-of-doors dining- 
room, if the owner 
chooses to put it to 
that use. The kitchen 
and the servants’ 
rooms are arranged 
at one corner of the 
house and are sepa- 
rated, of (Compse: 
from the rest of the 
apartments by a pan- 
try which connects 
the kitchen with the 
dining-room and the 
broad veranda men- 
tioned above. 
In most houses 
built upon the single 
Poi 
