190 
I hear someone saying, ‘“‘Well, we are not all handy, 
and we cannot always whittle out our own brackets.” No 
one knows really what he can do until he tries, and perhaps 
even this doubter might discover latent possibilities. 
Here is how another moneyless couple achieved success. 
Having been impressed by the beauty of the little home 
they used some of the same ideas, and the first couple felt 
that success was theirs. 
The young man who had been clever enough to whittle 
out his brackets and was glad to be able to help another 
struggling couple, made a pattern for the second young 
man, who was not so clever, 
and who had no time to 
whittle his way. He took 
this pattern to a saw-mill, 
and had the brackets sawed 
out for him; bought the shelf 
boards, and saved much time. 
However, the man who whit- 
tled loved the work, and got 
great pleasure out of it. 
The second young man 
had high ceilings in_ his 
house to bother him. Some 
vandal had bricked up the 
old fireplace, but the white 
framework of the old man- 
tle still was’ there.. The 
woodwork was white and 
the wall paper was almost 
white. Another task even more hopeless was this of mak- 
ing a cosy, homelike room out of such unpromising ma- 
terial. He painted the book shelves white; that was neces- 
sary. But the book covers gave color, and the shelves di- 
viding the great height and lonesome walls, saved the day. 
Here was the good taste of the first young couple passed on. 
The young wife of the second home more than did her 
part in the homemaking. Curtains of scrim were hem- 
stitched, and a drawn-work band put in each. ‘Then side 
curtains of dark green softened the great glare of white. 
A corner-seat with covering of flowered tapestry, a piano, 
a table, and a few good chairs, converted this unpromising 
room into a hospitable, restful, homelike place. 
The dining-room with one row of shelves for special 
dishes was changed by this dividing line into the living- 
room. Simple cheesecloth curtains, stenciled, completed 
the charm of this room with its plain mission furniture 
given them at their wedding. 
I know that the charm of these two homes has been of 
great value to others, even though they were unconscious 
of it, for these homes are both simple and true, and reflect 
the characters of their ae in a aauase of ways. 
| 
A CHESTNUT HILL GARDEN 
(Continued from page 157) 
SE cio afer el [0 fcc fel fo ccc ILO) eg fdemarooo ta fo oncnponco bel [O) fjooogooo fa fadonccffonmo tole) (ORO 
to the flaming burst of color. Geraniums trained on frames 
in the shape of pyramids mark the corners of one square, 
Cassia trees, whose blossoms are the yellowest of all yellow 
things, mark another, at yet other points are swelling bushes 
of Box or damask Roses, brought hither from a former 
home, blooming with unabated vigor and fragrance on 
stocks more than a century old. Scents as well as colors are 
considered in this garden, so we may be sure, if we look, of 
finding old-fashioned spice Pinks, Heliotrope, Mignonette 
and all the rest that bygone generations were wont to put 
in nosegays. 
Passing on a space we glance into the fernery, a wonder- 
ful grotto under glass where rare ferns grow by mossy pools 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
A novel way of serving fruit. 
May, 1912 
with goldfish playing in their depths. Beyond the fernery 
one path leads to the tea-house, a perfect piece of Japanese 
handiwork brought from Tokio, perched amid great firs and 
hemlocks on the brow of a steep hill that frowns down upon 
the Wissahickon at its rock base; the other path brings us to 
the boathouse. To fully know Compton and appreciate its 
varied beauties you must see it from the stream. The 
hither bank, dark with towering evergreens, at one point 
rises abruptly from the water with jagged boulders and 
bare ledges; fat meadows line the farther side and mighty 
trees throw interlacing branches from shore to shore and 
cast a grateful shade. In 
early Spring the ground by 
the boathouse is carpeted 
with myriads of bluebottles 
so intense in color that we 
perforce avert our eyes. It 
makes one feel how provi- 
dential it is that grass is 
green and the sky blue. Per- 
haps, however, if the reverse 
were true we might look 
'heavenward oftener. Not 
far off is the mouth of the 
brook that runs through the 
grounds. It is worth our 
while to retrace its course to 
see the Iris beds and the long 
LE Rose arbor and, beyond, 
See page 192 the Rhododendron thicket. 
But to try to chronicle the delights of Compton brings de- 
spair. At every turn some new surprise awaits the eye, 
whether it be a Calabrian oil jar of witching grace or a ven- 
erable Etruscan urn or the rare tree or shrub in glorious ar- 
ray of blossoms we have never seen before. Rarely beau- 
tiful as Compton is and filled with all manner of wonderful 
things, its charm is many fold increased by the atmosphere 
of sincere hospitality that master and mistress are ever 
careful to maintain. Truly, to use Lord Bacon’s words, 
it is assuredly a place of ‘“‘refreshment to the es of man.” 
EE) LO (a ft ee ft cfc [fot coco fn ccdpooo to Fo) (OM Cae! aS OlezE: 
SMALL HOUSES OF STONE AND STUCCO 
(Continued from page 161) 
for mos ote sce Orn Sia OE See Oe an ST OOS 
to their occupants. ‘They show conclusively how much can 
be accomplished for relatively little money in the way of 
house-building when intelligent effort is applied to the prob- 
lem in hand. 
The house, costing $7,000 illustrated on page 161 and 
designed by McIlvaine E. Roberts, architect, Philadelphia, 
shows a living-room twelve feet by eighteen with a most en- 
gaging inglenook built in an alcove apart from this space, a 
hallway, a dining-room fifteen feet by sixteen, lighted by a 
bow window that throws a considerable additional space into 
the room, a kitchen, a pantry and a laundry. ‘The second 
floor has three bedrooms, a bath and a dressing-room and 
on the third floor there are three bedrooms and a place pro- 
vided for a bathroom. 
In yet another house—and a particularly attractive one 
it is—for $6,700 we find on the first floor a living-room 
extending across the whole front, twenty-four and a half 
feet by fourteen and a half, a dining-room thirteen and a 
half by seventeen, a hall, a pantry, a kitchen and a laundry. 
The second floor has four good bedrooms and a bath and 
the third floor has a large front bedroom, a hall and a 
spacious loft, floored but not plastered. 
From what has been said it is plain to be seen that every- 
thing has been done to make these houses as complete and 
convenient as possible. Indeed, they have many features 
