August, 1912 
The old barn before remodeling 
which are often seen outside the windows of old-fashioned 
houses, where the windows come to the floor and there is 
danger of people falling out. This idea was picked up in 
Paris, where discarded iron firebacks are used behind the 
fountains in ghe courtyards to keep the water from splash- 
ing. The faucets come through the iron work in the same 
way. 
ee other things were at hand which had been pre- 
served because they were beautiful or useful, for the family 
had had a vague idea for a long time that they might some- 
time make over this barn, and they had plenty of space in 
which to keep their things. 
When it was finally de- 
cided to try the experiment 
of simplified living, a radical 
move was made, much to the 
disapproval of country neigh- 
bors, who saw no advantage 
in living in a barn. All the 
animals and poultry on the 
place were disposed of. 
Country eggs and country 
milk could be purchased, and 
a horse could be hired. Not 
only did the family need the 
living quarters of the beasts, 
but with their removal a vast 
amount of work and worry 
was eliminated, and if the 
whole family wished to go 
away for a few days there 
were no living things to be 
provided for. This was the 
first step. 
The _ chicken-house has 
now become a workshop, the 
horse’s paddock a vegetable 
garden, the cow-shed a ga- 
rage, the stable a dining- 
room and kitchen, and the 
haylofts are bedrooms. 
After the animals had 
been turned out of their 
apartments, the barn was 
thoroughly cleaned, the great 
brick chimney was built in, 
new floors were put down, 
new doors were cut, the dia- 
mond-paned windows were 
set in, and the whole barn 
was covered with shingles 
Stairway corner of the living-room 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 273 
Are 
? 
g Tih i (t i Pad * ae 
: Bie. ' j 
The house after the transformation 
under which were a layer of builders’ paper and a layer of 
tar paper. Under the great pointed roof, in the main room, 
the shingles, which are green, show through between the 
old, brown rafters, making a pleasing effect of color. These 
shingles are of cypress wood, from the cypress swamps of 
Florida, and are made by hand by the negroes, in their 
leisure time. They are considered the best kind of shingles, 
but the supply is uncertain, because the negroes only make 
them when they have nothing else to do. 
The rooms are panelled on the inside with a series of 
doors set in upside down, so that the larger panelling comes 
at the bottom and gives a 
good wainscot effect. A car- 
load of unstained pine doors 
was sent for, and the girls 
stained them themselves with 
a preparation of walnut 
shells boiled down in water. 
This is a very good stain and 
can be made either light or 
dark. 
The first step in the prob- 
lem of simplified living hay- 
ing been the disposal of the 
animals, the second was the 
reduction of the number of 
rooms to be cared for. The 
house had twelve rooms and 
the barn comfortably accom- 
modates the same family in 
seven. 
The five bedrooms are 
simply but daintily furnished. 
The walls are covered with 
terra cotta builder’s paper 
and the partitions are formed 
of the stained, pine doors. 
There is a stairway from the 
dining-room to the bedrooms 
above and another little stair- 
way comes down into the 
living-room. The two stair- 
ways are connected by a 
small landing, so that the 
bedrooms may be entered 
from either down-stairs 
room. 
The third, and perhaps 
the most important part of 
the plan, was to simplify the 
(Continued on page 295) 
