316 AMERICAN 
be sure, was the most modest 
of buildings and was used as 
a workroom or study, and 
here he prepared the plans 
for the University of Vir- 
ginia, and watched the con- 
struction of what he re- 
garded as the greatest of his 
works. 
In its present form in 
America, the garden house is 
not a Summer house or a tea 
house, although it may ful- 
fill some of the functions of 
both. A Summer house con- 
sists chiefly of a roof and is 
open upon all sides or else 
enclosed or screened by col- 
umns, panels of lattice work 
or growing vines. It is often . i see Ae Se 
placed upon an eminence The kitchen of this garden 
from which an extensive view may be had, and in its more 
elaborate form is sometimes called a “belvedere.” A tea 
house is generally enclosed upon at least three sides with 
material somewhat more substantial than is used for a Sum- 
mer house, and it is usually placed in a garden close to the 
residence or the tennis court, where it is used for the most 
informal of gatherings or for the serving of afternoon tea. 
The garden house is apt to be a building substantially con- 
structed in every way, provided with lighting and heating 
apparatus, and quite as well adapted to study, reading, or 
writing, or any other serious occupation as to the lighter 
and gayer moments which it fulfills its chief purpose in 
serving, and which should be preferably of low height. 
Plan of the garden house 
HOMES AND GARDENS 
house combines beauty with utility 
September, 1912 
The little garden house 
upon the estate of Mr. J. 
Levering Jones, near Phila- 
delphia, is part of an exten- 
sive country place and is 
built to agree both in design 
and construction with the 
other buildings of the estate. 
Its plan suggests at once the 
old manor house which 
Thomas Jefferson built at 
Monticello, for it is broad 
and low, one story in height, 
built of brick, with pillared 
portico and cornices painted 
white and the ends of the 
little building, arranged as 
octagons, give the strongest 
suggestion of all. The main 
front of this little retreat is 
dignified by a row of four 
Doric columns which support a pediment. Within the por- 
tico are three windows, arched and filled with small panes 
of glass in white frames. All of this old-fashioned state- 
liness faces a small formal garden, surrounded by a wall, 
and the plan calls for a precise arrangement of walks and 
flower beds edged with box, with a sundial to mark the 
center of the garden. The door within the portico opens 
directly into a very large room which is called a “play- 
room,” and its arrangement and furnishing suggest that it 
may be a playroom in every sense, not only a place where 
the youthful members of the family may romp and be 
merry, but where, at other times, the older members of 
the household may enjoy the rest and quiet and freedom 
from the cares of the moment, which is the function of a 
“playroom” to provide. A long, low room lighted by seven 
windows is arranged with a huge brick chimney and fire- 
place between two of the windows at one end. The ceiling 
is beamed and everywhere are seats, built-in and cush- 
ioned—many books, easy lounging chairs, a piano and a 
tea-table. Rugs are spread over the hard wood floor, and 
the light which enters through the figured curtains which 
come to the window sills falls upon numerous pieces of old 
brass, much quaint pottery and many small belongings, all 
of which are arranged against walls of rough plaster divided 
into panels by strips of wood stained a dark color. The 
lighting fixtures are silhouettes cut from sheet metal and 
placed within oval bands of metal fitted with electric bulbs. 
The purpose of the playroom calls for a treatment gaily 
informal, for after all the very essence of play is informal- 
ity, and a room should be arranged in keeping with the 
purpose for which it is intended, and objects of great value 
or easily broken might more fittingly be placed somewhere 
else. 
A door at one end of the playroom enters into the most 
complete and fascinating of kitchens, where the treatment is 
so decorative that it may well serve as a model for those 
austere housekeepers, who hold that a kitchen which is prac- 
tical cannot be a room which is also beautiful with a beauty 
suitable to its purpose. ‘The floor is of large dark red 
flags, oblong in shape, and laid in what is sometimes called 
the herring-bone pattern. Walls are of rough plaster of a 
light color and built-in dressers and plate racks are filled 
with china and jars gaily decorated with the crudest and sim- 
plest of colors and designs. The windows are hung with 
w 
_ Dutch curtains of white over their small square panes, and a 
range with hot water boiler is built into an alcove, and the 
space above is hung with stew pans and other cooking uten- 
sils in the enameled ware, which is decorative without being 
at all expensive. A sink is placed between two windows, 
