October, AMERICAN 
192 
of course, desirable to have genuine old pieces if one can 
go to that expense, but nowadays all of the good shops 
carry reproductions of the best examples of furniture by 
Chippendale, Hepplewhite and Sherarton. 
ey PLEASANT” ON THE SCHUYLKILL 
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glimpses and only disappear entirely when we look directly 
at them to be assured of their reality. They all form a 
part of this as of any old house, intangible and elusive, to be 
sure, but none the less real. 
So much, then, for the past. Let us look within the 
house as it now is. A spacious hallway as wide as a room 
runs through the house from east to west. In Summer if 
the doors at the ends are open, delightful prospects open 
up in either direction. ‘The detail of classic ornament on 
cornice, pilaster and door trims is wonderfully rich and re- 
markably well preserved. To the north of the hall is the 
great drawing-room, running the full depth of the building, 
with windows looking both east and west. In the middle 
of the north side is a full-throated fireplace, above which 
is an elaborately wrought overmantel in whose central panel 
one instinctively feels that a canvas from the brush of Gains- 
borough or Kneller ought to hang. The door frames, with 
their heavily molded pediments, are exceptional. In fact, 
all the woodwork, both downstairs and up, is richer in elab- 
oration of detail than is usual in our Colonial Georgian. 
The walls of the drawing-room are colored yellow, thus 
making an excellent foil for the white paint of the wood- 
work. To the south of the hall is the dining-room, beau- 
tifully panelled all the way to the ceiling above and on both 
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367 
sides of the fireplace. The kitchen is in the basement. East 
of the dining-room is an L extension from the hall and 
there is a wide, easy, wainscotted staircase, with a balus- 
trade of gracefully turned spindles, ascends to the second 
floor. The hall arrangements above are the same as be- 
low—the L extension for the staircase and the wide central 
passage running from east to west. At the opposite ends 
of the hallway, immediately above the pediments of the 
doors on the floor below, are Palladian es of excel- 
lent proportion and refined detail. South of the hall, and 
directly over the dining-room, is the great bedroom, where 
the wood carving is richer than anywhere else in the house. 
The overmantel is carved with an exuberant wealth of de- 
sign rarely seen, and deeply-tooled acanthus brackets at the 
door heads support ornate lintels and pediments. On the 
north side of the building are two ample chambers, each 
with a spacious corner fireplace. The third floor is reached 
by a narrow staircase built in the walls and hidden from 
view by closet doors at the entrance to one of the bed- 
chambers. Although the third floor rooms are low-ceiled 
with sloping walls and dormer windows, it is said that Ar- 
nold and his lady frequently occupied one of them when 
the number of their guests made it expedient to vacate their 
larger quarters below. 
Whether these old Colonial houses be large or small, 
they all have a message for us. They have a breadth of 
proportion combined with a quiet dignity and honesty of 
purpose that we to-day should do well to cultivate in our 
building. It is gratifying to say that ‘““Mount Pleasant’’ has 
fallen into good hands. The city has entrusted the property 
to an automobile club, ‘“‘La Moviganta Klubo,”’ whose mem- 
bers and officers have spent liberally for intelligent restora- 
tions and repairs. A competent custodian is in charge. 
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An excellent example of a bedroom in the Colonial style 
