April, 1906 
AE Rae son OM ES; AND GARDENS 245 
A Spacious Entrance Front Has a Stately Porte-Cochere at the Center 
“Braeview, the Residence of George McNier, Esq. 
Briarcliff, New York 
HE residence of George McNier, Esq., is 
built upon a picturesque site at Briarcliff, 
New York, which is just above Scarboro-on- 
the Hudson. 
The house is well placed upon sloping 
ground, and near the crest of a ridge with an 
elevation of over five hundred feet, commanding extensive 
views of the Hudson River and the surrounding country. The 
house is situated so that it faces the southwest, and the rooms 
are so arranged that nearly 
all of them secure the pre- 
vailing southerly breezes, 
with attractive glimpses of 
the river, and it also secures 
privacy from the public 
road which winds along the 
top of the ridge. 
The architectural treat- 
ment of both the exterior 
and the interior is generally 
of Colonial character. The 
house, which is of frame, 
rests upon a_ foundation 
which is built of local rock- 
faced stone. The exterior 
of the building above is cov- 
ered with clapboards on 
two of the stories, and is 
painted Colonial yellow, 
with the trimmings painted 
white and the blinds green. 
The low-pitched roof is cov- 
ered with shingles and is 
stained in a soft green tone. 
The exposed portions of the 
chimneys, which pierce the 
roof, are faced with buff 
brick. 
The entrance is from the 
porte-cochére placed on the 
southwest side of the house, 
and reached from the drive- 
way, which winds itself from the main road at the north- 
east side of the estate. Upon entering the house, one finds 
oneself in the main hall, which is a central one, and is placed, 
as well as the remainder of the rooms on the first floor, so 
that a maximum of cross ventilation may be obtained; this 
hall and the dining-room have two exposures, and the 
living and billiard-rooms three. An unusual feature of the 
plan is the entrance placed at the northwest side of the 
house, with a wide straight staircase, which serves con- 
veniently for the handling 
of trunks, and at the same 
time permits of, communica- 
tion from the grounds to 
the bedroom floor, inde- 
pendently of the main stair 
hall. 
ihe Sern Ges: 1 or etn 
throughout is of white pine, 
treated with white enamel 
finish, except the mahogany 
finish of the doors, the dark- 
stained oak of the billiard- 
room, and the cypress with 
which the service quarters 
are trimmed. ‘The cornice 
of the main rooms is of 
wood, while the remainder 
is of plaster. 
The walls of the stair- 
case hall are paneled five 
feet in height, and the ceil- 
ing is designed in plaster 
decorated with a simple de- 
sign of intersecting molded 
ribs. The staircase closely 
follows the Colonial model, 
and has twisted 
which are white enameled 
and placed under a mahog- 
any “rail: The 
strings have ornamental 
brackets and fascias. There 
balusters 
outside 
