June, 1906 AMERTCAN HOMES AND: GARDENS 405 
Scenic Paper on the Walls of the Countess House at East 
Haverhill, Massachusetts 
American home 
should be decorated 
with a paper of this 
type — possibly an 
accurate reproduc- 
tion—over a white 
wooden __wainscot- 
ing. Visitors at the 
Wea me Cortlandt 
House in New York 
will see in the hall 
what can be done in 
the way of preserv- 
ing the good old 
style by means of a 
reproduction of a 
softly colored 
Gobelin tapestry ef- 
fect. 
Louis XV. pat- 
terns are not out of 
keeping with the 
style, and the classic designs of the brothers 
Adam are contemporaneous, but the quaint 
scenic effects reproduced herewith, chiefly 
in “‘graved’’ colorings, are the papers to be 
sought for. 
It is but just to add a word or two of warn- 
ing concerning the use of old patterns in the 
modern house. The old papers were designed 
for old conditions. ‘They were placed on old 
walls in old houses; the furnishings of these 
apartments were, in most cases, contempo- 
raneous with the old-time papers. ‘This is 
the literal and actual condition attending 
their use. 
Modern houses represent conditions wholly 
new and modern. It is difficult to get away 
from the modern idea in any modern house. 
On the other hand, the attraction of old 
things is very real and—though it has little 
to do with the question of merit—very pop- 
ular at the present time. ‘Those of us who 
love old things and have them in our houses 
will not dispute their charm nor need any 
Wall Paper in the Wheelwright House at Newburyport, Massachusetts 
suggestion of their inappropriateness. We 
have these things because they have come 
down to us from some revered ancestor— 
the best reason of all—or because we love 
them and appreciate their beauty. Some, 
no doubt, have them because it is “‘the 
thing” to have them; but these poor folk 
stand in a class by themselves, where they 
may safely be left. 
Meanwhile it is pertinent to point out 
that an old environment is, in a certain 
sense, invaluable and indispensable for old 
things. Objects of beauty are always beau- 
tiful wherever placed and wherever kept; 
but old furniture, old pictures, old orna- 
ments only yield their fullest value of 
beauty and significance in an environment 
that recalls their original habitat. ~The 
value of old papers, even in modern repro- 
ductions, is hence self-evident and immeas- 
urable. 
Old wall papers go as badly with new 
furniture and new rooms as can be imagined. 
The householder 
fascinated by the 
beauty of these old 
creations will do 
well to remember 
this fact. Old wall- 
paper calls for old 
furnishings much 
more loudly than 
the furnishings de- 
mand the old paper. 
But a room _har- 
moniously furnished 
throughout with old 
paper, old furniture, 
old-time rugs on the 
floor, curtains of 
old-time patterns at 
the windows and the 
openings will have a 
charm and_ beauty 
hard to equal. 
A Piece of the Landscape Paper in the Governor Pierce House 
