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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



August, 1906 



Summer Camps 



By Elizabeth L. Gebhard 



LL over this broad land the summer camp 

 is gaining favor. Under the shadow of 

 mighty rocks, in clearings in the heart of 

 dense woods, by mountain streams and along 

 the sea coasts summer camps and lodges have 

 sprung up and multiplied rapidly in a few 



years. Men tired with the strain of business or professional 



life find real rest in these unconventional dwelling places near 



to Nature's heart. Boys and girls seem to return by an unseen 



step into their native element, while the busy housewife, 



if she can not leave all care at home, finds 



at least her burdens simplified in a 



wonderful degree. The com 



plications of the life of 



the twentieth century 



are left far behind 



in camp, and in 



their place is a life 



which touches the 



freedom of the pio- 

 neers without their 



burdens. Building 



and furnishing a 



camp has a charm all 



its own. "First build your 



chimney, and be sure it has a 



good draught; then build your 



house around it" is the dictum of a camp 



lover. Where it is possible, the stones of 



the vicinity are used in the construction of camp chimneys, 



and both without and within the great boulders give a sense 



of solidity to the otherwise light structures. The triangular 



keystone which bears the weight of the curved fire front is 



also the keystone of comfort in the house. When the wind 



blows and the storm rages the logs burning brightly in the 



fireplace give a sense of security and solid comfort. 



Each separate camp has some point of originality in its 



construction or furnishing. A woman with an artistic sense 



has made a veritable bower of beauty of a camp on a New 



York lake. All 



winter she 



watches for 



prints and 



sketches in 



magazines and 



perio d i c a 1 s, 



putting them in 



passe - partout 



frames, till she 



has ample 



adornment for 



the rooms of 



her little cot- 

 tage. Diamond 



paned casement 



windows are 



shaded w i t h 



curtains of 



dotted m u 1 1 ; 



iron bedsteads 



painted white 



have tinted 



Camp Lookout — The Adirondacks 



coverlets, and rugs to match on the hard wood floors. Splint 

 and rattan furniture of the simplest type adds to the fur- 

 nishing, with an ample provision of rocking-chairs for the 

 broad piazza, and one of the daintiest, yet simplest, of sum- 

 mer camps is complete. 



A camp owned by a club differs from this entirely. Here 



every effort is made to omit all details, so entailing no extra 



care on each party occupying the house in turn. A generous 



fireplace in the living-room, a long hospitable dining-room 



table, a sideboard filled with blue dishes, chairs, and 



lockers for each family of the club, is the 



furnishing of the living-room, 



rdiich is only the living-room 



in stormy weather, for 



the piazza and boats 



are the gathering 



places of the camp- 



e r s on sunshiny 



days. 



The bedrooms 

 here have sealed 

 walls of narrow 

 boarding un- 

 adorned, and the white 

 iron beds boast good hair 

 mattresses and red blankets, 

 suggestive of many a good night's 

 rest. The square windows frame a glory 

 of sky and water, hills and woods beyond 

 the art of man. A well stocked kitchen gives warrant of 

 comfort for the inner man. The pictures in this camp are 

 those that hang on memory's wall, of merry-hearted guests 

 and happy weeks of boating, bathing and fishing, and the 

 small boy's enjoyment in an uncounted gathering of frog's 

 hind legs. 



A seashore camp has a picturesque portiere of iridescent 

 sea shells picked up after the tide had rolled great waves 

 upon the beach. Its delicate beauty is charming, and it also 

 suggests a wealth of time in the long summer days. A camp 



in the Adiron- 

 dacks is noted 

 for certain fea- 

 tures of ease 

 and comfort. 

 Wooden plates 

 are always used 

 at the meals, 

 and afterward 

 utilized as fire- 

 wood. Agate- 

 ware cooking 

 dishes are 

 brought from 

 the stove to the 

 table, and in 

 this way much 

 dish washing, 

 that bane of 

 camp life, is 

 saved. This 

 has the 



A Row of Log Camps in the Maine Woods 



camp 



charm of many 



