AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



January, 1910 



ions of two-toned red velvet. The furniture is, for the 

 most part, antique, with coverings of old red \el\et. 



Immediately within the corridor, as one enters it from 

 the inner vestibule, is a recess or alcove containing the stairs 

 to the second floor. The stairs are of oak, with oak rail 

 and balusters, and are covered with an Oriental rug. At 

 the head of the first flight the stairs are returned in a bal- 

 cony above a door that opens onto the outer terrace. The 

 ascending wall is thronged with paintings, and on the op- 

 posite side, on the main floor, is a great cabinet of black 

 oak elaborately carved and giving room for a collection of 

 rare porcelains which are family heirlooms. 



The first door in the corridor admits to the drawing- 

 room; a splendid Chinese vase stands on either side of the 

 opening. It is a 

 room beautifully 

 light in tone, with a 

 low white wainscot 

 — and upper walls 

 finished in cream 

 with a gold pattern. 

 The ceiling has a 

 geometrical pattern 

 in white plaster 

 with a plain cor- 

 nice. The windows 

 have small white 

 sash curtains with 

 inner cloud cur- 

 tains. The furni- 

 ture covering is, 

 for the most part, 

 of brocade, light 

 toned grounds with 

 flowers. The man- 

 tel is wood with 

 Siena marble fac- 

 ings, polished Siena 

 marble hearth, and 

 lining of Harvard 

 brick. The fire 

 tools are gilt, as 

 are the side light 

 fixtures applied to 

 the walls. The floor 

 rugs comprise many 

 rare and precious 

 weaves. The room 

 is somewhat irregu- 

 lar in shape, being 

 rectangular with a 

 bay window or con- 

 servatory jutting 

 out at one end of 

 the longer outer 

 side, a structure 

 that happens to be in the precise centre of the terrace front. 



At the end of the corridor is Dr. Douglas's study. It is 

 a modest little apartment, the woodwork oak, with Flemish 

 finish, the paper in two-toned maroon, the ceiling plainly 

 plastered, the mantel of wood, inset with red tiles, with 

 hearth of the same; the furniture, chiefly family heirlooms; 

 the curtains red damask. There is a small bay window in 

 front, whose position corresponds to the entrance doorway 

 at the outer end of the house. There is a special collection 

 of rare books in the old-fashioned bookcase that fills the 

 larger part of one side. 



The library fills the corner of the house between the 

 drawing room and Dr. Douglas's study, and is a stately 

 apartment of very elegant simplicity. The lower part of 



On the grassed terrace 



most of the walls is surrounded with bookcases, above 

 which they are hung in green. The wood work is oak. The 

 wood mantel, on which is carved a sentence from Marcus 

 Aurelius, "Live as on a mountain," and which is peculiarly 

 appropriate to this house, has fireplace facings and hearth 

 of sandstone. The windows have thin sash curtains under 

 inner curtains of sage green. At one end of one side is a 

 bay window overlooking the forest without, and adjoining 

 is a sun-room, built between the library and study. There 

 are many interesting works of art in the library, including 

 Japanese bronzes, rare engravings and Roman marbles. 



There remains to be said a few words on the dining- 

 room. This is located quite at the other end of the house, 

 and may be entered directly from the inner vestibule. It is 



panelled in oak 

 throughout, very 

 dark in tone, and is 

 a sumptuous room, 

 quite in keeping 

 with the general 

 character of the 

 chief rooms of the 

 house. 



It is no dispar- 

 agement to Dr. 

 Douglas's splendid 

 mansion to affirm 

 that interesting as 

 the house is, the 

 gardens and 

 grounds, the forest, 

 the hills and val- 

 leys, the walks and 

 open spaces are by 

 far the most attrac- 

 tive portions of his 

 fine estate. It is 

 for these, indeed, 

 that he lives here, 

 and much loving 

 care, and great 

 taste have gone to 

 the creating of out- 

 ward beauty. One 

 should immediately 

 add that the crea- 

 tion of outward 

 beauty was quite 

 unnecessary here, 

 nor has it in a lit- 

 eral sense, been 

 done; for there is 

 so much natural 

 beauty, so many 

 lovely outlooks, so 

 much native wild- 

 ness, that one had but to take advantage of the natural 

 situation, to guide what nature herself was doing rather 

 than to determine it, to realize results quite stupendously 

 beautiful. This, indeed, is precisely what Dr. Douglas has 

 done, but it would be a mistake to hint that his labors have 

 been slight. As a matter of fact the exterior work has been 

 immense, but all along natural lines, and with the funda- 

 mental purpose of utilizing, in the most beautiful way, what 

 nature herself had accomplished. 



There is, therefore, a whole series of gardens and a 

 beautiful succession of outward adornments that make this 

 place one of very extraordinary beauty and interest. Just 

 without the house, between the wings containing the dining- 

 room on one end and the library on the other, is a terrace, 



