May, 1909 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Zope HE interest that one naturally feels in visit- 
MeL in the home of an artist is greatly height- 
BAN ERD) ened by a journey to Mr. Clarke’s beautiful 
; summer home at Lenox, in the Berkshires 
of Western Massachusetts. That the 
house was designed by so individual an 
architect as Mr. Wilson Eyre, of Philadel- 
phia, and the garden by so notable an artist as Mr. Clarke 
himself, is sufficient to stimulate one’s interest to the highest 
pitch; let me say at the outset that the feeling of interest 
with which this house is approached is more than completely 
realized in the actuality. 
“Fernbrook” lies on a hillside at some distance from the 
center of Lenox. The roads and shady lanes that lead up 
to it give a sense of 
aloofness that is de- 
Peeheful. Mr 
Clarke describes his 
dwelling as a simple 
farmhouse, and _ so, 
perhaps, it may 
seem to him. Un- 
pretentious it truly 
is compared with 
some of the summer 
palaces at Lenox, 
but to me it ap- 
peared a very glori- 
fed farmhouse 
indeed, such a one 
as it must be very 
delightful to own, 
and thoroughly 
charming to inhabit 
The entrance 
drive meets the 
outer road quite 
suddenly, without 
gate or mark. It is 
a straight driveway, 
lined with thick bor- 
ders of Rugosa 
roses, and sugar ma- 
ples beyond, with 
great open fields ex- 
tending almost lim- 
itlessly on either 
side. The low, 
white-stuccoed house 
is set upon the west- 
ern edge of the broad 
green plateau. The 
entrance porch is a 
, Homes of American Artists 
By Barr Ferree 
‘* Fernbrook,” the Summer Home of 
Thomas Shields Clarke 
Lenox, Massachusetts 
pointed roofed structure of dark stained wood, with floor 
of red Welsh tile; the whole plentifully overgrown with 
vines of bittersweet and grapes. A wooden bench stands 
on each side. The door frame is recessed in the house wall, 
and the door is of oak, solidly paneled below, with small 
square glass lights above, copied from a celebrated door in 
Venice. On each side is a little rectangular window. The 
planting before the house is chiefly in flower borders 
with great rows of Rugosa roses and flowering annuals. 
The house itself is a low structure of white stucco, with a 
roof of brown shingles. ‘The chimneys are of field stones, 
with red rectangular chimney pots of distinctive form. The 
window frames and blinds are painted green, the blinds be- 
low being solid, with heart-shaped openings in their upper 
parts, while the 
blinds of the second 
story have movable 
slats. At each end 
iS 8 CwlteowU neler 
porch, with  vine- 
covered trellis be- 
yond. ‘The silhou- 
ette of the house is 
distinctly that of 
the mountain that 
rises behind it, and 
it is, in a very true 
way, in entire keep- 
ing with its sur 
roundings. ‘That is 
to say, it is a house 
pre-eminently suited 
to its environment, 
well studied in 
every aspect, indi. 
vidual in design, and 
in all its detail a 
true artist’s house. 
It is exactly the 
kind of a_ house 
suited to this splen- 
did country. 
Being adapted to 
summer use only 
there is no vesti- 
bule, and the visitor 
is ushered from the 
porch directly into 
the hall, which is 
furnished and used 
as a living-room. It 
is a rectangular 
apartment, with a 
