August, 1909 
above this, and on each side are three great open windows 
that give upon the upper corridor; rich tapestries and ban- 
ners hang over their carved balustrade. Directly in the cen- 
ter of the longer side is the inglenook. The wainscoting 
here is more elaborate than elsewhere, and has somewhat the 
character of a gigantic mantel and fireplace. The opening, 
however, admits to a recess that is projected beyond the main 
wall line, and is a real inglenook, with fireplace and mantel, 
little windows on either side and side seats. The overmantel 
displays a paneled design in Caen stone inlaid with colored 
marbles, and the andirons are superb pieces of chased bronze. 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
290 
Such, in very bald description, are the architectural char- 
acteristics of this splendid room. They alone would excite 
interest and arouse attention, but the contents of the room 
add enormously to its attractiveness. Rare tapestries are 
hung against unoccupied spaces of hall; rich embroideries 
are flung over the upper balustrades; and, above all, are the 
rare and beautiful collection of art works with which the 
room is thronged, its cabinets crowded, its walls and pedestals 
embellished and beautified. Mr. Crocker is the fortunate 
possessor of an exceedingly rare and beautiful collection of 
Japanese and Chinese porcelains, and many of his choicest 
The library ceiling was painted by James Wall Finn 
There is an immense triple window on either side of this 
center-piece. They open upon a terrace paved with red 
brick. On either end, against the projected wings of the 
main building, are loggias in Indiana limestone. There is a 
handsome balustrade enclosing the terrace, on which stand 
a row of orange trees in ample boxes and tubs. Grassed and 
floral terraces descend to lower levels, and beyond is a view 
of entrancing loveliness. 
The ceiling of the hall is directly articulated with the great 
carved screen of the entrance side, its beams resting on carved 
corbels, which are a part of its decorative features. Like the 
screen, the beams are of English oak and, like it, they are en- 
riched with carving. Carved pendants hang from the chief 
points of intersection. The panels are decorated plaster, and 
at each end hangs a massive silver chandelier. 
specimens are used for the embellishment of this chief room 
of his house. The room has not, indeed, anything of the 
character of a museum, yet it contains many a superb piece 
that many a museum might envy and be the richer for pos- 
sessing. One could, in truth, spend days in examining the 
treasures of this American palace, only to leave it with a 
sense of beauties unappreciated and of studies incompleted. 
One other single feature of the hall should be mentioned, 
and that is the large pipe organ that occupies much of the 
end. 
Although the great hall is, in a very true sense, the center 
of the house, the other chief rooms on this floor are quite 
commensurate with it in magnificence of appointments. Ina 
general way the plan of the house is H-shaped; in the center 
is the great hall, flanked with a wing on each end. In the 
