September, 1909 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
A summer cottage of wood painted white, with green blinds, set in artistic shrubbery 
Notable American Homes 
By Barr Ferree 
‘Firenze Cottage,” the Summer Home of Daniel Guggenheim, Esq., Elberon, New Jersey 
HERE is an abundance of interest at 
@ “Firenze Cottage,” a fine house, splendid 
grounds, an immense assemblage of flowers 
and plants, a grotto so large and extensive 
that it might well be called unique. One 
does not grasp all these items at once, for 
the property is a considerable one, and has 
been laid out and developed in such a way that the very 
utmost use is made of every part of it. Moreover, the 
various external features are quite well separated; each part 
is distinct in itself, with a convincing character of separate- 
ness; yet each part is manifestly a portion of a single whole, 
in which each individual element makes its own contribution 
to the final effect. 
“Firenze Cottage” does not directly overlook the ocean; 
that is to say, it is on the land side of Ocean Avenue. But 
the space opposite is practically bare of buildings, and the 
ocean is not, therefore, hidden from the entrance front. The 
general external character presented to the passer-by is one 
of distinguished charm. The house is placed well back, with 
a spacious lawn before it. It is somewhat irregularly bor- 
dered with evergreens, and all around the outer borders, on 
the two sides, and within the bounding wall, closing the 
entire front area as seen from the entrance porch, is a thick 
planting of trees, shrubs and plants, the cannas being par- 
ticularly notable among the last. It is a splendid enclosure, 
brilliant and dense, giving the place within a distinct separa- 
tion from the surrounding properties, and affording the 
spectator without many a pleasurable glance at the beauty of 
this embowered lawn. 
The front of the house shows two wings with a connecting 
center. Its length is increased by two outer porches, one at 
each end; one serves as the porte-cochere; the other, as a tea- 
room. Both house and porches have broadly projecting 
cornices, which form a distinctive feature of their design; 
those of the house are supported on large brackets, those of 
the others, by medallions. The whole of the front is con- 
tained within a terrace, surmounted with a balustrade; at 
the entrance steps are two seated lions holding shields. 
Within is a porch, filling the space between the:two wings, 
a porch of coupled columns and a simple balustrade which 
encloses the upper platform. ‘The windows of the upper 
story extend into the broad cornice which crowns the house, 
and above are the sloping roofs, sharply inclined, with low 
dormers in the center, and giving an agreeable silhouette 
and finish to the whole design. 
The main hall is entered directly from the porch with- 
out the intervention of a vestibule, for this is, of course, a 
summer home, not used in the winter months. It is an 
immense room in the Pompeiian style, much the largest 
room in the house, and an apartment superbly hospitable in 
dimensions. A row of, coupled Roman Ionic columns across 
the farther side divides it into two unequal parts, the larger 
of which is nearer the doorway, while the narrower portion 
has somewhat the character of a corridor. It is, however, 
an essential part of the hall, all of which is decorated in a 
harmonious style. The walls have channeled pilasters cor- 
responding in style to the columns. The base is painted as 
a dark dado, above which is a Pompeiian decoration in color. 
The cornice is white, picked out with light green, and the 
light blue ceiling is without decoration. The bases of the 
columns and pilasters are Pompeiian red and the channels 
white and green. The floor is of white marble with a border 
in colored marbles; it is partly covered with rugs and skins. 
The mantel is directly in face of the entrance door, and 
is in the corridor-like division of the hall. It is of yellow 
marble, with green and yellow mosaic facings. On the key- 
stone is an antique grotesque bronze masque. The andirons 
are green bronze. ‘The furniture is modeled after Pom- 
peiian designs, with frames of wood, painted white, and 
