November, 1909 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
451 
“Pine Haven’ 
The Summer Home of Thomas B. Van Buren, Esgq., at Kennebunkport, Maine 
By Robert Thompson 
HE approach is an introduction to a house, 
and it is so with the summer home of 
Mr. Van Buren’s. It is very happily 
situated in a group of pines, from which 
it gets its name, ‘‘Pine Haven,” and which 
implies a panacea to all ills and creates a 
restful place. 
The house has a stone foundation and underpinning. The 
exterior is covered with shingles, stained a soft brown color, 
and the trimmings are painted bottle-green. The roof is 
1 
oD) 
also covered with shingles 
and stained a moss-green. 
The blinds are painted green. 
The chimneys are built of 
field-stone. The plan is well 
arranged with a view to 
light, air and ventilation. Its 
entrance is placed at the side 
of the house and is well 
balanced by a porte-cochere, 
thus affording an opportunity 
for the placing of all the 
principal rooms on the ocean 
front of the house. 
The hall, trimmed with 
cypress, is stained and fin- 
ished in a dark Flemish- 
brown. The staircase is of 
a simple character and is in 
keeping with its particular 
style. It has a newel post 
formed by a column which 
rises up and supports an 
arched beam. The walls 
have a paneled wainscoting 
and a beamed ceiling. Un- 
derneath the staircase there is 
a toilet-room. ‘To the left of the entrance is the den, which 
is finished with forest-green effect and is provided with a 
paneled seat with cushion upholstered in Turkey-red. The 
walls are covered with crimson burlap. 
The living-room, treated with white enamel paint, has a 
paneled waiscoting four feet in height, above which the 
walls are covered with a tapestry effect, and the whole fin- 
ished with a wooden cornice. ‘The ceiling is divided into 
large panels by massive beams. ‘There is a large fireplace, 
which looks comfortable and inviting, and which is built 
of huge rock-faced stones 
picked up from the shore. 
The hearth is laid with sea- 
green tile and the mantel and 
the paneled over-mantel are 
of the Colonial style. 
The alcove at one end of 
the room, with its paneled 
seat and bookcases built in, 
affords a very quiet retreat 
on a damp summer’s day 
when the east fogs blow in 
from the ocean. 
Off the living-room, and 
also connecting with the hall, 
is the dining-room, well 
lighted and ventilated by 
having windows placed at 
either end of the room, af- 
fording a cooling breeze to 
pass through when the 
weather is warm. It is 
set ok aren 
TARELTRUPOTON ESS CRUE EP ERD 
The living-room fireplace is built of huge rock-faced stones 
