March, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



85 



"Overloch' 



The Country Home of John A. Burnham, Esq., Wenham, Massachusetts 



By Barr Ferree 



iHERE are few more delightful localities 

 than the hills of Wenham. If Mr. Burnham 

 has not chosen the most beautiful hill site 

 of this beautiful region for his home, he has 

 at least been fortunate enough to have se- 

 lected one so beautiful that one may well 

 doubt if it has its equal. The road winds in 

 gentle ascents until the summit is reached. All along there 

 have been delightful side-looks into pleasant woods and across 

 broad waters of Wenham Lake. The latter disappears from 

 view presently, but, when the summit has been reached, lies 

 far below one, in full view of the house, to which, quite 

 naturally, it gives its name. 



The road leads into an open forecourt; at the entrance and 

 the opposite end is a high latticed trellis, the one beyond 

 shielding the kitchen entrance; to the left is the house; to the 

 right a privet hedge, beyond which, at some distance, is the 

 stable, itself a picturesque structure, with its own foreyard 



and a square tower. In the center is an oval plot of grass, 

 with a bed of shrubbery. 



The house, being located on a lofty hill — so lofty, indeed, 

 as to seem to have no rival — is a natural landmark in the 

 landscape for many miles around. It needs, therefore, no 

 great height to emphasize it, and hence its architects, Messrs. 

 Winslow, Wetherill and Bigelow, of Boston, have designed 

 it as a long, low structure, two stories in height, with a low, 

 sloping roof, whose simple dormers proclaim the fact that 

 it is ample enough to house a third story. It is designed in 

 the simplest possible manner, being a plain rectangular build- 

 ing of light gray stucco, the wood trim being throughout 

 painted white, and the shutters pea green. The roof is 

 shingled and left to weather finish. The ornamental and 

 decorative features are limited to the porches. At the cen- 

 ter of the entrance front is a portico, two stories in height, 

 with a pediment above the eaves supported on four Doric 

 columns, a portico quite Greek in feeling and admirably 



A Semicircular Porch, Surmounted by a Great Bay Window, Is the Feature of the North Front 



