126 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 1908 



The Whole Exterior Is Trellised from Base to Cornice 



could be had by no other means. The court is rectangular in 

 form, the longest side being parallel to the house. The 

 driveway enters on one of the shorter sides, describes a circle 

 in the center of the court, and passes out on the opposite end 

 to the carriage house and service department. The wall is 

 solidly built of cement, and is unrelieved by ornament save 

 for the simple coping and the stone balls with which the piers 

 are surmounted. But ob- 

 viously a solid wall in such 

 a situation would cut off the 

 view from the whole of the 

 front, and thus destroy one 

 of the very things that 

 makes the place so enjoy- 

 able. Immediately opposite 

 the front door, therefore, 

 the wall is cut completely 

 away, in a broad and ample 

 opening; a spacious grassed 

 path leads out into the ad- 

 joining woodland, which 

 has been cleared in this 

 axial line for the giving of 

 a complete outlook over the 

 view into the far distance 

 that this arrangement dis- 

 closes. Hence this simple, 

 solid wall is an architectural 

 device of exceeding clever- 

 ness; it emphasizes the en- 

 trance front, and its omis- 

 sion on the axis heightens 

 the value of the outlook. 



There can be no doubt of 

 the first impression made by 

 the house: it is that of a 

 long, low structure, with a 

 two-story portico at each 

 end, and unrelieved by pro- 



jections save for the very 

 simple but beautiful door- 

 w a y. The house is, of 

 course, not low; but this 

 effect is obtained by the 

 unbroken length of the 

 fronts, by its being planned 

 as a somewhat long rect- 

 angle; by the continuation 

 of the main roof over the 

 end porticoes; and by the 

 simplicity of the whole ex- 

 t e r i o r design. Let me 

 hasten to add that, as a 

 matter of fact, there is but 

 one end portico here; the 

 other end, that of the ser- 

 vice wing, is walled in, al- 

 though its architectural 

 treatment is identical with 

 the open portico on the 

 right. It may be stated 

 here that the architect and 

 designer of the grounds 

 was Mr. Charles A. Piatt, 

 of New York. 



The house is of w h i t e 

 stucco, wholly covered, on 

 both fronts, with an applied 

 wooden trellis, widely 

 spaced, which gives it a 

 strong individuality of appearance, and which, in time, will 

 be covered with the vines that have already made a good 

 start. The ornamental embellishments are admirably re- 

 stricted and in fine taste. Save for the trellises the walls are 

 unrelieved below the cornice, which is broad, fine, strong 

 and firm. The columns and pilasters of the porticoes are the 

 single embellishments of the ends, except the trellis work and 



A Look Into the Flower Garden 



