June, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



229 



Residence of Henry M. Kneedler, Esq. 



Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania 

 By Walter Williams 



HIE picturesque house illustrated herewith is 

 .v^j an interesting example of the old English 

 type. Mr. Kneedler's house is a successful 

 treatment of that particular style of archi- 

 tecture combined with all the modern re- 

 quirements. The plot upon which it is built 

 rises gradually from the Boulevard in front 

 and forms a very open and attractive site. 



The front of the house is marked by an attractive porch 

 placed at the entrance. A broad terrace, inclosed with a 

 narrow wall, forms a connecting link between the porch and 

 the piazza at the side of the house, which is so isolated that 

 it can serve as a 

 private outdoor din- 

 ing-room for the 

 family. The detail 

 of the porch, the 

 gable ends and win- 

 dows have been ex- 

 ecuted with great 

 care. The main 

 walls of the house 

 and the terrace are 

 built of rock-faced 

 Chestnut Hill stone 

 of a soft gray color, 

 with limestone trim- 

 mings. The gables 

 are beamed, with 

 stucco panels. This 

 half-timber work 

 and all the trim- 

 mings are stained a 

 soft brown. The 

 roof is covered with 

 red slate, harmoniz- 

 ing well with the 

 gray walls and 

 brown trim, and giv- 

 ing a touch of color 

 to them. 



The entrance to 

 the house has a ves- 

 tibule, and beyond 

 this is the hall, 

 which is trimmed 

 with quartered 

 white oak, finished 

 in old English style. 

 It has a paneled 

 wainscoting, above 



English Characteristics Are Well Denned in the Front 



which the walls are covered with a mustard-yellow wall cover- 

 ing. The openings between the hall and the library and 

 dining-room have dull green velour curtains. The ceiling is 

 beamed and ribbed, and the ornamental staircase of quar- 

 tered oak is lighted effectively by a great cluster of leaded 

 glass windows, which shed a soft and pleasant light over 

 both the upper and lower halls. An archway, supported on 

 columns, forms the entrance to the parlor, which is treated 

 in the Louis XV style, with white painted trim and walls 

 decorated with molded panels in old rose and green. An 

 open fireplace has facings and a hearth of Tiffany brick and 

 a mantel of the Louis XV period. The furniture is of the 



same style, and the 

 curtains are of coral 

 pink brocaded silk. 

 The floor is covered 

 with a coral pink 

 rug worked out in a 

 design of green, 

 pink and white. 



The library is 

 trimmed with quar- 

 tered white oak and 

 is finished in old 

 English. It has a 

 paneled wainscoting 

 and bookcases built 

 in, above which the 

 walls are covered 

 with a dull crimson 

 burlap. The ceiling 

 is beamed; there is 

 a paneled seat in the 

 bay windo w, an 

 open fireplace fin- 

 ished with mottled 

 green tiled facings, 

 and a hearth and 

 mantel of English 

 character. 



The dining-room, 

 which is on the left 

 of the hall, is a 

 handsome r o o m, 

 and its white 

 enameled and 

 painted trim, with 

 i t s ivory white 

 painted strips, with 

 which the walls are 

 covered, is quite a 



