September, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



345 



the more so from the prevailing quietness of the whole, and 

 the simplicity with which it is furnished. 



You turn a corner, and presently you are in a long cor- 

 ridor which appropriately bears the name of the gallery. It 

 opens on to the inner court, and is lighted by the three 

 window-doors that forms the chief feature of the latter's 

 south wall. On the opposite side similar windows open into 

 the loggia. Reaching from wing to wing the gallery is a 

 lengthy apartment and is treated, as it really is, as a connect- 

 ing corridor between the two chief rooms of the house. At 

 the far end is a fountain standing in the base of an arched 

 niche, which has been painted by Mr. Bartlett with quaint 

 birds and flowers in a delightfully archaic style that recalls 

 the colorings and designs of the old-time samplers. The 

 room is vaulted with a gentle curve, and at its base, and in 

 narrow bands carried across it, are painted borders of vases, 

 with garlands of fruits and flowers. The woodwork through- 

 out is painted white, and in the deep "displays" of the win- 

 dows, with borders of gray and red, are other quaint de- 

 signs in harmony with the type chosen for the decorations. 



It is but a step from the gallery to the loggia. Here is a 

 broad, spacious apartment, brilliantly lighted by the three 

 great round arched windows of the south front. The walls 

 retain the natural gray color of the plaster, and great square 

 red tiles form the floor. The ceiling is supported on beams 

 of heavy dark oak, and the furniture is white oak and wicker. 



Still another step and one stands on the terrace which 

 forms the great feature of the house on this side. The front 

 here calls for some description, as it is the only regular por- 

 tion of the exterior, and is, in a sense, the real front or facade 

 of the house. The plan is freely expressed in bringing for- 

 ward the two wings in slight projection, leaving the central 

 feature as a true connecting member. In the center of each 

 end is a great rounded window, large enough to contain five 

 separate windows of ample size. Architecturally devoid of 

 ornamental features, these fine strong windows are among 

 the most notable elements of the exterior. 



The loggia itself is formed by three great archways, 

 screened and arched without with trellis work; at the summit 

 the trellises have basket form, painted blue-green, with a 

 molded contents of fruit toned with old gold. The wall be- 

 tween, in its lower part, is covered with squared trellises, 

 which are continued on the end walls, save for the rounded 

 bay windows, and are finished at each corner on the side 

 walls of the house. As for the second story, it offers a suc- 

 cession of regularly disposed windows, paired in the connect- 

 ing wall, single in the end walls. Their shutters give a 

 needed keynote of color, while the flatly sloping roof is with- 

 out the occasional dormer that appears on the court side. 

 The space below the house is filled with a spacious terrace 



covered with grass. It is supported by a cemented wall that 

 serves in a measure as the basement of the front. Then be- 

 low the lower lawns and shrubbery are the waters of the lake, 

 lying blue in its summer's circlet of green. 



The dining-room is at the further end of the gallery as the 

 house is entered. Both in this room, and in the library, 

 which occupies a similar position on the right of the front, 

 the commanding architectural feature is the great rounded 

 window overlooking the lake. Its walls are white and its 

 woodwork is walnut. Between the doors are panels, painted 

 by Mr. Bartlett, with peacocks and motifs from the formal 

 gardens of Italy; trellises, too, and a great central basket of 

 flowers. The wood consoles below each panel are painted 

 blue, and it is contemplated that all the furniture shall, in 

 time, be of the same color. The ceiling is beamed, and 

 from it depend tassel-like fixtures for the electric light. Cata- 

 logue the contents of this apartment as minutely as one may, 

 the chief content of all must remain undescribed ; for how 

 can one describe sheer charm and beauty, or point out the 

 innate quality that a room may have by reason of its propor- 

 tions or its decorations and its overlook? Of this there i? 

 a-plenty, for it is a room to be seen, not viewed through mere 

 words, or even understood from a photgraph. 



And the same is true of the library. The color here is 

 brown, brown of soft and delicate shades and of quite some 

 variety. The woodwork is brown oak, except in the bay, 

 which, as in the dining-room, is completely white. The walls 

 are of the color of champagne, the rug is tan, and the chintz 

 of the curtains is ivory white with flowers and leaves in color. 

 Here alone, of the chief rooms of the house, are some small 

 pictures on the walls. 



Opposite the door that leads to the entrance in the "Dog 

 Trot" is another that admits one to the billiard room. Like 

 all billiard rooms its furnishings are limited to the billiard 

 table and a few chairs. Its walls are lined with stained wood 

 to the ceiling. A great fireplace occupies almost all of one 

 side. It is faced with "raindrop" brick, baked in the sun and 

 exposed to rain and sunshine. The "raindrop" side is turned 

 in exposing the very dark red of the inner surface that de- 

 lightfully harmonizes with the dark tone of the wood. 



A word or two* on the studio. It consists of four parts — 

 a loggia or corridor on the front, behind which is the main 

 studio, flanked on one side by a bedroom and bath and on the 

 other by a smaller studio, which is used for small work or 

 when the artist desires a subdued light. A painted lunette 

 over the door is the chief bit of color in the corridor. The 

 floor is laid in brick in herring-bone panels, and there are a 

 number of decorative and artistic objects in the room. And 

 here, on the threshold of the real art chambers of the house, 

 we may well pause before seeking admittance within. 





