September, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



363 



quaintnesses and de- 

 lights. Such restor- 

 ation as has been 

 called for has been 

 done with scrupu- 

 lous care and every 

 pains taken to re- 

 tain the primitive 

 characteristics; and 

 if the dooryards and 

 house gardens have 

 required re-creation 

 it can be believed 

 that in their new 

 form and growth 

 the genuine old 

 character has not 

 been lost. These 

 houses are, of 

 course, quite in the 

 minority and need 

 scarcely to be con- 

 sidered in the archi- 

 tectural embellish- 

 ment of this place 

 other than that they 

 afford fine old notes 

 of interest. The 

 modern houses have 

 been built within 

 the last few years, 

 and represent the 

 highest grade of 

 American country 

 houses. The ample 

 area of "Stoke 

 P o g i s" has per- 

 mitted a very con- 

 siderable latitude of 

 distribution in these 

 dwellings, and they 

 have very wisely 

 been spaced apart 

 in such a way as to 

 insure individual 

 distinctiveness to 

 each present struc- 

 ture, and an equal 

 freedom from im- 

 mediate competition 

 and juxtaposition 

 when the denser set- 

 tlement of the fu- 

 ture shall have 

 arrived. 



Everything here 

 is, in fact, conducted 

 on the most liberal 

 scale and in a very 

 broad manner. The 

 individual plots 

 comprise five, ten 

 and fifteen or more 

 acres, so that, if one 

 chooses, one may 

 create a personal 

 park within the gen- 

 eral park. The idea 

 is a fine one, for it 

 prohibits the over- 



" Orchard Lea ": The Hall Fireplace and Stairs 



" Orchard Lea ": The Drawing-room 



" Orchard Lea ": The Dining-room 



crowding of build- 

 ing areas, and per- 

 mits the future 

 development of the 

 park in a very na- 

 tural manner. The 

 area of the place is 

 so large that many 

 more houses than 

 have yet been built 

 could be erected al- 

 most without the 

 knowledge of the 

 present occupants. 



Individuality in 

 house design is quite 

 as essential to the 

 success of an estate 

 of this sort as uni- 

 f o r m i t y in park 

 development. The 

 illustrations which 

 accompany this ar- 

 ticle show how 

 varied and how in- 

 teresting these 

 dwellings are. That 

 most of them — be- 

 fore Mr. Frederick 

 Phillips undertook 

 the work of design- 

 ing himself — we r e 

 designed by Messrs. 

 Baily and Bassetts, 

 architects, of Phila- 

 delphia, is an im- 

 portant and interest- 

 ing fact, but per- 

 haps, after all, 

 secondary to the 

 real individuality of 

 these houses, their 

 difference in scale, in 

 style, in situation, in 

 fine in all matters 

 that help to indi- 

 viduality and dis- 

 tinctiveness in de- 

 sign. B u i 1 d i ng 

 operations carried 

 on under one owner- 

 ship are apt to suffer 

 through duplication 

 and repetition of de- 

 signs; this grave 

 danger has been 

 avoided here in an 

 extremely fortunate 

 and happy manner. 



Here, then, is a 

 series of houses that 

 represent the best in 

 modern domestic ar- 

 chitecture. T h e v 

 do not constitute a 

 group, for they are 

 utterly unrelated, 

 and the mere fact 

 that they had, in the 

 beginning of their 



