October, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



379 



The House Is Built of Gray Stucco with Roof of Green Spanish Tiles 



Notable American Homes 



By Barr Ferree 



The Seaside Home of Philip Lehman, Esq., Deal, New Jersey 



►HERE is but one place in the world where a 

 house without trees has a legitimate reason 

 for its erection, and that is directly upon 

 the seacoast. One should perhaps add upon 

 the Jersey coast, for in some more favored 

 regions both trees and grass grow and 

 flourish almost to the water's edge. The 

 coast of Deal is by no means devoid of trees and herbage, 

 but the former, though coming within what may be called 

 speaking distance of the water, have resolutely and com- 

 pletely refused to flourish immediately at its margin. Mr. 

 Lehman's house is directly on the sea, with magnificent out- 

 looks over the broad Atlantic from every part of its water 

 front, as well as practically from its two ends. It is a superb 

 site of seven acres, as bare of trees as though nature knew 

 not such adornments. Obviously if he would build directly 

 above the ocean he must do without trees. The choice lay 

 between the trees and the water, and those who have seen his 

 charming house know that he made no mistake in ignoring 

 the former and choosing the latter. 



But if trees will not grow on the water's margin at Deal 

 it is fortunate that grass can be made to thrive there, and 

 Mr. Lehman's superb lawns, which cover every inch of his 

 handsome property, are no doubt a special source of pride 

 and satisfaction to him. The grounds are reached through 

 two entrances on Ocean Avenue, each marked with high stone 

 piers, with descending curves to the adjacent bounding wall. 

 The driveways come together within and join in a common 

 circle, from the center of which a single roadway runs to 

 the house. The dignity of this approach is wholly that of 



space and dimension. For the road is broad and long and 

 straight, bordered with grass, and then with a privet hedge, 

 inset in which, at regular intervals, are paneled pedestals of 

 stone, each pair with a stone seat between it. Behind are 

 the lawns, sloping down to the hedge, as they lie at a higher 

 level than the roadbed. 



The house stands at the head of the drive, and practically 

 in the center of the entire property. Just before the house 

 it divides again into two, and sweeps around a central circle, 

 that there may be a proper distribution of vehicles, and an 

 easy approach and egress. The treatment of the circle is 

 immensely dignified and highly effective, and creates a monu- 

 mental frontispiece of an unusually fine character. The 

 double pedestals of the outer road here give way to single 

 pedestals, which are arranged in solemn stateliness around 

 the outer edge. The inner side of the drive, which is, of 

 course, the outer side of the inclosed circle, is incased, above 

 a grassed and ivied border, with a handsome balustrade, 

 standing on a coping. The pedestals are surmounted with 

 decorated vases, and there is a broad flight of steps at the 

 head of the driveway by which the interior may be reached. 

 The inner space contains a great central bed of hydrangeas, 

 and the space without its incircling path is filled with seg- 

 mental beds, box bordered, and planted with small ever- 

 greens whose varying shape and color, each bed being of a 

 single variety, present an agreeable and effective variety. 



The house itself has ample dignity and beauty. It was 

 designed by Mr. John H. Duncan, architect, of New York. 

 It is built of gray stucco with a roof of green Spanish tiles, 

 a color combination that is not only agreeable but character- 



