November, igo8 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



43i 



The Fireplace of the Living-room 



wainscoting and porcelain fixtures with exposed nickelplated 

 plumbing. There are two rooms, bathroom, and a tank 

 room on the third floor, and the cellar, with a cemented bot- 

 tom, contains a heating apparatus, fuel rooms and cold 

 storage. 



There is a delightful simplicity in this house and very real 

 art, notwithstanding its small size and inherent unobtrusive- 

 ness. It is an attractive little dwelling, and the more inter- 

 esting because of its modesty. More than ordinary art is 

 required in the creation of a small, agreeable house, because 

 such residences are most generally built at small cost, and, 

 often enough, too manifest efforts are made to reduce the 

 cost at the expense of appearance. There is no hint of any- 

 thing of this in Mr. Tasker's charming little cottage. It is 

 not only well built, but it is well designed, and from every 

 external aspect it presents an agreeable form and a pleasant 

 appearance that is immensely taking. 



The house is, therefore, an eminently successful one. It 

 is likewise interesting. The materials 

 of which it is built have been used in 

 a clever, skilful architectural way. 

 The lower story seems quite naturally 

 to be of stone. The roof is quite as 

 naturally of wood, shingled. This 

 leaves a vast gable on the end filled 

 in with wood. These two materials 



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A Glimpse of the Stairs 



are thus used in an entirely natural way, each has its own 

 work to do and each does it in a thoroughly convincing man- 

 ner. There is no sudden break in the material lines, as might 

 have happened had the stone first story been surmounted by 

 an upright story of wood. The gambrel roof has been not 

 only the real solution of the problem, but is actually the 

 salvation of this house. It is natural from basement to peak, 

 from cellar to ridge, and more than this it would be difficult 

 to ask of any house, be it great or small, inexpensive or costly. 



The interior arrangement is equally good. There are but 

 two chief rooms — the living-room and the kitchen. The 

 porch, on one side, naturally adds to the space of the former 

 apartment, since it is available for every outdoor use in the 

 warm months of the summer. To these two rooms is added 

 a quite extensive service suite, consisting, as the plan shows, 

 of a butler's pantry, kitchen and laundry. It is admirable, 

 complete and compact, and leaves absolutely nothing to be 

 desired. On the whole, then, this little dwelling may well 

 be taken as a type of the good, small 

 house. It was built to meet individual 

 needs and to fulfil individual condi- 

 tions. But these are not unusual for 

 a model of its kind. 



Messrs. Mclllvaine & Roberts, of 

 the Land and Title Building, Phila- 

 delphia, Pa., were the architects. 



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