November, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



437 



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The Country Seat of Thomas E. Kirby, Esq., Mount Kisco, New York 



By Ralph de Martin 



T IS an eternal truth that a house which is 

 set on a hill can not be hid. The more 

 reason, therefore, that it should have goodly 

 form, be adapted to its particular eminence, 

 and be altogether a pleasing object in the 

 landscape. Convenience and suitability for 

 its occupants is, of course, presupposed. 

 These, however, are matters that appertain to every good 

 house, while if there is ever a house that calls for fine exterior 

 treatment it is the hilltop house, which must be seen, whether 

 one wishes to look at it or not. 



Mr. Kirby's house at Mt. Kisco is one obviously designed 

 to give pleasure to every beholder, as well as comfort and 

 delight to its owner. The latter aspects will be discussed 

 presently; meanwhile it is pertinent to observe that the house, 

 being built a-top a hill, is a conspicuous landmark in its vicin- 

 ity, a very pleasant one to see, and surely a highly agreeable 

 house in which to 

 pass the summer. It 

 is a dwelling that 

 may very well be de- 

 scribed as a good, 

 all-around house. 

 Its beauty is that of 

 structure and sim- 

 plicity. That is to 

 say, it is designed 

 in a simple, straight- 

 forward manner, its 

 architect, Mr. Ken- 

 neth M. Murchison, 

 of New York, con- 

 tenting himself with 

 translating his plan 

 into vigorous eleva- 

 tions, restricting his 

 detail to the neces- 

 sary columns, piers, 

 cornices, and door 

 and window frames, 

 and covering the 

 whole with a roof 

 which, while suffi- 

 c i e n 1 1 y conspic- 

 uous, is obviously 

 just ample enough, 

 and no more, to 

 serve its intended 

 purpose. 



Situated on the 

 summit of a lofty 

 hill, the house is 

 practically the cen- 

 ter of an estate com- 

 prising thirty acres. 

 A part of this has 

 already been given 

 a finished form in 

 ample lawns, vege- 





A Typical Garden Decoration : Bronze Japanese Lantern 



table garden, orchard and other cultivated aspects, while 

 other portions still await, in their native dress of trees and 

 brush, the more deliberate touch of the landscape artist. 

 Meanwhile much has been done. Splendid roads have been 

 laid out, connecting the house with the public highway and 

 with the barns and other outbuildings. All the land in the 

 immediate vicinity of the house has been beautifully grassed, 

 and the house itself quite sufficiently edged with shrubbery. 

 The inevitable tennis court is conveniently at hand and an 

 ample vegetable garden is not far off. There has been no 

 deliberate development of any one form of the gardener's 

 art, but the disposition of some fine Japanese garden lanterns 

 has been made with surprisingly beautiful effect. Standing 

 in solitary state on a surface partly grass, partly rock, with 

 a rich background of trees, they seem to bring with them the 

 real atmosphere of their native land, so thoroughly at home, 

 so Japanesey is their environment. It is not often that these 



garden ornaments 

 are so successfully 

 utilized. Nor should 

 the very novel en- 

 trance to the main 

 driveway be forgot- 

 ten. This consists 

 of two oak posts, 

 surmounted by Jap- 

 anese bronze post 

 finials, the design 

 a frankly literal 

 translation of those 

 used on the posts of 

 the famous Red or 

 "Sacred Bridge," 

 spanning the Daiya- 

 gawa, at Nikko, Ja- 

 pan, erected in 1638 

 and destroyed by a 

 flood in 1903. 



The house is rect- 

 angular in plan, per- 

 haps twice as long 

 as wide. It is amply 

 porched. The main 

 front faces the 

 south, with a spa- 

 cious porch reaching 

 from end to end, 

 and returned across 

 the adjoining west 

 front, where it swells 

 into a semi-circle, or 

 "deck porch," sur- 

 mounted with a sim- 

 ple railed b a 1 u s- 

 trade. The main 

 doorwav, e m p h a- 

 sized by doubling 

 the porch columns, 

 and a balustrade 



