November, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



449 



The Staircase Rises Around the Chimney 



and at almost every step enchanted and delighted with what 

 is before them. It is a true vacation spot, and the houses 

 here are essentially vacation houses in every respect. 



Mr. Crowninshield's house, as will be apparent to every- 



fore, a very convenient, 

 comfortable dwelling that 

 this house makes its appeal, 

 and it does so in a very con- 

 vincing manner. Of lavish 

 ornamentation there is none 

 at all; of special enrichment 

 there is nothing of any sort; 

 but of comfort and conven- 

 ience, of good devices used 

 plainly and simply, of the 

 real home quality there is 

 an abundance and to spare, 

 if indeed these matters can 

 be spared or provided in 

 any overabundance. 



Hence the bare rock top 

 on which the house is 

 perched has been put to a 

 new and quite unheard of 

 use. For many years, no 

 doubt, it seemed as though 

 it were always to be unoccu- 

 pied and never have other 

 fate than a bare rock in the 

 landscape. Modern ingen- 

 uity and the pressure of de- 

 mands for desirable sites 

 changed all this here as it 

 has often changed it else- 

 where. The rock for which 

 no good natural use seemed possible has been transformed 

 into the foundation of a sturdy home. Human life has seized 

 this outpost of nature and put it to a new and admirable use 

 that has transformed its uselessness to positive utility. 



And this has been well done in every way. It seems diffi- 



one who has read the foregoing brief description and exam 

 ined the accompanying photographs, includes not a few cult to better the solution of the very interesting problems 

 special problems of its own. These Mr. Bowditch has solved proposed in the design and construction of this dwelling 

 in a very direct and simple 

 manner, yet with intense in- 

 dividuality. A house built 

 directly on the sea, be its 

 size and cost what it may, 

 has many aspects peculiarly 

 its own. It is not, in short, 

 a country house, but a sea- 

 side house, and the differ- 

 ence is often very great. 



In Mr. Crowninshield's 

 case the proximity to the sea 

 was so close that the lower 

 parts of the house immedi- 

 ately became available for 

 housing the paraphernalia 

 of sea sports. One might, 

 if one choose, consider it a 

 combination dwelling and 

 boat house. This, however, 

 would be quite unfair; for 

 the house-boat quality is en- 

 tirely subordinated, and the 

 structure is a residence, a 

 dwelling pure and simple, 

 in which, as a matter of con- 

 venience, it has been found 

 possible to accommodate 

 certain features not always 

 included in houses, even of 

 seaside location. 



It is as a dwelling, there- The Dining-room Is Finished in Pine, Stained Brown 



