52 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 1907 



The House of 

 Norman Ellison, Esq. 



at Merion, Pennsylvania 



By Paul Thurston 



HE house of Norman Ellison, Esq., at Me- 

 rion, Pa., forms an excellent subject for illus- 

 tration. The design is simple with Colonial 

 effects, and the form, while square in its 

 outlines, has many good features, with its 

 entrance porch with seats on either side, its 

 white-painted wooden shutters at the first 

 story, and its combination piazza and pergola ; all of these 

 are admirable features, and form the means by which the 

 square outlines of the building are lost in its treatment. 



The outside walls are built of rock-faced local stone laid in 

 white mortar with wide joints. The trimmings are all painted 

 white. J he roof is covered with shingles, and is left to 

 weather finish a natural silver-gray color. 



The plan is a splendid example of what is termed the mod- 

 ern "up-to-date" house, as a study of the arrangement will 

 reveal. It shows the elimination of the "parlor" by provid- 

 ing as a substitute a large living room, a room fitted up, as is 

 shown in the photographic illustration, with comfortable 

 chairs, attractive tables with lamps, and a large open fireplace, 

 the whole present- 

 ing a place where 

 comfort predomi- 

 inates, and which 

 all may enjoy. This 

 photograph, being 

 taken in summer, 

 shows the furniture 

 covered with 

 chintz, which gives 

 a bright, cheerful 

 tone to the room, 

 and yet is cooling 

 in its effect, doing 

 away with the hot, 

 stuffy upholstery 

 which seems so 

 good and comfort- 

 able in winter, and 

 yet so warm and 

 uncomfortable i n 

 summer. 



This room is 

 trimmed with white 



The Combination Piazza and Pergola Are Agreeable Parts of the Outdoor 



Life of the House 



pine, treated with ivory-white paint. The large open fireplace 

 is built of klinker brick laid with wide mortar joints, and is 

 furnished with a large Colonial mantel. At one side of the 

 fireplace a French window opens on to the porch, which is 

 isolated from the entrance, and in winter is enclosed with 

 glass, forming a sun-room, which is now quite an important 

 feature attached to the modern homes of to-day, with their 

 increased up-to-date requirements. 



Another feature of this plan, which shows a departure from 

 the conventional, is the doing away with the hall and its 

 usual staircase. The space of a hall, as in this case, is saved, 

 and the stairs, while isolated in a way, are conveniently placed. 

 They are separated from the living-room by a broad archway, 

 and are very attractive in their design, with white-painted bal- 

 usters and a mahogany rail. This form of arrangement gives 

 the full breadth of the house to the living uses of the owner 

 of the house. Off this stair hall is the den, for the man of 

 the house, which is trimmed with chestnut and finished in 

 Flemish brown. Indian wall paper and mission furniture 

 complete this room. The conservatory opens from the den, 



and has a cement 

 floor connected 

 with a drain. 



To the left of 

 the entrance is the 

 dining-room, which 

 is furnished with 

 white-painted trim, 

 yellow wall decora- 

 tions; a plate rack 

 extends around the 

 room, above which 

 the wall is finished 

 with a heavy mold- 

 ing. There is a 

 fine old china cabi- 

 net in the corner of 

 the room, and, with 

 the other furniture 

 of mahogany, 

 makes a most at- 

 tractive and de- 

 lightful room. 

 The large but- 



