April, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



125 



Notable American Homes 



By Barr Ferree 



" North Farm," the Estate of Howard L. Clark, Esq., Warren, Rhode Island 



N CREATING his estate near Providence, 

 Mr. Howard L. Clark was fortunate 

 enough to obtain, at the outset, a half of 

 the former estate of the late Dr. George 

 R. Hall, a physician who practised medi- 

 cine in China and Japan for some years, and 

 who was the lirst American to send Japanese 

 plants to the United States in considerable quanities. He 

 here lirst planted numerous Japanese trees and shrubs, many 

 of which have since grown to superb maturity. The estate 

 is, indeed, not one of exotic trees, but it contains a number 

 of unusual specimens, and Dr. Hall's interest in trees led 

 him to plant many na- 

 tive ones as well. Mr- 

 Clark, therefore, came 

 immediately into pos- 

 session of much beauti- 

 ful tree-growth which 

 has given his place un- 

 usual charm and inter- 

 est. His first purchase 

 of a half of the Hall 

 property was followed 

 by the purchase of a 

 half of the adjoining 

 farm, so that, all told, 

 his estate now includes 

 ninety acres. 



The outer boundary 

 is a stone wall, man- 

 high, in no way differ- 

 ent from other walls of 

 the neighborhood, save 

 for its greater height 

 and more symmetrical 

 alignment. Without it, 

 to the left of the simple 

 road opening, is a 

 thickly planted row of 

 trees; inside a row of 

 maples, more thickly 

 planted, never thinned, 

 in truth, from their 

 first ingrounding. The 

 present entrance to the 

 grounds is new, and 

 through a brief recess- 

 ing of the outer wall. 



Within, on each side of the driveway, are evergreens some- 

 what widely spaced in grass. To the left is a hedge, with a 

 fine old orchard, and beyond are thickets of trees. To the 

 right is a stone wall inclosing broad open fields. The orchard 

 presently gives way to a forest of young trees, planted by 

 Mr. Clark, which in time will form a dense wood some dis- 

 tance before the house. A turn in the drive brings the house 

 into full view. 



The curiosity which has been whetted by the long entrance- 

 way immediately gives place to delight on reaching this quiet 

 and refined structure. It is a simple rectangular building, 

 with a slightly projected pedimented center. On the left, as 



A Marble Hermes Stands in a Clump of Retinospora 



one faces it, is a loggia; on the right, an arcaded structure 

 that presently discloses itself as the kitchen and service wing. 

 The house is built of Harvard brick, with trimmings of white 

 marble and wood. There is a small entrance porch, sup- 

 ported on Roman Doric columns standing on pedestals and 

 surmounted with a balustrade. Than this there is scarcely 

 an ornamental feature on the entrance front, the other detail 

 — the window frames, the string course between the first and 

 second floors, the simple cornice, and the leaders — being 

 wholly structural and functional in purpose. The opposite 

 front, which overlooks the upper waters of Narragansett 

 Bay, is quite different in design, the windows being arranged 



in bays, and the frames 

 decorated with small 

 columns. Here, in the 

 center, is a recessed 

 porch, decorated in the 

 Pompeiian style, with 

 a floor of cement tiles 

 and painted and decor- 

 ated walls. The loggia 

 and the service wing 

 are also quite distinc- 

 tive in their external 

 treatment ; but the 

 whole of the exterior 

 is entirely harmonious, 

 and the various parts, 

 notwithstanding their 

 separated uses and 

 treatments, have been 

 welded together in an 

 eminently delightful 

 manner. 



The house has no in- 

 closed vestibule, but 

 one enters immediately 

 into a small space, be- 

 yond which are steps 

 to the main hall. The 

 whole space consti- 

 tutes, in fact, a single 

 hall, with two wood 

 columns at the steps to 

 the upper part, with 

 the stairs to the second 

 floor rising to the right 

 and carried across the 

 entrance door. The woodwork here, and throughout the 

 house, is of a most delightful color and texture, being white- 

 wood specially treated with a water walnut stain and wax, a 

 device of the architect of the house, Mr. Charles A. Piatt, of 

 New York. The hall has a high plain wainscot of this wood, 

 with a frieze of yellow and buff. The ceiling is of white 

 plaster, and there are Oriental rugs on the hardwood floor. 

 In the center is a round table from Bologna, of a type char- 

 acteristic of that city. Immediately in face, as one enters, is 

 a glazed door which opens onto the Pompeiian porch on the 

 opposite side of the house. It has olive and drab velvet 

 curtains; on each side is a small square window with thin 



