May, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



165 



HE summer home — a house built and owned 

 expressly for summer use — has become so 

 popular in America that it may quite rightly 

 be classed as a national institution. It is a 

 kind of dwelling that, for a number of years 

 past, has excited the liveliest interest on the 

 part of those able to afford them, and which, in the mean- 

 time, has commanded the best interests of our architects. 

 Nor is the summer 

 home always in- 

 tended for summer 

 use only. The at- 

 tractions of one's 

 own summer home in 

 the country, in the 

 mountains, or on the 

 seashore are so po- 

 tent that the period 

 of occupancy often 

 begins early in the 

 spring, and is ex- 

 tended until the very 

 latest fall. Hence 

 many of these houses 

 are built in such a 

 substantial manner 

 that they are, in re- 

 a 1 i t y, all-the-year- 

 'round residences. 

 While many who 

 build them are satis- 

 fied with small and 

 inexpensive cottages, 

 there is a very large 

 number of summer 

 residents who require 

 complete and elabor- 

 ate houses. 



But whatever the 

 grade of house may 

 be — classifying them 

 by their cost — it is es- 

 sential that they be 

 agreeably environed, 

 built in pleasant lo- 

 calities, and provided 

 with home grounds 

 of their own. Thus 

 the garden, whether 



Mr. Hill's House Is Approached by Stone Steps with Tubs of Blooming Hydrangeas 



it be simple or elaborate, natural or formal, is an essential 

 part of the summer place. The selection of the site, there- 

 fore, is a matter of the first consideration in building the 

 summer home. A good many of the subjects to be con- 

 sidered in this connection are without architectural significa- 

 tion, such as drainage, water supply, dryness of the soil, 

 exposure to the wind, possibilities of waste disposal. All 

 of these are items of the gravest import, few of which can 



be determined by the 

 laymen, and most of 

 which require expert 

 advice of the best 

 kind. The architec- 

 tural problems in- 

 volved are of a dif- 

 ferent kind, the chief 

 esthetic consideration 

 being the advisability 

 of building a house 

 in complete harmony 

 with its environment. 

 The question is, in 

 truth, more than one 

 of advisability, but 

 one of absolute ne- 

 cessity. The sur- 

 roundings and set- 

 ting for a summer 

 home, therefore 

 form a very impor- 

 tant element in the 

 selection of the de- 

 sign. 



In the six sum- 

 mer homes illustrated 

 in this article it is 

 aimed to show an 

 equal number of dis- 

 tinctive designs. 

 They include houses 

 that may be viewed 

 as types of the well 

 equipped summer 

 house, costing up- 

 ward from fifteen 

 hundred dollars. They 

 are thus houses of 

 varying cost adapted 

 to various conditions. 



