June, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



HE house of Mr. James Tolman Pyle at 

 Morristown, N. J., is situated on a hillside 

 that rises quite sharply from the boundary 

 of the property. The ascent is so steep, in 

 fact, that while the house is not far within 

 from the road, it rises high above it in a 

 picturesque mass, a delightful arrangement 

 of gables and porches and high-pitched roofs, serenely aloof 

 in the privacy of its own lofty situation. The roadway up 

 to it passes beneath 

 lofty forest trees^ — 

 for all the space 

 beyond and behind 

 the house is dense- 

 ly wooded — superb- 

 ly bordered with 

 rhododendrons. 



Immediately in 

 front of the house 

 the space has been 

 cleareci for an open 

 forecourt. At either 

 end of the driveway 

 are stout stone piers, 

 surmounted with 

 huge Italian earth- 

 enware vases. A 

 lawn stretches from 

 the road, and on the 

 edge of the plateau 

 is a balustrade be- 

 yond a row of state- 

 ly cedars. The view 

 from here, and, in- 

 deed, from any part 

 of the front of the 

 house, is almost lim- 

 itless in extent, look- 

 ing across valleys 

 and hills to still fur- 

 ther hills in the 

 furthest distance. 



Surely if ever a 

 house demanded pic- 

 turesque treatment 

 in its design it is one 

 situated as this one 

 is. The problem has 

 been adequately met 

 by the architects, 

 McKim, Mead & 

 White, of New 



Two of Nature's Exclamation Points 



York. There is a delightful harmony in what, at first glance, 

 is the apparent disarray of these varied gables, these differ- 

 entiated forms, these terraces and porches, the multiform 

 front, with its servants' wing deflected at an angle, and its 

 recessed final wing on the further end. There is true variety 

 and picturesqueness here, all obtained by perfectly legitimate 

 means, and all harmoniously composed and united in a single 

 design, every part of which has its own story to tell; tells 

 it fearlessly and distinctly, antl yet with perfect regard for 



its immediate neigh- 

 bor and the har- 

 mony of the whole 

 result. 



The house stands 

 upon a somewhat 

 high base, with a 

 broad flight of stone 

 steps leading to the 

 entrance doorway. 

 The terrace there is 

 unroofed, save for 

 a small marquise im- 

 mediately above the 

 door. On either side 

 the base is thickly 

 embedded in shrub- 

 bery; vast masses of 

 forsythia grow here, 

 and later in the 

 season their dense 

 green leaves are en- 

 livened by clumps 

 of golden glow. 

 The shrubbery is no 

 mere screen for the 

 base of the house 

 alone, but is a defi- 

 nite part of the 

 systematic planting 

 which has done so 

 much to improve 

 and beautify these 

 splendid grounds. 



Although the en- 

 trance hall includes 

 a space of some size 

 and is handsomely 

 furnished, it is an 

 entrance hall pure 

 and simple. It is 

 rectangular in form, 

 with a cut-off corner 



