August, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



30 r 



The Summer Home of E. C. Richardson, Esq., 



Magnolia, Massachusetts 



By Mary H. Northend 



With Photographs by the Author 



'LARGE white house, Colonial in feature, 

 with colonaded porticoes and broad win- 

 dows, set face to the street, after the man- 

 ner of those fine old mansions, but far back 

 from the publicity and dust of the thorough- 

 fare among trees and wide lawns — such is 

 the summer home of E. C. Richardson, at 

 Magnolia, Mass. One reaches the house retired thus amidst 

 its greenery, after passing up a broad and winding avenue 

 which ends at the side entrance porch. A few broad low 

 steps lead up to the latter, and here one is fain to pause for 

 a moment, and looking back to survey from this vantage 

 ground the beautiful panorama extended below. The rather 

 extensive grounds are defined by a face wall of stone. The 

 wide lawn is 

 smoothly shaven 

 and shows clusters of 

 rhododendrons and 

 shrubs with a few 

 fine trees, just en- 

 ough to shade with- 

 out detracting from 

 the broad view. 

 The garden de- 

 mands a closer ex- 

 amination. 



As just stated, 

 the entrance to the 

 house is through a 

 Colonial porch, 

 with supporting 

 columns of Corin- 

 thian type. Over 

 the door is a win- 

 dow box of scarlet 

 flowering plants. A 

 wide hallway ex- 

 tends inward from 

 the door, with the 

 broad Colonial 

 staircase at its 

 farther end leading 

 up to the second 

 story floor. The 

 apartment is hung 

 with a very heavy 

 paper of old pattern 

 and of the Colonial 

 yellow tone, the old- 

 time effect being in- 

 tensified by white 

 trimmings, and by 

 quaint rush-bot- 

 tomed chairs and a 

 Sheraton sofa. The 

 hall ends in a bil- 

 liard-room of splen- 

 did proportions fin- 

 ished indarkEnglish 

 oak, a brilliant apart- 



A Glimpse of the Dining-room with the Hall Beyond 



The Simply Designed Living-room 



ment and a prominent feature of the house. At the right of 

 the hall is the den, sacred to the use of the master of the 

 house, and on the door is secured a curious sanctuary knocker 

 fashioned after one seen in York, England. Here, as in all 

 parts of the building, a pure Colonial eflect is wrought out 

 both in the arrangement and selection of hangings, furniture 

 and ornaments. 



The dining-room at the rear of the den is a study in beauti- 

 ful architecture. Tapestry hangings and woodwork done in 

 green and white enamel throw into striking and harmonious 

 relief the Corinthian columns which support the fireplace 

 and the exquisitely carved frieze that surrounds the mantel. 

 Ionic columns at another side of the room support boxes of 

 plants, whose perennial luxuriance keeps summer time within 



the home. The 

 chairs found in this 

 apartment are cop- 

 ied after those of 

 Robert Morris, the 

 one-time great finan- 

 cier, and after those 

 which once belonged 

 to Thomas Jeffer- 

 son. 



The living- 

 room, which occu- 

 pies an entire half 

 of the house, is a re- 

 production of the 

 parlor in the Long- 

 fellow house at 

 Portland, Maine. It 

 is a spacious apart- 

 ment, recessed at in- 

 tervals by Corin- 

 thian pillars, which 

 serve to break its 

 great length. At 

 the farther end the 

 effect is further 

 modified by simula- 

 tion of a small li- 

 Low book- 

 in white 

 filled with 

 choice volumes, fur- 

 niture in Dutch blue, 

 and rare and price- 

 less old figure-pieces 

 in the way of odd 

 chairs and tables, 

 are here displayed. 



The chambers are 

 hung with various 

 floral designs both 

 charming and rest- 

 ful to the eye. One 

 in a pattern of 

 svveetpeas is espe- 

 cially noticeable. 



brary. 



cases 



enamel. 



