4 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
January, 1914 
magnificent rusticity, fasci- 
nates all who journey to that 
land of romance and olive 
groves. 
The Italian palace or villa 
was built as a setting for life 
during a glorious and cere- 
monious age, and its splendid 
formality of existence is ex- 
pressed quite as eloquently in 
the architecture of the period 
as in the pages of history 
which record the romance of 
the age. 
But equally beautiful, and 
perhaps in a way more inter- 
esting to Americans, is the 
form of architecture known 
as the Georgian style, from 
which our own Colonial ar- 
chitecture is directly descend- 
ed. The great masters of 
English building during the 
eighteenth century planned 
their houses as settings for a 
life somewhat more domestic 
than that which obtained dur- 
ing the days of the Renais- 
sance; great apartments and The marble 
entire suites of formal and stately rooms were still the 
rule, but their grandeur was somewhat softened and their 
stateliness much modified by 
the demands of English so- 
cial customs. 
Georgian architecture be- 
came so identified with Eng- 
lish domestic life and re- 
sponded so exactly to its re- 
quirements that it has always 
held its place in popular fa- 
vor; many old homes which 
were built by the great Geor- 
gian architects themselves 
are yet existing to bear wit- 
ness to their skill. In Eng- 
land, in the cities as well as 
in the country, there has 
never been the incessant tear- 
ing down and building up 
and the consequent oblitera- 
tion of old localities which 
goes on so unceasingly in New 
York. A great English fam- 
ily will for generations oc- 
cupy the same London resi- 
dence and possess intact the 
same country estates, and 
therefore one may wander 
through entire urban or rural 
entrance-hall districts which are full of the 
architecture of centuries ago. In London, particularly, there 
are many localities, old squares or streets, entirely built up 
,1 .rup-xrrmi rtaTitnraiXCTmiTl 1 1 1 1 \Jjw ■ 1 1 H U* *■* 
‘IsVniMlK III 1 Hi . 
The Gothic Room in the Belmont house contains remarkable tapestries and many other treasures of mediaeval art 
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