HOUSE AND GARDEN 
292 
November, 1911 
The interior of the Boke chalet, Piedmont, shows the possibilities of interior decoration along the Swiss lines. 
The redwood of California seems peculiarly adapted for this treatment. Designed by Boke & Maybeck 
that the latter be used to 
some extent as building ma¬ 
terial. Therefore the 
stone chalet is by no means 
a rare or illegitimate type, 
and contrary to the popular 
belief, a chalet is not neces¬ 
sarily a wooden house. But 
the American adaptation of 
Swiss Chalet architecture so 
closely adheres to the popu¬ 
lar conception that we may 
confine ourselves largely to 
this very characteristic sort. 
While on the subject of 
American adaptation, it is 
interesting to note that the 
architects of this country 
seem so thoroughly to have 
understood the motif of 
Swiss architecture. Sim¬ 
plicity, strength, economy 
and picturesque harmony 
with natural surroundings 
mark the chalet in Ameri¬ 
can architecture even more 
perhaps than they do, now¬ 
adays, in Switzerland where 
the bizarre influence of for¬ 
eign builders has added 
■much intricate and fussy 
■elaboration in the trimming 
of houses. For instance, one 
sees on most Swiss houses 
of this and several past gen¬ 
erations, much “ginger- 
lb r e a d ’ ’ ornamentation. 
An interior in the Polk house, San Francisco, which shows a clever 
adaptation of the Swiss sawed-wood balusters. Willis Polk, architect 
Porch roofs, cornices, doors, 
windows, often the entire 
front of a chalet will be en¬ 
crusted with jig-sawn fret, 
grill and scroll work, incor¬ 
porating religious or family 
mottoes, intricate designs 
and every sort of distracting 
embellishment. It reminds 
one not a little of a wonder¬ 
ful wedding cake or one of 
the marvelous performing 
clocks for which Switzerland 
is famous. But under it all 
is the solid worth, the whole¬ 
some, nourishing delicious 
product of the baker’s skill; 
the exact and reliable chron¬ 
ological instrument, the 
house that satisfies body and 
soul. 
It is this underlying theme 
that American architects 
have exemplified in Swiss 
chalet adaptation. And, for 
the most part, the chalet has 
retained its individuality to 
a great extent. A number of 
Western houses are exact 
copies of existing Swiss 
chalets, notably the Reese 
house in Berkeley, Cali¬ 
fornia, which was designed 
by Maybeck & White from a 
small model of the Swiss 
prototype which Reese him¬ 
self broughtacross the ocean. 
It is, as will be seen by ob¬ 
serving the accompanying il¬ 
lustration, of the old block- 
bau style, with protruding 
timbers at the corners. 
Alameda county, which in¬ 
cludes Berkeley, Alameda, 
Piedmont and Oakland, and 
which abounds in hills, fur¬ 
nishes many fine examples 
of Swiss chalet architecture 
and a much larger number 
of less distinctive ones which 
are, nevertheless, of more 
than passing interest and dis¬ 
play quite perceptibly their 
relationship to the architec¬ 
ture of the Tyrol. All of 
these follow the initial style 
more than the later ones, 
probably because the former 
is more original and pictur¬ 
esque than those which came 
after, and also, because the 
redwood of California is pe¬ 
culiarly adaptable to chalet 
building. 
Especially is this true of 
interior furnishing. For in- 
Continued on page 339) 
