House and Garden 
AN ALTERNATIVE DESIGN FOR THE FRONT 
used stable on Quince street, south of Spruce 
and east of Twelfth. In olden times Quince 
Street was a roadway leading to the stables 
and carriage houses appertaining to the ad¬ 
jacent dwellings. This more or less inti¬ 
mate connection with aristocracy served to 
distinguish it from the nearby alleys and 
courts, now teeming with the colored popu¬ 
lation of the city. 
The early history of the house itself goes 
back some seventy years. The original struc¬ 
ture, of which now only the walls and roof 
remain, was an Evangelical Lutheran Church. 
The white marble cornerstone, bearing the 
date 1834 and the name “St. Paul’s,” is 
carefully preserved by the present owners 
and is prominently placed in the hallway of 
the Club House. Bereft ot its devotional 
purpose, the building became the property 
of the Hon. John Welsh, who modified its 
ecclesiastical features to the ruder uses of a 
stable. The Club’s purchase of the prop¬ 
erty was from Mr. J. B. Ellison in 1893. 
I hough of the stable many traces now 
remain, there is little to suggest the church 
except the elemental shape and the contour 
of the rafters. Originally the structure set 
back fifteen feet from what is now the build¬ 
ing line. Wooden posts, painted green and 
in a fair state of preservation, still line both 
sides of Quince Street at irregular intervals 
from Spruce Street to the Club House. 
These were undoubtedly placed there before 
the days of curbs, to prevent the vehicles 
from encroaching upon the grass. 
The first plans for alterations after the 
house became the property of the Club are 
dated 1894. The changes then made were 
of the most meager description. The funds 
at the disposal of the building committee 
were small and Mr. Eyre lent himself zeal¬ 
ously to the adaptation of existing features 
to the Club’s immediate needs. The facade 
was left practically unaltered with all of the 
original openings intact. These included 
the double carriage door, a small single door, 
four windows and the entrance to the hay¬ 
loft on the second floor. 
In this original plan the old walls and 
the joists were retained. A heavy girder run¬ 
ning from end to end through the middle of 
the building supported by brick piers was 
added to strengthen the second floor and 
sustain the weight of the dancers. The 
most radical innovation was the huge brick 
fireplace in the north wall of the carriage 
house, which has now become the grill room. 
Back of this room were the three stalls for 
the horses. This space provided a passage¬ 
way to the janitor’s room in the rear and a 
small vestibule which opens upon the yard. 
The hay-loft was readily converted into the 
rehearsing room or auditorium and was pro- 
THE TICKET WINDOW BY MAXFIELD PARRISH 
