On the Choice of Style in Building a House 
CHENONCEAUX FROM THE RIVER 
plane of serious consideration ? This, after all, is 
the thing that is to distinguish his work from that of 
his fellows. 
And how have such of our architects as have 
striven for it, succeeded in making houses interesting 
and beautiful without resorting to the easy trick of 
using a definite historic style. One way of doing it is 
certainly by means of those simple, local materials, 
whose use is so finely and justly praised by Mr. W. L. 
Price, in his admirable article in the October, 1905, 
House and Garden. He has a message for us, 
the essential truth of which we cannot too quickly 
take to heart or put in practice. Nor are we lacking 
in examples of the way to do such work. Mr. Price 
has, himself, built such a house at Wallingford, in 
which the local stone, bearing ruddy stains of the iron 
that is in it, plays the chief role. In the house built 
years ago at Chestnut Hill, by those two splendid men 
and admirable artists, John Stewardson and Walter 
Cope, in whose untimely death American architec¬ 
ture suffered so heavy a loss, we see again a local 
stone, this time the cool grey mica schist, handled in 
traditional ways, but with a freshness and a personal 
note that will make this house last as one of the most 
interesting in Pennsylvania. Even in Elmer Grey’s 
house at Eox Point, Wis., although the use of local 
material is less evident, the simplicity and directness 
of the design make it worthy of consideration with 
the others. Similar qualities of freedom, charm, 
personal expression we see in Wilson Eyre’s house 
in Germantown; but examples might he given by 
the score. 
These things are the true answers to our amateur’s 
question. This is the style, conditioned on local 
materials, vocal of our own time and place; rea¬ 
sonable, appropriate but nameless, that should come 
naturally to us and not as the result of a deliberate 
choice. 
Unfortunately, we use the same word to indicate 
the high degree of excellence in architectural design 
of which I have been speaking, and also to indicate 
a manner of building in vogue in a certain country 
at a certain time. But let us avoid confusion by 
recognizing the fact that while style in its higher 
sense may be present in a work which it is quite 
impossible to tag with an archaeological label, it may 
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