“Hill Stead” 
THE PARLOR 
and comfortable passage, so necessary in cold 
and stormy weather. This is a characteristic feature 
of the New England country house. The interior 
plan gives a division into a few large square rooms. 
I he hall, in the center, leads to the dining-room, 
which runs through the entire width of the house, 
and has windows looking north and south. The 
stairs, against the wall, are without any turns. Two 
parlors on the right, differing in shape and pro¬ 
portion, are connected by a passage without door 
or portiere. These rooms have a southern outlook 
to the gardens, and a westerly one to the distant 
hills. Two large rooms in the northerly wing are 
devoted to the library. The shelves extend from 
floor to ceiling, and make ample provision for about 
three thousand volumes. Opening out of these 
rooms is Mr. Pope’s office, which has been gained by 
a recent addition to the house. This extension 
also provides a north porch, from which one looks 
over the golf links to an enchanting landscape, term¬ 
inated by a distant line of hills, and has, withal, the 
utmost seclusion. 
One notices with at first a sensation of surprise 
that the finish of these rooms is dark graining on 
pine. Not graining carried to the art of deception 
by a too close imitation of another kind of wood. 
It is frankly a decorative treatment for its own value 
and beauty, the same as it was done in the English 
and Southern houses of this type and period. 1 he 
wall-papers are also in strict uniformity. That in the 
hall is of the “block pattern,“while that upon the 
walls of the parlor bedroom, a charmingly furnished 
room at the rear of the main hall and library, was 
printed for this purpose in England from wood 
blocks, retouched, made more than seventy years 
ago. 
The carpets, in tints of soft brown, were made to 
order after old and appropriate designs. The treat¬ 
ment of the interior finish of pine in the hall and 
parlor is a paint of almost indescribable beauty of 
tint and surface. This result was obtained by a 
subtle blending of colors and a process of final gla¬ 
zing, which gives almost the transparency of surface 
of old Japanese lacquer. 
In the selection of furniture an attempt has been 
made to produce a harmonious result rather than an 
adherence to productions of the period of the house. 
The tables, sofas and chairs have all been chosen 
with a view to chasteness and beauty of design and 
their fitness to the general air of quiet richness and 
