30 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
SMALL CLUBS IN 
TOWN AND COUNTRY 
J. FLETCHER STREET and 
COLLIER STEVENSON 
Sketches by Herbert Pullinger 
A CLUB is not so much a place as it 
is an instrument of service. Its suc¬ 
cess can be gauged by the degree to which 
its purpose is worth while, its underlying 
principles sound and its social intercourse 
contributory to real fellowship. 
Even though the worth of a club cannot 
be measured merely by an edifice, elegant 
in appointment and compelling in architec¬ 
tural treatment, as a matter of both civic 
and proprietary pride a club is justified in 
every effort put forth to acquire a home of 
distinctive character, thoroughly expressive 
of the purpose for which it was created. 
Of our larger clubhouses, we need not 
dwell here at any length. We know that 
their development of late years has so tend¬ 
ed to perfection in all details pertinent to 
material and management, that the average 
large clubhouse of today wonderfully com¬ 
bines the service, the cuisine, the ultra¬ 
convenience of a splendid hostelry with the 
architectural purity and decorative integrity 
of a luxurious mansion. Of our smaller 
clubhouses, the story is, unfortunately, in¬ 
finitely less roseate; for only in the excep¬ 
tional instance is there any exemplification 
of well-directed efforts, either decorative or 
architectural in character. 
Originality and Domesticity 
That our smaller clubhouses should be 
conspicuous merely through not possessing 
the merit of good design or interesting dec¬ 
oration is in itself a reason for regret; but 
it is the more deplorable, because in no 
other type of structure are there greater 
possibilities, less untrammeled opportuni¬ 
Charles Barton Keen, architect 
The Pine Valley Golf Club embodies the architectural perfection of the large club build¬ 
ing and the domesticity so necessary to the small. It is a genuine community adjunct 
to the home 
Magaziner & Totter, architects 
Coin d'Or, one of the little clubs in Phila¬ 
delphia's new-made Bohemia 
By taking full advantage of the site, the architect has placed the social and living side 
of the Pine Valley Clubhouse toward the view, building the terrace where it can com¬ 
mand glimpses of the river 
ties for the development of both interior 
and exterior originality, whether the loca¬ 
tion be urban, suburban or rural. 
Consider first the matter of exterior de¬ 
sign. With propriety, pretentiousness can 
have no part in the architectural develop¬ 
ment of a small clubhouse, however prop¬ 
erly it may pervade clubhouses of greater 
scope. As more than compensation for the 
absence of pretentiousness, it is, however, 
possible and entirely commendable to in¬ 
vest a small clubhouse with the utmost orig¬ 
inality. The product of details all propor¬ 
tionately diminutive in scale, means for the 
building as a whole only a small composi¬ 
tional mass; hence, even marked originality 
could scarcely become overpowering, as it 
might in a structure of more generous di¬ 
mensions and much greater pretentiousness. 
Still another quality latent in clubhouse 
design is domesticity. While it lies within 
the realm of possibility to clothe a large 
clubhouse with that quality, there is less 
likelihood of success attending the effort. 
Homelikeness, therefore, would seem to be 
distinctly a prerogative of the small club¬ 
house—and appropriately so, as the relation 
of the members of a small organization 
one to another is as a rule more intimate 
and “homey” than in a large club. 
Domesticity and originality—if these be 
desirable attributes of our smaller club¬ 
houses, how fortunate is the recent renais¬ 
sance of the log cabin! Not alone for its 
sturdy and dignified external character 
(Continued on page 54) 
