Practical Talks with Home-builders 
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHOOSING AN ARCHITECTURAL STYLE FOR YOUR HOUSE THAT 
WILL BE IN HARMONY WITH THE SITE AND WITH THE HOMES OF YOUR NEIGHBORS 
by Alexander Buel Trowbridge 
[This is the third of a series of intimate, helpful talks with those who are about to build. The aim is to offer untechnical 
suggestions to prospective home-makers in the hope that many of the usual mistakes and difficulties may be avoided through 
foreknowledge. The talks are written for those of moderate means rather than for those to whom economy is no object.] 
I N the December number of this magazine the superiority 
of Colonial architecture for domestic structures was ably 
argued by an enthusiastic lover of that kind of architecture. In 
the present number an admirer of half-timber houses tells why 
he prefers that kind of design and construction to other forms. 
Enthusiasm for one style in preference to others has long been 
a tendency among architects. It is not intended in this short 
talk to take issue with these individual advocates — their articles 
were written with the idea of clarifying home-builders’ ideas 
regarding style — but to point out how, under certain conditions, 
each is right but that none is correct if he seems to advise the use 
of one style for all cases. 
In choosing a style the external environment and the internal 
equipment should dominate any tendency to follow fashions or 
abstract advice. By environment is meant the character of 
surrounding buildings, if the site be in a somewhat crowded 
suburb; and the nature and contour of the ground as well as the 
character of the trees and foliage, if the site be in the open country. 
Thus, if an owner intends to build on a suburban lot and finds that 
his neighbors have already established a formal atmosphere 
through the use of symmetrical houses of a classic or Colonial 
type, it would indicate better taste not to introduce a jarring 
note by building a picturesque, unsymmetrical house in vivid 
colors. Some owners, without giving careful thought to the 
matter, are inclined to think that something new and original 
in such a community is not only an owner’s right but is what 
would be welcomed by the neighbors. As well expect a com¬ 
munity of typical New Englanders who live and dress quietly, 
to welcome into their midst the family of a Bowery sport. An 
owner should pay some heed to the tastes and the characteristics 
of his neighbors if he intends to become a useful and considerate 
member of his community. If he builds in the open country 
with plenty of land and an abundance of trees, the style should 
be chosen through a study of the most successful houses that have 
been built upon similar sites in this country and in Europe. In 
one instance a quiet white or Quaker gray farmhouse would be 
fitting, while in another, a free composition in cement or half¬ 
timber work would seem the most appropriate. 
While these considerations are of great importance, the 
internal equipment should receive even greater thought. For 
example, an owner possessing Colonial portraits and good Colonial 
furniture should not allow an architect to insist upon a modern 
European house or even a modern cement house. We cannot 
escape the influence of tradition, and, try as we may, it is out of 
the question to place Colonial furniture entirely successfully 
in a house trimmed in oak, cypress, chestnut or any of the popular 
dark finishes which form an important feature of modern country 
houses. Portraits, settles, tables, sideboards, etc., if they are 
worth keeping, should have much to do in determining the 
character of a house interior and its plan. A severely plain 
Colonial portrait looks foolish and ashamed in a Louis XV salon. 
Yet so great has been the desire in some instances to acquire 
ancestral portraits, and at the same time to be in the prevailing 
fashion with respect to style, that similar incongruities have 
been frequent. If the furniture possessed by an owner is not 
really distinguished yet represents a costly outlay, the situation 
is trying and needs courageous action. The house should then 
be designed with regard both to its external environment and its 
future interior equipment. If the owner does not feel like dis¬ 
posing of his furniture at once let the house be designed in harmony 
with furniture of the best type, with the understanding that the 
change in equipment will be made at a more convenient date. 
It would be better to do this and live for a period in the midst 
of inharmonious surroundings than to permit the entire char¬ 
acter of the house to be determined by the costly, inartistic 
furniture. 
There are many owners who have no special fondness for tra¬ 
ditions and who care more for soft tones, strong useful furniture 
and home comforts than for surroundings possessing pedigrees. 
These may as well frankly eschew historic styles and call upon the 
architect to produce an artistic ensemble, in which case he should 
advise in the selection of the entire interior equipment. If such 
an owner settles in a Colonial neighborhood, yet has no intention 
of imitating his neighbors, the proper solution would be a quiet 
cement or stucco house with dignified proportions, formal rather 
than picturesque mass, and with quiet colors. This would not dis¬ 
turb the character of the neighborhood and the interior may be 
worked out in as modern a spirit as the designer may wish to use. 
Sometimes notable results in good color and charm of design may 
be achieved in a house of this sort for the reason that there are 
no hampering traditions, and the great freedom permitted the 
designer serves to stimulate his imagination. 
There is one other point of view which should enter into this 
discussion, namely, the type of garden, if any, which should 
accompany the house. The architect, even if he be not an expert 
horticulturist, can give good advice as to whether a formal or 
an informal garden would fit in well with the type of house decided 
upon. If, on the other hand, the owner is an enthusiast in garden 
work and has made it a study, the architect should find out the 
kind of garden the owner intends to develop so that he may be 
sure that the house will be designed in entire sympathy with it. 
For example, many people care more for the old-fashioned gar¬ 
den of informal shape and semi-wild flowers than for the neatly 
trimmed sophisticated formal type. To the sensitive mind there 
is a vast difference between the sentiments expressed by these two 
widely different types of gardens, and the houses fitting them 
should be fully as different in sentiment. It is of the greatest 
importance that the architect should acquaint himself with the 
various tastes of his clients and it would be a material help to him 
if they would take the initiative and tell him, with entire frankness, 
their tastes in colors, books, pastimes and something of their 
home life. 
After all the most important point is the suitability of the 
home for its owner, though extreme individuality in a design 
must sometimes be curbed by business considerations. If a 
house is to be occupied by people of moderate means it must be 
readily salable, and consequently not too unusual in design to 
meet the needs of an ordinary purchaser. 
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