A glimpse of the wild garden, looking from 
the flower garden along the side of the house 
The house is placed near a front corner of the 54 x 160 ft. lot, but with its entrance 
at one side and its living-rooms at the rear or garden front 
The $5,500 Home of an Architect 
A HOUSE ON A FAIRLY SMALL SUBURBAN LOT NEAR SYRACUSE, N. Y., THAT 
SHOWS INDIVIDUALITY, GOOD TASTE, AND AN ATTRACTIVE GARDEN SETTING 
by Louise Shrimpton 
Photographs by T. B. Boothroyd 
A' 
N interesting combination of 
house and garden, planned 
with regard to the advantages of 
the site, is shown in the home of 
Alfred T. Taylor, architect. Built 
nearly five years ago, the house is 
in a suburb of Syracuse, N. Y., on 
a corner lot 54 x 160 feet. While 
the street in front is uninteresting, 
behind the lot are rolling hills, 
beautiful in summer and winter. 
Neighboring houses face the street, 
with front porches that catch the 
dust of passing traffic. The Tay¬ 
lor house, though the main en¬ 
trance is at the side of the lot, 
really faces the hills, as the porch, 
large living-room and principal 
sleeping-rooms are all at the back, as far from the street as 
possible. The house is placed well to the front of the lot, 
leaving space at the rear for a good-sized garden, entered 
directly from porch and living-room. 
The shingles of the exterior are of California redwood, left 
unstained and weathered to a soft gray tone. The walls are 
covered with wide clapboards having the same weathered gray 
finish. The window and door trim, of cypress, is painted cream 
white, and-the blinds are painted a soft green. Foundations are 
of red brick and the chimney is of the same material. 
The quaint roof lines and architectural detail of the exterior 
suggest an early Colonial cottage or farmhouse type, modified to 
suit modern needs. A noteworthy feature is the main entrance. 
A wide overhang of the roof 
shelters the main entrance 
with recessed doorway, leaded glass side-lights and white pillars 
The tradesmen’s entrance, at the opposite side of the house, has 
a small porch with built-in seat, approached by a separate path 
and a small courtyard. A large porch faces the garden and hills. 
In warm weather it is used as an extension of the living-room, 
and is screened with Japanese awnings and furnished with old 
Colonial chairs and a breakfast table. The trellises placed at 
intervals against the walls form an effective though minor detail 
of the exterior. They are made of strips of ordinary lath, nailed 
together at right angles and covered with vines. 
The flower garden has cost its owners practically nothing, 
since it was started with slips obtained from a deserted farmhouse 
garden discovered on a country road not many miles from the 
Taylor home. Exchanges of slips and seeds with friends have 
supplemented the old-fashioned flowers. The garden plan was 
worked out in connection with the house plan, and has been 
adhered to in general outlines, but in details is changed every 
spring. A wide gravel path leads from the porch steps to the foot 
of the flower garden, where a pergola of rough tree trunks and 
white-painted beams stands, covered with woodbine, wild clematis 
and mountain fringe. Beyond the pergola are brick steps leading 
down to the vegetable garden and children’s playground. At the 
junction of two other garden paths is an arch made of three rough 
tree trunks topped by curved wires and covered with a moon- 
flower vine. On one side of the main garden path are flower beds 
and narrow paths, on the other a wide flower border and grass 
plot. A low stone wall partly encloses the street side of the 
garden. Beyond the sidewalk is a row of shimmering poplar 
trees. Chosen because of their capacity for rapid growth, they 
will gradually be replaced by elms and maples, since they are of 
the American variety which often proves unsatisfactory. In the 
( 9 °) 
