HOUSE AND GARDEN 
November, 
1914 
277 
most of the time? Another excellent feature of such an arrange¬ 
ment is that it effectually demolishes the wretched practice, all 
too common, of neglecting the back of a place on the ground that 
nobody will see it but the tradespeople, anyhow. 
Site and facing disposed of, we come naturally to inspect the 
exterior aspect of the structure. In the first place, it is built 
of the native grey 
mica stone, and 
therein lies the 
first element of its 
success. W h a t- 
ever latitude 
there may be in 
the choice of pos¬ 
sible building ma¬ 
terials — and it is 
at all times pleas¬ 
ant to have a 
choice open to 
one’s discretion — 
it will never be a 
mistake to choose 
the material that 
nature has pro¬ 
vided readiest at 
hand; that is, if 
one regards the 
underlying subtle¬ 
ties of local tradi¬ 
tion and wishes 
the house to ap- 
p e a r indigenous 
to the soil and not 
present a fanci¬ 
ful, exotic aspect. 
The texture of 
cjuarry-faced rub¬ 
ble walls, laid in 
the traditional 
Pennsylvania 
manner that has 
so faithfully pre¬ 
served the spirit 
of Colonial ma¬ 
sonry, is always 
agreeable. A note 
of contrast to the 
vivid green of the 
surroundings has 
been given by ap- 
plying to the 
stone a coat of 
whitewash with 
which a proper 
portion of cement 
has been mixed to 
ensure its dura¬ 
bility. 
The house sits 
down on the ground as it ought. Even the porches, which are on 
a level with the living-room floor, are but two or three inches 
above the level of the lawn. The difficulties presented by the 
slope of the lands have been overcome by making the dining¬ 
room and kitchen three steps above the rest of the first floor. This 
device keeps the intimate contact with the soil all round, permits 
the house to look well rooted, and is not at all inconvenient. From 
the dining-room, wide steps descend to a tile-paved porch on the 
south or to the broad gallery that runs along the west between the 
house-door and the living-room. The ground excavated from the 
hillside for the rear of the house and a part of the lawn has been 
made into a walled terrace in front, on a level with the gallery 
and west rooms. The small English country-house source of in¬ 
spiration is more 
perceptible from 
the west, perhaps, 
than from any 
other point. 
Without being in 
any sense a copy, 
the arrangement 
of the two fore- 
reaching roof 
projections can¬ 
not fail to sug¬ 
gest one of Mr. 
Lutyens’s most 
successful coun¬ 
tryside creations. 
Those who are 
familiar with his 
work will recog¬ 
nize the point of 
resemblance. The 
employment of 
suggested motifs, 
be it remembered, 
is in no sense an 
admission of in¬ 
capacity or lack 
of originality. 
T he best and 
most original 
a r c h i t e c tural 
manifestations 
have resulted 
fro m an inter¬ 
change of inspi¬ 
rations, and the 
adoption and in¬ 
corporation of 
some worthy fea¬ 
ture from an out¬ 
side source are 
evidences of su¬ 
perior discrimina¬ 
tion. Indeed, 
there is no surer 
test of originality 
than the ability to 
adapt and com¬ 
bine successfully 
a variety of ele- 
m ents derived 
from different 
sources. If Mr. 
Lutyens has supplied inspiration to many American architects he 
is also their debtor on the same score. 
At the eaves, the roof has a little flaring kick-up that agreeably 
calls to mind the old Norman and French Canadian farmhouse. 
To allude once more to architectural sources and show how largely 
we are all debtors to the past, Mr. Lutyens, who often uses this 
same device to mollify hard lines, and many of his most able 
The living-room is finished in darkwood and the walls are rough sand-finished and toned. The generous fire¬ 
place, inglenook, and budt-in bookcases are attractive features 
The color scheme in the dining-room is blue and white, and here as much light as possible is afforded by the case¬ 
ment and from the long gallery 
