32 
House & Garden 
The entrance is simple in its 
classical lines, chaste and digni¬ 
fied in its adornment. It is mere¬ 
ly an angular pediment supported 
by plain pilasters over a semi¬ 
colored door. It can he of wood 
or stone and painted deep cream. 
A semi-circular brick step before 
it adds a touch of color 
Jt U/ 
A LESSER FRENCH CHATEAU FOR 
THE AMERICAN COUNTRYSIDE 
Designed for HOUSE & GARDEN 
By EUGENE J. LANG 
The success of this house depends upon The same care about detail must be used 
the exactness of its detail. The sketch to in the finish of icindows. These and the 
the left shows the dentils and corner of entrance are practically the only decora- 
the pediment tive detail on the house 
T HIS small country house designed to be 
suitable for the readers of House & Garden 
reverts to its prototypes, the lovely little 
French chateaux in Blois and Tours. It is not 
wholly impossible that the general design of these 
can be transported bodily to the American suburb. 
That is the spirit and design of the house on the 
opposite page. The only limitation was to make it 
cost between $8,000 and $9,000. It can safely be 
constructed between these figures. 
It will be noted that the main rooms are ar¬ 
ranged to face the rear, overlooking the garden 
and commanding the best view and exposure. The 
elevation shown here is the front view. 
T HE walls are stucco over wire lath and studs. 
Stone or poured cement can form the founda¬ 
tion and the roof should preferably be slate. The 
stucco can also be applied to the hollow tile, but 
in the interests of economy a wire lath foundation 
has been chosen. The stucco can be painted a 
natural gray; the exterior woodwork, including 
the blinds, a deep contrasting cream. As the gray 
weathers it will tone the walls into a pleasing, 
unobtrusive color. There is but little exterior 
detail to the house, but what there is of it—the 
entrance and windows—should be carefully 
executed. 
W HILE the plan of the house is simple, it has 
some pleasing features that make it comfor¬ 
table and convenient. You enter through a vesti¬ 
bule ; to the right is a little coat closet. Beyond 
is the stair hall, one end of which opens to the 
living room, the other to the pantry, giving easy 
access to the entrance door. The stairs begin near 
the pantry wall. A long casement window, 
stretching a story and a half, admirably lights 
both the lower and upper halls. 
At one end of the house is the living room. A 
fireplace is on one side. The windows face three 
exposures, two of them looking over the garden 
to the rear. Back of the stair hall and reached 
through doors from the living room, hall and pan¬ 
try, lies the dining room. It commands the ter¬ 
race on which it opens through two French doors. 
A little library is tucked away in one corner; the 
kitchen is in front of it. Outside in an ell, stairs 
lead down to the cellar and to the service 
entrance. 
Upstairs are three chambers, three baths and a 
study. The stair hall is practically another room 
with the great light from the long window. In the 
interest of economy a separate service stairs has 
been omitted except to the attic. 
T O visualize the interior of this house — it 
should have woodwork of white wood painted 
cafe-au-lait in the living room, dining room and 
main hall. The living room and dining room 
might be paneled with moulding on wall board, 
with burnt amber rubbed in. French gray might 
also be used, but that would depend on the fur¬ 
nishings of the room. Both these rooms could 
also have a simple plaster cornice. The bedrooms 
upstairs could be painted in dull finish cream. The 
same color could be used for the bathrooms which, 
of course, would have tiled floors and wainscot. 
The flooring should be straight red oak, finished 
in a very deep brown penetrating stain, and highly 
waxed. In the service portions the floors should 
be comb grained, pine finished with an oil stain. 
On the main stairs the treads and risers as well as 
the newels and handrails can be painted the same 
as the woodwork of the hall, avoiding all violent 
contrasts and making for harmony throughout. 
F URNISHINGS in such a house as this should 
carry on the spirit of the exterior. While it 
need not be entirely French, some of the French 
atmosphere can be introduced into the hangings 
and furniture of the living room and dining room. 
The general spirit is that of sunshine and light¬ 
ness. French prints could hang on the walls and 
a dainty French linen at the windows. The living 
room could have a French gray two-toned rug and 
the decorations touches of old rose and blue. A 
mulberry gauze for under curtains would diffuse 
a pleasing contrasting light about the room. In 
the dining room the furniture could be painted 
and striped in some color chosen from the 
scheme of the hangings. 
T HE garden which lies to the rear of the house 
should be formal in character. One axis can 
be lengthwise and the other one from the middle 
of the terrace. At the center where they meet 
can be sunk a circular pool with a cement coping. 
Semi-circular benches could stand on either side. 
The beds would be formal and kept trim. At the 
end of the short axis could be arranged a lowered 
seat, and the ends of the long axis could have 
terminal statues of marble or concrete. 
The terrace above presents an excellent oppor¬ 
tunity for furnishing with painted Swiss reed; 
cushions of gay chintz; fiber mats; and reed wall 
baskets for flowers. At one end could stand a 
wide umbrella of striped canvas covering the tea 
table, or the whole terrace could be covered with 
awnings to make it a comfortable outdoor living 
room even in the hottest day. 
