30 
House & Garden 
THE STAIR WALL AND ITS TREATMENT 
Whether You Consider It A Background or A Field for Decoration 
Here Are Five Rules and A Score of Suggestions To Guide You 
H. D. EBERLEIN and ABBOT McCLURE 
T HE architectural character of the staircase 
and of the adjacent parts of the stair hall 
determines whether the stair wall must be con¬ 
sidered a background or a field for decoration. 
The decoration ought to be coherent and form 
one complete scheme without detached or irrel¬ 
evant factors. If some sort of pictorial decora¬ 
tion be employed, there should be an obvious 
continuity of subject or thought, and not an in¬ 
coherent succession of unrelated spots. If the 
stair wall is to afford decorative features, the 
eye of the person passing up the stair should be 
carried on from point to point by an uninter¬ 
rupted progression of interest. 
Scale and the Decorations 
The third principle for general observance 
has to do with scale. If the stair wall is of 
large expanse, the decoration must be in related 
scale; a small, insignificant decoration would 
be ridiculous. Likewise, if the stair wall be 
of small extent, keep down the scale of decora¬ 
tion. Furthermore, let the details of decoration 
be of such scale that the eye can readily appre¬ 
ciate them from the point where they are most 
likely to be seen. To suppose an extreme case, 
a stair wall decoration consisting of tapestry or 
of pictorial panels with human figures of heroic 
or more than heroic size would be ill-judged if 
the decoration could be viewed only at close range 
by a person ascending the stair. The figures 
would oppress and seem to jostle him and could 
be fully seen only by an undue effort of neck 
twisting. The scale of the stair wall decoration, 
therefore, should be adapted to the point of view 7 . 
The fourth principle touches the character of 
the decoration and, while the greatest latitude 
in choice of subject is permissible, according to 
the varied nature of halls, it is suggested that 
the decoration be not of too personal or inti¬ 
mate a tone. Such qualities are better suited 
to other parts of the house. 
The last principle is of practical nature and 
purely physical in its concern. When any sort 
of decoration is hung on a wall, it should be so 
hung as not to touch or be touched by those 
who have occasion to use the stair. 
Adding Character through Pictures 
The kind of stair wall of commonest occur¬ 
rence is a neutral affair, devoid of pronounced 
character and fairly amenable to a variety of 
treatments. It may be added that this same 
characterless pliability generally extends to the 
rest of the stair hall—clearly a case where some¬ 
thing must be done to create character. Vapid 
neutrality is just as objectionable in interior 
architecture as it is in people. The one good 
thing that can be said of such stair walls and 
stair halls is that they leave one a free hand to 
do with them pretty much as one likes. When 
the banisters and other architectural features 
are of too indifferent a quality to be worth mak¬ 
ing a background for, treat the wall modestly. 
By way of concrete suggestion one might 
recommend a sequence of pictures not too 
When the stairs are a rich architectural factor themselves, as in'Laurel Hall,” the residence of S. H. Fletcher, Esq., at Indian¬ 
apolis, the stair wall requires scarcely any decoration. Dignity here is given the first landing by a heavy, antique cathedral stall, 
in perfect scale with the balusters and posts. On the second landing the wall space is broken by large Japanese panels and two 
pieces of heavy furniture upholstered in cut velvet. Cooper-Williams, Inc., decorators 
