House and Garden 
FIRST FLOOR, COLONIAL HALL, NO. 2, SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS 
COLONIAL HALL, NO. I, SALEM, MASS. 
of plain New England ideas admitted only ot a 
skimped floor space, and a narrow, cramped stair¬ 
case. The other mode allowed a good third of the 
front of the house, or at the least, a fourth, to be em¬ 
ployed in the hall space. 
In these days the mason has his uses in building 
interiors, but in ancient Colonial times nine-tenths ot 
the American house construction was of the carpen¬ 
ters’ making and devising. This was a very natural 
condition in a new country abounding in rich forests. 
The great versatility of wood schemes admits of 
elaborate ways of treatment, with or without osten¬ 
tation, as individual taste dictates. Some of the 
Colonial halls require no alteration at all from the 
original conception, being absolutely perfect from a 
correct decorative view, as well as entirely appropriate 
to their uses. The stairs are treated impressively, 
as is necessary, according to the plan of the house, 
and are completely deserving of their setting. It 
was generally considered most admirable to have 
a great stately hall, and often a long, well-lighted 
corridor where valued cabinets, carved chests, and 
bookcases might stand. 
A remarkably beautiful hallway is that of the 
Royall Mansion in Medford, Massachusetts, built in 
1727. The house is charged with historical interest. 
It was located on the old Boston road and owned by 
Colonel Isaac Royall, a New Englander who had 
become, also, a West Indian nabob. On the place 
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