House and Garden 
wooden Romanesque arch has a decoration of carved 
acanthus leaves at the top of the simply grooved 
pilasters which rise from a simple base. The ceiling 
portion of the arch is grooved in both square and 
oblong panels. The outside oi the arch has a plainly 
lined hood moulding. At its apex is a carving of 
flowers. The wainscot of the hall and stairway is of 
grooved panelling, those in the lower hall running 
vertically, and those beside the staircase, lengthwise. 
The white-newel post of the balustrade is so con¬ 
voluted as to resemble a Chinese carving, and seems 
very like a serpent design, while the spindles of the 
rail show the twisted pattern so indicative of the 
Colonial Period. The rail itself is surmounted by a 
mahogany moulding. There seems to he an intent 
to combine complicated Chinese interior decoration 
with Grecian simplicity, in this hall, as in the north¬ 
west chamber. 
Another rarely beautiful Colonial hall is located in 
Danvers, Massachusetts, a town noted for its historic 
association. The stairway curves gracefully to the 
second floor. It is marked by extreme sinq:)licity 
of treatment. I he mahogany rail ends in a sinq^le 
newel, just a delicate mahogany spindle. The spin¬ 
dles of the rad are quiet in design, painted white, and 
some of them stand in a curve around the main post. 
The side-wall of white panelling is surmounted by a 
mahogany rail, and decorated by a slightly raised 
moulding at the top of the base board. The espe¬ 
cially attractive feature of this staircase is the raised 
carved scroll decorating the outer end below each 
stair, in a small wooden panel which extends along the 
wall a few inches beyond the stair. The curved hall 
seat, having a beautiful Sheraton hack, imparts a 
dignified finish to the whole. 
The Salem hallway (No. i) has a remarkably 
fascinating balustrade. The device of the newel 
post is extraordinarily handsome, and shows the 
mental acuteness of the architect, who cleverly used 
the balustrade spindle motifs in construction. The 
center is a sinq:)le highly convoluted spindle overlaid 
by outer spindles which curve out near the base, 
(which IS interesting in itself.) The mahogany spin¬ 
dles of the rail are divided into groups of three; the 
first is simply grooved, the second spindle curves out 
m a gentle bulge like those in the newel, and the third 
is convoluted like the center of the newel. This 
triple cluster of spindles is repeated many times, 
conveying a feeling of extremely high ornamentation. 
The top moulding of the balustrade and the spindles 
are of mahogany, while the rail supporting them is 
painted white, making a rather unique appearance. 
The color of the wood scheme in all of these halls is 
mahogany and white paint. 
The wall at the side of the staircase is ornamented 
with narrow white panels, surmounted by a plain 
moulding, and above that at the end of each stair 
is a decoration of simple carving. The handsome 
rounded arch at the front of the hall gives a vestibule 
effect. This arch is supported by excellent Roman 
Doric columns, and has a simulated keystone carved 
with a charmingly clear specimen of the acanthus, 
which, by the way, is our plain dandelion leaf. The 
hooded cornice with its repeated figure above the 
arch, and along the ceiling of the stairway, is espe¬ 
cially good and seemly for use in a Colonial house. 
The wall finish is made of narrow panelling, which 
contrasts pleasantly with the long graceful sweep of 
plain white wainscot beside the staircase. The 
slanting ceiling above the double door at the rear of 
the hall is in general keeping with this interior, and an 
interestingly pure example of its kind. The Chip¬ 
pendale chair in the front of the hall shows an excel¬ 
lent specimen of that period. 
The Salem hall (No. 2) exemplifies the manner of 
using pleasant broad landings. This hall is the pivot 
of the house, continuing its winding way through two 
stories in height, and connecting the open stair hall, 
the approach to the staircase being duly impressive, 
and the lower hall as a whole an important decorative 
feature. In both halls the delicate arches are espe¬ 
cially artistic. bhe second floor suggests something 
of the same line of treatment prevailing in the one 
below, a little more cjuiet in tone, but not less attract¬ 
ive. The ample amount of room given in the hall 
space above stairs is a good idea for reproduction 
to-day in our modern Colonial houses. The twisted 
newel post has a slight similarity to the upper half of 
the newel in the Royall House. Like the other 
Salem stairway, the spindles are divided into repeti¬ 
tions of three different models; in this case all are 
convoluted, hut the ridge in the convolution is close, 
less close, least close. In the upper hall the wainscot¬ 
ing is completed with a dainty repeated carved motive 
m the moulding. The end of each stair termi¬ 
nates with a depressed oblong panel, and beneath it, 
another similar oblong panel, in which is a carved 
scroll. 
This fancy is carried out in the lower hall, also. At 
the turning of the stairs in the lower hall, an appro¬ 
priate ornamental recess for vases has been construct¬ 
ed, and there is another at the foot of the stairs at 
the right. Under the stairs is an odd door, which 
stops short ot the casing above and below by several 
inches. The upper part of the door is open, set with 
graceful spindles. It is obvious that the intent is to 
keep enough light m the hall from undue obstruction. 
At the turn of the stairs into the upper hall is built a 
wall cabinet which resembles a miniature oriel win¬ 
dow. There is a wooden panel carving of chaste 
Colonial pattern above the large window in the upper 
hall, and the arch in the same hall has pilasters at each 
side with carved Ionic capitals. The chair in the 
upper hall is an Italian design, as is the ornate chair 
seat in the lower hall, and there are quaint and 
interesting antique candelabra in both halls. 
