House and Garden 
be made on the premises, and with pleasing results. 
Given freedom of line as an expression of its plastic 
nature, concrete will be beautiful in itself. Monot¬ 
ony may be relieved by encrusting the surface with 
tiles or mosaics. A very small percentage of its sur¬ 
face may be treated with excellent results where tiles 
or mosaics are used, or it may be entirely covered with 
them if expense is not a matter of moment. Concrete 
does not, however, lend itself to hard and precise 
lines or smooth and even surfaces, a virtue which 
makes for economy. 
If it be accepted that good taste and economy for¬ 
bid profusion in the decoration of a lawn or garden, 
in the way of either ornamental or structural forms, 
it might be expedient to adopt one good thing, for 
example, an arbor. This 
need not be a series of per¬ 
fectly true columns adorned 
with decorated capi- 
tals, surmounted by ma¬ 
chine-planed timbers. The 
cover page of this magazine 
suggests something entirely 
different. The simple 
column shown at the left 
margin of the picture is such 
as may be found in Medi¬ 
terranean countries. It rep¬ 
resents a direct and eco¬ 
nomical method of utilizing 
concrete. The rounded top 
affords no opportunity for 
water to collect and freeze, 
and the beams may be hand 
hewn timbers or small trees 
whose lines will correspond 
to the free lines of the 
column. The concrete is 
left just as it appears when 
the forms are removed. 
There has been no “slick- 
ing-up” with trowel and 
plaster and the work is 
done for all time—if well 
done in the first place. A 
tile might be inserted here 
and there at the cost of a 
few cents, but decoration of 
that character is not at all 
essential. The beams 
could also be cast in con¬ 
crete, reinforced with iron, 
making an indestructible 
arbor which would last 
practically forever and 
without repairs. If the 
aggregates used, sand and 
stone, are warm and pleasing 
in color, and the surface of the column be rubbed 
and washed until the coarser material is exposed, 
an agreeable tone and texture will result. As is fre¬ 
quently done in European countries, a column might 
be washed with a delicate pink tone which will mel¬ 
low with time and weather. Concrete paints or 
washes are now made in such durable form that a 
chisel will scarcely remove them. 
Concerning the column shown on the cover page, 
it is in such simple and substantial designs that artists 
have found paintable subjects, and were it not a 
common trait to be more impressed with the cost of 
things than their intrinsic merit, we would find work 
of this character supplanting many of the expensive 
and ornate designs found upon many estates. As to 
the column illustrated, it is 
the purpose to suggest a 
general method of treating 
concrete rather than to 
emphasize the merit of a 
particular design. That is 
to say, if it should prove to 
be inconvenient to construct 
a column with a beam en¬ 
cased in the manner shown, 
the top of the column could 
be left flat and surmounted 
with a simple cap. The 
cap could be made by cast¬ 
ing the concrete in a hole 
in the ground, dug to the 
required size and shape, 
thus obviating the necessity 
for wooden moulds or forms. 
The important matter is to 
achieve economy by avoid¬ 
ing the precision of lines 
found in machine-made 
products requiring expen¬ 
sive moulds. In advocat¬ 
ing this type of construction, 
however, there is no inten¬ 
tion to decry more elaborate 
and ornamental work 
merely because it is of that 
character. It is frankly 
conceded that where the 
latter possesses real merit 
such as the charm always 
imparted by the labor of 
the artist’s mind and hand, 
we have something more 
valuable than the rather 
rude work previously de¬ 
scribed. But, as stated, 
work of that character is 
costly, and we are striving 
to suggest a substitute which 
Fig. 4. Detail tor a conservatory. Filaster deco¬ 
rated with relief tiles in silhouette, pushed into 
wet concrete, thus avoiding necessity of point¬ 
ing. Capital adapted from lotus design recently 
excavated at Tel el Amarna, Egypt. Blue grapes 
and green leaves with other decorations in brown, 
buff and red, glazed and unglazed 
158 
