characterless and without individuality. This 
dismal state of affairs lasted until travelers to 
Europe began to realize that we were doing 
something very clumsy indeed wherever we 
were using iron, just as we were doing clumsy 
things with our architecture, with our clothes; 
and though our manners were not clumsy, 
they were so unreal that it didn’t much mat¬ 
ter about them. 
The next stage was the bringing over of 
beautiful examples of iron of the finest wrought 
variety, to be used in this country. We brought 
gateways from Spain and grilles from Bavaria 
and fine old balustrades from England; we 
brought them from churches 
and palaces and little houses. 
In the main they did not suit 
our lives or our architecture, 
except where they were in the 
hands of artists who built up 
about them, and developed 
more beautiful architecture be¬ 
cause of the inspiration of some 
little bit of wrought iron or fine 
old carving. 
It is really only within the 
last few years in this country 
that we have begun to create a 
type of wrought iron that essen¬ 
tially belongs to our American 
■country houses, that is designed 
for them and wrought for them, 
done by modern craftsmen with 
feeling and imagination. We 
are showing in the illustrations 
of this article some of the 
wrought iron influenced by tra¬ 
dition, as the beautiful gates and 
arches on the estate of John D. 
.Rockefeller, which are typically 
0 Continued on page ioo ) 
Drawn wire grilles and, wrought 
iron balustrades are combined in 
this house at Matanzas, Cuba 
The peacock window 
grille designed by II. 
T. Lindeberg, architect; 
Oscar Bach Studios, 
were the craftsmen 
Wrought iron frame of 
terrace arbor on the 
Rockefeller estate, Po- 
cantico Hills. Welles 
Bosworth, architect 
Elaborate strap hinges on a door of plam wood is 
the effective treatment used in this residence at 
Minnetonka, Minn. II. T. Lindeberg, architect; 
executed in the shop of Samuel Yellin, craftsman 
