HOUSE AND GARDEN 
454 
June, 
1914 
A certain man of California decided to build a home. It must 
be as much beyond reproach as the bluff just above La Jolla, 
upon which he intended to place it. The bluff was an unusually 
beautiful one, so the house must be an unusually beautiful house. 
He began to read 
all the magazines 
on home making. 
He read about 
adapting the house 
to its environment. 
About hills not be- 
i n g leveled, nor 
hollows filled. 
About the virtues 
of permanence. 
About choosing 
the materials near¬ 
est at hand. About 
color scheme s, 
light, air, sunshine, 
closets, conven¬ 
ience, cosiness, do¬ 
mesticity. Even 
absorbed a few 
points about the 
treatment of ser¬ 
vants. Besides 
possessing himself 
of such excellent 
advices, he h a d 
several original 
ideas of his own 
awaiting an oppor¬ 
tunity of airing. 
In the most de¬ 
lightfully naive, 
yet thoroughly 
man-like, way, he 
has managed to 
embody in the most 
literal manner 
everything he ever 
read ! 
The ground must 
not be leveled. It 
was as uneven as 
the waves of the 
sea. Huge bould- 
ers and small 
stones were out¬ 
cropping in every 
direction. He se¬ 
lected as smooth a 
place as possible, 
and ordered the 
men to match the 
heap of reddish 
rocks into a 
foundation. Of 
course, the top of 
the foundation is 
level, but the bottom of it fits into the ground as if it had grown 
there. The inside of the foundation was a mixture of upstanding 
boulders and hollows. The rooms were built to fit them! Every 
room has a floor on a different level. First is the patio (floored 
with triple, squared brick especially made) a few feet above 
the ground. The large reception room is up a step or so. From 
this room one steps up to the fireplace “snuggery.” The dining 
room is reached by mounting four or five steps. The kitchen is 
down a few inches around the corner. The guests’ rooms are 
reached from a bal- 
conv that runs 
across one end of 
this large reception 
r o o m. The bath 
room is down a 
step from this 
level. His bedroom 
is up a step or so. 
An outdoor sleep¬ 
ing porch must be 
stepped down into. 
There is a little 
writing room un¬ 
der the main stair¬ 
way. 
This sounds con¬ 
fusing and not 
pleasant, but in re¬ 
ality it is most de¬ 
lightful. It gives 
the house the at¬ 
mosphere of an old 
baronial castle. 
There is a fine 
sense of space. Se¬ 
cret doors and lost 
rooms seem a 11 
about. In whatever 
room one is, the 
vista is down into 
or up into the next 
room or set of 
rooms. This gives 
a peculiarly alive 
sense of individ¬ 
uality. Large win¬ 
dows let in a joy- 
011s amount of 
light and sun—he 
is not miserly in¬ 
clined to keep his 
rugs from fading 
a little. They also 
let in a vast sight 
of the blue of the 
sea and of the sky. 
The whole effect 
is wonderfully 
bright, winning and 
cheery. 
The large living- 
room is a strong 
feature of this sea¬ 
side house, and is 
worth adopting by 
others who wish 
not only to give the effect of coolness, but really to accomplish it. 
With a double-storied living-room there is a sweep and circulation 
of air constantly stirring. In this case the windows opening from 
bedrooms onto the balconies, and even in the walls of the living- 
room, practically allow cross drafts from whatever section the 
At the opposite end of the main room is the snuggery, a brick-paved den and studio. 
retreat is more comfortable than the large room 
When it grows chill this 
The furniture appears to belong to this house alone. The sturdy dining-room 
upon which the hair remains. This is but another touch which shows the 
scheme of fitness 
chairs are covered with hide 
careful carrying out of a single 
