October 
1923 
49 
House & Garden 
Among the many mtcriors 
shown in the November 
House Garden is this 
formal hallway 
I T’S the fun we get out of editing 
that keeps us on the job; otherwise 
we’d be a plumber and work' for 
money. 
Think of the fun of seeing an issue 
go through the “works”, of having a 
finished copy in your hands weeks 
before your 150,000 readers have it! 
Think of sitting like a great young god 
over a box of submitted manuscripts 
and separating the sheep from the 
goats! Think of the fun we have 
answering questions. Yes, that is the 
best fun of all, the Information 
Service. 
The other day our office suddenly 
burst into a blinding light. When we 
recovered our editorial dignity we 
saw, standing before us a radiant 
creature who wanted to learn some¬ 
thing about the night-blooming cereus. 
We told her how it gets up at about 
six P. M.; has a fine time through the 
hours of darkness and then dies at 
dawn. We showed her pictures of a 
blooming cereus taken every hour 
through a night and gave her long 
botanical names. She seemed very 
much interested and mighty grateful. 
“But why do you want to know all 
this?” we asked. 
“Oh, I’m preparing a new dance for 
the Follies and it’s going to be the 
story of the night-blooming cereus.” 
We have heard of gardeners on 
ocean liners, but we never knew the 
Follies wanted a botanical expert. 
We have made application for the job. 
But that is only one out of many 
thousands of questions written us or 
asked us verbally every year. And 
we have to have the answer and 
have it authoritative and give it 
quickly. A woman is redecorating 
her house, what colors shall she use? 
Where can a man in Rome, Ga., buy 
a seven-branch candlestick and Vene¬ 
tian glass? How will Mr. Jones of 
Syracuse, N. Y., change his roof line 
and put on a bay window? Why do 
Mrs. Smith’s delphiniums have the 
blight and what can she do for it? 
Contents for 
OCTOBER, 1923 
Cover Design—By Elizabeth Betts Bains 
The House Garden Bulletin Board . 51 
A Door of Contrasts —C. C. Merritt, Architect .52 
Gardens of Irises and Peonies—By Robert S. Lemmon .53 
“Round Bush”, Locust Valley, L. I. — Goodwin, Bullard Woolsey, 
Architects . 56 
The Gods Who Walk In Gardens—By Richard LeGallienne ... §8 
Creating an Effect of Space—Heathcote Woolsey b° J. C. McCly- 
mont. Associate Architects .59 
Color Schemes for Bedrooms—By Ruby Ross Goodnow . 60 
The House That Is Mine—By Eriiest Thompson Seton . 62 
An Autumn Gardener’s Resume—By Robert Stell . 64 
Three Pages of Charming Gardens . 
The Furniture of Old Spain—By Horace Moran . 68 
Khilim Rugs and Their Qualities—By A. T. Wolfe .70 
A Garden of Sweet Perf umes—By Elsa Rehmann, Landscape Architect 72 
A Little Portfolio of Good Interiors ..73 
The Cottage Garden Idea—By Richard H. Pratt .76 
How Do You Fence In Your Yard? .7^ 
Salvaging the Old House . 80 
Three Livable Houses . 81 
Meeting the Phlox Family . 84 
A Garden in the Heart of Town—Ruth Dean, Landscape Architect . 85 
The Home of Miss Marjorie Rambeau—Heathcote Woolsey fir J. 
C. McClymont, Associate Architects . 86 
A Little Carving Here and There—By Ilanjia Tachau .^7 
Talking Points in the Home—By Ethel R. Peyser . 88 
Rooms of Silver and Gold . 8g 
Fittings for the Desk . go 
New China in Old Designs . gi 
The Gardener’s Calendar . go 
How shall Mr. Blank of Spring 
Valley, N. J., lay out his shrubbery? 
To answer such questions you have 
either to be a walking encyclopaedia 
or employ a staff of experts. As 
human encyclopaedias are rare, we 
employ the experts. 
The questions sent by readers to 
the House & Garden Information 
Service are answered by a decorator, 
an architect or a landscape architect 
and practical gardener according to 
their nature. The replies are authori¬ 
tative. Behind them stand years of 
practical experience. We have also a 
large library on each of these topics, 
if the staff lacks the required infor¬ 
mation. 
Your letter comes in, is classified 
according to subject matter, delivered 
to the respective expert on this sub¬ 
ject, and then you hear a hum as the 
answer is dictated. Tots of time it 
can’t be done as quickly as this, be¬ 
cause the subject must be studied and 
mulled over. We don’t like to give 
snap judgments. That is why people 
who ask for immediate replies are 
asking the impossible. An immediate 
reply, in nine cases out of ten, would 
not be worth having. 
The reader can be of great service 
to us by stating her problems clearly 
and, when necessary, sending us scale 
drawings of her house or her garden. 
Such assistance helps us to under¬ 
stand her problems and to give a 
helpful reply. 
We do not sell plans of houses or 
make detailed plans of gardens be¬ 
cause, as explained on the August 
Bulletin Board, this would be snatch¬ 
ing the bread and butter from archi¬ 
tects and landscape architects. We 
do advise, suggest and aid wherever 
it is humanly possible to do so. 
But, you ask, with such a staff of 
experts, where does the editor come 
in? Ah, he saves the choice plums 
for himself! It is he who tells the 
romantic stories of night-blooming 
cereus to lovely dancers! 
Volume XLIV Number Four 
Subscribers are notified that no change of address can be effected in less than one month 
Copyright, 1923, by 
The Conde Nast Publications, Inc. 
Title House & Garden registered in U. S. Patent Office 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE CONd 6 NAST PUBLICATIONS, INC., IQ WEST FORTY- 
FOURTH STREET, NEW YORK, CONDE NAST, PRESIDENT; FRANCIS L. WURZBURG. 
VICE-PRESIDENT; W. E. BECKERLE, TREASURER; M. E. MOORE, SECRETARY; 
RICH.ARDSON WRIGHT. EDITOR; RICHARD H. PRATT, MANAGING EDITOR; HEYWORTH 
CAMPBELL, ART DIRECTOR. EUROPEAN OFFICES: ROLLS HOUSE, BREAMS BUILDING, 
LONDON, E. C., PHILIPPE ORTIZ, 2 RUE EDOUARD VII, PARIS. SUBSCRIPTION, $3.50 A 
YEAR IN THE UNITED STATES, COLONIES, CANADA AND MEXICO; $ 4.50 IN FOREIGN 
COUNTRIES. SINGLE COPIES, 35 CENTS. ENTERED AS SECOND CLASS MATTER AT 
THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK CITY UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3 , iS/Q. ALSO 
ENTERED AT THE POST OFFICE AT GREENWICH, CONN. PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. 
