October, 1923 
51 
'Vf^r 
r 
The 
HOUSE ^ GARDEN 
BULLETIN BOARD 
P eople often wonder why newspaper men and 
magazine editors stay in the game. Once in it, 
they lose all desire to leave it; they seem satisfied. 
There are many reasons, but one of the most com¬ 
pelling is the fact that they constantly deal in fu¬ 
tures. Today’s paper put to bed, tomorrow’s edi¬ 
tion calls. This month’s issue finished, next month’s 
is already beckoning. There is that unceasing lure of 
the next one. And the next one must always be 
better than the one that has gone. 
Here we are, on this early August morning. The 
September issue is being printed. The October issue 
—the one you are reading—is going to the composi¬ 
tors, and we write of what November will hold for 
you. Can you blame us for liking our job? 
November is called the House Planning Number 
because by that time people are living indoors again 
and the season for future planning opens. Those 
who contemplate building start active contempla¬ 
tion then. So we have assembled a number that will 
stimulate it. 
There will be shown some English examples of 
cottage architecture, and an article will discuss the 
adaptation of this type of design to this country. 
We are fond of this style for its livableness, its pic¬ 
turesqueness, and the opportunities it gives for 
attractive and interesting uses of materials, all of 
which qualities will be set forth. Further on you find 
an assortment of adobe houses, the style that is fast 
being revived in the southwest. Following this 
Aymar Embury H, the architect, tells why plans 
cost money and shows an interesting small house in 
North Carolina to illustrate it. Then we spread 
three pages of balconies, an interesting and unusual 
assortment of them. Touching on another section 
of the country, you find a new home in New Orleans 
based on the old French tradition, and in the Group 
of Houses, which will occupy five pages, a small 
house from Augusta, Ga., two medium size brick 
houses by Jerauld Dahler, a new name in our list 
of architects, and a stone and half-timber house 
designed by Lewis Bowman. There will also be an 
article on drawing to scale, which will.give full in¬ 
structions for the amateur architect. 
*. 
A FRIEND of ours was visiting in Japan. It was 
a rainy day. She remarked to the owner, “I am 
sorry it is raining, for now I cannot see your gar¬ 
den.” The Jaj)anese host laughed. “But you can 
see my garden better in the rain, for I have a rainy 
garden.” And he pointed out a part of the garden 
near the house, a rock garden planted to things that 
love moisture. The greater part of it, however, was 
of rocks. Each had been especially selected because 
of some beauty of strata or color or curious forma¬ 
tion. When dry these rocks lost a greater part of 
their interest; when wet their colors and markings 
were accented. As it rains abundantly in Japan, a 
rainy garden is a necessity. Apropos of this effect 
of water on stone, we know of an artist in Paris who 
has a collection of beautiful shells. He keeps them 
in large bowls of crystal water, and thus their colors 
are a constant delight to the eye. 
M any years ago a newspaper correspondent 
was in the House of Commons on the occasion 
of a maiden speech by a new member. The speaker 
was an extremely young man and his speech was 
very brilliant. The correspondent wondered how 
he could do it. He looked up the young man’s an¬ 
cestry and found that his forebears had been cabinet 
ministers and prime ministers making brilliant 
speeches from before the days of Henry VHI. The 
young man, by the way, was Arthur Balfour. 
We were reminded of this on visiting a celebrated 
nursery recently. It is known for its dependable and 
robust stock. Men in the fields were carefully col¬ 
lecting seeds and cuttings from the best plants. This 
was the beginning of a new generation of perennials, 
shrubs and evergreens. Seeing the ancestry of that 
new generation, we knew why this nursery sold such 
dependable stock. Just as Balfour couldn’t help 
making a brilliant maiden speech, so this nursery 
can’t help selling plants that are healthy. 
T he times, as far as building costs are con¬ 
cerned, are out of joint—no doubt of it—but the 
answer to this, from the prospective builder’s point 
of view, should be a philosophical and intelligent 
attitude, and not a state of mental panic or profitless 
resentment. 
It is hardly to be supposed that all costs of living 
should be higher without the cost of building rising 
with them. It is the well-known vicious circle in 
operation, and the vicious circle is a hard thing to 
beat. 
The obvious detours around the present costs of 
building are altering or remodeling existing houses, 
or progressive building, in which you build your 
house a little at a time, as funds are available, plan¬ 
ning it in such a way as to provide for essentials first 
and amplifications later. 
In any case, no rratter if the procedure be alter¬ 
ing, progressive building or building the entire new 
house, the philosophical state of mdnd should be as¬ 
siduously cultivated, and the sovereign power of 
intelligence be constantly operative. 
It is not always intelligent, for instance, to as¬ 
sume that there will be a saving, at any rate, in dis¬ 
pensing with the services of the architect. It is more 
than likely that the architect will effect many sav¬ 
ings and economies which lie within the scope of his 
practical experience, and which are quite outside the 
experience of the amateur. 
Building a house, from the very nature of the proj¬ 
ect, is one of those things in which ill-advised ef¬ 
forts toward economy often lead to opposite results. 
The most expensive materials and the most expen¬ 
sive methods not always being the best, there is 
opportunity for an experienced designer to effect 
economies which will be an advantage in two ways, 
by selecting better materials and methods at lower 
prices. The old delusion that the architect is the 
inan who makes your house cost more should be re¬ 
vised so that he is properly recognized as the pro¬ 
fessional adviser whose training and experience 
enables him to make your house cost less. 
T his November issue, being quite a full number, 
we needs must run over to another paragraph. 
There are houses aplenty for those who plan to build. 
For those who garden or plan to decorate or collect 
we have prepared a diverse menu. 
The gardener, for e.xample, will be interested in the 
English garden made from a sheep fold, in the arti¬ 
cles on Mid-Winter Planting (this can be done suc¬ 
cessfully) and on the various members of the Cam¬ 
panula family. The decorator finds a Portfolio of 
stately rooms designed by Duncan Fraser, an arti¬ 
cle on Kerman Rugs (the second of the series on 
Orientals), two pages of period silver, in which there 
has been so much interest of late, and the Gould’s 
article on period furniture, wherein you can learn 
the salient points of any period at a glance. For the 
householder. Miss Peyser’s article on The Passing 
of the Pantry, and for collectors, Gardner Teall’s 
contribution on portrait plates. To these we will 
add something on a boat model collection and an 
instructive article which teUs how to remove and 
preserve old and valuable wall papers. There will 
also be two pages of articles from the shops. And, 
just so the measure will be pressed down and run¬ 
ning over, the back of the issue will contain more 
houses—four or five examples from both this coun¬ 
try and Germany and several contributions on gar¬ 
dening and household subjects. 
an architect’s house has for the layman much the 
same interest as a painter’s portrait of himself 
or a musician’s playing of one of his own composi¬ 
tions. There is, in every case, the same feeling of 
being taken behind the scenes, of learning the real 
mind of the artist, unhampered by the restrictions 
imposed by client or interpreter. Architects are 
sometimes accused, very unjustly, of experimenting 
on their clients, and of saddling them with houses 
which they would not dream of using themselves. 
When the architect builds his own house, the acid 
test is applied, the doctor takes his own medicine. 
That is why, whenever the opportunity offers, we 
show an architect’s own house. An example of this 
self-portraiture is found in the frontispiece, the home 
of C. C. Merritt. 
R obert S. LEMMON, who writes on peony 
and iris gardens, is the Old Doc Lemmon of the 
Gardener’s Calendar in years past. He has been 
connected with House & Garden for ten years, took 
off a sabbatical year, and is back with us again. A 
practical gardener and a charming writer, his con¬ 
tributions will be appearing from time to time in the 
magazine. 
Ernest Thompson Seton, who describes the build¬ 
ing of his own house and his rules on building gener¬ 
ally, is well known for his writings on nature and 
game subjects. 
Ruby Ross Goodnow, contributing the article on 
Color Schemes for Bedrooms, is a welcome name to 
House & Garden readers. Whenever we find a deco¬ 
rator who can write, we suspect her of having had 
newspaper or magazine training. Sure enough, Mrs. 
Goodnow once reported for the woman’s page of a 
New York Daily, edited a farm magazine and was on 
the editorial staff of a woman’s magazine. 
Of the architects contributing to this issue, Good¬ 
win, Bullard & Woolsey, C. C. Merritt, Murphy & 
Dana and Aymar Embury II practice in New York; 
E. L. Palmer in Baltimore. Horace Moran, who 
writes on Spanish Furniture, is a designer of fine 
interiors practising in New York City. 
