September, 
I 9 I 5 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
flowered cretonne in reds and blues prove ef¬ 
fective against the cream-colored wall paper. 
This paper is not a plain cream, but a cream 
finely lined and dotted with grey, which gives 
a very soft effect. Besides the fireplace and 
its side closets there are also the old, brown 
girders and beams — two cross girders with six 
beams hung into them. The whole effect of 
the room, with its small, deep windows and its 
low-beamed ceiling and tall fireplace, is infinitely 
cozy, and the furniture is in perfect accord with 
this effect. A small and charming Pembroke 
Sheraton table with an oval top and inlaid 
drawer stands between the two front windows. 
At the side is placed another Sheraton table 
with a folding top. In the summer time a 
Sheraton sofa with eight legs and carved fore¬ 
arms stands against the long wall, but in winter 
it is pulled up at right angles to the fireplace. 
A stack of tea tables is placed along the back 
wall, while on the wall of the fireplace there 
is a low writing table with a Sheraton looking- 
glass above it — all low, light-weight furniture 
that does not for a moment overpower the room, 
but in its beautiful and graceful way gives it 
an air of distinction. So much of the charm 
of a room comes from a fine sense of propor¬ 
tion. A roomy gate-legged table with a great 
winged chair beside it gives the room a very 
livable appearance. A gate-legged table has a way of looking 
just exactly right in the center of our modern living-rooms, for 
some reason or other. Mr. Phillips has a number of much more 
valuable tables that he has tried for the center of the living- 
room, but he always goes back to his gate-legged, which he 
picked up for a song years ago. 
The mantel-piece in the living-room is very simple and refined 
in its details, but the one in the dining-room excels it in quaint¬ 
Though not so interesting in detail as that above, the living-room fireplace has excellent, well preserved 
lines of great dignity and simplicity—both fundamental elements of Colonial construction 
Colonial atmosphere has been well preserved in the dining-room fireplace: here is the deep hearth, the 
paneled overmantel and the closet converted to hold china 
ness with its great hearth and its panel-back reaching to the 
beam—not to mention the china closet quite dwarfed beside it. 
In the dining-room, which has white woodwork and brown 
beams, a blue and cream landscape paper covers the walls. This 
blue is repeated in the chair seats, the hangings, the china and 
the rug. For the rest, much silver has been used—silver sconces 
and candlesticks, trays, dishes and all sorts of interesting things for 
table use that are set off well by the blue and cream background. 
There is a brown hunting paper in the hall, 
with touches of red. A fine, brown folding- 
table with cabriole legs stands beside a slat- 
backed armchair. A collection of old brass 
candlesticks and lamps lends added distinction. 
The old Dutch doors are very good. But here 
again, as in the renovation of the exterior, the 
thing most apparent is that the details of the 
staircase, such as the posts and square balusters, 
have been kept in perfect accord with local 
traditions. This is, after all, one of the most 
valuable things to bear in mind in restoring 
an old house—this preservation of its local 
architectural traditions; and it is here that so 
many people, who are not especially sensitive 
to architectural detail, go astray by introducing 
foreign elements. 
It is, however, not only the house which 
makes the Phillips home so full of charm; there 
is, too, a garden. It is planted at the corner of 
the grounds hard by the white fence, a delight 
to all who pass along the village road. The 
plan is easily seen in the photographs. The 
whole garden is made up of four grass plots 
surrounded by wide borders of flowers. Each 
of these plots might, in truth, be a complete 
little garden in itself. They are divided by two 
paths, and at their intersection there is a circular 
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