A “ Porch Entry ” marks the front of the Bishop house, which was 
designed by Mr. joy Wheeler Dow, architect 
The strong horizontal lines in Germantown hood and cornice save the 
proportions by reducing the apparent height 
A New House Inspired by an Old One 
THE BISHOP HOUSE AT NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, WHICH IS A DIRECT LINEAL DESCENDANT FROM 
A FAMOUS COLONIAL ANCESTOR, SHIRLEY-ON-THE-JAMES 
BY HENRY LORSAY, 3rd 
I T has been said that genius consists of an infinite 
capacity for taking pains. But there is another 
factor in it— the ability to think of things, and that is what 
an architect must have, in good store, if he would build a 
house that really achieves distinction. 
I think 1 can claim that the Bishop House at Norwalk 
possesses the last-named quality without much fear of 
contradiction. The house is surely not one of the million 
that we are perfectly content to pass by with never a 
second look. It compels attention, not because of any 
eccentricity in design, not because of any weird hybrids 
among its architectural motives, nor because of any unusual 
and dazzling color scheme, but solely because it does have 
that elusive quality of 
architectural distinc¬ 
tion. 
It is a gentleman 
among houses, and a 
gentleman that traces 
his lineage back to noble 
ancestors. 
It is not always profit¬ 
able to try dissecting 
beauty of any kind — 
most of us are content 
to recognize it, enjoy it, 
and let it go at that. In 
this case, however, I 
think it would perhaps 
be really helpful to those 
of us who hope one day 
to build, if we were to 
try to find just why the 
Bishop house is good, 
and deduct therefrom a 
general principle or two that might well be kept in mind. 
In the first place, a glance at the floor plans reproduced 
herewith suggests the idea that the house is not a great 
success as regards bedroom accommodation. The fact is, 
however, that the third story is very different from the 
general run in the extent of its floor space. It contains 
as many bedrooms as the second floor, and has a bath and 
a storage room as well. Moreover, these rooms are not 
made unbearably hot in summer through the close prox¬ 
imity of the roof; above the third story there is an air 
chamber of considerable extent, reached by a scuttle, and 
ventilated by means of the eyebrow windows visible in 
the two photographs of the exterior. Ordinarily a house 
of such comparatively 
small area would be in¬ 
ordinately high with 
three full stories and an 
air chamber above; prob¬ 
ably it would look more 
like a shot tower than a 
private residence. That 
the Bishop house does 
not even faintly suggest 
such a fault is due to 
Mr. Dow’s able handling 
of his roof lines and the 
strong horizontal lines 
that extend entirely 
around the house in the 
Germantown hood above 
the first story windows, 
and in the cornice at the 
base of the roof. 
Another feature that 
will be at once apparent 
At the side of the living-room a minor entrance doorway is sheltered by a 
projection from the hood 
(80) 
