October, 1909 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
13.5 
Sand-finish plaster and dark chestnut woodwork are found in the living-room. The red rug 
gives the necessary color 
is by a group of sycamores and 
the other trees. The picture of 
the rear gives a better idea of the 
lines of the building, which are 
almost the same on the front, 
excepting that a wide low gable 
end stands out over the porch. 
The house stands upon an 
underpinning of stone, the exca¬ 
vation being carried only to a 
depth of four feet. This stone¬ 
work, which is carried out also in 
the chimneys and fireplaces, is a 
rough local stone of a variable 
dark color, sometimes a little 
stained with iron. It lays up 
very effectively with the broad 
white pointing which has been 
used throughout. For the walls 
and roof, cypress shingles have 
been used, neither dipped nor 
painted, but left to weather. The 
trim around doors and windows 
and on the underside of the eaves 
is painted ivory white. The shut¬ 
ters are painted green. 
In the living-room the walls 
are plastered, with white sand 
finish. Upright studs, ceiling beams and all other woodwork in this 
room are of chestnut finished with a dark stain. The furniture 
is finished to correspond. The contrasting black and white are 
subdued to some extent by a rich red Indian rug. Needless to 
say, Mr. Keller has not forgotten to provide for a fireplace in 
this room, and a good big one at that. As the above photo¬ 
graph shows, it is built of the rough local stone that has been 
used for the underpinning of the house. The masonry has 
been very well executed, particularly in the selection of suit¬ 
able stones for the flat arch and the corbels that support the 
heavy chestnut shelf. 
Throughout the house the other rooms are not plastered. 
A very clever scheme has been followed, dividing the wall spaces 
into panels over the interior sheathing, using 1 by 4 inch cypress 
strips, painted a dull white. The panels formed in this wav are 
decorated in various ways in the different rooms. In the dining¬ 
room the lower panels are filled with an indigo blue burlap, while 
those above the plate-rail contain a figured linen taffeta, repeat¬ 
ing the same color. In the front bedroom the panels are tinted 
a light green that brings out the grain in the woodwork very 
effectively. The other bedrooms have the panels finished 
natural, in each case the doors and trim being white. 
The attic is reached through a trap-door in the linen closet. 
While the space up there is large, it is used at present only for 
storage purposes. 
Mr. Keller’s country home is not an example of how cheaply 
a house may be built. All the materials that have gone into it 
have been of the best, and it is now being equipped with a hot- 
water heating system. Of the total cost probably about three- 
quarters went for the house proper, the remainder being spent 
for water-supply, wind-mill, drains, drilling of a well, making 
driveway and paths. 
Over the inside sheathing strips of white-painted cypress 
divide the wall space into panels 
In the dining-room blue burlap fills the lower panels over the 
sheathing, with a figured linen taffeta above 
