86 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
February, 1911 
An un-named bond that is seldom seen, 
giving a curious diaper pattern. It 
consists of rows of headers and 
stretchers alternating with rows of 
stretchers alone, the latter breaking 
joints in alternate courses. Sperry, 
York & Sawyer, architects 
An interesting texture is obtained here with second¬ 
hand brick, from which the old mortar has not been 
fully cleaned. Philip B. Howard, architect 
The startling bond used in the Colony 
Club, New York City, McKim, Mead 
& White, architects. Such a bond 
would be impossible without the aid 
of modern cement mortar, as there is 
no breaking of joints in the courses 
excepting at the corners 
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erences to which it were advisable to give particular attention. 
In speaking of the texture of a wall we must take into con¬ 
sideration the kind of bricks used, their shape and size, their 
color, their bond, that is to say, the way in which they are laid to 
give a distinctive pattern to the wall face, the mortar joints and 
finally, the kind of mortar used. As to the kind of brick avail¬ 
able, it is gratifying to note that we are happily passing from the 
depressing reign of pressed brick and coming more and more to 
the use of brick of rough texture and varied color. It need 
scarcely be said that the results are infinitely more artistic and 
satisfactory in every way. During much of the 
nineteenth century, after the rought brick of 
Colonial and Post-colonial times had been sup¬ 
planted by pressed brick, nearly all brickwork 
was from an aesthetic point of view, as one 
writer has put it, “the antithisis of everything 
good.” “The brickmaker's ideal.” he continues, 
“seems to have been a single 
shape and size, a surface like 
cut cheese, and a color like a 
fire-cracker.” With such dull 
and unpromising material, 
whose “ ‘faultily faultless’ sur¬ 
face finish and absolute uni¬ 
formity of color” were fatal to 
inspiration, not much could be 
expected of the brick architect 
use of the period. It was not 
until bricks of different shapes 
and sizes and varied colors began 
to reassert their claims that the 
trammels of deadly monotony 
were thrown off and it became 
possible to impart some individ¬ 
uality of expression to a build¬ 
ing through its material fabric. 
Many of the rough-tex¬ 
tured bricks, instead of being 
pressed out in a mould with un¬ 
erring mathematical precision 
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Regular Flemish Bond 
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English Bond 
The common named bonds—though the lower two are not often seen. 
The difference between these two is that in the English bond the 
alternate rows of stretchers do not break joints; in the Dutch cross 
bond they do 
and provoking evenness, are vertically cut into shape by wire, 
so that a roughened and apparently coarsely porous face is given 
the sides to be exposed in building, and in this condition they are 
burned intensely hard. This surface, especially when wide, 
gravelly, mortar joints are used, weathers admirably, and under 
the influence of atmospheric condition soon puts on a mellowness 
of tone that could never be hoped for on a smooth brick surface. 
In color, the rough bricks range from deep shades of purplish 
brown, bluish red, copper, green and russet to lighter and more 
brilliant hues including reds and buffs. The perfectly natural 
blending of two or more colors in one brick, 
without offensively glaring contrasts, prevents 
all garishness of effect or any appearance or 
studied artificiality. Though in some instances 
coloring matter is added to the clay before burn¬ 
ing, in the majority of rough-textured bricks the 
color is entirely due to the natural qualities of 
the clay used and to the firing. 
The soft and rich appearances 
of a wall of such material in¬ 
variably harmonizes with the 
surroundings and, with its wel¬ 
come variations in color, pro¬ 
duces an impression of fitness 
to the situation that could never 
be reached by the unsympa¬ 
thetic surface and rigidity of 
uniform “fire-cracker” color 
presented by an expanse of 
pressed brick. 
The way in which bricks are 
laid or the bond, is an impor¬ 
tant consideration. The most 
common bond, in fact almost the 
only one employed during a 
great part of the ninteeenth cen¬ 
tury, is the running bond, in 
which all the courses are com¬ 
posed of “stretchers,” that is 
to say, bricks laid lengthwise, 
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Double>stretcher Flemish Bond 
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Dutch Cross Bond 
