We in America are just beginning to realize that there are wonderful possibilities in the ornamental treatment of brick walls. In this country 
home at Oyster Bay a rough-textured brick of peculiar shape has been used with great variety in bonding. Carrere & Hastings, architects 
Building Brick Houses of Character 
THE THREE METHODS BY WHICH BRICK WALLS MAY BE GIVEN A MORE 
INTERESTING AND VARIED TEXTURE—LESSONS FROM THE OLD WORLD 
by Harold Donaldson Eberlein 
[Two houses that are alike in every respect but the brick zvalls, may be 
brick. The best use of wall materials is a subject of as great importance as 
seems not to appreciate this fact; to him a brick house is merely a brick 
This article is the third of a short series, in which the aim is to make clear 
of the various building materials. The author wishes to give credit to Mr. 
T HE African negress with a big gold nose-ring hanging down 
over her blubber lips and her back hair skewered through 
with an imposing array of eagle feathers, is but obeying the dic¬ 
tates of a primal instinct of humanity in thus arranging her toilet. 
That instinct is the love or ornamentation. We find it no less in 
evidence in every aspect of civilized life—however, thank Heaven, 
in a somewhat different form. One phase of it, the use of cer¬ 
tain forms of ornamentation in brickwork, is the subject of this 
paper. 
As the different kinds of brick and the several bonds were 
treated in the February number, so in this issue are briefly con¬ 
sidered some of the methods of employing these means to produce 
varied and decorative effects in the warp and woof of the wall. 
The practice of these methods is comparable to the textile weaver's 
art of applying patterns and design, the end being an imperishable 
adornment in brick and mortar. The comparison holds good even 
to this extent, that the mortar and the juxtaposition of the joints 
alone will often produce a regular diapered effect. 
In America we are still in the infancy of brickwork. We have 
scarcely begun to open our eyes to the possibilities within our 
reach. An almost boundless field is spread before us. As it is 
our duty, on general principles, to avail ourselves of the opportuni- 
alniost as dissimilar in appearance as if one were of stone and the other of 
the architectural style that is to be followed, yet the layman, as a rule, 
house — until he realizes that his finished home falls far short of his ideal, 
the possibilities in securing distinctive character through an intelligent use 
H. L. Duhring, arch.tcct, for many helpful suggestions . — Editor.] 
ties offered us, so also is it our duty, our obligation, to provide for 
the beautiful. 
The architect of a brick building has before him the pleasant 
problem of determining what he will do with the "field of the 
wall." It is, so to speak, a clean sheet for him to write upon, 
whereon he can unmistakably impress his individuality, if he will, 
just as did the medieval master workman upon their work, so 
that they could be recognized by it and one could say with con¬ 
fidence ‘‘So-and-so did that.” 
Since the desire for ornament is perfectly legitimate and as old 
as the human race, the only condition to be imposed is that it 
shall be in good taste. In brick ornamentation as in other things, 
we should exercise discrimination, choosing those things that are 
suitable and realizing “practical advantages and esthetic poten¬ 
tialities.” As brick is readily moulded and manageable in form, 
and does not have to be quarried and hewn like stone, so it is 
cheaper and also susceptible of greater variety of treatment. Its 
uses in a decorative capacity may be roughly grouped under three 
heads; that in which diversification is gained by differences in the 
level of the wall surface, that is to say, when shadow and relief 
of line are produced by countersunk or projecting surfaces; sec¬ 
ond, that in which the manner of laying the brick on a perfectly 
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