HOUSE AND GARDEN 
UNE. I9II 
445 
scour the wall so that the aggregate (the 
broken stone or gravel) may be exposed by 
the removal of all the superfluous small parti¬ 
cles of cement. A good deal of variety can 
thus be gained. Then again, the wall may be 
“smooth-washed,” or it may be “sand-floated,” 
a finish that produces great uniformity of ap¬ 
pearance though it sometimes gives the im¬ 
pression of sandpaper, or, last of all, it may be 
“pebble-dashed.” Good pebble-dashing is 
highly desirable. The rough surface has great 
light-absorbent qualities and, in a bright cli¬ 
mate, tones down the lines of the building and 
prevents the general effect of glaring hardness. 
Pebble-dash, too, offers an exceptionally good 
holding surface for any colored wash that it 
may be expedient to apply. One architect has 
achieved a particularly pleasing result with a 
pebble-dashed concrete wall by having the 
workmen go over the whole surface with 
whitewash brushes dipped in a wet mixture of 
cement and water. lie has thus secured a beautiful, mellow gray. 
There can be no doubt that modern architecture will undergo 
certain modifications because of the increasing use of reinforced 
concrete as a building material. Concrete architecture, we may 
be sure, will not follow the lines of stone or brick masonry, nor 
the lines of steel or wood structures, except where identical prin¬ 
ciples of construction compel it to do so. Utility and necessity 
will be the two chief determining factors of its future. Being cut 
off by considerations of cost from mouldings, string courses and 
other natural forms of ornamentation for the builder in stone, 
brick or wood, the concrete architect must perforce find some 
other means of expression, and compulsory simplicity will doubt¬ 
less bring about a more serious study of the resources and re¬ 
quirements of artistic proportion and beauty of simple form and 
lines. In contemplating this impending change we should bear in 
mind that there are already certain well-developed styles of archi¬ 
tecture that can most readily be translated into concrete and 
adapted to expression in that material. Some of the old Italian 
buildings furnish us with excellent examples in this respect. 
While the architect of a concrete house is deprived of many de¬ 
vices of ornamen¬ 
tation by the limita¬ 
tions of his mate- 
rial, nevertheless 
some avenues of 
decoration are wide 
The smooth cement base, belt course below the second-story windows, and the re¬ 
cessed panels below the arches, give the house its character. O. C. Hering, architect 
The Loggia degli Innocenti, Florence—the 
typical Italian architecture in which the 
use of stucco is particularly suitable 
The frieze protected by the deep overhang of the roof was secured 
by stenciling with cement washes in subdued colors. Louis Boyn¬ 
ton, architect 
open to him. Countersunk panels he can use to advantage, while 
moulded panels, either plain or judiciously colored, make an agree¬ 
able and striking relief to the monotony of the wall. Colored tiles 
and mosaics, too, may be used in the bed of the wall. The prevailing 
neutral gray of concrete walls forms an excellent foil for colors, 
and it is to be hoped that our present foolish timidity about their 
use may soon be a thing of the past. Even where neither color nor 
moulded panels are used, 
plain countersunk panels, 
finished with a face differ¬ 
ent from the rest of the 
wall, afford a welcome di¬ 
versity. Good results from 
the use of pillars, also, are 
always possible. 
When we turn to stucco 
we find a bewildering num¬ 
ber of ways in which it may 
be legitimately and effect¬ 
ively employed. In com- 
binatio'n with timber, brick 
and stonework it is entirely 
satisfactory. It is when it 
is used as a complete outer 
coating over stone, brick or 
tile that the danger of aus- 
(Continued on page 474) 
Another instance of the Englsh parge work where the 
detail, however, is rather heavy. Compare this with 
modern work at bottom of page 443 
