Volume XVIII 
1910 
Number 6 
December, 
The exterior walls are of a warm ivory plaster, rough in texture, with ivory-white trellises and sash, green 
shutters and weathered brown shingles and porch structure 
The Country Home of a Composer 
DR. W. W. GILCHRIST’S HOME AT ST. MARTIN’S, PA., WHERE THE DIFFICULTIES OF A PLATEAU 
SITE ON A HILLSIDE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY OVERCOME—EDMUND B. GILCHRIST, ARCHITECT 
by John Lynne Grey 
Photographs by 
T HE time is by no means remote when the American suburban 
home had its exposures governed solely by its relation to the 
highway. It was then a foregone conclusion that the “parlor” 
should overlook the thoroughfare — an arrangement often result¬ 
ing in that room never being brightened by the sun’s rays, while 
the kitchen would, in all probability, have a delightful southern 
exposure. Now, however, the beneficial effects of intelligent for¬ 
eign travel are becoming apparent in the increased attention 
American architects are devoting to the orientation of our houses, 
which not infrequently necessitates a reversal of the conventional 
order by throwing the kitchen toward the street and permitting 
the family living rooms to enjoy an outlook over the greater pri¬ 
vacy of the garden. In England, when advantageous exposures 
demanded it, such a reversal has been of general occurrence, and 
Phillip B. Wallace 
has been responsible for the designing of houses each side of which 
is attractive. As we have absorbed these rational ideas of house¬ 
planning, our homes have gained in sincerity, or one might almost 
say, they have become more adapted to our republican life, for 
how insincere and entirely contrary to our ethics of a republic is 
that home which, its rear unsightly and uninteresting, presents to 
the street a pretentious and pleasing elevation! Is it not prefer¬ 
able — even at the sacrifice of pretentiousness — to have a house, 
each side of which vies with the others in attractiveness? 
Such a house, embodying livableness, a dignified architectural 
treatment and a perfect sincerity of design, in that each side pos¬ 
sesses attractiveness, has recently been erected at St. Martin’s— 
one of Philadelphia’s most interesting suburbs. At a glance one 
realizes that it is distinctly something more than a mere house— 
( 339 ) 
