HOUSE AND GARDEN 
340 
December, 1910 
In the library the fireplace treatment is particularly effective in its simple grey moldings, 
the carved wood cartouche in the centre and the ivory plastered wall 
that it is a home in the truest and best sense of the term. Withal, 
it is a very simple house, quite devoid of the suggestion of those 
useless trappings, which at one stage of American domestic archi¬ 
tecture were unduly obtrusive, its lines are strong and direct, its 
details singularly pure, the composition of the whole thoroughly 
satisfying to the eye—and what more should be demanded of 
any home ? 
Its existence covering little more than a year, there is nothing 
about the house to betray its newness; rather, it possesses an air 
of having grown naturally from the site, just as did the great 
trees which surround it. This is, of course, one factor in the suc¬ 
cess of the building — its harmonious relationship to the require¬ 
ments of the natural plateau upon which it is situated — a site 
which presented to the architect a somewhat difficult problem to 
solve. It might almost be claimed that the plot comprising the 
From the library French casements open out upon the brick-paved 
porch, which by its advantageous western exposure catches every 
summer breeze 
home grounds was devoid of a street front¬ 
age—certainly it had none according to the 
ordinary conception. To the south of the 
property, many feet below the plateau, winds 
one of the beautiful drives of the Fairmount 
Park System through the Cresheim Valley, 
but it was impracticable to utilize this drive 
as a means of general access, owing to the 
steepness of the ascent to the plateau, hence 
it was necessary to approach the house from 
the north—a driveway, used also by the 
owners of the adjacent property on Mer¬ 
maid Lane, leading from that street to the 
fore-court, on the higher land above, as 
shown on the plan. 
Confining the fore-court is a great stone 
wall with brick coping, a wall having a 
glowing mass of color introduced into its 
ledges by cunningly planted flowers and 
vines and continuing around to the northerly 
side of the plateau, crowned by a low hedge, 
denoting the boundary line of the property, 
while below the wall the ground is ter¬ 
raced to the grade of the house. In the 
steps necessary for the descent from the 
fore-court, there is a distinctly Italian feel¬ 
ing — a feeling materially heightened by the 
somewhat formal character of the many 
evergreens employed in the planting and 
which will be more marked as time adds its mellowing influence. 
Such, then, was the environment, created by nature and, 
under an artistic hand, developed into an ideal resting-place for 
the house — a house 
whose contours con¬ 
form perfectly to 
the landscape and 
around which the 
ancient trees are as 
a frame to a pic¬ 
ture. 
The approach to 
the house being 
from the east, it 
was necessary in 
effecting a perfect 
orientation of plan, 
to place the kitchen 
entrance in such a 
position that one 
passes it before 
reaching the main 
entrance. It is rath¬ 
er doubtful whether 
or not many house¬ 
holders would care 
to have the visitor 
form a first impres¬ 
sion of their houses 
by the kitchen en¬ 
trances, yet that first impression would assuredly be favorable 
here, for the entrance to the kitchen is marked by none of the 
unsightly proverbial accompaniments; on the contrary, it com¬ 
petes with the main entrance in attraction, so entirely is it an 
integral part of the design. 
For a position lying high above the road and with low hills 
behind, one appreciates the wisdom of that choice which dictated 
for the roof of the house the low, sweeping lines found in Italian 
The house stands upon a plateau that is high 
above the Park Drive yet lower than the 
approach through a community lane at the 
north, which is used also by neighboring 
property owners 
