48 
House & Garden 
THE NICHE IN THE SCHEME OF DECORATION 
It Is An Architectural Detail That Can Be Used for the Enrichment 
of the House Both Inside and Out 
PAUL HOLLINS 
T HE decorative value of the 
niche has been appreciated 
ever since the time of the Romans. 
Architects have used it in every po¬ 
sition and in almost every type of 
building. The niche has its place 
both in public and in domestic 
architecture; it can be used on the 
exterior of a building or within it; 
it is as effective in a church as in a 
private house. The domed top and 
concave back satisfy the eye with 
their rich yet simple forms, what¬ 
ever may be the size of the niche or 
wherever it may be introduced into 
the architectural scheme. Its value 
lies, of course, in the relief it gives 
to a blank wall or facade. It cre¬ 
ates a pocket for shadows and af¬ 
fords the sense of a desirable third 
dimension. 
The accompanying photographs 
illustrate the felicitous employment 
of various types of niches within 
the house. The one exception shows 
the use of niches in what is neither 
the interior nor the exterior—in the 
area-way of a town house, where 
the deep, narrow ravine of an area 
with a forlorn outlook has been 
transformed into a sunken passage- 
wayof unusual architectural beautv. 
v r,!r-lV* 
tor **i 
In New York houses of the old 
brownstone era the tall, shallow 
stairs niche was quite common. 
Originally designed to hold a piece 
of statuary and to give the expanse 
of the stairs wall some dignified 
relief, it is now rather scorned as 
belonging to a dark age of archi¬ 
tecture. For a matter of fact, this 
stairs niche is a pleasant detail. 
The interior can be gilded or sil¬ 
vered, throwing a spot of light into 
the darkness of the hall. If a 
piece of statuary or a vase in color 
to harmonize with such a back¬ 
ground is placed in this stairs 
niche an interesting and unusual 
effect is given. 
The corner niche that serves for 
a china closet is quite common in 
our early houses and in their mod¬ 
ern reproductions. It is a classical 
detail and, as in all classical ex¬ 
pressions, great care should be 
taken to have the details refined— 
the scale in proportion and the 
decorative elements of 
delicacy. Otherwise a 
this sort will dominate 
and be inharmonious. 
Of the details used 
niches the shell top is 
a fitting 
niche of 
the room 
in 
the 
these 
most 
Of all unpromising subjects 
an area in a city house is 
surely one of the most seem¬ 
ingly hopeless. This forlorn 
spot was transformed into a 
passage of unusual merit by 
niches adorned with vases on 
pedestals. Sir Edwin Lutyens, 
architect 
(Left) Into the middle of a 
row of cupboards in a store 
room was introduced this 
niche for china. The doors 
on each side are decorated 
and the back of the niche 
is left uncovered, giving it a 
greater sense of depth 
(Right) The tall, shallow 
stairs niche is quite common 
in houses built around 1870. 
Although we are apt to scorn 
it, this type has decided deco¬ 
rative value when it is filled 
with a piece of statuary or an 
unusual vase 
1. ■ :■ 
