32 
House 
& Garden 
MOTHER-IN-LAW HOUSE 
How a Cottage on a Little California Country Place Provided Rare Hospitality 
and , Incidentally , Solved a Problem 
PEGGY NICHOLS 
1 AM sure there must be lots 
and lots of mothers and moth¬ 
ers-in-law in this world today 
who, just as ours, do not care to 
live with their in-laws and their 
in-laws do not care to live with 
them. And yet somehow they 
seem so sadly lonesome shifting 
around in the average big house 
all by themselves. Or they may 
not have that house. Times may 
have changed for them, and they 
come to live with their children. 
Accustomed to being mistress in 
their own homes, they find it dif¬ 
ficult to adapt themselves to this 
new environment. Either of these 
situations usually covers the aver¬ 
age mother-in-law problem. 
It was this sort of problem we 
faced—and surely many other 
young married couples must face 
it too. It had to be solved, and 
this was the way we solved it. 
We built the mother a wee, tiny 
house in the garden, really no 
bigger than a minute, but all her 
very own. As our lot is not so 
large—only 60' x 100'—and as 
our house is only a wee bit of an 
affair itself, this tiny cottage snuggled away in 
the shrubbery at the back of the lot is in per¬ 
fect scale and keeping with the place. Like 
the house, it was made all on one floor, and 
covered with stucco. 
Outside and In 
and kitchen. The dressing room 
is commodious with plenty of 
shelves and closet space. Along 
one wall a great long dressing 
table is built in. 
The kitchen is painted lemon 
yellow and has blue gingham 
shades and dainty lace paper on 
the shelves that give it an old- 
fashioned air. 
We made the living room fairly 
good sized because there must be 
accommodation for visiting in¬ 
laws and friends. Although not 
much furniture was required, we 
had heaps of fun snooping around 
second-hand stores and antique 
shops for most of the things. 
Some we had to have made. 
Everything came in for its coat of 
paint, either rose or gray, for rose 
and gray seemed the color scheme 
best suited to a mother-in-law. 
We had the thrill of our lives 
when the mother found a quaint 
old walnut bed, a sort of double 
day-bed, that would serve for 
couch. This, too, came in for its 
share of paint. We toned the 
panels in soft color and in every 
place we could we painted old rose and blue 
striping. We covered the upholstery with rose 
rep and heaped up soft pillows. 
In this living room is a panel dresser, bought 
from an antique man, and renovated to fit the 
spot. Its mirror was removed and hung on 
the opposite wall. 
Tlicked away 
in a corner is 
the little cot¬ 
tage for the 
mother-in-law 
HFVTH 
SLEEP 
PORRCH 
The cottage 
has five rooms , 
ample for its 
hospitable pur¬ 
pose 
The entrance to this cottage had to be off 
the driveway. We laid a narrow brick run¬ 
ner, giving the effect of a winding pathway 
instead of a drive. One runner branches off 
past a sundial and through a wrought iron 
garden gate onto the little terrace in front of 
the cottage. A clipped hedge surrounds the 
corner, giving privacy to both places. 
We built the sleeping porch out into the 
very heart of a peach tree, and to the roof of 
it clambers a pink Cherokee rose. 
Inside, in addition to this sleeping porch, 
there are a living room, dressing room, bath 
Additional Pieces 
The other furnishings consist of a soft putty 
color rug, a cheap oak gateleg table which was 
made to harmonize with paint, four straight 
chairs with woven seats and rose colored rungs, 
a big, soft, overstuffed chair, a little low rocker 
and, piece de resistance, a little old peasant 
cupboard which we made with a drop leaf, 
handy for serving tea things. 
Taking it all in all, we think it a very lov¬ 
able, homey place, with a rosy atmosphere 
which is inviting to all, even the sons-in-law. 
Simple furniture is 
used—a painted 
gate-leg table, and 
dresser 
An old walnut bed 
was used for a 
couch and painted 
rose and blue 
