House & Garden 
28 
THE SCENERY OF THE HOUSE 
How Joseph Urban Exercised Ihs Skill 
on Ills Own Home 
The study is paneled by the 
use of dark stripes on a 
golden paper. A heavy fibre 
rug covers the floor. Plenty 
of room is left to move about 
The dining room table is long and narrow, 
built of heavy planks by a local carpenter. 
At each end the supports are extended into 
a narrow pillar on which is placed a piece 
of modern pottery. Walls and table black, 
carpet runners in gay Viennese pattern 
'T' HOSE who have seen the remarkable 
i scenery designed by Joseph Urban may 
have wondered what sort of scenery he sur¬ 
rounds himself with at home. A visit to that 
home dispels all doubt, for the artist has made 
a set for himself that is remarkable in its 
coloring and simplicity. 
The house belongs to the 1890 type of 
American suburban architecture, a type of un¬ 
forgivably flamboyant jig-saw work without 
and blatant golden oak within. It was mainly 
by elimination that the foundation for the mod¬ 
ern decorations was created. The living room 
was papered in a light tan and paneled off 
with strips of dark shade paper. The study 
opening on it was treated in the same fashion, 
giving an air of unity to the two rooms. Al¬ 
most the entirety of the living room is occupied 
by a big, blue upholstered divan placed in 
front of the fire and surrounded on three sides 
by a built-in magazine case. This reaches to 
the top of the davenport and gives a wide 
shelf on the three sides. Overhead hang three 
lights with broad, golden silk fringed shades. 
In the doorway between the two rooms stands 
a wing chair upholstered in the most vivid 
green satin! 
Off this living room is an enclosed balcony 
that gives a view to the reaches of the Hudson. 
It is decorated and finished in a soft gold that 
the dusk light ages at tea time. 
One of the most interesting rooms in the 
house is the breakfast room upstairs. Mr. 
Urban sees no reason for going downstairs for 
breakfast, and so has placed this room in 
proximity to the bed¬ 
rooms. The walls arc 
covered with alternate 
panels of gold and silver 
paper—the silver of the 
mist at dawn, the gold of 
the sunlight. A break¬ 
fast table stands in the 
bow window. Before the 
fireplace is drawn a 
chaise longue with gold 
and silver in its covering 
and a soft silk robe, at 
the foot, of bright blue. 
On the walls hang origi¬ 
nal paintings that give 
vivid spots of color. It 
is a perfect setting for 
the beginning of the day. 
The entire house is an 
example of the creation 
of natural backgrounds 
for everyday living. The 
decorations represent no 
great outlay of monev 
but a large investment of 
care in the selection of 
exactly the right fabrics 
and furniture. Color 
abounds, strong, natural, 
brilliant modern colors; 
and in every room there 
is justification for its use. 
Instead of the usual over¬ 
mantel painting Mr. Urban 
has used a grouping of a 
bronze plaque and a Chinese 
shrine for his living room 
mantel decorations 
Gillies 
