68 
House & Garden 
An example of the thorough¬ 
ness of our service. 
In this room, two insufficient 
windows were reconstructed 
to conform with the decorative 
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FINE FURNITUKE 
George Washington, Architect and Decorator 
(Continued from page 66) 
some in the steward’s room, directly op¬ 
posite, which are not inconvenient. 
There is a small room adjoining the 
kitchen, that might, if it is not essential 
for other purposes, be appropriated for 
the Sevres china, and other things of 
that sort, which are not in common use. 
. . . I approve, at least till inconveni¬ 
ence or danger shall appear, of the large 
table ornaments remaining on the side¬ 
board, and of the pagodas standing in 
the smallest drawing room. Had I de¬ 
livered my sentiments from here re¬ 
specting this fixture, that is the apart¬ 
ment I should have named for it. 
Whether the green, which you have, or 
a new yellow curtain, should be appro¬ 
priated to the staircase above the hall, 
may depend on your getting an exact 
match, in colour and so forth, of the lat¬ 
ter. For the sake of appearances one 
would not, in instances ot this kind, re¬ 
gard a small additional expense.” 
In other letters, written at various 
times, there is the same precision of de¬ 
tail regarding the proper way to pack 
porcelain, glass and other breakables and 
“such indications of taste as show that 
Washington perfectly understood the 
proprieties of an effective arrangement 
of furniture, and was careful that 
his own home should, in this re¬ 
spect at least, appear to the best advan- 
tage.” 
While it is pleasing to think of Wash¬ 
ington in the foregoing capacities, be¬ 
cause so doing makes him more human 
and real to us, it is also worth remem¬ 
bering that the most exalted personage 
of his day and generation had the in¬ 
clination and found the time to make 
his dwelling truly his home. 
A Rare Old Plant—the Ivy Green 
(Continued fi 
Turning now from the true English 
species to other climbers popularly 
classed as ivies, we find two which are 
especially entitled to consideration be¬ 
cause of their hardiness, adaptability 
and generally attractive appearance. 
The first of these is Boston ivy, the 
A mpelopsis Veitchi of most dealers’ cata¬ 
logs. Botanically speaking, Partheno- 
cissus tricuspidata is its correct title, 
while in the vernacular it is also known 
as Japanese ivy and ampelopsis. This 
is one of the best hardy climbers for out¬ 
door situations such as I mentioned in 
connection with Hedera helix. It clings 
closely to its supporting surface, cover¬ 
ing it with a dense mat of foliage whose 
deep, fresh green changes in autumn to 
bright crimson and yellow. While per¬ 
fectly hardy, it does not hold its leaves 
through the winter. 
The other hardy climber is also a 
Parthenocissus; in this case the varietal 
name is quinquefolia. Whether you pre¬ 
fer this appellation or the nurseryman’s 
more usual one of Ampelopsis quinque¬ 
folia makes no difference in the desir¬ 
ability of the vine, nor changes its com¬ 
mon American titles of Virginia creeper, 
woodbine or American ivy. 
It has always seemed to me that in 
this plant we approach as near as may 
be to the ideal informal hardy climber 
of the woody type. Note that I specify 
“informal,” because there is something 
about Virginia creeper which fits it espe¬ 
cially for climbing over stone walls, 
boulders, tree trunks and other natural¬ 
istic features rather than the more arti- 
'om page 51) 
ficial and formal situation afforded by 
the average stone or brick house. Per¬ 
sonally, I should never use Virginia 
creeper on any house walls except those 
of strictly informal, cosy homes of the 
cottage type. This is merely an indi¬ 
vidual feeling, however, and is not in¬ 
tended as a dictum for others neces¬ 
sarily to follow. 
The leaves of the woodbine are deeply 
cut and somewhat resemble those of our 
obnoxious poison ivy, except that they 
have five points instead of three. Like 
the poison ivy, too, they turn a glorious 
crimson in the fall, glowing with a pe¬ 
culiar rich warmth against their back¬ 
ground of gray rocks or hazy distance. 
It is perhaps needless to add that the 
vine is entirely harmless, its leaves, stems 
and fruit being alike free from all noxi¬ 
ous qualities. 
In conclusion, I am tempted to add 
one more woody-stemmed climber to the 
list, though it can scarcely be referred 
to as an ivy. This is the common wild 
bitter-sweet (Solatium dulcamara), a 
vine of the fields and woodland borders, 
ideal for transplanting to the home 
grounds. Do not try to make it climb 
the house walls, or anything like that. 
But if you have an old stone fence or 
rock pile, a tree stump to be masked 
rather than removed, a rugged slope 
where formal landscaping would be be¬ 
yond consideration, try bitter-sweet. It 
will repay you a thousand-fold, with its 
red and orange berries in fall and win¬ 
ter and its homely charm throughout 
the year. 
The Fabrics to Combine in Decoration 
(Continued from page 54) 
under-curtain. Taffeta, that wonderfully 
accommodating material, used for edging, 
cushions and lampshades^ well earns the 
credit due it and amply justifies the 
expense. There is a splendid variety of 
silk, softer than a taffeta and less likely 
to crack, and as heavy in texture, which 
combines harmoniously with any of the 
less elaborate schemes. Curtains edged 
with a little block fringe repeating the 
colors of the cretonne would give a 
quiet distinction to a room. Out of 
doors we are getting rather riotous with 
our color combinations, but inside, 
while we have gotten away from somber¬ 
ness, we find ourselves practising a much 
more selective restraint, seeing the wis¬ 
dom of putting color in small telling spots. 
A combination to be avoided is a linen 
of large, striking design and a damask, 
unless it be that the damask is a small 
all-over repeat used in the same way 
that one would use a plain fabric or an 
inconspicuous stripe. Damask and linen 
do not combine well unless this precau¬ 
tion is used, or a velvet employed as a. 
medium, a go-between. 
Only the decorator who makes a study 
of texture combination can avoid these 
pitfalls. Here are the rules: A heavy, 
a medium and a light weight fabric 
combine well if they have something in 
common, usually the stuff of the weave, 
the tissue. Rich velvet, shimmery satin 
and gossamery chiffon can be mixed, 
or loosely woven cretonne and soft taf¬ 
feta and thin scrim. 
In choosing fabrics to combine in a 
room one should be guided by the same 
principles with which a hostess chooses 
her dinner guests: they must be either 
alike or related by common interests or 
they must contrast. Dinner conve sa- 
tion begins to sparkle when these com¬ 
binations get together. And in much 
the same fashion a room takes on dis¬ 
tinction and character when the fabrics 
assembled in it are either closely related 
or contrasted. The middle path in al¬ 
most every instance, is dangerous. 
