July, 1921 
47 
The floor of the hall is of soft 
blackish gray terazzo. Brass stars 
and a narrow decorative band are 
let into it. The curtains are of 
white Chinese silk fringed with 
bright green and red 
so-called American basement type: 
that is, you enter on the level of 
the street. The house had a fairly 
agreeable facade, but when you 
once entered it you left hope be¬ 
hind, for you found yourself in a 
dark, subterranean looking hall 
with a too-low ceiling and a too- 
large staircase and absolutely noth¬ 
ing of interest to detract from the 
sandwich feeling. A miserable 
pavement of gray and white marble 
chip composition added to the res¬ 
taurant effect, and the too-wide 
curving staircase started up with a 
grand sweep only to be cut in mid- 
llight by a totally bare and uninter¬ 
esting ceiling. I hope I’ve made 
the hall as ugly as it seemed to me. 
Nothing ever seemed uglief. 
Halls in city houses may be di¬ 
vided into two general classes: 
those in which guests are expected 
to linger, and those through 
which guests are expected to 
pass rapidly to more pleasant 
The alcove to the right of the 
entrance door was curbed with a 
rim of black marble designed to 
hold plants massed about the feet 
of a yellow stone Chinese lady of 
tranquil beauty 
rooms. In country houses the hall 
may very easily become the fa¬ 
vorite meeting place in the house, 
into which all the rest of the house 
leads. But this sort of living hall 
must have light and air and radiat¬ 
ing avenues of approach, and the 
city house hall is usually a dim, 
dark place, through which one 
walks directly ahead as on a path, 
receiving a vague impression of 
positive or negative hospitality. 
My purpose was to break this awk¬ 
ward space in such a manner as to 
divide the interest, to make the 
decoration compelling rather than 
incidental, and to divert the eye 
from the low ceiling to the floor. 
It was impractical to make any 
serious structural change in the 
house, because these alterations 
were done during the war. So I 
tried to make use of such irregu¬ 
larities as were established, as for 
instance, the alcove beside the 
(Continued on page 72) 
