30 
House & Garden 
DETAILS THAT MAKE or MAR A HOUSE 
The Role of Architectural 
Embellishments 
WTNNIFRED FALES 
T HE general plan of the house of moderate 
value is largely predetermined by fixed 
conditions. Its shape and dimensions are un¬ 
avoidably limited by those of the lot whereon 
it is to stand. The number of rooms essential 
to comfort is automatically indicated by the 
size of the family which is to occupy it. The 
form and exposure of the building, together 
with the requirements of efficiency and con¬ 
venience, decide the specific locations of the 
various rooms; and, finally, all other con¬ 
siderations are dominated by the supreme con¬ 
sideration of cost. 
Yet though he who secretly aspires to the 
ownership of a stately country house set amid 
terraced slopes and formal gardens, must bow 
to the inexorable limitations of a light purse 
and a 20' x 60' lot, he may console himself 
with the reflection that, after all, it is the de¬ 
tails of structure and ornament, rather than 
mere breadth and height, which will determine 
whether his future home shall be dignified or 
tawdry, distinguished or commonplace; and 
that in the planning of such details—whether 
The monotony of a flat facade can be relieved 
by shallow niches filled with lattice or bas re¬ 
liefs or, as in the house below, niches can be 
simulated by white painted arches of lattice over 
which vines are to be trained 
Northend 
It may be only the novel fashioning of a dormer that supplies the dis¬ 
tinctive touch; or the stiff horizontal margin of the eaves may be 
broken effectively by an extension over an entrance or a group of 
windows 
Window boxes may be as varied in detail as the flowers they contain, 
and the periodical changes, jrom the bright blossoms of summer to 
the rich evergreens of winter, afford ample opportunity for devising 
original combinations 
