34 
House & Garden 
THE GATED FIREPLACE—A PRACTICAL SOLUTION 
Wrought Iron Gates Would Supplant the Ordinary Firescreen 
and Add Beauty to the Fireplace 
Martin j n g a f e( i fireplace is the germ of a suggestion to use folding 
screens attached to each side of the fireplace or wrought iron 
gates to arrest the sparks. Myron Hunt, architect 
B EHIND every article of 
household furnishing and of 
architectural detail lies a history. 
Of none is this more true than of 
the fireplace. As a center of 
family life its position, its acces¬ 
sories and its decoration have all 
come down to us through an age¬ 
long development. And although 
modem systems of heating would 
seem to supplant it, we still cling 
to the open fire because it has an 
attraction to the eye and a wel¬ 
come to the heart that no amount 
of camouflage radiators can give. 
The open fire and the things that 
go with it have a permanent place 
in the poetry of living, and life is 
richer for its existence. 
The usual fitments of the fire¬ 
place consist of a fire back, or 
sheet of iron, which may be plain 
or decorated; andirons, which 
may be large or small, according 
to the size and period of the room; the brush 
and shovel and poker and bellows which are 
necessary; and, finally, a firescreen to catch 
the sparks. Here we are concerned with the 
firescreen. 
The varieties of firescreens are legion, run¬ 
ning the gamut from the collapsible style made 
of wire screening to the larger and elaborate 
designs in wrought iron. This screen must be 
removed when the fire is arranged or built. 
While it is not the ultimate solution which 
defies criticism, it serves its purpose excellently. 
One solution, however, is suggested by the 
gated fireplace shown in the accompanying il¬ 
lustration. In this instance the gates are made 
to close in summer, when, at best, the fireplace 
is a dark gaping hole. Applying the same 
principle, why not have gates of wrought iron 
to serve as a firescreen? They could be easily 
swung open when the fire needs attention and 
closed when it is under way and burning. 
Gates of this kind could be fashioned in 
open wrought iron and lined with 
a thin screen cloth which would 
arrest the sparks. Of course, to 
accommodate the gates when 
closed, the shanks of the andirons 
would have to be short and the 
andirons placed, as shown, well 
back into the fire opening, where 
they would be out of the way. 
This suggestion is perfectly 
feasible for practically all types 
of fireplaces. When the fire open¬ 
ing is large, the gates need not 
extend to the top, as few sparks 
shoot very high. The Colonial 
fireplace would require a simple 
pattern of gate and the Jacobean 
could support one more sturdy 
and elaborate. 
From this illustration comes a 
further suggestion: instead of 
gates, the ordinary folding fire¬ 
screens could be attached to each 
side of the fireplace. 
And may we not suggest that this photo¬ 
graph and the one below, with their accom¬ 
panying text, be studied by the reader? They 
serve as an example of how many suggestions 
can be taken from a photograph in which good 
work is shown. What makes good work good is 
that it is the application of the greatest possible 
number of practical and esthetic ideas. From 
studying the illustrations in House & Garden, 
the reader can avail herself of the greatest num¬ 
ber of suggestions to apply to her own problems. 
THE LIVING ROOM THAT WAS A KITCHEN 
O NCE on a time household magazines were 
filled with suggestions for making furni¬ 
ture out of packing cases, and palaces out of old 
barrels. Nothing more deceptive has ever been 
perpetrated on the American people. The first 
essential is not a barrel, 
but good taste; once that 
is possessed, the material 
wherewithal will be 
found no matter how 
simple it may be, and 
decoration will become 
more a problem of dis¬ 
cording and rearrange¬ 
ment than of actual ac¬ 
quiring. 
A case in point is the 
room illustrated here. 
Originally it was a 
kitchen in the lodge of a 
country estate and the 
owners wanted to re¬ 
model it into a combined 
living and dining room. 
With the aid of a decora¬ 
tor, Mrs. Douglas Camp¬ 
bell, the transformation 
was gradually accom¬ 
plished. 
First everything remi¬ 
niscent of the kitchen 
was cleared out. Then 
the walls were painted It started in 
blue with a brown glaze arrangement 
And Has Been Completely 
Transformed from Its 
Humble Origin 
life as a kitchen in the lodge of a country estate. By a clever 
of furniture it now serves as living and dining room combined 
laid over, which gives them a green hue. Cur¬ 
tains were made of chintz with a beige colored 
ground and pastel shades of rose, blue and 
yellow over it. 
The furniture has been so arranged and 
selected that the dining 
part of the room in no 
way interferes with the 
living side. The Eliza¬ 
bethan refectory “draw” 
table ■— with leaves that 
slide in beneath the top 
slab—solves the problem 
of guests and extra table 
space. On the buffet has 
been placed a pleasing 
group of Italian pottery, 
candlesticks, vases and a 
mirror. 
The transformation has 
been so complete that one 
can hardly realize that 
the place now occupied 
by the buffet was once 
filled with the kitchen 
wash tub. In fact, noth¬ 
ing has been allowed to 
remain to remind one of 
the room’s humble origin 
save the small open stove 
which serves the purpose 
of a fireplace. The room 
is made habitable by the 
application of taste. 
