October, 1918 
«1 
AN APPRECIATION of THE PAVED GALLERY 
The Role It Plays in House Design and How It Can be Furnished 
S O few of our houses have vistas in¬ 
side them. Vistas outside aplenty 
—but inside? 
Why not? The principle, and the 
desirability, are the same whether in 
the garden or within house walls. Vis¬ 
tas open up all sorts of possibilities to 
the imagination. Well planned, they 
catch the eye at once, intriguing our 
thoughts and turning them in new di¬ 
rections. If the psychologists should 
take up vistas in a serious way we fancy 
these often overlooked features would 
emerge from the investigation with 
clearer significance—if you get what 
we mean. 
Vistas, in a word, can have the pur-- 
pose of the long gallery. 
To be sure, not all houses permit of 
such an admirable architectural treat¬ 
ment. That is because, in our desire for 
many rooms, we are willing to suffer the 
confines of small rooms. Far better 
would it be to have fewer and larger 
rooms, to which decorative character 
can be given, and with which one may 
enjoy vistas inside the house. 
The gallery or hall is one of those 
spaces that we often conserve on, and 
very few halls indeed may be said to 
possess individuality. An example of 
what can be done in a hall is illustrated 
here. It is from the residence of C. D. 
Barnes, Esq., at Manhasset, L. I. The 
architects, who were Peabody, Wilson & 
Tebbg 
Instead of the usual hallway there is a paved gallery 
in the residence of C. D. Barnes, Esq., at Manhasset, 
L. I. Peabody, Wilson Sr Brown, architects 
Brown, conceived a rambling English 
cottage type of house and co-operated 
with the decorators, who were Schmitt 
Bros., to carry this atmosphere through¬ 
out the interior. Two examples are 
shown on this page, but here we are con¬ 
cerned only with the entrance hall or 
gallery. 
Into plasterwork of a delicate rose 
tint has been set ancient half-timber 
work that divides the wall into irregu¬ 
lar panels. The entrance to the living 
room is marked by an old rood screen 
which came from a private chapel on 
the other side. The floor is of old 
flagging. Nothing is allowed to break 
the simple, austere and yet delightful 
lines of this hall, save a quaint clock 
of the period, a few simple peasant 
chairs and a row of geraniums on the 
window sills. The name of the house 
is “Nonesuch House.” Certainly it ap¬ 
plies also to this gallery, for there are 
few examples in America of such re¬ 
strained handling of antiques. 
It gives, to those who contemplate 
building after the war, a suggestion 
that is worth remembering. It is sim¬ 
ple; it affords a vista, and it has the 
distinguished merit of individuality 
given by the legitimate use of antiques. 
Each element is in harmony, each has 
its history and the whole combine to cre¬ 
ate an atmosphere that is unusual and 
in good taste. 
A NEW FIREPLACE in AN ANCIENT MODE 
Showing How Past Custom of the Hearth Can be Reproduced in Decorative Details 
O FF the hallway which is pictured above 
is a living room of equally distinguished 
design. It is of the 17th Century, the panel¬ 
ing and half-timber work having been re¬ 
moved from a house of that period in East 
Anglia. The walls are old plaster relieved 
with occasional parge designs. The furniture 
has been selected to carry out the atmosphere 
of the period. 
Naturally the focal point of the room is 
the fireplace. A detail of it shows an old 
carved beam of the Jacobean period that has 
been let into the wall where the mantel shelf 
usually stands. Bricks laid in herring-bone 
pattern form the fireback and hearth; an old 
wrought iron fire-basket takes the place of 
andirons. A large part of the overmantel is 
occupied by an ancient heraldic plaque in 
plaster. Three little book shelves hang to the 
left of it. At one side of the hearth is a fire 
bench of rude design beside which is placed a 
quaint standard wired and shaded to be used 
as a lamp. Old nine-branch candle sconces 
serve for lighting fixtures. In one of the 
panels above the wainscoting is stretched a 
piece of old embroider}'. 
Given the necessary antique almost any¬ 
one, it would seem, could reconstruct the 
Tebbs 
A plaster coat of arms , three small shelves 
of books and a carved fireplace beam give 
this wall distinguished merit 
atmosphere of the past as it has been re¬ 
created here. But that is far from the fact; 
accomplishment is far different from theory. 
First we must have a knowledge of the 
antiques themselves and the places they came 
from; then we must appreciate the demands of 
modern times. And third, we must harmoni¬ 
ously combine the two, co-ordinating each 
with the other. 
The secret of this fireplace grouping lies 
in the one object that has not been mentioned 
—the comfortable, modern upholstered chair 
that stands on the other side of the hearth, 
inviting ease and comfort. 
One can conceivably sit on the rude fire 
bench with its narrow seat and stiff back— 
but not for long. In the comfortable modern 
chair? That’s another matter! And the suc¬ 
cess of this chair is that a fabric of quaint 
and ancient design is the covering. 
In the last analysis the complete reproduc¬ 
tion of a past period without regard for the 
customs of the present is a great mistake, and 
no interior that neglects the present can be 
considered livable. The combination of the 
two, each used with restraint, makes for com¬ 
fort and good taste, and produces an atmos¬ 
phere of distinction. 
