collections and to the objects which the donor has had in view 
in providing for their maintenance had for some years occupied 
the attention of Mr. Freer, and finally through the services of 
Mr. Charles A. Platt, the well-known architect of New York 
City, a structure has been designed which, suitable in every 
detail to its purposes, presents an exterior both dignified and 
pleasing. Measuring 228 feet in frontage by 185 feet deep, 
it consists of a single main story above a high basement. The 
former, having an open central court about 65 feet square, is 
divided into rooms of different sizes, all of which will be 
used for exhibition, while the latter contains ample studios, 
storage rooms, an auditorium and administrative offices. 
The site is on the Smithsonian reservation at the corner 
of 12th and B streets, southwest, between the Smithsonian 
building and the east wing of the building of the Department 
of Agriculture. With its main or north front on the building 
line ad_opted for the southern side of the Mall, this new 
structure will stand some distance back of the Smithsonian 
building and 73 feet to the westward of its western adjoining 
end. An important advantage of this position is that the 
height of the adjoining buildings is not such as to dwarf its 
dimensions, a danger to be anticipated in surroundings not already 
permanently occupied. The exterior material will be a pink 
granite, furnishing a color intermediate between the brownish- 
red sandstone on the one side and the white marble on the other. 
The location and the preliminary plans, the former 
selected by a committee of the Board of Regents of the Smith- 
