June 2, 1916. 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 
New Residences and Recent Improvements Along the 
North Shore 
CHARLES ELMER ALEXANDER 
(Reprinted from BOSTON EVENING TRANSCRIPT of May 20, 1916) 
Handsome Residence for Wm. A. Gardner 
RIDE’S CROSSING.—Work has been started on the 
foundation of a house for William Amory Gardner, 
of Groton, who eventually will have one of the finest 
places along the North Shore. It is to be built on the 
Gardner estate on Hale street, directly opposite Mingo 
Beach, about halfway between Chapman’s corner at Bey- 
erly Cove and Pride’s Crossing. A house built long ago 
on this site was recently demolished to make way for the 
new residence. Mr. Gardner, as a boy and young man, 
used to spend his summers there, as did his younger 
brother, Congressman Augustus P. Gardner, of Hamilton 
and Washington. Formerly, for some years their uncle, 
the late John L. Gardner, and their aunt, Mrs. Gardner, 
made this place their summer home. 
The site is ideal for a summer home, as the beach an: 
nearby surroundings make~a fine setting and the views 
across the water are widespread. The house, in its high 
situation, will suggest a castle, as it is to be constructed 
of stone and its main part will be high and square on top 
and on the waterfront it will be five stories, including a 
mezzanine story and a basement. It has been planned 
by Henry Richards, an architect of Gardiner, Me., and 
the work is to be carried out by W. F. Ross Company, of 
Cambridge, as general contractors. 
This mansion will be so constructed that it will have 
a most substantial look, gained not only through the use 
of stone, but because of its general design. ‘The central 
portion of several stories with its square top will be flank- 
ed by right and left wings, one for rooms for the master’s 
portion of the house and the other the service departments. 
On the water side there will be a broad terrace upon which 
the drawing room will open and this terrace will be carried, 
at less width, across the elevation and massive stone steps 
will lead to a lower terrace. It all will be finished with 
a heavy balustrade of ornamental design. The two wings 
will have a pitched roof, the lines broken by dormer win- 
dows, and at the end of each wing there will be a broad 
chimney. Throughout the house the windows will be out 
of the usual, with leaded panes in mullion treatment, and 
the range of windows on the various stories has been 
varied as to groups, so that a quaint appearance will be 
gained. Some of the more important windows, those in 
the dining room and drawing room, especially, are of the 
Tudor type. The treatment of the big chimneys is also 
suggestive of that period. 
The main entrance, with its spandrel-arched doorway, 
will be reached by an avenue to be built from the main 
highway leading to what might appear to be the rear of 
the house, if the elevation facing the highway and water 
be considered as the front. The entrance and stairway 
halls will be of big size, the main hall about fifty feet long 
by twelve or more wide. From it will open the library, 
about twenty by tyenty-four feet in size, and the draw- 
ing room, thirty-four by twenty-four feet in dimensions. 
On the opposite side will be the dining room, twenty- 
seven by twenty-four feet in size. All of these will have 
deep fireplaces. The stairway hall, twenty-eight by eig- 
teen feet in dimensions, will show an ornaimental stair- 
way with square turnings. Coat and other rooms make 
up this lower floor. The halls will be marble tiled and 
the walls will be panelled in an ornamental way. In the 
larger wing will be the general service part of the house, 
including a kitchen, laundry, servants’ hall, butler’s roonis 
and other equipment, all opening upon a long corridor. 
On the second floor will be a large hall and gallery 
of stone construction, a master’s suite of several rooms, 
guests’ rooms with baths and dressing rooms, a boudoir, 
while in the wing will be the housekeeper’s rooms, and 
other rooms for use of servants. The mezzanine floor 
will contain rooms and baths for use of guests, a sewing 
room and several service rooms. ‘The third floor will not 
be finished until some future time, but it is spacious 
enough to provide several good- sized chambers, baths, 
storage and other rooms. 
The interior finish planned by Mr. Ross, the con- 
tractor, will be notably in keeping with the solid character 
of the exterior, The drawing room will be panelled 
about two-thirds up and the various doorways, extending 
to the ceiling, will be of the Tudor style, with consider- 
able carving in the arches. Some of the windows show 
similar treatment. The panels of the hall, dining room 
and library will add immensely to the appearance of these 
places, as will mantels everywhere, of carved stone in 
impressive designs, with fluted columns and other details 
of finish. It is not expected that the house will be fin- 
ished until about a year from this time, or perhaps a little 
earlier. 
Flere and There at Pride’s 
ACH season finds usually some new work in the gen- 
eral improvement of the H. C. Frick estate at Pride's 
Crossing, where just now a small cottage is nearing com- 
pletion for use by the gardener. It is just off of Hale 
street and is placed near the extensive kitchen and other 
gardens which form so important a part of this big estate. 
The cottage is of modest size, with plastered exterior and 
“snub-nosed” gabled roof. It contains about the usual 
plan of rooms found in houses for its intended purpose. 
It was built by Howard A. Doane of Pride’s Crossing and 
the stone and masonry work, including the building of a 
short avenue from the ace highway, of stone construc- 
tion, was done by the J. ft Linehan Construction Com- 
pany of Pride’s. 
A new wall with entrance posts is being built to en- 
close the Oliver Ames estate on Hale street at Pride’: 
Crossing. It is a reproduction of the wall originally built 
when the mansion on the estate was erected, is of con- 
crete foundation and plaster finish and has a substantial 
Jook. Jt has been built by J. T. Wilson & Son, Inc., of 
Nahant. A new forecourt is a part of the plan of im- 
provement. 
At “Swiftmoor,” at Pride’s Crossing, the summer 
residence of Mr. and Mrs. Aksel C. P. Wichfeld of Wash- 
ington, D. C., some improvement of the interior has been 
made, especially in the kitchen and service part of - 
large mansion. ‘These changes have been made by J. 
Wilson & Sons, Inc., of Nahant. The tennis courts ‘oe 
been rebuilt and some other work on the extensive grounds 
has been carried out by the J. H. Linehan Constructica 
Company of Pride’s Crossing. 
