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ARCHITECTVRAL 
RECORD 

<sC      '  //;'> 

AN  ILLUSTRATED  MONTHLY  MAGAZINE  OF  ARCHITECTURE 


AND  THE  ALLIED   ARTS  AND  CRAFTS. 


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INDEX  TO  VOLUME  XLVI 


JULY— DECEMBER 

1919 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  ARCHITECTURAL  RECORD  CO. 

115-119    WEST    FORTIETH    STREET,    NEW    YORK    CITY 

841  MONADNOCK  BUILDING,  CHICAGO  1821  CHESTNUT  ST.,  PHILADELPHIA 

BESSEMER  BUILDING,  PITTSBURGH  114  FEDERAL  STREET,    BOSTON 


V 


Copyright,  1919,  by  THE  ARCHITECTURAL  RECORD  Co. 
All  Rights  Reserved 


THE  ARCHITECTURAL  RECORD 


Volume  XLVI 

ARTICLES, 

A.  E.  F.  ART  TRAINING  CENTER  AT  BELLEVUE,  FRANCE.  .By  Philip  M.  Riley 447-450 

AMERICAN   COUNTRY  HOUSE,  THE By  Fiske  Kimball 291-35? 

ARTISTIC  TREATMENT  OF  CONCRETE  SURFACES,  THE By  H.  Vandervoort  Walsh. .  .237-242 

BAPTIST  CHURCH,  THE  LAKE  AVENUE.  FOOTE,  HEADLEY 

&  CARPENTER,  ARCHITECTS By  I.  T.  Frary 429-439 

CHICAGO,  THE   PLAN   OF By  Robert  H.  Moulton 457-470 

COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK,  THE,  WASHINGTON, 

D.  C.  WADDY  B.  WOOD,  ARCHITECT By  Leon  V.  Solon 419-428 

COSMOPOLITAN  CLUB,  THE,  NEW  YORK.  EDWARD  C. 

DEAN,  ARCHITECT By  Leon  V.  Solon 18-28 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURAL  DECORATION.     PART  IX-b By  Albert  E.  Bullock 133-152 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURAL  DECORATION.     PART  X By  Albert  E.  Bullock 221-236 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURAL  DECORATION.     PART  XI By  Albert  E.  Bullock 569-582 

HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE,  THE, 

HAMPTON,  VA.  LUDLOW  &  PEABODY,  ARCHITECTS.  .  By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr 123-132 

HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA.  JOHN 

GALEN  HOWARD,  ARCHITECT By  Richard  F.  Bach 203-210 

HOLY  GRAIL  WINDOW,  THE,  IN  PROCTER  HALL,  PRINCE- 
TON UNIVERSITY.  DESIGNED  AND  EXECUTED  BY 
CHARLES  J.  CONNICK .By  Charles  Over  Cornelius. .  .440-446 

JADE  FENCE,  THE,  ABOUT  THE  GARDENS  OF  THE  PAN- 
AMERICAN  BUILDING,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.  ALBERT 
KELSEY,  ARCHITECT  By  Grace  Norton  Rose 153-158 

LATERO-SECTIONAL  MODELS  OF  BELLOWS  &  ALDRICH.  A 
VALUABLE  CONTRIBUTION  TO  ARCHITECTURAL  TECH- 
NIQUE   By  Sylvester  Baxter 529-534 

MUSEUM  PLANNING,  A  STUDY  IN .By  Meyric  R.  Rogers 518-52? 

PLAN  OF  CHICAGO,  THE By  Robert  H.  Moulton 457-470 

PLUMBING  STANDARDS,  THE,  FOR  THE  HOUSING  PROJECTS 

OF  THE  EMERGENCY  FLEET  CORPORATION By  William  C.  Tucker 47-56 

RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE  AND  ITS  CRITICS.    PART  III. By  A.  D.  F.  Hamlin 57-76 

RESIDENCE  OF  A.  STEWART  WALKER,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 

WALKER  &  GILLETTE,  ARCHITECTS .By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr 2-17 

RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK.  J.  ARM- 
STRONG STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT By  Leon  V.  Solon 99-112 

RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KNOLL,  PASA- 
DENA, CAL.  MARSTON  &  VAN  PELT,  ARCHITECTS.  .  .By  Charles  Over  Cornelius. .  .195-203 

RESIDENCE  OF  J.  HARLESTON  PARKER,  ESQ..  BOSTON, 

MASS ! _. .  .By  Frank  Chouteau  Brown. .  .498-517 

RURAL   PUBLIC   LIBRARY   BUILDING By  John  Adams  Lowe 451-456 

SOCIAL  CENTER,  THE.    PART  III.  Civic  ENTERPRISES By  Fiske  Kimball 29-46 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  DESIGN  AND  CONSTRUCTION  IN 

CHURCH  BUILDING By  Charles  H.  Moore 115-132 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  SMALL  HOUSE  DESIGN.    PART  I — By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr 402-418 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  SMALL  HOUSE  DESIGN.    PART  II...  By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr. . .  .556-566 

SUGGESTIONS  AND  MODELS  FOR  ARCHITECTURAL  RENDER- 
ING. THE  LITHOGRAPHIC  WORK  OF  DAVID  ROBERTS, 
1796-1864  By  Leon  V.  Solon 211-220 

WAR  MEMORIALS.  PART  I.  COMMUNITY  HOUSES  FOR.. 

TOWNS  AND  SMALL  CITIES By  Charles  Over  Cornelius. .  .535-555 

WORKINGMEN'S  HOUSES  IN  ITALY.    PART  I By  Alfredo  Melani 176-185 

WORKINGMEN'S  HOUSES  IN  ITALY.    PART  II By  Alfredo  Melani 243-250 

THE  ARCHITECT'S   LIBRARY. 

ART  AND  ARCHITECTURE  AFTER  THE  WAR By  Frank  Weitenkampf 485-489 

FURNITURE  STYLES  By  Charles  Over  Cornelius . . .         189 

WAR  BOOKS  OF  THE  CATHEDRALS.    PART  VI By  Barr  Ferree 91-93 

WAR  BOOKS  OF  THE  CATHEDRALS.    PART  VII By  Barr  Ferree 186-188 

WAR  MEMORIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY,  A By  Frank  Weitenkampf 278-285 


NOTES   AND   COMMENTS. 

4  "War  Memorials.     By  Charles  Over  Cornelius  ...  .....................     94-96 

Errors  of  Omission  ..........................................................  ;  • 

<gThe  Esthetics  of  Engineering  Applied  to  New  Bridges  in  Pittsburgh. 
A  Community  House  in  Kansas.    By  Rich  ard   F.   Bach  .........................  190-192 

Wallace  Clement  Sabine.    By  Charles  Over   Cornelius  ...........................  ??§"??o 

A  War  Rendering  at  Ypres.     By  Leon  V.  Solon  ................................  287-288 

The  Oldest  and  Youngest  of  America.!  Schools  of  Architecture  ................         288 


Color  of  Architecture  in  Sunshine.    By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr  ...................  490-493 

Passing  of  the  House  of  Tiles.     By  Sylvester  Baxter  ...........................  493-496 

December  : 

Albany  Business  Men  Oppose  Commercial  Type  of  Public  Building. 

By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr  ..................................................       592 

A  Civic  Art  Library  for  New  York  City.     By  Dorsey  W.   Hyde,  Jr  ...........  589-590 

Model  Group  of  Farm  Buildings  in  Miniature.     By  Robert  H.   Moulton  ........  590-592 

COVERS. 

Arco  de  La  Sangre,  Toledo.     Water  Color  ..........................  By  Arthur  Byne 

August  : 

Arch  of  Titus,  Rome.    Water  Color  ...................................  By  Arthur  Byne 

September  : 

Water  Color    .......................................................  By  Arthur   Byne 

October  : 

Water  Color    ...................................................  By  Jack  Manley  Rose 

November  : 

Water  Color    ........................................................  By  Arthur  Byne 

December: 

Apse  of  the  Old  Cathedral  of  Salamanca.     Water  Color  ..............  By  Arthur  Byne 

TYPES    OF   BUILDINGS    LLUSTRATED 
BANK  BUILDINGS: 

The   Commercial   National   Bank   Building,   Wash- 
ington, D.  C  ....................................  Waddy  B.  Wood  ............  419-428 

CHAPELS  : 

Pauline  Chapel,  Colorado  Springs,  Colorado  ......  Thomas  MacLaren  ...........  586-587 

CHURCHES  : 

Lake  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  Rochester,  N.  Y  ----  Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter.  .429-439 

CLOBS  : 

The  Cosmopolitan  Club,  New  York  ...............  Edward   C.   Dean  ............     18-28 

COMMUNITY  BUILDINGS  : 

Community  Building,   Manhattan,  Kansas  .........  H.  B.  Winter  ................  191-192 

Club  Building,  Morgan  Park,  Duluth,   Minn  ......  Dean  &  Dean  ...............         543 

Scripps   Playground   Building,   La  Jolla,   Cal  ......  Irving  J.  &  Louis  J.  Gill  ......  544-545 

Community    House    for   the    Government   Housing 

Project,  Perryville,  Md  ..........................  Mann  &  MacNeille  ..........         546 

COLLEGIATE  BUILDINGS  : 

Administration   Building,   Oberlein   College  ........  Cass  Gilbert   ................  270-272 

Hall,  All  Souls  College,  Oxford  ...............................................        232 

Hilgard  Hall,  University  of  California  ............  John    Galen    Howard  ........  203-210 

DETENTION  HOMES  : 

Santa    Barbara    County    Detention    Home,    Santa 
Barbara,  California   ............................  Roland  F.  Sauter  ............     86-89 

DOMESTIC  ARCHITECTURE: 
Brick  and  Stone 

Baltzell,  E.  Digby,  St.  Martin's,  Chestnut  Hill,  Pa..  .  Edmund    B.    Gilchrist  ........     77-83 

Beale,  Leonard  T.,  Cynwyd,   Pa  .................  Mellor  &  Meigs  .............         563 

Charlton,  Earle  P.,  Westport  Harbor,  Mass  ........  Farley  &  Hooper  ............  260-263 

Dominick,   G.   G.,   Stamford,  Conn  ----  ..  Arthur  Loomis  Harmon.  .     ..256-259 


Duncan,   Stewart,   Newport,   R.   I John  Russell  Pope 295 

Fitch,  E.  H.,  Meadowbrook,  Pa Tilden  &  Register 344-346,  396-397 

Frick,  James  Swan,  Guilford,  Baltimore,  Md John   Russell   Pope 298 

Haggard,  Dr.  W.  D.,  Nashville,  Tenn Dougherty  &  Gardner 362-363 

House  at  Laverock,  Pa John  Graham,  Jr 264-269 

House  at  Cynwyd,  Pa Mellor  &  Meigs 561 

Kahn,  Otto  H.,  New  York J.  Armstrong  Stenhouse 99-114 

Krumbhaar,   Dr.    Edward    B.,    Whitemarsh   Valley, 

Pa Arthur  H.  Brockie.  .294,  326-327,  387 

Newbold,  Thomas,  New  York McKim,  Mead  &  White 166-170 

O'Dell,    Benjamin,   Kenilworth,   111 George  W.  Maher 348 

Packard,    Mrs.    Frederick,    Chestnut    Hill,    Phila- 
delphia,   Pa ......  Willing  &  Sims 251-255 

Parker,  J.   Harleston,   Boston,   Mass J.  Harleston  Parker 498-517 

Pratt,  John  T.,  Glen  Cove,  L.  I Charles    A.    Platt 296-297 

Residence    at    Hartford,    Conn Goodwin,  Bullard  &  Woolsey.  159-165 

Stewart,  Miss  Mary,  So.   Salem,  New  York Charles  Downing  Lay 417 

Walker,  A.  Stewart,  New  York Walker  &  Gillette 2-17 

Webb,  J.  Watson,  Woodbury,  L.  I Cross  &  Cross 312-315.  471 

Wimpfheimer,  Charles  A.,  Long  Branch,  N.  J....  Harry   Allan   Jacobs 311 

Frame  and  Half-Timber 

Bennett,  Walter  M.,  Greenwich,  Conn Theo.   E.   Blake 410-411 

Bush,  Joseph,   Fieldston,   New  York D  wight  James   Baum 292 

Canfield,  Dr.  R.  Bishop,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich Louis   H.   Boynton 372-373 

Gude,  Edward  C.,  White  Plains,  N.  Y William  Lawrence  Bottomley, 

361,  369,  371,  393 

Morison,   Andrew,    Montclair,    N.   Y ' William  Edgar  Moran. .  .403, 414-415 

Thomas,  Vincent  B.,  Scarsdale,  N.  Y Frank  Arnold  Colby 565-566 

Whitney,  H.  P.,  Glen  Cove,  L.  I Charles   Willing,   of    Furness, 

Evans    &    Co 330-331,394 

Witherspoon,  Charles  G.,  Larchmont,   N.  Y Walker  &  Gillette 366-367,392 

House  at  Aronimink,  Pa Edward  F.  Hoffman,  Jr 84-85 

Stucco  and  Concrete 

Appleton,  Robert,  East  Hampton,  L.  I Frank    E.    Newman 380-382,  392 

Baker,  E.  E.,  Kewanee,  111 Frederick  W.  Perkins, 

335-337,  389-391.  400 

Baldwin,  Joseph  C.,  Jr.,  Mount  Kisco,  N.  Y Benjamin  W'istar  Morris 302-303 

Bard,  Thomas  R.,  Hueneme,  Cal Myron  Hunt 304 

Bartlett,  C.  A.,  Lake  Geneva,  Wis Howard  Shaw  305 

Colby,   Frank  A.,  Hartsdale,   New  York Frank  A.  Colby 405-407 

Deering,  James,   Miami,  Florida Paul     Chaflin    &    F.     Burrall 

Hoffman,  Jr 301 

Delafield,  Edward  C.,  Riverdale-on-Hudson,  N.  Y. .  Dwight  James  Baum 328 

Dows,  Tracy,  Rhinebeck,  N.  Y Albro  &  Lindeberg 295 

Emmet.  Grenville  T.,  New  York Mott   B.    Schmidt 476483 

Gaylord,  G.  S.,   Neenah,  Wisconsin Childs  &  Smith 381-391 

Garford,  A.  L.,  Oak  Knoll,  Pasadena,  Cal Marston  &  Van  Pelt 195-203 

Hall,    Sherman    R.,    Portland,    Oregon Lawrence   &   Holford 364-365 

Heller,  L,  Cedar  Lake,  Wisconsin Brust  &  Phillipp 375-376 

Hess,  H.  Bellas,  Huntington,  L.  I Howells  &  Stokes, 

290,316,332-333,351,399 

Hitchcock,  J.  A.,   Nashville,  Tenn Dougherty  &  Gardner 377 

Kelley,   Mrs.  Albert  B.,  Radnor,   Pa Wilson,  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine, 

346-348,  395-396 

Leas,  Leroy   P.,    Overbrook,   Philadelphia,   Pa Charles  Barton  Keen 349,  384 

Lloyd,   Horatio   Gates,   Haverford,   Pa Wilson,  Eyre  &  McIlvaine.324-325.  398 

Lyeth,  J.  B.  Richardson,  Fieldston,  N.  Y Dwight  James  Baum 293 

Mclnnes,    C.    E.,    Rydal,    Pa ". .  Duhring,  Okie  &  Ziegler 341-343 

Merriman,  E.  B.,  Providence,  R.  I Sibley   C.    Smith 557-559 

Montag,   Sigmund,  Atlanta,  Ga. . Hentz,  Reid  &  Adler. ..  .377-379,  383 

Moore,  S.  W.,  Kansas  City,  Mo Van  Brunt  &  Hertz 339-340,  361 

Regenstein,  Louis,  Atlanta,   Ga Hentz,  Reid  &  Adler 338 

Rich,   Walter,   Atlanta,    Ga '. .  Hentz,  Reid  &  Adler. . .  .374-375,  388 

Stevens,  Samuel  D.,  Marblehead,  Mass Allan  W.  Jackson  and  Charles 

M.  Baker 368-369 

Van  Haelen,  J.  B.,  Hartsdale,  N.  Y Frank  J.    Forster 320-323 


Walker,  Walter  B.,  Ardsley,  N.  Y Frank  J.  Forster 317-318,  475 

Webb,  T.  I.,  Nashville,  Tenn Dougherty  &  Gardner 360 

GARAGES  : 

Garage   of    Mrs.    Sarah    B.    Halladay,    Englewood, 
N.  J Carretto  &  Forster 588 

INSTITUTIONAL  BUILDINGS: 

Northampton    Institute,    Clerkenwell,    London E.   W.  Mountford 30 

Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute,  Hamp- 
ton, Virginia   Ludlow  &   Peabody 123-132 

LIBRARIES: 

St.  Mark's  Library,  Venice 74 

Rural    Public    Library 451-456 

MEMORIAL  BUILDINGS  : 

Finney  Memorial  Chapel,   Oberlin  College Cass  Gilbert  273 

Hearst   Memorial   Mining  Building,   University   of  John  Galen  Howard 583 

California     

Read  Memorial  Community  House,  Purchase,  N.  Y.  Bonn  Barber    535-542 

Memorial  Town  Hall,  Tewkesbury,  Mass Kilham  &  Hopkins 547-549 

Proposed  Memorial  Community  Building  for  Ply- 
mouth, Mass Little  &  Russell 550 

Memorial  Community  Building,  Goldsboro,  N.  C..  Adrian  Casner  552-555 

MUSUEMS  : 

A  Small  Museum  of  Art 518-528 

PALACES  : 

Rucellai  Palace,  Florence 64 

RAILWAY  STATIONS: 

Railway  Station  at  Baldwin,  L.  I Frank  J.  Forster 274-276 

SANITARIUM  : 

Forty-Patient  Pavilion,  Municipal  Sanitarium,  Otis- 
ville,  N.  Y J.  J.  Crane 404 

SCHOOLS  : 

New  Trier  Township  High  School,  Kenilworth,  111.. Perkins,  Fellows  &  Hamilton.    31-32 

High  School,  Southampton,  L.  I William  Lawrence  Bottomley.584-585 

Ward  School,  Love  Lane,  London,  E.C 579 

THEATRES  : 

Theatre  of  Marcellus,  Rome 75 

ILLUSTRATIONS   OF   DETAIL. 

Arches    68-69 

Auditoriums   128,  435 

Balustrade  112 

Banking  Rooms 426,  427 

Breakfast  Porches   342,    393 

Bridges    217 

Card   Rooms    392 

Ceilings    147,   149 

Chamber    144 

Chimneypieces 134,  135,  139',  140,  141',  142,  143,  146,  149,  150,  223,  233 

Cloister    27 

Corbel    [ 436 

Cornice   109,   422 

Courts    18,  22,  25,  105,  305,  311,  579 

Dining  Rooms 14,  15,  83,   170,  171,  255,  263,  384,  390,  393,  395,  512,  513 

Doors  108,  253,  343,  345,  371,  379,  427,  476,  482,  571,  578 

Drawing  Rooms   "82 

Entrances 5,  18,  24,  78,  104,  194,  197,  270,  294"328,'38i,"424,'432,  473,  476,' 502, '561,  579 

Facade 503 

Fanlights 573,  574,  575 

Fireplaces    8    220 

Forecourts    330,    346 


Gardens  252,  297,  340,  363,  400,  402,  418,  471,  472,  474,  475,  559,  563,  568 

Garage   475 

Gates  201.  215,  216,  252,  473 

Halls   7,  202,  255,  259,  315,  386,  387,  389,  396,  506,  507,  510,  511,  582 

Kitchen  Wing   331 

Libraries 453,  454,  455 

Living  Rooms   9,  10,  11,  12,  13,  254,  262,  263,  310,  384, 

3SS,  390,  391,  392,  394,  396,  498,  514,  515,  516 

Loggias    23,  27,  214,  272 

Mantels    136,  137,  138,  148,  395,  437,  480,  481 

Models   529,  534,  591 

Mirrors    225,  226,  228,  231,  233,  234,  235 

Overdoors    581 

Overmantels    220,   230 

Patio    494 

Pools    37 

Porch   267,  566 

Pulpit  , 434 

Reception  Rooms   385 

Sea  Wall 174,   176 

Service  End  342 

Sitting  Rooms  26 

Smoking   Room    509 

Stairways    6,  16,  99,  110,  111,  386,  389,  394,  396,  478 

State  Rooms   145 

Sun   Rooms    293,    391 

Terraces    107,  333,  347,  348,  471,  473,  563 

Waiting   Rooms 26 

Windows  436,  440,  443,  444 

ARCHITECTS   REPRESENTED. 
NAME.  HOME  OFFICE.  PAGE 

Andrews,  Rantoul  &  Jones Boston,  Mass   174-175 

Baker,  Charles  M Boston,   Mass 368-369 

Barber,  Bonn  New  York  City 535-541 

Baum,  Dwight  James New  York  293-328 

Blake,  Theodore  E New  York  City 410411 

Bossom,  Alfred  C New  York  City 17M73 

Bottomley,  William  Lawrence New  York  City 361,  369,  371,  393,  584-585 

Boynton,  Louis  H Ann  Arbor,  Mich 372,  373,  385,  386 

Brockie,  Arthur  H Philadelphia,  Pa 294,  326-327,  355,  387 

Burst  &  Phillipp Milwaukee,   Wis 375-376 

Burnham,  D.  H.,  &  Co Chicago,  111 33-40 

Carretto  &  Forster New  York  City 588 

Casner,  Adrian    552-555 

Chalfin,   Paul   New  York  City 301 

Childs  &  Smith Chicago,  111 352,  381,  391,  473 

Coffin,  Marian  472-474 

Colby,  Frank  Arnold New  York  City 405-407,  564-566 

Connick,  Charles  J Boston,  Mass 440-446 

Crane,  J.  J Otisville,  N.  Y 484 

Cross   &   Cross New  York  City 312-315,  471 

Dean,   Edward  C New  York  City 18-28 

Dean  &  Dean New  York  City 542-543 

Dougherty  &  Gardner Nashville,  Tenn 355-356,  359-360,  362-363,  377 

Duhring,  Okie  &  Ziegler Philadelphia,  Pa 341-343,  353 

Eyre,  Wilson  &  Mcllvaine Philadelphia,  Pa.  .324-325,  346-348,  356,  395-396,  398,  416 

Farley  &  Hooper New  York  City 260-263 

Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter Rochester,  N.  Y 429-439 

Forster,  Frank  J New  York  Ctiy.  .274-276,  317,  318,  320-323,  357-358,  475 

Gilbert,  Cass    New  -York  City 270-273 

Gilchrist,  Edmund  B Philadelphia,  Pa 77-83 

Gill,  Irving  J.  and  Louis  J San  Diego,  Cal 544-545 

Goodwin,  Bullard  &  Woolsey New  York  City 159-165 

Graham,  John,Jr Philadelphia,  Pa 264-269 

Graham,  Anderson,  Probst  &  White .  .Chicago,  111 33-40 

Harmon,  Arthur  Loomis New    York    City 256-259 


Hentz,  Reid&  Adler Atlanta  Ga         339,374,  375,  377,  379,  383  488 

Hoffman,  Edward  F.,  Jr Philadelphia     Pa e*4-&> 

Hoffman,  F.  Burrall New   York   City .         301 

Howard    John  Galen San  Francisco,  Cal ZIM-^IU,  S&5 

KSs&Stokes New  York  City 290,316,332,333,351,399 

Hunt,  Myron  Los  Angeles,  Cal 3W 

Jackson,   Allen   W Boston,   Mass 368 -369 

Jacobs    Harry  Allan New   York   City 392 

Keen,  Charles  Barton Philadelphia,   Pa 349,  354,  384 

Kelsey,  Albert   Philadelphia,    Pa 153-158 

Kilham  &  Hopkins Boston,  Mass 547-549 

Lawrence  &  Holford Portland,  Oregon   364-365 

Lay,  Charles  Downing New  York  City 408-409,  417-418,  567-568 

Little  &  Russell Boston,   Mass 550-551 

Ludlow  &  Peabody New   York   City 123-132 

MacLaren,  Thomas   Colorado  Springs,  Colo 586-587 

Marston  &  Van  Pelt Pasadena,  Cal 195  -203 

Maher,  George  W Chicago,  111 348 

Mann  &  MacNeille New  York  City 546 

McKim,  Mead  &  White New   York    City 166-170 

Mellor  &  Meigs Philadelphia,    Pa 560-563 

Moran,  William  Edgar New  York  City 402,  414-415 

Morriss,  Benjamin  Wistar New  York  City 302-303 

Mountford,   E.   W London    30 

Newman,   Frank  E New  York  City. . . . : 380-381,   392-393,  475 

Perkins,  Frederick  W Chicago,  111 335-337,  389,  400,  474 

Perkins,  Fellows  &  Hamilton Chicago,  111 31-32 

Platt,  Charles  A New    York    City 296-297 

Pope,  John  Russell New    York    City 295,  298 

Pope,  Theodore 408-409 

Sauter,  Roland  F Santa    Barbara,    Cal 86-89 

Schmidt,  Mott  B New   York   City 476-483 

Shaw,  Howard   Chicago,  111 305-306 

Smith,   Sibley  C Providence,  R.  1 413,  557,  589 

Stenhouse,  J.  Armstrong New   York   City 99-114 

Tilden  &  Register Philadelphia,   Pa 344-346,  353,  396-397 

Van  Brunt  &  Hertz St.   Louis,    Mo 339-340,  361 

Walker  &  Gillette New   York   City 2-17,   366-367,  416 

Wheelwright,  Robert New  York  City 416 

Willing,  Charles,  of  Furness,  Evans 

&  Co Philadelphia,  Pa 330,  331,  354,  394 

Willing  &  Sims Philadelphia,  Pa 251-255,  277 

Wood,  Waddy  B Washington.  D.  C 419-428 

Wright,  Frank  Lloyd Chicago,   111 307,  309 


^^^  i^^MHHk.       ^•••^^•^^•^  -^^^  ^ i^H^HlV  ^MH^ 

RE  C  ORD 


Jean  Court,  Lima,  Ohio 

A  BEAUTIFUL,  homey  community  is  Jean  Court — Lima,  Ohio. 
An   attractively   laid   out   subdivision   with   handsome   Queen 
Anne   type  4  bungalows    arranged   modernly    in    a    semicircle ; 
an  inviting  entrance  way  and  paved  driveways,  and  just  far  enough 
from  town  to  get  the  pure  air  and  the  comforting  summer  breeze, 
Jean  Court  is  a  credit  to  the  Architect  t'and  to  the  families  who  live 
there. 

Every  stucco  bungalow  on  Jean  Court,  as  in  similar  courts  in  other 
cities,  is  built  on  a  Bishopric  Board  background.  Being  so  built,  the 
walls  will  stand  up  for  generations  without  cracking  or  crumbling. 

Bishopric  Board  holds  Stucco  fast  in  its  dovetail  key  grooves.     Four 

nails  to  each  wood  strip  where  applied 
qver  sheathing,  or  a  6-d  nail  to  every 
strip  wherever  it  crosses  a  stud,  holds 
the  Board  tight  to  the  building  so  that 
it  cannot  break  away. 

By  specifying  Bishopric  Board,  Architects 
save  enough  to  provide  many  desirable  ad- 
vantages in  a  medium  price  Stucco  bungalow. 
And  they  get  dependable  construction,  for 
this  Board  has  satisfactorily  met  every  test 
for  strength  and  resistance  to  stress.  It  is  a 
combination  of  principles  and  materials  ages- 
old  in  building  construction. 

It  stands  up  under  all  conditions,  in  all  cli- 
mates, and  you  never  have  to  worry  about  it. 

Let  us  send  you  a  sample  of  Bishopric  Stucco  Board 
and  Bishopric  Sheathing*  and  full  information. 
Bishopric  Sheathing  is  being  extensively  used  instead 
of  %-inch  wood  sheathing  at  a  saving  of  30  per  cent. 
It  also  makes  an  excellent  sub-flooring  and  under- 
roofing. 


STUiSsTER 

— T  BOARD       l 


The  Bishopric  Manufactur- 
ing Company 

921  Este  Ave.,  Cincinnati,  O. 


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ARCH1TECJVRAL 

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Editor:    MICHAEL  A.  MIKKELSEN        Contributing  Editor:    HERBERT  CROLY 
Business  Manager:   J.  A.  OAKLEY 

COVER— Arco  de  La  Sangre,  Toledo,     Water  Color  PAGE 

By  Arthur  Byne 

THE  RESIDENCE  OF  A.  STEWART  WALKER,  Esq.,  New  York:    Walker 

6-  Gillette,  Architects 2 

By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr. 

THE  COSMOPOLITAN  CLUB,  New  York.      Edward  C.  Dean,  Architect       18 

By  Leon  V.  Solon 

THE  SOCIAL  CENTER.    Part  III.     Civic  Enterprises 29 

By  Fiske  Kimball 

THE  PLUMBING  STANDARDS  FOR  THE  HOUSING  PROJECTS   OF   THE 

EMERGENCY  FLEET  CORPORATION 47 

By  William  C.  Tucker 

RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE  AND  ITS  CRITICS.   Part  HI.     ...     57 

By  A.  D.  F.  Hamlin 

PORTFOLIO  OF  CURRENT  ARCHITECTURE 77 

THE  ARCHITECT'S  LIBRARY.    War  Books  of  the  Cathedrals.    Part  VI     .       90 
By   Barr   Ferree 

NOTES  AND  COMMENTS       . 94 


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ENTRANCE  GATE— RESIDENCE  OF  A. 
STEWART  WALKER,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 
WALKER  &  GILLETTE,  ARCHITECTS. 


AKCHITECTVRAL 
KECOKD 


VOLVME  XLVI 


NVMBER  I 


JULY,  1919 


RESIDENCE  of  A.  STEWART  WALKER, 

NEW  YORK :     Walker  v  Gillette,  Architects 

By   John   Taylor  Payd,  Jr 


PERSONALITY  is  an  essential  qual- 
ity in  the  architecture  of  houses. 
There  is  some  basis  for  the  claim 
of  those  who  decry  originality  in  the 
monumental  architecture  of  public  build- 
ings on  the  argument  that  its  character 
has  been  crystallized  by  the  experience 
of  ages.  But  surely  our  homes  should 
not  all  be  alike.  We  cannot,  in  their  case, 
make  a  fetish  of  standardization  or  of 
current  fashions  and,  at  the  same  time, 
hope  to  attain  any  real  atmosphere  of 
art,  which  is  the  aim  of  every  good  de- 
signer. 

It  is  the  declared  purpose  of  modern 
housework  to  avoid  both  stereotyped 
arrangements  and  ephemeral  fashions. 
But  the  performance  too  often  fails. 
Formula  and  unreasoned  imitation  are 
everywhere  too  apparent.  As  good  de- 
sign spreads  out  more  and  more  through 
the  people,  which  it  has  been  doing  for 
a  generation,,  quality  will  tend  to  lower 


unless  it  is  stimulated  by  good  example. 
The  development  of  the  American  home 
is  now  well  denned ;  we  understand  high 
standards  and  seek  them  in  building 
houses  and  in  furnishing  them,  and  we 
have  an  ample  technique  at  command. 
What  we  need  to  fight  now  is  mediocrity. 

The  artistic  progress  that  I  have  al- 
luded to  is  the  work  of  people  of  charac- 
ter and  personality  among  both  design- 
ers and  their  clientele.  Now,  however, 
that  the  world  as  a  whole  becomes  in- 
terested and  takes  part  in  the  procession, 
the  highway  is  crowded  more  and  more 
with  good  faithful  workers,  the  solid, 
the  imitative,  the  technically  skillful  who 
follow  the  crowd  rather  than  lead  it. 
The  danger  increases  that  design  may 
become  more  of  a  business  and  less  of 
an  art. 

This  encroachment  of  the  humdrum 
is  evident  in  house  architecture  today, 
particularly  in  regard  to  interiors.  Yet 


Copyrighted,  1919,  by  The  Architectural  Record  Company.    All  rights  reserved. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


interiors  are  the  most  personal  of  the 
architectural  surroundings  of  our  lives; 
in  fact,  they  are  nothing  less  than  the 
world-old  lore  and  art  of  the  hearth- 
stone, that  is  common  to  all  mankind. 
While  such  household  art  should  be  com- 
munity art  in  order  to  attain  its  highest 
purpose,  it  should  also  express  our  indi- 
vidual selves.  In  other  words,  while 
our  homes  should  follow  a  certain  ac- 


anced  carefully  en  axe — that  universal 
formula  of  the  contemporary  decorator 
— with  the  current  magazines  carefully 
flattened  out  on  the  table  like  a  hand  at 
cards,  the  best  sellers  piled  about  geo- 
metrically? How  one  longs  for  a  bold 
designer  who  will  dare  get  a  roaring 
fireplace  in  the  dining  room  and  intro- 
duce a  gleam  of  rich  carving  and  color 
and  gold  and  dark  wood ;  who  will  take 


cepted  taste  and  excellence,   they  need      the  wicker  furniture  out  of  the  glassed 


not  be  exactly  like  every  other  man's 
house  from  New  York  to  Los  Angeles, 
except  for  a  different  hanging  or  the 
turn  of  a  molding. 

We  are  in  danger  of  making  the 
American  home  a  business  product.  To 
mention  merely  the  words  "living  room," 
"dining  room,"  hallway,"  "bedroom," 
"library,"  is  to  cause  most  designers  to 
think  of  an  established  formula  for  each, 
rather  than  to  inspire  them  to  imagine 
a  picture.  Usually  nowadays  the  dining 
room  means  light  paint,  strip  panels, 
formality,  furniture  just  so,  placed  just 
so,  with  a  bit  of  tapestry ;  silverware  and 
plate  ware  and  glassware 
no  longer  show-windowed 
behind  glass  doors,  but 
most  discreetly  indicated 
by  a  candlestick  or  two  en 
axe,  as  on  a  chapel  altar; 
a  forbidding  portrait  or 
two  overlooking  the  scene. 
Entrance  hallways  are 
cold  formal  things,  ade- 
quate frames  for  the  cere- 
mony of  receiving  the 
visitors'  cards ;  no  wonder 
the  host  no  longer  appears 
there,  as  he  did  in  times  of 
less  sophisticated  manners. 
A  library  is  usually  a  pan- 
eled or  bookcased  room, 
light  or  dark,  according  to 
some  half  a  dozen 
schemes  concerning  dif- 
ferent arrangements  of 
cupboards,  shelves  or  cor- 
nices, all  meaning  about 
the  same  thing.  Living 
rooms  are  more  informal, 
but  can  vou  not  recall  ex- 
amples where  the  pictures 
are  exactly  spotted,  bal- 


PLAN  OF  FIRST  FLOOR— RESI- 
DENCE OF  A.  STEWART 
WALKER,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 


lounging  room,  put  color  into  the  living 
room,  get  along  without  chintzes ;  even 
make  the  entrance  hall  hospitable.  He 
would  be  a  true  adventurer. 

Of  course,  there  are  designers  aplenty 
who  are  able  to  think  for  themselves 
and  for  their  clients.  Architects  have 
done  the  highest  work  in  interiors — 
White,  McKim,  Platt,  Hastings,  Eyre, 
Bigelow,  Pope,  to  mention  only  a  few 
men  long  ago  well  known.  Among 
young  leaders  Walker  &  Gillette  have 
accomplished  fine  results  in  houses  in 
work  noted  for  its  personality.  Charac- 
teristic indeed  is  the  result  gained  by 
Mr.  A.  Stewart  Walker  of 
this  firm  in  his  own  home 
in  New  York  City,  illus- 
trated in  these  pages.  It 
is  a  refreshing  contrast  to 
the  average  house  design. 
This  house  of  Mr.  Wal- 
ker's is  an  alteration,  but 
nevertheless  he  has  treated 
the  plan  more  freely  than 
does  many  a  designer  on 
a  new  project  where  there 
are  no  walls  or  floors  ex- 
isting to  hamper  him. 
Like  most  good  schemes, 
it  is  extremely  simple. 
The  lot  is  a  twenty- foot 
width,  on  the  southeast 
corner  of  a  principal 
street.  The  maximum  of 
light  and  air  was  desired ; 
hence  the  stairway  was 
placed  on  the  inside 
against  the  party  wall,  and 
consists  of  one  straight 
flight  up  from  the  base- 
ment entrance  hall  to  the 
living  quarters,  and  a 
winding  stair  hall  thence 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE,  ON  REAR  GARDEN-RESIDENCE  OF  A.   STEWART   WALKER,   ESQ., 

NEW  YORK. 
Walker   &   Gillette,   Architects. 


up  to  the  bedroom  floors.  This  attrac- 
tive, compact  arrangement  eliminates 
the  usual  too-prominent  stair  hall,  eat- 
ing up  priceless  space,  destroying  the 
charm  of  a  city  house  with  its  dreary 
stairwell.  Another  skillful  point  is  the 
entrance  at  the  rear,  on  the  cross  street, 
from  the  little  square  garden  enframed 
by  iron  fence  and  gate  and  lattice  deco- 
ration against  the  neighbors'  party  walls : 
a  most  distinctive  and  charming,  yet 
unobtrusive  effect.  The  kitchen  is  placed 
on  the  corner,  on  the  front  of  the  main 
street — a  happy  idea,  in  view  of  the  re- 
cent enthronement  of  the  domestic 
worker.  This  placing  of  the  kitchen  re- 
sults in  the  square  dining  room  on  the 
corner  on  the  main  floor  above,  with  the 
living  room  opening  off  it  and  occupying 
the  south  exposure  on  the  cross  street, 
the  light  streaming  in  through  its  two 
bay  windows.  The  floors  above  are 
given  over  to  bedrooms.  One  could 


hardly  find  a  more  practical  plan.  It 
makes  the  greatest  possible  use  of  space 
and  light,  while  affording  those  unex- 
pected contrasts  of  light,  arrangement 
and  little  vistas  that  so  inspire  the  de- 
signer to  do  his  best. 

The  separate  rooms  hold  their  part 
in  this  fine  plan  admirably.  The  en- 
trance hall  gives  a  most  interesting  im- 
pression to  the  visitor,  simple,  roomy, 
yet  small  in  scale,  and  much  more  home- 
like than  most  New  York  entrances. 
Proportions  are  low,  but  not  too  low, 
the  furniture  is  well  chosen  and  placed, 
rather  delicate,  in  scale  with  the  room, 
not  too  stiff  and  showing  well  against 
the  yellowish  plaster  wall.  The  lighting 
fixtures  are  exquisitely  designed,  as  they 
are  throughout  the  house. 

From  the  entrance  hall,  one  ascends 
the  stair,  a  single  flight  inclosed  in  a 
well,  with  simple  oak  treads  and  a  metal 
hand  rail  of  corded  rope  design,  to  find 


DETAIL  OF  LIVING  ROOM— RESIDENCE 
OF  A.  STEWART  WALKER,  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK.  WALKER  &  GILLETTE,  ARCHITECTS. 


DETAIL  OF  LIVING  ROOM— RESIDENCE 
OF  A.  STEWART  WALKER,  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK.  WALKER  &  GILLETTE,  ARCHITECTS. 


DETAIL  OF  LIVING  ROOM-RESIDENCE 
OF  A.  STEWART  WALKER,  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK.  WALKER  &  GILLETTE.  ARCHITECTS. 


I*' 


STAIRWAY  UP  FROM  MAIN  FLOOR-RESI- 
DENCE OF  A.  STEWART  WALKER,  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK— WALKER  &  GILLETTE,  ARCHITECTS. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


17 


oneself  at  the  entrance  to  the  living 
room,  looking  through  to  the  south  bay 
window.  And  let  me  add,  it  is  a  living 
room  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word — a 
room  where  people  live  at  ease.  This 
atmosphere  of  livableness  of  the  room 
is  permeating  and  hardly  has  it  made 
itself  felt  than  another  impression  of 
it  is  formed — one  feels  its  quiet,  but 
rich  and  beautiful  colors.  Here  again 
the  color  is  in  harmony  with  the  charac- 
ter of  the  room.  It  is  comfortable,  so 
to  say,  there  is  no  insistent  "keynote" ; 
in  fact,  it  is  almost  difficult  to  determine 
what  the  colors  of  the  room  are.  There 
are  the  soft,  rather  light  nut  brown, 
woodwork  and  dark  green  curtains  with 
narrow  gold  edging  over  the  large  bay 
window  at  the  east  end,  and  the  rest  of 
the  tones  are  so  quietly  blended  as  hardly 
to  be  noticed. 

The  woodwork  of  this  living  room  is 
a  delightful  study  for  the  architect  who 
appreciates  fine  wood  details  of  paneling 
and  mouldings.  There  is  probably  no 
better  carved  English  pine  cornice  in 
existence,  and  the  chimney  piece  is  old. 
Most  of  the  rest  is  pieced  out,  but  so 
much  in  the  spirit  of  the  original  frag- 
ments that  one  could  hardly  distinguish 
old  work  from  new.  The  furniture  is 
all  of  it  comfortable,  placed  about  sim- 
ply, without  any  suspicion  of  designer's 
affectation.  There  is  none  of  that  ridic- 
ulous device  of  assembling  pictures  and 
bric-a-brac  in  painfully  balanced  group- 
ing alluded  to  above.  The  large  alcove, 
with  shelves  from  floor  to  ceiling,  fits  ad- 
mirably into  the  scheme,  showing  how 
successful  an  unsymmetrically  shaped 
room  may  be.  The  floor  is  of  oak  boards 
about  five  inches  wide,  of  dark  stain. 
Here,  as  elsewhere  in  the  house,  is  found 
that  quaint  assortment — not  too  much 
of  it — of  decorations,  of  pictures,  carv- 


ings, metal  work,  miscellaneous  nothings 
that  an  architect  is  bound  to  pick  up  in 
his  activity  and  which  add  so  much  that 
is  interesting  and  personal  in  a  home. 
Of  such  are  the  ship  model  in  the  dining 
room  and  the  fine  gilt  bird  hung  in  the 
bay  window  of  the  living  room. 

The  living  room  opens  into  the  dining 
room,  and  a  most  charming,  intimate 
sort  of  room  it  is  in  its  walls  of  old  Eng- 
lish paneling,  rather  delicate  in  scale 
and  in  its  fine  old  English  furniture 
The  ceiling  is  a  low  segmental  plaste 
curve.  This  trim,  dainty  room  offer. 
a  charming  contrast  to  the  larger,  more 
spacious,  more  "spread-out"  living  room. 
Most  compact  of  all  is  the  little  Gothic 
winding  stair  from  the  main  floor  to  bed- 
room floors  above,  of  broad  oak  treads 
and  odd  rail.  Its  walls  are  bare  and  the 
chief  decorations  are  a  number  of  beau- 
tiful small  metal  hanging  lamps  on  the 
landings.  Upstairs  are  a  series  of  airy 
and  most  cheerful  rooms,  extremely 
simple,  without  formality  such  as  strip 
panels.  Their  character  has  more  of  the 
lightness  of  a  summer  home  than  of  that 
heaviness  too  often  found  in  city  houses. 

All  this  design  of  Mr.  Walker's  house 
results  in  a  rare  combination  of  comfort 
and  charm,  of  colorful  decoration,  of 
wit,  personality.  On  the  exterior  there 
has  been  no  attempt  to  modernize  the 
plain  front  of  gray  painted  brick  and 
brownstone,  and  the  not  unpleasing  old- 
fashioned  look  has  been  maintained.  On 
the  cross-street  on  either  side  are  a 
number  of  unconventional  house  fronts, 
very  simple,  of  stuccoed  walls  and  gay 
painted  details  that,  if  developed  fur- 
ther, will  make  this  block  one  of  the 
most  interesting  in  New  York  City, 
where,  as  in  most  cities,  blocks  of  houses, 
even  if  well  designed  individually,  are 
usually  uninspiring  as  a  whole. 


ENTRANCE  TO  COURT  FROM  ASSEMBLY 

ROOM COSMOPOLITAN      CLUB,      NEW 

YORK.     EDWARD  C.   DEAN,   ARCHITECT. 


Th 


COSMOPOLITAN  CLUB 

NEW  YORK 
EDWARD  C  DEAN,  ARCHITECT 

£y  L.con    V.  Solon 


THE  rocketing  tendency  of  prices 
for  building  materials  and  labor 
has  caused  purchasers  of  standing 
walls,  sound  roofs,  and  dry  foundations 
to  regard  such  items  as  having  inherent 
value,  worth  preserving.  Where  a 
change  in  the  purpose  of  the  building 
is  demanded,  the  consideration  is  care- 
fully weighed  as  to  whether  it  is  essen- 
tial to  clear  the  scene  with  dynamite  and 
crowbar  or  whether  the  choice  of  a  ver- 
satile architect  will  not  effect  the  de- 
sired result  through  conservation  and  a 
minimum  activity  in  demolition. 

An  apologetic  attitude,  bordering  on 
contempt,  has  usually  characterized  the 
architect's  feeling  towards  alteration 
work;  and  the  plane  from  which  the 
problem  is  studied  is  not  infrequently 
set  deliberately  at  low  level.  It  has 
ranked  as  "chores,"  as  an  unprofitable 
stop-gap  devoid  of  credit,  the  profession- 
al equivalent  to  the  pot-boiler  of  the  con- 
scienceless painter;  such  a  pose  is  in- 
defensible, and  can  serve  no  purpose 
other  than  gauging  the  measure  of  those 
maintaining  it — in  most  cases  superfluous 
data.  Alteration  problems  are  primarily 
essays  in  ingenuity,  and  success  is  not  for 
those  who  are  unable  to  mold  a  sequence 
of  solutions  in  predetermined  cubic 
dimensions;  though  it  is  problematic 
whether  the  existing  dimensions  of  the 
shell  of  a  converted  building  can  impose 
greater  restrictions  on  original  expres- 
sion than  exist  in  the  present  New  York 
City  zoning  laws. 

The  degree  to  which  the  fixed  point 
in  a  problem  develops  into  an  opportunity 
or  an  impediment,  is  naturally  measured 
by  the  intellectual  fertility  or  barrenness 
of  the  individual  furnishing  the  solution. 


Imagination,  like  virtue,  is  more  likely 
to  be  enlarged  upon  by  those  bereft  than 
those  endowed.  The  majority  of  those 
blessed  with  the  faculty  of  constructing 
that  individual  mental  combination  recog- 
nized as  an  "idea,"  regard  inventiveness 
as  the  staked  claim  of  the  miner,  where 
results  depend  primarily  on  personal 
effort  expended  in  the  prescribed  area. 
To  the  unimaginative  the  "idea"  usually 
assumes  the  nebulous  charm  of  a  legacy 
imminent  from  an  unexpected  quarter. 

The  old  dwelling  converted  by  Mr. 
Dean  into  the*  Cosmopolitan  Club  for 
women  .was  of  the  out-of-date  variety 
located  in  Fortieth  Street,  east  of  Lex- 
ington Avenue.  To  describe  it  in  its 
original  condition  as  negligible  archi- 
tecturally would  be  to  flirt  with  commen- 
dation without  warrant.  Such  buildings 
have  an  extraneous  interest,  nevertheless, 
in  that  they  are  milestones  on  the  road 
of  American  progress,  marking  the  end 
of  the  dismal  stretch  preceding  the 
McKim  and  White  era.  They  are  relics 
of  the  day  when  the  architect  was  the 
contractor's  hack,  and,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted, in  most  cases  professional  accom* 
plishment  merited  no  superior  fate.  The 
ideals  of  the  client  of  that  period  sub- 
stantiality and  middle-class  comfort  are 
apparent  as  the  main  objectives;  im- 
munity from  ideals  characterizes  the 
architects'  most  acceptable  work. 

The  transformation  effected  by  Mr. 
Dean  should  prove  encouraging  and  in- 
spiring to  holders  of  such  property,  as 
he  has  attained  his  effect  with  compara- 
tively small  outlay,  by  a  careful  study  of 
the  decorative  possibilities  latent  in 
previously  used  material,  thereby  giving 
us  a  demonstration  of  the  manner  in 


20 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


which  the  prosaic  subject  of  conservation 
is  amenable  to  artistry. 

The  picturesque  windows  and  gables 
of  the  adjoining  building,  originally  built 
as  a  church  and  now  serving  as  a 
sculptor's  studio,  gave  the  cue  in  treat- 
ment and  supplied  the  mental  impulse  re- 
sulting in  the  cloister  idea.  The  court 
round  which  the  cloister  runs  was  made 
by  joining  together  the  backyards  of  two 
old  Lexington  Avenue  houses,  now 
leased  by  the  Club.  The  cloister  and 
loggia  are  supplementary  approaches  to 
a  large  assembly-room  in  the  old  church 
building.  There  was  doubt  in  the  minds 
of  some  of  the  Club  Committee  as  to 
whether  the  creation  of  an  arcaded  court 
was  feasible,  but  Mr.  Dean  has  succeeded 
with  judiciously  calculated  proportions 
in  obtaining  an  exceptionally  pleasing  re- 
sult. The  exterior  walls  are  of  common 
brick;  here  the  idea  of  conservation  has 
been  developed  to  advantage,  as  much  of 
the  material  had  been  used  before,  and 
painted,  with  the  result  that  traces  of  the 
old  coats  of  red,  blue  and  green  paint 
add  considerably  to  the  color  value  of  the 
wall  surfaces.  At  every  fifth  course,  bits 
of  building  tile  are  set  in  wide  cement 
joints,  producing  an  appearance  of 
stratification  enriching  the  common  brick 
bonding.  All  exposed  brickwork  that 
can  be  seen  above  the  courtyard,  has 
been  given  a  coat  of  pinkish  whitewash, 
the  color  of  parts  of  the  old  church  build- 
ing ;  this  color  is  applied  very  irregularly 
and  has  a  decidedly  mature  quality  of 
tone. 

The  roof  slates  are  set  in  cement  with- 
out striking  a  clearing  of  the  joints,  the 
irregular  and  ragged  fragments  of  ce- 
ment left  on  the  roof  giving  a  texture 
of  surface  that  a  more  precise  laying  of 
slate  could  not  effect. 

The  excellent  paving  of  the  court  is 
yet  another  benefit  of  salvage,  the  flag- 
stones having  made  an  inartistic  debut 
as  pavement  of  the  original  back-yards. 
These  flags  are  set  in  earth  with  joints 
sodded  and  sown  with  grass  seed. 

The  floors  of  the  rooms  opening  off 
the  court  are  tiled  with  three-inch  tiles, 
of  a  rich  earthen  color,  set  very  freely, 
no  attempt  being  made  to  keep  a  uni- 


form width  of  cement  joint.  These  have 
considerable  color  variation  which  has 
been  used  to  good  purpose,  the  shades 
being  graded  instead  of  taken  at  hazard, 
working  up  to  the  lightest  shade  in  the 
darkest  parts  of  the  floors ;  the  popular 
mottled  effect  has  been  carefully  avoided 
in  this  instance  with  good  judgment. 
Much  variation  of  texture  exists  in  the 
plastered  wall  surfaces,  which  are  left 
roughly  troweled. 

The  kitchens  of  the  old  Lexington 
Avenue  houses  were  found  to  be  on  the 
same  level  with  the  back-yards,  which 
facilitated  their  transformation  into  re- 
ception rooms  giving  off  the  cloister,  as 
the  open  corridor  is  named;  our  illus- 
trations show  how  the  wide  recesses 
occupied  by  the  ranges  have  been  con- 
verted into  attractive  fireplaces. 

The  arches  of  the  courtyard  are  filled 
with  sash  and  frames,  so  constructed  that 
they  may  be  entirely  removed  in  the  sum- 
mer months,  leaving  the  simple  brick 
arches  free  from  any  disfiguring  wood- 
work; the  frames  are  bolted  into  the 
brick,  the  bolts  being  removed  with  the 
frames  in  the  spring,  and  the  holes  plas- 
tered up  and  painted. 

The  fountain  in  the  court  comes  from 
an  old  villa  in  North  Italy  and  adapts 
itself  well  to  its  new  environment.  All 
the  ironwork  in  the  balconies  and  grills  is 
ancient ;  the  grilles  in  front  of  the  cloister 
radiators  being  particularly  handsome 
and  interesting  examples  of  old  Italian 
workmanship  of  some  considerable  value. 
They  were  originally  door-grills  which 
have  been  reversed  to  fulfill  their  modern 
function. 

The  lighting  fixtures  are  amusing 
studies  in  conservation.  These  are  com- 
posed of  odd  bits  of  ornamental  iron  and 
woodwork  ingeniously  grouped.  In  the 
loggia  an  old  Spanish  brazier,  hung  from 
chains,  supplies  indirect  lighting.  The 
large  lantern  in  the  courtyard  is  a  Boston 
relic  which  began  its  existence  as  a  street- 
lamp.  Old  velvets  and  coverings  of  red- 
dish hues  give  the  prevailing  color  note 
to  the  guests'  reception  room;  rich 
purples  and  faded  yellows  figuring  as 
predominant  tones  in  the  loggia.  Water 
stain  is  used  for  all  the  woodwork, 


ailllllillltlllllllliiT 


LEXINGTON     AVENUE- 


•nunmmnmnmiimmiuniumiuuuiuiititnium 


VIEW  OF  COURT  FROM  ENTRANCE 
CORRIDOR— COSMOPOLITAN  CLUB,  NEW 
YORK.  EDWARD  C.  DEAN,  ARCHITECT. 


FOUNTAIN    AND    LOGGIA-COSMOPOLITAN    CLUB, 
NEW    YORK.       EDWARD    C.     DEAN,    ARCHITECT. 


ENTRANCE    TO    ASSEMBLY     ROOM— COSMOPOLITAN 
CLUB,   NEW   YORK.    EDWARD   C.   DEAN.   ARCHITECT. 


SOUTHWEST    CORNER    OF    COURT  —  COSMOPOLITAN 
CLUB,   NEW   YORK.    EDWARD   C.   DEAN,   ARCHITECT. 


GUESTS'  SITTING  ROOM— COSMOPOLITAN  CLUB,  NEW  YORK. 
Edward  C.  Dean,  Architect. 


MEMBERS'   WAITING   ROOM-COSMOPOLITAN   CLUB,   NEW  YORK. 
Edward  C.  Dean,  Architect. 


M  iJ 


28 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


irregularly     applied     and     subsequently 
waxed. 

A  narrow  stair  leads  from  the  guests' 
sitting  room  to  the  private  dining  room 
which  is  decorated  after  a  late  eighteenth 
century  manner,  the  walls  of  which  are 
paneled  and  alternately  treated  with 
mirrors  and  old  Portuguese  chintz.  An 
eighteenth  century  Italian  mirror  hangs 
over  the  mantel,  an  obvious  contem- 
porary of  the  original  dwelling.  Another 
stairway  leads  from  the  guests'  reception 
room  to  the  members'  library,  reserved 
exclusively  for  members.  The  library  is 
of  ample  dimensions  and  overlooks  the 
courtyard;  it  consists  of  four  of  the 
original  bedrooms  thrown  into  one  space. 
Heavy,  tall  bookcases  line  the  walls.  The 
lighting  was  increased  by  replacing  the 
old  windows  with  larger  ones,  leaded  and 
decorated  in  their  upper  panels  with 
leaden  devices  reproducing  the  various 
insignia  of  medieval  metal-workers.  The 
glazing  is  brightened  by  the  introduction 
of  purple  and  green  glass  in  places.  The 
main  dining  room  faces  Fortieth  Street 
and  is  situated  on  the  second  floor ;  it  has 
been  enlarged  and  is  screened  from  the 
stair-hall,  the  stairs  formerly  opening  di- 
rectly into  the  dining  room.  The  small 
lunch  room  on  the  corner  of  Lexington 
Avenue  and  Fortieth  Street  is  decorated 
after  the  Delafosse  manner,  the  orna- 
mentation being  confined  to  the  panels 


over  the  mantel  and  doorways.  No  struc- 
tural change  was  made  in  the  old  living 
room  on  the  second  floor  beyond  creating 
access  to  the  roof  of  the  cloister  and 
loggia  as  a  means  of  giving  extra  out-of- 
door  accommodation  during  the  warm 
weather,  an  appreciable  benefit  for  those 
condemned  to  the  city  in  the  dog-days. 

In  a  club  instituted  for  the  congrega- 
tion and  social  intercourse  of  women  en- 
gaged in  literary,  artistic  and  professional 
pursuits,  distinctive  character  in  plan  and 
design  is  essential ;  in  addition,  an  atmos- 
phere of  intellectual  eclecticism  must  be 
fostered,  habitually  associated  with  old 
master  drawings,  Renaissance  majolica 
and  cire  perdu.  Where  financial  re- 
sources are  necessarily  restricted, 
aesthetic  values  must  be  acquired  by  the 
skilled  appreciation  of  qualities,  and 
decorative  richness  attained  through 
texture  and  color  manipulation,  when  the 
precious  is  beyond  reach.  Nothing  here 
has  been  wasted  that  could  serve,  and  all 
serves  so  adequately  that  deliberate 
choice  appears  at  first  sight  to  have  de- 
termined selection.  It  is  an  object  lesson 
in  judicious  conservation,  and  an  example 
of  taste  as  an  asset  in  investment.  A 
casual  onlooker  visiting  this  building 
would  be  impressed  by  evidences  of 
fastidiousness  in  reticent  taste,  little  sus- 
pecting that  he  views  Economy  in  grace- 
ful garb.. 


SOCIAL  CENTER 

B/^FISKE  KIMBALL 
PART  HI-      Civic 


THE  ultimate  form  of  the  social 
centei  is  the  civic  community 
center.  Its  advantages  over  the 
co-operative  and  the  philanthropic  enter- 
prise are  both  numerous  and  solid. 
There  is  no  financial  barrier,  however 
low,  to  its  enjoyment;  there  is  no  mis- 
trust of  being  patronized,  but  instead,  a 
sense  of  proprietorship.  The  civic  ideal 
is  to  reach  all,  and  with  civic  resources 
there  is  at  least  the  possibility  of  this, 
which  private  agencies  could  never  hope 
even  to  approach.  The  chief  difficulty 
has  been,  and  still  is,  to  arouse  the  au- 
thorities to  the  necessity  of  civic  action. 
For  this  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  settle- 
ments, in  their  different  fields,  have  paved 
the  way;  the  principle  is  admitted,  and 
eager  experiment  as  to  the  best  method 
of  application  is  in  progress. 

Already  before  the  war  there  were 
notable  beginnings,  both  in  this  country 
and  abroad.  To  England,  where  the 
problems  of  modern  industrialism  first 
reached  the  critical  stage,  we  may  well 
look  for  valuable  suggestions.  Civic 
agencies  there  took  up  the  task  of  hous- 
ing social  and  recreative  activities  on  a 
large  scale  as  early  as  1883,  when  an 
act  of  Parliament  appropriated  the  in- 
come of  the  old  parochial  endowments 
of  London  to  the  purpose.  Thus  began 
the  foundation  of  civic  "industrial  in- 
stitutes," or  "polytechnics,"  as  they  came 
rather  accidentally  to  be  called,  in  which, 
co-ordinately  with  vocational  training, 
were  to  be  carried  on — in  the  words  of 
the  first  regulations,  (1892):  "Public 
lectures ;  musical  and  other  entertain- 
ments and  exhibitions ;  instruction  and 
practice  in  gymnastics,  drill,  swimming, 
and  other  bodily  exercises ;  facilities  for 
the  formation  and  meeting  of  clubs  and 
societies,  a  library,  museum  and  reading 
room  or  rooms." 

Among  the.  finest  of  these  numerous 
establishments  is  the  Northampton  In- 


stitute in  Clerkenwell.  As  one  of  three- 
buildings  of  a  single  enterprise,  "The 
City  Polytechnic,"  it  provides  principally 
for  the  recreational  and  social  phases  of 
the  work.  About  the  sides  of  an  irregu- 
lar lot  are  arranged,  with  the  practical 
ingenuity  characteristic  of  English  de- 
sign, the  great  concert  and  lecture  hall, 
the  gymnasium,  the  large  pool,  the  voca- 
tional shops,  and  the  quarters  for  clubs 
and  administration.  Thus  in  England, 
all  the  activities  of  a  social  center  were 
splendidly  housed  under  civic  auspices 
over  twenty  years  ago. 

In  America,  where  public  authorities 
generally  have  been  unprepared  to  grant 
money  for  such  a  thoroughgoing  estab- 
lishment, the  struggle  for  civic  provision 
of  social  facilities  has  followed  several 
distinct  lines  of  attack.  On  one  hand 
there  has  been  the  effort  to  secure  build- 
ings and  land  for  this  or  that  special 
facility,  pressingly  needed — public  baths, 
municipal  gymnasiums  and  playgrounds  ;- 
on  the  other,  to  employ  existing  build- 
ings, such  as  the  schools,  for  broader 
social  uses.  To  these  have  been  added 
in  the  last  few  years,  the  attempt  to 
regenerate  political  life  through  replac- 
ing corrupt  ward  politics  by  district 
"town  meetings,"  and  respectable  voting 
places.  Finally  has  come  the  effort  to 
combine  several  or  all  of  these  elements 
to  secure  greater  efficiency  and  provide 
a  true  center  of  community  life. 

Separate  municipal  baths  or  gymna- 
siums are  types  already  well  established 
and  understood.  The  current  require- 
ments of  the  "socialized  school"  are  also 
now  sufficiently  recognized,  and  have 
been  discussed  very  adequately  in  the 
Architectural  Record  for  November, 
1917.  It  is  easy  to  understand  the  argu- 
ment of  the  advocates  of  the  school  as 
a  social  center,  on  the  ground  of  efficient 
utilization,  night  and  day,  summer  and 
winter,  of  a  plant  already  existing.  But 


NORTHAMPTON  INSTITUTE,  CLERKENWELL,  LONDON. 
E.  W.  Mountford,  Architect. 


FIRST  AND    SECOND   FLOOR   PLANS— NORTHAMPTON   INSTITUTE,    CLERKENWELL,    LONDON. 

E.  W.  Mountford,  Architect. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


31 


NEW  TRIER  TOWNSHIP  HIGH  SCHOOL,  KENILWORTH,  ILL. 
Perkins,   Fellows   &  Hamilton,  Architects. 


Until  the  school  building  is  modified  much 
more  radically  than  has  yet  been  the 
case,  and  the  personnel  is  reorganized 
on  a  much  broader  basis,  it  will  be  diffi- 
cult for  the  school  to  become  the  ideal 
community  center  for  adults.  It  is  ques- 
tionable whether  the  final  relation  of 
the  school  to  the  community  center  may 
not  be  rather  that  of  one  component 
qlement,  somewhat  closely  restricted  to 
class  rooms  and  shops,  but  grouped  in 
the  most  intimate  connection  with  other 
Buildings  housing  the  auditorium,  gym- 
nasium and  branch  library,  with  the 
playground  and  so  on — of  which  the 
school  and  outside  organizations  share 
the  use.  Such  a  group  is  foreshadowed 
in  the  scheme  for  a  high  school  at  Kenil- 
worth,  Illinois,  where  the  social  features 
occupy  essentially  independent  units. 
Thus  the  same  efficiency  of  utilization 
can  be  secured  without  having  to  over- 
come the  prejudice  of  native-born  adult] 
against  "going  back  to  school,"  and  with- 
out creating  a  single  building  of  cumber- 
some, amorphous  type,  of  which  the 
diverse  and  often  preferably  simul- 
taneous uses  are  difficult  to  co-ordinate 
and  supervise. 

The  solution  of  the  civic  community 
center  problem  has  been  approached 
from  another  direction,  through  the  field 
house  of  the  municipal  playground  or 
small  park.  The  pioneer  work  here  was 


done  by  the  South  Park  Board  of  Chi- 
cago, which  in  1903  to  1907,  expended 
six  and  a  half  million  dollars  on  recrea- 
tion centers,  which  include  not  only 
playgrounds,  gymnasiums,  and  swimming 
pools,  but  people's  club  houses  with  re- 
fectories, reading  rooms  and  assembly 
halls.  Typical  of  these  buildings  are 
those  at  Hamilton  Park  and  at  Armour 
Square.  In  each  case  the  men's  and 
the  women's  gymnasiums  and  locker, 
rooms  occupy  balancing  wings,  with  the 
social  rooms  around  and  above  the  main 
entrance  hall.  At  Armour  Square  the 
buildings  surround  a  court  lined  with 
individual  dressing  booths  and  containing 
the  swimming  pool,  the  entrance  pavilion 
with  the  social  rooms  forming  a  distinct 
block.  A  later  development  is  to  leave 
such  a  court  free  from  youthful  activities, 
for  elderly  persons  who  seek  and  require 
sheltered,  quiet  surroundings.  In  the 
more  recent  Chicago  field  houses,  the 
size  and  accommodations  have  been  in- 
creased, with  gymnasiums  fifty  feet  by 
eighty,  assembly  halls  of  equal  size, 
bowers  for  men  and  for  women  totaling 
over  sixty,  and  dressing  booths  number- 
ing two  hundred.  The  precedents 
established  in  Chicago  have  been  widely 
followed  in  other  cities. 

The  athletic  facilities  of  the  Chicago 
recreation  centers  were  instantly  utilized 
to  the  full  under  the  guidance  of  ath- 


PLOT  PLAN— NEW  TRIER  TOWNSHIP  HIGH 
SCHOOL,  KENILWORTH,  ILL.  PERKINS, 
FELLOWS  &  HAMILTON,  ARCHITECTS. 


33 


-.  v 


HAMILTON  PARK,   CHICAGO. 
D.  H.  Burnham  &  Co.   (Graham,  Anderson,  Probst  &  White),  Architects. 


FIELD   HOUSE-HAMILTON   PARK,    CHICAGO. 
D.  H.  Burnham  &  Co.   (Graham,  Anderson,  Probst  &  White),  Architects. 


36 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


FIELD  HOUSE— ARMOUR  SQUARE,   CHICAGO. 
D.  H.  Burnham  &  Co.   (Graham,  Anderson,  Probst  &  White),  Architects. 


letic  instructors.  The  social  activities 
.for  which  their  field  houses  afforded 
opportunity  were  naturally  slower  to  de- 
velop. The  mere  provision  of  places  for 
social  and  recreative  gatherings  led  to  a 
considerable  use  of  the  assembly  halls 
and  club  rooms,  but  it  was  soon  realized 
that  for  these  to  attain  their  full  service, 
something  more  than  physical  accom- 
modation was  necessary.  The  personal 
element  of  leadership,  furnished  in  the 
settlement  by  the  workers,  and  especially 
the  head  worker,  has  accordingly  been 
supplied  by  the  appointment  of  field 
house  directors  to  promote  the  social 
activities,  with  gratifying  success. 

An  approach  to  the  union  of  play- 
ground, school,  baths,  and  other  tradi- 
tional elements  is  found,  under  urban 
conditions,  in  Chicago,  at  Stanford  Park, 
with  the  field  house  of  which  the  Wash- 
burne  School  and  a  branch  library  stand 
in  close  physical  relation,  although  they 
are  administratively  distinct.  Obviously 
the  full  value  of  such  a  combination 
would  be  realized  only  under  a  unified 
administration. 


All  these  experiments  have  still  left  to 
the  future  the  form  of  civic  community 
center  which  might  ultimately  be  desir- 
able, transcending  the  opportunist  adapta- 
tions of  existing  types.  This  question 
also,  Chicago  has  sought  to  answer, 
through  the  competition  for  plans  for  a 
neighborhood  center  held  by  the  City 
Club  in  1914  and  1915,  on  a  program 
prepared  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
Illinois  Chapter  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Architects.  This  program  was 
very  broadly  drawn,  leaving  to  the  com- 
petitor the  decision  as  to  the  sorts  of 
institutions  to  be  included  in  such  a 
center,  so  that  it  might  provide  for  ^.he 
creation  of  real  urban  sub-centers  by 
the  grouping  of  governmental,  and  even 
commercial  buildings,  as  well  as  of  edu- 
cational, recreational,  and  social  facilities. 
It  was  the  belief  of  those  responsible 
for  the  competition  "that  the  grouping 
of  neighborhood  public  and  semi-publ'c 
institutions  at  a  common  center  wouM 
tend  to  stimulate  neighborhood  pride  and 
activity,  to  reduce  the  social  isolation 
of  the  family,  and  to  restore,  in  part. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


37 


THE  POOL— ARMOUR  SQUARE,  CHICAGO. 
D.  H.  Burnham  &  Co.   (Graham,  Anderson,  Probst   &  White),  Architects. 


the  neighborhood  life  which  has  so 
largely  vanished  from  our  big  cities." 
In  this  belief,  the  authors  of  the  premi- 
ated  designs,  and  other  submitted  hors 
concours,  combined  in  related  groups  not 
only  schools,  playgrounds,  and  library, 
but  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  and 
churches;  hospital  and  day  nursery; 
market  square,  shops,  banks,  and  mov- 
ing picture  theatres ;  post  office,  tele- 
graph and  express  offices ;  police  and  fire 
stations.  In  advance  of  the  proposed 
publication  in  book  form  of  the  designs 
submitted.  Mr.  Joseph  Hudnut,  the  ed- 
itor, has  kindly  permitted  us  to  publish 
two  of  the  plans,  with  other  material 
collected  by  him.  The  book  is  intended 
to  include,  also,  studies  of  comprehensive 
social  centers  for  two  specific  neighbor- 
hoods in  Chicago,  prepared  by  Mr.  Hud- 
nut,  under  the  auspices  of  a  committee 
of  the  club,  a  block  plan  of  one  of  which 
is  also  reproduced. 

Meanwhile,  the  war  has  brought  re- 
enforcement  to  the  forces  working  for 
community  center  buildings,  through  the 


idea  that  the  war  memorials  which  are 
to  be  expected  in  every  community  should 
not  take  the  form  merely  of  conventional 
"monuments,"  but  should  be  structures 
at  once  commemorating  the  dead  and 
embodying  the  spirit  of  human  brother- 
hood for  which  they  fought.  The  idea 
is  indeed  an  admittable  one,  and  offers 
a  prospect  of  financial  support  for  a 
civic  community  house  in  many  places, 
where  one  could  otherwise  scarcely  be 
hoped  for.  Under  the  guidance  of  ex- 
perienced workers,  such  as  those  of  the 
settlements  or  the  War  Camp  Commu- 
nity Service,  it  may  lead  to  the  most 
valuable  results.  The  suddenness  of  the 
opportunity,  however,  is  resulting  natu- 
rally in  the  hasty  appearance  of  many 
plans  in  which  accumulated  experience 
as  to  the  most  fundamental  needs  is  little 
recognized.  The  value  to  the  community 
of  art,  music,  and  drama — especially 
when  of  its  own  creation — is  undoubted, 
and  provision  for  them  must  be  included, 
but  in  all  but  the  most  favored  societies 
there  are  other  matters  more  pressing. 


FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN-SOUTH  PARK  COMMISSION  FIELD 
HOUSE  FOR  PARK  NO.  3,  CHICAGO.  D.  H.  BURNHAM  &  CO 
(GRAHAM,  ANDERSON,  PROBST  &  WHITE),  ARCHITECTS 


SECOND  FLOOR  PLAN— SOUTH  PARK  COMMISSION  FIELD 
HOUSE  FOR  PARK  NO.  3,  CHICAGO.  D.  H.  BURNHAM  &  CO. 
(GRAHAM,  ANDERSON,  PROBST  &  WHITE),  ARCHITECTS. 


SOUTH  PARK  COMMISSION  PLAN  FOR  PARK  NO. 
3,  CHICAGO.  D.  H.  BURNHAM  &  CO.  (GRAHAM, 
ANDERSON,  PROBST  &  WHITE),  ARCHITECTS. 


Iff 


u 


-i- 


4-e' 


PUACE: 


L 


r 


SOUTH  PARK  COMMISSION  PLAN 
FOR    FULLER    PARK,    CHICAGO. 


MASIOM  BUILDING        SECOND     FLOOR    PLAN  OF  MAIN  BUIl-DING 


FULLER      PARK 

FIELD    HOUSE 

SOUTH  PARK    COMMISSIONERS 


SOUTH     PARK     COMMISSION     FIELD 
HOUSE  FOR  FULLER  PARK,  CHICAGO. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


43 


STANFORD  PARK  AND  THE  WASHBURNE  SCHOOL,  CHICAGO. 


If  the  community  house  is  not  to  be  a 
mere  club  for  the  few  already  socially 
favored,  it  must  be  designed  with  some 
reference  to  the  vital  needs  of  the  great 
body  of  laborers,  artisans,  clerks,  fac- 
tory-hands or  neighboring  farmers,  as  the 
case  may  be,  and  to  the  recent  immi- 
grants, who,  in  small  numbers  at  least, 
exist  in  every  town. 

There  must  be  the  same  study  of  the 
varying  actual  requirements  of  the  given 
town  or  neighborhood  as  appears  in  the 
settlements.  As  it  would  be  unwise  to 
duplicate  existing  facilities,  the  effort 
should  be  to  supply  the  needs  unprovided 
for,  or  unsatisfactorily  provided  for  by 
other  agencies.  In  the  average  tenement 
and  industrial  quarter  of  a  large  city,  the 
most  pressing  include  a  public  dance  nail, 
which  may  be  arranged  to  serve  also 
for  large  assemblies  and  amateur  drama- 
tics ;  decent  meeting  rooms  for  labor 
unions,  lodges,  and  benefit  societies ; 
noonday  rest  rooms  for  factory  girls 
who  come  from  a  distance  and  bring 
their  lunches;  an  employment  bureau;  a 


day  nursery  for  mothers  who  must  go 
out  to  work;  a  milk  station,  dispensary, 
and  headquarters  for  the  district  nurse-. 
The  gymnasiums,  baths  and  swimming 
pool,  and  branch  library  may  be  com- 
bined with  these  if  not  already  provided 
nearby.  In  a  small,  industrial  city,  the 
requirements  would  not  be  very  different, 
except  that  a  municipal  gymnasium  and 
bath  would  be  less  apt  to  exist  already, 
and  should  certainly  be  incorporated. 

In  a  small  New  England  town,  the 
nucleus  of  such  a  structure  already  exists 
in  the  town  hall,  often  already  used  for 
occasional  dances  and  dramatics,  as  well 
as  for  civic  meetings.  It  would  be 
wasteful  and  everyway  undesirable  to 
duplicate  its  facilities,  for  it  has  already 
in  unique  degree,  the  character  of  a  real 
center  of  the  community.  The  proper 
course  would  be  rather  to  develop  the 
town  hall  to  fill  the  broader  social  re- 
sponsibilities of  government  of  the 
present.  Place  should  be  found  in  it 
not  only  for  the  select  men  and  their 
administrative  subordinates,  but  for  the 


•  NEIGHBORHOOD  CENTER 


COMPLETED    -STUDY  OF  THE   QOnHUNITY  BUILDINGS  INCLUDED 

THE  OUARTLR  5CCTiON  D£\£LpfriO^COnPETlTION    t      |  | 
OF 


DESIGN  FOR  A  NEIGHBORHOOD  CENTER,  CHICAGO  CITY 
CLUB  COMPETITION.   WILLIAM  BERNHARD,  ARCHITECT. 


DESIGN     FOR    A    NEIGHBORHOOD    CENTER,     CHICAGO     CITY 
CLUB  COMPETITION.    JENS  JENSEN,  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT. 


46 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


welfare  agencies  which  have  grown  up 
without  official  recognition,  and  for  a 
new  official,  the  social  director.  Possi- 
bly these  officers  and  the  larger  social 
provisions  can  be  secured  by  remodelling 
of  the  existing  building,  with  additions. 
Possibly  the  occasion  may  be  seized  to 
rebuild  it  entirely  according  to  the 
broadened  idea  of  its  functions.  No 
building  could  more  appropriately  in- 
volve memorial  features.  In  small 
towns  of  other  sections  the  requirement- 
would  include  the  large  hall  which  al- 
ready exists  in  New  England  villages, 
and  would  provide  for  a  civic  commu- 
nity life  which  has  not  hitherto  existed 
in  the  same  degree  as  there. 

In  every  case  the  lesson  of  the  settle- 
ments must  not  be  forgotten,  that  phys- 


ical provisions  alone,  however  ample, 
are  less  important  than  personnel  and 
spirit.  There  must  be  active  workers, 
and  in  the  civic  community  centers  the 
head  workers  at  least  must  be  paid  by 
the  community  and  paid  liberally.  The 
necessity  that  appointments  to  such  po- 
sitions be  kept  free  from  politics  and  on 
a  high  standard  of  character  and  ability 
is  self-evident. 

The  true  contribution  of  the  architect 
to  the  creation  of  these  ideal  community 
centers  of  the  future  will  not  lie  in  vis- 
ionary projects  for  temples  of  art  and 
music  preceded  by  triumphal  arches,  but 
in  penetrating  study  of  the  pressing 
needs  of  the  given  community,  and  skill- 
ful combination  of  vital  facilities  into 
an  organic  whole. 


THE  NEIGHBORHOOD  CENTER  AT  MARKI.3ON  PARK- PLAN  OF  THE  GROVND5  AND  BVILDINGS 


HARRISON  PARK  CENTER,  CHICAGO. 
Joseph   Hudnut,   Architect. 


PLUMBING  STANDARDS  /or  the  HOUSING 
PROJECTS  of  the  EMERGENCY  FLEET  CORPORATION 


By"  William  G.  Tucker 


MOST  of  the  housing  activities  of 
the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation 
were  conducted  along  the  Atlan- 
tic coast.  Among  the  principal  points 
around  which  they  centered  were  the 
twenty-six  shipyards  and  plants  at  Bath, 
Me. ;  Portsmouth,  N.  H. ;  Newburgh  and 
Port  Jefferson,  N.  Y. ;  Groton  Iron 
Mines,  Conn. ;  Gloucester,  Yorkship,  First 
Hallen  and  Morgan  Village,  Fairview 
Extension,  Camden,  N.  J. ;  Chester, 
Essington,  Bristol,  South  Philadelphia, 
Hog  Island,  Pa. ;  Wilmington,  Del. ; 
Sparrows  Point,  St.  Helena,  Md. ;  New- 
port News,  Va. ;  Savannah,  Ga. ;  Jack- 
sonville, Fla. ;  Lorain,  Ohio ;  Wyan- 
dotte,  Mich. ;  Manitowoc,  Wis. ;  Tacoma 
and  Vancouver,  Wash. ;  and  Suisun  Bay, 
Cal.  The  housings  comprised  9,443 
dwellings,  sixty  dormitories,  ninety-five 
apartment  buildings,  twenty-seven  board- 
ing houses,  eleven  cafeterias,  mess  halls, 
300  tents,  temporary  bunk  houses,  etc., 
all  capable  of  sheltering  28,190  workers 
or  57,540  persons,  including  workers  and 
the  members  of  their  families.  There 
has  been  spent  for  sites,  improvements, 
transportation  lines,  buildings,  etc.,  ap- 
proximately $67,429,000.  The  average 
cost  per  dwelling  at,  for  example,  the 
great  Hog  Island  project,  consisting  of 
1,989  dwellings  and  costing,  when  com- 
plete, $6,800,000,  was  $3,407. 

The  buildings  of  the  housing  projects 
may  be  divided  into  the  following  types: 
bungalows,  generally  for  the  south ;  two- 
story  dwellings,  detached,  semi-detached 
or  in  groups,  apartments,  many  with 
stores  on  the  ground  floor;  dormitories, 
hotels,  mess  halls,  kitchens  and  cafete- 
rias, generally  in  combination  with  the 
former.  The  plumbing  installation  for 
the  various  types  of  buildings  was  sur- 
rounded with  so  many  perplexing  con- 
ditions that  it  had  to  be  most  carefully 
studied  by  sanitary  engineering  experts, 
who  were  in  constant  touch  with  the 
project  experts.  In  the  general  scheme 


of  designing  the  plumbing,  the  chiei 
sanitary  engineer  was  obliged  to  keep 
before  him  a  number  of  reports  issued 
at  different  times  by  departments  of 
the  Government,  the  National  Housing 
Association,  and  many  commissions, 
together  with  the  reports  issued  by  the 
chief  designer  of  the  housing  division, 
concerning  types,  forms,  material  and 
quantity  of  fixtures  and  fittings,  pipe, 
various  supplies,  apparatus,  etc.  and 
which  were  available  for  immediate  use 
at  the  moment  of  designing  the  work. 
Such  reports  coming  from  so  many 
sources  were  often  at  variance  with  each 
other,  causing  great  confusion  and  much 
loss  of  time.  To  obviate  this,  a  standard 
set  of  specifications  was  finally  evolved, 
setting  forth  in  a  concise  form  all  mate- 
rials, fixtures  and  apparatus,  and  their 
quantity,  which  were  available  for  im- 
mediate use;  these  specifications  were 
subject  to  modifications  from  time  to 
time  as  the  materials  and  their  quanti- 
ties would  vary. 

In  designing  the  plumbing  work  for 
the  various  projects,  all  local  ordinances 
and  regulations  were  followed  except 
where  compliance  was  clearly  inexpedi- 
ent, in  which  case  the  situation  was  called 
to  the  attention  of  the  local  authorities 
and  modifications  were  sought.  In  local- 
ities which  had  no  plumbing  regulations, 
the  regulations  observed  were  usually 
those  of  the  nearest  and  largest  munici- 
pality. 

The  future  disposition  of  the  build- 
ings was  kept  well  in  sight;  and  the  de- 
sign for  the  plumbing  was  made  as 
simple,  thorough  and  direct  as  possible. 
The  plumbing  work  in  a  building  is  gen- 
erally separated  into  three  important  di- 
visions ;  the  drainage  system,  the  water 
supply  system,  of  which  the  hot  water 
system  is  a  most  important  sub-division, 
and  the  plumbing  fixtures.  The  plumb- 
ing layout  for  all  buildings  was  con- 
sidered from  every  viewpoint.  It  was  the 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


general  scheme  to  design  this  work  so 
that  each  apartment  and  each  dwelling 
could  be  disposed  of  separately;  in  an 
apartment  building  such  designing  neces- 
sitated a  certain  amount  of  duplication. 
Designing  the  plumbing  in  this  manner 
was  a  great  tax  upon  the  ideals  of  design- 
ing to  the  sanitary  engineer.  The  ques- 
tion of  size  was  most  important.  As  the 
building  projects  became  numerous, 
plumbing  material  became  scarce,  and 
smaller  sizes  had  to  be  employed.  This 
applied  not  only  to  pipe,  but  to  the  fix- 
tures themselves,  with  the  result  that 
while  the  minimum  sizes  employed  may 
not  have  been  absolutely  too  small,  they 
were  very  near  the  danger  point  and  may 
even  pass  that  point  as  the  work  ages. 
The  term  plumbing  unit,  which  will  often 
be  employed  in  this  paper,  is  understood 
to  consist  of  a  kitchen  sink,  a  set  of 
laundry  tubs  adjoining  and  a  bath  room 
containing  water  closet,  bath  and  lava- 
tory. 

The  material  of  the  pipe  for  all  the 
drainage  and  vent  systems  was  at  first 
"extra  heavy"  cast  iron,  but  as  material 
became  scarce  the  extra  heavy  pipe  was 
used  for  drainage  work  only  and  "medi- 
um" pipe  for  the  vent  system,  and  finally 
tile  pipe  was  used  for  drainage  work 
outside  the  building,  and.  in  many  cases 
for  the  work  which  was  buried  under 
the  cellar  floor.  The  pipe  of  the  water 
system  inside  the  building  and  from  the 
street  service  main  to  the  building  was 
always  galvanized  steel  pipe. 

The  house  sewer  from  the  street  to 
the  building  wall  for  each  unit  of  plumb- 
ing was  at  first  four-inch  cast  iron  medi- 
um weight  drainage  pipe,  which  was 
afterwards  changed  to  earthenware  pipe 
as  cast  iron  pipe  became  scarce;  this 
was  run  either  under  the  cellar  floor 
or  on  side  walls  to  the  main  soil  riser, 
where  the  size  was  reduced  to  three 
inches  and  carried  up  through  the  build- 
ing and  the  roof  to  the  open  air,  where 
the  size  was  increased  to  four  inches. 
From  the  horizontal  run  a  two-inch 
branch  was  taken  for  the  combined  waste 
from  kitchen  sink  and  laundry  tubs ;  and 
from  the  vertical  three-inch  riser,  a  three- 
inch  branch  for  the  water  closet,  and  a 


two-inch  branch  for  lavatory  and  bath 
waste.  In  all  cases  the  work  was  so 
designed  that  the  laundry  tubs  were 
placed  immediately  adjoining  the  kitchen 
sink  and  set  with  tops  one  inch  above, 
so  that  their  cover  would  act  as  tray  and 
all  refuse  could  be  readily  cleaned  into 
sink.  The  one  and  one-half  inch  waste 
from  the  laundry  tubs  was  connected  to 
the  two-inch  waste  from  the  kitchen  sink, 
which  was  provided  with  a  two-inch 
trap.  The  wastes  from  the  lavatory,  bath 
and  water  closet  were  run  together  or 
separately  as  the  design  required. 

There  was  no  venting  of  traps  by  spe- 
cial vent  risers  or  branches  where  the 
fixtures  were  not  over  seven  feet  distant 
from  the  soil  riser ;  in  many  cases  this 
was  extended  to  ten  feet  and  when  this 
did  occur  it  was  usual  simply  to  extend 
the  soil  or  waste  risers  to  the  roof  and 
omit  all  venting.  No  special  vent  risers 
were  provided  for  plumbing  units  in 
buildings  of  three  stories  or  under.  In 
hotels,  dormitories  or  a  combination  of 
two  or  more  plumbing  units,  it  was  the 
general  practice  to  omit  all  trap  ventila- 
tion, and  to  extend  to  outer  air  the  soil 
or  waste  risers. 

All  roof  drainage  was  run  to  leaders 
and  discharged  upon  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  When  the  roof  area  was  large, 
the  leader  drains  were  trapped  and  con- 
nected with  the  house  drainage  system. 
A  separate  drainage  system  was  always 
provided  for  the  floors  and  refrigerators 
of  all  large  kitchens.  A  trapped  floor 
drain  was  generally  placed  adjoining  the 
dish-washing  machine,  in  front  of  the 
refrigerators,  which  also  drained  over 
and  into  it,  and  adjoining  the  cook's  serv- 
ing table ;  and  'at  such  other  locations  as 
would  facilitate  cleaning.  A  grease  trap 
of  suitable  size  of  masonry  was  always 
provided  in  connection  with  all  large 
kitchens  for  the  separation  of  grease 
from  the  kitchen  waste  before  it  entered 
the  drainage  system. 

The  water  supply  system  for  the 
plumbing  units  was  run  as  direct  as  pos- 
sible. From  the  street  main  was  run  a 
three-quarter  inch  service  main  into  the 
cellar,  where  a  gate  valve  and  a  meter 
were  provided.  From  the  meter  a  full- 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


49 


FIG.  1.    PLUMBING  LAYOUT  IN  TWO-STORY  DWELLING.    TYPICAL  UNIT  FOR  ALL  BUILDINGS 

WHERE  POSSIBLE. 


size  main  was  run  on  the  cellar  ceiling 
and  up  to  the  bath  room,  from  which 
were  taken  one-half  inch  branches  to  the 
various  fixtures  with  a  three-quarter  inch 
branch  to  the  kitchen  boiler.  At  a  suit- 
able point  outside  of  the  building  a  sill 
cock  for  hose  was  provided. 

The  hot  water  for  a  plumbing  unit 
was  derived  from  a  thirty-gallon  galvan- 
ized steel  boiler,  usually  placed  adjoining 
the  kitchen  range  with  water  back  con- 
nection; and  where  gas  was  available,  a 
gas  water  heater  was  always  provided. 
In  some  projects  the  hot  water  boiler 
was  placed  in  the  cellar  adjoining  the 
furnace,  with  back  connection,  and  pro- 


vided with  gas  water  heater;  but  as  no 
pilot  light  was  employed,  this  meant  going 
to  the  cellar  to  start  the  gas  heater, 
should  the  furnace  not  be  in  use.  This 
method  was  soon  abandoned,  and  the 
boiler  was  generally  placed  in  the  kitchen. 
From  the  boiler  was  taken  a  three- 
quarter  inch  branch,  which  was  run  full 
size  to  the  bath  room,  from  which  were 
taken  one-half  inch  branches  to  the  vari- 
ous fixtures.  The  hot  water  supply  for 
hotels,  dormitories,  apartment  nouses, 
kitchens,  laundries,  etc.,  where  a  large 
quantity  of  hot  water  was  necessary,  was 
obtained  from  ample  storage  tanks  con- 
nected with  independent  heaters;  or 


50 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


where  steam  was  available  smaller  tanks 
were  employed,  fitted  with  interior  steam 
coils. 

Gas,  where  available,  was  employed 
chiefly  for  cooking  and  for  heating  water. 
A  main  was  taken  from  the  street  and 
extended  into  the  building  and  provided 
there  with  valve  and  meter,  from  which 
\vere  run  branches  to  the  several  fixtures. 
It  was  the  general  practice  to  valve 
the  water  main  from  the  street  at  the 
front  house  wall;  the  hot  and  cold 
branches  at  the  hot  water  boiler;  those 
to  the  bath  room,  the  kitchen  sink, 
laundry  tubs  and  the  main  supply  risers 
and  the  branches  to  each  group  of  fix- 
,tures. 

Electric  motors  were  employed  where 
necessary,  to  furnish  power  for  all  me- 
chanical apparatus  in  connection  with 
the  plumbing  work  for  large  units. 

The  plumbing  fixtures  were  small,  of 
fair  quality  and  of  ample  quantity.  At 
the  inception  of  the  housing  projects  by 
the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation,  the 
quantity  of  plumbing  fixtures  available 
was  small,  and  the  delivery  to  the  vari- 
ous projects  was  irregular  and  intermit- 
tent; and  it  finally  became  necessary  for 
the  Government  to  take  over  the  plants 
manufacturing  such  fixtures,  after  which 
the  delivery  became  dependable  and  regu- 
lar. All  fixtures  installed  were  of  stand- 
ard size  and  quality,  and  the  general  lay- 
out was  designed  to  accommodate  such 
fixtures.  The  Government,  owning  all 
plumbing  fixtures  and  material,  furnished 
the  requisite  number  and  amount  for  each 
project  to  the  storehouse  keeper,  who 
issued  them  to  the  work  as  became  neces- 
sary. The  water  closets  were  of  vitreous 
china  deep  seal  washdown  with  siphon 
action,  with  hinged  oak  or  birch  rein- 
forced split  or  oval  seats  and  hinged 
covers.  All  closets  were  provided  with 
low  down  tanks  of  vitreous  china 
enameled  iron,  or  other  approved  mate- 
rial with  covers  bolted  down,  and  with 
one-half  inch  supply  connection.  On 
account  of  the  scarcity  of  lead  the  lead 
bend  was  omitted,  and  the  closet  was 
connected  directly  to  iron  pipe.  This  and 
many  other  makeshift  methods  were  not 
sanctioned  by  the  engineer,  but  under  the 


circumstances  they  had  to  be  tolerated. 
Later,  when  lead  again  became  available, 
the  standard  method  of  connecting  up 
the  fixture  again  became  general.  The 
closets  were  connected  to  the  soil  risers 
by  three-inch  branches. 

The  lavatories  generally  employed 
were  of  enamel  iron,  eighteen  by  twenty- 
one  inches,  with  full  depth  front  apron, 
eight-inch  integral  back,  bracket  wall  sup- 
ports on  concealed  wall  hangers,  nickel 
plated  brass  outlet  couplings,  strainer, 
rubber  plug,  chain  and  chain  stay.  The 
faucets  were  low  down  compression  with 
china  index  handles.  The  supplies  were 
of  one-half  inch  galvanized  iron.  The 
traps  were  full  S  one  one-half  inch  of 
lead,  brass,  or  iron,  with  slip  joint  con- 
nection, brass  cleaning  plug,  and  iron  or 
lead  waste,  same  size  of  trap,  extending 
to  wall  or  floor. 

The  bath  tubs  were  of  enameled  iron 
inside  and  painted  outside,  upon  the  job, 
four  feet  six  inches  or  five  feet  long 
with  width  of  two  feet  two  inches  or 
two  feet  six  inches,  with  full  roll  rim, 
tub  to  stand  free  of  wall  and  to  rest  upon 
iron  legs.  Tub  was  provided  with  nickel 
plated  compression  double  bath  cocks, 
with  china  index  handles,  one-half  inch 
supplies,  nickel  plated  chain  and  rubber 
plug,  with  one  one-half  inch  nickel  plated 
brass,  combination  waste  and  over  flow, 
with  same  size  iron  or  lead  P  trap. 

The  kitchen  sinks  were  of  enameled 
iron,  roll  rim  with  twelve-inch  integral 
backs,  size  eighteen  by  twenty-four  or 
twenty- four  by  thirty  inches  and  set 
where  isolated,  thirty-six  inches  above 
floor  or  one  inch  below  top  of  laundry 
tubs  when  set  in  connection  with  them; 
sinks  were  supported  upon  concealed 
wall  hangers,  and  provided  with  full  S 
trap  with  one  one-half  inch  lead  or  iron 
waste  to  floor  where  isolated,  and  two 
inch  when  set  in  connection  with  laun- 
dry tubs,  with  one-half  inch  supplies, 
and  same  size  compression  faucets,  with 
china  index  handles. 

The  laundry  tubs  generally  used  were 
of  two  compartments,  twenty-four  by 
forty  inches  where  space  was  limited, 
but  twenty- four  by  forty-eight  inches 
was  the  usual  and  standard  size  of  either 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


51 


1 

_J 

*                                     1 

I 

t/afe  £/. 


Bunga/o 


FIG.  2.     PLUMBING  LAYOUT  FOR  BUNGALOW  TYPE  OF  DWELLING,  GENERALLY  EMPLOYED 

IN  SOUTHERN  PROJECTS. 


slate,  or  other  approved  material  with 
standard  iron  supports,  one-half  inch 
compression  cocks,  nickel  plated  strain- 
ers, chain  and  rubber  plug,  one-half 
inch  waste  of  iron  or  lead,  which  con- 
nected into  waste  or  sink  when  sink 
and  tubs  were  adjoining  each  other; 
when  isolated,  waste  was  provided  with 
one  one-half  inch  S  trap,  of  iron  or  lead, 
which  dropped  to  flood.  The  tubs  were 
provided  with  hinged  covers  of  enamel 
iron.  The  laundry  tubs  were  generally 
placed  in  the  kitchen  adjoining  the  sink, 
with  one  trap  doing  service  for  both, 
which  was  an  excellent  method.  In  the 
case  of  dwellings  for  the  south  or 
warm  climates,  the  laundry  tubs  were 
placed  on  the  kitchen  porch,  against  that 
side  of  the  building  which  would  derive 
the  most  heat  from  the  kitchen,  and 


generally  adjacent  to  the  kitchen  sink. 

The  use  of  polished  metal  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  fittings  of  the  plumbing 
fixtures  was  avoided  if  possible,  but 
under  the  abnormal  conditions  existing 
during  the  war  this  could  not  always  be 
done,  and  any  material  or  finish  was 
used  which  was  available  at  the  time  of 
the  execution  of  the  work.  The  writer 
is  opposed  to  the  use  of  polished  metal 
in  fittings  of  plumbing  fixtures,  particu- 
larly where  fixtures  are  subjected  to 
hard  use,  or  when  placed  in  kitchens, 
laundries,  public  places,  hotels,  etc. 

The  most  popular  type  of  house  in  the 
various  projects  of  the  Emergency  Fleet 
Corporation  was  the  two-story  dwelling 
of  brick,  stucco,  or  clapboard  or  com- 
bination thereof,  and  either  isolated,  semi- 
detached, or  in  groups  of  three,  four, 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


FIG.  3.    PLUMBING  LAYOUT  FOR  DORMITORY  WITH  KITCHEN  AND  MESS  HALL  ANNEX. 


five  or  six,  but  rarely  seven,  and  with 
tin,  slate,  or  composition  roof  covering, 
and  with  a  cellar  under  the  entire  build- 
ing. In  Fig.  1,  is  shown  the  plumbing 
layout  for  such  a  building,  both  in  plan 
and  section;  it  is  what  has  been  termed 
a  plumbing  unit,  and  is  typical  for  this 
type  of  dwelling.  There  is  shown  an 
excellent  type  of  bath  room,  situated  di- 
rectly over  the  kitchen,  with  clear  space 
in  front  of  window,  which  is  good  de- 
signing and  places  cost  at  its  lowest  point, 
doing  away  with  long  runs  of  pipe,  re- 
quiring less  heating,  and  confining  the 
noises  from  use  of  fixtures  to  the  least 
objectionable  section  of  the  building.  The 
drainage  work  shown  is  most  direct,  with 
short  branches,  and  with  small  sizes  re- 
quired. The  supply  system  is  also  most 
direct ;  there  are  shown  the  meter,  the 
controlling  valves,  the  sill  cock  and  the 
supply  branches  to  all  fixtures  with  their 
size.  The  boiler  is  shown  with  the  gas 


heater  and  range  waterback  and  runs 
and  branches.  The  location  of  the  fix- 
tures was  carefully  considered,  and  their 
positions  as  shown  seem  to  be  the  most 
logical  from  all  consideration.  The 
plumbing  layout  was  the  simplest  in  de- 
sign, the  lowest  in  cost,  the  most  direct, 
required  the  least  amount  of  cutting  or 
carpenter  work  to  install,  and  was  so 
generally  excellent  that  this  type  of  lay- 
out was  employed  wherever  possible  and 
upon  all  work. 

The  bungalow  type  of  dwelling  is 
shown  in  the  Fig.  No.  2,  and  consisted 
of  only  one  story  upon  which  was 
planned  the  kitchen  and  dining  room, 
bath  room  and  sleeping  rooms.  It  was 
generally  built  of  clapboards  with  com- 
position roof,  and  had  a  cellar  only  under 
the  kitchen  section.  This  type  of  build- 
ing was  used  genarally  for  the  southern 
projects.  The  plumbing  layout  was  most 
simple,  direct,  and  of  low  cost,  but  the 


54 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


FIG.  S.     PLUMBING  LAYOUT  FOR  KITCHEN  AND  CAFETERIA,  JACKSONVILLE,   FLA. 


building  itself  was  more  expensive  than 
the  two-story  dwelling  of  the  same  cub- 
age. The  plumbing  unit  installed  was 
practically  the  same  as  that  for  the  two- 
story  dwelling,  including  drainage,  water 
system  and  fixtures.  In  the  example 
shown,  a  poor  feature  of  the  plumbing 
layout  is  seen  in  locating  the  bath  room 
so  remote  from  the  kitchen  and  hot 
water  boiler,  necessitating  long  runs  of 
pipe  and  the  placing  of  pipes  in  objec- 
tionable positions  and  requiring  more 
heat  for  heating  the  water. 

An  excellent  example  of  type  of  dormi- 
tory generally  employed  in  the  various 
housing  projects  is  shown  in  Fig.  No. 
3.  These  buildings  were  substantially 
built  (generally  two  stories  high)  and 
were  self  contained.  A  cellar  of  limited 
size  was  provided  to  contain  only  heating 
and  hot  water  apparatus  and  the  neces- 
sary fuel.  These  buildings  were  designed 
generally  for  the  use  of  men  only.  The 
sleeping  rooms  were  small,  the  toilet 
rooms  were  carefully  designed,  and  two 
were  provided  for  each  story ;  each  toilet 
room  generally  contained  three  water 
closets,  three  urinals,  five  lavatories,  and 
two  showers ;  no  lavatories  were  pro- 
vided in  the  sleeping  rooms,  a  small  toilet 
was  provided  for  the  superintendent. 
Annexed  to  the  dormitory  was  the  kit- 
chen and  mess  hall,  which  were  designed 


large  enough  to  afford  accommodation 
not  only  for  the  occupants  of  the  dormi- 
tory, but  for  the  workmen  upon  the 
project  as  well.  The  plumbing  was  most 
carefully  designed,  the  sizes  were  fair, 
the  drainage  was  well  laid ;  the  plumbing 
was  generally  divided  into  several  sys- 
tems, for  economy  and  good  designing. 
The  cold  water  supply  was  taken  from 
the  street  main  and  run  usually  as  shown, 
with  valved  branches  connecting  with  the 
main  risers  and  each  group  of  fixtures. 
The  hot  water  was  obtained  as  a  rule 
from  an  independent  storage  tank  of 
ample  capacity  with  its  heater.  Ample 
valving  was  provided,  sillcocks  were 
placed  at  advantageous  points  and  at 
suitable  distance  apart.  The  leaders 
from  the  roof  drainage  discharged  upon 
the  ground.  The  plumbing  fixtures,  their 
connections  and  arrangement  were  gen- 
erally similar  to  those  provided  for  the 
two-story  dwelling  (Fig.  No.  1). 

The  so-called  hotels  were  very  similar 
in  construction  and  interior  arrangement 
to  the  dormitories,  but  contained  greater 
refinements  and  were  designed  for  the 
men  and  their  families.  Each  sleeping 
room  was  provided  with  a  lavatory; 
otherwise  the  plumbing  arrangement  was 
similar  to  that  described  for  the 
dormitory. 

The  apartment  houses  were  substan- 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


55 


FIG.    6.     PLUMBING    LAYOUT    FOR   SCHOOL   HOUSE,    PORTSMOUTH,    N.    H. 


tial  buildings,  generally  two  or  three 
stories  in  height  and  were  designed  to 
accommodate  a  family  on  each  story ;  each 
apartment  contained  its  own  kitchen  and 
laundry,  bath  room  and  living  rooms. 
Some  of  the  buildings  contained  stores 
on  the  ground  story,  at  the  back  of  which 
was  provided  a  toilet  room  containing 
lavatory  and  water  closet,  with  sink  out- 
side adjoining.  The  heating  and  hot 
water  for  each  apartment  was  obtained 
from  central  plants  situated  in  the  cellar. 
The  plumbing  was  generally  as  hereto- 
fore described. 

The  kitchen  and  cafeterias,  dining  or 
mess  halls,  sometimes  isolated  and  some- 
times in  conjunction  with  the  dormitories 
and  hotels,  were  most  carefully  designed. 
The  kitchens  were  complete  in  every  re- 
spect, and  were  provided  with  the  latest 
improved  equipment.  In  Fig.  No.  4  are 
shown  a  kitchen  and  mess  hall  complete, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  approximately 
five  hundred.  This  was  a  large  isolated 


unit.  Adjoining  the  main  entrance  to 
the  building  is  the  toilet  room,  small,  but 
of  fair  proportions;  at  the  center  is 
placed  the  ice  cream  and  candy  stand, 
with  sink  for  washing  facilities.  At  four 
points  shown  are  provided  drinking 
fountains,  with  their  cold  water  supplies 
and  drainage.  The  cafeteria  has  re- 
frigerators for  milk,  butter,  fruits,  ice 
cream,  etc.,  and  sets  of  urns  for  hot 
coffee.  The  dish-washing  department 
has  ample  counter  space  with  sinks.  The 
bakery  is  of  ample  size,  and  is  provided 
with  a  necessary  equipment  for  its 
proper  use,  including  the  making  of  ice 
cream.  The  fish  department  is  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  kitchen,  and  has  its 
own  refrigerators  and  sinks.  The  kitchen 
proper  has  its  battery  of  ranges,  stock 
kettles,  refrigerators  for  meats,  vege- 
tables and  fruits  and  dairy  products, 
ample  sinks  and  such  other  equipment 
as  is  necessary.  Adjoining  the  kitchen 
is  the  change  room  for  the  help,  with  its 


56 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


lockers  and  toilet  facilities.  This  build- 
ing is  self-contained  and  has  its  own  hot 
water  plant  of  ample  size  located  in  a 
small  cellar,  with  mains  and  branches 
running  to  the  different  fixtures.  The 
street  cold  water  supply  is  two  and  one- 
half  inches  and  runs  to  supply  all  fixtures, 
apparatus,  etc.  The  floor  and  refrigerator 
drainage  is  kept  separate  from  the  general 
drainage.  The  drainage  and  water  supply 
systems  are  of  ample  capacity  for  the 
demand  placed  upon  them.  In  Fig.  No. 
5  is  shown  a  unit  similar  to  that  shown 
in  Fig.  No.  4,  but  more  compact,  con- 
densed and  of  much  smaller  size,  and 
with  certain  omissions  in  equipment. 
This  unit  was  most  popular  and  was 
generally  installed  at  all  housing  projects. 
The  large  school  house  for  Ports- 
mouth, N.  H.,  shown  in  Fig.  No.  6  was 
of  large  size  and  designed  from  the  latest 
data  available  concerning  cubic  air  space 
per  pupil,  ventilation,  heating,  sanitary 
requirements,  material  of  construction, 
and  such  other  requirements  as  would 
tend  to  make  the  building  a  model  and 
one  to  be  followed  in  future  designing. 
Toilet  rooms  of  modern  design  were  pro- 
vided for  the  boys,  girls,  kindergarten 
and  teachers.  The  hot  water  plant  was 
situated  in  the  boiler  room  and  consisted 
of  one-hundred-gallon  storage  tank  with 
its  independent  heater,  from  which  run 
a  main  with  branches  to  different  groups 
of  fixtures.  The  main  toilet  rooms  were 
provided  with  an  air  space  and  a  utility 
corridor  back  of  the  water  closet;  this 
was  good  designing.  On  account  of  the 
large  roof  area,  the  roof  drainage  system 
was  separated  from  the  main  drainage. 
The  plumbing  drainage,  water  supply 


and  fixtures  were  similar  in  design  to 
those  already  described  and  followed 
closely  the  practice  of  designing  hereto- 
fore described. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  "Is  any- 
thing to  be  learned  from  these  plumbing 
layouts?"  They  have  the  permanent 
merits  of  simplicity,  compactness,  low 
cost  and  economic  designing.  It  was 
the  aim  of  the  writer  to  standardize  the 
plumbing  work  for  all  the  buildings,  to 
popularize  the  work  so  that  a  complete 
plumbing  unit,  with  piping  fixtures,  etc., 
could  be  bought  by  a  person  for  his 
house  from  a  catalogue;  and  this  seems 
about  to  be  accomplished.  The  ques- 
tion of  omitting  the  vent  risers  for  the 
drainage  system,  which  was  so  largely 
followed  by  the  Fleet  Corporation,  may 
have  had  results,  for  the  Building  De- 
partment of  New  York  City  has  just 
passed  an  amendment  to  its  plumbing 
code  allowing  the  omission  of  the  vent 
riser  in  buildings  not  over  eight  stories 
in  height,  providing  the  soil  or  waste 
riser  be  increased  one  inch  in  diameter, 
and  permitting  the  omission  of  trap  ven- 
tilation when  the  plumbing  fixtures  are 
not  over  five  feet  from  these  risers,  pro- 
vided an  approved  anti-siphon  or  deep 
seal  be  provided.  The  economic  design- 
ing of  the  plumbing  for  the  various  hous- 
ing projects  was  primarily  brought  about 
by  the  scarcity  of  material ;  and  the 
writer  hopes  that  the  lesson  may  not  be 
forgotten  and  may  tend  to  less  expensive 
designing  and  bring  about  cheaper  in- 
stallation. But  under  no  consideration 
should  economy  be  allowed  to  impair 
security,  thoroughness,  safety  and  care- 
fulness in  plumbing  designing. 


RENAISSANCE  ARCHITECTURE 
AND  ITS    CRITICS 


.     Bj  AD.FHAML1N 

Part  III.     Imitation  and  Originality. 


IN  the  sweeping  indictment  which  cer- 
tain critics  have  sought  to  bring  in 
against  Renaissance  architecture,* 
the  charge  most  frequently  repeated  is 
that  of  copying  or  imitation.  It  is  as- 
serted or  implied  that  Renaissance  archi- 
tecture as  a  whole  lacked  originality  and 
creative  imagination.  It  is  asserted  or 
implied  that  the  Italian  architects  after 
1420  were  more  concerned  with  repro- 
ducing Roman  prototypes  than  with  de- 
signing rationally.  Under  the  spell  of 
the  revival  of  classical  studies,  "pro- 
fessing to  aim  at  restoring  the  'good  an- 
cient manner,' "  they  sought  to  repro- 
duce the  antique  architecture.  They 
forsook  the  right  path  of  logical  design 
for  the  false  path  of  copying,  veneering 
the  exteriors  of  their  buildings  with 
forms  borrowed  from  a  dead  style.  Fer- 
gusson  calls  all  the  post-Gothic  styles 
Copying  or  Imitative  Styles ;  all  previous 
styles  were  Truthful  Styles.  He  de- 
clares that  the  sixteenth  century  was  the 
dividing  line  between  the  two  distinct 
kinds  of  architectural  art,  all  buildings 
subsequent  to  ISOOt  demanding  the  ap- 
plication to  them  of  principles  of  criti- 
cism and  laws  of  taste  quite  different 
from  those  invoked  for  ail  preceding 
ages  of  the  art  ("Modern  Architecture," 
p.  40).  "Since  the  revival  of  learning," 
he  observes,  "all  architects  have  been 
composing  in  a  dead  language." 

Fergusson's  influence  was  for  over  a 
half-century  very  powerful  among  En- 
glish and  American  writers  and  readers, 
for  this  book  was  the  first,  and  long  the 
only,  serious  effort  in  the  language  to 
discuss  critically  and  comprehensively 
the  architecture  of  modern  times.  When 

*S"e    the   Record   for  August   and  September,  1917. 

tFergusson  is  confusing  in  his  treatment  of  the 
centuries.  He  dates  the  corruption  of  architecture 
in  one  place  from  the  Reformation,  that  is  from 
1517;  in  another,  from  the  revival  of  learning,  which 
must  of  course  include  the  fifteenth  century;  while 
in  still  other  passages  he  absolves  the  whole  Early 
Renaissance— that  of  the  fifteenth  century— from  the 
charge  of  copyism. 


it  appeared,  in  1862,  architecture  in  Eng- 
land was  in  a  condition  which  might  well 
excite  satirical  criticism.  In  tracing 
back  to  its  origins  the  archaeological 
Gothic  of  that  time,  Fergusson  felt  that 
he  had  found  the  source  of  all  its  lack 
of  vital  origination  in  the  Renaissance 
movement,  and  he  included  under  a 
blanket  indictment  the  whole  product  of 
the  centuries  since  the  Revival  of  Let- 
ters, as  being  all  alike  tainted  with  the 
vices  of  insincerity  and  unthinking  imi- 
tation— it  was  a  critique  of  protest,  an 
outburst  of  artistic  indignation;  but  it 
was  not  always  fair  or  consistent  criti- 
cism, and  its  errors  of  judgment  and 
appreciation  have  misled  a  host  of  later 
writers.  Mr.  Russell  Sturgis  declares  in 
his  "European  Architecture"  (p.  369) 
that  the  Pazzi  Chapel  at  Florence  was 
"the  beginning  of  modern  imitative  archi- 
tecture," and  on  another  page  that  the 
method  of  the  early  Renaissance  archi- 
tects "seemed  to  them  .  .  .  the  Roman, 
and  therefore  the  only  right  way."  In 
other  words,  the  early  Renaissance 
started  modern  architecture  on  the  path 
of  imitation  by  making  Roman  architec- 
ture its  model  and  norm.  Mr.  A.  K. 
Porter  and  Mr.  H.  H.  Statham,  in  their 
strictures  on  Roman  architecture,  lament 
the  perpetuation  of  its  errors  by  the 
Renaissance.  It  is  the  "depraved  taste" 
of  modern  times,  according  to  the  for- 
mer, that  has  perpetuated  the  Roman 
combination  of  arch  and  columnar  order, 
which  combination  Mr.  Statham  declares 
to  have  "left  a  long  legacy  of  falsehood 
to  architecture,  a  falsehood  revived  at 
the  Renaissance  and  still  frequently  per- 
petrated in  obedience  to  the  tyranny  of 
custom." 

Professor  C.  H.  Moore  in  the  Intro- 
duction to  his  volume  on  the  "Character 
of  Renaissance  Architecture"  observes 
that  "a  consciously  retrospective  motive 
can  hardly  be  a  vital  force  in  artistic 


58 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


development,  and  the  direct  attempt  .  .  . 
to  shape  the  arts  after  classic  models 
was  an  unmixed  evil/'  but  he  later  in 
several  instances  finds  fault  with  the 
Renaissance  architects  for  not  following 
those  models  more  closely.  Against 
any  claim  that  the  Renaissance  devia- 
tions from  servile  copying  of  the  antique 
were  evidences  of  independence  and 
originality,  he  contends  that  "there  is 
no  justification  for  this  view.  As  to 
essential  forms  of  building  there  were 
no  new  conditions  to  be  met.  In  seek- 
ing to  change  architecture  superficially 
by  an  application  of  classic  details  the 
neo-classicists  erred.  They  ought  to  have 
seen  that  classic  details  do  not  lend 
themselves  to  new  uses.  Their  very 
perfection  for  classic  use  unfits  them  for 
any  other.  To  distort  and  misadjust 
them  as  the  Renaissance  did  is  not  to 
adapt  them.  There  was  no  true  adapta- 
tion of  classic  elements  in  Renaissance 
design.  Such  adaptation  involves  crea- 
tive modifications  which  so  transform 
original  elements  that  to  a  superficial 
view  they  are  not  recognizable  in  the 
resulting  forms."* 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  exam- 
ine this  reasoning.  It  is  noticeable  in 
the  first  place  that  it  is  deductive  and 
not  inductive;  it  assumes  certain  propo- 
sitions a  priori,  and  derives  its  conclu- 
sions from  these;  if  the  facts  do  not  fit 
the  theory,  so  much  the  worse  for  the 
facts.  Moreover,  terms  are  used  with- 
out definition,  in  a  manner  which  lends 
itself  to  very  illusive  reasoning.  Thus: 
"A  consciously  retrospective  motive  can 
hardly  be  a  vital  force,"  etc. ;  what  is 
here  meant  by  "consciously  retrospec- 
tive"? For  in  one  sense  of  these  words 
such  a  motive  has  been  a  vital  force  in 
all  artistic  development;  it  has  always 
built  upon  the  past  the  foundations  of 
its  future.  Whether  it  is  to  be  a  vital 
force  or  not  depends  upon  the  nature 
and  the  objects  of  this  retrospection. 
The  fatal  character  of  the  retrospection 
is  first  assumed,  and  all  Renaissance  ar- 
chitecture is  then  criticised  on  the  basis 
of  this  assumption.  "The  direct  attempt 
to  shape  the  arts  after  classic  models 


'"Character   of  Renaissance    Architecture,"    p.   247. 


was  an  unmixed  evil" — here  again  is  a 
pure  assumption;  whether  the  facts  sup- 
port it  is  the  very  question  at  issue. 
"Classic  details  do  not  lend  themselves 
to  new  uses" — another  pure  assumption, 
contradicted  by  the  experience  of  two 
thousand  years.  "Their  very  perfection 
for  classic  use  unfits  them  for  any 
other" ;  what  is  here  meant  by  "classic 
use"?  Does  the  critic  contend  that  a 
Corinthian  column  is  less  suited  to  carry 
the  entablature  and  pediment  of  a  por- 
tico to-day  than  in  the  Augustan  age, 
or  a  classic  cornice  less  effective  and 
beautiful  now  than  then?  "To  distort 
and  misadjust  them  as  the  Renaissance 
did" — this  judgment  is  based  on  the  sin- 
gular assumption  that  "there  was  no  true 
adaptation  of  classic  motives  in  Renais- 
sance design"  because  "such  adaptation 
involves  creative  modifications  which  so 
transform  original  elements  that  to  a 
superficial  view  they  are  not  recogniza- 
ble in  the  resulting  forms."  That  is  to- 
say,  no  adaptation  is  "true"  that  is  not 
carried  to  the  extreme  limit  of  change; 
and  so,  because  the  critic  can  recognize 
the  classic  origin  of  these  details  the 
Renaissance  architects  must  be  denied 
any  credit  for  creative  originality!  One 
cannot  help  feeling,  moreover,  that  the 
learned  critic,  in  attempting  to  involve 
the  Renaissance  in  the  dilemma  between 
directly  attempting  to  follow  classic 
models  on  the  one  hand — an  unmixed 
evil ;  and  attempting  on  the  other  to 
modify  and  adapt  them — which  was 
only  to  distort  and  misadjust  them — 
has  involved  himself  in  another  dilemma : 
there  were  no  new  conditions  to  be  met, 
yet  the  classic  forms  were  to  be  avoided 
because  they  were  not  fitted  for  new 
uses! 

Leaving  aside  for  the  moment  the 
debatable  question  as  to  the  fitness  of 
the  elements  of  classic  architecture  for 
modern  uses  and  as  to  whether  the 
Renaissance  variations  and  modifications 
of  them  were  or  were  not  distortions 
and  misadjustments,  one  is  tempted  to 
ask  whether  the  critics  who  thus  seek 
to  condemn  all  Renaissance  architecture 
as  fundamentally  wrong  in  its  spirit, 
ideals,  method  and  performance,  ever 
quite  grasped  the  full  implications  of 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


59 


their  assertions.  We  have  a  right  to 
ask  for  more  convincing  evidence  than 
they  adduce  to  persuade  us  that  suddenly 
the  entire  civilized  world  reversed  its 
habits  of  thought,  and  that  never  since 
a  certain  date  has  it  exhibited  the  quali- 
ties and  capacities  displayed  in  all  its 
works  of  architecture  for  thousands  of 
years  before  that  date,  nor  observed  the 
laws  and  principles  which  through  all 
those  thousands  of  years  had  been  uni- 
versally controlling.  "We  are  asked  to 
believe,"  says  Mr.  W.  J.  Anderson,* 
"on  high  authority  that  while  the  course 
of  true  architecture  ran  smoothly  from 
prehistoric  times  to  the  end  of  the  Gothic 
period,  it  there  ended,  and  copyism  or 
resuscitation  of  dead  and  unmeaning 
forms  has  since  continued.  In  other 
words,  that  the  harmony  which  ever  sub- 
sists between  the  condition  of  man  and 
his  intellectual  productions  was  sus- 
pended by  human  volition  about  the  fif- 
teenth century,  and  that  architecture  has 
from  that  time  failed  to  be  a  natural 
issue  of  a  people's  civilization  and  a 
record  of  a  nation's  history." 

One  would  suppose  that  to  the  sincere 
critic,  anxious  to  discover  the  true  sig- 
nificance and  inner  content  of  the  art 
he  was  dealing  with,  the  spectacle  of  a 
great  and  almost  world-wide  change  in 
the  forms  and  outward  aspect  of  archi- 
tecture would  suggest  an  effort  to  find 
some  more  rational  explanation  than  the 
easy  but  incredible  theory  of  a  sudden 
and  universal  extinction  of  logic,  com- 
mon sense  and  artistic  honesty.  In  all 
this  sweeping  condemnation,  as  expressed 
by  Professor  Moore,  by  Ruskin,  by  Mr. 
Cram  and  Mr.  Porter,  there  appears 
a  hostile  animus  in  which  alleged  moral 
delinquencies  are  associated  with  artistic 
ineptitudes  to  discredit  the  Renaissance 
and  all  its  works,  in  a  spirit  that  makes 
the  impartial  examination  and  presenta- 
tion of  the  facts  of  Renaissance  archi- 
tecture quite  impossible.  With  Mr. 
Anderson's  protest  against  this  whole 
attitude,  I  think  all  careful  students  of 
the  Renaissance  whose  judgments  have 
not  been  warped  by  a  blind  and  un- 
critical worship  of  Greek  or  medieval  art 


*"The   Architecture   of   the   Renaissance   in   Italy," 
p.  4  (4th  ed.). 


will  cordially  agree.  "There  is  thus/' 
Mr.  Anderson  continues,  "little  justifica- 
tion for  the  separate  classification  of  the 
Renaissance  as  an  imitative  style  in  harsh 
contradistinction  to  the  'true  styles'  of 
classic  or  medieval  times.  It  was  unques- 
tionably an  embodiment  of  the  temper  of 
the  time,  and  it  was  precisely  on  that 
ground  that  it  had  life  and  became  so 
important  a  part  of  the  world's  architec- 
tural history."  And  although  its  details 
were  directly  or  indirectly  derived  from 
antique  sources,  he  claims  "that  origi- 
nality has  never  been  displayed  in  greater 
degree  than  by  the  architects  of  the  early 
Italian  Renaissance."  (Pp.  4-5  of  work 
cited.) 

Indeed,  when  one  surveys  the  mar- 
velous artistic  fertility  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  from  1420  to  1550;  the 
extraordinary  richness,  variety  and  beau- 
ty of  its  productions  in  all  the  arts;  the 
keenness  and  vitality  of  the  Italian  taste 
and  of  the  intellectual  life  of  the  time, 
it  becomes  impossible  to  accept  the  ver- 
dict that  it  was  an  age  and  an  art  of 
dead  copying,  of  slavish  imitation,  of 
the  abandonment  of  all  creative  design 
and  original  thought  in  favor  of  a  futile 
revival  of  dead  forms. 

This  imputation  of  "copyism"  rests  on 
an  uncritical  and  superficial  observation 
of  the  facts,  and  a  fundamental  miscon- 
ception of  architecture  itself.  As  I  tried 
to  point  out  some  four  years  ago,  (in  the 
"Record"  for  May,  1915,)  the  tradition 
of  architectural  criticism  inaugurated  by 
the  English  writers  of  the  Victorian  per- 
iod focused  attention  on  the  details, 
and  chiefly  the  exterior  details,  of  archi- 
tecture. This  narrow  and  superficial 
conception  was  later  modified  by  the  idea 
of  structural  logic  developed  by  Viollet- 
le-Duc.  To  this  day  there  are  writers 
who  cannot  see  beyond,  behind,  under- 
neath or  over  their  own  particular  in- 
terpretations of  these  two  elements,  or 
recognize  that  these  are  only  two  among 
the  many  factors  that  go  to  make  up 
architecture  as  a  whole.  But  to  apply 
in  detail  the  considerations  of  a  struc- 
tural logic  based  on  the  type  of  the 
stone-vaulted  cathedral  of  the  Ile-de- 
France  to  the  civic,  ecclesiastical  and 
palace  architecture  of  the  Renaissance  is 


60 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


irrational,  because  it  ignores  the  differ- 
ences of  the  problems  themselves,  and 
of  the  conditions,  materials,  environment 
and  purpose  of  the  two  kinds  of  archi- 
tecture, and  makes  no  allowance  for  or 
recognition  of  the  real  essence  of  the 
genius  and  spirit  of  the  Italian  Renaiss- 
ance, or  of  changed  requirements  due 
to  the  inevitable  change  in  human  so- 
ciety and  government.  It  seems  to  find 
fault  with  the  Italian  Renaissance  archi- 
tecture for  not  expressing  the  spirit,  con- 
ditions, aims  and  civilization  of  its  time 
by  the  same  processes,  method  and  struc- 
tural reasoning  that  served  the  French 
builders  of  another  kind  of  building  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  or  the  Greek  builders 
of  the  time  of  Pericles.*  Nothing  in 
the  world  need  prevent  any  critic  from 
preferring  a  Gothic  cathedral  to  a  Re- 
naissance palace  or  church,  or  saying  that 
he  enjoys  Gothic  architecture  more  keenly 
than  that  of  the  Renaissance.  /There 
are  many  good  reasons  why  he  may  do 
so,  as  I  clearly  set  forth  in  the  "Record" 
for  August,  1917.  But  such  a  prefer- 
ence is  no  justification  for  denying 
common  sense,  honesty  and  originality 
to  the  other  kind  of  architecture.  True 
criticism  is  not  the  mere  expression  of 
personal  predilections;  it  is  the  careful 
analysis  of  the  subject  in  the  light  of 
all  that  we  can  know  about  it,  with  due 
recognition  of  the  conditions  that  pro- 


•With  reference  to  the  importance  of  structural 
logic  as  a  criterion  in  architecture,  Professor  Moore, 
in  a  footnote  to  his  article  in  the  "Record"  for 
November,  1918,  charges  me  with  inconsistency  be- 
cause, after  endorsing  the  principle  that  structural 
character  is  a  primary  consideration  in  architecture 
and  the  proper  basis  for  critical  estimates,"  I  later 
abandon  it  by  supporting  what  he  calls  the 
"spurious  Gothic  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  which  the 
principle  is  violated."  Now  apart  from  the  fact 
that  I  do  not  abandon  this  principle,  but  on  the 
contrary  expressly  declare  that  in  these  later  works 
"structural  logic  was  not  ignored  nor  even  for- 
gotten; it  is  there,  underlying  the  fundamental 
design,"  my  readers  should  recognize  that  I  have 
nowhere  admitted  structural  character  to  be  the 
sole  primary  consideration  and  the  only  proper  basis 
for  critical  estimates  of  the  art.  I  have  on  the 
contrary  always  insisted  that  it  is  but  one  of  sev- 
eral factors  in  such  estimates;  that  construction, 
planning,  purpose  or  function,  available  materials 
and  decorative  details  must  all  together  be  con- 
sidered, not  any  one  of  them  alone.  The  further 
remark  In  the  foot  note  that  "the  structural  and 
esthetic  elements  cannot  be  separated"  in  living 
art,  in  no  wise  contravenes  my  contention  that 
esthetic  logic  clematis  equal  consideration  with 
structural  logic.  Inseparably  as  they  certainly 
are  associated  in  all  great  works  of  art,  they  may 
yet  be  quite  distinct  subjects  of  thought.  Pro- 
fessor Moore's  contention  seems  to  be,  "The  two 
are  inseparable,  therefore  I  will  ignore  one  of  them." 


duced  it,  and  the  final  verdict  must  be 
based  on  criteria  directly  pertinent  to 
these  conditions.  Moreover,  the  analy- 
sis should  be  as  sympathetic  as  possible, 
because  only  by  a  sympathetic  study  can 
we  attain  to  a  real  understanding  of  its 
inner  nature.  By  a  sympathetic  study 
I  mean,  of  course,  a  study  which  puts 
aside  prejudice  and  preconception,  and 
approaches  its  subject  with  a  mind  open 
to  favorable  views,  as  well  as  to  con- 
siderations on  the  other  side. 

This  sympathetic  attitude,  this  sincere 
effort  to  get  at  the  inner  spirit  of  Renais- 
sance architecture,  to  find  a  rational  ex- 
planation of  what  may  at  first  sight 
seem  contrary  to  one's  own  reasoning 
on  the  problem,  this  readiness  to  appraise 
impartially  the  merits  and  virtues  of 
Renaissance  work  is  singularly  lacking 
from  most  of  the  writings  of  the  critics 
to  whom  I  have  referred.  To  see  in  all 
the  marvelous  architectural  productions 
of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries 
little  but  neo-paganism,  reversion  to  a 
dead  past,  sham  and  copyism  and  un- 
truthfulness,  would  seem  to  be  evidence 
of  a  narrow  and  prejudiced  judgment. 

II. 

The  charge  of  unoriginal  imitation  or 
"copyism"  results  from  a  too  exclusive 
attention  to  exterior  details,  coupled  with 
a  loose  understanding  and  use  of  the 
words  "copy"  and  "imitate,"  as  applied 
to  architectural  design.  The  carrying  over 
of  form-elements  from  one  style  and 
age  to  another  has  been  a  constant  phe- 
nomenon of  architectural  development. 
It  is  met  with  in  the  architectures  of 
antiquity,  as  well  as  in  medieval  and 
modern  times.  Borrowed  forms  are  found 
in  all  styles,  but  they  invariably  undergo 
adaptation  and  transformation,  and  are 
used  in  wholly  novel  combinations,  and 
in  a  new  spirit;  that  is,  they  become 
elements  of  a  new  style.  In  a  former 
article*  it  was  shown  how  the  Romans 
drew  from  Greek  prototypes  manv  of  the 
form-elements  of  their  architecture,  and 
how  these,  although  their  Greek  origin 
is,  in  many  cases,  quite  obvious,  were, 


•The  Record  for  May,  1915. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


61 


FIG.    1.     PORCH   OF   SAN   GIORGIO   IN   VELABRO,   ROME. 
Twelfth    Century.     Classic    Survivals    in    a    Medieval    Building. 


to  a  great  extent,  transformed,  and  made 
to  take  their  place  in  a  wholly  new  kind 
of  architecture,  purely  Roman  in  char- 
acter, as  far  removed  as  possible  from 
an  imitative  or  copying  art.  The  archi- 
tects of  the  Renaissance  made  a  similar 
use  of  the  Roman  elements,  adhering, 
in  the  later  phases  of  the  movement, 
somewhat  more  closely  to  the  Roman 
types  than  the  Romans  did  to  the  Greek, 
but  like  the  Romans  employing  the  bor- 
rowed or  suggested  details  in  wholly  new 
combinations  to  produce  an  architecture 
as  different  from  the  Roman  as  that  was 
from  the  Greek;  different  in  aspect,  in 
method,  in  purpose,  in  character,  in  con- 
struction, in  inspiration,  in  all  that  con- 
stitutes the  real  substance  of  architecture. 
This  preoccupation  with  fagades  and 
details  distracts  the  critic's  attention  from 
the  larger  aspects  of  his  subject,  blinding 
him  to  the  novelty  and  originality  of  the 
Renaissance  architecture  as  a  whole,  to 
the  wholly  new  types  of  buildings  which 
it  created,  to  all  its  dignity,  spaciousness 
and  splendor  of  interior  design,  to  the 


wonderful  variety,  ingenuity  and  beauty 
of  its  planning,  to  the  largeness  and 
stateliness  of  its  architectural  effects. 
One  may  concede  much  to  adverse  criti- 
cism of  details,  and  yet  maintain  with 
justice  a  high  degree  of  architectural 
merit  in  the  design  in  which  they  occur. 
And  whether  a  feature  or  detail  derived 
originally  from  antique  art,  is  or  is  not 
rightly  used  and  successfully  adapted  de- 
pends far  more  upon  the  total  effect 
produced  than  upon  the  closeness  of  its 
resemblance  to  some  more  or  less  remote 
classic  model. 

It  is  furthermore  objected  that  the  Re- 
naissance, in  thus  resorting  to  antiquity 
for  its  models,  was  turning  its  back  upon 
the  contemporary  Italian  Gothic  of  the 
time.  The  Italians  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury are  said  to  have  thus  broken  the 
continuity  of  their  own  art,  reversed  the 
stream  of  progress,  and  deliberately  re- 
sorted to  an  extinct  civilization  for 
models  to  follow.  Whereas,  in  the  "Truth- 
ful Styles,"  the  borrowing  of  forms  was 
always  from  contemporary  or  just-ex- 


62 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


piring  styles,  these  architects  sought  to 
revive  a  dead  past,  because  of  their  own 
lack  of  creative  originality.  Should  not 
this  conscious,  deliberate  deriving  of 
forms  and  details  from  a  buried  past  be 
called  copying? 

There  is  both  truth  and  error  in  this 
charge,  but  more  of  error  than  of  truth. 
During  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
turies there  was  certainly  an  increasing 
use  of   forms  and  details   drawn   from 
classical  antiquity,  accompanying  the  in- 
creasing  study   of   ancient   history   and 
literature,  philosophy  and  art.  There  was 
a  widespread  desire,  often  expressed,  to 
"restore  the  good  ancient  manner."  That 
this  did  not  mean  to  reproduce  the  an- 
cient types  of  buildings,  the  works  actu- 
ally executed  plainly  show;  the  meaning 
was  evidently  that  the  Italians  of  those 
days,  dissatisfied  with  the   foreign  and 
Gothic  manner  which  they  had  for  more 
than  a  century  been  seeking  to  assimi- 
late, longed  for  the  stateliness  and  dig- 
nity, the  largeness  of  scale,  the  breadth 
and   repose  of   effect,   which  they  now 
recognized  and  admired  in  even  the  ruins 
of  the  Roman  monuments.  They  studied 
enthusiastically  the  means  by  which  the 
Romans   of   old   had    attained   and   ex- 
pressed these  qualities,  more  at  first  for 
suggestion  than  for  close  imitation.  Pilas- 
ters, columns,  entablatures,  round  arches 
with  archivolts,  and  the  antique  orna- 
ments of  moldings  and  arabesques  came 
more  and  more  into  use  in  the  palaces 
and  churches  of  Italy.     In  the  sixteenth 
century  the  resemblance  to  the  Roman 
prototypes  became  more  complete,  as  the 
study  of  the  antique  advanced  in  scholar- 
ly accuracy.     But  these  details,  in  the 
first  place,  are  not  the  architecture  in 
its  broader  and   truer   sense;  they   are 
the  materials  and  elements  and  trappings 
of  the  architecture.    Roman  architecture 
was  not  merely  the  Orders  and  the  pedi- 
ments and  arches  of  Rome ;  it  was  what 
the  Roman  did   with  these   forms   and 
elements.      Renaissance    architecture    is 
what  the  Renaissance  did  with  these  ele- 
ments, from  whatever  source  taken.  The 
details  and  ornaments  they  used,  how- 
ever much  or  little  they  resembled  those 
of  antiquity,  were  but  the  alphabet  with 


which  they  wrote  their  poems  in  stone 
or  brick,  or  marble. 

Partly  with  these  Roman  details,  which 
they  freely  adapted  to  the  needs  of  their 
own  problems,  they  created  a  wholly  new 
architecture,  different  in  purpose,  appli- 
cation, spirit,  composition  and  decora- 
tive effect  from  any  and  all  Roman 
models.  It  was  a  new  architecture  be- 
cause a  new  spirit  had  entered  into  art 
and  life ;  but  it  was  far  more  closely  re- 
lated to  what  had  immediately  preceded 
than  to  the  Roman  architecture  which 
it  is  said  to  copy  or  imitate.  The  orderly 
evolution  of  this  architecture  in  Tuscany 
first,  then  throughout  northern  Italy  and 
Rome,  was  a  true  and  vital  expression 
of  the  evolutionary  changes  at  work  in 
Italian  life  and  thought.  It  drew  inspi- 
ration from  the  revived  study  of  classic 
literature,  life  and  art;  but  inspiration 
and  copying  are  distinct  and  opposed 
phenomena.  Roman  architecture  was 
not  copied  until  the  Roman  Revival  of 
the  late  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth 
centuries,  and  by  that  time  the  original 
Renaissance  movement  was  extinct. 

The  charge  that  the  Renaissance  Ital- 
ians arrested  and  turned  back  the  normal 
progress  of  architectural  development 
by  reverting  deliberately  away  from  the 
existing  Gothic  of  their  time  to  a  dead 
and  buried  past,  is  simply  not  true.  It 
ignores  the  plain  fact  of  art-history. 

In  the  first  place,  it  ignores  what  the 
tyro-student  ought  to  know,  that  it  was 
not  the  Renaissance  but  the  invasion  of 
Northern  and  Western  Gothic  that  sev- 
ered the  normal  continuity  of  Italian 
architectural  history.  The  often  rude 
but  always  virile  Lombard  style  which 
had  developed  through  six  centuries,  and 
the  Basilican  style  that  still  persisted  in 
Rome,  were  strangled  by  the  foreign 
fashion  introduced  by  Cistercian  monks 
and  French  and  German  builders  in  the 
thirteenth  century.  This  Northern  and 
Western  fashion  was  alien  to  the  Italian 
taste  and  the  Italian  climate  and  the 
Italian  traditions.  "The  invasion  of  the 
Gothic  architectural  forms  from  the 
North  was  a  fateful  event,  a  calamity  if 
you  will,  but  a  calamity  only  in  so  far 
as  it  befell  men  incapable  of  dealing  with 


FIG.  2.     BAPTISTERY,   FLORENCE.     EXTERIOR   DECORATED 
ABOUT     1294.       NOTE     PERSISTENT     CLASSIC     ELEMENTS. 


FIG.  3.  RUCELLAI  PALACE,  FLORENCE. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


65 


FIG.  4.    CAPELLA  MALATESTIANA  (SAN  FRANCESCO),  RIMINI. 


it"  (writes  Burckhardt  in  "Der  Cice- 
rone"*). "If  one  recognizes  in  the  Bap- 
tistery of  Florence,  for  example,  that  the 
twelfth  century  was  well  started  on  the 
path  of  the  development  of  a  harmonious 
beauty  in  the  use  of  antique  forms,  he 
will  soon  be  convinced  that  under  the 
invading  Gothic  forms  of  a  somewhat 
later  date  the  originally  underlying  ten- 
dency persisted  unchanged  and  ex- 
pressed itself  in  the  noblest  fashion 
under  this  external  shell."  In  other 
words,  the  Roman  tradition,  though 
feeble,  was  still  vital  throughout  the  en- 
tire Middle  Ages  in  Italy.  So  far  from 
having  ever  perished,  it  was  active 
through  the  whole  duration  of  the  Italian 
Gothic  style.  It  manifested  itself  alike 
in  the  decorative  details,  the  structural 
methods  and  the  handling  of  scale.  In 
Florence  and  Sienna  and  Rome,  in  Pisa 
and  Pistoia  and  Orvieto  the  round  arch 
with  archi-volt  and  square-sectioned 


•Sixth  Edition,  Leipzig,  1893;  Part  II,  p.  47. 


soffit,  the  Corinthian  capital,  the  three- 
membered  entablature,  the  profiles  and 
ornaments  of  moldings,  the  veneering 
with  marble,  the  use  of  polychromatic 
materials  and  of  inlay  and  mosaic,  the 
delight  in  broad  wall-surfaces,  the  pre- 
occupation with  decorative  effect,  and  the 
Latin  or  Basilican  plan  and  type  of 
church,  are  vto  be  encountered  in  build- 
ings of  all  the  centuries  from  the  eleventh 
to  the  fifteenth.  The  Renaissance  archi- 
tects sought  to  revive  no  dead  tradition. 
They  revitalized  and  liberated  the  natural 
racial  and  national  tendencies  inherited 
by  an  unbroken  descent  from  the  Romans 
of  antiquity.  The  unbroken  continuity  of 
this  inheritance  the  hostile  critics  gen- 
erally ignore,  but  impartial  students  have 
recognized  it  in  increasing  numbers  since 
Burckhardt  wrote.  Anderson  asserts  it 
in  the  work  already  cited,  in  which  he 
refers  to  the  Byzantine,  Lombard  and 
Romanesque  styles  of  Italy  as  varying 
modifications  of  "the  Latin  element 
which  lay  underneath,  and  which  in  the 


66 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


fifteenth  century  found,  in  the  revivifi- 
cation of  purely  Roman  principles,  the 
one  outlet  which  was  congenial  to  it." 
And  indeed,  one  has  only  to  look  at  the 
interior  of  Sienna  Cathedral,  or  the  ex- 
terior of  the  Florentine  Baptistery,  or 
the  details  of  the  "Mandorla"  door  of 
the  Duomo  of  Florence  or  those  of  a 
score  or  a  hundred  other  medieval  build- 
ings, to  realize  the  pervasiveness  and 
strength  of  this  medieval  classicism. 
What  had  been  an  imperfectly  felt  ten- 
dency, obeyed  for  the  most  part  uncon- 
sciously, became  in  the  fifteenth  century 
a  deliberate  and  intensified  purpose. 
Even  the  appearance  in  the  dawning 
years  of  that  century  of  the  mighty 
genius  of  Brunelleschi,  who  resumed  in 
himself  all  the  tendencies  of  his  time 
and  felt  powerfully  the  pulses  which  had 
only  begun  to  stir  his  whole  generation, 
simply  gave  definiteness  of  direction  and 
intensity  of  purpose  to  this  existing 
force,  and  started  men  to  studying  the 
original  sources  of  the  inspiration  which 
their  predecessors  had  felt,  though  less 
strongly,  through  a  thousand  years.  But 
in  the  whole  range  of  Brunelleschi's 
work  one  looks  in  vain  for  any  trace  of 
copying  of  any  Roman  building  or 
Roman  composition.  Even  his  most 
classic  details  of  capitals  and  moldings 
are  hardly  more  "correct"  than  many  to 
be  found  in  works  of  the  fourteenth  and 
preceding  centuries  in  Rome  and  north- 
ern Italy. 

III. 

In  support  of  the  general  charge  of 
copying  instead  of  originating,  alleged 
by  the  hostile  critics  against  the  Renais- 
sance, four  or  five  buildings  are  com- 
monly selected  as  examples  of  the  de- 
liberate copying,  reproduction,  imita- 
tion or  "following"  of  particular  Roman 
buildings  in  a  manner  and  to  a  degree 
which  preclude  any  credit  for  original 
design.  I  have  been  unable  to  find,  in 
the  whole  vast  range  of  the  buildings  of 
the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  in 
Italy,  more  than  a  half-dozen  on  which 
these  critics  are  agreed  as  significant  ex- 
amples of  this  deliberate  imitation.* 

Many  others  are  cited  as  being  designed 
with  Roman  orders,  arches  or  orna- 


ments; but  no  one  who  regards  archi- 
tecture as  something  more  than  its  ex- 
terior details  can  regard  these  as  copies. 
The  details  are  not  used  as  the  Romans 
used  them;  the  buildings  in  which  they 
figure  are  totally  unlike  any  ancient 
Roman  building.  But  of  this  more  anon. 

In  the  brief  list  of  instances  of  de- 
liberate imitation  set  forth  by  the  hostile 
critics,  four  are  especially  conspicuous. 
Of  these  three  are  by  Alberti  (1404- 
1473),  and  one  by  Bramante  (1444- 
1514).  Let  us  examine  these  carefully. 

In  the  Rucellai  palace  at  Florence 
(Fig.  3),  Alberti  employed  three  tiers 
of  flat  pilasters  with  their  entablatures 
to  divide  the  bays  and  stories  of  the 
fagade,  and  in  so  doing  is  said  to  have 
tried  to  copy  Roman  models  or  some 
Roman  model;  what  model  or  models 
no  critic  has  ventured  to  specify.  Even 
Mr.  W.  J.  Anderson  declares,  in  speak- 
ing of  this  palace,  that.  "Alberti  was  the 
first  who  seriously  attempted  the  re- 
creation of  Roman  architecture  as  dis- 
tinguished from  Roman  principles."* 
But  one  searches  the  Roman  monuments 
in  vain  for  any  building  that  bears  the 
slightest  resemblance  to  the  Rucellai. 
Not  a  pilaster,  capital,  string-course, 
window  or  arch  is  copied  from  or  closely 
resembles  any  Roman  prototype.  The 
Romans  never  built  pilastered  facades, 
but  reserved  the  pilaster  for  a  limited 
number  of  special  uses.  Moreover  Al- 
berti's  pilasters  are  wholly  unlike  the 
Roman  type,  being  so  flat  as  to  be  hardly 
more  than  engraved  on  the  rusticated 
front.  The  suggestion  of  pilasters  may 
have  been  derived  from  the  upper  story 
of  the  Colosseum  at  Rome,  which  has 
pilasters,  but  neither  the  Rucellai  pil- 
asters themselves  nor  the  way  they  are 
used  resembles  the  Colosseum.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  treatment  of  the  upper 
cornice  of  the  palace  was  certainly  sug- 
gested by  that  of  the  Colosseum;  but 
this  single  detail  is  the  only  one  in  which 
the  Rucellai  resembles,  imitates  or  copies 


*There  are  a  number  of  gateways  of  late  date 
obviously  patterned  after  the  general  type  of  the 
Roman  arches  of  triumph.  But  not  one  even  of 
these  is  a  textual  copy;  they  all  imitate  the  general 
type  but  treat  the  details  independently.  They 
seem  to  have  been  overlooked  by  the  critics,  and 
they  are,  of  course,  of  only  secondary  importance. 

*Op.   cit.,   p.   35.     The   italics   are   ours. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


67 


any  assignable  Roman  model.  It  does, 
however,  in  general  composition  suggest 
the  ruined  Palazzo  delle  Torre  at  Turin, 
with  which  Alberti  may  or  may  not  have 
been  acquainted ;  this  is  a  brick  building 
of  uncertain  date,  and  could  not  in  any 
case  have  suggested  nothing  more  than  a 
type  of  fagade  treatment.  The  Rucellai 
is  in  no  sense  a  copy  of  even  this  example. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  Alberti  drew 
much  of  his  inspiration  from  his  en- 
thusiastic studies  of  ancient  ruins :  the 
ideas,  perhaps,  of  flat  rustication  and  of 
marking  the  stories  and  dividing  the 
bays,  and  an  appreciation  of  the  classic 
qualities  of  scale,  proportion,  and  re- 
finement of  detail.  But  even  these  ideas 
were  by  no  means  wholly  new.  Pilasters 
and  wall-strips  to  divide  the  bays,  and 
small  entablatures  as  belt-courses,  abound 
in  Tuscan  Gothic  architecture.  Alberti, 
moreover,  with  all  his  scholar's  knowl- 
edge of  the  Roman  orders,  in  the  Rucel- 
lai designed  his  own  pilasters,  caps  and 
moldings  in  utter  disregard  of  the  Roman 
canons.  He  inaugurated  a  new  sort  of 
architectural  effect,  which  for  better  or 
worse  found  many  imitators ;  but  in  the 
Rucellai  he  certainly  did  not  copy. 

In  the  Capella  Malatestiana  (San 
Francesco)  at  Rimini,  however,  he  is 
said  to  have  copied  a  Roman  triumphal 
arch ;  and  J.  A.  Symonds  is  sure  that  his 
model  was  the  Arch  of  Augustus  at 
Rimini.*  It  would  certainly  have  been 
quite  natural  for  so  enthusiastic  a  student 
of  antique  remains  to  draw  from  so  fine 
and  so  accessible  an  example  valuable 
suggestions  for  the  front  of  this  chapel. 
Symonds  is  careful  to  say  that  he  "fol- 
lowed," not  that  he  copied  this  arch. 
Professor  Moore,  on  the  other  hand, 
calls  it  "substantially  a  reproduction  of 
the  Arch  of  Septimius  Severus."  When 
a  man  is  alleged  to  have  followed  or 
copied  two  such  widely  different  models, 
is  it  not  evident  that  he  copied  neither, 
but  simply  drew  from  the  general  type 
of  which  these  were  differing  examples 
a  suggestion  for  the  composition  of  his 
chapel  front?  The  design  was  never 
completed,  but  the  two-storied  central 


•"The    Renaissance    in    Italy: 
p.    74.      American    Ed.,    1883. 


the    Fine    Arts;" 


bay  with  its  superposed  orders  com- 
pletely destroys  the  analogy  with  either 
of  the  two  arches  named  as  its  proto- 
type. As  for  the  engaged  columns  and 
round  arch,  they  were  already  familiar 
features,  and  their  use  can  be  traced  far 
back  into  the  Middle  Ages  in  both  France 
and  Italy.  If  this  be  "copying"  it  is  a 
kind  of  copying  found  in  all  styles  and 
ages,  and  is  compatible  with  the  highest 
originality. 

The  third  conspicuous  example  of  the 
alleged  Renaissance  copying  of  Roman 
models  is  Alberti's  fagade  for  his  great 
and  noble  church  of  San  Andrea  at 
Mantua.  Professor  Moore,  in  Figures 
19  and  20  of  his  "Character  of  Renais- 
sance Architecture,"  has  placed  side  by 
side  drawings  of  this  faqade  and  of  the 
arch  of  Septimius  Severus,  as  evidence 
that  "Alberti  derived  all  of  these  facades, 
and  especially  that  of  San  Andrea,  from 
the  Roman  arch  scheme,  .  .  .  and  the 
arch  of  Septimius  Severus  may,  I  think, 
be  taken  as  the  model  that  he  had  chiefly 
in  mind."  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  this 
case  the  derivation  is  not  called  a  repro- 
duction, and  Professor  Moore's  state- 
ment as  he  has  worded  it  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  substantially  correct.  So  ac- 
cepted and  illuminated  by  the  two  illus- 
trations, it  simply  asserts  and  shows  that 
Alberti  had  a  certain  type  of  antique 
arch  "in  mind"  when  he  designed  two  or 
more  facades  which  differ  widely  from 
each  other  as  well  as  from  each  and 
every  Roman  arch  from  which  they  are 
said  to  be  derived.  The  resemblance  be- 
tween the  San  Andrea  facade  and  the 
arch  illustrated,  alike  in  composition, 
scale,  detail  and  total  effect,  is  too  re- 
mote for  even  a  suggestion  of  plagiarism. 
And  it  cannot  be  too  often  repeated  that 
pilasters,  pedestals,  entablatures,  pedi- 
ments and  round  arches  with  archivolts 
were  already  "of  the  previous  state  of 
the  art"  (as  the  patent-lawyers  say), 
familiar  in  all  sorts  of  monuments  both 
ancient  and  medieval.  The  only  features 
directly  assignable  to  the  Roman  arch- 
models  are  the  coffering  of  the  soffit  of 
the  great  arch,  and  the  transverse  arches 
that  open  into  the  central  archway  from 
the  side  bays.  It  is,  moreover,  worthy 


FIG.  5.    ARCH  OF  AUGUSTUS.  RIMINI. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


69 


FIG.  6.    ARCH  OF  SEPTIMIUS  SEVERUS,  ROME. 


of  notice  that  Fergusson,  the  protagonist 
of  the  charge  of  Renaissance  copyism, 
says  nothing  of  this  fagade  as  an  imita- 
tion of  a  Roman  prototype,  but  bestows 
upon  it  almost  unstinted  praise.  Pro- 
fessor Frothingham,  in  the  fourth  vol- 
ume of  the  Sturgis-Frothingham  "His- 
tory of  Architecture,"  suggests  that  it 
was  derived  from  a  little-known  Roman 
arch  in  Verona,  that  of  the  Gabii,  which 
has  a  gable.  One  guess  is  as  good  as  an- 
other, and  I  prefer  my  own,  as  above 
set  forth. 

All  these  strictures  as  to  lack  of 
originality,  it  will  be  observed,  relate 
wholly  to  the  facades  of  these  buildings ; 
the  plan  and  structural  scheme  of  San 
Andrea  are  generally  praised  even  by 
the  hostile  critics.  These  are  as  plainly 
inspired  by  the  antique  Roman  spirit  as 
the  facades,  but  as  plainly  they  are  not 
derived  nor  copied  from  any  particular 
example,  but  are  the  product  of  a  free 
and  original  invention  working  upon  ma- 


terial   familiar    both    by    tradition    and 
study. 

Finally  we  come  to  Bramante's  little 
"Tempietto"  in  the  court  of  San  Pietro 
in  Montorio  (Fig.  8),  which  is  said  to 
be  "but  a  modified  copy  of  an  ancient 
model  and  in  no  true  sense  an  original 
design.  The  changes  wrought  by  the 
copyist  are  not  of  a  creative  kind  con- 
sistent with  true  principles  of  build- 
ing. .  .  .  Such  merit  as  it  has  is  pri- 
marily due  to  the  ancient  model,  which 
he  would  have  done  better  to  have  re- 
produced more  exactly."  The  prosecut- 
ing attorney  complains  that  the  criminal 
did  not  carry  his  evildoing  quite  far 
enough;  he  would  have  done  better  had 
he  made  it  easier  to  prove  the  crime? 
The  model  in  this  case  is  said  to  have 
been  the  temple  of  Vesta  at  Tivoli.  But 
surely  to  any  one  who  has  had  practical 
experience  in  architectural  design  this  is 
no  copy  at  all,  but  an  original  design.  It 
has  in  common  with  the  so-called  Vesta 


70 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


FIG.   7.     BASILICA  SAN  ANDREA,  MANTUA. 


temple  absolutely  nothing  but  the  general 
idea  of  a  circular  peripteros.  The  temple 
of  Vesta  has  eighteen  fluted  Corinthian 
columns,  the  Tempietto  sixteen  smooth 
Doric  columns..  No  one  knows  how  the 
temple  was  roofed;  the  Tempietto  has  a 
Renaissance  dome  on  a  drum — a  type 
wholly  unknown  to  antiquity.  The 
colonnade  is  crowned  by  a  balustrade — 
another  feature  unknown  to  antiquity. 
The  cella  is  adorned  with  pilasters  and 
niches ;  the  supposed  model  has  none. 
The  model  stands  on  a  Roman  podium, 
the  "copy"  has  none.  The  proportions 
of  the  copy  are  absolutely  unlike  those 
of  the  Roman  temple,  and  its  ensemble 
produces  a  totally  different  impression. 
As  for  its  circular  form,  it  was  the  most 
natural  and  even  obvious  form  of  a  com- 
memorative shrine  on  a  sacred  spot — that 
where  St.  Peter  was  supposed  to  have 
been  crucified.  The  idea  of  surround- 


ing it  with  a  colonnade  was,  of  course, 
derived  from  classic  precedent,  but  of 
copying  or  reproducing  any  Roman  pro- 
totype there  is  no  sign. 

In  addition  to  these  four  examples 
most  frequently  cited  by  the  critics,  Pro- 
fessor Moore  sets  forth  Sansovino's 
beautiful  Logetta  at  the  base  of  the  Cam- 
panile of  St.  Mark  and  his  superb  Libre- 
ria,  both  at  Venice,  as  instances  of  this 
habit  of  copying.  Of  the  latter  he  says  :* 
"In  the  general  scheme  of  this  fagade 
Sansovino  has  followed  that  of  the  an- 
cient theatre  of  Marcellus,  with  a  free 
introduction  of  additional  enrichments." 

What  answer  can  one  make  to  so  ex- 
traordinary a  statement?  Place  side  by 
side  photographs  of  these  two  monu- 
ments and  pronounce  your  own  verdict 
on  the  resemblance.  Surely  the  man  who 


•Op.  cit.,  p.  122. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


71 


could  convert  the  scheme  of  the  theatre 
of  Marcellus  into  the  unsurpassed  splen- 
dor of  the  Libreria  merely  by  "a  free  in- 
troduction of  additional  enrichments" 
must  have  been  an  architectural  genius 
of  the  highest  originality!  Further  on 
our  critic  finds  fault  with  the  Loggetta 
as  an  extension  and  spoiling  of  the  Arch 
of  Titus,  and  judges  that  "to  attach  any 
sort  of  a  Roman  triumphal  arch  to  the 
base  of  a  medieval  tower  is  an  archi- 
tectural absurdity."  This  pronouncement 
is  made  without  regard  to  the  way  in 
which  the  alleged  ''Roman  arch"  scheme 
is  used  or  the  purpose  to  which  it  is  put, 
or  the  beauty  of  the  result.  All  the  gene- 
rations of  artists  and  people  of  culture 
who  have  adrnired  the  Loggetta  as  a  gem 
of  decorative  architecture  must  hang 
their  heads  in  shame  at  having  failed  to 
recognize  it  as  an  absurdity ! 

Fergusson  draws  a  comparison  be- 
tween the  incomplete  court-arcade  of  the 
Lesser  Palace  of  Venice  at  Rome  and  the 
Colosseum.  It  was  very  likely  the 
Colosseum  that  suggested  the  two  super- 
posed arcades  of  this  unfinished  work, 
but  it  may  as  well  have  been  any  one  of 
a  score  of  other  buildings.  This  arcade 
is  of  the  antique  Roman  type,  it  was  an 
effort  to  produce  something  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Roman  arcades,  but  I  do 
not  think  it  can  with  any  reasonableness 
be  called  a  "copy"  of  the  Colosseum 
scheme. 

The  alleged  boast  of  Michel  Angelo 
(some  say  of  Bramante)  that  he  would 
"set  the  Pantheon  on  the  Temple  of 
Peace"  is  probably  apocryphal;  if  he 
uttered  it,  it  was  plainly  a  mere  "fashion 
of  speaking,"  for  his  dome  is  not  like 
the  Pantheon  nor  the  church  beneath  like 
the  Temple  of  Peace  (the  Basilica  of 
Maxentius-Constantine),  The  accusa- 
tion of  copying,  in  so  far  as  it  is  sup- 
ported by  no  more  convincing  evidence 
than  the  above  examples,  may  well  be 
pronounced  an  empty  charge.  One  can 
hardly  refrain  from  quoting  "Parturiunt 
mantes,  nascitur  ridiculus  mus." 

IV. 

The  charge  of  systematic  and  de- 
liberate plagiarism  in  the  works  of  the 


Renaissance  having  been  answered,  we 
still  have  to  deal  with  the  charge  of  lack 
of  originality  in  the  details  of  that  archi- 
tecture. We  are  told  that  the  entire 
architectural  baggage  of  the  Renaissance 
is  made  up  of  forms  taken  from  the 
ruins  of  antiquity.  The  Renaissance  de- 
signer, even  when  he  tries  to  say  an 
original  thing,  is  using  a  dead  language, 
even  as  Alberti  used  a  dead  language  in 
his  treatise  "De  Re  Aedificatoria."  His 
architecture  is  an  architecture  of  the 
Roman  orders,  and  Roman  art  was  dead. 
But  Alberti  wrote  in  Latin  precisely 
because  Latin  was  not  a  dead  language 
in  his  day;  it  was  still  the  language  of 
learning  and  of  what  science  there  was, 
throughout  Europe,  and  had  gained  new 
life  from  the  revival  of  classic  studies. 
And  I  have  shown  on  a  previous  page 
how  vital  and  persistent  was  the  Roman 
architectural  tradition  through  the  entire 
Italian  Middle  Ages.  Indeed,  Fergusson, 
who  first  used  the  expression  of  "design- 
ing in  a  dead  language,"  was  compelled  to 
admit  that  the  Italian  architects,  at  least 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  were  following 
a  perfectly  natural,  logical,  and  indeed 
Inevitable  course.  "The  classical  style 
was  their  own,  invented  in  their  country, 
suited  to  their  climate  and,  to  a  certain 
extent,  to  their  wants."  "It  was  an  in- 
evitable cbnsequence  that  Classical  Archi- 
tecture should  supersede  Mediaeval  in 
that  country  at  some  time  or  other" — so 
he  wrote  in  his  "Modern  Architecture" 
(p.  43)  ;  and  on  a  previous  page  he  de- 
clared that  "such  buildings  as  San 
Miniato  at  Florence,  and  some  of  the 
basiliacs  at  Rome,  are  in  fact  more  Clas- 
sical in  plan,  and — as  their  ornaments 
are  generally  borrowed  from  ancient 
buildings — far  more  so  in  detail,  than 
many  of  the  buildings  of  the  Renaissance 
period."  But  now  follows  a  curious  con- 
clusion by  the  author  of  these  observa- 
tions: the  Renaissance  architects  were 
copyists  and  the  medieval  architects  were 
not.  The  closer  imitation  of  the  antique 
in  the  medieval  buildings  was  not  copy- 
ing, because  "their  builders  were  only 
thinking  of  how  they  might  produce  the 
best  possible  church  for  their  purpose 
with  the  materials  at  their  disposal  and 


FIG.  8.     TEMPIETTO  IN  COURT  OF 
SAN  PIETRO  IN  MONTORIO,  ROME. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


73 


not  caring  to  glorify  themselves  by 
showing  their  own  individual  cleverness." 
That  is  to  say,  the  introduction  of  origi- 
nal and  individual  features  is  copying! 
By  what  means  this  critic  penetrates  to 
the  inner  motives  of  the  two  sets  of  de- 
signers in  order  to  establish  this  differ- 


sance  in  Toscana,"  for  example,  with  its 
fine  photographs  and  accurate  drawings 
of  fifteenth  and  early  sixteenth-century 
buildings,  and  you  will  seek  in  vain  for  a 
truly  Roman  or  "correct"  column  or  en- 
tablature. If  the  men  of  this  time  sought 
to  revive  the  glories  of  classic  architec- 


ence,  and  why  the  medieval  attempt  at     ture,  it  was  not  by  copying  either  its 


textual  reproduction  of  the  classic  forms 
was  not  copying, 
while  their  modifi- 
cation and  use  in 
novel  and  original 
ways  by  the  Re- 
naissance was  copy- 
ing, can  only  be 
classed  among  the 
many  riddles  of  the 
Fergussonian  logic. 

How,  then,  about 
the  classic  orders? 
They  are  the  favor- 
ite Campus  Martius 
for  militant  prac- 
tice by  superficial 
critics,  and  thou- 
sands are  the  shafts 
leveled  and  dis- 
charged at  Vignola 
and  Palladio.  The 
Romans  used  the 
orders ;  the  Renais- 
sance architects  used  the  orders;  they 
made  a  special  study  of  Roman  archi- 
tecture; ergo,  they  copied  the  Roman 
orders;  ergo  again,  they  were  copyists. 
Quod  erat  demonstrandum! 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  Italians  of 
the  sixteenth  century  studied  the  Roman 
orders  with  a  somewhat  careful  scrutiny, 
and  imitated  them  with  more  or  less  ac- 
curacy. It  is,  however,  also  true  that 
this  close  study  and  this  'careful  con- 
formity did  not  begin  until  about  1500, 
and  that  through  the  entire  Quattrocento 
it  is  difficult  or  impossible  to  find  a  "cor- 
rect"— that  is  to  say  a  closely  copied — 
column,  pilaster  or  entablature.  For  at 
least  eighty  years  the  Renaissance  archi- 
tects were  content  with  a  merely  color- 
able approximation  to  the  Roman  types, 
which  they  treated  with  absolute  freedom 
of  adaptation.  Turn  over  the  thousands 
of  pages  of  Geymiiller's  "Die  Renais- 


FIG.  9.     TEMPLE  OF  VESTA  AT  TIVOLI. 


buildings  or  its  details,  but  by  trying  to 
design  in  the  same 
spirit  of  largeness, 
elegance  and  state- 
liness  as  the  an- 
cients, while  plan- 
ning and  compos- 
ing strictly  for 
their  own  time  in 
their  own  way. 
With  the  sixteenth 
century  there  began 
a  stricter  classiciz- 
ing tendency,  a 
greater  regard  for 
classic  precedent,  a 
closer  study  of 
classic  detail,  with 
Vitruvius  as  the 
model  for  the  for- 
mulation of  the  re- 
sults of  their  obser- 
vations. Architec- 
ture became  more 
and  more  a  profession  of  the  learned, 
an  art  with  principles  formulated  in 
books.  Yet,  strange  as  it  may  seem, 
never  was  it  characterized  by  a  greater 
brilliancy  of  invention,  never  by  a  surer 
grasp  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
composition,  of  proportion,  of  plan- 
ning and  of  decoration,  than  during  the 
first  half-century  of  this  period.  It 
never  became  the  slave  of  books,  and 
while  the  details  of  classic  architecture 
were  more  accurately  transcribed  than 
before,  and  there  was  a  broader  applica- 
tion of  the  suggestions  of  composition 
derived  from  the  antique  than  in  the 
Quattrocento,  the  architecture  that  was 
produced  was  still  as  far  removed  as  pos- 
sible from  a  copy  of  the  antique. 

The  books  of  "Orders"  by  Vignola, 
Palladio,  Serlio  and  Scamozzi  were  not 
the  hard-and-fast  grammars  they  are  so 
often  considered  to  be.  This  view  of 


FIG.   10.     ST.   MARK'S  LIBRARY,  VENICE. 


FIG.  11.    THEATRE  OF  MARCELLUS,  ROME. 


76 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


their  character,  purpose  and  function  is 
widespread,  and  has  been  the  source  of 
a  vast  amount  of  hostile  criticism.  But  it 
is  the  result  of  careless  or  superficial  ob- 
servation, and  disappears  on  careful  in- 
vestigation. Each  of  these  books  of  the 
orders  represents  nothing  but  the  author's 
own  idealized  generalization  from  the 
Roman  examples.  Save  for  approximate 
uniformity  in  the  general  proportions  of 
each  Order,  no  two  are  alike  in  the  de- 
tails of  any  Order.  It  is  doubtful  if  any 
one  of  the  Orders  thus  set  forth  in  any 
of  these  books  corresponds  exactly  with 
any  antique  example.  Moreover,  Vig- 
nola,  at  least,  never  conformed  to  his  own 
Orders  as  shown  in  his  book!  None  of 
these  books  seems  to  have  hampered  the 
freedom  of  the  sixteenth-century  de- 
signers, any  more  than  the  Canon  of 
Polycletus  reduced  Greek  sculpture  to 
mechanical  copying.  The  architects  con- 
tinued to  proportion  and  detail  their  col- 
umns and  entablatures  as  they  pleased,  to 
combine  them,  couple  them,  engage  them, 
convert  them  into  pilasters,  always  ac- 
cording to  their  own  fancy  or  the  need  of 
their  particular  problem.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  these  Renaissance  treatments 
— for  instance  Bramante's  rhythmical 
alternation  of  pilaster-spacing,  and  the 
occasional  use  of  coupled  columns — were 
quite  without  classic  precedent. 

When  one  carefully  compares  the 
Renaissance  use  of  forms  and  details  of 
classic  origin  with  the  antique,  the  num- 
ber, extent  and  variety  of  the  Renais- 
sance innovations  becomes  fairly  sur- 
prising, and  the  evidence  of  careful 
thought  and  original  invention  is  con- 


vincing to  any  one  not  predetermined  to 
see  in  these  innovations  only  distortions 
and  misadjustments.  But  when  the  com- 
parison is  extended  to  the  larger  features 
and  thence  to  the  fundamental  concep- 
tions of  this  architecture,  the  evidence 
of  creative  originality  becomes  so  over- 
whelming that  one  wonders  how  it  could 
ever  have  been  ignored.  The  Renais- 
sance courtyards  have  no  antique  proto- 
types; the  Renaissance  domical  cruci- 
form church  was  a  completely  new  cre- 
ation, the  extraordinary  variety  of  whose 
forms  is  in  itself  proof  of  a  highly  active 
creative  genius;  the  Renaissance  dome 
set  on  a  drum  and  crowned  by  a  lantern 
was  an  original  development  of  the  fif- 
teenth and  sixteenth  centuries,  based  in 
no  respect  on  Roman  models.  The 
Florentine  or  North  Italian  type  of 
arcade  with  arches  borne  directly  upon 
columns  can  be  traced  continuously  back 
to  Early  Christian  basilicas  of  the  fourth 
century  and  no  further.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence whatever  that  its  isolated  occur- 
rence in  Diocletian's  palace  at  Spalato 
had  any  influence  on  the  Renaissance  de- 
signers. None  of  Brunelleschi's  build- 
ings nor  of  Michelozzi's,  were  patterned 
after  any  recognizable  antique  model. 
The  Renaissance  types  of  tower  were 
evolved  by  the  Italian  architects  with  no- 
help  from  classic  prototypes.  The  fa- 
miliar forms  of  the  balustrade,  both  in 
their  details  and  in  their  use  as  archi- 
tural  features,  were  new  creations  of  the 
Renaissance,  absolutely  without  model 
or  precedent  in  classic  design.  Yet  we 
are  told  that  the  Renaissance  lacked 
creative  origination ! 


PORTFOLIO 

OF 
CVR.KENT 


- 

- 


GARDEN  GATE— HOUSE  OF  E.  DIGBY  BALTZELL, 
ESQ.,  ST.  MARTIN'S,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA. EDMUND  B.  GILCHRIST,  ARCHITECT. 


ENTRANCE  DETAIL— HOUSE  OF  E.  DIGBY  BALT- 
ZELL,  ESQ.,  ST.  MARTIN'S,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA. EDMUND  B.  GILCHRIST,  ARCHITECT. 


FLOOR  PLANS— HOUSE  OF  E.  DIGBY  BALTZELL, 
ESQ.,  ST.  MARTIN'S,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA. EDMUND  B.  GILCHRIST,  ARCHITECT. 


SOUTHWEST  VIEW— HOUSE  OF  E.  DIGBY  HALT- 
ZELL,  ESQ.,  ST.  MARTIN'S,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA. EDMUND  B.  GILCHRIST,  ARCHITECT. 


DRAWING  ROOM-HOUSE  OF  E.  DIGBY  BALTZELL, 
ESQ.,  ST.  -MARTIN'S,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA. EDMUND  B.  GILCHRIST,  ARCHITECT. 


ENTRY  AND  DINING  ROOM  -  HOUSE  OF  E.  DIGBYT 
BALTZELL,  ESQ.,  ST.  MARTIN'S,  CHESTNUT  HILL, 
PHILADELPHIA.  EDMUND  B.  GILCHRIST,  ARCHITECT. 


LIVIMQ    ROOM 

|8'-C'    K    IS'-o" 


FlitfT   fLGDR.  PLAN 


FIRST  AND  SECOND  FLOOR  PLANS- 
HOUSE  AT  ARONIMINK,  PA.  EDWARD 
F.  HOFFMAN,  JR.,  ARCHITECT. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


85 


NORTHWEST  FRONT— HOUSE  AT  ARONIMINK,  PA. 
Edward  F.  Hoffman,  Jr.,  Architect. 


NORTHEAST  FRONT— HOUSE  AT  ARONIMINK,  PA. 
Edward   F.   Hoffman,  Jr.,  Architect. 


SAHTA  BAEBABA  COVHTY  PCTENTIOH  tlotiL 


Roland  F.  Sauter,  Architect. 


FIRST    FLOOR.    PLAH 

SAHTA.  BARBARA  COVHTY  PLTEimon 


Roland  F.  Sauter,  Architect. 


Stconp    FLOOE. 

SCALE    Jf-1. 


SAHTA  BARBARA  COVHTY 

SATITA  .BAEBAEA  CALirocniA 


nonL 


Roland  F.  Sauter,  Architect. 


w"ai 

ss  < 


Si 


K 

ii 

<!  ^3 
en  PQ 


WAR  BOOKS  OF  THE  CATHEDRALS 


By  BARR  FERREE 

Part  VI 


MUCH  has  happened  in  France  and 
in  the  world  since  the  great  bat- 
tle of  Verdun  opened  on  Feb- 
ruary 21,  1916.  Great  battles  have  been 
fought,  colossal  campaigns  brought  to  a 
successful  conclusion,  and  victory  won 
by  the  Allies  for  right  and  for  civilization. 
Much  has  been  written  on  these  later 
phases  of  the  war,  and  much  has  yet 
to  be  written,  for  Verdun  continues  to 
occupy  a  foremost  place  in  French  writ- 
ings. Three  notable  books  on  Verdun 
appeared  in  1918,  and  in  many  general 
volumes  it  is  the  central  event. 

L'Assaut  contre  Verdun,  by  E.  Diaz- 
Retg,  is  an  admirable  survey  of  events 
from  February  21  to  March  31,  1916. 
It  thus  covers  the  opening  of  the  battle 
and  the  events  of  the  first  six  weeks. 
The  author  is  a  Spanish  journalist,  the 
French  edition  being  a  translation  of  the 
Spanish  original.  M.  Diaz-Retg  did  not 
visit  Verdun  until  after  the  battle,  but 
at  this  later  time  he  thoroughly  familiar- 
ized himself  with  the  topography  of  the 
region  and  consulted  with  many  of  the 
leading  combatants.  He  makes  rather 
extensive  use  of  German  notes  and  com- 
ments, which  gives  to  his  book  a  some- 
what broader  character  than  many  of 
the  French  books  on  Verdun. 


The  story  is  admirably  told,  and  with 
very  great  clearness.  He  divides  his 
book  into  four  parts.  The  first  treats 
of  the  preliminaries  of  the  attack,  in 
which,  among  other  things,  he  discusses 
the  reasons  for  attacking  Verdun  and 
describes  at  some  length  the  final  Ger- 
man preparations.  The  second  section 
deals  with  the  first  phase  of  the  battle 
and  its  colossal  beginnings.  The  third 
section  treats  of  the  second  phase,  and 
deals  with  the  conflicts  in  the  Vaux- 
Douaumont  sector,  Fresnes,  Forges,  the 
Cote  de  1'Oie,  the  Bois  des  Corbeaux, 
the  massacre  of  the  Germans  and  the 
aerial  bombardments.  The  fourth  sec- 
tion covers  the  third  phase,  and  is  con- 
cerned with  attacks  on  the  Mort  Homme 
and  against  Vaux,  Avocourt,  Malan- 
court  and  Haucourt.  The  German  losses 
and  the  critical  situation  of  Germany 
are  studied  in  the  final  chapter.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  as  early  as  the 
end  of  March  M.  Diaz-Retg  did  not  hes- 
itate to  state  that  the  Germans  would  not 
take  Verdun. 

La  Victoire  de  Verdun,  by  Henri 
Dugard,  is  a  more  comprehensive  study, 
since  it  covers  the  period  from  February 
21,  1916,  to  November  3,  1917,  thus 
covering  practically  the  whole  great  con- 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


91 


flict.  The  earlier  parts  are  based  on  the 
author's  previous  book,  La  Bataille  de 
Verdun,  which  ended  with  May  1,  1916. 
Although  the  present  book  is,  therefore, 
very  nearly  complete  as  a  history  of  the 
battle  of  Verdun,  it  is  less  readable  than 
M.  Diaz-Retg's  absorbing  study.  This 
is  obviously  due  to  the  greater  number 
of  episodes  treated ;  the  chapters  are 
short  and  rather  fragmentary;  but  the 
whole  story  is  here,  and  to  tell  that  was 
the  author's  purpose. 

A  little  less  than  half  the  book  is  given 
up  to  an  appendix  in  which  more  de- 
tailed accounts  are  given  of  many  notable 
episodes  than  is  included  in  the  main 
text.  Some  of  these  are  narratives  of 
eye-witnesses  and  participants,  collected, 
in  some  part,  from  newspapers.  They 
constitute  an  exceedingly  valuable  col- 
lection of  documents,  and  are  more  than 
worth  while  putting  into  permanent 
form.  The  volume  concludes  with  a 
bibliography  of  Verdun,  giving,  with 
notes,  an  extensive  list  of  writings  on 
the  battle.  This  very  useful  feature 
no  previous  writer  had  thought  of  in- 
cluding in  his  book  of  Verdun. 

La  Guerre  sur  le  Front  Occidental. 
L'Annee  de  Verdun,  by  Joseph  Reinach, 
is  one  of  the  most  important  books  that 
has  appeared  to  date.  The  author  is 
one  of  the  foremost  military  critics  of 
France.  His  famous  "Commentaires  de 
Polybe"  have  been  an  almost  daily  fea- 
ture of  Le  Figaro  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  war,  and  have  been  repub- 
lished  in  a  long  series  of  books. 

The  present  volume,  which  carries  the 
sub-title  Etude  Strategique,  1916,  is  a 
masterly  survey  of  the  whole  war  for 
1916.  It  is  indeed  the  year  of  Verdun, 
for  Verdun  was  the  most  important 
event  on  the  western  front  in  that  year, 
and  the  larger  part  of  this  book  is  directly 
concerned  with  events  at  that  city.  But 
M.  Reinach  puts  the  battle  of  Verdun 
in  its  proper  relationship  to  the  war,  as 
the  leading  event  of  a  colossal  conflict, 
by  treating  of  all  the  military  events  of 
the  year.  Few  other  writers  have  taken 
so  comprehensive  a  view,  and  few 
others,  it  is  but  the  simple  truth  to  say, 
were  so  competent  to  do  so. 

His  first  chapter  describes  conditions 


on  the  western  front  prior  to  the  opening 
of  the  battle,  and  when  one  reads  M. 
Reinach's  book  one  realizes  how  very 
essential  it  is  to  be  informed  on  the  situ- 
ation as  a  whole.  The  second  chapter 
deals  with  the  opening  of  the  battle, 
which,  presently  transformed  itself  into 
a  siege,  which  forms  the  theme  of  the 
third  chapter.  The  battle  of  the  Somme 
is  studied  in  the  fourth  chapter,  and  its 
underlying  idea  as  a  relief  to  the  strug- 
gle at  Verdun  is  brought  out  in  a  very 
definite  way.  The  last  chapter  treats 
of  the  final  events  at  Verdun  in  1916. 

This  is  a  very  bald  outline  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  book.  It  abounds  in  detail, 
and  is  particularly  remarkable  in  the 
way  in  which  distantly-related  events 
are  correlated  with  the  great  feature  of 
the  year,  the  battle  of  Verdun.  M. 
Reinach,  it  is  interesting  to  note,  pays 
frequent  and  very  high  tribute  to  Mar- 
shal Joffre  as  the  dominating  military 
mind  of  1916. 

Au  del  de  Verdun,  by  Bernard  La- 
font,  being  the  notes  of  an  aviator,  might 
be  expected  to  offer  a  quite  new  topic 
among  the  many  military  books  on  Ver- 
dun. Much  of  it,  however,  consists  of 
the  author's  reflections  while  in  flight, 
and  it  is  not,  therefore,  so  interesting  to 
the  general  reader  as  he  may  have  inno- 
cently supposed.  An  aviator  in  flight 
is  a  person  of  the  most  pronounced  hero- 
ism, but  he  can  hardly  present  him- 
self in  the  way  people  on  earth  view 
him ;  and  what  he  is  thinking  about  is 
of  little  interest  compared  with  what  he 
does.  M.  Lafont  is  quite  modest  enough 
as  regards  himself,  but  his  book  con- 
tributes little  information  to  the  great 
theme  of  Verdun. 

Quite  as  modest  as  a  writer  is  Philip 
Sidney  Rice,  whose  An  American  Cru- 
sader at  Verdun  is  a  brief  and  human 
account  of  the  experiences  of  an  ambu- 
lance driver  from  Princeton,  whose  chief 
service  was  at  Verdun.  His  work  here 
was  so  dangerous  and  was  carried  out 
with  so  much  courage  that  it  was  cited 
by  the  commanding  general  of  the  69th 
Division  of  Infantry  of  the  French 
Army.  Mr.  Rice  went  abroad  to  help 
in  the  great  war,  and  his  brief  account 
of  what  he  saw — rather  than  what  he 


92 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


did — has  been  compiled  for  his  family 
and  friends. 

Mon  Regiment  dans  la  Fournaise  de 
Verdun  et  dans  la  Bataille  de  la  Somme, 
by  Paul  Dubrulle,  stands  distinctly  apart 
among  the  host  of  personal  reminiscences 
of  the  great  war  scenes.  The  author 
was  a  soldier  priest;  he  was  sergeant- 
quartermaster  during  the  earlier  part  of 
the  campaign,  and  was  made  under-lieu- 
tenant  in  the  course  of  the  battle  of  the 
Somme ;  he  was  killed  in  action  in  April, 
1917.  He  was  a  student  and  a  worker, 
and  was  ordained  priest  on  August  2, 
1914,  the  day  of  mobilization.  He  took 
part  in  the  great  battles  of  Verdun  and 
of  the  Somme,  and  the  story  of  his  ex- 
periences is  so  fine,  so  well  told  and  so 
distinctly  personal  that  a  biographical 
and  appreciative  introduction  by  Capt 
Henry  Bordeaux  is  prefixed  to  it.  It  is 
a  book  of  unusual  merit  and  of  deep 
interest. 

The  Histoire  d'une  Compagnie,  by 
Capt.  Delvert,  is  the  history  of  the  8th 
company  of  the  101st  regiment  of  infan- 
try. The  story  falls  into  two  parts,  in 
Champagne,  at  the  Main  de  Massiges, 
from  November  11,  1915,  to  April  21, 
1916;  and  at  Verdun,  from  April  21  to 
June  26,  1916.  The  more  extensive  ser- 
vice in  the  Champagne  sector  seems 
rather  quiet  compared  to  the  violent 
events  into  which  the  regiment  was 
thrown  on  its  arrival  at  Verdun.  Sent 
almost  at  once  to  the  trenches  at  Fort 
V?.ux,  they  were  plunged  into  the  battle 
almost  at  the  heighth  of  the  fighting. 
They  were  ultimately  assigned  to  the 
work  known  as  "R.1"  Here  they  with- 
stood five  assaults  in  four  days ;  they  held 
their  ground,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time 
— June  5,  1916 — the  regiment  no  longer 
existed.  It  had  died  on  the  field  of 
honor.  The  few  survivors  were  relieved 
and  ultimately  assigned  to  other  organ- 
izations. Capt.  Delvert  presents  his 
story  in  diary  form,  possibly  the  best 
way  in  which  his  swiftly-moving  narra- 
tive could  have  been  told.  He  has  a  fine 
taste  for  architecture,  as  evidenced  by 
his  brief  comments  on  buildings  of  note, 
seen  in  his  campaigns  or  during  his  brief 
holidays. 

The  Aisne,  in  its  early  days,  Cham- 


pagne and  Verdun,  cover  the  campaigns 
described  by  Louis  Hourticq,  in  his 
Recits  et  Reflexions  d'un  Combattant, 
(1915-1917).  He  served  twice  at  Ver- 
dun, and  took  part  in  battles  before 
Reims.  His  book  may  be  read  with  in- 
terest and  profit. 

This  can  hardly  be  said  of  A  I'Ecole  de 
la  Guerre,  by  Commandant  J.  E.  Hen- 
ches.  The  author  was  an  artillery  officer, 
who  served  with  so  much  distinction  as 
to  be  cited  four  times.  His  book  re- 
produces letters,  chiefly  to  his  wife.  The 
Champagne,  Verdun  and  Reims  were  the 
scenes  of  his  service,  but  the  book  gives 
little  information  as  to  any  locality  and 
consists  largely  of  reflections  on  war 
conditions,  often  of  the  most  dolorous 
character.  As  a  tribute  to  a  brave  man 
his  book  is  entitled  to  consideration,  but 
it  supplies  no  information  whatever. 

To  have  served  three  years  in  the 
war,  and  survived  to  publish  an  account 
of  it  is  no  mean  achievement.  This  was 
accomplished  by  J.  L.  Gaston  Pastre,  of 
the  Artillery,  in  his  book  Trios  Ans  de 
Front.  His  service  began  in  Belgium, 
and  from  there  he  was  successively  trans- 
ferred to  the  Aisne  and  Champagne, 
Verdun,  Argonne  and  Lorraine.  He  saw 
much,  took  an  active  part  in  all  these 
campaigns,  and  has  written  a  sprightly 
account  of  his  adventures. 

From  Africa  to  the  Champagne  is  a 
Jong  cry.  Very  moving  is  the  story  of 
Vital  Magne,  whose  Heures  de  Guerre 
cover  this  widely  distributed  service. 
The  book  was  written  during  a  prolonged 
convalescence  from  a  serious  wound.  It 
makes  no  pretense  to  be  a  continuous 
narrative,  but  throws  striking  light  on 
many  notable  incidents. 

M.  Rene  Mercier,  whose  Nancy  Sauvee 
has  been  previously  noted  in  these  notes, 
continues  the  story  of  his  native  city  in 
a  second  book,  Nancy  Bombardee. 
Greater  interest  will  be  taken  in  the  re- 
duced facsimiles  of  proclamations  posted 
in  Nancy  during  the  bombardment,  with 
which  the  book  is  embellished,  than  in 
the  author's  somewhat  long  drawn-out 
story. 

It  is  well  to  caution  the  reader  that 
Pendant  qu'ils  etaient  a  Noyon,  by  Mau- 
rice Donnay,  of  the  French  Academy, 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


93 


contains  nothing  whatever  as  to  Noyon, 
as  might  be  supposed  from  the  title.  The 
book  is  a  collection  of  newspaper  articles 
on  all  sorts  of  miscellaneous  subjects, 
written  and  first  published  during  the 
German  occupation  of  Noyon.  A  more 
misleading  title  could  not  have  been  de- 
vised. 

Almost  as  miscellaneous  in  its  con- 
tents, although  dealing  throughout  with 
the  war,  is  Pierre  Loti's  L'Horreur  Alle- 
mande.  A  substantial  portion  of  the 
book  is  given  to  impressions  of  Italy  in 
the  war.  It  includes  a  brilliant  picture 
of  Reims,  entitled  "Ca,  c'est  Reims  qui 
brule!"  originally  published  in  LTllus- 
tration. 

Special  interest  will  be  taken  in  Sou- 
venirs de  Guerre  d'un  Sous-officier 
allemand,  as  one  of  the  few  books  by  a 
German  combatant  that  has  yet  appeared 
outside  Germany.  The  author  saw  ser- 
'vice  in  1914,  1915,  and  1916,  and  his 
name  is  not  given.  He  was  grievously 
-wounded  at  Verdun,  and  was  sent  to 
Schleswig,  finally  retiring  from  the  army 
and  seeking  refuge  in  Denmark.  His 
chapters  on  Reims  and  in  Champagne 
liave  a  unique  interest  in  being  from 
the  side  of  the  attacking  enemy.  It  is 
the  first  document  of  this  kind  we  have 
had. 

One  further  book  in  English,  although 
•of  French  origin,  remains  to  be  noted. 
This  is  A  Blue  Devil  of  France,  by  Capt. 
G.  P.  Capart.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  publishers  should  have  sent  it  out 
with  the  flamboyant  cover-paper  that 
•encases  it.  They  tell  us,  in  short,  that 
"it  gives  a  more  striking  picture  of  the 
war,  and  all  it  has  meant  than  has  yet 
t>een  presented."  It  is  very  far  from 
doing  anything  of  the  kind.  It  is  not 


a  continuous  story  of  the  war  or  of  any 
part  of  it,  but  a  collection  of  anecdotes. 
It  is  a  lively  book,  easy  to  read,  and 
contains  not  a  few  episodes  of  interest; 
but  it  is  very  far  from  being  a  serious 
contribution  to  the  literature  of  the  war. 

Old  Glory  and  Verdun,  by  Elizabeth 
Frazer,  has  a  striking  title  that  displays 
the  tendency  of  some  English  and  Ameri- 
can writers  to  give  a  fictitious  value  to 
their  books  by  bringing  the  sacred  word 
Verdun  into  their  titles.  The  chapter  on 
Verdun,  that  gives  the  book  its  title, 
describes  a  hasty  visit  after  the  battle. 
The  outstanding  feature  in  this  account, 
is  the  fact  that  the  author  visited  Ver- 
dun. A  very  fortunate  person. 

The  readers  of  contemporary  maga- 
zines need  not  be  informed  as  to  the 
remarkable  manner  in  which  fiction  has 
seized  upon  episodes  in  the  war  for  fur- 
thering the  sale  of  manuscripts.  There 
has  been  so  little  of  real  interest  in  this 
flood  of  war-fiction,  that  the  magazine 
reader  has  been  pushed  for  relaxation 
in  the  very  place  where  relaxation  should 
have  been  sought.  But  the  remarkable 
stories  by  Capt.  F.  Britten  Austin,  which 
have  been  gathered  in  book  form  under 
the  happy  title  According  to  Orders, 
stand  quite  apart,  and  are  distinctly  worth 
while.  Although  the  author  is  an  Eng- 
lish officer,  he  writes  from  the  German 
point  of  view;  that  is  to  say,  his  stories 
are,  apparently,  told  by  Germans.  This 
difficult  feat  in  authorship  he  has  carried 
out  with  enormous  success.  In  many 
respects  the  most  notable  story  in  this 
collection  is  "Nach  Verdun!"  describing 
the  first  attack  on  Verdun  as  supposedly 
told  by  a  German  from  the  German  side. 
It  is  a  remarkable  piece  of  work,  invol- 
ving no  improbabilities. 


Interest   runs   high    at 
the    present   moment    in 
regard    to    the    question 
War  of    the    war    memorials 

Memorials.  which  are  certain  to  ap- 
pear in  large  numbers  in 
all  parts  of  the  country. 
The  many  constructive 
suggestions  which  appear  each  week  in  the 
periodicals  are  prompted  largely  by  an  un- 
dercurrent of  fear  lest  the  monumental 
horrors  of  post-Civil  War  days  be  repeated 
in  the  present  eagerness  promptly  to  com- 
memorate the  sacrifices  of  the  recent  war. 
A  great  danger  lies  in  a  too  hasty  execu- 
tion of  immature  ideas,  a  danger  which  the 
French  are  reported  to  have  lessened  in 
their  typically  clear-sighted  way  by  the 
passage  of  a  law  forbidding  the  erection  of 
public  war  memorials  for  a  period  of  ten 
years  after  the  signing  of  peace. 

As  in  all  questions  of  such  general  in- 
terest controversy  speedily  arises,  and  we 
find  in  a  general  way  this  discussion  re- 
solving itself  into  an  exchange  of  opinion 
upon  the  virtues  of  two  types  of  memorial 
— the  purely  monumental  work  which  shall 
commemorate  idealistically  in  terms  of  art 
the  qualities  of  character  and  of  mind 
called  forth  by  the  great  emergency  of  war 
and  the  more  utilitarian  memorial  in  which 
the  idea  of  service  is  preeminently  taking 
the  form  of  buildings  for  special  uses  or  of 
organizations  of  a  social-service  or  civic 
nature. 

Under  these  two  headings  come  most  of 
the  definite  suggestions  for  memorials  and 
the  list  of  each  kind  is  long  and  various. 
It  would  seem  that  of  the  two,  the  purely 
monumental  type  might  be  of  particular 
propriety  in  the  commemoration  of  the 
service  and  sacrifice  of  large  groups  of 
men  who  were  associated  together  against 
the  foe  in  behalf  of  a  common  ideal.  Such 
a  dignified  and  impersonal  monument 


whose  abstract  beauty  must  form  its  essen- 
tial justification,  might  commemorate  the 
dead  of  a  local  regiment,  battalion  or  di- 
vision, or  some  particular  action  in  which 
one  of  these  units  has  taken  part.  The  or- 
ganization formed  for  social  service  or 
civic  uplift,  or  the  building  devoted  to  sim- 
ilar use  finds  its  particular  appropriateness 
as  a  memorial  to  individuals  whose  ener- 
gies, directed  in  life  in  channels  of  ser- 
vice to  others,  might  thus  be  carried  on. 
Some  such  distinction  as  this  is  at  the 
basis  of  a  correct  choice  of  the  general 
form  which  a  memorial  should  take,  and 
much  confusion  is  avoided  in  the  prelim- 
inary discussion  by  the  realization  of  the 
appropriateness  of  one  of  these  types  to 
a  particular  occasion. 

Whatever  the  general  choice  may  be,  the 
concrete  memorial  itself  will  immediately 
require  the  attention  of  trained  profes- 
sional advisers  whose  authority  must  be 
recognized.  It  is  here  that  we  begin  to 
find  a  helpful  attitude  on  the  part  of  pro- 
fessional men  and  their  related  organiza- 
tions. The  activity  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Arts  has  set  the  pace  which  is 
to  mark  the  development  of  sentiment 
throughout  the  country  in  the  interest  of 
fine  monumental  memorials.  Their  action  in 
the  matter  was  very  prompt,  and  early  in 
January  a  circular  letter  was  issued  from  the 
offices  of  the  Federation,  containing  sugges- 
tions for  the  treatment  of  war  memorials. 
Since  that  time  a  second  circular  has  been 
issued  which  makes  announcement  of  a 
General  Committee  to  act  in  an  advisory 
capacity  to  individuals  or  committees  pro- 
jecting war  memorials  of  any  kind.  This 
committee  is  composed  of  representative 
men  from  different  parts  of  the  country 
prominent  for  their  interest  or  accomplish- 
ment in  architecture,  sculpture  or  painting, 
education,  law  or  economics,  philanthropy, 
social  service  or  civic  reform.  In  addition 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


95 


to  this  General  Committee  there  are  spe- 
cial regional  subcommittees  and  a  list  of 
professional  advisors  for  the  aid  and  con- 
venience of  those  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  who  wish  specific  and  professional 
advice. 

This  circular  makes  clear  the  character 
of  memorial  which  is  the  most  fitting  for 
its  purpose:  "The  most  impressive  monu- 
ment is  one  which  appeals  to  the  imagina- 
tion alone,  which  rests  not  upon  its  ma- 
terial use,  but  upon  its  idealism.  From 
such  a  monument  flows  the  impulse  for 
great  and  heroic  action,  for  devotion  to 
duty  and  for  love  of  country.  The  Arch 
of  Triumph  of  Paris,  the  Washington 
Monument  and  the  Lincoln  Memorial  are 
examples  of  such  monuments.  They  are 
devoid  of  practical  utility,  but  they  min- 
ister to  a  much  higher  use;  they  compel 
contemplation  of  the  great  men  and  ideals 
which  they  commemorate;  they  elevate  the 
thoughts  of  all  beholders;  they  arouse  and 
make  effective  the  finest  impulses  of  hu- 
manity. They  are  the  visible  symbols  of 
the  aspirations  of  the  race.  The  spirit  may 
be  the  same  whether  the  monument  is 
large  or  small;  a  little  roadside  shrine  or 
cross,  a  village  fountain  or  a  memorial 
tablet,  speaks  the  same  message  as  the  ma- 
jestic arch  or  shaft  or  temple,  and  both 
messages  will  be  pure  and  fine  and  per- 
haps equally  far-reaching,  if  the  form  of 
that  message  is  appealing  and  beautiful. 
Display  of  wealth,  ostentation  and  over- 
elaborateness  are  unbecoming  and  vulgar. 
Elegant  simplicity,  strength  with  refine- 
ment, and  a  grace  of  handling  that  im- 
parts charm  are  the  ends  to  be  sought. 
These  ends  require,  on  the  part  of  every- 
body connected  with  the  enterprise — com- 
mittee, adviser  and  artist — familiarity  with 
the  standards  of  art,  and  above  all,  good 
taste.  Only  by  a  combination  of  all  these 
elements  can  a  really  satisfactory  result 
be  obtained." 

There  are  suggested  in  this  folder  a 
number  of  ideas  such  as  a  village  green, 
stained  glass  windows,  medals,  tablets  and 
many  monumental  works  in  architecture 
or  sculpture  or  a  combination  of  both. 
Inquiries  or  suggestions  with  regard  to 
any  sort  of  memorial  may  be  sent  to  Miss 
Leila  Mechlin,  Secretary,  American  Fed- 
eration of  Arts,  1741  New  York  avenue, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

A  very  interesting  pamphlet  has  been  re- 
cently issued  by  the  Municipal  Art  Society 
of  New  York  City,  dealing  with  this  sub- 
ject in  a  somewhat  different,  but  by  no 


means  less  helpful  way.  This  issue  of  their 
quarterly  bulletin  takes  up  in  a  construc- 
tive manner  suggestions  for  the  form  and 
character  which  a  memorial  should  take 
and  the  steps  preliminary  to  the  execu- 
tion of  the  idea.  Numerous  illustrations 
show  a  variety  of  memorials  already  in 
existence  and  present  the  history  of  Amer- 
ica's achievements  both  in  war  and  in 
peace  as  expressed  in  monumental  form. 
The  pamphlet  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
every  committee  of  laymen  in  the  early 
stages  of  their  deliberations  on  the  choice 
of  memorials. 

In  a  talk  before  the  New  York  Chap- 
ter of  the  American  Society  of  Landscape 
Architects,  Mr.  Harold  A.  Caparn  has 
strongly  urged  that  propaganda  be  carried 
on  with  its  aim  the  jealous  guarding  of 
the  parks  and  other  public  places  into 
which  memorials  are  apt  to  enter.  He 
urges  that  commemorative  sculpture  be  not 
permitted  in  the  parks  unless  its  excellence 
as  sculpture  has  been  convincingly  attested. 
The  necessity  of  this  protection  of  the  few 
open  spaces  in  cities  is  well  recognized 
and  its  need  is  now  all  the  greater  when 
the  impulse  is  to  give  this  land,  one  of  the 
most  precious  things  in  the  city's  posses- 
sion, to  builders  of  monuments  without  a 
proper  care  for  the  artistic  quality  of 
the  monuments  themselves. 

Among  the  suggestions  for  memorials  in 
New  York  City  is  the  creation  of  a  me- 
morial plaza  before  the  Grand  Central  Sta- 
tion, where  the  effect  could  be  dignified  and 
important  artistically,  as  well  as  of  prac- 
tical benefit  in  its  aid  to  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  traffic  congestion  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Another  suggestion,  which  would 
call  into  one's  mind  again  Mr.  Caparn's 
warning,  is  that  of  the  utilization  of  the 
reservoir  site  in  Central  Park,  New  York, 
for  a  memorial  to  Mayor  Mitchel.  The 
erection  of  the  temporary  arch  in  Mad- 
ison Square  has  demonstrated  to  most 
people  the  mistake  which  it  would  be  to 
carry  out  the  scheme  in  more  monumental 
material  than  at  present. 

The  approaching  campaign  for  a  fund 
to  complete  the  nave  of  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  John  the  Divine  immediately  suggests 
the  idea  of  breathing  into  this  building  the 
character  in  part  of  a  votive  church.  Cer- 
tainly no  building  could  be  more  metro- 
politan, if  not  national,  in  its  position,  nor 
less  open  to  suggestions  of  utilitarian  pur- 
poses. 

In  the  west  and  middle  west,  the  ten- 
dency seems  to  be  running  in  the  direction 


96 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


of  monumental  city  plans.  This  is  possible 
in  a  country  where  land,  still  imperfectly 
developed,  is  not  at  so  great  a  premium  as 
in  the  east  and  such  schemes  permit  not 
only  of  a  great  general  scheme  of  breadth 
and  dignity,  but  also  of  the  introduction  of 
many  individual  votive  monuments.  Mr.  Polk 
discussed  in  these  columns  such  a  scheme 
of  community  development  suggested  for 
San  Francisco,  which  contained  many  ele- 
ments of  value.  St.  Louis  proposes  a  pro- 
gram to  cover  the  reconstruction  years  af- 
ter the  war,  which  is  dealt  with  in  detail  in 
a  pamphlet  issued  by  the  City  Plan  Com- 
mission of  St.  Louis,  with  an  introduction 
by  Winston  Churchill. 

The  Red  Cross  is  a  national,  an  interna- 
tional, institution.  The  work  which  it  has 
done  is  second  to  none  in  the  estimate  of 
the  sacrifice  and  accomplishment  of  the 
war,  and  some  fitting  memorial  to  its  la- 
bors, other  than  a  utilitarian  building,  how- 
ever dignified,  would  be  deserving  of  the 
attention  of  the  best  of  the  artists. 

The  natural  creators  of  memorials,  in 
which  the  supreme  requirement  is  that  of 
beauty,  are  the  trained  members  of  the 
artistic  professions,  architects,  painters, 
sculptors  and  musicians.  Music  played  so 
great  a  part  in  this  war,  its  integrant 
morale  was  of  such  supreme  importance 
that  when  we  talk  of  memorials  of  artis- 
tic excellence  should  we  not  think  also 
of  some  musical  composition  of  beauty 
and  dignity?  Such  a  memorial  could  be 
more  truly  national  than  any  more  tan- 
gible one  in  that  it  would  constitute  a  pos- 
session at  one  time  of  every  town  and 
hamlet  in  the  country.  This  is  a  sort  of 
commemorative  art  which  cannot  be  made 
to  order  with  any  hope  of  great  success, 
but  it  would  not  be  surprising  if  its  cre- 
ation were  only  a  matter  of  time.  Some 
such  musical  composition,  or  cycle  of  com- 
positions, would  call  for  an  auditorium  or 
festival  hall  as  a  setting  for  its  perform- 
ance or  an  amphitheatre  of  noble  inspira- 
tion, which  would  be  fitting  and  dignified  as 
monuments.  The  announcement  of  a  pro- 
jected memorial  in  Strassburg  to  Rouget 
de  1'Isle,  who  was  himself  the  creator  of  a 
living  musical  memorial  whose  inspiration 
has  lasted  a  hundred  years,  is  interesting  in 
this  connection. 

One  danger  to  be  avoided  in  war  me- 
morials is  the  glorification  of  many  of  the 


actual  deeds  of  war  and  the  shrouding  of 
war's  activities  in  a  haze  of  romance  and 
sentiment.  This  has  been  done  too  much 
in  the  past,  the  Germans  have  carried  it 
to  dreadful  extremes,  other  European  coun- 
tries almost  equally  so,  and  as  the  present 
generation  has  seen  war  in  all  its  ugly 
nakedness,  it  is  not  its  dramatic  moments 
which  we  should  care  to  immortalize,  but 
the  spirit  of  courage,  of  heroism  and  sac- 
rifice which  it  has  inspired. 

The  next  few  months  will  be  filled  with 
suggestions  and  efforts  in  the  direction  of 
reconstruction  and  war  memorials,  and  it 
is  to  be  hoped  that  projects  of  distinction 
and  foresight  may  appear  on  the  horizon 
which  may  be  reported  and  discussed  in 
these  columns. 

CHARLES  OVER  CORNELIUS. 


I    note    in    the    May, 
1919,  issue  of  the  Archi- 
tectural Record  that  you 
Errors  of  have  published  the  plans 

and  a  view  of  the   Ro- 

Umission.  ,  -_    ,,     -,     . 

Chester  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  giv- 
ing me  the  entire  credit 
as  architect.  I  desire  to 
say  that  when  this  building  was  designed, 
the  firm  was  Jackson,  Rosencrans  &  Wat- 
erbury,  and  also  that  Messrs.  J.  Foster 
Warner  and  Claude  Bragdon,  of  Rochester, 
were  associated  with  us  in  the  construction 
of  the  building.  I  am  sorry  that  the  error 
occurred,  and  if  it  is  possible  for  you  to  do 
so,  I  should  be  pleased  to  have  it  cor- 
rected. JOHN  F.  JACKSON. 

In  your  issue  of  May,  1919,  you  illustrate 
the  residence  of  Leonard  M.  Thomas,  Esq., 
New  York  City,  F.  Burrell  Hoffman,  Jr., 
architect.  This  residence  I  built  for  my- 
self some  four  years  ago  and  sold  it  to 
Mr.  Thomas  about  two  years  ago.  Mr. 
Hoffman  made  some  alterations  in  the  in- 
terior. No  alteration  whatever  was  made 
on  the  exterior  and  no  material  alteration 
on  the  interior  other  than  the  redecora- 
tion  of  the  dining  room  and  the  entire 
changing  of  my  studio  into  a  living  room. 
Under  these  circumstances  I  must  ask  you 
to  correct  in  your  next  issue  the  mistake 
you  have  made  by  publishing  this  house 
under  the  name  of  F.  Burrell  Hoffman,  Jr., 
architect.  F.  J.  STERNER. 


A    COPY 


A    Y 


SHEATHING 


60  employees'  residences,  F.  C.  Mesa  (Munitions),  Irvington,  N.  J. 
Bishopric  Sheathing  used.     Strombach  and  Mertens,  Engineers  and  Architects. 

First  40  Houses;  Then  10  Houses; 
Then  50  More  Houses 

An  Engineering  and  Architectural  firm  which  does  big  things  in  New  Jersey  writes 
us  a  very  significant  letter  regarding  its  experience  with  Bishopric  Sheathing  in 
connection  with  the  Mesa  Housing  project  at  Irvington,  N.  J.  Read  the  letter. 

Gentlemen:  Irvington,  N.  J. 

Have  specified  and  used  your  stucco  board  on  some  40  or  more  houses 
built  in  the  Weeauahio  Park  section  of  Newark  and  elsewhere  and  have 
always  obtained  the  best  of  results. 

We  did  not  hesitate  to  again  use  same  on  10  houses  of  the  60  for  the 
Mesa  Housing  Proposition  that  are  now  nearing  completion  at  Irvington,  N.  J. 
When  your  representative  first  spoke  to  us  about  your  Bishopric  Sheathing 
we  kept  it  in  mind.    As  you  know,  we  ordered  two  carloads  of  it,  enough  for 
the  other  50  houses  for  the  above-mentioned  Mesa  Housing  Proposition. 

We   are  using  it  under   shingles,    wide   and   narrow   clapboards,    etc. 
Although    somewhat    skeptical    at   first   about   placing   shingles   over   your 
.        sheathing,  thinking  it  would  be  springy,  we  are  no  longer,  this  idea,  having 
long  since  disappeared.     We  find  it  everything  ordinary  sheathing  could  be 
and  more.     Being  easy  to  handle,  the  carpenters  liked  putting  it  on. 

Seeing  its  possibilities  and  the  economy  in  using  it,  we  will  not  hesitate  to 
bring  it  to  the  attention  of  any  of  our  clients  who,  in  the  future,  expect 
to  build.  Yours  truly, 

STROMBACH  &  MERTENS,  Engineers  &  Architects, 
VICTOR  H.  STROMBACH. 

Note  the  list  of  institutions  which  have  used  it  either  on  Industrial  Housing  or 

Home  Building  projects : 

Youngstown    Sheet    &    Tube    Company,    Youngstown,    Ohio — Virginia    Shipbuilding 

Corporation,  Alexandria,  Va. — American  Clay  Machinery  Company,  Bucyrus,  Ohio — 

F.  C.  Mesa,  Munitions,  Irvington,  N.  J. — Hamilton,  Ohio,  Home  Building  Company — 

Petroleum  Iron  Works,  Petroleum,  Ohio. 

Nail  direct  to  the  stud,  joist  or  rafter  using  it  as  a  sheathing,  as  a  sub-flooring 

and  as  an  under-roofing.     No  bracing  needed. 

Shipped  in  rolls  of  100  sq.  ft.,  25  feet  lone  and  4  feet  wide. 

YOUR  REQUEST  WILL  BRING  SAMPLE  AND  FULL 
INFORMATION 

MANUFACTURERS  ALSO  OF  BISHOPRIC 
STUCCO   AND    PLASTER   BOARD 

The  BISHOPRIC  MFG.  COMPANY 

936  Este  Avenue  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


JW| 

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THE 

ARCH1TECJVRAL 
R  Em^A  D 


VoLXLVI.    No.  2 


AUGUST,  1919 


Serial  No.  251 


Editor:    MICHAEL  A.  MIKKELSEN        Contributing  Editor:   HERBERT  CROLY 
Business  Manager:   J.  A.  OAKLEY 

COVER— Arch  of  Titus,  Rome.     Water  Color  PAGE 

By  Arthur  Bync 

RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  Esq..   New  York:    J.  Armstrong 

Stenhouse,  Architect         .  .  ....          99 

By  Leon  V.  Solon 

THE  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE.  Hampton, 

Va.:  Ludlow  and  Peabody,  Architects        ...  113 

By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr. 

SOME   PRINCIPLES    OF   DESIGN   AND   CONSTRUCTION   IN   CHURCH 

BUILDING          .  .  115 

By  Charles  H.  Moore 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURAL  DECORATION.    Part  IXb     .       .       .       .133 

By  Albert  E.  Bullock 

THE  JADE  FENCE  ABOUT  THE  GARDENS  OF  THE  PAN-AMERICAN 

BUILDING,  Washington,  D.  C.:    Albert  Kelsey,  Architect       .        .         153 

By  Grace  Norton  Rose 

PORTFOLIO  OF  CURRENT  ARCHITECTURE 159 

WORK iNGMEN's  HOUSES  IN  ITALY       .  .176 

By  Alfredo  Melani 

THE  ARCHITECTS  LIBRARY  .  .186 

NOTES  AND  COMMENTS  .  .  190 


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Photographs  by  Kenneth  Clark. 


STAIRWAY  FROM  ENTRANCE  HALL-RESI- 
DENCE OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 
J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


AKCHITECTVRAL 
KECOKD 


VOLVME  XLVI 


NVMBER  II 


AUGUST,  1919 


THE  RESIDENCE  OF 

OTTO  H.KAHN.  Es<i 

NEW  YOFCR 

J  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE.  ARCHITECT 
LEON   V    SOLON 


AS  we  cultivate  the  faculty  for 
discrimination  in  esthetic  values, 
judgment  leads  us  to  esteem  the 
sensuous  in  art  and  decoration  as  a  qual- 
ity of  secondary  merit  to  that  of  intel- 
lectual beauty;  to  the  latter  category 
purity  in  stylistic  expression  belongs. 
A  rare  perception  of  the  ideals  actuating 
the  architect  of  the  Renaissance  stim- 
ulates the  imagination  of  Mr.  Sten- 
house,  without  fettering  it.  His  work  is 
a  virile  reaction  to  sixteenth  century 
stylistic  influences,  venerated  and  thor- 
oughly comprehended. 

Fluency  of  expression  in  any  distinct 
species  of  esthetic  selection  can  only 
proceed  from  ardent  study,  pursued  to 
the  extent  of  saturation ;  but  mastery 
demands  in  addition  definite  personal 
qualifications — innate  sympathy  and  in- 


tuitive perception  of  the  esthetic  aspira- 
tions of  the  chosen  period.  In  the 
course  of  specialized  study  strong  pre- 
dilections must  necessarily  mature  to- 
wards certain  phases  of  expression 
evoking  the  promptest  enthusiasm ;  a 
preponderating  influence  over  mental 
selection  must  inevitably  be  exerted  by 
those  sympathies  during  the  formula- 
tion of  original  themes,  with  the  result 
that  a  new  combination  of  the  elements 
of  effect  must  occur,  differing  from  the 
typical  arrangement  existing  in  the 
model. 

The  residence  of  Mr.  Otto  H.  Kahn  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  here  reproduced,  is  a  re- 
markable example  of  well-balanced  re- 
adjustment in  those  esthetic  elements 
that  are  found  in  architecture  of  the 
early  sixteenth  century  in  Italy.  We 


Copyrighted,  1919,  by  The  Architectural  Record  Company.     All  rights  reserved. 


100 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


identify  those  elements  in  all  their  tradi- 
tional purity  in  Mr.  Stenhouse's  work, 
but  the  method  of  their  readjustment  is 
so  subtle,  so  intangible,  that,  though  we 
are  conscious  everywhere  of  changes  in 
the  mutual  relation  of  elements  of  ef- 
fect, we  are  unable  to  detect  tangible 
pecularities  in  the  final  result.  The 
architect's  individuality  impresses  itself 
upon  us  throughout  the  entire  scheme, 
undepreciated  by  mannerism  or  conven- 
tional habit  of  thought.  As  a  wealth  of 
architectural  beauties  reveal  themselves 
in  this  excellent  work,  enjoyment  ac- 
cumulates unchecked,  with  the  abandon 
that  confidence  in  unerring  skill  begets. 
His  studentship  is  of  that  intense  order 
which  so  frequently  produces  the  dried 
fruit  of  pedantry,  where  imagination  is 
stilted,  but  the  pedant  at  his  best  pro- 
duces formula — the  artist,  feeling. 

Vasari  tells  us  how  fortunate  it  was 
for  Bramante  that  the  great  architect 
met  Pope  Julius  II,  remarking  that  Bra- 
mante was  thereby  furnished  with  op- 
portunities to  display  the  versatility  of 
his  talent  and  his  mastery  over  the  dif- 
ficulties of  his  art.  The  biographer 
recognizes  by  those  remarks  the  extent 
to  which  architecture  is  dependent  on 
external  forces  for  the  direction  of  its 
course,  its  expansion  and  progress.  The 
decision  to  build  an  edifice  of  the  pre- 
tension of  the  Kahn  house  creates  an 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  archi- 
tectural talent  that  occurs  rarely  in  any 
period;  the  creation  of  such  opportun- 
ities is  vital  to  the  attainment  of  a  na- 
tional type  of  architectural  expression, 
provided  always  that  the  quality  of  pa- 
tronage is  such  that  the  objective  set  is 
worthy. 

In  all  past  ages  the  erection  of  beauti- 
ful buildings  has  lain  with  the  class 
possessing  material  weight  or  moral 
ascendency  in  the  State;  certain  broad 
social  tendencies  prevailing  with  that 
class  influenced  the  approach  to  all  dec- 
orative or  architectural  problems,  im- 
pressing themselves  unmistakably  on 
the  material  outcome  of  esthetic  im- 
pulse. A  distinct  phase  of  treatment, 
reflecting  the  relation  of  the  building 
class  to  the  edifice,  and  the  relation  of 
the  edifice  to  the  community,  can  be 


identified  with  each  evolution  of  na- 
tional ideals ;  these  influences  have  been 
transmitted  by  the  great  architects  of 
each  period,  but  were  not  originated  by 
them. 

Architecture  differs  from  its  sister 
arts  of  painting  or  sculpture  in  the  vary- 
ing intrinsic  value  of  the  idea,  subject 
to  whether  it  be  graphically  stated  or 
actually  carried  out.  The  work  of  the 
painter  and  sculptor  is  not  dependent  on 
the  attainment  of  its  ultimate  environ- 
ment for  full  recognition,  being  self- 
sufficient  in  each  phase  of  development. 
In  those  arts  credit  is  accorded  the 
work  of  the  artist  at  any  stage  of  elab- 
oration, regardless  of  contributory  rela- 
tion, being  apportioned  according  to  the 
capacity  with  which  an  emotion  pro- 
ceeding from  an  observation  is  mater- 
ialized ;  the  value  of  the  work  being  rel- 
ative to  the  artist's  skill  in  making  a 
direct  and  concise  statement  of  his 
chosen  phase  of  observation.  Arts  that 
are  basically  imitative  or  emotional  in 
expression  need  no  supplementation  to 
the  artist's  statement.  But  when 
beauty  in  art  lies  to  a  great  extent  in 
structural  quality,  graphic  representa- 
tion is  inadequate  to  transmit  excel- 
lencies, realizable  only  in  the  completed 
assembly  of  parts. 

No  great  reputations  are  accorded  in 
the  history  of  architecture  solely  on  the 
evidence  of  draughted  projects,  and  no 
architects  have  attained  greatness  in 
that  isolation  and  neglect  which  in  many 
instances  reacted  advantageously  for 
the  development  of  genius  in  painting 
and  sculpture;  for  this  reason  the  pro- 
fession has  always  been  spared  the 
doubtful  compensation  of  posthumous 
honor  for  lifelong  neglect.  The  crea- 
tion of  opportunity,  therefore,  by  those 
possessing  the  power  is  the  price  of  pro- 
gress, and  the  exercise  of  judgment  in 
the  formulation  of  those  opportunities 
is  the  conditon  determining  the  measure 
of  quality. 

If  we  consider  architectural  progress 
as  dependent  primarily  on  opportunity 
for  practice,  it  is  necessary  to  locate  the 
motive  force,  as  these  sources  of  power 
which  operated  beneficially  in  former 
days  have  no  counterpart  in  American 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


101 


SOUTH  FACADE-RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.   KAHN,   ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 

J.  Armstrong  Stenhouse,  Architect. 


civilization;  unified  religious  belief,  in- 
tellectual revolution,  or  a  government 
charging  itself  with  the  stimulation  of 
national  esthetic  aspiration,  are  not  to- 
day in  evidence. 

Future  historians  of  American  intel- 
lectual development  will  in  all  probabil- 
ity consider  that  the  inception  of  a  na- 
tional style  of  architectural  treatment 
dates  from  the  period  when  the  belief  in 
the  power  of  beauty  had  resulted  in  the 
evolution  of  a  new  objective  for  ambi- 
tion and  a  vast  field  for  service  to  the 
community.  Foremost  in  the  ranks  of 
those  who  share  this  belief  are  the  great 
collectors,  who  have  expended  fabul- 
ous treasure  to  acquire  the  best  of  all 
that  expresses  beauty  through  art.  Their 
collections  exert  an  effect  on  the  qual- 
ity of  architectural  effort  in  America. 

In  the  Kahn  residence,  a  rare  and 
beautiful  collection  serves  a  direct  archi- 
tectural purpose  in  setting  a  standard 


which  exacts  that  grace  in  proportion 
and  harmony  in  mass  be  common  fac- 
tors, linking  the  structure  to  the  master- 
pieces housed.  When  objects  of  the 
greatest  rarity  and  beauty  become  the 
appurtenances  of  a  home,  they  must 
control  the  quality  of  their  setting,  or 
lose  part  of  their  capacity  for  giving 
pleasure.  This  difficult  attuning  has 
been  successfully  achieved  by  Mr.  Sten- 
house, through  his  comprehension  of 
the  responsibility  imposed  upon  an  archi- 
tect by  the  decorative  value  of  acces- 
sories; but  the  rarest  tapestries  or 
furniture,  the  most  accomplished  archi- 
tect, and  the  most  lavish  patron  are 
powerless,  without  the  exercise  of  judg- 
ment on  the  latter's  part  when  determin- 
ing his  requirements.  An  extreme  con- 
trast in  ideals  exists  between  the  Kahn 
house  and  those  that  dictated  the  treat- 
ment of  a  corresponding  undertaking  by 
a  well-known  collector  of  the  preceding 


102 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


generation.  The  opportunity  was  of 
equal  extent,  but  the  forces  employed 
were  material  instead  of  abstract,  pro- 
digality in  workmanship  and  costliness 
of  substance  being  regarded  as  an  option 
on  the  possession  of  taste.  With  the 
Stenhouse  treatment  luxury  acquires  a 
bouquet  of  simplicity,  and  a  standard  is 
set,  in  advance  of  any  other  in  this  coun- 
try, to  serve  as  a  beacon  in  a  course  beset 
with  shoals. 

Mr.  Stenhouse  has  derived  his  inspira- 
tion and  guidance  in  this  work  entirely 
from  the  Italian  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. With  him  Italy  is  not  a  romantic 
recollection  of  student  days,  revived  in 
hasty  tours,  or  a  subject  for  library  ref- 
erence when  precise  data  are  called  for; 
it  has  been  a  land  of  adoption  for  many 
years,  with  places  of  pilgrimage  scatter- 
ed broadcast,  visited  with  intense  en- 
thusiasm and  comprehension.  A  reten- 
tive memory,  supplemented  with  un- 
usual artistic  skill,  facilitated  the  ac- 


cumulation of  a  vast  fund  of  informa- 
tion and  knowledge,  always  accessible 
through  a  methodical  habit  of  thought. 
He  holds  an  artistic  creation  an  invi- 
olable object,  to  the  extent  that  he  would 
be  incapable  of  resorting  to  the  practice 
so  prevalent  with  the  partly  informed, 
who  use  a  master's  motif  as  a  crutch  for 
rounding  a  difficult  corner,  taking  full 
advantage  of  its  perfect  adaptability  to 
current  uses  and  of  its  immunity  from 
copyright  restriction. 

As  a  problem  is  set,  familiarity  with 
sixteenth  century  methods  enables  him 
to  review  solutions  to  kindred  problems, 
thereby  placing  himself  in  the  avenue  of 
approach  along  which  the  pioneers  of 
the  style  would  have  proceeded  to  a  sim- 
ilar objective.  The  results  carry  such 
conviction  that  the  illusion  might  easily 
be  fostered  that  the  structure  had  been 
erected  from  plans  and  elevations  of  the 
period  found  in  the  archives  of  an  an- 
cient noble  house,  were  it  not  that  the 


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GROUND  FLOOR  PLAN-RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 
J.  Armstrong  Stenhouse,  Architect. 


WEST  FACADE-RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ., 
NEW  YORK.  J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


MAIN  CARRIAGE  ENTRANCE-RESIDENCE 
OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 
J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


PILASTER  CAPITALS-RESIDENCE  OF 
OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 
J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


TERRACE  OVERLOOKING  FIFTH  AVENUE- 
RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK.  J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


DETAILS  OF  DOORWAY  IN  CARRIAGEWAY- 
RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK.  J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


109 


conveniences  and  luxuries  of  the  New 
York  home  exist  to  a  degree  that  is  in- 
conceivable in  a  cinque  cento  mind. 

Our  interest  in  this  work  does  not 
spring  from  an  elaborate  exposition  of 
archaeological  lore;  this  naturally  exists, 
but  as  a  matter  of  course.  We  welcome 
a  precious  quality — the  infusion  in  mod- 
ern work  of  a  spirit  that  arose  from 
complex  conditions  no  longer  existing; 
throughout  the  work  we  find  an  instinc- 
tive and  spontaneous  adjustment  of 
every  integral  part  to  those  imperishable 
.standards  which  convictions  long  lost 
had  created.  Columns,  corbels,  arches, 
vaulting,  mouldings  and  niches,  subor- 
dinate individual  beauty  to  contributory 
function,  with  the  apparent  ease  habitual 
to  mastery. 

In  this  building  contingencies  have 
arisen  through  the  establishment  of  cer- 
tain fixed  points,  causing  deviations 


from  the  characteristic  symmetry  of  the 
period;  these  have  been  cherished  as  op 
portunities  to  the  exclusion  of  obvious 
solutions,  with  the  result  that  we  enjoy 
delightful  expositions  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  architect  of  the  original  period 
might  have  contrived  his  structure  had 
the  identical  circumstance  occurred. 

Mr.  Stenhouse's  method  of  procedun. 
in  work  is  extremely  interesting,  and 
raises  a  question  of  great  practical  sig- 
nificance. An  unusual  faculty  enables 
him  to  visualize  his  problem  throughout 
its  development,  with  infinite  precision, 
to  such  an  extent  that  he  acquires  a  clear 
mental  image  of  every  part,  from  every 
angle,  in  full  detail,  and  in  its  varying 
relation  to  all  that  adjoins.  In  his  im- 
agination he  builds  with  such  thorough- 
ness that  he  wanders  at  will,  in  spirit, 
from  room  to  room,  through  hall  and 
stairways,  in  numberless  critical  excur- 


CORNICE-RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ..  NEW  YORK. 
J.  Armstrong  Stenhouie,  Architect. 


STAIRWAY  TO  TOWER  FROM  SECOND  FLOOR 
LANDING-RESIDENCE  OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ., 
NEW  YORK.  J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


STAIRCASE  DETAIL-RESIDENCE  OF 
OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 
J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE.  ARCHITECT. 


DETAIL  OF  BALUSTRADE-RESIDENCE 
OF  OTTO  H.  KAHN,  ESQ.,  NEW  YORK. 
J.  ARMSTRONG  STENHOUSE,  ARCHITECT. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


113 


sions,  in  which  structure,  proportion  and 
detail  are  overhauled,  until  beauty  re- 
sults from  an  exquisite  gradation  of 
values.  In  these  imaginary  perigrina- 
tions,  his  extraordinary  faculty  for 
visualization  permits  the  evasion  of  no 
decorative  opportunity ;  as  perspectives 
conjured  unfold  themselves,  they  are 
chastened  to  the  fastidious  standards  of 
studentship. 

This  faculty,  brought  to  bear  upon 
every  problem,  brings  enlightenment  to 
one  of  the  chief  subjects  of  the  Renais- 
sance architect's  training — the  study  of 
perspective,  a  science  almost  eliminated 
from  the  modern  curriculum.  Wherever 
details  are  available  concerning  the  early 
studies  of  the  architects  and  artists  of 
t  lat  era,  we  find  the  study  of  perspective 
figuring  as  a  subject  of  major  import- 
ance. Great  value  was  obviously  at- 
tached to  the  faculty  of  assembling  in 
mental  image  the  items  contemplated, 
with  all  the  modifications  resulting  from 
proximity  or  distance.  The  development 
of  this  faculty  is  no  longer  the  subject 
of  special  training  or  concentration,  and 
there  are  few  architects  today  capable  of 
visualizing  an  interior  with  a  precision 
that  anticipates  the  results  of  foreshort- 
ening in  their  elevations. 

The  study  of  perspective  was  a  mental 
discipline  instituted  to  compel  the  stu- 
dent to  think  in  the  three  dimensions, 
and  to  stimulate  an  appreciation  of  the 
mutual  relation  of  architectural  items; 
a  deficiency  in  this  capacity  is  the  pre- 
dominant shortcoming  of  a  large  pro- 
portion of  American  architects  today; 
a  revival  of  the  science  of  perspective 
should  be  matter  for  serious  considera- 
tion by  the  heads  of  all  architectural 
schools  in  this  country. 

Mr.  Stenhouse  has  developed  his  fac- 
ulty for  tentative  imaginary  construc- 
tion to  the  utmost  serviceableness ;  one 
is  conscious  throughout  this  residence 
that  his  mind's  eye  has  traversed  the 
quadrant,  weighing  each  perspective 
from  every  angle,  so  that  no  separately 
conceived  thoughts  can  make  collision  as 
construction  brings  them  together. 

Great  dignity  and  simplicity  charac- 
terize the  exterior  of  the  Kahn  residence. 
In  general  conception  it  conforms  to  the 


principles  that  govern  design  in  many  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance  palaces,  insofar 
as  the  treatment  of  masonry  is  con- 
cerned and  the  relative  decorative  im- 
portance of  superimposed  tiers  of  win- 
dows. The  pilasters  decorating  the  sec- 
ond story  are  very  beautiful,  with  all 
the  refinement  found  in  their  prototypes. 
The  balustre  motif,  introduced  with  such 
excellent  effect  throughout  exterior  and 
interior,  contributes  a  note  of  great 
delicacy  in  its  connection  with  window 
openings. 

The  spacing  of  the  fagade  leaves 
nothing  to  be  desired ;  subtle  calculation 
in  projection  and  proportion  of  mould- 
ing members  are  a  source  of  permanent 
delight  to  the  beholder.  The  cornice,  to 
which  the  scale  of  our  illustrations  can- 
not do  justice,  is  unique  in  feeling  with- 
out sidestepping  convention;  the  Roman 
treatment  of  sharply  cut  acanthus,  which 
the  Renaissance  sculptors  frequently 
chose  for  inspiration,  is  here  modified 
with  softened  curves  and  gentler  tran- 
sition from  light  to  shade,  without  any 
diminution  in  strength  or  character. 

On  the  north  side  a  terrace  overlooks 
Fifth  Avenue,  approached  by  steps  from 
the  loggia.  The  landing  forming  the  re- 
turn of  the  steps  to  the  loggia  level  is 
ingeniously  supported  by  a  beautiful 
bracket  resting  on  a  short  massive  pier 
beneath  the  loggia,  thus  permitting  an 
additional  glimpse  of  the  court.  This  is 
a  minor  instance  of  the  Stenhouse  man- 
ner of  evolving  a  charming  incident, 
from  an  occasion  predestined  for  an 
obvious  solution.  The  north  wall  of  the 
house,  rising  from  the  terrace,  does  not 
conform  to  the  fenestration  of  the  facade 
in  the  second  story;  additional  value  is 
contributed  to  the  loggia  arches  by  the 
comparatively  unpierced  areas  of  wall 
surface. 

The  focus  of  architectural  interest  of 
the  exterior  lies  in  the  court.  From 
every  angle  of  inspection  architectural 
grouping  of  great  beauty  occurs.  It  is 
approached  from  the  house  by  descend- 
ing steps  designed  with  infinite  simplic- 
ity and  grace.  The  loggia  rises  on  two 
sides  of  the  court,  from  which  delight- 
fully foreshortened  views  of  the  tower 
and  cornice  are  enjoyed.  It  is  rare  to 


114 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


find  a  subject  lending  itself  to  such 
boundless  variety  in  the  combination  of 
its  structural  features;  at  each  step  a 
new  grouping  of  mass  and  line  combines 
through  the  architect's  masterly  calcula- 
tion and  forethought. 

Seldom  such  a  quality  of  richness  re- 
sults from  the  ultimate  elimination  of 
all  that  might  be  regarded  as  elabora- 
tion ;  there  is  a  feeling  that  detail  serves 
to  emphasize  plain  surface;  it  is  of  the 
simplest  character,  and  carved  with  mas- 
tery. Variation  of  treatment  in  the  wall 
spaces  beneath  the  loggia  is  wrought 
with  considerable  success,  adding  much 
to  the  general  picturesqueness  of  the  set- 
ting. The  tower  owes  part  of  its  grace 
and  charm  to  the  clever  treatment  of  its 
fenestration.  The  main  entrance  and 
covered  carriageway  are  well  in  accord 


with  the  general  dignity  of  the  design 
and  present  many  items  of  interest. 

On  the  roof  a  glimpse  of  Italy,  in 
more  intimate  guise,  surprises  the  vis- 
itor in  the  form  of  a  small  garden  house, 
arched  porch  and  fountain ;  while  from 
the  cornice-balustrade  a  gorgeous  view 
of  New  York  and  Central  Park  extends. 

A  short  magazine  article  is  quite  in- 
adequate for  such  a  subject,  and  a  mass 
of  architectural  achievements  of  great 
interest  and  educational  value,  must  nec- 
essarily go  unrecorded.  The  interior  is, 
if  possible,  more  beautiful  than  the  ex- 
terior ;  but  a  natural  aversion  on  the  part 
of  the  owners  to  see  the  interior  of  their 
home  illustrated,  makes  this  a  closed 
subject.  Mr.  Stenhouse  has  achieved  a 
work  which  ranks  as  the  foremost  of  its 
kind  in  this  country. 


CHURCH  OF  ST.  ANTHONY.  PADUA. 
Etching  by  Dewitt   H.    Fessenden. 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF 
DESIGN  AND  CONSTRUCTION 
'IN  CHURCH  BUILDING 

BY  CHARLES  H.MOORE 


IN  the  following  remarks  on  principles 
of  design  and  construction  in  church 
building,  I  shall  have  mainly  in  mind 
simple  church  edifices  suited  to  the  needs 
of  rural  communities,  and  to  average 
congregations  of  large  towns.  But  it  is 
obvious  that  the  same  principles  will  ap- 
ply to  all  churches,  on  whatever  scale,  or 
of  whatever  degree  of  elaboration. 

The  short  history  of  church  building 
in  our  country  is  naturally  not  conspicu- 
ous for  record  of  achievements.  In 
New  England  the  Puritan  settlers 
thought  little  of  what  may  be  called 
architectural  amenities  in  their  churches, 
both  because  conditions  of  life  were  too 
hard  with  them,  and  also  because  of  their 
aversion  to  all  that  might  savor  of  asso- 
ciation with  the  religious  tyranny  from 
which  they  had  escaped.  They  sought 
only  to  provide  bare  accommodation  for 
public  worship  at  the  smallest  expense. 
A  barn-like  framework  of  wood,  clap- 
boarded  and  shingled  externally,  and 
lathed  and  plastered  within,  gave  all 
they  required. 

But  as  conditions  of  life  ameliorated, 
and  the  growth  of  towns  increased,  the 
churches  of  urban  communities  were 
more  substantially  built,  assumed  a 
somewhat  ornate  character,  and  were 
finished  with  spires  in  what  has  come  to 
be  known  as  our  Colonial  style — a  style 
derived  from  Wren's  city  churches  of 
the  mother  country — examples  of  which, 
in  varying  degrees  of  conformity  with 
the  originals,  are  still  the  leading  fea- 
tures of  many  New  England  towns  and 
villages.  In  New  York,  where  the  Dutch 
element  prevailed,  and  in  the  South, 
where  the  communities  were  not  Puritan, 
the  primitive  churches  had  been  more 
frequently  built  of  stone,  but  had  little 
more  architectural  character. 


It  might  seem  a  pity  that  in  a  country 
so  largely  settled  by  the  English,  and 
where  English  ideas  and  customs  became 
dominant,  a  style  of  church  building  like 
that  of  rural  England  could  not  have 
been  established ;  for  in  no  other  country 
of  the  world  does  the  rural  parish  church 
have  so  sweet  an  expression  of  homely 
religious  sentiment,  or  mate  so  charm- 
ingly with  the  landscape.  But  it  could 
not  be,  nor  was  it  really  desirable.  For 
church  building,  like  every  other  kind  of 
building,  is  naturally  and  inevitably  an 
outgrowth  and  expression  of  conditions, 
and  conditions  were  very  different  in 
Colonial  America  from  what  they  had 
been  in  the  England  which  produced  the 
old  English  parish  church.  The  English 
parish  churches  of  which  I  speak,  are 
historic  monuments,  and  owe  their  char- 
acter and  charm  largely  to  the  fact  that 
few,  if  any,  of  them  were  built  at  one 
time.  Many  of  them  are  the  better  part 
of  a  thousand  years  old,  that  is  to  say, 
they  are  Norman  structures  of  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  and  some 
are,  at  least  in  part,  even  of  Saxon  build. 
Although  more  or  less  altered  and  en- 
larged during  the  ages,  many  of  them 
retain  much  of  their  primitive  character, 
and  where  this  character  has  been 
largely  lost  by  alterations  and  additions, 
the  changes  are  of  all  degrees  of  an- 
tiquity from  the  time  of  original  con- 
struction; so  that  the  architectural  his- 
tory of  England  is  largely  epitomized  in 
the  parish  churches.  Thus,  for  this  rea- 
son, if  for  no  other,  the  old  English 
church  could  not  furnish  the  model  for 
Colonial  America. 

With  the  passing  of  Colonial  times, 
and  since  America  became  great  enough 
in  population  and  wealth  to  build  with- 
out parsimony,  conditions  have  not  been 


116 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


favorable  for  the  growth  of  any  con- 
sistent style  of  church  building.  Our 
mixed  communities  include  so  many  ele- 
ments, representing  so  many  different 
ideas,  that  no  common  aims  and  efforts, 
such  as  are  essential  to  the  development 
of  a  national  style,  have  hitherto  been 
possible.  It  should  be  obvious  that  in 
order  to  produce  any  respectable  form 
of  church  building,  certain  fundamental 
Drinciples  of  design  and  construction 
must  be  observed.  Let  us  consider  some 
of  these  principles. 

In  church  building,  as  in  house  build- 
ing, we  naturally  derive  our  ideas  from 
European  traditions.  For  almost  all 
styles  of  church  building  of  the  past  in 
Western  Europe,  the  ancient  so-called 
Christian  basilica  has  furnished  the 
model  as  to  plan.  This  plan  has,  how- 
ever, been  endlessly  varied  in  its  propor- 
tions, has  been  amplified  in  manifold 
ways — as  by  transepts,  by  projecting 
chapels,  by  towers,  and  by  porches.  The 
ancient  typical  form  was  that  of  an  ob- 
long rectangle,  with  side  aisles,  a  rudi- 
mentary transept  at  the  extreme  east 
end,  and  an  apse.  In  its  simplest  form 
it  is  little  more  than  an  oblong  rectangle 
with  an  apse.  I  think  this  general  type 
is  likely  to  persist  in  America  as  well  as 
in  Europe.  Therefore  in  what  follows  I 
shall  assume  that  the  main  body  of  the 
church  will  as  a  rule  be  rectangular  on 
plan,  though  there  is  no  reason  why  it 
should  not  have  any  other  form  that  may 
be  thought  preferable. 

In  elevation  the  character  of  the  build- 
ing will  naturally  be  determined  by  the 
systems  of  construction  adopted,  and  the 
materials  employed,  as  we  shall  presently 
see. 

In  living  architecture,  i.  e.,  archi- 
tecture governed  by  rational  principles, 
in  which  borrowed  things  are  adapted  to 
the  uses  for  which  they  are  employed, 
there  can  be  no  mere  imitation  of  any 
former  styles.  The  styles  of  the  past 
belong  to  the  past,  and  no  architecture 
proper  to  ourselves  can  arise  so  long  as 
we  affect  to  build  in  any  Romanesque  or 
Gothic  or  other  foreign  style.  Only  in  so 
far  as  we  can  assimilate,  and  thus  make 
our  own  what  we  find  in  those  styles, 
can  we  rightly  use  them.  If  we  assimi- 


late we  shall  more  or  less,  though  uncon- 
sciously, recreate  what  we  borrow.  It  is 
in  this  way  that  true  styles  are  developed. 
The  old  art  of  Europe  is  a  rich  in- 
heritance, in  entire  independence  of 
which  we  cannot,  if  we  would,  work  to 
advantage.  But  the  way  to  profit  by  the 
old  art  is  to  master  its  principles,  and  to 
be  guided  by  these  principles  in  so  far  as 
we  find  them  suited  to  our  needs.  Any 
other  sort  of  imitation  is  fatal  to  the 
development  of  a  living  art. 

Suppose  we  have  a  village  church  to 
build,  and  that  it  is  to  be  of  brick  or 
stone,  with  a  timber  roof.  On  plan  it 
may  be  a  simple  rectangle,  with  propor- 
tions of  length  to  breadth  such  as  may 
be  thought  most  convenient.  In  carry- 
ing out  the  scheme  we  have  only  to  build 
the  four  walls,  to  roof  over  the  enclosed 
space,  to  make  a  floor,  and  to  add  such 
interior  fittings  as  may  be  required. 
There  will  be  no  need  for  any  excavation 
of  the  ground,  unless  it  be  for  a  small 
cellar  for  the  accommodation  of  the  heat- 
ing apparatus  and  the  storage  of  fuel; 
for  the  floor  may  be  made  directly  on  the 
ground  in  the  manner  described  in  my 
former  article  on  domestic  building.* 

The  walls  of  a  church  need  not  be  built 
hollow,  but  they  should  be  well  provided 
with  damp-proof  courses  on  the  foot- 
ings, and  above  the  ground  level.  Con- 
struction will  call  for  no  members  break- 
ing the  wall  surfaces — for  a  trussed  tim- 
ber roof  exerts  no  thrusts  requiring  abut- 
ments. In  a  brick  or  stone  building,  the 
windows  and  doors  will  naturally  be 
arched,  and  the  form  of  the  arch  may  be 
either  semi-circular  or  pointed,  accord- 
ing to  aesthetic  preference,  since  in  such 
a  building  there  is  no  structural  ground 
for  the  use  of  one  form  rather  than  the 
other.  In  a  church,  abundance  of  light 
is  important,  and  the  windows  may  be 
made  as  large  as  safety  will  allow.  To 
obtain  the  maximum  of  light  from  a 
window,  the  glass  should  be  set  near  the 
outer  face  of  the  wall,  and  the  jambs 
should  be  splayed  internally. 

As  for  ornamental  treatment  of  brick- 
work, there  are  many  natural  possibili- 


*Some  Principles  of  Design  and  Construction  in 
Domestic  Building.  Architectural  Record  for 
November,  1918. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD 


117 


ties — as  the  use  of  differently  colored 
bricks  and  different  modes  of  laying  them 
— into  the  details  of  which  we  cannot 
go  in  a  brief  paper.  It  may  be  said,  how- 
ever, that  although  buttresses  are  out  of 
place  in  a  timber  roofed  building,  there  is 
no  reason  why  the  exterior  wall  surfaces 
should  not  be  broken  by  pilaster  strips 
carrying  arches  over  the  windows;  and 
these  features  may  have  structural  func- 
tion, as  well  as  ornamental  value,  in 
stiffening  the  walls — which  with  them 
may  be  built  lighter  than  they  otherwise 
should  be.  Among  other  ways  of  re- 
lieving the  monotony  of  brick  wall  sur- 
faces is  that  of  the  use  of  stone  for  string 
courses,  jambs,  and  archivolts,  on  which, 
if  further  enrichment  be  desired,  mould- 
ings and  other  ornaments  may  be  worked. 

For  window  enclosures,  metal  frames 
and  sashes  ought  to  be  used,  and  these 
may  be  filled  with  grissaille  or  colored 
glass. 

As  for  the  roof,  it  may  either  be  left 
open  internally,  exposing  the  framework 
to  view,  or  it  may  have  a  flat  ceiling.  It 
must  be  strongly  trussed,  and  braced 
longitudinally.  There  is  only  one  proper 
way  to  construct  a  truss,  and  that  is  with 
a  straight  tie  beam  frankly  placed  at  the 
feet  of  the  rafters,  so  that  no  thrust 
shall  be  exerted  against  the  walls.  Any 
ornamental  treatment  that  does  violence 
to  this  prnciple  ought  to  be  avoided.  The 
only  members  needed  in  a  truss,  not  ex- 
ceeding the  span  of  an  ordinary  village 
church,  are:  the  rafters,  the  tie  beam, 
a  king  post,  and  a  strut  on  either  side 
of  the  king  post.*  No  departure  from 
this  principle  can  be  justified  on  any 
grounds.  Rational  construction  is  the 
first  condition  of  good  architecture,  as  of 
good  building.  But  this  simple  truss  may 
be  ornamented  in  various  ways,  as  by 
chamfers  and  mouldings,  or  even  by 
curving  a  little  the  inner  sides  of  the 
principal  rafters,  or  by  ornamenting  the 
members  in  any  way  that  will  not  de- 


*The  old  timber  roofs  of  English  churches  are 
rarely  trussed  in  a  straightforward  and  effective 
way.  A  mistaken  desire  to  avoid  the  tie  beam,  In 
its  proper  form  and  place,  led  the  old  English 
builders  to  resort  to  complicated  and  irrational 
modes  of  framing  their  roofs.  I  have  discupsed 
this  matter  at  some  length,  in  my  Medieval  Church 
Architecture  of  England.  New  York,  The  Mac- 
Millan  Company,  pp.  208-217. 


stroy  their  functional  character  and  ex- 
pression. 

The  best  timber  for  the  roof  is  oak, 
but  chestnut  is  also  strong  and  durable. 
Under  modern  conditions  the  timber 
will  generally  be  sawn,  and  if  the  roof 
be  open,  it  will  be  planed.  But  these 
modern  processes  do  not  give  the  pleas- 
ant character  that  the  old-time  hewn 
timberwork  has,  and  it  is  better,  I  think, 
to  follow  the  old  methods  wherever 
practicable. 

If  there  be  a  flat  ceiling,  it  need  not 
be  made  with  an  unbroken  surface  con- 
cealing the  tie  beams  of  the  trusses.  It 
may  be  formed  by  smaller  beams  reach- 
ing from  the  tie  beam  to  tie  beam,  with 
the  ceiling  planks  laid  on  these  beams. 
The  ceiling  will  thus  consist  of  long 
coffered  panels,  marked  off  from  one 
another  by  the  tie  beams,  and  will  have 
an  agreeable  variety  arising  out  of  the 
construction.  No  artificial  coffering  from 
ornamental  motives  is  justifiable  from 
the  point  of  view  of  rational  design. 
In  good  architecture,  construction  itself 
becomes  ornamental — which  does  not 
mean  that  there  should  be  no  ornament 
save  that  of  construction,  though  it  may 
be  said  emphatically  that  true  ornament 
does  not  falsify  construction,  i.  e.,  does 
not  simulate  construction  foreign  to  the 
real  structure. 

Where  pine,  or  other  soft  wood,  is 
used  for  the  roof,  a  Japan  stain  will  give 
a  pleasant  effect,  and  preserve  the  wood ; 
but  oak  and  chestnut  are  better  without 
stain  or  varnish. 

The  internal  wall  surfaces,  whether 
of  brick  or  stone,  may  well  be  left  plain. 
If  the  walls  be  plastered  internally,  the 
plaster  may  be  laid  directly  on  the  brick 
or  stone;  but  ashlar  walls  will  naturally 
be  without  plaster.  A  wainscot  of  wood, 
reaching  up  to  the  level  of  the  window 
sills,  will  give  a  shield  against  cold  and 
dampness  from  the  walls. 

If  we  build  the  walls  with  stone,  their 
character  will  depend  on  the  kind  of 
stone  employed.  A  village  church  may 
be  built  substantially,  and  with  good 
effect,  of  small  roughly  broken  stone  of 
any  good  quality;  but  with  such  stone 
the  buildings  should  have  quoins,  jambs. 


-118 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


and  archivolts  of  large  stones.  If  we 
build  the  walls  of  ashlar,  then  the 
masonry  will  naturally  be  of  the  same 
character  throughout. 

We  have  assumed  that  the  main  body 
of  the  building  is  to  be  in  the  form  of 
a  simple  rectangular  enclosure  without 
aisles.  But  it  may  be  desirable  to  have 
side  aisles.  In  that  case  the  aisles  will 
naturally  be  lower  than  the  nave,  and 
the  nave  will  then  be  divided  into  three 
stories — the  ground  story,  the  tri- 
forium,  and  the  clerestory.  The  ground 
story  will  thus  become  an  open  arcade. 

But  suppose  we  wish  to  build  more 
monumentally,  and  are  prepared  to  meet 
the  cost  of  the  best  that  can  be  done.  In 
this  case  the  church  may  be  vaulted  with 
stone,  either  wholly  or  in  part.  If  there 
be  a  chancel,  this  part  alone  may  be 
vaulted.  It  may  happen  that  a  com- 
munity can  afford  to  vault  the  chancel, 
when  it  cannot  afford  vaulting  over  the 
main  body  of  the  church;  and  there  is 
propriety  in  giving  special  dignity  to  the 
chancel.  We  will  here  assume,  how- 
ever, that  the  whole  structure  is  to  be 
vaulted. 

But  since  .vaulting  has  been  little  prac- 
ticed in  modern  times,  and  practically 
not  at  all  in  America,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  look  for  guidance  to  the  old  European 
examples  of  monumental  church  build- 
ing, and  feel  our  way  to  proficiency  in 
the  craft.  As  for  the  kind  of  vaulting  to 
adopt,  we  shall  naturally  not  revert  to 
the  ponderous  ancient  forms  that  were 
superseded,  during  the  great  building 
activity  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  Western 
Europe,  by  better  forms.  There  has 
never  been  any  vaulting  of  churches 
comparable  to  that  of  the  French  Gothic 
builders  of  the  twelfth  century.  This  is 
rthe  best,  because  it  gives  the  maximum 
of  strength  with  the  minimum  of  weight 
and  thrust;  and  because  it  does  so  with 
•consummate  grace  and  beauty.  The  prin- 
ciples and  methods  of  this  vaulting  are 
•entirely  simple,  and  there  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  be  freely  practiced  in 
this  country,  after  some  preparation  on 
•the  part  of  architects  and  craftsmen. 

But  if  the  church  is  to  be  thus  vaulted, 
;its  whole  structural  character  must  be 
•changed.  In  place  of  unbroken  walls  it 


will  require  isolated  supports,  in  con- 
nection with  which  walls  are  not  struc- 
turally necessary.  The  nave  will  have 
to  be  broken  up  lengthwise  into  a  series 
of  rectangular  compartments,  and  each 
of  them  covered  with  a  ribbed  groin 
vault. 

Since  any  groined  vault,  rectangular 
on  plan,  requires  support  only  at  the  four 
corners  of  the  rectangle,  piers  built  up  at 
these  points,  and  fortified  by  buttresses, 
are,  in  a  building  without  aisles,  all  that 
the  structure  requires  to  carry  the 
vaulting.  Thus  walls  are  needed  for 
enclosure  only,  and  may  be  lightly  built, 
or  altogether  omitted  above  a  level  that 
will  give  convenient  enclosure — their 
place  being  taken  by  open  lights. 

The  vault  in  each  compartment  con- 
sists of  a  skeleton  of  ribs,  and  of  webs, 
or  panels,  triangular  on  plan,  that  are 
formed  over  the  ribs.  The  main  strength 
of  the  vault  resides  in  the  ribs,  and  the 
only  ribs  required  in  any  vault,  rect- 
angular on  plan,  are:  (1)  transverse 
ribs — ribs  spanning  the  nave  crosswise; 
(2)  groin,  or  diagonal,  ribs — ribs  span- 
ning each  compartment  diagonally,  and 
thus  intersecting  in  the  centre,  and  (3) 
longitudinal  ribs — ribs  spanning  the  sides 
of  the  compartment  that  are  parallel  with 
the  long  axis  of  the  building.  These 
ribs  make  a  permanent  centring  on  which 
the  panels  rest. 

In  logical  composition  such  vaulting 
requires  a  support  for  each  rib  on  each 
side  of  the  nave,  and  the  best  form  for 
this  support — the  best  because  the  most 
effective  in  function,  and  the  most  as- 
suring to  the  eye — is  that  of  a  shaft  in- 
corporated with  the  pier.  This  gives  a 
group  of  three  shafts  on  the  face  of  each 
pier,  and  as  the  ribs  of  the  vault  will  be 
of  different  magnitudes,  according  to 
their  different  functions — the  transverse 
rib  the  larger,  the  groin  rib  smaller,  and 
the  longitudinal  rib  the  smallest — the 
supporting  shafts  will  naturally  be  cor- 
respondingly graduated  in  their  magni- 
tudes. And  it  is  worth  while  to  note  how 
this  gradation  of  proportions  in  con- 
formity with  structural  conditions,  gives 
an  element  of  beauty  to  the  composition. 
Ordered  gradation  of  magnitudes,  where 
it  grows  out  of  the  exigencies  of  struc- 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


119 


ture,  is  a  primary  cause  of  beauty  in 
architecture,  as  in  natural  organic  forms. 

The  pier,  with  its  shafts,  bears  the 
weight  of  the  vault,  but  a  strong  but- 
tress is  required  to  meet  its  thrusts.  This 
buttress,  in  a  building  without  aisles, 
such  as  we  are  now  considering,  will  best 
take  the  form,  in  horizontal  section,  of 
an  oblong  rectangle  with  its  long  sides 
perpendicular  to  the  long  axis  of  the 
building — thus  giving  the  maximum  of 
resistance  to  the  vault  thrust  and  the 
minimum  of  width  against  the  pier.  It 
should  be  carried  up  so  as  to  reach  at 
least  as  high  as  the  crown  of  the  vault, 
in  order  to  meet  all  thrust,  the  extreme 
height  of  which  can  hardly  be  deter- 
mined with  precision.  The  best  form, 
in  elevation,  for  such  a  buttress  is  that 
which  gives  an  almost  sheer  vertical 
line  to  the  outer  face.  It  may  be  slightly 
enlarged  at  the  base,  and  have  one  or 
two  shallow  offsets,  and  a  gabled  coping. 

In  building  the  vault,  the  ribs  are  first 
set  up  to  form  a  strong  skeleton.  These 
ribs  should  be  formed  and  adjusted  so  as 
to  secure  the  utmost  strength  in  the 
vault  with  the  least  amount  of  thrust.  To 
this  end  they  will  need  to  be  more  or 
less  pointed.  The  degree  of  acuteness 
of  the  pointing  will  be  determined  in  each 
rib  by  the  length  of  span  and  the  height 
to  which  we  wish  it  to  reach.  Thus  the 
groin  ribs,  since  they  have  the  longest 
span,  will  naturally  be  the  least  pointeo, 
and  may  sometimes  be  hardly  pointed  at 
all.  It  is  desirable,  in  order  to  obtain 
an  agreeable  conformation  of  the  vault, 
to  have  the  crowns  of  the  ribs  all  on 
nearly  the  same  level.  But  vaults  on 
these  principles  may  differ  greatly  in 
these  respects,  according  to  their  pro- 
portions on  plan,  and  the  height  above 
the  springing  to  which  they  are  carried. 

The  strength  of  the  whole  system  will 
depend  greatly  on  effective  adjustment 
of  the  several  ribs  in  the  vault  to  the  pier 
and  buttress,  so  that  the  thrusts  may  be 
gathered  as  compeltely  as  possible  on 
them.  The  necessary  concentration  may 
be  effected  by  stilting  the  longitudinal 
rib,  that  is,  by  prolonging  its  supporting 
shaft,  so  that  its  springing  shall  be  at  a 
considerably  higher  level  than  that  of 
the  other  ribs.  This  will  keep  the  vault 


conoid  narrowed  against  the  pier,  so  that 
the  buttress  may  cover  it  almost  to  the 
haunch.* 

The  ribs  thus  formed  and  adjusted, 
the  panels  of  the  vault  may  be  formed 
on  them,  by  courses  of  masonry  reach- 
ing from  rib  to  rib — each  course  being 
arched  a  little.  The  conformation  of 
the  surface  thus  developed  in  each  panel 
will  be  pleasantly  irregular,  like  that  of 
a  natural  shell.  It  will  be  warped  and 
twisted  more  or  less,  and  in  some  parts 
considerably,  as  it  is  shaped  to  the  ribs ; 
and  the  mason,  as  he  walks  along,  will 
have  to  cut  some  of  the  stones  to  a  gore 
shape  in  order  to  form  the  hollowed  sur- 
faces that  will  naturally  arise.  Between 
the  panels  of  adjoining  vaults,  so-called 
pockets  will  be  formed,  and  these  must 
be  filled  with  rubble  and  cement  up  to  a 
level  that  will  cover  the  haunches,  so  as 
to  consolidate  this  part  against  the  pier 
and  buttress. 

If  the  chancel  have  an  apse,  semi-cir- 
cular or  polygonal  on  plan,  the  ribs  of 
its  vault  will,  of  course,  converge  on  a 
centre. 

Over  the  vaulting  there  must  be  a  tim- 
ber roof,  because  if  exposed  to  the 
weather  it  would  disintegrate.  This  roof 
will  be  framed  as  before,  but,  as  it  will 
not  be  exposed  to  view  internally,  it  will 
naturally  be  built  of  rough  timbers;  and 
the  walls  over  the  arches  of  the  openings 
must  be  carried  up  high  enough  to  allow 
the  tie  beams  to  pass  over  the  crown  of 
the  vault. 

The  windows,  in  such  construction, 
may  be  as  large  as  we  choose  to  make 
them,  up  to  the  entire  width  between  the 
piers  and  the  space  beneath  the  arch  of 
the  vault  and  the  enclosing  wall  below — 
when  they  will  become  veritable  inter- 
columniations.  For  in  this  mode  of 
building,  the  strength  lies  wholly  in  the 
piers,  arches,  and  buttresses — walls  be- 
ing required  only  for  enclosure,  as  al- 
ready remarked,  and  for  enclosure  a  low 
curtain  wall  is  enough.  If  they  be  so 
large,  they  will  need  to  be  each  divided 
into  two  or  more  lights  by  mullions,  and 
to  have  their  heads  filled  with  some  form 
of  tracery,  for  which  the  early  Gothic 

*Cf.  my  Development  and  Character  of  Oothio 
Architecture,  New  York,  MacMillan  Co.,  pp.  130-144. 


120 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


art  of  France  affords  excellent  models. 
Whether  the  openings  be  large  or  small, 
it  will  be  natural  to  have  all  their  arches 
pointed,  in  harmony  with  the  larger 
structural  system,  where  this  form  is  de- 
manded by  the  exigencies  of  the  vault- 
ing. 

If  there  be  aisles  in  a  church  thus 
vaulted,  giving  three  stories  to  the  nave, 
as  before  remarked,  then  the  piers  will 
stand  free  on  the  ground  story,  and 
have  vaulting  shafts  on  the  aisle  sides; 
which,  together  with  responds  built 
against  the  buttresses  will  carry  the  aisle 
vaulting.  In  this  case  we  must  have 
flying  buttresses,  because  buttresses 
placed  as  before  would  block  the  aisles. 
Therefore  the  great  buttresses  must  now 
stand  against  the  aisles,  and  over  the 
aisle  roof  the  intervals  between  them 
and  the  nave  must  be  spanned  by  half 
arches  springing  from  them,  and  abut- 
ting against  piers.  But  into  further  de- 
tails of  such  construction  we  cannot  go 
in  a  brief  paper. 

The  tower  of  such  a  church  may  well 
be  crowned  with  a  stone  spire,  which 
will  naturally  be  octagonal  on  plan — its 
diagonal  sides  being  carried  on  squinches 
in  the  tower  angles.  If  a  vertical  drum 
be  interposed  between  the  tower  and  the 
spire,  the  transition  from  the  one  to  the 
other  will  be  less  abrupt  than  if  the  spire 
be  made  to  rise  directly  from  the  tower. 
The  tower  will  require  to  be  well  but- 
tressed on  the  angles,  and  if  on  the  but- 
tresses, pinnacles  covering  the  angles  be 
built  against  the  drum,  the  composition 
will  be  both  logical  and  pleasing  to  the 
eye.  This  is  the  form  in  which  the  best 
mediaeval  towers  and  spires  are  built, 
and  I  do  not  think  it  can  be  improved. 
The  principle  is  nobly  embodied  in  the 
south  tower  and  spire  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Chartres,  which  has  the  merit  of  en- 
tire structural  logic,  and  also  of  that 
architectural  sobriety  which  character- 
izes the  finest  art. 

As  for  structural  details,  as  bases, 
capitals,  and  cornices;  and  for  the  pro- 
filing of  vault  ribs,  archivolts,  string 
courses,  and  mullions  and  tracery,  we 
may  best  here,  as  in  the  larger  structural 
system,  base  our  practice  on  the  works 
of  the  French  craftsmen  of  the  greatest 


age  of  church  building.  Capitals  and 
bases  of  these  craftsmen  were  evolved 
out  of  older  forms  by  rational  adaptation 
to  new  conditions.  The  evolution  started, 
indeed,  before  the  days  of  Gothic  art,  in 
that  wonderful  Byzantine  system  of  con- 
struction that  is  so  nobly  embodied  in  the 
great  church  of  St.  Sophia  of  Constanti- 
nople. The  new  conditions  that  were 
here  first  properly  met  were  those  of 
arched  construction.  The  capitals  and 
bases  of  the  ancient  orders  had  been 
designed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  a 
trabeate  system,  and  no  recreation  of 
them  to  suit  an  arched  system  had  been 
effected  until  the  Byzantine  Greeks  pro- 
duced those  remarkable  new  forms  that 
appear  in  St.  Sophia.  The  capitals  of 
the  arcades  of  this  church  are  perfectly 
formed  for  their  function  of  preparing 
a  relatively  small  round  column  to  carry 
the  bulky  square  load  of  an  arch.*  The 
French  builders  laid  hold  of  this  Byzan- 
tine capital,  and  developed  it  creatively 
with  wonderful  fertility  of  invention, 
answering  to  the  varied  new  structural 
and  aesthetic  exigencies  of  their  unique 
system. 

On  the  principles  of  these  perfected 
forms  we  shall  do  well  to  base  our  efforts 
to  form  capitals  suitable  for  such  build- 
ing as  I  have  here  suggested.  We  shall 
need  to  study  well  the  French  models, 
in  order  to  master  their  principles,  and 
to  work  with  intelligence  and  freedom 
on  kindred  lines.  We  must  bear  in  mind 
that  in  architecture  the  satisfaction  of 
the  eye  concerns  the  designers  at  every 
step  as  much  as  purely  structural  mat- 
ters, and  that  the  two  are  inseparable  in 
good  design.  That  aesthetic  quality  and 
structural  function  are  one  in  architec- 
ture, is  a  fundamental  principle  that  will 
suffer  no  violation.  The  bulk  of  the 
arch  load  being  larger  than  that  of  the 
supporting  shaft,  the  capital  must  ex- 
pand from  the  necking  upward;  and  if 
the  arch  section  be  square,  the  abacus 
must  be  square  on  plan  to  agree  with  it. 
The  designer  will  perceive  that  the  pro- 
portions of  the  parts  of  the  capital  will 
be  largely  governed  by  the  relative  mag- 

*I  have  discussed  these  capitals  in  my  Develop- 
ment and  Character  of  Gothic  Architecture,  pp.  304- 
306. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


121 


nitudes  of  the  arch  impost  and  the  sup- 
porting shaft.*  Keeping  hold  of  this 
principle,  he  will  be  able  to  shape  his 
capital  with  propriety  and  beauty.  There 
can  be  no  hard  and  fast  rules  for  such 
things,  in  any  fine  art,  and  in  capitals  the 
possible  variety  in  proportions  and  de- 
tails of  form  is  practically  without  end. 
In  the  pure  French  Gothic  art,  one  capi- 
tal will  never  be  found  exactly  like  an- 
another. 

As  for  the  base,  it  would  be  hard  to 
devise  a  better  form  than  that  which 
the  French  builders  associated  with  the 
capital  just  described.  Like  the  capital 
it  is  an  evolution,  through  many  changes, 
out  of  an  ancient  form;  and  consists  of 
two  tori  and  a  scotia  with  two  fillets,  set 
upon  a  square  plinth — the  angles  of  the 
plinth  being  covered  with  a  spur  from 
the  lower  torus.  The  relative  propor- 
tions of  these  parts  may  vary  indefi- 
nitely, like  those  of  the  capital ;  and  their 
profiling  gives  scope  for  endless  subtle- 
ties of  curvature. 

Vault  ribs  and  archivolts  may  be  ap- 
propriately adorned  with  simple  mould- 
ings. If  the  ribs  be  square  in  section, 
the  plain  roll  of  the  French  builders, 
worked  on  each  edge,  can  hardly  be  im- 
proved, and  the  profiling  of  the  archi- 
volts of  openings  will  naturally  follow 
that  of  the  vault  ribs.  In  all  these  de- 
tails, the  designer  of  artistic  feeling  and 
experience  will  appreciate  the  value  of 
restraint,  and  will  remember  that  a 
somewhat  severe  temperance  of  adorn- 
ment marks  all  finest  art. 

But  in  additon  to  the  general  shaping 
of  structural  members,  some  purely  or- 
namental carving  will  be  required  to  re- 
lieve the  baldness  of  mere  structure,  and 
give  pleasure  to  the  eye.  And  here  again 
we  shall  find  profit  in  the  study  of 
French  Gothic  art.  For  in  no  other  style 
of  building  has  carved  ornament  attained 
such  beauty  of  form,  and  such  perfect 
architectural  quality.  In  order  to  profit 
by  this  example,  we  must  here  as  be- 
fore, lay  hold  of  principles,  and  not 
merely  imitate  forms.  The  leading  prin- 
ciples of  the  French  ornamental  carving 
of  the  twelfth  century — the  time  of  its 


•Cf.  my  Gothic  Architecture,  pp.  309-314. 


supreme  excellence — are  :  ( 1  j  rhythmical 
arrangement  of  bosses  of  stone,  (2)  ex- 
pression in  them  of  the  beauty  of  natu- 
ral things,  (3)  moderation  in  quantity 
of  ornament,  and  in  flexures  and  con- 
volutions of  line  and  surface,  (4)  sub- 
jection of  what  is  taken  from  nature  to 
the  natural  conventions  of  stonecraft,  and 
(5)  harmony  and  breadth  of  total  effect. 
Ihe  members  that  will  chiefly  call  for 
ornamental  carving  are :  Capitals,  archi- 
volts and  jambs  ot  doorways,  and  string 
courses,  including  cornices.  Vault  ribs 
are  better  left  plain,  though  a  carved 
boss  at  the  intersection  of  the  diagonals 
may  well  .be  included.  External  string 
courses  will  naturally  be  steeply  weath- 
ered, and  in  the  sheltered  part  under  the 
weathering — which  should  be  hollowed 
so  as  to  cut  off  the  drip — ornamental 
carving  will  be  effective,  either  in  the 
form  of  a  running  meander,  or  a  series 
of  foliated,  or  otherwise  ornamented, 
bosses. 

But  the  member  that  will  chiefly  call 
for  ornamental  carving  is  the  capital, 
the  form  and  position  of  which  lend  it 
with  peculiar  fitness  to  such  enrichment. 
In  designing  this  ornament  the  workman 
needs  to  be  imbued  with  a  sense  of  the 
vital  beauty  of  organic  nature — the 
source  of  all  highest  beauty  in  art — and 
with  the  principles  of  effective  treat- 
ment of  stone.  Good  architectural  foli- 
ation is  severely  Jithic  in  expression, 
and  only  the  abstract  lines  and  surfaces 
of  natural  plant  forms  lend  themselves 
to  this  expression.  Therefore  no  realis- 
tic elaboration  of  the  finer  details  of 
nature  can  have  place  in  effective  archi- 
tectural carving.  The  production  of  such 
carving  must,  under  existing  conditions, 
take  time  for  development ;  for  no  body 
of  men  properly  bred  to  the  craft  now 
exists.  It  therefore  behooves  the  as- 
piring craftsman  to  study  well  what  was 
done  on  these  lines  when  ornamental 
carving  on  buildings  was  a  living  art. 
If  we  examine  any  fine  twelfth  century 
Gothic  capital  we  shall  see  that  the 
leafage  is  not  like  something  merely 
affixed  to  it,  but  that  it  has  the  character 
of  an  integral  part  of  the  member — as 
it  were,  growing  out  of  it.  With  its 
origin  at  the  necking,  where  it  has  little 


122 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


relief,  it  expands  with  the  form  of  the 
bell,  and  becomes  more  salient  as  it  rises, 
until,  under  the  angles  of  the  abacus,  it 
develops  into  great  bosses  that  seem  to 
fortify,  while  they  enrich,  these  over- 
hanging parts.  And  it  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  whatever  degree  of  profusion 
the  stone  leafage  may  have,  it  is  never, 
in  this  French  work,  allowed  to  obscure 
the  form  of  the  capital  as  a  whole.  And 
I  think  it  may  be  taken  as  a  constant 
principle  that  good  architectural  carv- 
ing, in  whatever  part  of  the  building  it 
occurs,  never  obscures  or  falsifies  struc- 
tural forms. 

The  modern  designer  of  carved  orna- 
ment, in  following  the  principles  of  this 
best  foliate  sculpture  of  the  past,  has  in 
plant  life  an  unlimited  range  of  ma- 
terials from  which  to  gather  ornamental 
motives.  He  needs  only  a  quick  eye  for 
beauty,  disciplined  by  a  critical  habit,  in 
obedience  to  which  the  accidents  and  de- 
formities of  nature  are  corrected  by 
principles  drawn  from  nature  herself ; 
and  a  ready  capacity  to  translate  the 
beauty  of  nature  into  architectural 
terms. 

How  far  representations  of  human 
and  animal  life  are  likely  to  enter  into 
the  ornamental  carvings  of  modern 


churches,  I  do  not  know.  Whether 
churches  will  ever  again  be  clothed  with 
sculptured  imagery,  as  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  is  a  question  that  only  the  future 
can  answer.  The  conditions  of  life  and 
thought  that  gave  rise  to  the  great 
mediaeval  architectural  imagery  have 
passed  away,  and  no  revival  of  it  is 
either  thinkable  or  desirable.  With 
what  outward  expression  the  religious 
thought  of  the  future  will  be  manifest 
in  the  Christian  temple,  we  cannot  fore- 
see. 

But  the  natural  human  craving  for 
ornamental  carving  will  no  doubt  de- 
mand satisfaction  in  the  future,  as  in  the 
past;  and  modern  church  building  will 
have,  sooner  or  later,  to  respond  to  the 
demand.  In  order  to  do  so,  however, 
we  must  have  bodies  of  competent 
craftsmen,  and  such  craftsmen  cannot 
be  mere  mechanics.  The  workman  in 
ornament  must  be  himself  the  designer, 
or  must  at  least  have  freedom  enough 
to  exercise  his  own  artistic  feeling  in 
what  he  does  with  his  hand.  Good  or- 
nament cannot  be  a  mechanical  repro- 
duction of  a  set  model.  Mechanical 
repetitions  of  set  models  can  have  no 
place  in  the  living  art  of  the  new  age 
that  is  dawning. 


Hampton  Normal  and 
Agricultural  Institute 
-Hampton,  ~Va. 

LudloiO  &-  Peabody,  Architects 
By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  )r 


THE  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricul- 
tural Institute,  of  Hampton,  Vir- 
ginia, has  long  been  familiar  to  the 
popular  mind  as  one  of  the  chief  centers 
of  the  education  of  the  negro  race.  Since 
we  are  interested  mainly  in  the  architect- 
ure of  the  Institute,  we  may  spare  only 
the  briefest  reference  to  the  unique  char- 
acter of  this  splendid  school.  It  was  in 
1868  that  Hampton  was  founded  by  a 
Civil  War  veteran,  numbered  among  the 
most  skillful  leaders  of  the  Union  army, 
Gen.  Samuel  Chapman  Armstrong.  In 
his  project  to  advance  the  education  of 
the  negro  he  obtained  the  aid  of  a  few 
public-spirited  men,  who  with  him  per- 
ceived the  great  need  of  aiding  colored 
men  to  give  direction  to  their  develop- 
ment in  their  recently  acquired  freedom. 
One  of  these  earlier  helpers  of  Gen.  Arm- 
strong was  Robert  C.  Ogden,  whose 
broad  vision  included  not  alone  Hamp- 
ton, but  gradually  extended  itself  until  it 
embraced  plans  of  effective  aid  to  educa- 
tion in  the  southern  states  as  a  whole, 
white  as  well  as  black. 

The  aim  of  the  school  has  always  been 
a  direct  practical  one — to  develop 
teachers  for  the  negro  race.  It  is  voca- 
tional, though  it  gives  training  in  voca- 
tions only  with  the  idea  that  its  pupils 
will  pass  their  training  on  to  others  by 
teaching  it.  Especially  do  Hampton's 
sponsors  encourage  the  agricultural  side 
of  the  school,  for  they  recognize  that  the 
majority  of  the  colored  race  may  be 
found  on  the  farms,  and  they  feel  that 
the  negroes  are  better  off  and  happier 
there.  A  common  sense  program  indeed, 
one  capably  carried  out  in  an  atmosphere 
•of  inspiring  enthusiasm  and  bustling 


activity,  both  on  the  part  of  white  staff 
and  negro  pupils. 

The  character  of  the  school  is  reflected 
in  the  architecture  in  a  fitting  way,  even 
as  regards  the  earlier  buildings.  Hamp- 
ton Institute  is  indeed  fortunate  in  its 
beautiful  site.  It  is  built  on  what  was 
once  luxuriant  old  Virginia  farmland,  a 
few  miles  from  Old  Point  Comfort,  low 
and  level  along  the  tidewater  of  the 
Hampton  River,  which  bounds  the  prop- 
erty on  the  west.  Boats,  fishing  smacks 
and  other  seacraft  are  frequent  on  the 
river,  and  lawns,  gardens,  occasional 
houses  and  many  trees  stretch  along  the 
opposite  shore.  On  the  site  two  fine 
old  farmhouses  exist,  attractively  woven 
into  the  plan  of  the  institute.  Thus 
Hampton,  its  grounds  rich  in  foliage, 
has  both  the  warmth  and  luxurious 
beauty  of  the  southern  vegetation  and 
also  that  other  quaint  beauty  given  by 
the  sea,  of  soft  moist  salt  air,  deep  cool 
greens  of  trees  and  shrubs  and  vines, 
the  fascination  of  boats,  of  fishing,  of 
nearby  canals  and  marshes,  into  which 
little  black  boys  drop  lines  from  bridges 
— a  touch  of  the  flavor  of  man  and  the 
trimness  of  his  property  in  old  sea  towns 
— all  the  ancient  attraction  of  the  ocean. 
Much  of  this  old  charm  of  sea  and  south- 
ern farmland  has  been  somehow  pre- 
served in  Hampton  and  is  perhaps  its 
keynote.  One  must  think  of  the  school 
in  this  somewhat  quaint,  intimate,  unob- 
trusive aspect,  rather  than  as  a  formal 
or  monumental  institution.  In  fact,  the 
first  buildings  were  arranged  in  a  hap- 
hazard way  and  it  was  only  after  a 
dozen  of  them  were  built,  either  of  a 
dark  tan  brick  or  of  a  red  pressed  brick, 


124 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


that  Messrs.  Ludlow  &  Peabody  came 
upon  the  scene  to  bring  some  order  into 
the  group  plan.  And  with  good  judg- 
ment they  have  not  attempted  to  push 
symmetry  too  far.  The  semi-public 
buildings — auditorium,  library,  adminis- 
tration— are  worked  into  a  court  or  camp- 
us with  a  little  court  opening  north  for 
the  dormitories  of  the  girls ;  and  another 
court  grouped  south  of  the  teaching 
buildings  is  intended  for  the  boys'  dormi- 
tories. As  a  result,  symmetry  is  more  ap- 
parent in  the  plan  than  it  will  be  really 
when  the  remaining  buildings  take  their 
places  in  the  scheme,  and  thus  the  in- 
formal intimacy  of  Hampton  Institute 
will  never  be  lost.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  explain  the  arrangement  of  the  general 
plan  in  further  details.  The  planning 
of  Ludlow  &  Peabody  is  the  work  of 
experienced  architects  who  have  had  the 
good  sense  not  to  overdo.  Their  design 
has  a  more  significant  interest  for  the 
profession,  to  be  shortly  explained. 

Does  the  architecture  of  Hampton  aim 
to  express-the  negro?    This  question  may 


well  be  asked  and  it  is  pertinent.  It  may 
be  answered  by  saying  that  on  the  whole 
no  extreme  attempt  is  made  to  make  the 
Institute  expressive  of  the  budding  as- 
pirations of  the  negro  race.  It  is  easy 
to  see  that  the  architects  might  have  gone 
too  far,  might  have  been  led  astray  into 
sentimentality  or  even  into  absurdities. 
In  this  matter  we  need  not  enter  into  the 
brambles  of  any  discussion  of  the  phil- 
osophy of  races.  After  all,  looking  at 
Hampton  in  a  matter-of-fact  way,  it  is 
simply  a  school  in  the  south,  under  south- 
ern skies,  in  a  southern  community,  for 
the  education  of  young  negroes,  founded, 
financed,  controlled  and  taught  by  white- 
people.  When  this  fact  is  realized,  any 
self-conscious  attempt  to  create  a  negro 
or  negroid  architecture  will  appear  ab- 
surd. In  any  case,  such  an  attempt  must 
be  left  to  the  negro  himself. 

If  we,  then,  consider  Hampton  Insti- 
tute architecturally  as  a  southern  school 
in  which  whites  as  well  as  blacks  have 
a  share,  it  should  be  apparent  that  its 
character  is  beautifullv  and  harmonious- 


C~3  OLD 


BVILOIN65 
I         I  PROPOSED 

l^B  Ntw  BuiLDiN&i          HAMPTON 

LUDLOW  AND  PEABODY 
ARCHITECTS 


NORMAL 


RICULTURAL       INSTITUTE 

HAMPTON    VIRGINIA 

MAY  28  -19 


THE  ARCHITECTURAL  RECORD. 


125 


\*tr';V\  '>*'"''      v,  -      \t*  * 


MALL,  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE,  HAMPTON,  VA. 
Ludlow  &  Peabody,  Architects. 


ly  expressed  in  grounds  and  in  buildings. 
Though  none  of  the  earlier  buildings  are 
remarkable,  none  of  them  are  really  bad, 
and  they  do  not  appear  out  of  place  in 
the  lively  Virginia  landscape.  It  is  for- 
tunate also  that  the  buildings  designed 
by  Ludlow  &  Peabody  are  by  far  the 
most  important  ones,  in  the  most  con- 


spicuous locations,  and  that  they  impress 
their  character  on  the  whole  far  out  of 
proportion  to  their  number.  It  is  these 
few  new  buildings,  chiefly  Ogden  Hall, 
the  auditorium,  that  are  of  interest  to 


us. 


When  one  sees  Ogden  Hall  one  will 
conclude  that  it  has  a  significant  striking 


SIDE  ELEVATION-OGDEN  HALL,  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE, 

HAMPTON,  VA. 
Ludlow  &  Peabody,  Architects. 


126 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


REAR  ELEVATION-OGDEN   HALL,   HAMPTON   NORMAL   AND   AGRICULTURAL   INSTITUTE, 

HAMPTON,  VA. 
Ludlow  &  Peabody,  Architects. 


LVDLOW  4  rcABOOT 
ARCHITECTS 


ROBERT    C  •  OCDEN  •  AVDITORIVM 
HAMPTON     INSTITVTE 


flOOK,       LVDLOW  6  rEABODY 
ARCHITECTS 


ROBERT  •  C  •  OCDEN  •  AVDITORIVM 

HAMPTON  •  INSTITVTE 


FLOOR    PLANS-OGDEN    HALL,    HAMPTON    NORMAL    AND    AGRICULTURAL    INSTITUTE, 

HAMPTON,  VA. 
Ludlow   &  Peabody,  Architects. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


127 


FRONT-OGDEN  HALL,  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE,  HAMPTON,  VA. 

Ludlow   &   Peabody,  Architects. 


merit  beyond  most  designs  in  American 
architecture.  That  is  the  merit  of  beauti- 
ful, rich  color — strong  harmonious 
colors  in  the  building  perfectly  attuned 
to  the  brilliant  coloring  of  the  sky  and 
to  the  vivid  green  of  trees,  greensward 
and  hedges,  which  seem  to  vibrate  in  the 
southern  sunlight  and  take  from  it  its 
tinge  of  gold.  As  we  look  longer  at 
the  picture  made  by  Ogden  Hall  in  its 
setting  one  sees  that  its  quality  of  color 
is  found  oftener  in  painting  than  in 
architecture.  It  is  curious  that,  after 
all  that  has  been  talked  and  written  on 
color,  architects  should  fail  on  this  essen- 
tial point  so  continuously.  Almost  any 
capable  practitioner  can  pick  out  an  "in- 
teresting" brick,  a  pleasing  stone,  for  his 
walls,  or  a  soft  colored  slate  or  shingle 
or  tile  to  make  his  roofs  look  well,  judg- 
ing each  time  whether  the  color  and 
texture  conforms  more  or  less  to  certain 
universal  standards.  But  what  he  rarely 


does  is  to  study  those  local  colors  as  a 
whole,  combining  them  into  a  strong  rich 
key  that  takes  its  place  integrally  in  the 
brilliant  sunshine  of  the  American  land- 
scape. In  fact,  so  strong  is  the  influence 
of  certain  sunlight,  particularly  towards 
the  south,  that  it  really  determines  the 
key  of  color  of  any  landscape  in  which 
architecture  is  set.  A  combination  of 
color  harmonious  in  itself  or  in  certain 
localities,  may  not  be  in  key  with  the 
sunlight  elsewhere.  It  is  the  sunlight 
and  not  the  sample  room  that  is  the  real 
test  of  color  of  materials  in  architecture. 
No  one  could  find  a  better  example 
of  this  truth  than  at  Hampton  Institute, 
standing  in  front  of  Ogden  Hall.  The 
roofs  are  tile  of  the  color  of  Venetian 
Red,  the  walls  of  a  warm  tan  yellow — 
bricks  varying  from  light  yellow  to  yel- 
low sienna  and  chrome  yellow  and  scar- 
let, laid  in  yellow  raked  mortar  joints. 
The  stone  columns  are  a  pinkish  colored 


128 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


AUDITORIUM,  LOOKING  TOWARDS  STAGE— OGDEN  HALL,  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND 
AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE,  HAMPTON,  VA. 
Luil low   &   Peabody,  Architects. 


artificial  stone,  the  entablature  and  bell 
courses  of  a  terra  cotta  in  color  light 
burnt  sienna.  The  only  whitish  colors 
are  the  very  slight  white  touches  of 
window  frames,  of  gutters  and  the  rafter 
ends  of  the  tile  roof,  and  of  the  rather 


deep  yellow  gray  base  course  and  steps 
of  the  building.  These  touches,  how- 
ever, are  eaten  up,  as  it  were,  by  the 
strong  play  of  colors  of  the  materials 
against  which  they  are  set,  and  it  is  to 
be  noted  that  edges  are  so  softened  that 


AUDITORIUM,  FRONT  STAGE— OGDEN  HALL,  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL 

INSTITUTE,  HAMPTON,  VA, 
Lndlow  &  Peabody,  Architects. 


DETAIL-RECREATION  BUILDING  (CLARKE  HALL), 
HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE, 
HAMPTON,  VA.  LUDLOW  &  PEABODY.  ARCHITECTS. 


130 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


RECREATION    BUILDING    (CLARKE    HALL),    HAMPTON    NORMAL    AND    AGRICULTURAL 

INSTITUTE,  HAMPTON,  VA. 
Ludlow   &   Peabody,   Architects. 


they  hardly  are  noticed  at  all.  This 
last  particular,  excessive  lines  and  edges, 
is  one  of  the  vices  of  our  modern  archi- 
tecture, both  exterior  and  interior.  From 
this  luminous,  overwhelming  impression 
of  unity,  let  the  visitor  turn  his  eyes 
toward  the  library  at  the  right.  Here 
he  will  see  a  building  of  the  usual,  in- 
evitable type — limestone  portico  and  en- 
tablature and  window  sills,  flat  stone 
dome  above,  the  walls  of  brick,  dark  red 
in  character,  with  strong  white  joints — 
such  as  one  sees  throughout  the  United 
States.  It  is  no  better  or  worse  than  a 
thousand  designs  of  capable  architects. 
Yet  one  must  agree  that  the  effect  is 
spotty,  restless.  Every  line  stands  out, 
slight  defects  of  proportion  are  revealed 
clearly.  Its  colors  are  more  subdued 
than  those  of  Ogden  Hall,  yet  they  do 
not  blend  and  obviously  they  do  not  melt 
into  the '  sunshine.  In  fact,  this  library 
building  seems  to  be  in  a  different  land- 
scape from  Ogden  Hall.  Nevertheless, 
were  Ogden  Hall  not  at  hand  for  pur- 
poses of  comparison,  many  people  might 


find  the  library  a  fairly  satisfactory 
building.  How  long  will  it  be  before 
American  architects  appreciate  the 
painter's  eye  for  color  in  buildings  in 
landscape  ? 

Aside  from  its  color,  the  design  of 
Ogden  Hall  is  interesting.  The  front 
recalls  the  fagade  of  the  Pan-American 
building  at  Washington.  It  is  not  so 
strikingly  monumental,  for  Hampton  de- 
mands a  more  informal  treatment.  Its 
upper  portions  seem  better  handled  than 
in  the  Pan-American  building,  the 
splendid  classic  character  of  which  is 
somewhat  marred  by  the  use  of  too 
many  elements  and  by  the  too  fre- 
quent breaking  of  lines  and  bands  of 
cornices,  sloping  roofs,  flat  roofs  and 
balustrades  and  buttresses.  Interesting, 
too,  is  the  comparison  in  the  two  build- 
ings of  the  relation  between  side  and 
front  elevations.  In  the  Pan-American 
the  window  motive  at  the  end  pavilions 
of  the  front  is  carried  around  the  side 
elevation  and  repeated  there  without 
variation  or  the  addition  of  other  ele- 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


131 


ADMINISTRATION  BUILDING,  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE, 

HAMPTON,  VA. 

Ludlow  &  Peabody,  Architects. 


ments — naturally  a  most  perfectly  classic 
arrangement.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
designer  of  Ogden  Hall  has  done  a  more 
informal  thing  by  creating  a  charming 
side  elevation,  somewhat  different  and 
rather  more  informal  than  the  front  ele- 
vation; sacrificing  necessarily  the  unity 
of  design  in  the  perspective  at  the  corner. 
One  cannot  say,  however,  that  the  archi- 
tects have  not  acted  wisely  at  Hampton, 
both  because  the  place  is  informal  and 
because  the  side  elevation  of  the  audi- 
torium is  most  important  in  itself.  De- 
tails to  criticize  are  the  tiles  of  the  roof, 
which  one  could  have  wished  less  thin 
and  metal-looking  in  form,  and  less  mon- 
otonous in  color;  the  rafter  ends  and 
gutter  of  the  same  roofs  which  seem  a 
little  thin  in  detail ;  and  the  terra  cotta 
which  might  have  had  more  variety  of 
color,  too.  This  terra  cotta  work  is  in- 
teresting in  the  whimsical  pattern  of  very 
much  conventionalized  sugar-cane  spikes 
and  watermelon,  a  quaint  touch  symbol- 
ical of  the  character  of  the  school. 
The  interior  of  the  auditorium  will 


offer  much  of  technical  interest  to  the 
visiting  architect.    The  artistic  and  struc- 
tural difficulties  of  such  a  building  have 
been     successfully     solved.       The     low 
sweeping  proportions  of  the  hall  itself, 
the    stage   opening,   and   the   large    bal- 
conies are  well  above  the  average  achieve- 
ment.    The  capacity  of  the  stage  is  300, 
of  the  floor  1400  and  of  the  galleries  800. 
An  interesting  detail   is  the  great  cur- 
tains hung  under  the  balconies  and  above 
them,    part    way   back    from   the    front 
row,   so  that,  when  drawn  across  they 
greatly  reduce  the  apparent  capacity  of 
the   auditorium.     They  are  to  be  used 
when  the  occasion  is  not  important,  and 
only  a  small  audience  is  expected  to  be 
present,  in  order  that  this  small  audience 
shall  not  appear  to  be  swallowed  up  in 
a  great  empty  hall.     Both   for  singing 
and  speaking,  the  acoustics  are  perfect, 
nor  are  they  the  result  of  chance,   for 
Mr.  Hugh  Tallant  was  consulted  in  this 
feature  of  the  design  and  every  effort 
was  made  to  attain  success.     The  color 
scheme  of  the  interior  is  not  yet  carried! 


132 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


;IJJ  LLU  Jl.  Jll  II:  Mi    1! 

i!  in  ii  in  iii  on  n 

f  u    !    i     i 


BOYS'  DORMITORY  (JAMES  HALL),  HAMPTON  NORMAL  AND  AGRICULTURAL  INSTITUTE, 

HAMPTON,  VA. 
Ludlow  &  Peabody,  Architects. 


out,  so  nothing  may  be  said  on  this  im- 
portant point. 

Ogden  Hall  is  clearly  the  most  im- 
portant work  of  Messrs.  Ludlow  &  Pea- 
body  at  Hampton  Institute,  so  far  as 
regards  its  general  interest  to  the  archi- 
tectural profession.  They  are,  however, 
the  designers  of  other  work  there.  One 
may  see  numerous  little  alterations  to 
old  buildings,  skillfully  done,  of  those 
innumerable  details  for  which  architects 
are  always  called  upon  in  a  large  group 
of  buildings.  Of  complete  buildings. 
James  Hall,  finished  four  years  ago,  is 
a  large  dormitory  for  boys,  at  the  south- 
ern end  of  the  group.  It  is  simply  done, 
on  the  roof  is  a  great  sleeping  porch, 
especially  desirable  on  account  of  the 
susceptibility  of  the  negro  to  tubercu- 
losis. One  may  complain  that  the  win- 
dow enframements  are  too  noticeable, 
white  against  the  tan  brick,  but  this  fault 
may  easily  be  remedied  at  the  next  re- 
painting. Clarke  Hall,  a  club  or  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  building,  is  an  excellent  design.  Ex- 
terior wood  and  iron  are  here  painted 
a  dark  green,  and  the  roof  is  of  dark 
slate  to  match  roofs  of  neighboring  build- 
ings. Good  colors,  yet  not  so  strikingly 
inspiring  as  Ogden  Hall,  which  shows 
an  improvement  over  these  earlier  works. 
In  the  administration  building  the  archi- 
tects have  very  cleverly  incorporated  an 
old  building  in  the  new. 

In  these  Hampton  Institute  buildings, 
Messrs.  Ludlow  &  Peabody  have  pointed 


a  way  for  architects  in  the  south  to 
follow.  In  Ogden  Hall  they  have  taken 
a  flight,  successfully,  into  a  region  of 
color  that  few  of  their  contemporaries 
dared  explore.  They  have  incidentally 
improved  on  their  earlier  work  in  the 
first  buildings  in  the  Teachers'  College 
at  Nashville,  Tenn.  As  one  travels 
through  the  south,  one  is  always  sur- 
prised at  the  lack  of  interpretation  in 
present  day  work  there,  and  not  only 
in  respect  to  color.  There  is  an  absence 
of  the  principles  of  planning  that  are 
evident  in  warm  sunny  climates,  where 
people  live  outdoors  in  cooler  months 
of  the  year  and  then  seek  the  shade  when 
warmer  weather  appears.  \Yhere  are  the 
courts,  the  arcades  one  expects  to  see? 
Indeed,  notwithstanding  the  traditions 
of  porches  and  porticos  in  old  southern 
architecture,  there  are  many  houses  in 
Connecticut  which  have  more  open 
porches,  sleeping  rooms,  sunlit  lounging 
rooms,  glassed-in  alcoves  and  terraces, 
than  I  saw  in  Memphis,  Tennessee,  which 
is  far  south  indeed.  In  many  towns 
one  looks  in  vain  for  modern  buildings 
that  express  something  of  the  warmth, 
the  sensuous  charm,  the  picturesqueness 
of  the  south. 

Everywhere  there  is  Yankee  architec- 
ture, often  third  rate  Yankee,  even  more 
out  of  place  in  the  south  than  in  the 
north.  The  new  buildings  at  Hampton 
point  a  way  out  of  this  unfortunate 
situation. 


English  Architectural  Decoration 

Text  and  Measured  Draw- 
ings by  Albert  E  Bullock, 


Part  IX.— b 


CHIMNEYPIECES  of  simple  de- 
sign were  executed  in  the  chief 
periods  from  Charles  I  to  the  early 
Victorian  era,  of  which  one  of  the  most 
notable  is  that  illustrated  here  from  the 
library  at  Ashburnham  House,  West- 
minster, where  a  note  of  dignity  is  given 
by  the  size  of  the  moldings  and  general 
scale  of  the  fireplace.  There  is  a  smaller 
one  of  similar  character  in  the  wig  room, 
having  the  hood  supported  on  brackets. 
In  the  William  and  Mary  period  the 
angle  chimneypieces  with  stepped  shelv- 
ing above  from  Hampton  Court  Palace 
are  an  interesting  feature,  of  which  one 
example  has  already  been  given.  Two 
others  from  George  IFs  private  chamber 
and  the  adjoining  room  exhibit  some  sim- 
plicity in  design,  although  based  upon  the 
principle  of  the  more  elaborate  type  from 
William  Ill's  room. 

With  marble  chimneypieces  of  the 
mid-eighteenth  century  the  moldings  are 
somewhat  heavier  and  the  ornament  more 
florid,  of  which  an  example  is  given 
in  that  illustrated  from  Christchurrh 
Manor,  Ipswich.  Figures  and  flowers 
carved  in  full  relief  were  a  feature  of 
the  William  Kent  and  Leoni  period, 
when  Rysbrack  the  sculptor  was  flour- 
ishing. His  style  was  maintained  after 
his  employment  by  James  Gibbs. 

A  room  from  No.  27  Hatton  Garden, 
Holborn,  now  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum,  is  of  this  latter  period,  the 
detail  of  which  is  of  bold  character.  I 
hope  to  give  fuller  particulars  of  this 
fine  room  when  treating  of  doors,  over- 
doors,  etc. 

Marble  chimneypieces  offered  less  op- 
portunity for  carving  and  were  often 
inlaid  or  had  a  certain  proportion  of  carv- 
ing usually  confined  to  the  friezes  and 
consoles  or  side  brackets,  any  additional 
ornament  required  being  given  in  plaster 
above  the  overmantel  with  an  enriched 
cornice,  also  in  plaster,  to  the  room,  as 


at  Christchurch  Manor,  Ipswich,  or  the 
back  room  at  Abchurch  Lane,  the  de- 
molished house  from  which  I  recently 
illustrated  a  ceiling  of  the  Ch'ppendale 
period.  Of  this  latter  period  there  exists 
an  interesting  example  of  carved  mantel 
at  the  "Dodo"  House,  Chichester,  known 
•  as  North  Pallant  House,  where  there  is 
also  a  good  type  of  light  eighteenth  cen- 
tury staircase,  which  will  be  dealt  with 
in  its  order. 

Plaques  with  classic  subjects  took  the 
place  of  overmantels  in  some  of  the 
Adam  examples,  or  were  substituted  by 
circular,  oval  or  oblong  mirrors.  These 
mirrors  had  an  optical  effect  upon  the 
proportions  of  the  room  and  were  some- 
times, as  in  the  case  of  the  circular  Adam 
type,  of  convex  form.  The  loftiness  of 
the  rooms  of  the  William  and  Mary 
period  did  not  obtain  in  the  smaller  Adarn 
period  examples,  except  in  the  larger 
mansions,  as  Sion  House,  Isleworth,  and 
in  instances  where  vaulted  ceilings  were 
a  feature,  as  the  library  at  Belton.  Thus 
a  circular  or  oval  plaque  or  mirror  over 
a  mantel  would  have  the  effect  of  re- 
ducing the  apparent  height  of  a  room, 
whereas  one  of  oblong  shape  of  narrow 
width  would  have  the  appearance  of 
heightening  an  otherwise  low  room  by 
reason  of  its  tendency  to  verticality.  It 
is  important  to  note  this  in  dealing  with 
the  design  of  decorations  where  they  are 
applied  to  existing  rooms.  The  area 
beinsr  defined,  it  remains  to  treat  it  in  a 
suitable  manner,  according  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  owner.  A  room  can  be 
entirely  altered  as  regards  the  existing 
proportions  by  simple  means,  such  as 
reducing  its  height  by  a  false  ceiling ;  or, 
if  low.  by  making  it  appear  higher  by  the 
verticality  of  the  paneling;  and,  in  the 
case  of  a  mean  chimney  breast,  by  widen- 
ing the  same  and  centralizing  the  mantel ; 
or,  if  too  long  a  room,  giving  a  reduction 
by  putting  an  anteroom  by  means  of  a 


134 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


partition,  or  forming  an  alcove  supported 
on  columns.  Where  folding  doors  are 
a  difficulty  between  two  rooms  of  differ- 
ent width  they  can  be  centralized  by 
making  the  folding  doors  central  to  the 
larger  room,  having  one  door  to  open  into 
the  adjoining  room,  the  second  leaf  on 
that  side  being  converted  with  the  panel- 
ing into  a  jib  door.  These  are  a  few  of 
the  expedients  resorted  to  wheri  difficul- 
ties present  themselves  unwelcomely  to 
the  designer.  In  the  case  of  billiard 


CHIMNEYPIECE  IN   A   HOUSE  IN   WHITEHALL 
GARDENS,   LONDON.     ABOUT  1727. 

rooms  that  are  hardly  large  enough  for  a 
full-sized  table  in  width,  it  may  be  pos- 
sible to  change  the  fireplace  to  the  end 
or  the  angle  of  the  room,  always  avoid- 
ing large-section  dado  rails,  as  these  be- 
come awkward  at  the  angles  of  the 
chimney-breasts  owing  to  their  increased 
projection  at  the  mitre. 

Where  it  is  desired  to  increase  the  si.^e 
of  a  room  involving  the  addition  of  one 
on  the  half -landing,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  alter  the  staircase ;  but  the  mere  level- 


ing of  the  floor  sometimes  suffices  with 
the  removal  of  the  side  door  and  frame, 
and  forming  a  bressummer  or  arch  over 
the  portion  of  wall  of  the  larger  room 
where  removed  for  access. 

The  Pink  Drawing  Room  at  Clayton 
House,  Bucks,  contains  a  carved  mantel 
with  a  large  amount  of  ornament  over, 
leaving  a  space  for  a  picture  or  mirror. 
The  room  is  lofty  and  the  style  of  tne 
ornament  is  what  is  known  as  the 
Chinese-Chippendale,  or  the  type  whicn 
was  developed  in  England  following  the 
era  of  Louis  XV  in  France  and  the 
publication  of  Sir  William  Chambers' 
Chinese  designs.  The  mirrors  of  this 
time  were  very  elaborate  examples  of 
carving,  in  which  conventional  birds  were 
embodied  in  the  design  with  ornament 
more  in  representation  of  grottos  than 
anything  formerly  adopted.  In  this  con- 
nection I  hasten  to  expose  a  fallacy  which 
is  given  by  some  writers  on  furniture, 
that  the  ornament  in  the  form  of  a  "C" 
indicates  the  work  of  Chippendale.  An 
examination  of  late  Wren  work  will  ic- 
veal  a  similar  motif,  especially  at  Hamp- 
ton Court  Palace,  but  the  style  was  fully 
developed  by  the  mid-eighteenth  century 
and  was  practiced  in  sculpture  by  H. 
Cheere  and  others.  It  is  an  interesting 
study  to  trace  the  origin  of  detail.  The 
Greek  honeysuckle  can  be  found  in  a 
crude  form  in  early  Abyssinian  orna- 
ment ;  the  Georgian  husk  went  through 
many  vicissitudes  before  it  took  the  form 
now  familiar  to  students  of  decoration; 
and  many  of  the  paterae  can  be  traced 
back  to  medieval  days,  when  they  formed 
the  diaper  of  church  walling  or  were 
carved  on  oak  beams. 

After  drawing  some  hundreds  of  en- 
riched moldings  in  many  different 
periods,  I  have  reason  to  endorse  Solo- 
mon's maxim  that  there  is  "nothing  new 
under  the  sun"  in  the  detail  of  decora- 
tion, each  apparent  invention  having  its 
particular  heredity  and  antecedents.  It 
is  therefore  necessary  to  treat  anecdotes 
of  the  description  referred  to  with  due 
reserve.  Indeed.  I  doubt  if  half  the  work 
attributed  to  Chippendale  was  of  his 
responsibility,  and  the  same  mav  be  said 
with  regard  to  work  attributed  to  Grin- 
ling  Gibbons  or  Inigo  Jones.  It  is  merely 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


135 


CHIMNEYPIECE  IN  HALL,  ROYAL  COLLEGE  OF  SURGEONS,  FROM  OLD  WAR  OFFICE. 
PROBABLY  BY  WILLIAM  KENT. 


for  want  of  a  better  allocation  that  work 
which  exhibits  ornament  similar  to  that 
carved  on  authentic  Chippendale  furni- 
ture has  been  attributed  to  him  by  certain 
writers,  and  by  others  as  being  of  the 
era  when  he  flourished. 

The  cornice  and  frieze  from  an  old 
example  is  occasionally  to  be  found 
adapted  to  a  new  marble  architrave, 
which  has  probably  occurred  in  the  case 
of  the  mantel  illustrated  here  from  the 
Sparrow  House,  Ipswich.  This  ancient 
house,  with  its  half-timbered  work  and 
bay  windows  having  ornamental  external 
plaster  work,  is  a  favorite  object  with 
writers  dealing  with  Elizabethan  domes- 


tic architecture.  It  is  in  fact  the  show 
place  of  Ipswich,  but  has  suffered  inter- 
nally from  the  attentions  of  an  over- 
zealous  owner,  who  has  from  time  to 
time  added  certain  old  work  and  modern 
plaster  work  from  various  periods,  which 
must  puzzle  the  uninitiated  not  a  little. 
There  are  ceilings  of  quasi  Chippendale- 
cum-Louis  XV  construction,  ana  a  stair- 
case having  balusters  dating  from  early 
Adam  days.  The  chimneypiece,  above 
referred  to,  is  in  a  room  with  concave 
ceiling  ornamented  with  large  Tudor 
roses  in  plaster  at  intervals. 

Wren's  House,  Chichester,  is  all  of  one 
period,  with  fine  wrought  iron  entrance 


MANTEL  FROM  THE  "SPAR- 
ROW      HOUSE,"       IPSWICH. 


MANTEL    FROM    THE    QUEEN'S 
HOUSE,     GREENWICH. 


MANTEL  FROM  NORTH  PAL- 
LANT   HOUSE,   CHICHESTER. 


CHIMNEYPIECE    FROM   "WREN'S 
HOUSE,"      CHICHESTER. 


HAMPTON  COVRT  PALACE 

IN  OAK.  PANELLED 


TINGLE  CHIMNEY  PIECE 
71NTE  -  ROOM  - 


ANGLE     CHIMNEYPIECE     IN     ANTE- 
ROOM AT  HAMPTON  COURT  PALACE. 


COVET  PALACE    / 

CHiMNEV-PIECE  /' 


GEORGE  H's  PRIVATE    CHAMBER. 
OAK.  PANELLED  WITH   MARBLE 
•ARCHITRAVE  TO  MANTEL. 


PLAN      OP    SHEI.VINO. 


ANGLE   CHIMXEYPIECE   IN   GEORGE   II.'S    PRI- 
VATE  CHAMBER,    HAMPTON    COURT    PALACE. 


MAR.5LE  M&NTEU TROM  THE 

WHITE  HART  INN  :NEWBVRY 


CHIMNEYPIECE      FROM      SALOON      AT 
ASHBURNHAM  HOUSE,  WESTMINSTER. 


1 

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MARBLE        CHIMNEYPIECE        AT 
CHRISTCHURCH  MANOR,. IPSWICH. 


146 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


147 


Z 
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ORIGINAL  PLASTER  MODEL  BY  ALFRED  STEVENS 
FOR  A  MARBLE  MANTELPIECE  ERECTED  IN 
DORCHESTER  HOUSE,  PARK  LANE,  LONDON. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


149 


CHIMNEYPIECE,   BRYMPTON   D'EVERCY,   RESIDENCE 
OF    THE    LATE    SIR    PONSONBY    FANE.    SOMERSET. 


LIBRARY    FIREPLACE-TRAVELERS'    CLUB,    PALL 
MALL,      LONDON.        BY      SIR      CLARKE      BARRY. 


152 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


gates  having  bold  bolection  molded  panel- 
ing within  and  thin  doors  with  rim  locks, 
etc.  The  chimneypiece  given  from  one 
of  the  upper  floors  has  a  very  bold  eight- 
inch  marble  architrave  to  the  surround 
for  the  interior. 

Regarding  interiors,  grates,  etc.,  it 
should  be  observed  that  up  to  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century  the  open  fire 
chiefly  obtained,  with  cast  iron  oacks  of 
varied  design,  which  accounts  for  many 
instances  where  a  want  of  harmony  exists 
between  the  mantel  and  interior  of  today. 
Hob  grates,  dog  grates  and  other  fitments 
followed  in  quick  succession  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  the  fine  steel 
grates  of  Adam  design  are  among  the 
most  interesting  examples  of  the  smith's 
art.  One  of  the  oldest  existing  com- 
panies supplying  these  features  is  the 
Colebrookdale  Company,  and  later  the 
Carron  Iron  Company. 

The  mantel  from  the  Queen's  House, 
Greenwich,  is  a  fine  instance  of  mid- 
eighteenth  century  design,  for  which 
Ripley  was  probably  responsible,  as  he 
was  much  employed  here  in  an  archi- 
tectural capacity  during  the  first  half  of 
the  century.  The  design  exhibits  taste 
and  skill  in  execution  and  is  one  of  the 
best  features  of  this  classic  edifice,  which 
emanated  from  the  mind  of  Inigo  Jones. 

The  principle  here  adopted  anticipated 
work  developed  during  the  time  when 
Sir  William  Chambers  built  Carringtcn 


House,  now  demolished.  One  of  the 
chimneypieces  from  this  building  is  now 
housed  in  the  woodwork  section  of  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  being 
carved  in  pinewood  of  a  rather  more 
classic  design  and  consequently  with  less 
freedom  than  the  example  from  Green- 
wich. 

In  order  to  leave  room  for  the  neces- 
sarily increased  number  of  illustrations 
this  article  demands,  the  description  must 
be  somewhat  curtailed.  I  shall  hope  to 
give  certain  examples  of  mirrors,  over- 
mantels, etc.,  in  the  next  issue. 

[The  earlier  papers  in  Mr.  Bullock's  series  ap- 
peared as  follows:  Part  I,  February,  1917;  Part  II, 
March,  1917;  Part  III,  April,  1917;  Part  IV,  February, 
1918;  Part  V,  April,  1918;  Part  VI,  May,  1918;  Part 
VII,  June,  1918;  Part  VIII,  July,  1918;  Part  IX- a, 
September,  1918. 

As,  owing  to  transatlantic  mail  conditions,  proofs 
of  these  earlier  papers  were  not  submitted  to  Mr. 
Bullock,  a  number  of  typographical  errors  escaped 
unchallenged,  which  he  now  enables  us  to  correct. 

On  page  125,  line  14,  February,  1917,  read  Hqlkham 
Hall -instead  of  Holkam  Hall;  on  page  211,  line  43, 
MarcTi,  1917,  read  Bolsover  instead  of  Balsover;  on 
page  229,  line  6,  same  issue,  read  John  Crunden 
instead  of  John  Crundler;  on  page  325,  line  29, 
April,  1917,  read  Sir  R.  Rowand  Anderson  instead 
of  Sir  Rowland  Anderson;  on  page  332,  line  52,  same 
issue,  read  Dyvoet  of  Mechlin  instead  of  Byvoet  of 
Mechlin;  on  page  335,  line  22,  same  issue,  read 
Marsden  instead  of  Marsten;  on  page  174,  line  16, 
February,  1918,  read  carved  instead  of  curved;  on 
page  337,  lines  9  and  17,  April,  1918,  read  John  Webb 
instead  of  Philip  Webb;  on  page  428,  May,  1918,  the 
ceiling  of  the  Banqueting  House,  Whitehall, 
attributed  to  Streater,  is  by  Rubens,  although 
Streater  may  have  repaired  it  for  Sir  Christopher 
Wren;  on  page  544,  June,  1918,  read  Ceiling  in  Lady 
Holt's  Drawing  Room  instead  of  Lady  Hoyt's;  on 
page  546,  line  22,  same  issue,  read  Brothers  Adam 
instead  of  Brothers  Adams;  on  page  41,  July,  1918, 
read  Westminster  instead  of  Westminister. — 
Editor.] 


THE 

JADE  PENCE 


White  marble,  gleaming 

in  the  evening  light,  set 

close   with   dark   shrubs 

and  trees,  a  pale  straight 

pool  reflecting  the  com- 
ing of  night,  and  level 

bits  of  lawn  and  sunken 

gardens  holding  in  their 
shadowy  depths  queer  aboriginal  forms 
and  strange  blue  gods — this,  edged  about 
by  the  white  rail  of  a  marvellous  fence 
that  in  the  dimness  shows  faintly  the 
tracery  of  its  pierced  reptilian  design, 
will  make  the  grounds  of  the  Pan  Ameri- 
can buildings  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  un- 
iquely beautiful  at  the  close  of  day. 

Wonderful  as  they  are  then,  when 
form  is  more  than  color,  it  is  only  as  the 
stars  come  out  and  the  shadows  deepen 
that  they  may  be  shown  in  all  their 
radiance  and  weird  unreal  beauty.  The 
wand  that  transforms  them  is  the  push 
of  an  electric  button. 

Of  a  sudden  the  night  is  swept  aside, 
and  color  and  light  glow  at  you  from  this 
darkening  space.  Color,  but  such  color! 
— the  color  of  the  precious  jade:  dim, 
milky,  translucent,  varying,  shot  with  the 
unearthly  light  that  floods  up  from  the 
phosphorescent  bottom  of  the  water 
caves  of  the  Yucatan.  The  spirit  of  the 
Zenotes  is  in  its  mystery  and  its  charm. 
Along  all  the  strange  fence  it  creeps, 
touching  the  variants  of  blue,  fused  now 
with  emerald  green,  and  now  with  creamy 
amethyst.  It  is  the  art  of  the  snake 
worshippers,  executed  in  the  choicest 
stone  of  the  Mayas,  a  fence  whose  panels 
are  seemingly  literally  of  jade ;  the  chalky 
green  that  is  more  nearly  blue,  the  cloudy 
blue  that  is  not  quite  green,  in  which 
both  colors  merge  and  in  whose  depths 
lies  .the  light  of  an  amethyst,  the  milki- 


A  Unique  Illuminated 
Garden  Feature  as  an 
Accessory  to  thc^Pan 
American  Buildings" 
at  Washington.  D.  C. 


Grace  Norton  Rose 


ness  of  sea  water  beaten 
to  foam,  the  satiny  gleam 
of  a  robin's  egg  shell, 
and  the  clear,  cool  green 
of  the  under  side  of  a 
curving  wave. 

In  the  dark  surface  of 
the  still  pool  a  wonder- 
ful purple  reflection  is  thrown  by  the 
light  under  the  arches  of  the  Pavil- 
ion annex.  It  is  apparent  that  green 
light  flowing  over  blue  tiles,  shadowed  by 
the  archways,  helps  create  this  lovely  ef- 
fect. The  eye  will  follow  the  strange  and 
beautiful  fence  and  rest  on  the  terminals 
and  bits  of  groined  sculpture.  Whence 
comes  their  radiance?  Green  light  again, 
concealed  and  indirect,  glinting  down 
over  undulating  tracery,  falling  over  the 
eery  faces  of  graven  gods  and  gleaming 
through  their  eyes,  like  emeralds  set  in 
jade.  It  is  the  subtle  lighting  that  accents 
so  wondrously  this  exotic  fairyland,  this 
outdoor  museum  of  aboriginal  American 
art. 

The  garden  in  winter  has  been  care- 
fully considered.  Against  a  background 
of  gleaming  snow  and  purple  shadows, 
the  blue  panels  set  in  milky  marble  can- 
not fail  to  be  both  charming  and  unusual. 
It  was  in  the  Zenotes,  the  water  caves 
of  the  Yucatan;  swimming  in  those 
strange  pools,  lighted  only  by  that  un- 
earthlv  effulgence  glimmering  up  through 
the  clear  water  from  the  phosphorescent 
bottom,  fifteen  feet  below,  and  the  flicker- 
ing gleam  of  a  candle  set  high  on  a 
rocky  ledge,  that  there  came  to  Albert 
Kelsey,  F.  A.  I.  A.,  his  inspiration  for 
the  embellishment  and  enrichment  of  the 
Pan  American  garden. 

When,  to  his  deep  regret,  his  associa- 
tion with  Professor  Cret  came  to  an  end 


'From  a  groove  under  the  marble  rail,  concealed  green  lights  vJill  cast  a  soft,  eerj)  radience  down  through 

the  blue  tracery" 


Model  of  one  of  the  fifty-four  panels  of  the 

JADE   PENCE 

e^  Pan- American  Garden, 


El 


JOSEPH  BASS.  Sculptor  ALBERT  KELSEY,  Arch,fcct  J  H  DULLES  ALLEN,  falter 


M 


TWO  MOTIFS  &  tL  JADE  PENCE 

PAN-AMERICAN  CAR.DEN,  WASHINGTON,  D.C 

•  Albert  Kelsy.   Architect  • 


HI 


•'Lights  concealed  beneath  the 
head-dress  will  throw  a  green 
glow  down  around  the  face  of 
the  figure.  As  in  the  inter- 
vening panels  of  the  marble 
fence,  this  composition  will 
be  executed  in  jade-colored 
hand  made  terra  cotta. " 


DESIGN  for  ONE  OF  A  PAIR  of  TERMINAL  FEATURES 

the    JADE   FENCE 

Albert  Ke/se/,    Architect  • 


158 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


six  or  seven  years  ago,  he  was  appointed 
permanent  architect  for  the  Pan  Ameri- 
can buildings  and  grounds  to  carry  on  a 
consistent  scheme  in  architecture,  plant- 
ing, furnishing  and  redecorating.  Five 
years  ago  after  submitting  a  design  for 
the  Jade  Fence  and  securing  its  approval 
from  the  Director  General,  he  made  the 
trip  to  Yucatan  in  quest  of  ideas  and 
local  color,  and  returned  full  of  enthu- 
siasm for  the  architecture  and  sculpture 
of  the  Mayas. 

"The  first  finished  samples  of  these 
modern  adaptions  were  made  in  tur- 
quoise blue  with  an  antique  finish,  but 
later  specimens  have  the  blue  slightly 
fused  with  emerald  and  ameythyst,  and 


are  high-lighted  with  just  a  suggestion 
of  reddish  gold,  making  them  quite 
unique  as  objects  of  ceramic  art.  Both 
Mr.  Bass,  the  sculptor,  and  Mr.  Allen,  the 
potter,  have  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
this  unusual  undertaking  with  the  utmost 
enthusiasm,"  says  Mr.  Kelsey  in  speak- 
ing of  the  jade-colored,  hand-made, 
terra  cotta.  in  which  his  compositions  are 
executed. 

The  five  acres  surrounding  the  build- 
ings are  intended  to  form  an  interna- 
tional oasis  in  the  National  Capitol. 
Already,  all  official  receptions  tendered 
the  envoys  sent  over  by  the  Allies  were 
given  either  in  the  Pan  American  build- 
ing or  in  its  lovely  garden. 


m\ EL  wfvUtiBLE  FENCE 
s  THE  BLl'EvXZTEC  GARDEN 


IM 


The  JADE  FENCE 

DRAWINGS   SHOWING   STUDIES  FOR  FIRST  TWO 

HEADS,    THE  CONSTRUCTION  AND  METHOD 

•  OF  ILLUMINATION  • 


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RESIDENCE   AT   HARTFORD,    COXX.     GOOD- 
WIN,  BULLARD   &  WOOLSEY,   ARCHITECTS. 


RESIDENCE   AT   HARTFORD,    CONN.     GOOD- 
WIN,  BULLARD   &   WOOLSEY,   ARCHITECTS. 


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RESIDENCE  OF  THOMAS  NEWBOLD,  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK.    McKIM,  MEAD  &  WHITE,  ARCHITECTS. 


RESIDENCE  OF  THOMAS  NEWBOLD.  ESQ.,  NEW 
YORK.    McKIM,  MEAD  &  WHITE,  ARCHITECTS. 


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SOM,  ARCHITECT,  NEW  YORK. 


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SEA  WALL  AND  BALUSTRADE— ESTATE  OF  LIEU- 
TENANT ARTHUR  H.  MARKS,  MARBLEHEAD, 
MASS.  ANDREWS,  RANTOUL  &  JONES,  ARCHITECTS. 


WORKWOMEN'S  HOUSES 
IN    ITALY 


PART  I 


THE  industrial  housing  problem  has 
for  many  years  been  under  con- 
sideration in  Italy,  where,  indeed, 
it  is  a  serious  one,  involving  the  neces- 
sity of  almost  entirely  replacing  or  re- 
constructing the  older  tenements  that  pre- 
vail in  our  cities,  especially  the  big  in- 
dustrial centres,  and  above  all  the  city 
of  Milan.  However,  I  do  not  wish  to 
imply  that  Italy  was  the  first  country 
to  consider  the  problem ;  because  France, 
whose  oldest  popular  (i.  e.  working- 
men's)  houses  were  first  erected  at 
Moulhouse  in  1835,  long  preceded  us ; 
and  England  too,  under  the  leadership 
of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  became  interested 
in  the  housing  problem  as  far  back  as 
1841. 

The  movement  for  better  housing 
started  in  Italy  in  1903  with  the  Luz- 
zati  Law;  and  although  much  has  been 
accomplished  since  then,  much  remains 
to  be  done,  for  our  cities,  big  and  small 
alike,  are  still  clamoring  for  a  solution 
of  the  problem  of  properly  housing  the 
less  fortunate  classes. 

The  war,  in  addition  to  having  im- 
posed so  many  other  hardships  on  our 
population,  has  greatly  intensified  the 
housing  problem,  because  of  the  con- 
gestion of  population,  coupled  with  de- 
cline of  building,  in  many  rural  districts 
as  well  as  in  certain  industrial  centres. 

The  Government's  aid  is  necessary, 
because  private  enterprise  cannot  bear 
the  burden  that  pertains  to  the  educa- 
tion, the  health  and  the  welfare  of  ten- 
ants. Private  enterprise  cannot  promote 
a  deep  interest  in  the  study  of  the. tech- 
nical side  of  the  problem,  by  offering 


prizes  and  developing  ideas  that  tend  to 
facilitate  its  solution,  so  well  as  the 
Government  can.  The  workingman's 
home  must  be  a  means  of  educating 
the  people  in  proper  living.  It  must  be 
a  school,  and  it  will  be  such  if  the  tech- 
nical, social  and  economic  phases  of  the 
problem  are  attacked  as  a  combined  unit ; 
and  those  who  can  best  help  towards 
combining  these  phases  are  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  local  authorities. 

Such  was  the  intention  of  our  Gov- 
ernment when,  years  ago,  it  undertook 
to  wipe  out  the  slums  of  Naples  by  vot- 
ing 100  million  lire,  mostly  for  the  con- 
struction of  workingmen's  homes,  al- 
though the  results  did  not  come  up  to 
expectations. 

In  the  same  way,  later,  the  Govern- 
ment intervened  when  Venice  attacked 
the  housing  problem  with  a  view  to  puri- 
fying some  of  its  slums.  The  interest  of 
the  government  then  was  due  to  the  fact 
that  Venice,  the  Queen  of  the  Adriatic, 
should  preserve  its  local  color. 

I  do  not  mention  at  length  the  re- 
construction in  the  central  part  of  the 
city  of  Florence,  because  it  was  not  in- 
tended as  a  workingmen's  housing  meas- 
ure. The  district  of  Florence  that  lies 
between  St.  Maria  del  Fiore  and  the 
Strozzi  Palace  was  occupied  by  squalid 
houses  which  sheltered  a  class  of  crim- 
inals. These  houses  were  demolished 
and  replaced  by  pretentious  buildings, 
including  homes  for  people  of  wealth. 
Later,  however,  Florence  took  up  the 
problem  of  providing  workingmen's 
homes. 

Rome  also  became  interested  in  the 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


177 


A  HOUSE  IN  THE  VIA  SOLARI  SECTION,  MILAN. 


movement,  and  in  1911  the  Committee 
for  the  Commemoration  of  Italian  In- 
dependence opened  a  contest  on  the  sub- 
ject of  "The  Modern  Home,"  offering 
prizes  for  the  best  suggestions  for  homes 
for  employes  of  small  income  and  com- 
mon laborers.* 

Milan,  crowded  with  factories  and  in- 
dustrial establishments  in  a  manner  that 
no  other  city  in  Italy  surpasses,  not  even 
Genoa  with  its  great  maritime  trade,  is 
conspicuous  as  a  leader  of  the  move- 
ment for  better  workingmen's  houses. 
Milan,  which  piles  up  private  and  public 
enterprises  beyond  all  expectations, 
solves  and  renews  the  housing  problem. 
The  "Moral  Capital,"  as  Milan  is  often 
called,  shelters  institutions  and  societies 
that  are  the  most  prominent  in  Italy. 
The  "Umanitaria"  was  founded  there, 
and  the  "Ente  Autonoma"  or  Self-Gov- 
erning  Institution,  whose  social  and 


*I  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  law  unanimously 
approved  a  few  years  ago  by  both  Houses  of_  our 
Parliament  on  the  "Provisions  for  Rome."  It  aimed 
to  eliminate  the  subtenancy  evil  and  the  excessive 
speculation  in  building  plots  wherever  there  was 
urgent  need  for  modern  nouses.  It  also  undertook 
to  provide  a  means  to  check  the  rapidly  increasing 
rentals  by  substituting  a  system  of  installment 
payments. 

10 


building  activities  are  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance, has  its  seat  there.  Milan  is 
also  the  headquarters  of  the  Italian 
Touring  Club  with  its  170,000  members, 
whose  activities  embrace  some  of  an 
architectural  nature ;  and  it  is  the  home 
of  the  Co-operative  Union,  a  society  ac- 
claimed all  over  Italy,  which  has  con- 
structed near  the  metropolis  a  small 
garden  city  reserved  for  people  of  small 
means.  Besides,  Milan  has  incorporated 
in  its  Building  Department,  which  regu- 
lates the  building  activities  of  the  city, 
a  Bureau  for  Popular  (i.  e.  working- 
men's)  Homes,  and  has  assigned  a  spe- 
cial commission  to  look  after  the  de- 
velopment of  this  public  service. 

Turin  also  has  interested  itself  in  the 
problem,  as  is  evidenced  particularly  by 
the  dwellings  erected  by  the  "Opera  di 
San  Paolo." 

A  National  Law,  comprising  all  prev- 
ious regulations,  was  compiled  (Feb.  27, 
1908,  No.  89)  and  approved  by  a  Royal 
Degree  (No.  89),  published  in  the  Of- 
ficial Gazette  No.  80,  April  4,  1908.  To 
this  law  was  added  a  complicated  Regu- 
lation, executive  in  nature  (approved  by 


178 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


Royal  Degree  Xo.  528,  published  in  the 
Official  Gazette  Xo.  222,  Sept.  23,  1908). 

The  Law  of  1908  deals  first  with 
building  funds,  that  is,  with  provisions 
regarding  loans  to  co-operative  and 
benevolent  societies  or  other  institutions 
for  the  purpose  of  building  working- 
men's  houses.  All  banks  for  savings 
or  otherwise,  all  provident  loan  societies 
and  all  legally  recognized  credit  institu- 
tions are  allowed  to  finance  such  houses, 
charging  interest  at  the  rate  of  not  more 
than  4  per  cent.  The  amount  of  the  loan 
is  not  to  exceed  two-thirds  of  the  ascer- 
tained value  of  the  buildings  if  the  loans 
are  not  protected  by  life  insurance  poli- 
cies, and  is  not  to  exceed  seven-tenths  of 
the  value  if  so  protected.  These  provi- 
sions have  worked  out  well. 

The  interest  rate  of  4  per  cent  is 
rather  high,  but  it  represents  the  maxi- 
mum; the  "Umanitaria"  was  satisfied 
with  3l/2  per  cent. 

Our  legislators  wanted  a  guarantee 
binding  on  tenants  and  buyers,  and  they 
therefore  authorized  all  Public  admin- 
istrations to  hold  back,  from  the  salary 
of  any  of  their  employes  who  bought  or 
rented  homes  built  by  societies  or  insti- 
tutions, the  amount  of  the  rent  or  of  the 
installment  due  if  the  societies  or  in- 
stitutions so  requested. 

The  Law  also  makes  the  following  fis- 
cal concessions :  it  reduces  to  one-fourth 
the  registration  taxes  on  every  document 
pertaining  to  the  charters  of  building  so- 
cieties; it  reduces  likewise  the  mortgage 
and  registration  taxes  incident  to  the 
selling  and  renting  of  the  houses,  and  it 
exempts  the  buildings  from  all  govern- 
mental, provincial  and  municipal  taxes 
for  a  period  of  ten  years.  These  con- 
cessions naturally  cease  if  the  houses  are 
used  for  a  purpose  different  from  that 
which  the  law  stipulates. 

Wbrkingmen's  houses,  in  rural  dis- 
tricts as  well  as  in  cities,  are  considered 
by  the  law,  and  it  therefore  authorizes 
loans  to  be  contracted  for  the  building 
of  rural  dwellings  and  it  also  exempts 
them  from  taxes  and  makes  many  other 
concessions  in  their  favor.  It  divides 
the  rural  houses  into  two  classes :  those 
erected  by  the  communes  or  municipali- 


ties, and  those  erected  by  private  benevo- 
lent institutions  or  societies.  Where 
there  are  no  building  societies,  the  com- 
munes are  authorized  to  build  the 
houses.  The  building  societies  are  al- 
lowed to  issue  bonds  up  to  a  certain  limit 
and  the  communes  are  permitted  to  sell 
to  them  building  plots  at  cost  price. 

Other  essential  provisions  are  that 
workingmen's  homes  cannot  be  rented  to 
families  whose  total  income  is  more  than 
1,500  lire  or  300  lire  for  each  member  of 
the  family — this  refers  to  the  houses  built 
by  municipalities.  In  the  same  way  these 
houses  cannot  be  rented  to  persons  who 
own  buildings  on  which  are  levied  gov- 
ernment taxes  amounting  to  more  than 
twenty  lire  a  year.  The  regulation  is  not 
uniform,  a  very  complicated  affair,  as  I 
said  before ;  it  defines  the  character  of 
workingmen's  houses,  controls  their  sale 
and  transfer,  provides  for  a  Central  Com- 
mittee within  the  Ministry  of  Industry 
and  Commerce,  determines  the  limits  of 
the  Government's  supervision,  and  ex- 
plains many  other  things. 

The  regulation  also  fixes  the  maxi- 
mum amount  of  rent  to  be  charged  for 
each  room  as  follows : 

96  lire  in  communes  with  a  population 
less  than  50,000. 

120  lire  in  communes  with  a  population 
between  50,000  and  100,000. 

163  lire  in  communes  with  a  population 
of  more  than  100,000. 

This  does  not  apply  to  houses  de- 
tached or  otherwise  which  may  have  a 
small  flower  or  truck  garden  and  which 
are  for  one  family  only.  The  maximum 
rent  for  such  houses  is  one-fifth  more 
than  the  rates  set  forth  above. 

Taken  altogether  the  law  is  very  fair. 
Of  course,  there  is  room  for  improve- 
ment ;  and  I  do  not  claim  that  the  law 
of  1908  is  perfect,  but  with  us  it  is  a 
good  starting  point.  In  the  days  to  come 
improvement  will  naturally  be  made.  In 
fact,  at  a  convention  held  in  Milan  in 
1910,  a  Cabinet  Minister  announced  im- 
portant new  provisions.  And  in  June 
of  the  same  year  a  bill  entitled  "Provi- 
sions for  Workingmen's  Houses,  to  facil- 
itate their  Construction  and  the  Trans- 
fer of  other  Properties  and  Buildings  in- 


PLAN  OF  HOUSING  DEVELOPMENT  IN  VIA 
SOLARI,  MILAN,  BY  THE  UMANITARIA  SOCIETY. 
The  letter  a  indicates  a  three-room  apartment;  b,  a 
two-room  apartment;  c,  a  one-room  apartment;  d, 
stores;  e,  porter's  lodge;  f,  g,  h,  rooms  for  day 
nursery,  kindergarten  and  lecture  room. 


180 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


to  Dwellings,"  was  introduced  in  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies.  This  project  is  a 
step  forward  and  touches  two  of  the 
most  important  points:  the  sources  of 
credit  and  the  fiscal  exemptions.  With- 
out changing  the  provisions  of  the  Law 
of  1908,  it  authorizes  all  public  benev- 
olent institutions  to  invest  their  funds 
in  the  popular  (i.  e.  workingmen's) 
homes  up  to  one-fifth  of  their  resources. 
It  also  authorizes  the  "Workingmen's 
Sickness  and  Old  Age  Pension  Fund" 
to  invest  up  to  one-fourth  of  its  re- 
sources in  the  same  houses.  This  means 
that  the  fund  can  lend  up  to  twenty-five 
million  lire  instead  of  the  six  author- 
ized by  the  Law  of  1908.  The  interest 
on  the  mortgages  described  in  the  Law 
of  1908  is  exempt  from  all  income  taxes. 
All  the  foregoing  provisions  are  to 
facilitate  credit.  The  fiscal  exemptions 
are  as  follows :  the  period  of  tax  ex- 
emption on  houses  is  increased  to  fifteen 
years  and,  in  addition  to  the  provisions 
stipulated  in  the  older  law,  all  revenue 
and  registration  taxes  on  all  deeds  relat- 
ing to  houses  are  reduced  to  one-fourth. 
Another  notable  concession  is  the  exemp- 


tion of  non-popular  houses  from  the 
building  tax  and  surtax  for  a  period  of 
four  to  ten  years,  reckoned  from  the  day 
of  occupancy. 

All  this  tends  to  show  that  Italy  is 
anxious  to  solve,  as  best  she  can,  the 
housing  problem  for  the  less  fortunate 
classes.  If  the  results  so  far  achieved 
have  not  been  very  remarkable,  especial- 
ly as  to  numbers,  we  must  trust  to  the 
future. 

The  Government,  before  the  war,  had 
fifty-four  million  lire  available  for  this 
new  activity;  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
the  245  and  more  building  societies  ac- 
tually operating  in  Italy  had  a  like  sum 
invested,  either  from  their  own  re- 
sources or  from  borrowed  funds. 

The  law  encourages  initiative  by 
benevolent  societies ;  but  before  consid- 
ering what  they  have  accomplished,  I 
will  briefly  mention  some  of  the  experi- 
ments undertaken  by  private  individuals 
in  Italy.  Therefore,  as  a  matter  of 
history,  I  will  relate  that  of  Mrs.  Car- 
lotta  Celesia,  of  Milan.  She,  a  woman 
of  noble  sentiments,  became  interested 
in  the  industrial  housing  problem  and 


SECOND  FLOOR  PLAN  OF  GROUP  OF  WORKINGMEN'S  HOUSES  IN  VIA  SOLARI,  MILAN. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


181 


tried  to  find  a  solution;  but  the  result 
was  discouraging. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  whether 
this  failure,  which  was  much  discussed 
in  Italy,  was  due  to  technical  causes, 
such  as  bad  arrangement  of  rooms,  de- 
fective operation,  improper  supervision, 
particularly  bad  tenants,  or  other  rea- 
sons. Something  must  surely  have  been 
wrong,  because  later  housing  enterprises, 
particularly  those  of  the  "Umanitaria," 
have  been  notably  successful.  As  regards 
the  treatment  of  property  by  tenants,  the 
"Umanitaria"  reports  that  ninety  out  of 
one  hundred  tenants  take  good  care  of 
their  homes  and  not  a  few  surround 
them  with  such  loving  care  as  to  merit 
the  praise  of  visitors  (see  "L'Umani- 
taria,"  1907,  page  12). 

The  "Umanitaria"  is  a  benevolent  so- 
ciety, the  most  important  in  Italy.  In 
1892  G.  M.  Lauria  bequeathed  his  entire 
fortune  of  ten  million  lire  (increased  to 
thirteen  million  by  interest  accumula- 
tions) "to  aid  all  unfortunates  to  re- 
habilitate themselves."  Among  the  many 
miseries  that  we  have  to  contend  with  in 
this  world  the  "Umanitaria"  chooses  to 
mitigate  those  which,  independent  of 
natural  causes,  affect  men  who,  if  aided, 
have  the  capacity  to  overcome  them. 

The  founder  believed  that  the  way  to 
save  unfortunates  from  the  depressing 
effect  of  long  days  of  idleness  through 
lack  of  work  and  the  humiliation  of 
begging  for  alms  was  to  find  occupations 
for  them  so  that  they  could  become  self- 
supporting  and  at  the  same  time  help 
them  in  upholding  their  self-respect  and 
dignity.* 

The  society  provides  work  for  the 
unemployed  through  its  Home  for  the 
Unemployed,  and  maintains  Trade 
Schools.  Furthermore,  it  aims  to  assist 
every  workingman  to  obtain  an  at- 
tractive, well-built  home.  For  this  rea- 
son the  "Umanitaria"  became  interested 
in  the  housing  problem  and  attacked  it 
from  every  angle,  from  the  construction 

*G.  M.  Lauria  wanted  the  "Umanitaria"  endowed 
with  his  estate  and  with  the  contributions  of  its 
members  who,  with  their  modest  dues  of  one  lire 
a  year,  help  in  its  great  work.  The  members 
appoint  two-thirds  of  the  council;  the  remaining 
third  is  chosen  by  the  Municipal  Council.  The 
members  also  elect  an  Assembly  of  Delegates, 
which  looks  after  the  affairs  of  the  society. 


of  the  walls  to  the  furnishings  of  each 
apartment;  and  it  has  done  so  well  that 
whoever  wants  to  study  the  housing 
problem  in  Italy  must  turn  to  the  society 
founded  by  B.  M.  Lauria,  although, 
strictly  speaking,  it  is  not  a  building  so- 
ciety like  the  "Ente  Autonomo,"  of 
Milan,  the  leading  institution  of  its  kind 
in  Italy,  with  eighteen  million  lire  set 
aside  for  the  provision  of  working- 
men's  houses.  This  institution,  indeed, 
has  taken  over  the  building  activities  of 
the  "Umanitaria"  which  preceded  it. 

The  housing  problem,  therefore,  must 
be  considered  from  three  different 
points  of  view;  technical  (architectural 
and  constructional),  economic  and  so- 
cial; and  the  "Umanitaria"  can  give  us 
points  on  each  of  these  three  different 
aspects. 

The  "Umanitaria"  has  been  able,  not- 
withstanding the  high  cost  of  dwellings 
when  decently  constructed,  to  rent  each 
room  at  from  five  to  ten  lire  below  the, 
average  rental  and  still  realize  from, 
them  the  income  it  expected.  The  so- 
ciety, in  erecting  buildings,  did  not  re- 
linquish the  idea  of  receiving  a  fair  re- 
turn of  its  investment. 

Taken  altogether,  the  experiments 
conducted  by  the  "Umanitaria"  have 
given  good  results;  although  we  must 
admit  that  there  are  some  deficien- 
cies yet  to  be  overcome,  particularly,  the 
need  of  an  educational  propaganda 
respecting  hygiene  and  thrift  on  the  part 
of  both  individuals  and  communities. 

The  "Umanitaria"  erected  its  first 
Workingmen's  Quarter  in  Via  Solari, 
Milan.  The  inauguration  took  place 
ten  years  ago,  and  it  was  made  the 
,  occasion  of  a  festival.  The  society 
through  the  press  expressed  the  wish 
that  its  new  tenants  (they  were  about 
1,000  people)  lead  a  more  happy  exist- 
ence in  the  spacious,  clean  and  attractive 
homes.  With  the  wishes  went  the  prom- 
ise of  further  developments  and  the  erec- 
tion of  new  quarters  if  an  interest  of 
3l/2  per  cent,  could  be  realized  on  the 
investment. 

The  society  decided  on  an  invest- 
ment of  two  million  lire,  a  sum  that  was 
much  less  than  the  needs  called  for.  A 


182 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


larger  amount  would  have  been  granted 
.were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  various 
activities  of  the  "Umanitaria"  had  ab- 
sorbed the  General  Fund  of  the  institu- 
tion. However,  the  two  million  was 
considered  sufficient  to,  provide  dwell- 
ings for  700  families.  This  was  an 
encouraging  start,  inasmuch  as  it  was 
possible  to  erect  schools  and  other  in- 
stitutions for  general  education  of  the 
workingman  with  funds  obtained  out- 
side of  the  original  investment.  These 
•extra  funds  rendered  possible  the  erec- 
tion of  groups  of  houses  with  baths, 
kindergartens  and  recreation  rooms. 

The  architect,  Giovanni  Broglio,  de- 
signed the  houses  and  assumed  the  direc- 
tion of  the  work,  associated  with  Luigi 
Mazzocchi,  engineer,  and  Luigi  Arienti, 
building  foreman. 

The  "Quarter"  is  subdivided  into 
squares  crossed  by  walks,  and  the  dwell- 
ings on  the  inside  front  a  spacious  court, 
in  the  centre  of  which  a  pavilion  was 
erected. 

The  lodgings,  of  one,  tyo  and  three 
rooms,  number  240  (half  of  the  total)  ; 
and  each  room  averages  twenty-two 
square  meters,  and  contains  seventy 
cubic  meters  of  air.  The  buildings  are 
not  planned  the  same  throughout — some 
have  one  stairway,  others  have  more 
than  one;  all  are  four  stories  high  (the 
ground  floor  3.80  meters,  the  other 
floors  3.60  meters)  and  the  stairways 
extend  from  the  cellars  to  the  roofs. 
Each  stairway  is  used  by  sixteen  ten- 
ants— four  for  every  floor.  The  roof 
iis  partly  gable  and  partly  flat.  The  gable 
•contains  the  garrets,  which  together  with 
-the  cellars  are  rented  to  the  tenants ;  the 
'flat  roof  is  used  by  the  tenants  in  com- 
mon, to  dry  clothes,  beat  carpets,  etc. 
Each  lodging,  even  those  with  but  one 
room,  have  a  lavatory,  a  garbage  chute, 
sinks,  running  water,  gas  and  balcony, 
and  most  of  them  have  a  terrace.  The 
stairways  and  the  courtyards  are  lighted 
exclusively  by  electricity.  A  central 
heating  system  was  devised  and  in- 
stalled ;  it  provides  heat  for  only  one 
room  in  each  apartment,  the  one  most 
commonly  used.  Stoves  were  excluded, 
because  they  are  apt  to  be  used  for 
cooking  and  are  a  source  of  dirt. 


Trees  and  grassy  lawns  are  abundant- 
ly provided;  and  the  exterior  of  the 
buildings,  although  modest,  is  pleasing. 
The  architectural  style  is  purposely 
simple.  However,  the  architect  showed 
a  modern  trend,  for,  by  giving  due  pro- 
portions to  the  hollow  and  full  spaces, 
by  sobering  the  mouldings,  by  contrast- 
ing the  smooth  and  rough  surfaces,  by 
slightly  projecting  the  roof,  and  by  set- 
ting off  the  walls  with  colored  tiles,  he 
obtained  a  well-balanced  whole. 

In  the  quarter  of  the  "Umanitaria" 
a  place  was  set  for  a  community  house, 
"The  House  of  the  People."  It  con- 
tained laundry  rooms  and  workrooms 
for  the  women;  had  special  rooms  foi 
the  use  of  mothers,  to  help  them  in 
bringing  up  their  children  in  a  proper 
way,  and  was  provided  with  baths, 
showers  and  hot  water.  A  kitchen  was 
also  installed  to  provide  cooked  food 
for  bachelors  and  for  families  whose 
women  folk  were  compelled  to  go  out  to 
work  in  shops.  This  was  a  radical  in- 
novation in  our  country. 

The  spiritual  side  of  the  housing 
problem  was  not  neglected.  Library 
rooms  and  lecture  halls  were  provided, 
and  also  a  Children's  House,  in  which 
modern  methods  of  education  are  em- 
ployed for  children  of  the  Via  Solari 
Section,  three  to  six  years  old. 

The  "Umanitaria,"  satisfied  with  the 
results  obtained  with  this  first  experir 
ment,  followed  it  with  a  second.  As 
first  planned,  the  new  quarter  was  to 
be  erected  near  the  first  one,  on  ground 
already  acquired ;  but  on  second  thought 
it  was  decided  to  move  away  from  Via 
Solari  in  order  to  benefit  another  part  of 
the  city. 

In  this  way  the  Popular  Homes 
Quarter  of  the  Rottole  was  erected.  The 
same  architect,  Giovanni  Broglio,  was 
again  chosen,  and  he  had  the  assistance 
of  Maurizio  Yung,  engineer,  and  of  Gio- 
vanni Vescia,  builder.  The  architect, 
profiting  by  the  experience  gained  in 
building  the  Via  Solari  Section,  made 
some  modifications  and  improvements, 
and  came  much  nearer  to  a  realization  of 
the  ideal  workingman's  house. 

The  new  section  consists  of  twelve 
main  buildings :  eight  of  them  are  three 


184 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


HOUSES  IN  THE  ROTTOLE  SECTION,  MILAN. 


stories  high,  the  others  have  four  stories, 
besides  the  ground  floor,  which  is  slight- 
ly raised  above  the  street  level. 

The  main  buildings  are  joined  by 
smaller  buildings  and  by  terraces  that 
reach  up  to  the  second  story.  With 
this  arrangement  the  circulation  of  air  in 
the  different  lodgings  is  much  improved, 
and  the  open  spaces  between  the  differ- 
ent buildings  afford  a  much  better  vista. 

The  illustrations  here  reproduced  and 
the  observations  already  made  on  the 
Via  Solari  Section  make  it  unnecessary 
for  me  to  go  further  into  details.  Rather, 
in  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  people 
occupying  this  second  Quarter  of  the 
Rottole,  located  at  one  of  the  extreme 
ends  of  Milan,  I  will  classify  them  ac- 
cording to  the  occupation  of  each  head 
of  the  family.  Naturally  the  tenants 
are  always  changing,  and  the  figures  I 
give  are  those  taken  when  the  section 
was  inaugurated. 


Metalworkers    and    Electricians %. . .  43 

Printers    and    Lithographers 36 

Clerks,    Messengers,    Letter    Carriers 32 

Masons,    Cementworkers,    Varnishers 17 

Carpenters,  Tailors,  Shoemakers 19 

Employes    of    Industrial    Establishments 18 

Drivers,    Street    Cleaners,    Porters 1 

Teachers,    Midwives,    Miscellaneous 12 

~204» 


•Two  Quarters  of  the  "Umanitaria"  give  a  total  of 
430  families,  or  about  2,000  persons. 

The  204  families,  divided  in  the  way 
set  forth  above,  are  typical  of  the  classes 
which  the  "Umanitaria"  aims  to  benefit. 
As  I  said  before,  the  "Umanitaria"  is  not 
a  building  society,  and  it  must  look  after 
its  other  numerous  social-economic  ac- 
tivities ;  therefore  it  exacts  an  interest  of 
Zl/2  per  cent,  on  its  investment.  Not- 
withstanding this,  by  economizing  in  all 
possible  ways  on  the  cost  of  construction, 
without  leaving  out  any  comfort  or  de- 
tracting from  the  appearance  of  the 
buildings,  the  "Umanitaria"  has  been 
able  to  rent  the  lodgings  at  prices  much 


HOUSES  IN  THE  ROTTOLE  SECTION,  MILAN. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


185 


more  reasonable  than  those  prevailing  in 
Milan. 

The  rent  of  a  full  size  room  of  twenty- 
two  square  meters  was  about  120  lire; 
that  of  a  half-size  room,  60  lire ;  a  small 
kitchen  cost  from  forty  to  forty-five  lire, 
according  to  size.  The  rent  for  the  big 
terraces  was  also  fixed  in  proportion  to 
the  area. 

Altogether,  the  rent  of  the  different 
lodgings  varies  from  120  lire  a  year  to 
165,  240,  300,  350  and  up  to  435  lire. 
These  last  are  apartments  of  three  full 
size  rooms  with  a  separate  kitchen  and  a 
large  terrace.  Since  the  war  started  the 
rents  have  been  advanced  somewhat.  In 
normal  times  the  tenants  are  very  prompt 
in  paying.  An  employe  on  the  premises 
collects  the  rents,  watches  over  the  ten- 
ants, takes  care  of  the  apartments,  and 
acts  as  a  general  guardian  and  peace- 
maker. 

The  expenses  of  keeping  an  employe 
on  the  premises  is  more  than  made  up 
by  facilitating  the  collection  of  rentals 
and  conserving  the  property. 

In  the  management  of  the  houses,  the 
first  section  of  the  "Umanitaria"  is  as- 


sisted by  an  advisory  committee,  con- 
sisting of  five  tenants  appointed  every 
year  by  the  heads  of  families  and  of 
representatives  of  interested  institutions 
which  ask  for  the  privilege,  the  privilege 
being  subject  to  approval  by  the  "Umani- 
taria."  All  these  representatives  form 
a  vigilant  group  that  is  useful  and  effi- 
cient. The  committee  must  also  help  the 
tenants  in  all  their  relations  with  benevo- 
lent institutions,  and  it  must  be  instru- 
mental in  the  promotion  of  thrift  and 
education. 

As  the  "Umanitaria"  wanted  to  leave 
nothing  undone,  it  opened  a  prize  contest 
for  suggestions  as  to  furnishing  the 
apartments.  The  winning  designs  are 
inspired  by  a  simple,  modern  style,  as  if 
to  indicate  that  a  solution  of  our  housing 
problem  cannot  be  looked  for  unless  we 
depart  from  the  old  traditions  that  are 
still  firmly  rooted  in  our  country.  And 
what  I  here  state  reflects  my  own  views 
as  an  upholder  of  modernism  in  a  coun- 
try still  weighed  down  with  tradition  and 
as  an  educator  in  the  Higher  School  of 
Applied  Art,  which  aims  to  revive  the 
artistic  industries  of  Italy. 


HOUSES  IN  THE   ROTTOLE  SECTION,  MILAN. 


THE  ARCHITECT'S    LIBRARY 


WAR  BOOKS  OF  THE  CATHEDRALS 

By  BARR  FERREE 


Part  VII 


OF  the  multitude  of  books  relating  to 
Reims  and  its  cathedral  that  have 
appeared  since  the  beginning  of 
the  war,  which  was  almost  literally  the 
first  day  of  a  bombardment  that  lasted 
more  than  four  years,  Bishop  Landrieux's 
recently  published  La  Cathedrale  de 
Reims,  Un  Crime  Allemand.  alone  attains 
first  rank  as  an  authoritative  survey  of  the 
dreadful  catastrophe.  First  planned,  and 
partly  written  in  1915,  its  publication  was 
wisely  postponed  to  after  the  end  of  the 
war,  that  the  tragic  story  of  the  cathedral 
might  be  presented  in  complete  form. 
No  one  is  better  qualified  for  the  writing 
of  such  a  book.  Mgr.  Landrieux  was 
cure  of  the  cathedral  of  Reims  from  1912 
to  1916,  becoming  bishop  of  Dijon  in  the 
latter  year.  His  great  church  had  long 
been  the  object  of  loving  study  to  him, 
and  until  his  removal  to  Dijon  he  person- 
ally witnessed  all  the  early  bombardment, 
and  he  is,  therefore  an  eye-witness  of  the 
most  impeccable  kind.  Keeping  closely 
in  touch  with  Reims  after  his  transfer 
to  Dijon,  he  was  easily  able  to  follow  the 
later  phases  of  the  bombardment. 

His  book  has,  therefore,  a  quite  un- 
rivalled interest  and  value.  He  knew  his 
church  as  few  people  knew  it;  he  knew 
his  city  of  Reims  and  the  people  in  it ; 


while  residing  there  he  knew,  personally, 
the  exact  damage  done  by  every  shell ;  he 
knew  the  conditions  that  attended  the 
bombardment ;  he  was  thoroughly  com- 
petent in  every  way  to  prepare  an  author- 
itative book  on  all  its  aspects.  His  is  no 
historical  survey  of  construction  or  aes- 
thetic critique;  these  aspects  of  Reims 
have  been  thoroughly  treated  by  a  mul- 
titude of  writers.  His  theme  is  his  own ; 
the  ruin  and  tragedy  of  his  cathedral,  a 
topic  that,  so  recently  as  five  years  ago, 
no  living  man  expected  to  witness  or  de- 
scribe. 

He  begins  with  the  arrival  of  the  Ger- 
mans on  September  4,  1914,  on  which 
day  the  first  shell  fell  on  the  cathedral, 
and  which  practically  put  an  end  to  the 
patriotic  services  that  had  daily  been 
held  in  the  church  from  the  opening  of 
the  war.  The  opening  of  the  tragedy  is 
vividly  described,  and  the  whole  hideous 
tale  is  narrated  in  the  following  pages 
with  painful  details  of  the  injuries 
wrought.  The  details  of  the  story  are 
best  followed  in  Mgr.  Landrieux's  own 
pages ;  but  it  may  be  stated  that  he  notes 
159  shells  as  falling  directly  on  the 
cathedral  from  September  4,  1914,  to 
March  21,  1918.  Of  these,  63  shells  fell 
in  1914;  32  in  1915,  7  in  1916,  51  in  1917, 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD, 


187 


not  including  an  uncounted  number  that 
fell  on  the  terrible  day  of  April  24;  6 
in  1918  up  to  March  21.  42  of  these 
shells  fell  before  the  great  fire  of  Septem- 
ber 19,  1914,  and  117  after  it.  Records 
are  wanting  as  to  the  fall  of  shells  be- 
tween March  21  and  June  25,  1918;  but 
after  that  date  128  additional  shells  were 
noted,  a  hideous  total  of  287  recorded 
shells.  Reims  itself  was  bombarded  for 
1,051  days.  Small  wonder  there  is  little 
left  or  that  the  city  is  utterly  ruined. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 'no  in- 
telligent person  placed  any  dependence  on 
the  German  claims  for  the  necessity  of 
bombarding  the  cathedral.  But  this  need 
no  longer  be  a  matter  of  faith  or  of  be- 
lief ;  Bishop  Landrieux  devotes  a  lengthy 
chapter  to  an  examination  of  the  Ger- 
man claims,  and  thoroughly  establishes 
their  falsity.  Few  non-Germans  needed 
to  be  convinced  on  this  point,  but  it  is 
well  to  have  so  complete  a  refutation  as 
Mgr.  Landrieux  gives. 

The  German  claims  are  well  known 
and  rest  en  two  particular  points:  that 
the  towers  were  used  as  posts  of  military 
observers  and  that  a  battery  of  guns  was 
concealed  behind  the  cathedral.  Mgr. 
Landrieux,  then  a  resident  of  Reims, 
would  certainly  have  known  of  the  con- 
cealed battery,  and  his  indignant  denial 
that  such  a  thing  existed  may  be,  and  will 
be,  accepted  without  further  controversy. 
As  to  the  use  of  the  towers  he  brings 
out  the  hitherto  little  known  fact  that 
owing  to  the  injuries  of  the  bombardment 
it  was  utterly  impossible  to  climb  to  their 
summits,  and  particularly  to  the  top  of 
the  south  tower,  which  the  Germans 
claim  to  have  been  especially  used.  His 
photograph  of  the  injured  stairs  is  con- 
clusive evidence.  He  examines  the  whole 
subject  with  great  detail,  and,  as  was  to 
be  expected,  leaves  the  Germans  without 
the  smallest  foundation  for  their  claims. 

Perhaps  more  absurd  is  the  German 
claim  that  the  cathedral  was  burned  be- 
cause of  the  lack  of  firemen  and  fire- 
extinguishing  apparatus  in  Reims  or  near 
the  cathedral.  The  conclusion  is  obvious  ; 
the  cathedral  was  burned,  not  because  the 
Germans  set  it  afire,  but  because  the  au- 
thorities did  not  put  it  out!  Bishop 


Landrieux  dismisses  this  preposterous 
statement  with  the  contempt  it  deserves. 
As  for  the  fire,  the  Bishop  brings  out 
with  some  force  the  statement  that  the 
cathedral  was  burned  from  both  ends, 
from  the  north  tower,  which  had  been 
surrounded  with  scaffolding,  and  from 
the  chevet,  showing  very  clearly  that  the 
catastrophe,  if  not  directly  caused  by  an 
incendiary  bomb,  was  certainly  greatly 
increased  by  it. 

As  for  the  German  claim  that  wounded 
Germans  in  the  cathedral  were  shot  down 
by  French  soldiers  in  trying  to  escape 
from  the  burning  building,  Bishop  Land- 
rieux was  a  more  than  interested  spec- 
tator. Reaching  a  doorway  he  found  it 
thronged  with  wounded  Germans  seek- 
ing refuge  elsewhere;  immediately  be- 
fore them  was  a  group  of  soldiers  ready 
to  shoot  them  down  if  they  came  out. 
Mgr.  Landrieux  protested  against  such 
barbarity,  but  the  sergeant  in  charge 
claimed  that  they  were  his  orders. 
Whether  this  was  actually  so  or  not  is  not 
stated,  but  Mgr.  Landrieux  at  once  ex- 
claimed that  if  they  were  going  to  do 
this  they  could  begin  with  shooting  him ! 
The  matter  was  finally  adjusted  by  an 
agreement  on  the  part  of  the  Germans 
that  they  would  make  no  effort  to  escape, 
and  the  prisoners  were  quietly  conducted 
to  the  Hotel  de  Ville. 

The  book  is  completed  with  a  portfolio 
of  96  plates,  comprising  148  photographs 
of  the  cathedral  in  various  stages  of  the 
bombardment.  The  collection  has  been 
admirably  made  and  is  quite  complete. 
It  is  a  valuable  record  of  an  atrocious 
crime.  Special  interest  will  be  taken  in 
the  plan  of  Reims,  showing  the  cathedral 
and  the  immediately  adjacent  land  on 
which  is  marked  the  place  where  every 
shell  fell  in  the  bombardment  from  Sep- 
tember 4,  1914,  to  March  21,  1918.  It 
was  drawn  by  M.  Max  Sainsaulieu,  the 
architect  of  the  cathedral,  from  data 
collected  by  Mgr.  Landrieux. 

Soissons,  like  Reims,  has  been  bom- 
barded throughout  the  war,  and  its  cathe- 
dral more  seriously  injured,  yet  few  de- 
tails of  this  catastrophe  have  been  made 
known.  The  martyrdom  of  Soissons  has 


188 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


been  extremely  painful  and  thoroughly 
complete;  but  being  a  much  smaller  city 
than  Reims  its  trials  have  attracted  less 
attention,  and  the  ruin  of  its  cathedral,  as 
a  lesser  church,  has  seemed  less  note- 
worthy than  that  of  the  great  metropol- 
itan church  at  Reims.  But  the  history 
of  Soissons  in  the  war  is  no  longer  a 
sealed  book,  for  its  bishop,  Mgr.  P.  L. 
Pechenard,  has  just  published  an  exhaus- 
tive account  of  his  episcopal  city  in  the 
war,  La  Grande  Guerre,  Le  Martyre  de 
Soissons. 

It  is  a  book  of  absorbing  interest,  vivid- 
ly written,  and  gives,  for  the  first  time, 
a  complete  survey  of  events  at  Soissons 
during  the  war.  Although  Soissons  was 
not  subject  to  the  almost  daily  bombard- 
ment that  was  the  fate  of  Reims,  it  was 
bombarded,  and  very  seriously,  at  stated 
times.  At  least  five  major  bombardments 
are  cited  by  Mgr.  Pechenard.  The  first 
lasted  for  27  days,  from  September  12 
to  September  29,  1914;  the  second  began 
on  November  1,  1914;  the  third  on 
November  21,  1914;  the  fourth  bombard- 
ment was  in  June  and  July,  1915 ;  the 
fifth  in  March,  1917.  These  were  the 
"high  lights"  of  the  bombardment,  but 
there  were  many  lesser  catastrophies. 

The  history  of  the  bombardment  of 
Soissons  is  not  unlike  that  of  Reims. 
The  Germans  entered  both  cities  early  in 
the  war.  Soissons  surrendered  Septem- 
ber 1,  1914,  and  the  Germans  withdrew 
12  days  later,  on  September  12.  In  leav- 
ing Reims  they  seized  forts  beyond  the 
city  from  which  they  could  easily  bom- 
bard it,  and  from  which  they  could  not 
be  dislodged.  In  leaving  Soissons  they 
occupied  quarries  where  they  were  simil- 
arly strongly  entrenched,  and  which  were 
fatally  available  for  bombardment  pur- 
poses. On  March  19,  1917,  it  was 
officially  announced  that  Soissons  was 
disengaged.  The  Germans,  after  leaving 
Reims  in  1914  never  returned ;  Soissons 
was  not  so  fortunate ;  for  they  came  in 
again  on  May  28,  1918,  and  its  ultimate 
freedom  is  a  part  of  the  noble  history 
of  the  Allied  victory. 

The  bombardment  of  Soissons  began 
with  so  much  severity  that  the  evacu- 
ation of  the  city  was  ordered  at  an  early 


date.  The  Bishop  himself  was  compelled 
to  leave  on  January  15,  1915,  and  found 
refuge  in  Chateau-Thierry,  then  regarded 
as  a  perfectly  safe  place.  He  was  only 
able  to  get  back  on  April  25,  1917.  May 
27,  1918,  being  away  from  Soissons  in  an 
episcopal  visitation,  he  was  unable  to  re- 
turn, and  was  compelled  to  travel  in  a 
cattle  car,  filled  with  soldiers  and 
wounded,  finally  finding  refuge  in  Le 
Mans. 

It  has,  therefore,  been  impossible  for 
Mgr.  Pechenard  to  give  the  story  of  Soi- 
ssons even  chiefly  from  personal  observa- 
tion. But  his  sources  of  information 
were  trustworthy  and  extensive,  and  his 
book  really  loses  nothing  in  value  be- 
cause he  did  not  himself  personally  wit- 
ness everything  he  describes. 

The  injuries  to  the  cathedral  began 
with  the  bombardment,  and  were  con- 
tinued throughout  the  whole  period.  It 
seemed  particularly  the  object  of  the 
enemy  shells  on  many  occasions;  on 
November  4,  1914;  December  7-9,  1914, 
on  the  latter  day  24  bombs  fell  on  the 
cathedral  in  the  morning  alone.  Again 
on  January  15,  1915,  February  2,  1915, 
February  5,  1915,  and  February  12,  1915, 
the  cathedral  was  shelled.  On  February 
28,  1915,  it  was  directly  struck  by  shells 
in  a  bombardment  of  200  shells  that  fell 
on  the  city.  Again  on  March  2,  9,  13,  21 
further  shells  fell.  A  bombardment  of 
June  17,  1915,  appeared  particularly  di- 
rected against  the  cathedral.  The  tower 
and  other  parts  were  injured  June  29, 

1915.  Other  bombardments  followed  on 
June  29  and  July  14,  1915.    By  the  first 
of  January,  1916,  most  of  the  nave  was 
open  to  the  sky.     New  injuries  to  the 
cathedral  July  3-4,  1916.    Again  Novem- 
ber 17,  1916,  and  December  18,  20,  £3, 

1916.  By  the  end  of  the  year  the  injur- 
ies had  extended  from  the  tower  to  the 
chevet,   much    structural   damage    done, 
and  much  of  the  rare  old  glass  utterly 
destroyed.      The    Bishop    sums    up   the 
damages  in  closing  his  book :  the  cathe- 
dral outrageously  mutilated ;  the  tower, 
the  roof,  the  buttresses,  the  walls,  the 
windows,  the  vaults,  the  furnishings,  all 
seriously     injured ;    nothing    had    been 
spared. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD, 


189 


No  one  is  so  competent  as  Mgr.  Pech- 
enard  to  tell  how  these  things  were  done 
and  when.  His  book  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  of  the  war  books,  and  ranks 
high  in  the  cathedral  literature  of  the 
war. 


FURNITURE  STYLES 

BY  CHARLES  OVER  CORNELIUS. 

THE  reasons  which  led  to  the  in- 
ception of  the  work  and  the 
accomplishment  at  which  he  aims 
in  its  writing  are  stated  by  Mr.  Dyer  in 
the  foreword  to  his  Handbook  of  Furni- 
ture Styles.*  The  book  is  meant  primar- 
ily for  the  use  of  persons  interested  in 
housefurnishing  who  desire  a  reasonable 
correctness  in  their  selection  of  useful 
furniture  from  the  mass  of  period  and 
pseudo-period  designs  which  is  at  present 
flooding  the  market,  and  is  another  in- 
strument in  the  campaign  for  the  educa- 
tion of  public  taste  which  is  engaging 
the  efforts  of  writers  and  publishers 
today. 

Such  a  book  is  necessarily  a  brief 
resume,  a  boiling  down  of  pertinent  in- 
formation contained  in  larger  and  less 
popular  volumes,  and  rendered  in  its 
condensed  form  more  accessible  to  a 
public  whose  need  for  it  is  great,  but 
whose  interest  does  not  permit  of  an 
independent  study  of  the  authorities. 

The  author  meets  his  critics  more  than 
half  way  in  two  paragraphs  which  may 
be  quoted : 

"Such  a  condensation  of  a  big  subject 
must  inevitably  result  in  sins  of  omission, 
if  not  of  commission.  I  am  fully  aware 
of  the  defects  inherent  in  this  sort  of 
treatment;  I  know  just  what  the  critics 
and  reviewers  will  say,  and  I  am  moved 
to  forestall  their  criticism  by  certain  ad- 
missions and  disclaimers,  and  to  inform 
the  purchaser  of  this  volume  exactly 
what  he  is  getting  for  his  money." 

"In  the  first  place,  there  is  nothing 
new  in  this  book.  It  does  not  pretend 
to  be  the  result  of  original  research. 

•Handbook  of  Furniture  Styles.  By  Walter  A. 
Dyer,  New  York,  The  Century  Company.  Price, 
$1.50. 


There  is  not  a  fact  or  conclusion  in  it 
that  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  one  of 
a  dozen  larger  and  handsomer  volumes. 
I  do  not  think  I  have  added  one  jot  to 
the  sum  of  human  knowledge  on  this 
subject.  I  have  merely  sorted  out  that 
knowledge  and  now  present  it  in  a  new 
dress — or  undress." 

In  the  main,  the  division  of  the  ma- 
terial is  happily  made,  with  an  introduc- 
tory chapter  upon  the  use  of  period 
furniture  in  modern  homes.  Renaissance 
furniture  in  Italy  and  elsewhere  is  then 
taken  up,  with  emphasis  upon  the  archi- 
tectural origins  of  its  designs,  the  uses 
which  dictated  the  forms  it  should  take 
and  its  importance  as  a  starting  point 
for  all  the  furniture  design  which  came 
after.  The  remainder  of  the  book  fol- 
lows the  development  of  the  furniture 
styles  in  France,  England  and  America, 
as  it  ran  its  course  through  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  to  the 
breakdown  of  taste  in  the  nineteenth. 

In  treating  the  different  periods  the 
characteristics  in  the  design  of  the  var- 
ious styles  jn  relation  to  their  social  or 
artistic  origins,  the  constantly  changing 
materials  which  entered  into  their  manu- 
facture, the  articles  of  furniture  most 
used  and  the  names  of  the  makers  or 
designers  of  first  rank,  whose  influence 
was  particularly  marked  upon  the  work 
of  their  time,  have  all  been  kept  in  mind. 
The  illustratipns,  mostly  of  examples  in 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  and 
thus  accessible  for  examination,  are  ex- 
cently  chosen  and  arranged,  with  the 
purpose  of  emphasizing  special  points  of 
the  text  by  comparison  of  detail  or  form. 

The  tabulated  details  of  the  period 
styles  at  the  end  of  the  book,  a  still 
further  distillation  of  the  material,  are 
convenient  for  reference,  while  the  ex- 
cellent bibliography  contains  most  of  the 
important  works  which  are  readily  to 
be  consulted  by  students  and  collectors. 

To  architects,  the  book  will  be  useful 
for  hasty  reference,  and  particularly  in 
an  indirect  way,  as  it  comes  into  the 
hands  of  clients  who  cannot  but  find 
much  interest  in  its  content  matter  pre- 
sented in  the  lucid  manner  which  is  char- 
acteristic of  all  of  Mr.  Dyer's  writing. 


I    think    you    will    be 

The  "Esthetics     glad  to  learn  of  the  ex- 
of  Engineering"    tremely     significant     ac- 

A      i-  j  a.     M         ti°n   taken   by  the  Alle- 
Apphed  to   New  . 


gheny  County  Commis. 
Bridges  in  sioners  with  reference 
Pittsburgh.  to  the  erection  of  three 

new  bridges  across  the 
Allegheny  River  at  Pittsburgh.  An  ex- 
traordinary opportunity  —  one  probably  not 
paralleled  in  the  history  of  any  American 
city  —  was  presented  to  the  Commissioners 
by  the  action.  of  the  Secretary  of  War  re- 
quiring the  erection  of  six  new  bridges  in 
one  locality  practically  at  one  time. 

The  Art  Commission  of  Pittsburgh  has 
been  interested  in  obtaining  designs  of 
merit  for  this  project  and  the  County 
Commisioners,  Addison  C.  Gumbert,  Frank 
J.  Harris  and  Gilbert  F.  Meyer,  have  loy- 
ally co-operated  and  supported  the  move- 
ment inaugurated  about  one  year  ago  when 
Ralph  Adams  Cram,  the  eminent  Ameri- 
can architect,  visited  Pittsburgh  for  the 
purpose  of  delivering  an  address  on  the 
subject.  The  first  practical  result  of  the 
movement  is  announced  by  the  County 
Commissioners  —  two  able  and  eminent 
architects  residing  in  Pittsburgh,  A.  B. 
Harlow,  the  designer  of  the  Carnegie  In- 
stitue,  and  Benno  Janssen,  a  man  of  ex- 
ceptional ability,  have  been  selected,  to- 
gether with  a  New  York  firm,  to  provide 
plans  for  three  of  these  bridges. 

In  pursuing  this  course  the  Commission- 
ers have  adopted  a  policy  which  is  a  dis- 
tinct recognition  of  the  importance  of  art 
in  connection  with  works  of  utility.  I 
doubt  not  that  the  other  three  bridges  will 
be  designed  upon  a  high  standard  of  artistic 
merit.  The  influence  of  these  works  will 
doubtless  ultimately  extend  throughout  the 
country. 

JOHN  W.  BEATTY. 


Experiments  in  democ- 
racy are  in  order.    War 
A  Community      clears   men's   heads   and 
House  in  they    are    open    to    sug- 

Kansas.  gestions    for    their    own 

improvement.  When 
such  suggestions  are 
linked  with  the  welfare 
of  the  fighting  man  they  are  given  careful 
attention.  Kansas,  more  particularly  the 
city  of  Manhattan,  had  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  taking  care  of  the  many  thousands 
of  soldiers  frequenting  the  town  on  fur- 
lough from  the  adjacent  cantonments,  Fort 
Riley  and  Camp  Funston.  At  the  same 
time  Manhattan  possessed  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  long  headed  men  to  realize  that  the 
remedy  for  this  emergency  was  not  neces- 
sarily very  different  from  the  remedy  for 
a  condition  affecting  all  cities  at  the  pres- 
ent time — namely,  the  problem  of  making 
the  city  more  livable  chiefly  by  the  intro- 
duction of  legitimate  means  for  obtaining 
clean  and  wholesome  entertainment.  There- 
fore the  city  fathers  of  Manhattan  decided 
to  let  good  sense  control  speed  in  such 
degree  that  instead  of  erecting  a  wooden 
hut  to  care  for  these  many  men  in  khaki 
and  then  scrap  the  hut  after  the  armistice 
was  signed  they  built  a  fireproof  brick 
structure  which  would  outlive  the  war  and 
serve  their  own  community. 

The  building  which  met  these  ends  is  in 
fact  a  large  hall,  with  necessary  acces- 
sories, the  idea  of  a  gathering  place  be- 
ing logically  uppermost  in  the  project.  The 
hall  is  equipped  as  a  suitable  space  for 
dancing  or  other  frivolous  entertainment, 
but  has  in  the  brief  history  of  the  building 
already  served  such  varied  purposes  as 
those  of  a  baby  show,  a  public  reception 
and  a  pig-club  convention  all  within  three 
days'  time.  In  general  the  interior  becomes 
a  sort  of  public  parlor,  furnished  with 
multitudinous  chairs,  tables,  lamps,  curtains 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


191 


COMMUNITY   BUILDING,   MANHATTAN,    KANSAS. 
H.   B.   Winter,   Architect. 

and  other  items  that  lend  color.    The  small         During  the  war  this  building  was  under 


space  in  the  building  not  required  for  the 
main  hall  is  used  for  office  and  storage 
space,  kitchens  and  the  requisite  assign- 
ment of  space  for  circulation  and  for  retir- 
ing rooms. 


the  control  of  the  War  Camp  Community 
Service,  which  maintained  there  no  less 
than  ten  different  divisions  of  its  own 
work.  In  addition  other  relief  organiza- 
tions found  quarters  there:  the  Civilian 


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192 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


Relief  Bureau  of  the  Red  Cross,  and  the 
War  Department  Commission  on  Training 
Camp  Activities.  The  building  thus  served 
in  an  intensive  way  the  immediate  needs 
of  the  men  in  training  for  whom  it  became 
a  club.  At  the  same  time  the  nature  of 
the  materials  and  method  of  construction 
provided  the  city  of  Manhattan  with  a 
permanent  edifice  to  serve  its  own  citi- 
zens after  the  soldiers  had  been  dispersed. 
What  is  more,  the  building  will  always  re- 
tain the  atmosphere  of  having  been 
prompted  by  national  service. 

The  Community  House  was  projected  on 
a  co-operative  basis.  The  city  of  Manhat- 
tan numbers  but  7,500  souls,  but  it  saw  fit 
to  get  up  a  bond  issue  which  brought  be- 
tween fifteen  and  twenty  thousand  dollars. 


The  Rotary  Clubs  of  the  Twelfth  District 
added  $13,500  for  the  building  and  $2,500 
more  for  the  furnishings. 

We  have  here  an  enviable  example. 
Other  communities  may  no  longer  have  the 
opportunity  of  founding  such  institutions 
under  the  service  ideal;  yet  they  have  the 
same  opportunity  of  erecting  a  building  to 
serve  as  a  public  centre  of  good  will  and 
good  fellowship.  Manhattan  has  indicated 
the  method  and  has  done  manfully  de- 
spite its  small  population,  making  itself  a 
centre  of  attraction  for  surrounding  coun- 
ties. Finally  this  city  at  least  has  already 
erected  a  structure  which  may  be  used  as 
a  war  memorial  and  in  which  its  mementos 
of  the  struggle  may  be  preserved. 

RICHARD  F.  BACH. 


AUDITORIUM-COMMUNITY  BUILDING,  MANHATTAN,  KANSAS. 


SEPTEMBER 


THE 


101 


ITECTURAL 


PUBLISHED  IN  NEW  YORK 
35?  A  COPY    s  3.5. .A  YEAR 


7S 


tuccoH 


ome 


Residence  built  ly  Roscdalc  Land  Co.,  Detroit,  Michigan. 
Architects,  Stratton  cf-  Schneider.  Detroit. 
StiK-fn  <'o)iti-a<-tt,r.  Detroit  Stucco  Co.   • 
Bishopric  Stucco  Board  used  on  all  e.rteriors. 


will  be  as  beautiful 
10  years  from  now 
as  today ! 


T 


1 1  !•'.  Stucco  is  held  intact  by  a  Bishopric  Board  base.  There,  behind  the  gray-white 
walls,  welded  to  them  in  fact.  Bishopric  Board  grips  the  Stucco  with  a  grip  that  is 
unseverable  and  takes  no  account  of  time. 

In  the  beginning  all  Stucco  homes  are  beautiful.  But  the  homes  which  remain  beautiful 
are  built  upon  a  highly  efficient  background  which  clamps  the  Stucco  tight  to  the  building, 
preventing  sagging  and  cracking. 

Bishopric  Board  is  the  background  for  Stucco.  The  weight  of  the  average  wall  cannot 
possibly  tear  it  loose  from  its  fastenings  as  it  does  other  backgrounds,  because  it  can  be 
nailed  securely.  Furthermore,  the  stresses  are  distributed  over  the  entire  wall  area  by  the 
breaking-joint  method  of  application! 

Strong?  It  certainly  is !  It  has  more  resistance  to  deformation  in  the  plane  of  the 
wall  than  any  other  background. 

The  dovetailed  heavy  wbcd  strips  really  and  truly  lock  the^  Stucco,  forming  a  perfect 
and  inseparable  union.  Dampness  does  not  affect  this  Board — it  is  scientifically  preserved 
and  protected  against  moisture,  atmospheric  change  and  disintegration.  It  cannot  warp, 
shrink  or  swell  and  it  is  as  thoroughly  efficient  in  Florida  as  in  Maine. 

Bishopric  Board  is  a  modern,  patented  combination  of  materials  and  principles  which 
have  been  in  successful  use  by  master  builders  for  ages.  Specify  it  for  its  dependability ! 
Specify  it  for  its  economy — it  saves  materials,  labor  and  time  and  enables  you  to  provide 

desirable  conveniences   for  clients. 

Perfect  insulation  and  sound  deadening  qualities  are  other 
advantages.  Applied  to  interiors,  it  saves  plaster,  time  and 
labor.  It  makes  the  home  warm. 


Specify  Bishopric  Sheathing  also,  the  new  Sheathing  that 
big  industrial  Corporations  are  using.  Saves  30  per  cent 
over  %-inch  wood  Sheathing.  Makes  a  solid  wall,  free  of 
knot-holes  and  of  great  wind  strength. 


Get  our  booklet  which  tells  how  to  get  a  perfect  Stucco 
mixture,  and  beautiful  walls  with  Bishopric  Board. 
Tests  by  Sheffield  Scientific  School  and  others. 


The    Bishopric   Mfg.  Company 


945  Este  Ave. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio 


r*«s 
's^SISSJS&S^ 

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ARCH1T 


VoLXLVI.    No.  3 


SEPTEMBER,  1919 


Serial  No.  252 


Editor:     MICHAEL  A.  MIKKELSEN        Contributing  Editor:    HERBERT  CROLY 
Business  Manager:    J.  A.  OAKLEY 

COVER— Water  Color  PAGE 

By  Arthur  Byne 

THE  RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFORD,  Esq.,  Oak  Knoll,  Pasadena,  Cal.: 

Marston  &-  Van  Pelt,  Architects     '.--,t<       ,  -  '.;>•<  ''•"•$•. -''^''  "..*  :'     195 
By  Charles  Over  Cornelius 

HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA:  John  Galen  Howard, 

Architect          ......      r-fi'j     .        .        .     >"  v".V     203 

By  Richard  F.  Bach 

SUGGESTIONS  AND  MODELS  FOR  ARCHITECTURAL  RENDERING.     The 

Lithographic  Work  of  David  Roberts,  1 796- 1 864-  \*  211 

By  Leon  V.  Solon 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURAL  DECORATION.   Part  X    -r ";      .  • :  '•'  V" "  ^  .   221 

By  Albert  E.  Bullock 

THE  ARTISTIC  TREATMENT  OF  CONCRETE  SURFACES       .    *  .       .       237 

By  H.   Vandervoort  Walsh 

WORKINGMEN'S  HOUSES  IN  ITALY.     Part  II.  .      '*$£     .  .       243 

By    Alfredo    Melani 

PORTFOLIO  OF  CURRENT  ARCHITECTURE     ....  ..     251 

THE  ARCHITECTS  LIBRARY         .  ...  278 

NOTES  AND  COMMENTS  286 


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PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 

THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD     COMPANY 


F.  T.  MILLER,  Pres. 


115-119  WEST  FORTIETH  STPxEET.  NEW  YORK 
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ENTRANCE  TO  LARGE  HOUSE-RESIDENCE  OF 
A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KNOLL,  PASADENA, 
CAL.  MARSTON  &  VAN  PELT,  ARCHITECTS. 


m  THE  ?3*gM 

HITECTVRAL 
KECOKD 


VOLVME  XLVI 


NVMBER  III 


SEPTEMBER,  1919 

RESIDENCE  OF  A  L.GARFORD, 
OAK  KNOLL,  PASADENA,  CAL.C 

Marslon  &  Van  Pelt,  ~4rchilectsf 


i 


N  the  history  of  patronage,  the  culti- 
vated taste  of  the  patron  is  accorded 
a  degree  of  recognition  almost 
equaling  that  which  is  given  to  the  crea- 
tive work  of  the  artist,  and  not  without 
reason.  Appreciation  of  an  artist's  work 
and  of  his  point  of  view  in  doing  what  he 
does,  has  such  a  positive  effect  upon  his 
accomplishment  that  it  is  difficult  at  times 
to  assign  justly  the  original  source  of  the 
impulses  which  determined  a  given  artis- 
tic result.  Folk  art  of  all  kinds  is  built 
upon  this  sympathetic  interrelation  of  the 
creative  and  appreciative  points  of  view, 
and  folk  art  is  not  so  far  removed  from 
the  great  art  of  a  people  as  many  would 
have  us  suppose. 

It  is  in  this  circumstance  that  we  find 
the  explanation  of  the  quick  develop- 
ment and  gratifying  results  in  the  design 
of  country  and  suburban  house  archi- 


tecture in  the  United  States.  As  in  no 
other  branch  of  architecture,  the  client 
and  the  professional  man  meet  upon  a 
nearly  equal  plane;  and  an  entente  cor- 
diale  of  real  spontaneity  is  created  due  to 
a  mutual  respect  for  each  other's  opinion, 
an  association  which,  when  multiplied  by 
the  number  of  its  frequent  occurrences, 
has  led  the  more  optimistic  critics  to  feel 
that  in  this  branch  of  the  art  will  be 
found  to  lie  America's  most  genuine  con- 
tribution to  architecture. 

In  the  design  of  the  dwelling  house, 
the  development  shows  a  remarkable  and 
rapid  response  to  the  varying  and  chang- 
ing needs  of  society,  a  definite  approxi- 
mation to  the  individual  family  groups. 
Here  are  reflected  the  esthetic  tastes  of 
the  more  cultivated  element  of  the  coun- 
try, the  presence  or  absence  of  formality 
and  ceremony  in  the  relations  of  every- 


Copyrighted,  1919,  by  The  Architectural  Record  Company.     All  rights  reserved. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


day  life,  the  relative  pleasure  derived 
from  the  outdoors,  in  beautiful  gardens 
and  magnificent  views,  or  from  indoor 
life  with  its  drawing-rooms,  music-rooms 
and  libraries.  It  is  this  aspect  of  the 
subject  of  house  planning  which  gives 
it  its  very  unusual  interest ;  in  its  de- 
velopment can  be  traced  the  social  his- 
tory of  a  people  for  any  given  time. 

The  house  of  A.  L.  Garford,  Esq., 
in  Pasadena,  Marston  &  Van  Pelt,  archi- 
tects, is  particularly  interesting  because 
of  its  plan.  In  a  land  of  such  unrivaled 
and  individual  beauty  as  that  in  which 
this  house  is  placed,  a  predominant  con- 
sideration was  the  site,  in  relation  to  the 
view  which  may  be  enjoyed  from  it  and 
to  the  design  of  the  house.  The  location 
of  the  house,  on  the  crest  of  a  small  hill, 
has  permitted  a  certain  regularity  of  roof 
line  and  irregularity  of  plan  which  is  a 
natural  response  to  the  ground  levels.  Its 
main  axis  gives  a  clear  vista  over  the  tree 
tops  to  the  sunny  country  beyond  them, 
and  the  terraces,  porches,  and  belvidere 
all  concentrate  upon  this  aspect. 

The  plan  of  the  house  itself  follows 
the  natural  land  grades,  and  in  its  some- 
what irregular  form  satisfies  the  neces- 
sity of  a  desirable  faqade  toward  the 
street  from  which  it  is  entered,  as  well 
as  toward  the  view  to  the  north  and  east. 

The  group  is  composed  of  two  entirely 
self-contained  dwellings,  served  with 
equal  convenience  by  one  driveway,  and 
united  by  £  long  porch  and  porte-cochere 
The  smaller  house  is  not  unusual  in  its 
arrangement  and  meets  all  the  require- 
ments of  a  house  of  its  size,  its  chief  in- 
terest lying  in  the  treatment  which  makes 
it  an  integral  part  of  the  whole  plan. 

In  the  larger  house  a  more  formal 
arrangement  is  adopted  with  a  cruciform 
plan  as  its  key.  The  entrance  on  the  main 
axis  for  the  vista  is  directly  opposite  the 
long  doors  to  the  terrace.  To  right  and 
left  open  library  and  living-room,  well 
proportioned  in  themselves  and  of  good 
relation  to  each  other,  whose  fireplaces 
respond  invitingly.  The  transition  to  the 
wing,  at  an  oblique  angle,  is  simply  made, 
with  no  waste  of  space  and  with  a  dis- 
tinct feeling  for  the  forms  of  the  rooms. 
The  service  wing  is  compactly  arranged 


and  is  connected  by  a  covered  way  with 
the  garage  beyond  it.  The  whole  plan 
presents  an  open-minded  approach  to  the 
problem,  which  has  been  solved  with  the 
greatest  economy  of  space  consistent 
with  dignified  effect. 

The  exterior  presents  an  adapted  use 
of  Spanish  baroque  detail,  sparingly  used 
upon  a  building  whose  mass,  quite  indi- 
vidual in  form,  is  a  direct  expression  of 
its  plan.  The  porch  which  connects  the  two 
units  of  the  group  is  the  chief,  one  may 
say  the  only,  unifying  element.  The  en- 
trance bay  of  the  main  house  forms  the 
dominant  motif  upon  the  south  elevation, 
while  its  corresponding  face  upon  the 
north  side  forms  here  the  most  strongly 
marked  element,  both  in  design  and  deco- 
ration. This  bay  suffers  somewhat  from 
an  over-emphasis  upon  verticality,  which 
would  have  been  avoided  by  a  closer  hori- 
zontal tie  to  the  right  as  well  as  to  the  left. 
The  wings  of  the  house  reach  out  at 
either  side  with  a  fenestration  which 
appears  to  be  less  studied  than  casual. 

There  is  a  certain  lack  of  unity  in  the 
design  of  the  exterior,  and  a  disregard  of 
any  subtlety  of  composition  or  study  of 
effects  of  light  and  shade,  both  so  import- 
ant in  work  of  this  type.  Of  the  exterior 
details,  the  entrance  doorway  comes 
nearest  to  a  successful  treatment.  Yet 
here,  too,  the  verticals  are  too  insistent  in 
the  absence  of  any  balance  of  horizontals. 
This  bay,  which  is  repeated  in  a  different 
form  on  the  north  side,  would  have 
gained  in  effect  by  a  different  roof  treat- 
ment, something  which  would  break  up 
the  general  uniformity  of  the  roof-line 
and  give  a  more  special  quality  to  the  bay 
itself. 

The  treatment  of  the  walls  surround- 
ing the  service  yard  is  unqualifiedly  suc- 
cessful. The  flat  white  surfaces  sur- 
mounted by  the  molded  coping  are 
straightforward  and  a  pleasing  back- 
ground for  any  planting  which  is  antici- 
pated, and  the  smaller  gateway  is  charm- 
ing in  its  form. 

The  choice  of  the  adapted  Spanish 
style  demands  a  very  considerable  skill 
on  the  part  of  the  designer.  The  train- 
ing of  American  designers  as  applied  to 
decoration  is  by  no  means  so  great  as  in 


196 


ENTRANCE  TO  SMALL  HOUSE-RESIDENCE  OF 
A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KNOLL,  PASADENA, 
CAL.  MARSTON  &  VAN  PELT,  ARCHITECTS. 


Of  Mil*  L 

^ALSTON    I  VAN    IUUT,  AtcrHITCCTi 

*•'"*    I    >:     . 


BLOCK  PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GAR- 
FORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KNOLL,  PASADENA,  CAL. 
MARSTON  &  VAN  PELT,  ARCHITECTS. 


FRONT  ELEVATION-RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KXOLL,   PASADENA,  CAL. 

Marston  &  Van   Pelt,  Architects. 


NORTH  ELEVATION— RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KXOLL,  PASADENA,  CAL. 

Marston  &  Van   Pelt,  Architects. 

199 


NORTH  ELEVATION— RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KNOLL,  PASADENA,  CAL. 

Marston   &   Van   Pelt,   Architects. 


DETAIL  OF  NORTH  ELEVATION— RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KNOLL, 

PASADENA,  CAL. 
Marston  &  Van  Pelt,  Architects. 

200 


GATE  TO  SERVICE  COURT—  RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFOKD, 

PASADENA,   CAL. 
Marston  &  Van  Pelt,  Architects. 


OAK 


GATE  TO    SERVICE   YARD-RESIDENCE   OF   A.    L.    GARFORD,    ESQ.,    OAK    KNOLL, 

PASADENA,   CAL. 
Marston  &  Van   Pelt,  Architects. 

201 


STAIR  HALL— RESIDENCE  OF  A.  L.  GARFORD,  ESQ.,  OAK  KNOLL,  PASADENA,  CAL. 
Marston   &  Van  Pelt,  Architects. 


its  application  to  planning,  and  it  is  in  the 
planning  of  a  dwelling  house  that  the  co- 
operation between  client  and  architect  is 
closest,  the  trained  man  interpreting  in 
his  technical  terms  the  wishes  and  re- 
quirements of  the  owner.  This  art  of 
planning  comes  very  close  to  expressing 
the  life  of  a  people  and  in  its  range  nv 
run  all  the  way  from  the  so-called  folk 
art  to  a  dignified  expression  which  makes 
full  claim  to  beauty  for  its  own  sake  and 
surrounds  life's  daily  activities  with  a 
meaning  above  and  beyond  its  merely 
routine  motions.  A  house  which  fails  to 
register  this  accomplishment  of  unifying 


its  plan  arid  interior  treatment  with  the 
life  which  is  passing  within  it,  fails  to  re- 
spond to  the  most  important  demand  laid 
upon  it,  while  its  success  in  this  regard  is 
an  ever  new  reason  for  approbation.  The 
residence  which  we  have  just  considered 
presents  a  truly  gratifying  success  in  the 
treatment  of  its  plan,  which  is  clever  and 
unusual  in  its  combination  of  use  and 
comfort  with  a  just  consideration  of  the 
relative  importance  of  the  units  in  the 
design,  and,  in  addition,  furnishes  a 
most  individual  interpretation  of  a  house 
for  two  families,  united  yet  each 
distinct. 


HILGAFLD  HALL 

-University  of  Qalifimia- 

John  QahnJCoWard. 


By  Richard  F.  Bach 


THE  buildings  of  our  larger  univer- 
sities are  representative  of  the 
steady  advance  of  American  archi- 
tecture. No  other  type  of  building  re- 
flects so  promptly  the  trend  of  thought 
in  a  land  of  democratic  thinking.  Out  of 
the  universities  come  the  guiding  ideals 
of  our  life  as  a  nation  and  as  individuals. 
In  the  molding  of  character  architectural 
environment  has  inspirational  and  incen- 
tive value,  and  this  is  particularly  true 
with  respect  to  colleges  and  universities. 

In  America  we  are  still  building  our 
collegiate  institutions;  their  traditions 
are  still  green  and  their  architecture 
therefore  is  not  so  well  seasoned  and 
tried  as  are  the  old  quads  in  England  or 
the  moldy  walls  of  Continental  universi- 
ties that  date  their  beginnings  before  the 
Renaissance.  Yet  we  have  certain  ad- 
vantages because  of  our  youth.  There  is 
the  matter  of  group  planning,  and  the 
matter  of  safety  for  numbers,  there  is 
the  matter  of  scientific  perfection  of 
equipment  for  buildings  in  which  science 
is  to  be  taught.  Of  these  the  group  plan 
has  the  most  to  offer  to  the  imagination. 

Not  the  least  interesting  feature  of  the 
newer  plans  is  the  factor  of  local  color. 
There  are  projects  in  pure  Collegiate 
Gothic  reflecting  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
there  are  other  Gothic  derivatives,  there 
are  projects  in  pure  Italian  Renaissance 
of  the  municipal  type,  and  there  are  still 
others  that  have  responded  more  faith- 
fully to  the  demands  of  their  own  soil, 
and  while  harking  back  to  Italian  or  other 
motives  nevertheless  seem  to  have  struck 
a  decidedly  individual  track  expressive 
of  their  own  environment  and  future.  Of 


these  the  University  of  California  is  one. 

At  California  the  rule  of  sunlight  and 
color  has  been  obeyed.  There  are  seen 
in  all  the  buildings  refreshing  plain  areas 
not  tortured  by  conflicting  shadows,  and 
there  is  ample  evidence  of  regard  for 
the  possibilities  of  color  in  American 
buildings. 

Hilgard  Hall  is  one  of  four  units  ulti- 
mately to  constitute  the  group  of  build- 
ings to  be  devoted  to  agriculture.  Agri- 
culture Hall,  already  in  place,  was  the 
first  of  the  units  to  be  completed.  As  is 
seen  in  the  block  plan,  Hilgard  Hall 
flanks  this  first  building  and  forms  the 
second  side  of  the  trapezoid  that  will  in 
the  end  be  the  agriculture  quadrangle. 
The  quadrangle  will,  however,  not  be  so 
severely  hemmed  in  by  buildings  as  is 
usually  the  case,  first  because  the  halls  are 
all  no  more  than  two  stories  in  height, 
second  because  the  fourth  side  of  the 
quad  will  consist  of  greenhouses. 

Hilgard  Hall  is  on  plan  in  the  form  of 
a  shallow  letter  U.  Its  important  ex- 
terior face  presents  an  engaged  Doric 
order,  set  upon  a  high  base,  itself  broken 
by  window  openings  and  by  a  stairway 
approach  occupying  the  central  inter- 
columniation.  The  order  embraces  two 
stories,  the  floor  level  being  indicated  by 
decorative  panels  between  the  shafts. 
The  entablature  presents  a  series  of  deli- 
cately treated  moldings,  in  keeping  with 
the  decoration  of  the  frieze,  which  is 
worked  out  in  a  combination  of  relief 
skull  motives,  or  bucrania,  and  sgraffito 
plaster  ornament  in  several  colors. 
Sgraffito  likewise  appears  at  several  other 
points  of  vantage,  notably  the  pilasters 


203 


~  V  1.  »  T      -  '4»-tr  A  Kl 


-rmr-nrr 


204 


HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
John  Galen  Howard,  Architect. 


— i.    . ' •*"  ^*^  r 


HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 
John  Galen  Howard,  Architect. 

205 


HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFOR- 
NIA.    JOHN   GALEN   HOWARD,   ARCHITECT. 


HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFOR- 
NIA.    JOHN   GALEN   HOWARD,   ARCHITECT. 


HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFOR- 
NIA.    JOHN   GALEN   HOWARD,   ARCHITECT. 


HILGARD  HALL,  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFOR- 
NIA.    JOHN    GALEN    HOWARD,   ARCHITECT. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


which  emphasize  all  vertical  angles  of  the 
building.  These  features  achieve  an 
added  value  because  of  the  pale  gray 
stucco  background  offered  by  the  walls. 

The  design  of  the  sgraffito  has  been 
carried  out  on  a  variegated  system  of 
ground  colors,  against  which  the  orna- 
ment is  relieved  in  white.  In  the  door- 
ways the  ground  color  is  a  pale  neutral 
yellow  or  cream  color;  the  same  is  true 
of  all  reveals  and  soffits.  The  main 
pilasters,  borders  and  friezes  were 
executed  in  a  Tuscan  red  ground  color 
with  a  cream  face  color  for  the  orna- 
ment. The  ten  symbolic  panels  appear- 
ing between  columns  were  developed  in 
three  colors,  gray  interposed  between  a 
Tuscan  red  ground  and  a  creamy  face 
color. 

These  experiments  in  sgraffito  as 
applied  to  American  architecture  were 
supervised  by  Paul  E.  Denivelle,  who  was 
Supervisor  of  Texture  and  Modeling  at 
the  Panama  Pacific  International  Expo- 
sition. We  may  say  without  reserva- 
tion that  the  results  are  splendid.  Un- 
doubtedly critics  will  demand  stronger 
colors  in  certain  parts,  perhaps  strong 
blues  will  be  desired  by  some,  but  color 
like  other  types  of  beauty  may  be  said  to 
lie  very  much  in  the  beholder's  eye. 

There  is  no  question  whatever  that 
sgraffito  is  an  amenable  type  of  ornament 
for  American  buildings.  It  can  be 
handled  with  no  undue  amount  of  effort 
and  it  has  advantages  for  flat  color  com- 
bined with  relief  semblances  equaled 
by  no  other  medium.  Above  all  it  is 
characterized  by  firmness  and  mural 
quality  derived  from  the  fact  that  the 
color  is  an  integral  body  color  mixed  in 
the  material  used. 

Several  other  experiments  have  been 
made  in  this  direction ;  in  New  York  we 
have  in  mind  the  Alexander  shoe  shop  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  the  building  erected  as  the 
Astor  Market  on  Broadway  at  Ninety- 
fifth  street,  a  phonograph  establishment 
on  Forty-second  street  and  the  Booth 
and  Shubert  theatres.  These  are  isolated 


examples  of  a  technique  fraught  with 
many  possibilities.  During  the  Renais- 
sance in  Italy  this  method  of  plaster 
decoration,  consisting  in  effect  of  nothing 
more  than  the  overlaying  of  thin  coats 
of  plaster  of  differing  colors  and  of 
scratching  through  these  coats  to  the  de- 
sired depth  to  bring  out  the  color  wanted 
in  a  given  place,  found  frequent  applica- 
tion. Narrow  streets,  wall  areas  of  con- 
siderable extent  due  to  reduction  of  win- 
dow space  made  necessary  in  the  south- 
ern climate,  all  coupled  with  the  Italian's 
inborn  desire  for  movement  and  color, 
found  a  ready  servant  in  the  lively  and 
responsive  medium  of  sgraffito.  Notable 
examples  are  the  Palazzo  Ricci  and  the 
Palazzo  Torrigiano,  both  in  Rome. 

Other  notable  features  in  the  ornament 
used  in  Hilgard  Hall  are  seen  especially 
in  the  treatment  of  the  main  doorway, 
where  the  symbolic  use  of  floral  and  fruit 
forms  blends  well  with  the  convention- 
alized motives  used  in  the  door  frame, 
consoles  and  metal  gates.  Other  en- 
trances are  surmounted  by  balconies  and 
decorative  window  treatments  reminding 
one  of  the  Certosa  at  Pavia. 

Oilman  Hall  is  likewise  of  stucco 
finish.  Both  of  these  buildings  differ 
from  the  others  at  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia, most  of  which  are  of  marble.  In 
Oilman  Hall  there  is  less  opportunity  for 
the  skilful  use  of  color ;  an  Ionic  order  of 
Greek  chastity  is  used.  This  building 
forms  one  short  side  of  a  minor  group 
plan,  which  is  to  take  the  stereotyped 
square-sided  figure  eight  shape,  with  two 
courtyards. 

John  Galen  Howard,  architect  of  the 
buildings  of  the  University  of  California, 
is  director  of  the  College  of  Architecture 
at  that  institution.  In  the  buildings  with 
which  they  are  constantly  associated  his 
students  have  inspiring  examples  to  emu- 
late, and  in  the  high  caliber  and  restrained 
processes  of  thought  which  these  build- 
ings illustrate  they  have  unfailing  guides 
to  leadership  in  the  architectural  profes- 
sion. 


210 


LITHOGRAPHIC  WORK  OF 
DAVID  ROBERTS,  1706-1^64 


LEON  V7  SOLON 


THE  manner  in  which  an  architec- 
tural drawing  is  to  be  prepared  or, 
to  use  the  professional  term, 
"rendered"  for  the  client's  consideration 
involves  a  problem  of  increasing  impor- 
tance to  the  architect,  one  worthy  of 
unbiased  analytical  study.  Judgment 
and  experience  are  unanimous  in  pro- 
claiming analysis  an  inflexible  process; 
candor,  therefore,  is  an  elementary 
necessity  in  stating  a  premise*  Accuracy 
in  the  statement  of  our  case  compels  us 
to  admit  reluctantly  that  professional  in- 
terest in  "rendering"  proceeds  from  a 
commercial  motive  rather  than  from  a 
disinterested  desire  for  progress.  A 
frank  recognition  of  this  fact  calls  for 
no  apology;  the  time  is  surely  ripe  for 
discarding  the  foolish  custom  whereby 
the  work  of  art  is  of  necessity  enveloped 
in  a  web  of  fictitious  romance.  Is  it  not 
also  time  to  abolish  the  illogical  preju- 
dice that  assumes  art  degraded  by  any 
association  with  methods  practiced  by 
the  trader?  This  fallacy  has  been  main- 
tained in  the  face  of  direct  contradic- 
tions recorded  in  the  lives  of  many  of  the 
most  famous  masters,  until  it  assumes 
almost  the  status  of  an  article  of  faith. 
MAIN  DEFECTS  IN  THE  AVERAGE 

RENDERING. 

For  a  considerable  period  a  mechani- 
cal type  of  rendering  has  prevailed ; 
many  well-conceived  designs  have  suf- 
fered a  heavy  discount  of  appreciation 
through  grossness  of  pictorial  technique, 
and  an  intensely  "bourgeois"  treatment 
in  composition.  If  a  number  of  the 
average  type  be  examined,  they  will  re- 
veal certain  common  defects,  the  most 
serious  being  the  absence  of  any  appar- 
ent intent  to  compose  the  subject,  lack  of 


appreciation  of  the  value  of  line-quality 
as  an  element  in  atmospheric  effect  and 
complete  obliviousness  to  one  of  the 
most  powerful  resources  available  for 
conveying  a  pictorial  or  decorative  im- 
pression— chiaroscuro. 

THE  COMMERCIAL  VALUE  OF 
RENDERING. 

The  "rendered"  drawing  might  be 
likened  to  the  prism ;  it  is  the  instrument 
through  which  the  fixed  professional 
angle  of  the  architect's  perception  is 
diverted  to  one  appreciable  by  his  client. 
Pictorial  quality,  existing  independently 
of  realism,  is  the  most  natural  and  direct 
agent  for  the  transmission  of  an  archi- 
tectural conception  to  the  lay  mind,  un- 
accustomed to  think  in  terms  of  plan  and 
elevation.  The  extent  to  which  the  client 
may  be  influenced  by  a  skillful  rendering 
is  illustrated  in  the  following  incident. 
A  prominent  banker  decided  to  erect  new 
banking  premises  of  considerable  pre- 
tension. When  the  contract  was 
awarded,  a  clause  figured  therein  to  the 
effect  that  if  either  architect  or  contrac- 
tor submitted  a  perspective  before  the 
building  had  reached  the  second  floor, 
such  action  would  render  the  agreement 
with  either  void.  The  banker  explained 
that  in  previous  enterprises  he  had  been 
unduly  influenced  by  clever,  colored  per- 
spectives, for  which  reason  he  excluded 
them  as  prejudicial  to  a  free  exercise  of 
his  judgment. 

THE  QUEST  FOR  MODELS  OF 
TECHNIQUE. 

Models  are  necessary  for  the  guidance 
of  those  who  desire  to  leave  the  beaten 
rut  of  mediocrity;  the  author  conse- 


211 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


quently  has  explored  many  unfrequented 
paths  in  pictorial  art  in  which  the  archi- 
tectural subject  constituted  the  motif, 
either  by  reason  of  its  intrinsic  beauty 
or  because,  through  the  picturesqueness 
of  its  surroundings,  it  became  a  source 
of  pictorial  inspiration. 

In  seeking  a  new  fund  of  influence  it 
is  necessary  to  direct  our  attention  to 
schools  that  had  aims  identical  with  or 
corresponding  to  our  needs,  or  that  pos- 
sess those  qualities  we  aspire  to  emulate. 

The  elementary  basis  of  the  "school" 
in  the  arts  lies  in  specialization ;  this 
specialization  concentrates  on  certain 
qualities,  pre-eminently  sensed.  One 
group  of  painters,  for  instance,  recog- 
nized as  a  school,  indulges  an  intense 
affection  for  minute  and  precise  state- 
ment; another  cultivates  breadth  at  the 
expense  of  detail ;  a  third  loves  sensu- 
ousness  of  form  more  than  voluptuous- 
ness of  color;  the  next,  sumptuousness 
of  tone  to  the  elimination  of  extreme  re- 
finement of  form;  and  so  on,  through 
the  range  of  qualities  and  beauties,  in- 
tellectural  and  technical. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  designate 
those  qualities  that  are,  for  the  moment, 
essential  to  the  "rendering,"  and  find  the 
school  which  possesses  the  greatest  num- 
ber in  the  most  sympathetic  form.  If 
these  essential  qualities  are  technique  in 
draughtsmanship,  versatility  in  composi- 
tion, and  a  command  of  the  subtle  and 
dramatic  resources  of  chiaroscuro,  ap- 
plied to  architectural  subjects,  certain 
members  of  the  British  school  of  painters 
and  lithographers  of  the  late  eighteenth 
century  and  early  nineteenth  century 
stand  forth  pre-eminently  endowed  with 
what  we  seek. 

Though  many  eloquent  phrases  have 
been  written  regarding  the  leaders  of 
this  school  by  writers  as  eminent  as  Rus- 
kin,  we  are  unable  to  accept  their  judg- 
ment concerning  the  relative  values  of 
each,  for  the  reason  that  conclusions 
were  arrived  at  through  weighing  other 
qualities  than  those  we  consider. 

A  long  period  of  neglect  has  elapsed 
since  Ruskin  lauded  their  beauties,  and 
it  is  not  proposed  here  to  give  the  en- 
dorsement of  this  master  of  prose  as  a 


credential  of  value.  In  the  immature 
days  of  the  author's  studentship  of 
painting,  when  youthful  enthusiasm 
could  not  recognize  merit  apart  from 
vogue,  this  particular  school  embodied 
all  the  opposites  to  the  favorite  creeds ; 
it  is  interesting  now  to  discover  so  many 
beauties  in  works  formerly  discriminated 
against. 

For  our  present  purpose  we  must  com- 
mence by  transferring  the  laurels  of 
leadership,  placed  by  his  contemporaries 
on  the  brow  of  Prout,  to  that  of  David 
.Roberts,  whose  works  exhibit  in  the 
.greatest  degree  that  combination  of  qual- 
ities which  our  students  of  architectural 
technique  and  pictorial  composition  are 
most  deficient  in.  It  has  frequently  hap- 
pened that  a  later  generation,  with  cor- 
responding sympathies  and  selective 
prejudices,  reverses  the  arrangement  of 
contemporary  esthetic  valuation. 

Any  object  meriting  the  title  of  "work 
of  art"  is  an  aggregate  of  diverse  intel- 
lectual elements ;  such  works  are  gener- 
ically  classified  according  to  the  predom- 
inance of  distinctive  qualities  or  charac- 
teristics, imaginative  or  technical.  The 
creators  of  works  so  grouped  were  at- 
tracted to  their  common  points  of  view, 
through  an  abnormal  susceptibility  to 
specific  esthetic  qualities,  which  con- 
trolled their  instinct  in  selection.  This 
magnetic  force,  the  genesis  of  the  school, 
is  only  generated  in  individuals  of  strong 
personality,  and  is  reacted  to  in  their 
work  after  their  various  manners;  the 
prevailing  cachet  of  thought  of  their  day 
adding  yet  another  distinctive  imprint  to 
its  character. 

It  is  precisely  the  change  of  these  pre- 
vailing modes  of  thought,  reflecting  so- 
cial conditions,  which  causes  a  later  gen- 
eration to  rearrange  the  order  of  preced- 
ence determined  by  contemporaries. 
Though  the  esthetic  aspirations  of  the 
generation  reviving  a  point  of  view  may 
coincide  with  those  of  the  generation 
creating  it,  the  appraisal  of  relative 
values  is  often  as  much  influenced  by  ex- 
traneous considerations  as  by  intrinsic 
merit,  all  these  indeterminate  and  un- 
stable qualities  giving  varying  totals  in 
their  combination. 


212 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


The  main  argument  for  placing 
Roberts  in  the  foremost  place  is  that  he 
most  successfully  combines  those  con- 
trasting qualities  so  essential  to  our  idea 
of  an  adequate  architectural  rendering — 
precision  in  the  general  statement  of 


raggedness  is  affected,  with  the  object 
of  augmenting  romance  by  exaggerating 
decay.  This  was  a  reflection  of  the  in- 
tellectual attitude  of  his  day,  which  pre- 
ferred to  consider  in  an  architectural 
masterpiece  the  hoariness  of  its  age 


GATEWAY  AT  CORDOVA. 


form  and  mass,  and  freedom  in  its  gra- 
phic transcription. 

The  foible  of  our  day  is  for  poetic  ver- 
sions of  mathematical  calculations,  any 
license  being  welcome  that  leaves  our 
facts  intact.  Our  predilection  for  accu- 
rate information  impels  us  to  reject  the 
Prout  technique.  In  Prout's  treatment 
of  architectural  detail  a  conventional 


rather  than  the  indestructibility  of  its 
beauty;  for  Prout  antiquity  appears  to 
be  synonymous  with  disintegration. 

DAVID    ROBERTS'    WORK    IN     LITHOG- 
RAPHY. 

Incidents  in  the  life  of  David  Roberts, 
such  as  his  record  as  an  exhibitor,  ad- 
mission to  various  art  societies,  his  suc- 


213 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


cesses,  and  his  travels,  must  perforce  be 
eliminated  from  a  brief  appreciation  of 
peculiar  qualities  in  his  work,  which  aims 
to  stimulate  interest  in  his  technique 
rather  than  curiosity  concerning  his  per- 
sonality. He  was  born  in  Stockbridge, 


undue  extent  as  a  means  to  that  end.  An 
anecdote  is  handed  down  at  his  expense, 
which  recounts  that  on  one  occasion 
Roberts  was  expatiating  on  the  merits 
of  this  favorite  pigment,  saying:  "It  is 
the  finest  color  out ;  it  will  stand  damp, 


LOGGIA. 


Edinburgh,  in  1796,  and  died  in  the  year 
1864.  His  father  was  a  shoemaker,  and 
apprenticed  him  to  a  housedecorator  and 
painter  for  seven  years.  In  1822  he  went 
lo  London,  where  he  worked  as  a  scene- 
painter  while  pursuing  his  career  as  a 
landscape  painter.  As  a  painter  he  ac- 
quired considerable  reputation,  being 
finally  elected  Royal  Academician.  The 
record  of  prices  paid  for  his  work  at  ex- 
hibitions proves  that  esthetic  apprecia- 
tion was  supplemented  by  financial  suc- 
cess. 

As  a  painter  he  was  much  influenced 
by  Turner  and  other  members  of  that 
school  in  their  endeavor  to  realize  atmos- 
pheric quality  in  landscape,  causing  him 
occasionally  to  make  use  of  cobalt  to  an 


gas,  or  cleaning;  there's  nothing  like  it." 
C.  R.  Leslie,  the  painter,  who  was  one  of 
the  group  present,  retorted:  "I  will  tell 
you  one  thing  it  won't  stand — it  won't 
stand  looking  at." 

P.  G.  Hamerton,  the  British  art 
critic,  was  evidently  not  a  believer  in  the 
recurrence  of  esthetic  influences  as  a 
general  rule.  He  wrote  of  Roberts  in 
the  "Portfolio"  in  1887: 

"As  an  artist  David  Roberts  shone 
rather  by  the  quality  than  by  the  extent 
of  his  powers.  He  composed  well.  His 
sense  of  architectural  detail  was  fine  and 
his  drawing  of  detail  suggestive.  At  the 
present  moment  Roberts  is  out  of 
fashion,  and  it  is  not  likely  he  will  ever 
come  in  again.  But  the  sterling  quality 


214 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


of  his  work    will    always    preserve    his     ner,  but  was  quite  content  to  translate  it 


name  from  oblivion." 


all  into  "Haghe." 


There  is  practically  no  direct  informa-  In  the  lithographs  of  Roberts'  sketches 

tion  concerning  his  lithographic  work,  or  in  Spain,  we  find    the    Roberts    manner 

of    himself    as    a    lithographer.      Louis  and  technique  in  its  full  force,  delicacy 

Haghe   made   the  lithographs    from  his  and    distinction,    the    antithesis    of    the 


CHURCH  OF  SAN  JACO. 


studies  and  drawings  in  the  Holy  Land 
and  Syria.  Haghe's  work  can  be  identi- 
fied in  innumerable  proofs;  it  is  untem- 
peramental  in  the  extreme,  and  his 
proofs  savor  of  transcription  devoid  of 
sympathy.  He  made  no  attempt  appar- 
ently to  reproduce  or  reflect  the  pecul- 
iarities of  his  model's  technique  or  man- 


Haghe  formula.  Signatures  on  such 
works  are  superfluous ;  his  personality 
shines  out  of  every  tint  and  line.  The 
only  reference  to  his  work  in  stone  is  re- 
corded in  connection  with  this  work. 
It  states  that  Roberts  was  so  disgusted 
with  the  manner  in  which  his  drawings 
had  been  done  on  stone  that  he  remade 


215 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


the  work  himself,  a  fact  needing  no  cor- 
roboration  outside  the  work  itself. 

In  these  admirable  impressions,  the 
richness  and  delicacy  of  tone  bespeak  the 
painter,  and  a  wonderful  range  in  flexi- 
bility of  touch  reveals  the  habit  of  one 


publication  of  his  lithographic  drawings 
entitled  "Sketches  in  Spain."  Black  ink 
is  used  to  print  the  key-plate  of  all.  The 
impressions  are  taken  upon  a  smooth, 
heavy  paper.  A  preparatory  ground  of 
yellow  ochre  is  printed  to  enable  Roberts 


THE  GATE  OF  ALCAIA,  MADRID. 


skilled  in  the  passage  of  light  in  pigment. 
No  trace  is  to  be  found  of  the  conven- 
tional manner  of  Haghe  and  his  contem- 
porary workers  on  stone,  whose  ponder- 
ous technique  so  often  reduces  graphic 
poems  in  light  and  tone  to  uniform  state- 
ments in  lithographic  formula. 

His  departure  from  contemporary 
convention  shows  us  work  in  which  ig- 
norance of  mechanical  methods  is  com- 
pensated for  by  a  breadth  of  view  and 
skill  of  hand  acquired  in  higher  walks 
of  art.  We  feel  that  he  commanded  a 
"vista"  denied  his  brother  craftsmen  in 
lithography,  and  that  he  possessed  a  tem- 
perament of  such  pliability  that  unfamil- 
iarity  with  a  medium  could  not  dwarf  his 
sense  of  space  and  scale. 
INGREDIENTS  OF  EFFECT  ADOPTED  BY 
DAVID  ROBERTS. 

Our  illustrations  are  all  taken  from  a 


to  make  use  of  white;  this  he  employs 
to  focus  interest  in  a  characteristic  man- 
ner. Touches  of  other  colors  are  spar- 
ingly used  to  enrich  secondary  detail  and 
accessories. 

GATEWAY  AT  CORDOVA. 
An  excellent  example  of  the  manner 
in  which  he  manipulates  light,  shade  and 
tone  to  attain  an  imaginary  or  artificial 
pictorial  result  is  the  rendering  of  the 
gateway  at  Cordova.  The  focal  point,  or 
centre  of  composition,  is  placed  on  the 
left  of  the  picture,  comprising  the  near 
columns  and  the  adjoining  small  house. 
The  entire  scheme  converges  on  this  cen- 
tre of  interest,  accentuated  by  the  use  of 
white.  Tone  adjustment  is  deliberately 
contrived,  with  a  calculation  which  might 
be  open  to  the  imputation  of  theatrical 
intention.  The  deep  tone  enveloping  the 
near  entablature  has  no  other  reason  for 


216 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


its  presence  than  to  serve  as  a  foil  to  the 
focal  point,  regardless  of  realistic  aims. 
His  figures  are  so  skillfully  scattered 
that  their  function  of  bridging  over 
lapses  in  architectural  interest  is  not  ap- 
parent at  first  sight. 


to  their  translucency.  A  comparison 
of  a  number  of  Roberts'  composi- 
tions reveals  his  antipathy  to  an  un- 
broken base  line  in  foreground  buildings. 
The  figures,  animals  and  household  ac- 
cessories are  so  arranged  that  the  curved 


THE  BRIDGE  AT  TOLEDO. 


LOGGIA. 

This  example  reveals  Roberts'  keen 
architectural  sense  by  the  manner  in 
which  structural  detail  is  rendered  and 
suggested.  The  carving  over  the  Moor- 
ish arch,  the  caps  and  bases  are  inter- 
preted with  the  greatest  freedom,  but 
with  such  understanding  and  truthful 
effect  that  it  is  possible  to  recognize  and 
identify  the  minutest  detail.  He  evi- 
dently considered  the  masses  of  shadow 
in  the  building  itself  awkwardly  placed; 
he  consequently  carried  the  deep  tone 
of  the  shadows  through  the  picture  by 
introducing  the  sombrely  clad  child  on 
the  left,  and  the  group  of  dark  earthen 
vessels  on  the  right.  The  granular  tex- 
ture of  the  cast  shadows  adds  much 


line  on  which  they  are  grouped  breaks 
the  horizontal  base  line,  which  might 
otherwise  have  tended  to  separate  the 
subject  from  the  immediate  foreground. 

CHURCH  OF  SAN  JACO. 
The  white  color  which  is  used  to  focus 
interest  is  more  apparent  in  this  cut  than 
in  the  original,  the  ochre  yellow  on  which 
it  is  applied  in  the  lithograph  being  in  less 
violent  contrast  than  the  gray  halftone. 
The  manner  in  which  it  has  been  used 
and  its  purpose  are  worthy  of  study  and 
note.  Many  recent  renderings  of  Gothic 
fagades  defeat  their  object  by  a  mechani- 
cally uniform  distribution  of  interest ; 
to  concentrate,  Roberts  chose  to  draw 
the  eye  with  his  "spot-light"  method  to 
a  comparatively  limited  area,  correspond- 


217 


MARKET  PLACE,  CARMONA. 


ing  to  the  radius  which  would  be  cov- 
ered by  the  eye  in  one  phase  of  atten- 
tion or  observation,  were  we  studying 
the  building  itself.  While  the  remainder 
of  his  subject  is  subordinate,  it  is  exe- 
cuted with  conscience,  much  suggestion 
and  data  being  conveyed  with  the  freest 
of  line. 

THE  BRIDGE  AT  TOLEDO. 

We  might  suspect  Roberts  in  this 
drawing  of  seeking  difficulties  to  exhibit 
his  versatility  in  overcoming  them.  He 
has  chosen  a  top-heavy  subject,  and 
stabilized  it  by  the  picturesque  grouping 
and  powerful  lighting  of  the  foreground 
details.  These  also  mask  the  lack  of  in- 
terest around  the  pier  bases.  His  use 
of  reflected  lights  from  the  river  softens 
and  breaks  up  the  massive  slanting  sil- 
houette of  the  bridge  overhead.  Great 
liberities  have  apparently  been  taken  with 
nature's  habit  of  reflecting  light  on  planes 
at  given  angles ;  he  missed  no  opportun- 
ity of  demonstrating  one  of  his  strong 
convictions — that  nature  should  act  as 


the    servant    of    the    artist,    not    as    his 
master. 

THE  GATE  OF  ALCAIA,  MADRID. 
The  great  shadow  projected  across  the 
left  of  the  arch  is  a  typical  example  of 
a  license  he  claimed  to  attain  pictorial 
advantage.  Recourse  to  this  particular 
means  was  popular  with  his  contempor- 
aries. Prout  in  his  instructions  on  land- 
scape painting  enlarges  upon  its  advan- 
tages and  justifies  the  use  of  shadows 
for  the  concentration  of  interest  in  any 
part  of  the  composition,  on  the  ground 
that  a  passing  cloud  before  the  sun  might 
account  for  any  shadow  mass  the  artist 
could  desire.  Here  again  we  find  the 
base  intersection  concealed  by  serried 
masses  of  cattle  and  human  beings.  The 
distant  town  seen  through  the  arches  is 
rendered  with  great  delicacy. 

MARKET   PLACE,   CARMONA. 

Color  figures  here  to  a  greater  extent 

than  usual  in  his  lithographs,  but  there 

is  no  attempt  at  a  solid  treatment,  and 

no  pretense  to  convey  any  realism ;  it  is 


218 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


pure  illumination.  Roofs  are  tinted  to  a 
light  reddish  tone ;  delicate  and  minute 
touches  of  brilliant  color  enliven  costumes 
and  trappings.  The  figures  are  indicated 
with  great  spirit. 

THE  FORTRESS  OF  THE  ALHAMBRA. 

Were  this  lithograph  better  known, 
it  might  be  awarded  a  place  among 
masterpieces.  An  incredible  sense  of 
vastness  is  conveyed  by  subtlety  of  tone, 
though,  curiously  enough,  it  is  deficient 
in  that  atmospheric  quality  which  we 
associate  with  remote  horizons.  The 
proofs  possess  qualities  which  are  not 
transmissible  in  any  medium  but  lithog- 
raphy, and  which  no  process  of  mechan- 


ical reproduction  can  retail  to  us;  the 
photograph  and  the  halftone  are  totally 
inadequate  and  very  disappointing  to  one 
who  has  studied  the  originals  at  the  New 
York  or  the  Avery  library,  where  ex- 
cellent impressions  may  be  seen.  In  this 
great  composition,  realism  has  paid  hand- 
some tribute  to  pictorial  effect;  a  dram- 
atic moment  of  nature  is  recorded  in  its 
velvety  tones.  The  power  of  this  work 
should  shake  the  faith  of  those  who  re- 
gard nature  as  the  final  court  of  appeal. 
It  is  the  poet's  conception  of  a  grandiose 
subject,  through  which  the  painter  scat- 
ters rays  of  sunlight  like  jewels,  with 
lavish  hand. 


THE  FORTRESS  OF  THE  ALHAMBRA. 

219 


FIREPLACE   WITH  OVERMANTEL  IN  HALL— EXETER 
COLLEGE,     OXFORD.       MODERN      JACOBEAN. 


English  Architectural  Decoration 

lexf  and  Measured  Dtaw- 
inas  by  Albert  E.  Bui  lock. 

Part  X. — Overmantels  and  Mirrors 


HAVING  dealt  with  various  types 
of  chimneypieces  in  the  last  two 
articles,  some  account  and  descrip- 
tion of  overmantels  and  mirrors  will 
doubtless  prove  of  interest. 

The  transition  between  late  seven- 
teenth and  early  eighteenth  century 
mantels  appears  to  be  exemplified  in  the 
illustration  of  an  example  from  an  old 
house  at  Hertford,  which  will  be  no- 
ticed to  have  a  heavily  molded  architrave ; 
the  frieze  is  ornamented  at  the  extreme 
ends  and  in  the  centre,  and  the  cornice 
has  carved  acanthus  leaf  similar  to  the 
bed  molds  of  the  main  cornices  to  rooms 
of  the  preceding  era. 

In  Jacobean  times  the  overmantel  was 
designed  with  and  formed  part  of  the 
chimneypiece,  which  was  invariably 
made  the  full  height  of  the  room  when 
paneled,  or  to  the  frieze  level  when  plas- 
tered above  the  capping.  These  fire- 
places were  frequently  of  two  orders, 
superincumbent,  having  single,  double  or 
triple  columns  supporting  the  entablature 
to  the  overmantel  or  upper  portion,  with 
one  exception,  viz.,  the  Jerusalem  Cham- 
ber, Westminster  Abbey,  which  has  three 
orders  in  the  tier,  the  whole  chimney- 
piece  being  carved  in  cedar,  a  very  excep- 
tional wood  to  use  at  this  time  when  oak, 
stone  and  marble  were  the  most  usual 
materials  in  vogue.  At  Hatfield  House, 
marble  is  the  chief  medium,  having 
polished  insets  of  precious  marbles  in 
jewel  formation,  while  instances  exist  of 
stone  architraves,  lintels  and  friezes  com- 
bined with  oak  carved  overmantels,  as  at 
the  old  Palace  of  Bromley-by-Bow. 

During  the  reign  of  Charles  I  this 
principle  of  combining  the  overmantel 
with  the  fire  mantel  still  obtained,  as  at 
Wilton  and  many  other  edifices  designed 
by  Inigo  Jones.  John  Webb  seems  to 
have  adopted  the  lower  order  in  several 


instances,  while  in  the  Wren  period 
panels  and  carved  frames  were  often  re- 
sorted to  with  the  object  of  providing 
space  for  oil  paintings. 

Mirrors  were  not  adopted  to  any  ex- 
tent until  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, the  beveled  crown  glass  being  dis- 
tinct from  the  modern  British  rolled  plate 
in  two  particulars — namely,  the  obtuse 
angle  of  the  level  in  old  examples  and 
the  irregularity  of  the  thickness  of  the 
sheet  due  to  spinning. 

The  illustrations  given  show  a  Chip- 
pendale period  room  from  Sudbury,  Suf- 
folk ;  a  small  pier  mirror  of  the  Chippen- 
dale era  compared  with  a  walnut  and  gilt 
mirror  of  late  William  and  Mary  or 
Queen  Anne  period  and  an  Italian  type 
of  mirror.  The  neglige  character  of  the 
two  smaller  mirrors  compare  favorably 
with  the  stateliness  of  the  gilt  walnut 
example,  which  at  this  early  date  (post 
1700)  exhibits  the  French  influence  in 
the  carved  border  members.  This  orig- 
inated with  Jean  Baptiste  Pineau  (1652- 
1715)  who,  with  Boffrand  and  de  Cotte, 
created  the  style  Regence  at  Versailles. 
The  style  is  sumptuously  shown  in  the 
beautiful  wood  carving  of  the  Petit  Salon 
at  the  Chateau  de  Rambouillet.  Had  the 
English  Joiners,  in  following  this  style, 
not  been  satisfied  with  the  few  details 
they  represented  ad  nauseum,  they  could 
have  developed  a  much  more  lasting 
style  with  a  flow  of  invention  as  generous 
as  is  exhibited  at  the  Salon  de  la  Prin- 
cesse  Soubese. 

Very  bold  carving  obtained  during  the 
reign  of  Charles  II  and  until  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  when  the  Chip- 
pendale era  flourished,  after  which  a 
quieter  tone  prevailed  with  the  Adam 
Brothers,  for  whom  the  younger  Chippen- 
dale worked  in  conjunction  with  Per- 
golesi,  C.  Richardson,  the  designer,  and 


221 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


various  marble  and  stucco  workers,  in- 
cluding Rose,  Spang  and  Van  Gelder. 

The  mirrors  of  the  late  seventeenth 
century  were  not  always  beveled,  al- 
though beveling  of  clear  glass  for  win- 
dows was  adopted  both  at  Hampton 
Court  Palace  and  Chats  worth. 

Owing  to  the  early  glass,  being  spun 
and  not  cast  or  rolted,  as  at  present,  irreg- 
ularities .of  the  surface  are.  more  patent 
by  which  it  can  be  detected,  being  a  cri- 
terion for  its  originality,  but  the  silver- 
ing, suffering  from  age  and  damp,  will 
frequently  be  found  to  have  been  re- 
newed. 

Many  of  the  early  frame  carvings  were 
intended  for  oil  paintings,  but  were  con- 
verted into  mirrors  subsequently,  the 
transformation  of  the  inset  enhancing  the 
value  of  the  carving.  A  variety  of  treat- 
ments were  attempted  besides  gilding. 
Tortoise  shell  and  mahogany;  walnut 
with  gilt  moldings ;  dark  carved  oak;  or- 
namental glass  framing  of  Venetian 
type,  and,  in  the  Adam  era,  the  convex 
circular  mirrors  invariably  had  an  ebony 
hued  inner  molding  edging  the  mirror  to 
throw  up  the  large  gilt  molding  forming 
the  frame. 

Large  sizes  in  glass  not  always  being 
obtainable,  the  joiner  had  recourse  to  the 
subterfuge  of  subdividing  the .  horizonal 
mirrors  or  putting  an  openwork  edging 
and  glazing  around  the  main  glass  in 
smaller  pieces.  This  naturally  led  to  the 
introduction  of  colored  glass  at  the  edges 
in  some  instances,  which,  however,  was 
of  short  life. . 

The  process  of  inlaying  the  overmantel 
panels  in  geometrical  designs  and  star 
patterns  occurred  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  and  is  a  feature  of 
some  of  Watson's  work  at  Chatsworth. 
The  carvings  upon  the  surround  were 
thus  subservient  to  the  ornamental  flush 
interior  treatment  of  the  panel  surface. 

The  method  of  giving  a  texture  to  a 
plain  surface  in  wood  was  of  Jacobean 
origin  and  is  to  be  seen  in  the  panels  of 
the  Sizergh  Castle  Room  from  West- 
moreland, where  several  different  veneer 
hardwoods  are  employed  in  the  inlay. 
Even  the  columns  to  chimneypiece  over- 
mantels of  this  period  occasionally  exhibit 


spiral  designs,  being  made  up  of  closely 
compressed  hard  wood  shavings,  which 
when  polished  are  very  effective. 

With  James  Gibbs  a  high  grade  of 
carving  developed  for  interiors  and  con- 
siderable skill  was  displayed  in  the  dis- 
position of  ornament  to  mantels,  over 
doors,  etc.,  with  carved  cartouches  of  the 
character  of  the  Rysbrack  sculpture. 

Most  of  the  architects  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  designed  mural  tablets 
and  cenotaphs  for  various  churches  and 
cathedrals,  of  which  Westminster  Abbey 
is  the  happy  possessor  of  some  of  the 
most  famous  examples.  William  Kent 
designed  the  framing  for  Scheemaker's 
''Shakespeare"  in  1740;  James  Gibbs  de- 
signed the  monument  to  Katharine 
Bovey,  which  was  probably  carved  by 
Rysbrack,  the  sculptor  of  the  tomb  to 
Matthew  Prior  in  the  Poets'  Corner  of 
Westminster  Abbey.  Read  carved  monu- 
ments for  Robert  Adam,  whose  style  was 
followed  by  Richard  Hayward,  Bacon, 
Eckstein  and  others  of  contemporary 
date.  Cheere  favored  the  French  motifs 
of  Chippendale's  time,  which  are  not  a 
little  florid  for  a  sacred  edifice. 

The  principal  architects  of  the  century, 
in  addition  to  those  above  mentioned, 
were  Edward  Tufnell,  Hawksmoor,  Rip- 
ley,  Payne,  Sir  John  Vanbrugh,  Colin 
Campbell,  Sir  William  Chambers  and  Sir 
John  Soane,  with  many  of  the  lesser 
lights  who  flourished  in  the  provinces 
working  upon  the  principles  in  vogue  in 
their  eras. 

The  artisans  employed  are  not  often 
recorded  except  where  the  accounts  were 
kept  of  the  more  monumental  buildings, 
as  Chatsworth,  Hampton  Court  Palace, 
etc.  A  joiner  by  the  name  of  Gibbons 
was  employed  by  Inigo  Jones  and  Webb 
on  staircases.  Samuel  Watson  and  his 
son  spent  forty  years  at  Chatsworth  with 
several  assistants,  working  to  the  de- 
signs of  William  Talman,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  associated  with  Sir  Christo- 
pher Wren  at  Hampton  Court  Palace, 
where  the  fine  work  of  Grinling  Gibbons 
and  his  assistants,  Selden  and  others,  are 
so  much  in  evidence.  James  Gibbs  em- 
ployed a  carpenter  and  joiner  named 
John  Phillips  at  the  Radcliffe  Library, 


222 


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CHIMNEYPIECE  FROM  AN  OLD 
HOUSE  IN  HERTFORD,   HERTS. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


Oxford,  the  two  Townsends,  Lionel  and 
William  Smith  of  Warwick,  as  masons 
and  carvers,  with  the  Italian  plasterer 
Artari  and  the  famous  sculptor  Michael 
Rysbrack,  who  had  previously  worked 
for  William  Kent. 

By  the  middle  of  the  century  joinery 
became  a  prominent  and  artistic  business, 
which  increased  in  power  and  notoriety 
with  each  succeeding  decade.  We  have 
at  any  rate  more  detailed  information  of 
the  ability  of  the  artisans  from  articles 
which  remain  and  the  published  works 
of  current  practice,  with  some  records  of 
the  personality  of  many  of  the  more 
famous  joiners  who  based  their  work 
upon  the  fine  walnut  type  of  the  William 
and  Mary  period. 

The  influence  of  the  work  of  Sir  John 
Yanbrugh  had  a  very  definite  result,  as 
had  the  building  of  Montagu  House, 
which  was  decorated  by  Monnoyer  and 
Rousseau  under  the  direction  of  de  la 
Fosse.  The  publication  of  designs  by 
Daniel  Marot,  who  had  worked  with 
Berain  for  Andre  Charles  Boule,  the 
work  of  the  Caffieri  family,  the  Adam 
family  and  many  others  of  Louis  XIV's 
time,  all  tended  to  inculcate  fresh  ideas 
to  the  art  of  the  age. 

Chippendale  was  naturally  influenced 
by  the  Continental  movement^  as.  well  as 
by  the  publications  of  the  many  volumes 
of  designs  and  ornament  by  Cauvet, 
Marot  and  several  English  works,  which 
induced  him  to  publish  the  "Gentleman 
and  Cabinet  Makers'  Director,"  when 
Edwards  and  Darley  brought  out  their 
"Chinese  Designs"  in  1754. 

The  severity  of  the  style  adopted  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  George  II  did  not  appeal 
to  Chippendale,  who  wanted  freedom  for 
his  chisel,  and  saw  his  opportunity  in  a 
combination  of  Chinese  with  Louis  XIV 
detail.  The  type  of  carving  and  design 
which  will  always  be  associated  with  him 
is  exemplified  by  a  drawing  I  have  made 
from  a  rough  sketch  of  a  mirror  from 
Highgate  and  the  photograph  of  a  fine 
mirror  from  Aston  Hall,  Birmingham. 
Were  it  not  for  the  brackets  and  certain 
French  elements  I  would  place  this  latter 
example  as  pre-Chippendale,  it  has  al- 
most a  William  and  Mary  touch.  Com- 


pare this  with  the  carved  mahogany 
frame  from  the  W'oodwork  Section  of 
the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  and  it 
will  be  noticed  that  the  example  is  of  a 
much  bolder  nature,  and,  being  in  mahog- 
any, would  be  later,  since  walnut  was  the 
chief  medium  of  Chippendale.  There  is 
another  example  of  fine  carved  scroll 
work  recently  in  my  possession,  which  is, 
I  believe,  in  oak,  but  of  very  dark  hue, 
almost  black  in  appearance.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  date,  but  is  somewhat  characteris- 
tic of  the  late  Wren  period. 

With  the  Adam  work,  as  has  already 
been  indicated,  mirrors  took  various 
forms,  and  the  modern  copyists  are  le- 
gion, because  with  slight  modification 
they  are  very  adaptable  to  light  drawing 
room  decorations,  being  circular  with 
convex  mirror,  oval  and  rectangular, 
some  of  the  latter  shape  having  glazed 
paneled  borders.  The  tops  are  usually 
ornamented  with  carving  of  Grecian  or 
Egyptian  period  ornament,  of  which  the 
favorite  motifs  were  sphinxes,  lions, 
eagles^  and  rams'  heads,  these  being  easily 
stereotyped. 

Modern  copies  of  triple  oval  form 
joined  together  by  festoons  of  beads  or 
husk  .ornament,  the  centre  oval  being  the 
largest  of  the  three,  are  not  uncommon. 
EaxljC^idor  examples  were  small,  with 
a  glass  hkrdly  exceeding  a  foot  by  nine 
inches,  With  wide  needlework  bordered 
surround  ia  a  narrow  tortoiseshell  frame. 
The  Georgian  examples  were  usually 
gilt,  with  pilasters  and  pediments — that  is 
to  say  of  George  II's  time.  Between  this 
period  and  the  Chippendale  era  there 
were  variations  of  oblong  mirrors  sub- 
divided into  three  or  more  panels,  some- 
times having  a  painting  in  the  top  half 
with  the  subdivided  beveled  mirrors  be- 
low, the  frame  being  of  gilt  wood  with 
angles  broken  and  mitered  to  take 
rosettes  at  the  corners.  In  these  ex- 
amples the  scallop  shell  was  not  an  un- 
usual feature  and  the  top  was  frequently 
treated  with  carved  ornament. 

With  Adam  examples  the  addition  of 
bracket  candle  holders  became  a  common 
practice  where  sconces  were  not  used,  the 
light  being  reflected  by  the  mirror.  These 
were  very  tastefully  designed,  but  often 


224 


GILT  CHIPPENDALE  MIRROR  (HIGHGATE), 
SIX  FEET  SIX  INCHES  BY  FOUR  FEET 
THREE  INCHES  OVER  ALL.  ABOUT  1750. 


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THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


of  too  delicate  construction  to  be  per- 
manent. The  designers  of  the  period 
spent  much  time  and  ingenuity  in  the  de- 
velopment and  manufacture  of  brass  and 
silver  plated  candlesticks  or  ornamental 
sconces  and  candelabra  of  wood  and 
metal,  the  former  frequently  being 
painted  in  green  and  gold  tints  or  colors. 
For  these  lights  the  tallow  chandlers  cast 
ornamental  wax  candles  in  special  molds, 
which  must  have  been  very  effective,  even 
if  the  light  was  dim  as  compared  with 
modern  usage. 

The  modeling  of  Pergolesi  was  less 
formal  than  the  sterner  Grecian  manner 
of  pure  Adam  work,  although  the  main 
lines  followed  the  general  theme  of  this 
period.  He  was  more  lavish  with  his 
floral  embellishments,  which  possess  a 
naturalistic  character  in  the  leafage  at- 
tached to  the  scroll  work,  the  effect  be- 
ing both  graceful  and  decorative. 

During  the  reign  of  Charles  II  until 
the  advent  of  James  II  carving  was  free 
and  bold,  of  designs  frequently  descrip- 
tive of  definite  objects  concerned  with 
the  building  or  room  so  treated.  This  is 
especially  noticeable  in  the  halls  and 
board  rooms  of  the  Livery  Companies  of 
London.  For  instance,  in  the  Brewers' 
Hall,  Addle  Street,  in  the  City  of  Lon- 
don, the  hall  screen  is  surmounted  by 
amorini  astride  beer  barrels,  while  in  the 
board  room  the  chimneypiece  and  over- 
mantel have  hops,  wheat  and  sheaves  in- 
troduced into  the  detail  of  the  carved  or- 


nament. The  carving  of  the  fire  screen 
is  seen  in  the  photograph  to  be  of  bold 
character  and  of  tasteful  design. 

A  similar  idea  is  exhibited  in  the 
Weavers'  Hall  at  Exeter,  where  the  vari- 
ous tools  and  instruments  used  in  the 
processes  are  carved  in  the  oak  paneling. 
This  principle  has  an  historical  value 
quite  apart  from  the  archeological  in- 
terest it  gives,  and  forms  an  original  basis 
of  operation  for  the  designer. 

Fire  screens  were  occasionally  included 
within  the  purview  of  the  joiners  provid- 
ing the  wainscoting,  in  which  case  some 
very  fine  examples  are  to  be  seen. 

Where  mirrors  and  frames  were  not 
provided  plaster  relief  plaques  were  usual 
and  were  employed  by  the  Adam  Broth- 
ers, Richardson  and  others.  They  were 
not  necessarily  connected  to  the  man- 
telpiece, but  were  frequently  part  of 
the  general  decorative  scheme  of  the 
room. 

Tastefully  designed  mirrors,  whether 
placed  centrally  over  the  fireplace,  used 
as  pier  glasses,  or  embodied  in  the  fram- 
ing of  a  door  to  obtain  vistas  through  a 
series  of  rooms,  rarely  fail  to  enhance 
the  general  effect  of  an  apartment,  add- 
ing a  lustre  and  brightness  befitting  a 
well  designed  interior.  They  reflect  the 
pattern  of  the  ceiling,  the  furniture  and 
walls,  and  by  their  peculiar  virtue  reduce 
the  scale  to  a  proportionate  value  that 
is  coincident  with  the  dimensions  of  the 
room. 


236 


Tfie  ARTISTIC  TREATMENT 
OF  CONCRETE  SURFACES* 

B7  ' 

H  VANDERVOORT  WALSH 


CONCRETE  is  coming  into  its  own 
as  an  all  around  building  mater- 
ial. Its  progress  to  this  point  has 
been  slow,  for  it  was  considered  to  be  a 
purely  structural  material,  too  ugly  to 
leave  uncovered.  Since  the  days  of  the 
Romans  it  has  been  used  for  mass  work, 
but  under  cover  of  some  other  material 
that  hid  its  grey,  monotonous  surface. 
Far  more  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
development  of  the  structural  strength 
of  concrete  than  to  its  artistic  surface 
treatment,  because  it  was  taken  for 
granted  that  it  was  hopelessly  ugly.  The 
engineer  has  devoted  much  time  to  rein- 
forced concrete,  but  the  architect  has  not 
given  the  same  attention  to  its  possible 
finishes. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  this  in- 
difference has  been  shown  towards  the 
development  of  the  artistic  use  of  con- 
crete, for  the  average  concrete  wall  that 
remains  uncovered  presents  a  surface 
without  texture  or  color.  When  the 
forms  are  removed  from  concrete,  the 
surface  bears  their  imprint,  and  if  they 
were  made  of  rough  boards,  the  concrete 
has  the  appearance  of  a  poorly  con- 
structed fence,  painted  with  a  dull  grey, 
mudlike  paint.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
surface  has  been  troweled  smooth,  there 
is  no  texture  or  sparkle.  It  has  in  both 
cases  a  dull,  pasty,  dead  surface.  In 
time  this  develops  hair-cracks  into  which' 
the  dirt  of  the  air  lodges,  giving  the  real- 
istic effect  of  dead  skin.  Often  the  sur- 
face is  seen  to  peal  away  in  thin  scales 
as  if  it  were  suffering  from  some  disease, 
and  after  each  rain  storm  a  very  dark 
water  stain  develops  as  if  it  were  bruised, 
although  it  may  not  have  absorbed  as 
much  moisture  as  the  ordinary  wall  of 


brick  or  stone.  Nor  does  it  mellow  with 
age,  but  crackles  under  the  heat  of  time. 

To  the  observing  person  this  is  no  ex- 
aggeration. Particularly  ugly  have  been 
the  concrete  blocks,  manufactured  by 
machines  to  resemble  stones  with  quarry 
cut  faces. 

However,  in  recent  years  artificial 
stone  makers  have  developed  notably 
satisfactory  methods  of  surfacing  con- 
crete. Under  many  commercial  names 
concrete  is  now  manufactured  into  build- 
ing units  of  beauty,  possessing  much  of 
the  charm  and  appeal  of  our  natural 
building  stones ;  and  the  designer  is  in  a 
position  to  obtain  concrete  surfaces  as 
interesting  as  any,  provided  the  princi- 
ples back  of  the  art  are  known. 

These  principles  may  be  classified  into 
three  distinct  groups  which  are  however 
intimately  linked  together.  First  of  all, 
some  mechanical  means  must  be  used  to 
produce  variety  of  texture,  either  by 
making  a  surface  which  is  pitted  to  give 
valley  shadows  and  peaks  of  high-lights, 
or  by  securing  the  same  effect  with  a 
peppering  of  light  and  dark  aggregates. 
Secondly,  the  color  must  avoid  the  dead 
greys  by  using  whites,  creams  or  rich 
warm  tones,  eliminating  all  colors  which 
give  a  dry,  thirsty  appearance  to  the 
wall.  Thirdly,  the  surface  must  be 
damp-proof  or  colored  in  such  a  way  that 
rain  water  will  not  make  large  patches 
of  dark,  damp  stains. 

The  mechanical  operations  necessary 
are  varied,  but  certain  well  tried  proces- 
ses can  be  followed  for  securing  origi- 
nal effects.  The  earliest  and  best  known 
treatments  for  producing  surface  texture 
are  those  which  have  been  developed  as 
applied  coatings.  The  concrete  is  molded 


237 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


Economy  Is  Secured  by  Casting  the  Surface  Material 
As   an   Integral    Part   of   the    Block. 


in  the  usual  way,  and  then  a  stucco  is 
spread  over  the  top  of  it  in  which  tex- 
ture is  developed  by  pitting,  casting  and 
dashing.  Many  beautiful  effects  are  pos- 
sible with  these  treatments,  but  they  are 
not  the  true  solutions.  The  right  method 
is  in  its  infancy,  and  consists  in  securing 
texture  and  color  by  exposing  the  beauty 
of  the  aggregate  with  which  the  con- 
crete has  been  made  by  removing  the 
surface  skin  deposited  from  the  forms. 

The  first  class  of  surface  treatments 
includes  stippling,  sand-floating,  sand- 
spraying,  rough-casting,  pebble-dashing 
and  mosaic  inlaying.  All  of  these  se- 
cure texture  by  application  of  stucco  over 
the  surface  left  by  the  forms  and  may 
be  called  the  "over-coat"  methods.  The 
i.  first  four  secure  texture  by  some  means 


of  roughening  the  surface  into  pits  and 
peaks.  The  last  two  secure  texture  by 
impressing  aggregates  into  the  surface 
or  by  peppering  the  same  with  dark  and 
light  aggregates. 

The  stippled  surface  is  made  by  ap- 
plying a  coat  of  stucco  to  the  concrete 
and  then  roughening  it  with  pats  from  a 
brush  of  broom  straw.  The  texture  se- 
cured is  but  a  slight  improvement  over 
the  smooth,  trowelled  one,  and  is  very 
monotonous  when  viewed  from  a  dis- 
tance, especially  when  gray  cement  is 
used.  White  cement  and  white  sand  im- 
prove the  appearance  greatly,  since  the 
shadows  of  the  rough  pits  and  the  high- 
lights of  the  projections  are  in  more 
contrast. 

The  sand-float  finish  is  not  much  better, 
but  it  is  another  mechanical  method  of 
securing  a  fine  texture  which  appears  best 


An  Over-Coat  Finish  Called  Sand-Sprayed.    It  Gives 
a  Finer  Texture  Than  Rough-Casting. 


Interior    of    Circle    Is    Pebble    Dash;    Rim    of    Circle 
Troweled   and   Body   Surface   Sand-Floated. 


when  light  stucco  is  used.  The  applied 
stucco  is  rubbed  with  a  wooden  float  in 
a  circular  motion,  and  sand  is  spattered 
under  it  to  give  a  roughening  action. 

The  sand-sprayed  finish  is  the  thinnest 
treatment.  Over  the  surface  of  the  con- 
crete, which  should  be  green  from  the 
molds,  is  spattered,  with  a  whisk  broom, 
a  creamy  mixture  of  cement  and  white 
sand.  This  should  be  mixed  fresh  every 
thirty  minutes  and  kept  well  stirred. 
However,  even  this  may  develop  a  mon- 
otonous appearance,  since  a  thin  film  of 
cement  covers  the  sand  particles  and 
hides  any  sparkle  from  them. 

The  rough-coat  surfacing  is  the  most 
rugged  of  all,  and  presents  a  great  vari- 


238 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


An   Over-Coat    Finish   Called   Rough-Casting,   Which 
Gives   the   Coarsest   Texture. 


ety  of  heavy  spots  of  shade  and  light. 
This  can  bear  the  use  of  grey  cement  tha 
best,  but  the  effect  is  enhanced  by  the 
use  of  white  cement.  A  mixture  of  one 
part  of  cement  to  two  parts  of  sand  is 
thrown  on  by  hand  against  the  wall.  If 
great  care  is  not  observed,  a  patchy  ap- 
pearance may  result  by  having  certain 
areas  very  rough  and  others  compara- 
tively smooth. 

The  pebble  dash  finish  secures  variety 
of  color  with  variety  of  texture,  and  is 
the  most  pleasing  of  the  "over-coat" 
methods  of  concrete  surfacing.  Pebbles 
or  chipped  aggregate  varying  in  size  from 
one-quarter  to  one-half  inch  are  wetted 
and  thrown  forcibly  against  the  troweled 
coating  of  stucco.  It  makes  possible  the 
use  of  great  varieties  of  colored  aggre- 
gate. Those  which  have  sparkling  quartz 
particles  or  broken  bits  of  crystalline 
marble  or  black  pieces  of  slag  or  other 
brilliant  materials  produce  the  most  pleas- 


Mosaic    Inlay    With    Glass    of   Various    Colors.     The 

Surface  Is  Plane,  White  Cement  Filling  the  Crevices 

Between    the    Pieces    of    Glass. 


ing  results.  Such  aggregates  reflect  the 
sunshine  in  sparkling  points  of  light  and 
give  that  life  to  the  surface  which  we 
admire  so  much  in  nature's  products,  es- 
pecially  in  the  granites  and  marbles.  The 
use  in  this  country  of  a  base  coat  of 
cement  and  sand  into  which  the  pebbles 
are  thrown  is  not  nearly  so  satisfactory 
as  the  use  of  a  base  of  neat  white  cement. 
This  is  the  English  practice  and  when 
the  aggregate  is  thrown  into  this  pure 
cement  it  will  stick  as  long  as  the  wall 
stands,  while  the  use  of  a  sand  mortar  as 
a  base  does  not  offer  the  same  power  of 
adhesion,  resulting  in  patchy  work.  Some 
workmen  pat  the  pebbles  with  a  wooden 
paddle  into  the  base,  after  they  have  been 
thrown  on.  This  gives  the  most  durable 
surface.  However,  this  finish  requires 


Tile   Mosaic   Inlay. 

skill,  for  the  average  workman  will  not 
spread  the  pebbles  evenly  over  the  sur- 
face. 

The  mosaic-inlay  is  practically  the 
same,  only  the  materials  impressed  into 
the  cement  base  are  arranged  with  indi- 
vidual care.  It  is  best  suited  to  some  de- 
sign or  panel  decoration.  Colored  tile, 
broken  colored  glass,  glass  beads  and 
materials  of  this  character  are  used  to 
great  effect.  It  is  surprising  what  beau- 
tiful effects  broken  bottle  glass  will  pro- 
duce, if  it  is  handled  with  taste.  Chil- 
dren's colored  beads,  when  imbedded  to 
a  flush  surface,  make  a  wonderfully  in- 
tricate texture.  The  great  secret  of 
success  lies  in  keeping  the  surface  abso- 
lutely plane,  with  all  crevices  between 
particles  filled  in  flush  with  white  cement. 


239 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


However,  the  most  ef- 
fective results  in  concrete 
surfacing  are  obtained  by 
the  second  class  of  treat- 
ments in  which  the  skin 
of  the  surface  is  removed 
by  some  mechanical 
means,  exposing  the  tex- 
ture of  the  aggregates  of 
which  the  concrete  is 
made.  When  the  forms 
are  removed  from  con- 
crete, the  surface  is  cov- 
ered with  a  thin  film  of 
cement,  and  if  there  are 
any  sparkling  aggregates 
used  in  its  make-up,  they 
will  be  invisible  under  this 
skin.  It  is  this  film  which 
gives  the  dull,  gray, 
to  concrete,  and  it  is 


• 


Surface     Background     Consists     of 

Children's    Beads    Imbedded    Flush 

With    the   Surface. 


treatment  is  the  crudest  of 
this  class,  but  it  has  many 
advantages. 

Another  way  to  expose 
the  aggregate  is  to  clean 
the  concrete  with  a  fine 
spray  such  as  the  fruit 
growers  use.  This  should 
be  done  immediately  after 
removing  the  forms,  but  it 
requires  skill  to  prevent 
the  softening  of  the  sur- 
face by  too  much  water. 
A  very  beautiful  mottled 
effect  is  secured  in  this 
way. 

However,  the  best  ef- 
fects are  obtained  when 
some  type  of  stone  cutting 


lifeless     effect  tool  is  used.    The  concrete  is  cast  in  the 

also    in    this  usual  way,  and  when  it  is  removed  from 

skin  that  the  ugly  hair-cracks  develop,  the  molds  the  skin  is  removed  by  finish- 
When  it  is  removed  the  true  beauty  ing  it  with  the  tools  that  are  employed 
of  the  concrete  is  exposed.  By  by  the  stone  cutter, 
mixing  selected  aggregates,  as  marb.eb,  'One  of  the  most  beautiful  effects  ob- 
granites,  pebbles  and  glass  in  the  con-  tainable  is  to  cast  white  cement  with 
crete,  they  can  be  exposed  to  the  sur-  white  marble  aggregate  into  blocks  and 
face  by  scrubbing,  spraying,  cutting  with  then,  when  these  are  still  in  the  green 
stone  cutting  tools  and  machines.  The  state,  pitch  off  the  face  exactly  as  is 
concrete  may  be  made  of  the  usual  grey  done  in  giving  a  quarry  face  to  a  natural 
cement  and  cheap  aggregate,  but  in  the  stone.  The  split  of  the  concrete  will 
casting  the  selected  mixture  of  surfacing  follow  the  most  sparkling  lines  of  the 
material  may  be  spread  over  the  exterior  imbedded  aggregate  and  an  appearance 
in  a  thin  layer  of  one  inch.  However,  rivaling  the  best  stone  is  produced. 


this  is  more  a  point  of 
economy  than  one  of  sur- 
facing. 

To  finish  by  scrubbing, 
the  concrete  sould  be  al- 
lowed to  set  for  at  least 
twenty-four  hours.  Then 
with  water  and  a  stiff 
brush,  the  film  of  cement 
can  be  scrubbed  off,  ex- 
posing the  aggregate  in  all 
its  beauty.  If  the  cement 
in  any  one  part  is  too 
hard,  it  can  be  removed  by 
a  solution  of  one  part 
muriatic  acid  and  four 
parts  water,  provided  that 
this  is  carefully  washed 
off  afterwards.  This 


Corner  Blocks  Are  Finished  in  the 

same  Way  That  Stones  Are  Quarry 

Faced.     The    Others    Are    Finished 

With   the   Pointer. 


Another  surface  o  f 
great  charm  is  secured  by 
the  pointer.  With  a  pneu- 
matic hammer  behind  this 
tool,  the  surface  can  be 
gone  over  quickly.  The 
results  are  quite  beyond 
description  in  photo- 
graphs,  for  there  are  few 
stones  which  present  a 
finer  appearance,  if  the 
aggregate  has  been  care- 
fully selected. 

The  use  of  the  tooth 
chisel,  the  bush  chisel  and 
the  cross  chisel  oper- 
ated in  the  pneumatic 
hammer  make  other 
varieties  of  surfaces 


240 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


which    have    their    own    characteristics. 
Concrete  can  also  be  treated  with  re- 
volving drums  of  carborundum  to  wear 
off  the  surface  skin. 

With  the  right  kind  of  hard  crystal- 
line aggregate,  concrete  can  be  polished 
by  the  methods  used  for  stones.  When 
this  is  done,  no  colors  should  be  used, 
for  they  darken  too  much  under  the  ac- 
tion of  the  polisher. 

In  all  of  these  treatments  the  opera- 
tion of  cutting  the  surface  is  compara- 
tively simple,  since  it  is  done  before  the 
concrete  has  become  entirely  hardened, 
although  the 
harder  it  is,  the 
more  brilliant  will 
be  the  surface  pro- 
duced by  the  cut- 
ting tools.  Another 
great  advantage  lies 
in  the  fact  that  if 
any  corner  or  part 
is  broken  off,  the 
use  of  a  patch  will 
mend  it  without 
weakening  its  dura- 
bility. Economy  of 
modeling  is  a  n  - 
other  feature,  for 
designs  which  or- 
dinarily must  be 
cut  from  blocks  of 
stone  are  easily 
cast  in  concrete, 
and  the  only  tool- 
ing required  is  for 
the  surface.  Designs  of  extreme  cost 
for  cut  stone,  such  as  perforated  balus- 
trades, can  be  produced  at  comparatively 
low  cost  in  concrete. 

Next  to  texture  comes  the  coloring  of 
concrete.  Nature  has  provided  us  with 
great  varieties  of  colored  granites,  mar- 
bles, sandstones  and  gravel  which  make 
excellent  aggregate  for  coloring.  In  fact 
the  coloring  of  the  concrete  by  aggregates 
is  the  most  durable  method.  Beautiful 
pink,  red,  yellow  and  dark  green  granites 
can  be  had  from  the  waste  products  of 
the  granite  quarries.  Marble  waste  can 
be  secured  in  yellow,  green,  red,  pink, 
white  and  multi-colors.  Sandstones  can 
be  had  in  buffs  and  reds.  Gravels  run  in 


Combination     of     Smooth     Surface     Finished     With 

Carborundum   Blocks,   Pointed   Surface,   Pebble   Dash 

and   Simple   Casting  Details. 


blacks,  yellows  and  whites.  By  a  care- 
ful combination  of  white  marble,  black 
slag  and  grey  cement  a  very  perfect  imi- 
tation of  granite  can  be  made,  in  fact 
such  a  granite  is  made  by  one  firm  sell- 
ing its  products  all  over  the  United 
States. 

However,  mineral  colors  can  be  se- 
cured which  will  offer  resistance  to  time. 
They  must  be  of  the  highest  degree  of 
purity.  True  mineral  colors  will  stand 
the  acid  washing  and  action  of  cement 
and  time.  No  colors  should  be  used 
which  leave  water  permanently  tinted 
when  shaken  up 
with  it.  It  is  best 
to  use  a  mere  trace 
of  coloring  matter, 
not  only  for  dura- 
bility but  for  ap- 
pearance. White  ce- 
ment makes  the 
best  base  for  them. 
A  limiting  propor- 
tion, not  exceeding 
six  pounds  of  color 
to  one  hundred 
pounds  of  cement, 
is  besti 

Another  method 
of  securing  color 
is  by  absorption. 
After  the  cement 
has  had  several 
days  to  set,  it  may 
be  stained  w  i  t  li 
some  aniline  color, 
sulphate  of  copper  or  iron.  A  penetra- 
tion of  one  thirty-second  of  an  inch  to 
one  eighth  of  an  inch  is  quite  sufficient. 
A  great  number  of  experimental  methods 
of  color  absorption  have  been  made. 
One  of  the  cleverest  is  to  rub  green  grass 
over  the  cement  to  stain  it  to  a  time  worn 
bit  of  antiquity. 

Of  course,  there  are  opaque  damp- 
proof  cement  paints  which  can  be  applied, 
but  these  are  bound  to  give  the  uninter- 
esting texture  which  is  to  be  avoided, 
since  they  add  a  skin  and  cover  the  life 
of  the  aggregate. 

To  prevent  the  usual  staining  of  the 
surface  by  rain  water,  the  concrete  should 
be  made  very  compact  by  carefully  grad- 


241 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


ing  the  sand  and  aggregate.  Some  pro- 
prietary waterproofing  compound  may  be 
added,  or  hydrated  lime  used,  but  all  of 
these  are  of  doubtful  value.  The  very 
dry,  porous  mixtures  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  concrete  blocks,  are  more  apt 
to  show  moisture  than  wetter  mixtures. 
White  cement,  mixed  with  light  colored 


aggregates  and  tooled  will  not  show  any 
disagreeable  water  mark.  On  the  other 
hand,  grey  concrete  will  appear  darker 
when  badly  wet  with  rain.  In  sections 
of  the  country  where  little  rain  is  preval- 
ent the  question  of  how  to  avoid  stain- 
ing from  moisture  is  not  of  great  im- 
portance. 


An  Excellent  and  a  Poor  Example  of  Concrete  Finish. 

The  Corner   Stones   Are   Finished   With   the   Pointer 

and  Appear  Well.  The  other  Stones  Have  Aggregate 

of  Too  Large  Size  Impressed  Into  Surface. 


242 


WORKINGMEN'S  HOUSES 
IN    ITALY 


QWelani 


PART  II 


IN  Rome  there  are  two  notable  insti- 
tutions which  build  workingmen's 
houses,  namely,  the  Institute  for 
Popular  Homes  and  the  Roman  Real 
Estate  Institute.  The  two  differ  greatly. 
The  first  belongs  to  that  class  of  institu- 
tions created  exclusively  for  the  provi- 
sion of  workingmen's  homes,  while  the 
Roman  Real  Estate  Institute  is  interested 
in  dwellings  for  the  more  prosperous 
elements  of  the  population  as  well  as  in 
workingmen's  houses.  I  shall  not  go  into 
detail  as  to  the  better  class  of  houses 
because  they  lie  outside  the  scope  of  this 
study. 

THE    TESTACCIO    QUARTER 

Act  116,  passed  April  6,  1908,  author- 
ized the  Cassa  dei  Depositi  e  Prestiti  to 
make  to  the  municipality  of  Rome  a  loan 
of  ten  million  lire  to  be  allocated  to  the 
Institute  for  Popular  Homes.  With  that 
loan  it  was  possible  to  begin  the  construc- 
tion of  houses  in  the  Testaccio  Quarter, 
which  is  not  too  far  from  the  center  of 
the  city  and  is  united  to  it  by  a  tramway 
line. 

The  land  belonged  to  the  Italian  So- 
ciety for  Real  Estate  Dealings,  which 
sold  it  to  the  Institute  for  10.80  lire  per 
square  meter.  Construction  was  begun 
under  the  architect  Giulio  Magni. 

Eleven  large  plots  were  sold  to  the 
Institute  for  a  total  of  6,363,212  lire. 
Each  apartment  consists  of  a  hall,  of 
one,  two,  three,  or  four  rooms,  and  of 
a  kitchen  and  a  water  closet.  The  houses 
contained  913  apartments,  divided  in  the 
following  manner  : 

243 


Apartments  of  Xumber       Per  Ct. 

5  rooms 24  2.63 

4  rooms 332  36.56 

3  rooms 499  54.65 

2  rooms 58  6.36 

The  two-room  and  three-room  apart- 
ments, the  ones  most  in  demand,  com- 
prised 91.01  per  cent,  of  the  total  num- 
ber. The  building  area  was  utilized  as 
follows : 
Entrances,  halls  and  water  closets, 

92.00  sq.m.     11.22% 

Stairways  52.50  sq.  m.       6.41% 

Rooms 49178  sq.  m.     59.95% 

Walls 184.72  sq.  m.    22.42% 

In  "La  Construction  Moderne"  of 
Paris,  some  years  ago,  I  wrote  in  detail 
on  the  subject  of  the  early  constructions 
in  the  Testaccio  Quarter.  I  shall  speak 
now  of  the  more  recent  constructions, 
Blocks  30,  32,  33,  and  34,  which  show 
the  best  work  done  in  Rome  in  working- 
men's  homes. 

In  planning  these  newer  groups  of 
houses,  the  cooperation  of  architects 
Pirani  and  Bellucci  was  obtained.  The 
buildings,  being  varied  as  to  both  height 
and  exterior  design,  avoid  the  monotony 
so  common  in  long  rows  of  working- 
men's  houses.  The  open  spaces  give 
plenty  of  air  and  light,  the  courtyards, 
with  their  green  foliage,  being  large  and 
well  distributed. 

The  decoration  is  very  simple.  We 
realized  that  the  people  appreciate  beauty. 
It  is  necessary,  however,  that  art  adapt 
itself  to  the  needs  of  the  people.  I  have 
often  suggested  in  my  books  the  aban- 
doning of  historic  traditions  in  art  to 
suit  new  and  actual  conditions.  Other- 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


wise  it  will  be  impossible  to  have  popular 
art.  A  home  which,  besides  being  con- 
venient, offers  a  beautiful  appearance  is, 
of  course,  to  be  preferred ;  and  it  must 
also  be  remembered  that  an  artistic  house 
receives  greater  care  from  the  tenant. 

In  the  new  buildings  more  thought 
has  been  given  to  the  decoration  than 
was  given  in  the  earlier  ones,  without 
however  spending  more ;  in  fact,  the  ex- 
pense is  sometimes  less,  since  the  deco- 
ration is  structural,  embodied  in  the  ma- 
sonry of  stone  and  brick. 

The  cost  of  the  decoration,  including 
the  travertine,  terra  cotta,  brick,  etc., 
amounts  to  7.63  lire  per  square  meter  of 
the  street  fagades  and  2.24  lire  on  the 
other  elevations. 

In  the  buildings  of  Block  34,  con- 
structed in  1913,  for  which  we  used 
stucco  decoration,  the  cost  was  6.72  lire 
per  square  meter  in  the  external  perspec- 
tives, and  3.36  lire  per  square  meter  in 
the  others. 

Every  apartment  has  an  independent 
entrance,  with  convenient,  airy  and  well 


lighted  stairways ;  each  room  has  at  least 
one  window  on  the  street.  The  outside 
windows  are  furnished  with  awnings. 
The  kitchens  and  water  closets  have  been 
much  improved  over  those  in  the  earlier 
houses.  The  kitchen  chimney,  made  of 
cement  and  iron,  does  not  take  up  much 
room  and  accommodates  coal  and  gas 
stoves.  The  sinks  are  of  red  granite 
and  cement,  deep  and  surrounded  by 
sheets  of  the  same  material ;  shelves  in 
the  wall  serve  as  receptacles  for  dishes. 
Each  apartment  has  running  water  and 
electric  light. 

There  are  many  apartments  of  only 
two  rooms  and  kitchen  and  some  of  only 
one  room  and  kitchen.  There  are  395 
apartments,  of  which  ninety-nine  have 
two  rooms ;  234,  three  rooms ;  fifty-eight, 
four  rooms,  and  four,  five  rooms. 

The  depth  of  the  foundations  necessi- 
tated by  the  nature  of  the  walls,  induced 
us  to  excavate  sufficiently  to  obtain  base- 
ment rooms.  These  are  high,  well  aired 
and  well  lighted,  with  street  entrances 
independent  of  the  apartments,  and  are 


HOUSING  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  INSTITUTE  FOR  POPULAR  HOMES  IN  THE  TESTACCIO 
QUARTER,  ROME,  SHOWING  RECENT  CONSTRUCTIONS  (BLOCKS  30,  32,  33  AND  34). 

244 


PLAN  OF  BLOCK  30  IN  TESTACCIO  QUARTER,  ROME. 


PLAN  OF  BLOCK  32  IN  TESTACCIO  QUARTER,  ROME. 

245 


RECENT  TENEMENTS  IN  TESTACCIO  QUARTER,  ROME,  BUILT  BY  THE  INSTITUTE  FOR 

POPULAR  HOMES. 

246 


rentevi  as  stores, 
shops,  etc. 

Laundry  rooms 
are  found  on  each 
floor,  one  for  each 
stairway,  and  each 
tenant  may  use 
once  a  week  two 
wash  tubs.  The 
drying  rooms  are 
on  the  adjacent 
roof  and  are  con- 
venient to  the  ten- 
a  n  t  s.  Children's 
rooms  are  on  the 
ground  floor,  to- 
gether with  a 
school  of  domestic 
economy. 

The  walls  and 
stairways  repre- 
sent twenty-eight 
per  cent,  of  the 
covered  area  and 
the  construction  is 
economically  per- 
fect. 


DECORATIVE  DETAILS   OF  TENEMENTS   IN 
TESTACCIO    QUARTER. 


large  galleries  of 
tufa,  which  caused 
an  unexpected  in- 
crease in  the  cost 
o  f  construction. 
The  idea  of  two- 
story  houses  had 
to  be  abandoned, 
because  the  ex- 
pense of  the  foun- 
dations was  out  of 
proportion  with 
the  income  to  be 
derived  from  a 
two-floor  house. 
The  floors  were 
therefore  increased 
to  three  and  four 
in  number. 

This  quarter, 
planned  and  begun 
by  the  Technical 
Office  of  the  Insti- 
tute, was  continued 
and  finished  by 
architects  Pirani 
and  Bellucci,  di- 


THE    SAN    SABA    QUARTER. 

This  quarter  is  situated  on  a  hill  where 
stands  the  small,  but  interesting,  Church 
of  S.  Saba,  erected  on  the  ruins  of  the 
house  and,  later,  Oratory  of  S.  Saba, 
mother  of  Gregory  the  Great.  The  insti- 
tute, helped  by  the  municipality,  which 
sold  the  ground  on  vefy  satisfactory 
terms,  has  built  a  Garden  City,  with 
beautiful,  economical  and  convenient 
houses. 

Difficulties  were  met  with  while  exca- 
vating. At  eight  meters  were  found 


rectors  of  the  Co-operativa  Aventino. 

There  are  100  houses,  eighty-seven 
with  two  floors,  seven  with  three  floors, 
and  six  with  four  floors;  that  is,  330 
apartments  with  1200  rooms,  besides 
stores,  schools,  and  facilities  for  various 
activities  of  a  social  character.  The 
apartments  are  divided  in  this  way :  Sev- 
enty-two of  one  room  and  kitchen,  123 
of  two  rooms  and  kitchen,  sixty-one  of 
three  rooms  and  kitchen,  thirteen  of  four 
rooms  and  kitchen,  fifty-one  of  five  rooms 
and  kitchen.  The  kitchen,  according  to 


247 


THREE-STORY  TENEMENTS. 


FOUR-STORY  TENEMENTS  IN  SAN  SABA  QUARTER,  ROME. 

248 


TWO-STORY  AND  FOUR-STORY  TENEMENTS  IN  SAN  SABA  QUARTER,   ROME. 


the  Roman  custom,  is  never  included  in 
the  count  of  "rooms." 

The  apartments  in  the  two-floor  build- 
ings have  a  separate  entrance  and  a  gar- 
den, and  contain  four,  five  or  six  rooms. 

In  the  three-floor  buildings,  the  apart- 
ments are  always  separated  by  a  hall  and 
by  various  stairways.  Each  apartment 
has  a  water  closet  with  running  water  and 
wash  tubs. 

SAN  LORENZO  QUARTER. 

The  Roman  Real  Estate  Institute  has 
improved  and  transformed  the  San  Lor- 
enzo Quarter,  the  poorest  and  at  one 
time  the  most  ill-famed  in  the  capital. 
It  was  built  between  1884  and  1888,  when 


the  speculative  building  mania  invaded 
Rome,  and  has  all  the  faults  of  that  per- 
iod. It  was  there  that  the  avidity  of 
gain,  the  leasing  and  subleasing  was  car- 
ried farthest,  causing  overcrowding,  pro- 
miscuity, immorality  and  crime.  By 
demolishing  some  of  the  old  buildings 
and  remodeling  the  rest,  the  San  Lorenzo 
Quarter  was  freed  from  overcrowding, 
was  purified  and  humanized.  Twelve 
old  buildings  were  transformed,  being 
grouped  in  four  great  units,  which  cover 
a  total  area  of  6,484  square  meters,  and 
in  which  300  families  live  with  their 
children,  who  attend  the  school  built  for 
them.  The  occupancy  is  reduced  to  only 


THREE-STORY   AND   FOUR-STORY  TENEMENTS  IN   SAN   SABA   QUARTER,   ROME. 
THE  INSTITUTE  FOR  POPULAR  HOMES. 

249 


BUILT   BY 


BLOCK  REMODELED  BY  THE  ROMAN  REAL  ESTATE  INSTITUTE  IN  SAN  LORENZO  QUARTER, 
ROME.    (SALA  A,  NURSERY;  B,  PLAYROOM;  C,  SEWING  MACHINE  ROOM;  D,  DISPENSARY.) 


two  people  for  each  room.  The  subleas- 
ing, through  which  formerly  four  people 
crowded  into  a  room,  has  now  almost 
disappeared.  For  every  100  persons  liv- 
ing in  a  building  there  used  to  be  seventy- 
seven  boarders  or  renters,  now  there  are 
only  five  per  100. 


I  cannot  speak  of  other  important 
cities,  Turin,  Genoa,  Florence,  Naples 
and  Bologna;  but  I  feel  sure  that  the 
movement  toward  better  workingmen's 
homes  is  daily  gaining  in  our  country  and 
that,  the  war  being  over,  the  movement 
will  be  greatly  accelerated. 

250 


WEST  FRONT-RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  FRED- 
ERICK  PACKARD,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA. PA.  WILLING  &  SIMS,  ARCHITECTS. 


GATE  AND  GARDEN-RESIDENCE  OF  MRS. 
FREDERICK  PACKARD,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA, PA.  WILLING  &  SIMS,  ARCHITECTS. 


HOUSE  DOOR— RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  FRED- 
ERICK PACKARD,  CHESTNUT  HILL.  PHILA- 
DELPHIA, PA.  WILLING  &  SIMS,  ARCHITECTS. 


LIVING  ROOM-RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  FRED- 
ERICK PACKARD,  CHESTNUT  HILL,  PHILA- 
DELPHIA, PA.  WILLING  &  SIMS,  ARCHITECTS. 


HALL   AND   DINING    ROOM-RESIDENCE   OF   MRS. 
FREDERICK    PACKARD,    CHESTNUT   HILL,    PHILA- 
DELPHIA,   PA.      WILLING    &    SIMS.    ARCHITECTS. 
•    (For  plan  of  first  floor,   see  page  277.) 


RESIDENCE  OF  G.  G.  DOMINICK,  ESQ.,  STAMFORD,  CONN. 
DESIGNED  BY  ARTHUR  LOOMIS  HARMON,  ARCHITECT, 
FOR  WILLIAM  H.  REID,  ESQ.,  THE  ORIGINAL  OWNER. 


10 


RESIDENCE  OF  G.  G.  DOMINICK, 
ESQ.,  STAMFORD,  CONN.  ARTHUR 
LOOMIS  HARMON,  ARCHITECT. 


RESIDENCE  OF  G.  G.  DOMINICK, 
ESQ.,  STAMFORD,  CONN.  ARTHUR 
LOOMIS  HARMON,  ARCHITECT. 


RESIDENCE  OF  G.  G.  DOMINICK, 
ESQ.,  STAMFORD,  CONN.  ARTHUR 
LOOMIS  HARMON,  ARCHITECT. 


S  K 

a 

.   A* 


RESIDENCE   OF   EARLE   P.    CHARLTON.   ESQ.,    WESTPORT   HARBOR.   MASS. 
Farley  &  Hooper,  Architects. 


RESIDENCE  OF  EARLE  P.  CHARLTON,  ESQ.,  WESTPORT  HARBOR,  MASS. 
Farley  &  Hooper,  Architects. 

262 


RESIDENCE  OF  EARLE  P.  CHARLTON,  ESQ.,  WESTPORT  HARBOR,  MASS. 
Farley  &  Hooper,  Architects. 


RESIDENCE  OF  EARLE  P.  CHARLTON,  ESQ.,  WESTPORT  HARBOR,  MASS. 
Farley  &  Hooper,  Architects. 

263 


SOUTH  FRONT-HOUSE  AT  LAVEROCK,  PA. 
John    Graham,   Jr.,   Architect. 


FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN-HOUSE  AT  LAVEROCK,  PA. 
John   Graham,   Jr.,   Architect. 

264 


KITCHEN  WING-HOUSE  AT  LAVEROCK, 
PA.      JOHN    GRAHAM,    Jr.,    ARCHITECT. 


in  la 


WESTERN    END-HOUSE   AT    LAVEROCK, 
PA.      JOHN    GRAHAM,    Jr.,    ARCHITECT. 


PORCH    DETAIL— HOUSE   AT    LAVEROCK, 
PA.      JOHN     GRAHAM,    Jr.,     ARCHITECT. 


NORTH   SIDE-HOUSE  AT   LAVEROCK, 
PA.     JOHN  GRAHAM,  Jr.,  ARCHITECT. 


REAR-HOUSE  AT  LAVEROCK.   PA. 
JOHN    GRAHAM,    Jr.,    ARCHITECT. 


MAIN     ENTRANCE— ADMINISTRATION     BUILDING, 
OBERLIN  COLLEGE.     CASS  GILBERT,  ARCHITECT. 


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LOGGIA-ADMINISTRATION    BUILDING,    OBER- 
LIN    COLLEGE.      CASS    GILBERT,    ARCHITECT. 


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FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN-RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  FRED 
ER1CK  1'ACKARD.  CHESTNUT  HILL.  PHILADEL- 
PHIA, PA.  WILLING  &  SIMS,  ARCHITECTS.  (Kor 
photographic  views  of  this  house,  see  pages  251  to  255.) 


*77 


A  WAR  MEMORIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

By  FRANK  WEITENKAMPF 


THE  late  war  was  not  a  year  old 
when  some  people  began  to  be 
concerned  about  the  memorials 
which  it  was  likely  to  produce.  Lawrence 
Weaver  issued  his  book  on  "Memorials 
and  Monuments"  in  London  as  early  as 
1915  in  the  hope  that  it  might  be  "useful 
to  people  considering  memorials  and 
*  *  *  lead  them  to  the  artist  rather 
than  to  the  trader."  The  warning  was 
necessary  in  the  light  of  past  experience, 
and  its  timeliness  and  need  was  proven 
by  designs  appearing  in  some  architec- 
tural periodicals  within  the  following 
year. 

The  libraries,  those  good  old  uncles  of 
so  many  inquirers,  would  have  been  well 
put  to  it  to  give  help  at  the  time,  because 
the  available  pictures  of  soldiers'  and 
sailors'  monuments  of  earlier  date  so 
frequently  embodied  just  those  charac- 
teristics and  elements  which  one  was  ad- 
vised to  avoid.  But  within  the  past  year 
or  two  there  has  appeared  a  swarm  of 
articles,  pamphlets,  resolutions,  inter- 
views on  the  subject.  Much  of  this  is 
propaganda  literature  in  favor  of  one 
form  or  another  of  memorial.  But  much 
of  it,  also,  was  prompted  by  the  desire 
to  save  us  from  post-war  horrors  and 
to  combat  the  influence  of  the  metal 
founder's  stock  patterns. 

Many  things  have  been  suggested  be- 
side the  traditional  monument,  arch  or 
statue — bridges,  fountains,  community 
houses,  library  buildings,  shrines,  flag- 
pole bases,  trees.  Perhaps  the  best  sug- 
gestion made  is  that  we  wait  a  while 
before  putting  up  any  monumental  me- 
morials— ten  years  or  so.  (Did  not 
France  resolve  to  do  that?) 

In  the  belief  that  this  printed  material 
might  be  suggestive  and  helpful,  the  fol- 
lowing list  was  prepared  for  the  New 
York  Public  Library.  (In  the  Art 
Division  of  the  library  there  has  also 
been  started  a  collection  of  clippings  on 

*Reprinted,  by  permission,  from  advance  proofs 
of  the  Bulletin  of  the  New  York  Public  Library  for 
August. 


the  subject — text  and  pictures.)  It  will 
be  seen  that  many  of  the  titles  are  quite 
fully  annotated  or  summarized,  thus  of- 
fering practical  help  and  making  this 
bibliography  an  instrument  for  imme- 
diate use. 

The  list  covers  only  memorials  having 
"structural  embodiment,"  as  some  one 
has  put  it.  That  excludes  medals,  for 
instance.  Nor  have  there  been  included 
descriptions  and  pictures  of  memorials 
of  other  days,  so  often  the  products  of 
patriotism  unrestrained  by  ideas  of  taste 
and  fitness.  It  is  the  present  time,  with 
its  ideals  and  problems  and  activities 
that  is  to  be  served.  Of  course,  in  the 
discussion  of  this  question,  consideration 
of  the  basic  principles  underlying  sculp- 
ture and  monumental  structures  has  its 
important  place  and  will  properly  refer 
to  the  great  achievements  of  past  ages. 
In  fact,  it  is  precisely  general  principles 
that  are  to  be  defined  and  established, 
rather  than  individual  examples  to  be  set 
up  as  patterns  to  be  copied  more  or  less 
blindly.  In  that  way  the  best  help  is 
offered  for  choosing  the  appropriate 
memorial  for  the  particular  locality.  Even 
if  many  specific  patterns  existed,  the 
danger  of  the  cut-and-dried  would  be 
present.  Between  that  and  the  excursion 
into  the  odd,  lies  the  golden  mean. 

The  following  list,  then,  is  to  be  con- 
sidered a  guide-post  pointing  the  way: 

GENERAL  WORKS. 

American    Academy    of    Arts    and    Letters, 
and  the  matter  of  memorials.     (Amer- 
ican architect,  Feb.  5,  1919,  p.  202.)MQA 
"An    appeal    that   all    memorials    ...   be  of    the 
highest   artistic    merit.      Reference   is    made   to    the 
National  Commission  of  Fine  Arts,  and  the  admirable 
effect  that  this  commission  has  had  upon  the  char- 
acter of   national   memorials.     Similar   commissions 
In   states   and  municipalities   have   been   doing  good 
work,    but   it   is   necessary   that   supervision   of   me- 
morials    everywhere     be     by      equally      competent 
authority." 

American  Civic  Association.  Civic  com- 
ment. No.  2.  July  16,  1919.  Clipping 
Collection,  Room  229. 

Trees,  rose-gardens,  university  halls,   parks,  high- 
ways,  are  suggested. 

American  Federation  of  Arts.    Second  cir- 


278 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


cular,    Feb.   24,    1919 :    War    memorials. 
4p.  8°.  MAAD 

Suggestions  to  those  who  are  consider- 
ing erection  of  war  memorials.  (Art 
and  archaeology,  v.  8,  March,  1919,  p. 
124.)  MTA 

See  also  Evening  Post  (N.  Y.),  Mav  17,  1919,  and 
N.  Y.  Times,  May  18,  1919,  on  the  A.  F.  A.'s 
activity. 

War  memorials.     (American  magazine 

of  art,  v.  10,  pp.  180-183.)  MAA 

List  of  Advisory  Committee  of  American  Federa- 
tion of  Arts,  the  committee  to  advise  organizations 
intending  to  erect  war  memorials  how  to  secure 
work  "having  artistic  merit."  "Pains  should  be 
taken  to  make  organizations  understand  that  the 
Committee  is  not  interested  in  any  particular  form 
of  memorial  or  in  any  particular  artists."  The  fol- 
lowing principles  adopted :  Memorials  may  take 
many  forms,  varying  with  the  nature  of  the  site, 
the  amount  of  money  available,  the  desires  and 
needs  of  the  community.  Among  many  types  may 
be  mentioned :  flag  staff  with  memorial  base,  foun- 
tain, bridge,  building  devoted  to  high  purposes, 
educational  or  humanitarian,  tablets,  gateways, 
symbolic  groups,  portrait  statues,  medals,  stained 
glass  windows,  village  green.  Professional  ad- 
visers necessary. 

This  committee  of  the  A.  F.  A.  is  referred  to  also 
in  the  American  Architect,  March  26,  1919,  p.  461. 

War  memorials.  (Architect  and  Engi- 
neer, June,  1919,  pp.  92-94.)  MQA 

Mainly  a  reprint  of  the  principles  adopted  by  the 
General  Committee  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Arts,  "substantially  the  same  as  the  ones  laid 
down  by  the  National  Commission  of  Fine  Arts 
and  approved  by  the  National  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Letters." 

American  Magazine  of  Art.  May,  1919. 
War  memorial  number.  MAA 

"Memorials  of  the  great  war,"  Charles  Moore ; 
"The  permanent  memorial,"  Arnold  W.  Brunner ; 
"War's  teachings,"  R.  C.  Sturgis ;  "Typical  Me- 
morials," I.  F.  W.  MacMonnies ;  II,  P.  W.  Bart- 
lett ;  III,  H.  A.  MacNeil ;  "Essentials  in  memorial 
art,"  H.  Saint-Gaudens ;  "Six  good  memorials,"  H. 
Bacon ;  "The  memorial  tablet,"  A.  Adams ;  "Fine 
monuments,"  I,  E.  C.  Tarbell ;  II,  F.  F.  Mather,  Jr. : 
"How  a  war  memorial  was  planned,"  S.  Baxter ; 
"The  spirit  of  war  memorials,"  C.  Beaux ;  "Memo- 
rials in  painting,"  V.  Oakley ;  "Appropriateness  in 
memorials,"  Mrs.  S.  Van  Rensselaer. 

"It  may  well  be  doubted,"  says  Charles  Moore, 
"whether  the  time  has  come  to  express  the  ideas 
and  ideals  of  the  Great  War.  .  .  There  is,  howevei, 
one  class  of  memorials  clearly  called  for.  There  is 
no  community  so  remote,  so  small,  that  It  has  not 
sent  some  of  its  sons  and  daughters  into  the  Great 
War.  .  .  Somewhere,  in  some  manner,  the  name 
of  every  man  and  woman  who  had  an  active  part  in 
war  work  should  find  due  and  fitting  record  in  the 
community  ...  in  simple,  straightforward  manner. 
The  favorite  memorial  will  be  the  tablet.  .  .  A  cer- 
tain firm  of  American  bronze-tablet  makers  has  . .  . 
applied  to  sculptors  to  prepare  designs  that  could 
be  reproduced  indefinitely.  To  an  artist,  indefinite 
reproduction  of  a  single  design,  irrespective  of  loca- 
tion, lighting,  or  expression  of  individual  character, 
is  distasteful.  .  .  .  Eminently  fitting  is  a  flagstaff. 
The  bridge  .  .  .  fountains  .  .  .  the  village  green, 
gateways  to  parks,  stained  glass  windows  .  .  . 
portrait  statues  [are  acceptable]." 

Benson,  A.  C.  Lest  we  forget:  a  word  on 
war  memorials.  (Cornhill  magazine, 
London,  new  series,  v.  41,  Sept.,  1916, 
pp.  295-301.)  *DA 


"We  must  have  a  plan  and  a  purpose,  and  not 
be  in  too  great  a  hurry.  .  .  .  Let  us  commemorate 
by  a  memorial  which  arrests  the  eye,  is  gratefully 
remembered,  and  by  an  inscription  which  touches 
the  heart.  .  .  .  We  are  always  weak  in  allegorical 
representation.  ...  We  ought  to  fight  shy  of 
elaborate  designs.  What  we  need  is  simplicity  of 
statement  with  perhaps  a  touch  of  emblem.  ...  I 
hope  that  we  shall  not  accumulate  resources  on  one 
national  monument,  to  astonish  tourists  and  feed 
our  vanity ;  but  that  as  many  places  as  possible 
should  have  a  record." 

Brockway,  A.  L.  Observations  on  types 
of  memorials.  (American  architect, 
April  9,  1919,  pp.  511-514.)  MQA 

"In  order  promptly  to  celebrate  ...  it  has  been 
necessary  to  do  a  good  deal  of  work  of  a  temporary 
character  .  .  .  which  will  soon  disappear.  Anything 
done  to  commemorate  participation  in  this  World 
War  should  be  carefully  considered.  .  .  .  The  Tri- 
umphal Arch  invariably  commemorated  .  .  .  wars  of 
aggression  and  conquest.  ...  I  cannot  see  the  ap- 
propriateness of  the  Triumphal  Arch  or  monu- 
ment symbols  of  ancient  times  commemorating 
events  of  fundamentally  different  character.  The 
monuments  which  we  erect  should  be  expressive  ot 
our  lives,  ...  of  a  type  and  kind  which  would  keep 
before  our  eyes  those  great  principles  and  thoughts 
of  the  government  upon  which  the  United  States 
was  founded." 

Budden,  Lionel  B.  The  regional  and  civic 
commemoration  of  the  war.  (Town 
planning  review,  Liverpool,  vol.  7, 
March,  1918,  pp.  183-194.)  MSA 

"All  projects  for  commemorating  the  war  can  be 
placed  in  one  of  two  categories — those  which  In- 
volve structural  embodiment  and  those  which  do 
not.  It  will  be  the  object  of  this  article  to  submit 
a  programme  in  reference  to  the  former. 

"Four  main  classes  are  comprised  within  it :  I. 
Monuments.  II,  Works  of  public  utility.  III.  In- 
stitutions with  an  educative,  philanthropic  or  other 
social  purpose.  IV.  Functional  structures  of  Types 
II.  and  III.  monumentally  treated. 

"Any  memorial  [must]  be  appropriate  to  the  sub- 
ject which  has  inspired  it.  ...  In  democratic  coun- 
tries memorials  having  a  practical  purpose  will  be 
preferred  to  those  which  simply  record  or  are  sym- 
bolical. .  .  .  The  present  war  is  ...  unexampled  .  .  . 
and  requires  to  be  commemorated  in  a  manner  not 
less  exalted.  ...  If  minor  and  particular  monu- 
ments are  inadequate,  and  Titanic  conceptions  of  a 
non-utilitarian  kind  impracticable,  one  alternative 
remains — a  programme  of  Regional  and  Civic  De- 
sign. Constructive  work  which  will  benefit  the  com- 
munity must  be  justifiable  on  economic  grounds  .  .  . 
only  Regional  and  Civic  Design  are  capable  of 
satisfying  these  requirements  of  achieving  at  the 
same  time  a  noble  and  permanent  expression  of  our 
Ideals." 

The  article,  written  from  the  British  standpoint, 
suggests  legislation,  a  commission,  and  grouping  of 
regions. 

N.  Y.  Times,  Aug.  4,  1918,  has  a  note  on  this  "ex- 
tensive program  of  regional  and  civic  design." 

Civic  Arts  Association.  Competition  for 
war  memorials.  Illus.  (Architectural 
review,  London,  Aug.,  1916,  pp.  35-39.) 

Clark,  Somers.  War  memorials.  (Archi- 
tect and  contract  reporter,  London,  vol. 
96,  July  14,  1916,  pp.  22-23.)  fMQA 

Introduction  to  thirty-ninth  annual  report  of  Com- 
mittee of  Society  for  the  Protection  of  Ancient 
Buildings.  "Concerned  .  .  .  with  ill-considered  me- 
morials both  within  and  around  our  venerable  and 
beautiful  old  churches  .  .  .  the  congruity  of  the 
memorial  with  its  surroundings.  ...  As  a  specimen 
of  hopeless  incongruity,  the  Tennyson  memorial 
outside  Lincoln  Minster.  ...  It  is  a  common  thing 


279 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


for  sculptors  to  be  invited  to  send  in  their  schemes 
when  the  situation  of  the  memorial  has  not  yet 
been  decided  upon.  .  .  .  The  nave  of  Winchester 
Cathedral  ...  is  sadly  defaced  by  specimens  of 
brass.  .  .  .  One  of  our  noblest  buildings  defaced  by 
the  glassmakers — Westminster  Abbey." 

Danger  in  "war  memorials."  (Minnesota 
municipalities,  v.  4,  April,  1919,  p.  62.) 

SERA 

Gillies,  J.  W.  The  effect  of  war  upon 
architecture.  (Arts  and  Decoration, 
May,  1919,  pp.  7-9,  38-42.)  MAA 

"Great  memorials  will  spring  up  all  over  the 
country.  They  will  be  monumental.  .  .  .  Let  us  hope 
they  will  be  in  stone." 

A  great  variety  of  war  memorials.  (N.  Y. 
Public  Library.)  Municipal  reference 
notes,  April  2,  1919,  p.  266.  *HND 

"A  National  Committee  on  Memorial  Buildings 
(261  Broadway)  has  been  formed,  which  has  issued 
two  bulletins."  See  under  NATIONAL,  in  section 
"Community  Houses." 

Kansas.     Legislature.     Hero  memorials  for 
the  cities  and  counties  of  Kansas,  April 
8,  1919,  4p.     (House  Bill  No.  690.) 
This  bill  was  approved!  March  22,  1919. 

Memorials  and  monuments ;  competition 
and  exhibition  of  the  Civic  Arts  Asso- 
ciation. (Country  life,  London,  vol.  39, 
May  13,  1916,  pp.  2*-6*.)  fMVA 

The  classes  include  monument,  wall  tablets, 
mural  painting,  fountain,  "inexpensive  memorials 
for  the  home." 

Memorials  ot  wai. — 1.  Ancient;  II.  Renais- 
sance; III.  .Napoleonic;  IV.  Modern 
British:  V.  Modern  French:  VI.  Mod- 
ern Italian ;  VII.  American  ;  VIII.  Ger- 
man. By  R.  R.  P.  and  A.  E.  R.  PI.  and 
illus.  (Architectural  review,  London, 
1915,  Feb.-May,  July-Oct.,  Dec.;  1916, 
Nov.) 

Monod,  Sir  Alfred.     War  memorials:   plea 
-  for  erection  of  ideal  schemes.     (Royal 
Institute   of   British   Architects.     Jour- 
nal, v.  25,   1918,  pp.  247-248.)  MQA 

Appeared  also  in  American  Magazine  of  Art, 
vol.  10,  1919,  p.  99-100,  and  in  Pail  Mall  Gazette, 
Aug.  26,  1918. 

"The  tendency  to  confuse  philanthropy,  utility, 
and  art  is  often  disastrous.  .  .  Wings  of  hospitals, 
baths,  libraries,  etc.,  all  excellent  civic  objects,  do 
not  for  that  reason  become  memorials  of  a  great 
historic  event.  War  memorials  [must]  make  plain 
what  they  commemorate.  Locality,  surrounding^ 
and  local  associations  must  be  carefully  regarded. 
It  might  be  possible  to  have  some  central  idea  on 
the  lines,  perhaps,  of  beautiful  market  crosses,  to 
attempt  ...  a  united  scheme  emblematic  in  stereo- 
typed form.  ...  Of  course  the  Imperial  War 
Museum  .  .  .  and  the  other  museums  .  .  .  will 
naturally  be  permanent  records  of  the  great  en- 
deavor of  the  nation.  While  not  themselves  sym- 
bolic monuments  of  the  war  .  .  .  the  buildings  will 
lend  themselves  naturally  to  combinations  of  a 
sculptural  character." 

Monuments  and  reason.  (Builder,  Lon- 
don, v.  110,  Feb.  4,  1916,  p.  99.)  fMQA 


"Practical  demands  on  the  Nation's  depleted  re- 
sources will  be  so  enormous  that  it  is  unlikely  that 
any  great  war  memorials  will  be  carried  out  within 
a  decade  of  the  termination  of  the  war.  Small  per- 
sonal memorials  will  no  doubt  be  erected  in  num- 
bers. .  .  .  The  delivery  of  the  first  of  Prof. 
Adshead's  lectures  on  'War  Memorials :  their  sig- 
nificance and  treatment,'  on  the  26th  ult.,  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  meeting  on  the  28th  ...  at  which  the 
Civic  Arts  Association  was  inaugurated.  .  .  . 
Monumental  art  has  never  been  well  understood  in 
this  country.  .  .  .  We  believe  .  .  .  [in]  the  precept 
festina  Jente.  .  .  .  Prof.  Adshead  stated  that  monu- 
ments to  commemorate  the  present  war  must  be 
conceived  on  a  gigantic  scale.  .  .  .  Although  we  ap- 
preciate a  very  able  exposition  of  the  subject,  we 
feel  that  such  schemes  are  alien  to  the  national 
character.  ...  A  bridge  over  the  Thames,  a  Me- 
morial Chapel  at  Westminster,  or  a  southern  em- 
bankment along  the  river  are  more  likely  to  be  the 
type  of  memorial  schemes  which  will  find  sup- 
port. .  .  .  While  we  wish  to  see  the  cause  of  the 
architectural  and  sculptured  arts  furthered  .  .  .  we 
feel  that  the  process  of  education  must  be  a  very 
gradual  one.  ..." 

Municipal  Art  Society  of  New  York  City. 
Bulletin,  No.  17,  1919:  War  memorials, 
22  p.  illus.  MSA 

"When  the  project  of  the  War  Memorial  comes 
up  ...  three  questions  arise  :  the  form  .  .  .  possible 
within  the  appropriation ;  its  character ;  whether 
it  shall  be  entrusted  to  a  professional  artist  or  a 
business  firm.  This  Bulletin  discusses  these  ques- 
tions, illustrating  some  existing  forms  of  American 
memorials  and  suggesting  others." 

Suggestions  are :  Arch,  beacon,  bridge,  clock 
tower,  colonnade,  community  house,  embarkade, 
exedra,  gateway,  library,  monumental  electrolier, 
museum  or  hall,  open  air  theatre,  roster  column, 
rostrum,  equestrian  statue,  figure  or  group,  foun- 
tain, pylon,  cliff  sculpture,  doors,  flag  pole  and  base, 
avenue,  grotto,  park,  arrangement  of  war  trophies, 
mosaic  or  mural  painting,  stained  glass  window 
tablet. 

The  Municipal  Reference  Library  Notes,  N.  Y. 
Public  Library,  April  21,  1919.  p.  266,  calls  this 
"one  of  the  most  exhaustive  studies  of  the  subject 
yet  received."  Evening  Post  (N.  Y.),  Feb.  1,  1919, 
and  March  29,  .1919,  and  Evening  Sun,  April  2, 
1919,  also  reviewed  this  Bulletin,  and  Arts  and 
Decoration,  May,  1919.  p.  18-19,  had  a  summary : 
"War  Memorials,  what  the  Municipal  Art  Society 
of  New  York  City  is  doing  about  them." 

Plates  representing  war  memorials  in 
Great  Britain.  (Builder,  London,  May, 
1919.)  fMQA 

Protecting  America  from  the  atrocities  of 
art.  Illus.  (Current  opinion,  N.  Y.,  v.  66, 
March,  1919,  pp.  187-188.)  *DA 

Resume  of  the  appeals  of  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Arts  and  the  Municipal  Art  Society. 

Quinton,  Cornelia  B.  Sage.  War  me- 
morials. (Academy  notes,  published  by 
the  Buffalo  Fine  Arts  Academy,  v.  14, 
July-Sept.,  1919,  pp.  100-101.)  3MAA 

"We  cannot  create  adequate  war  memorials  at 
present  because  we  are  as  yet  too  close  to  the  war. 
We  are  still  struggling  for  ideals  for  which  we  have 
only  lately  ceased  to  fight.  .  .  .  The  memorial  is 
erected  to  honor  patriotism  and  devotion  to  civili- 
zation, [to]  commemorate  the  spirit  of  the  nation 
as  a  -whole,  .  .  .  war  of  a  whole  nation  doing  bat- 
tle for  its  weal.  The  most  impressive  monument  is 
one  which  appeals  to  the  imagination  alone  .  .  . 
devoid  of  practical  utility.  .  .  .  Display  of  wealth 
and  over-elaborateness  are  .  .  .  vulgar.  If  the 
utilitarian  structure  shall  be  used,  it  is  of  first  im- 
portance that  it  shall  impress  by  beauty  of  design 
.  .  .  and  fitness  of  setting.  .  .  .  Bridge  .  .  .  foun- 


280 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


tains,  buildings  devoted  to  purposes  educational  or 
humanitarian  ....  whether  large  or  small,  .  .  . 
should  be  an  inspiration.  .  .  .  This  work  should  not 
be  hurried.  We  must  learn  the  lesson  of  patience." 

Report  on  Victory  Memorial  [for  Port- 
land], by  the  Oregon  Chapter  of  Ar- 
chitects. (Architect  and  engineer  of 
California,  v.  57,  1919,  pp.  97-100.)  MQA 

"The  scheme  contemplates  a  monumental  treat- 
ment of  the  park  blocks  which  become  an  approach 
to  the  great  shaft  of  victory — the  Memorial  Park, 
Memorial  Hospital,  and  Victory  Highway  to  the 
State  Capitol." 

War  memorials.  (American  Institute  of 
Architects.  Journal,  v.  7,  1919,  pp. 
30-32.)  MQA 

"Expert  services  are  needed  before  any  suitable 
memorial  can  take  form,  but  what  is  needed  more 
is  a  national  consciousness  seeking  to  memorialize  a 
spiritual  experience.  ...  It  is  too  much  to  hope  that 
the  memorials  will  utterly  fail  to  glorify  war  and 
victory,  and  while  paying  homage  to  heroism,  also 
point  to  a  ...  humanity  and  brotherhood  which 
will  refuse  ever  again  to  adopt  war  as  a  means  of 
settling  any  issue?  To  that  end,  is  it  not  impon 
ant  to  consider  forms  of  memorials  where  men  and 
women  and  children  may  meet  .  .  .  for  work  and 
play?  Let  us  bring  men  together  and  not  leave 
them  cold  with  the  frigidity  of  monuments  that  lose 
their  power  to  influence.  Let  us  ...  build  some- 
thing democratic.  .  .  .  Our  men  died  for  more  and 
better  life  .  .  . — that  must  be  our  memorial  to  their 
sacrifice." 

A  number  of  communications  and  notes  follow : 
One  asks  "why  arches?"  A  Philadelphia  confer- 
ence resolved  that  the  designing  be  entrusted  only 
to  artists  "of  the  highest  standing."  Port  Chester, 
N.  Y.,  is  developing  a  park  as  a  memorial,  com- 
munity houses  are  considered,  and  a  flag-staff  base 
is  suggested. 

—(Architect,  London,  v.  96,  Aug.  18,  1916, 
pp.  98-99.)  fMQA 

By  E.  P.  C.  Reprinted  from  Manchester  Guat- 
dian.  "The  Greeks  .  .  .  preferred  the  direct  ex- 
pression of  feeling  to  any  historical  delineation. 
.  .  .  The  eighteenth  century  is  almost  wholly  alle- 
gorical. .  .  .  Much  greater  individuality  of  charac- 
ter is  found  in  Renaissance  monuments.  .  .  .  [In] 
recent  work,  few  are  the  examples  we  would  wish 
studied.  ...  Of  recent  private  or  corporate  me- 
morials I  cannot  call  to  mind  a  single  eminent  suc- 
cess." 

15,    1919,    p. 
f*DA 

"A  new  idea  is  taking  root.  Most  of  the  plans  .  .  . 
have  embodied  the  principle  of  beautified  utility. 
The  thought  of  the  American  public  has  turned 
from  the  purely  sculptural  to  that  of  architectural 
expressions.  There  are  proposals  of  bridges,  via- 
ducts, halls,  embankments,  boulevards,  railwav  ter- 
minals, parks,  and  buildings  suited  to  various 
public  uses." 

(Spectator,  London,  v.  116,  Feb.  5,  1916, 

pp.  183-184.)  *DA 

The  Civic  Arts  Associations  thus  describes  its 
aims:  "Countless  memorials  will  be  in  demand,  and 
unless  steps  are  taken  to  provide  direction  and  ad- 
vice. .  .  these  will  generally  be  of  the  usual  trivial 
or  commonplace  type.  The  committee  of  the  Asso- 
ciation is  devoting  considerable  attention  to  those 
.  .  .  possible  to  people  of  small  means  as  well  as  to 
the  more  costly  civic  kinds,  to  relatively  humble 
private  memorials,  as  well  as  those  of  a  public 
character.  ...  In  small  towns  the  best  form  is  often 
some  useful  little  building  such  as  a  school,  or 
public  rorm.  or  sm^ll  local  museum  .  .  .  the  guid- 
ing principle  should  be  "appropriateness. '  .  .  .  We 
must  not  fall  into  the  error  of  thinking  that  only 


-(Bellman,    v.    26,    March 
288.) 


battle  scenes  .  .  .  would  provide  appropriate  picture 
memorials.  One  can  imagine  a  very  appropriate 
series  of  pictures  in  which  there  was  not  a  single 
trace  of  the  .  .  .  tramplings  of  the  battlefield.  .  .  ." 

Weaver,  Lawrence.  Exhibition  of  war 
memorial  designs.  Illus.  (Country 
Life,  London,  July  22,  1916,  pp.  2*-8*.) 

tfMVA 

A  review  of  the  exhibition  of  designs  submitted  in 
the  Civic  Arts  Association  competition. 

Williams-Ellis,  Clough.  War  memorials. 
(Spectator,  Feb.  19,  1916,  pp.  249- 
250.)  *DA 

"There  are  endless  possibilities  in  the  way  of 
memorials  to  which  the  term  'monument'  could 
scarcely  be  applied.  A  hospital  wing  .  .  .,  endowed 
cot  .  .  .,  village  halls,  bridges,  groves  with  stone 
seats,  avenues,  walks,  terraces,  gardens,  tablet, 
fountains,  clocks,  gates,  sundials,  temples,  obe- 
lisks. ..." 

MONUMENTS— SCULPTURE. 

Adams,  A.  War  memorials  in  sculpture. 
(Scribner's  magazine,  v.  65,  March,  1919, 
pp.  381-384.)  *DA 

"Until  expert  opinion  in  art  is  valued  in  our 
democracy  our  best  efforts  in  art  may  at  times 
suffer  delays  and  contempts.  But  our  hopes  in  art 
are  more  than  our  handicaps." 

Adshead,  S.  D.  Monumental  memorials 
and  town  planning.  (Architect  and 
contract  reporter,  London,  v.  97,  1917, 
pp.  105-107,  123-125.)  tMQA 

"Monumental  memorials  may  be  described  as  the 
jewels  of  a  monumental  town  plan.  .  .  .  The  finest 
type  of  [war]  memorial  is  that  which,  while  arous- 
ing the  best  sort  of  patriotism  .  .  .,  holds  no  sting. 
.  .  .  The  monument  that  is  fundamentally  archi- 
tectural can  alone  evoke  the  deepest  sentiments  of 
a  great  people.  But  the  most  intimate  emotions 
can  only  be  aroused  by  sculpture."  Author  then 
considers  relation  of  proposed  monument  to  site, 
and  to  the  whole  city  plan.  Prof.  Adshead's  lec- 
tures on  "War  memorials,  their  significance  and 
treatment,"  were  reviewed  in  the  Builder,  Feb.  4, 
191G,  p.  90. 

Arch  of  thanksgiving  and  welcome,  illus. 
(Literary  digest,  v.  59,  Dec.  14,  1918,  pp. 
26-27.)  *DA 

Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce.  War  memo- 
rial:  Chamber  offers  several  plans.  .  . 
illus.  (Current  affairs,  Boston,  v.  1, 
Feb.  10,  1919,  pp.  12-15.)  TLA 

"Suggestions  for  a  monumental  structure  in  the 
Public  Gardens,  to  stand  at  head  of  most  compre- 
hensive system  of  street  improvements  undertaken 
in  Boston.  .  .  .  Memorial  arch  proposed  in  addition. 
.  .  .  The  memorial  should  foster  the  idea  of  educa- 
tion." 

Brock,  A.  Glutton.  On  war  memorials. 
(Country  Life,  London,  v.  39,  Feb.  5, 
1916,  pp.  188-189.)  fMVA 

"A  good  inscription  is  one  that  says  exactly  what 
it  means  simply  and  finely.  .  .  .  Consider  what  in 
the  past  we  have  done  with  inscriptions,  in  our 
desire  to  invest  them  with  that  vague  something 
which  we  call  art.  .  .  .  When  the  lettering;  was  not 
Gothic  it  was  often  fantastic  in  some  other  way.  or 

rise  as  dull  as  a  handbill Like  the  lettering, 

the  language  should  be  neither  shoppy  nor  precious." 

In    the    Feb.    12    issue    of    Country    Life,    p.    222, 


281 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


appears  a  letter  from  Lawrence  Weaver,  In  which 
he  says  "the  main  purpose  of  the  Civic  Arts  Associ- 
ation is  to  see  that  the  tablets  on  which  Mr.  Glutton 
Brock  shall  write  for  us,  may  take  an  architectural 
or  sculptural  form  worthy  of  his  epigraphic  skill 
and  reticence." 

Eggers,  O.  R.,  and  E.  H.  Rosengarten. 
Description  of  suggested  design  for  a 
victory  memorial.  (American  archi- 
tect, v.  114,  Dec.,  1918,  p.  671).  MQA 
Proposed  site  at  Riverside  Drive  and  110th  Street, 

New  York  City. 

Frankl,  P.  Kriegergrabmal  und  Krieger- 
denkmal.  (Deutsche  Kunst  und  Deko- 
ration,  1916,  Jahrg.  19,  pp.  431-432.) 

fMAA 
Soldiers'   monuments. 

French  monument  to  Americans.     (Current 
history    magazine    of    the    New    York 
Times,   v.   9,    part   2,    March,    1919,    pp. 
477-478.) 
Monument  dedicated  Nov.  3,  1918,  at  Nancy. 

Gateway  of  the  nation.  (American  archi- 
tect, April  20,  1919,  pp.  603-606.  plans.) 

MQA 

Describes  a  plan  for  a  memorial  to  be  located  in 
Battery  Park,  New  York  City. 

A  German  cemetery  in  France.  [Four 
plates  of  drawings  by  S.  J.  Wearing, 
with  text  on  p.  426.]  (Builder,  London, 
May  2,  1919.)  fMQA 

Great   Britain.     Royal   graves   commission. 

(Fortnightly,    v.     Ill,    Jan.,     1919,    pp. 

136-138.)  *DA 

Communications  from  "A  Soldier's  Mother"  speaks 
of  the  commission's  intention  to  erect  uniform  head- 
scones  and  a  central  monument,  and  makes  a  plea 
for  flowering  plants. 

Haendcke,  B.  Weltkrieg  und  Bildnisplastik. 
illus.  (Kunst  fur  Alle,  1915,  Jahrg.  31, 
pp.  73-76.)  fMAA 

Soldiers'    monuments. 

Hastings,  Thomas.  New  York's  arch  of 
victory.  (Architecture,  N.  Y.,  April, 
1919,  pp.  87-88.  illus.)  fMQA 

Jessen,  Peter.  Kriegergrabmal-Entwiirfe 
der  Wiesbadener  Gesellschaft  fur  Grab- 
malkunst.  Illus.  (Deutsche  Kunst  and 
Dekoration,  Jahrg.  18,  1915,  pp.  267- 
276.)  fMAA 

Koch,  David.  Das  Kriegergrabmal.  6  pi. 
(Plastik,  Miinchen,  1915,  pp.  41-44.) 

tMGA 

La  Sizeranne,  Robert  de.  Heros  et  sta- 
tues. (L'Art  et  les  artistes,  Feb.,  1919, 
PP-  1-3.)  MAA 

Commented    on    in    Evening   Post    (N.    Y.),    June 

«7,     lijl*/. 

Lindner,  Werner.  Denkmaler  fur  unsere 
Krieger.  Miinchen:  G.  D.  W.  Callwey 
[1915],  22  p.,  1  1.,  8  pi.  8°.  (Duererbund. 
Flugschrift,  [no.]  139.)  EAA 


Martyr  memorialized;  London's  Edith 
Cavell  memorial,  illus.  (Literary  di- 
gest, v.  57,  June  1,  1918,  p.  4.)  *DA 

Memorials  of  the  past  and  of  to-day, 
illus.  (Literary  digest,  v.  57,  June  8, 
1918,  p.  27.)  *DA 

Montizambert,  G.  Our  portion  at  Ver- 
sailles .  .  .  graves  of  Canadian  heroes, 
illus.  (Canadian  magazine,  Feb.,  1916, 
pp.  317-320.)  *DA 

National  peace  monument.  illus.  (Art 
world,  v.  9,  Oct.,  1918,  pp.  308-312.) 

MAA 

Proposal  to  erect  in  the  Pantheon  a  monu- 
ment in  honor  of  the  French  soldier. 
(New  France,  v.  3,  March,  1919,  pp. 
418-419.)  fDA 

Richardson,  A.  E.  Campo  Santo  on  the 
banks  of  the  Marne.  [Design  for  sug- 
gested memorial  to  British  soldiers 
who  fell  in  the  Battle  of  the  Marne.] 
Plate,  with  text.  (Builder,  London,  v. 
110,  Feb.  4,  1916,  p.  106.)  fMQA 

Soldatengraber  und  Kriegsdenkmale.  illus. 
(Kunst  und  Kunsthandwerk,  Wien, 
Jahrg.  18,  1915,  pp.  279-296.)  fMNA 

Soldaten-Graber,  Krieger-Denkmaler,  Erin- 
nerungszeichen.  Entwiirfe  und  Vor- 
schlage  hrsg.  vom  Bayerischen  Kunst- 
gewerbe-Verein,  Miinchen.  illus. 
(Kunst  und  Handwerk,  Wien,  1916,  pp. 
65-175.)  fMNA 

Steinlein,  S.  Unsere  Arbeit  furs  Ganze. 
Kriegergraber  und  Denkmale.  12  pi. 
illus.  (Plastik,  Miinchen,  1915,  pp.  1-8, 
17-28.)  tMGA 

Studniczka,  Franz.  Die  griechische  Kunst 
an  Kriegergrabern :  Vortrag,  6  Feb. 
1915.  (Neue  Jahrbiicher  fur  das  klassiche 
Altertum.  .  .  Berlin,  Bd.  35,  1915,  pp. 
285-311,  24  pi.  illus.)  NAA 

Victory  arch  in  New  York.  [Editorial.] 
(American  architect,  v.  114,  Dec.  4,  1918, 
pp.  673-674.)  MQA 

War  memorials  and  rural  life.  (Veteran, 
v.  2,  Dec.,  1918,  pp.  47-49.) 

War  monuments.  (Builder,  London,  v.  108, 
Jan.,  1915,  pp.  101-102.)  fMQA 

"The  monuments  in  English  cathedrals  and  parish 
churhces  .  .  .  for  the  most  part  are  in  excellent 
taste  .  .  .,  but  few  men  desire  to  see  further  addi- 
tions made  to  the  gigantic  stone  crop,  jitner  in 
Westminster  Abbey  or  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  .  .  . 
The  finest  monuments  in  this  country  commemorate 
fires  and  peace  achievements  rather  than  the  fight- 
ing qualities  of  our  ancestors.  When  we  review 
the  number  of  harbor  works  ...  at  Kingstown,  Ply- 
mouth, and  other  ports,  it  is  strange  that  these 
works  of  national  importance  were  not  dedicated  to 
the  memory  of  the  heroes  whose  courage  .  .  .  made 
such  undertakings  possible.  .  .  .  No  longer  must  we 
have  inflicted  indiscriminate  groups  of  marble  and 


282 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


bronze.  .  .  .  There  must  be  a  controlling  agency. 
.  .  .  Two  or  three  ideas  occur  to  us.  ...  In  France 
battles  are  seldom  commemorated  by  monuments 
on  the  battlefield.  Their  battle  monuments  are 
placed  in  the  centres  of  towns.  .  .  .  Another  sug- 
gestion is  that  the  deans  of  cathedrals  and  rectors 
of  parish  churches  use  authority  regarding  wall 
tablets." 

Weaver,  Lawrence.     Memorials  and  monu- 
ments, old  and  new:   two  hundred  sub- 
jects    chosen     from     seven     centuries. 
London  :    Country  life,  1915.    8°.       MRI 
"The  purpose  of  this  book  is  ...  to  focus  atten- 
tion on  good  examples,  old  and  new.     That  is  not  to 
say  that  old  forms  should  be  copied  exactly  .  .  .,  but 
they  give  valuable  guidance  as  to  proportion,  use  of 
materials,  spacing  of  lettering  and  the  like.  .  .  .  The 
national  conscience  is  stirred  to  its  depths  .  .  .  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  memorials  will  be  worthy 
of  ...  the  occasion.     The  book  is  published  in  the 
hope  that  it  may  .  .  .  lead  to  the  artist  rather  than 
to  the  trader." 

From  review  in  the  Burlington  Magazine,  January, 
1916:  "The  most  important  part  of  the  volume  is 
that  which  defines  the  proper  relation  of  the  sculp- 
tor's and  the  architect's  functions  in  this  form  of 
art.  .  .  .  Mr.  Weaver  pleads  for  simple  memorials 
.  .  .  and  purposely  says  little  of  more  ambitious 
monuments,  involving  groups  of  statuary." 

World-War   monuments.      (Art   world   and 

arts    and    decoration,    v.    10,    1919,    pp. 

121-128.)  MAA 

"We  are  heartily  in  favor  of  the  .  .  .  community 

house,  but,  in  addition,  a  monument  of  a  purely  ideal 

character    should    be    placed    near    such    utilitarian 

building.   .   .    .   There  should   be   absolutely   nothing 

utilitarian  about  the  soldier  monuments." 

COMMUNITY  HOUSES. 

Art  and  war  memorials.  (Advocate  of 
peace,  v.  81,  Feb.,  1919,  pp.  38-39.) 

fYFXC 

"The  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Letters  ap- 
pealed to  the  American  people  to  conserve  beauty 
...  in  choice  of  war  memorials.  Fortunately  in  the 
national  capftol  a  Commission  of  Fine  Arts  exists 
with  advisory  power.  .  .  .  There  are  a  few  of  the 
states  and  cities  with  similar  advisory  commissions 
.  .  .  but  taking  the  country  by  and  large  there  will 
be  no  such  expert  guidance.  .  .  .  Protection  from  .  .  . 
such  'atrocities'  as  followed  the  Civil  War  will  be  by 
town  officials  and  citizens  who  must  insist  that  .  .  . 
monuments  be  erected  only  after  conference  with 
authorities  in  the  realm  of  art.  .  .  .  'Arches  of  tri- 
umph,' realistic  portrayals  of  war  and  portrait  busts 
and  statues  are  not  going  to  satisfy  the  standard  of 
many  art  patrons  and  artists.  .  .  .  These  lovers  of 
art  are  also  lovers  of  civics.  .  .  .  Hence  they  rather 
favor  the  community  house,  the  civic  forum,  and 
citizens'  town-home  as  their  type  of  war  memorial. 
To  such  a  structure,  the  town  planner,  landscape 
architect,  architect,  painter,  sculptor,  interior  deco- 
rator, artisan,  draftsman,  and  social  service  expert 
all  may  contribute." 

Bard,  A.  S.  Community  buildings  as  war 
memorials.  (National  municipal  re- 
view, Baltimore,  March,  1919,  pp.  129- 
135.)  SERA 

Reprinted  in  Bulletin  4  of  the  National  Committee 

on  Memorial  Buildings. 

Brunner,  E.  D.  Soldier  memorials  in  coun- 
try towns.  (American  city,  town  and 
county  edition,  v.  20,  April,  1919,  pp. 
345-346.)  SERA 

Candler,  Martha.  Community  houses  as 
soldiers'  memorials,  illus.  (National 


magazine,    Boston,    v.    48,    April,    1919, 
pp.    111-113.)  *DA 

Discusses  opportunities  for  development  of  civic 
architecture,  encouragement  of  music  and  drama, 
community  kitchen,  etc. 

Chamber  starts  campaign  for  liberty  me- 
morial building.  .  .  (Bridgeport  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  Bridgeport  progress, 
v.  3,  Jan.  1,  1919,  p.  1.) 

Cheney,  Charles  H.  The  war  memorial — 
shall  we  make  it  something  worth 
while?  illus.  (Architect  and  engineer 
of  California,  v.  55,  1918,  pp.  39-46.) 

MQA 

Community  buildings  as  soldier  memorials. 
(School  life,  Washington,  v.  2,  Jan.  16, 
1919,  p.  1.)  Room  111 

Community  houses  instead  of  monuments, 
as  soldiers'  memorials.  (American  city, 
town  and  county  edition,  v.  19,  Sept., 
1918,  p.  173.)  SERA 

Crane,  Frank.  Liberty  buildings.  (Amer- 
ican city,  town  and  county  edition, 
v.  19,  Nov.,  1918,  p.  347.)  SERA 

Cravath,  Paul  D.  Liberty  buildings  are 
the  real  memorials  for  the  new  democ- 
racy, illus.  (Touchstone,  N.  Y.,  vol.  5, 
July,  1919,  pp.  294-302,  336.)  *DA 

"There  is  one  feature  which  would  seem  to  be- 
long in  any  building  of  memorial  character.  That 
is  a  Hall  of  Fame  wherein  should  be  inscribed  the 
names  of  those  local  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines 
who  participated  in  the  war.  .  .  .  There  is  no  stand- 
ard type  of  Community  House.  Let  us  hope  there 
never  will  be.  .  .  .  Music,  the  drama,  painting,  and 
sculpture  .  .  .  must  find  their  home  in  the  building 
on  a  friendly  footing  with  other  activities.  .  .  .  The 
native  arts  of  our  foreign  elements  we  may  well  use 
for  the  enhancement  of  any  community  program." 

Franklin,  M.  S.  A  civic  type  of  war  me- 
morial proposed  for  the  city  of  Boston. 
(American  architect,  Feb.  19,  1919,  pp. 
259-268.  plan,  diagr.)  MQA 

"The  large  city  must  have  many  'community 
centers'.  .  .  .  The  up-to-date  American  city,  how- 
ever, requires  some  large  central  structure  .  .  .,  the 
educational,  recreational  and  social  headquarters  for 
city  and  state." 

The  plan,  by  Frank  Chouteau  Brown,  lays  "em- 
phasis upon  the  auditorium  features."  See  also 
Current  Affairs,  Boston.  Feb.  17,  1919,  p.  7. 

Greeley,  W.  R.  Erecting  memorials  to 
our  soldiers  and  sailors,  plans.  (House 
beautiful,  Chicago,  v.  45,  Jan.,  1919,  pp. 
18-19.)  fMLA 

Harriman,  L.  B.  Your  home  town  first, 
the  community  building  as  a  popular 
memorial.  illus.  (Delineator,  v.  94, 
May,  1919,  p.  20.)  fVSA 

How  to  work  for  community  theatres  as 
soldiers'  memorials.  (Drama  League 
Monthly,  v.  3,  Jan.,  1919,  pp.  10-14.) 

NBLA 


283 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


Inspiring   memorial   buildings   proposed   or 

under  way.    (American  city,  v.  20,  April, 

1919,  pp.  324-325.)  SERA 

The    "Liberty    Building"    idea.      (American 

city,   city   edition,   v.    19,   pp.   255-266.) 

SERA 

"The  erection  of  more  monuments  or  statues  ... 
would  be  an  inadequate  tribute  to  a  glorious  sacri- 
fice. To  help  the  living  while  commemorating  the 
dead  is  the  purpose  of  the  .  .  .  Liberty  Building." 

"Liberty  Buildings"  as  soldiers'  memorials. 
(New  Jersey  municipalities,  v.  2,  Oct., 

1918,  pp.  241-242.)  SERA 

Liberty  buildings  as  victory  monuments. 
(American  city,  v.  19,  Dec.,  1918,  pp. 
471-473.)  SERA 

Memorial  buildings :  their  place  in  the 
community.  "Liberty"  should  be  part 
of  their  title,  one  writer  says.  (To- 
ledo city  journal,  v.  4,  Jan.  4,  1919, 
p.  5.)  SERA 

"To  honor  the  living  equally  with  the  dead,  such 
a  community  center  affording  meeting  place  for 
fraternal  and  recreation  organizations,  women's 
clubs,  boy  scouts  [etc.].  So  broad  a  plan  would  not 
be  desired  in  Toledo,  because  it  would  duplicate 
many  activities  already  organized,  but  in  many 
smaller  cities  the  building  could  play  a  most  im- 
portant part." 

Municipal,  community,  and  memorial  build- 
ings. (Municipality.  Madison,  Wis., 
March,  1919,  pp.  49-52.)  SERA 

Nation-wide  movement  for  liberty  build- 
ings. (Birmingham.  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, v.  1,  Feb.,  1919,  p.  5.)  Room  111 

National  Committee  on  Memorial  Build- 
ings. Bulletins.  New  York.  1919.  CLIP- 
PING COLLECTION,  ROOM  229. 

1.  Community    houses    as    soldiers'    and    sailors' 
memorials,    by    E.    R.    Shippen.      Provision    for    art, 
music,    and    drama    in    liberty    buildings,    by    C.    W. 
Stevenson.      Memorial    building   -movement    has    al- 
ready   gained    nation-wide    interest.      Reports    from 
cities. 

2.  A  living  memorial. 

[3.]  The  memorial  community  house.  What  it 
should  be,  and  who  should  manage  it. 

4.  Community  houses  as  war  memorials.  [By 
A.  S.  Bard.  Reprinted  from  National  Municipal 
Review,  March.  1019.] 

This  National  Committee  is  now  the  Bureau  of 
Memorial  Buildings  of  the  War  Camp  Community 
Service,  124  E.  28th  Street,  New  York  City.  See 
below,  under  War  Camp  Community. 

Proposed  liberty  memorial  square  and  civic 
center  for  Berkeley,  California,  illus. 
(American  city,  city  edition,  v.  20,  May, 

1919,  pp.   428-429.)  SERA 

Rigaumont,  V.  A.  Liberty  building  pro- 
posed for  the  city  of  Johnstown,  Pa. 
illus.  (American  city,  city  edition, 
March,  1919,  pp.  222-223.)  SERA 

Shippen,  E.  R.  Community  houses  as  sol- 
diers' and  sailors'  memorials.  illus. 
plans.  (American  city,  v.  20,  Jan.,  1919, 
pp.  27-31.)  SERA 


Some  cities  which  have  taken  definite  steps 
toward  securing  community  houses  or 
liberty  buildings  as  victory  memorials. 
(American  city,  v.  20,  Jan.,  1919,  pp. 
36-37.)  SERA 

Stevenson,  Christine  W.  Provision  for  art, 
music  and  drama  in  liberty  buildings. 
(American  city,  v.  20,  Jan.,  1919,  pp. 
32-35.)  SERA 

Suggests  "liberty  buildings."  (Harlem 
magazine,  v.  7,  Dec.,  1918,  p.  8.)  TLA 

War  camp  community  service  backs  me- 
morial building  movement.  National 
Committee  on  Memorial  Buildings 
unites  with  War  Camp  Community 
Service.  (American  city,  city  edition, 
v.  21,  July,  1919,  p.  30.)  "  SERA 

See  also,  above,  under  NATIONAL  COMMITTEE. 

TREES. 

Faxon,  R.  B.  Roadside  planting  as  a  me- 
morial to  our  soldiers  and  sailors,  illus. 
(Modern  city,  Baltimore,  v.  4,  March, 
1919,  pp.  10-13.)  fSERA 

Memorial  trees  planted  for  soldiers  and 
sailors.  (American  forestry,  March, 
1919,  pp.  913-917.  illus.)  VQN 

Shorter  notes  have  appeared  in  this  magazine, 
e.  g.  :  "Washington's  first  memorial  tree,"  illus., 
April,  1910,  p.  484 ;  "Enthusiasm  for  memorial 
trees,"  February,  1919,  p.  863  ;  "Memorial  trees  for 
our  soldier  dead,"  December,  1918,  p.  728. 

Monuments  with  a  meaning,  illus.  (Amer- 
ican forestry,  May,  1919,  pp.  1045-1049.) 

VQN 

"The  memorials  of  this  war  are  not  going  to  be 
the  'meaningless  mausoleums  and  monuments'  which 
Col.  Roosevelt  condemned,  but  they  will  typify  serv- 
ice and  sacrifice  .  .  .  through  parks,  community  cen- 
ters, memorial  drives  and  roadways,  and  similar 
city,  town,  and  county  betterments.  Tree  planting; 
is  a  feature  of  most  of  the  memorials."  [Numerous 
instances  given.] 

Pack,  C.  L.  Trees  as  memorials  to  the 
country's  soldiers  and  sailors,  illus. 
(National  service,  N.  Y.,  v.  5,  Feb.,  1919, 
pp.  74-77.)  VWA 

Ridsdale,  P.  S.  Tree  planting  an  important 
part  of  city  reconstruction  programme. 
(American  city,  v.  20,  Feb.,  1919,  pp. 
189-191.)  SERA 

Secrest,  E.  Tree  memorials  for  fallen 
heroes,  illus.  (Ohio  Agricultural  Ex- 
periment Station.  Monthly  bulletin,  v. 
4,  Feb.,  1919,  pp.  52-54.)  VPG 

Tabor,  G.  Memorial  trees,  illus.  (New 
country  life,  N.  Y.,  v.  36,  May,  1919, 
pp.  33-35.)  fMVA 

Trees  and  forests  as  war  memorials.  (New 
York  Times,  June  1,  1919,  magazine 
section.)  *A 


284 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


Trees    for    memorials,      illus.       (American 
forestry,  Jan.,  1919,  pp.  779-781.)        VQN 
"It  is  the  aim  of  the  American  Forestry  Associa- 
tion to  register  all  such  trees  planted." 
Trees   to   keep   green    the   memory   of   our 
heroic    dead.      (Literary    digest,    v.    59, 
Dec.  28,  1918,  p.  32.)  *DA 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Anderson,  O.  W.  D.    Memorial  playground. 
(Parks    &    recreation,    v.   2,   Jan.,    1919, 


pp.  51-52.) 


ROOM  111. 


Bookman,  N.  Y.,  May,  1919,  p.  374. 

"The  suggestion  of  a  public  library  as  a  memorial 
to  local  soldiers  and  sailors  who  lost  their  lives  in 
the  great  war  has  been  taken  up  with  enthusiasm 
in  some  twenty  or  more  cities,  particularly  in  the 
south." 

Charing  Cross  Bridge.  (Builder,  v.  110, 
June  23,  1916,  pp.  449-450,  455.)  fMQA 

Deals  with  improvement  scheme  by  D.  Barclay 
Niven  and  T.  Raffles  Davispn,  with  war  memorial 
chapel  suggested  by  C.  Lewis  Hind.  "An  improve- 
ment urgently  needed  for  practical  purposes  ;  at  the 
same  time  a  better  memorial  than  anything  else." 

The  Commemoration  of  great  events. 
(Architect,  London,  v.  101,  1919,  pp. 
197-199.)  MQA 

"The  greatest  of  war  monuments  in  London  is 
Waterloo  Bridge.  ...  A  new  bridge  at  Charing  Cross 
would  most  fittingly  form  London's  commemoration 
of  the  end  of  this  war.  .  .  .  The  bridge  is  needed  .  .  . 
In  most  of  our  cities  and  towns  there  is  a  similar 
need  which  might  find  worthy  expression.  .  .  .  We 
canot  agree  with  those  who  contend  that  a  true 
memorial  should  commemorate  or  express  abstrac- 
tions of  thought,  and  should  not  serve  a  practical 
purpose." 

[Communication  from  the  president  of  the 
University  of  Utah,  concerning  a  pro- 
posed memorial  building  to  be  erected 
on  the  campus.]  Utah  Senate,  Jan.  17, 
1919,  pp.  6-8. 

Connoisseur,  Aug.,  1918,  suggests  tapes- 
try. fMAA 

Cram,     Ralph     Adams.       War     memorials. 

(Architectural   Record,   v.  45,   1919,   pp. 

116-117.)  MQA 

"The   best   and   most   significant   memorial    is   the 

votive   church ;    but   what    is   the   use   of   talking   of 

this  now?  .  .  .  No,  the  monuments  must  be  secular. 

...   I   sometimes  think  the  best  thing  would  be  to 

recreate   some   one   of   the  destroyed   monuments  of 

France  or  Belgium  or  Italy." 

Douglas,  O.  W.  Playgrounds  and  recrea- 
tion centers  as  memorials.  (American 
city,  Feb.,  1919,  p.  187.)  SERA 

Ellis,  A.  Leo.  The  proposed  Telegraph 
Hill  memorial,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 
(American  architect,  v.  114,  1918,  p. 
730.)  MQA 


"The  memorial  .  .  .  embodies  a  wireless  telephone 
and  telegraph  station." 

Garden  of  the  Allies:  an  eternal  garland 
for  graves  of  the  brave,  illus.  (Touch- 
stone, X.  Y.,  v.  4,  March,  1919,  pp. 
445-452.)  *DA 

"  'I  would  like  to  see,'  said  Sir  John  Fraser,  'the 
flowers  of  America  growing  over  where  lie  so  many 
of  our  gallant  sons.'  .  .  .  Surely  no  more  fitting 
memorial  could  be  given  our  fallen  heroes  than  to 
strew  the  fields  of  battle  with  the  flowers  they  loved, 
and  to  plant  over  the  scarred  wastes  forests  'of 
trees.  ..."  A  similar  plea  for  flowering  plants  is 
made  in  Fortnightly,  January,  1919. 

Leighton,  H.  B.  A  parish  hall  and  insti- 
tute as  a  war  memorial.  (Builder,  Lon- 
don, v.  116,  1919.  p.  373.)  tMQA 

Leslie,  Shane.  Lest  we  forget.  (Tablet, 
.  London,  v.  125,  April  24,  1915,  p.  522.) 

ttZLF 

Proposal  for  fitting  up  a  side  chapel  of  the  Catho- 
lic cathedral  in  memory  of  Catholics  who  have  fallen 
in  the  war. 

Mullgardt,  Louis  C.  Proposed  soldiers' 
memorial  for  San  Francisco.  (Archi- 
tect and  engineer  of  California,  Feb., 
1919,  pp.  82-83.)  MQA 

"The  memorial  should  possess  five  principal  ele- 
ments— a  Library  of  War  Records,  a  Hall  of  War 
Illustrations,  an  Art  Gallery  of  War  Paintings,  an 
Assembly  Hall  for  display  of  War  Motion  Pictures 
and  for  War  Lectures.  These  four  will  give  true 
expression  of  the  unjustifiable  horrors  of  war  .  .  . 
the  utter  futility  of  human  conflict.  The  fifth  ele- 
ment should  be  an  Inner  Court.  In  this  garden 
court  an  audience  may  be  entertained  with  orchestral 
music  or  other  forms  of  aesthetic  entertainments 
expressive  of  the  higher  life." 

Proposed  victory  building  at  Springfield, 
Mass.  (American  architect,  March  26, 
1919,  p.  454.)  MQA 

Building  to  house  post  office,  custom  house,  dis- 
trict court,  etc. 

The  "Via  Sacra"  or  memorial  road.  (Spec- 
tator, London,  v.  116,  April  1,  1919,  pp. 
428-429.)  *DA 

"We  propose  that  a  wide  Memorial  Road  be  laid 
out  in  No-Man's-Land  .  .  .  from  the  sea  to  the 
Alps,  with  monuments  to  the  fallen  and  to  deeds  of 
heroism." 

War  memorial  advisory  committees ;  me- 
morial playground,  by  O.  W.  Douglas. 
(New  Jersey  municipalities,  v.  3,  Jan., 
1919,  p.  12.)  SERA 

War  memorial  proposed  by  Chamber  [of 
Commerce].  (Current  affairs,  Boston, 
Feb.  17,  1919,  p.  7.  illus.)  TLA 

View  of  suggested  war  memorial  building  in  the 
Public  Gardens. 


Seldom    has    the    pro- 
fessional contribution  of 
...  I-  one  man  equaled  that  of 

_.  Wallace  Clement  Sabine, 

of    Harvard    University. 

oabine.  T  .  . 

In  architectural  acou- 
stics he  was  pre-emi- 
nent; and  his  life  work 
lies  at  the  basis  of  what  is  to  be  further 
accomplished  in  this  most  important  line  of 
scientific  research. 

In  the  construction  of  buildings  the  ele- 
ment of  chance  has  always  entered  where 
rooms  for  the  purpose  of  spoken  or  mu- 
sical performance  have  formed  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  scheme.  Great  theatres 
and  opera  houses,  auditoriums  and  concert 
halls  have  been  built  with  much  less  of  a 
feeling  of  certainty  with  regard  to  their 
success  acoustically  than  in  respect  to 
their  beauty  of  design,  practical  planning 
and  permanent  construction.  Professor 
Sabine,  by  his  experiments  of  a  definitely 
practical  nature,  has  made  it  possible  for 
architects  to  avoid  certain  roads  which  lead 
to  failure;  and  with  respect  to  materials 
of  construction  he  established  many  facts 
whose  existence  had  not  been  realized. 

The  immensity  of  the  task  he  undertook 
is  hard  to  grasp;  its  difficulty  of  execution 
is  so  great  and  the  mere  establishment  of 
the  method  of  approach  to  it  so  full  of 
imagination  that  not  the  least  remarkable 
point  of  consideration  is  that  one  life- 
time, and  that  a  lifetime  prematurely  ended, 
should  leave  as  its  record  both  a  well  laid 
out  scheme  for  an  exhaustive  investigation 
and  a  goodly  part  of  its  accomplishment. 

One  phase  merely  of  the  question  is  the 
coefficient  of  absorption  of  the  various  ma- 
terials which  go  into  the  construction  of 
auditoriums.  There  occur  the  myriad  com- 
binations arising  from  the  coefficients  of 
absorption  of  various  materials  for  the 


various  sounds  of  every  pitch.  Five  years 
alone  were  devoted  to  the  determination 
of  the  coefficients  of  absorption  for  sounds 
having  a  single  pitch,  that  of  Violin  C. 
Some  idea  of  the  intricacy  of  the  work  is 
given  by  the  statement  that  such  an  in- 
vestigation must,  for  all  practical  purposes, 
cover  the  whole  range  in  pitch  of  the 
speaking  voice  and  musical  scale  related 
to  the  various  materials  of  construction. 

In  detail  were  taken  up  the  various  mate- 
rials which  form  the  walls  and  ceilings  of 
large  rooms — brick  and  cement,  wood, 
plaster  and  tile  in  combinations  usually  met 
with  in  practice.  It  was  discovered  that 
the  absorption  of  sound  by  walls  was  struc- 
tural and  not  superficial,  thus  exploding  the 
theory  of  a  roughened  wall  as  an  acoustic 
corrective,  and  establishing  the  fact  that 
the  fundamental  process  of  sound  absorp- 
tion is  the  yielding  of  the  walls.  The  inves- 
tigation next  determined  the.  absorbing 
quality  of  the  chairs  and  audiences,  and 
next  that  of  the  various  fabrics  which  could 
be  used  in  correcting  already  existing 
faults.  Felt  was  found  to  have  the  great- 
est powers  of  absorption  for  the  lower 
register  and  its  use  has  been  widespread. 
In  co-operation  with  one  of  our  most 
enlightened  manufacturers,  Prof.  Sabine's 
experiments  were  successful  in  leading  to 
the  evolution  of  an  absorbent  tile,  widely 
used  now  in  vaulted  churches  and  audi- 
toriums, whose  absorbing  power  is  ten 
times  that  of  any  existing  masonry  con- 
struction and  one-third  of  the  absorbing 
power  of  the  best  known  felt. 

For  a  correct  placing  of  all  this  ab- 
sorbent material  an  accurate  knowledge 
was  necessary  of  the  action  of  the  sound, 
its  direction  and  points  of  greatest  inten- 
sity. Often  its  direction  has  to  be  con- 
trolled and  definite  rules  of  proportion  for 
great  rooms  have  been  established. 


286 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


To  mention  only  two  rooms,  corrected  of 
acoustic  defects  by  Prof.  Sabine,  the  lec- 
ture hall  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art  and  the  auditorium  of  the  Century 
Theatre  are  both  accessible  to  the  public. 

Professor  Sabine's  authority  in  his 
chosen  work  was  recognized  abroad.  In 
1916-17  he  was  exchange  professor  at  the 
University  of  Paris,  at  which  time  he  was 
invited  to  lecture  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux 
Arts  and  before  the  Society  of  Architects, 
the  latter  presenting  him  with  a  medal  in 
recognition  of  his  work.  In  England,  dur- 
ing a  visit  there,  he  was  put  on  a  commit- 
tee to  inquire  into  the  acoustic  conditions 
in  the  House  of  Commons. 

A  laboratory,  designed  by  him  for  the 
study  of  a  number  of  specific  problems 
which  he  had  been  unable  to  take  up 
through  lack  of  adequate  facilities,  was  built 
for  him  by  his  friend,  Col.  George  Fabyan, 
and  ideas  which  he  left  in  his  notes  and 
unpublished  papers  will  form  the  basis  of 
continued  experiment  in  this  laboratory. 
CHARLES  OVER  CORNELIUS. 


A    War 
Rendering 
of  Ypres. 


The     great     Canadian 
War    Memorial    Exhibi- 
tion, on  view  at  the  An- 
derson    Galleries,     pos- 
sesses interest  not  mere- 
ly as  a  collection  of  vir- 
ile work,  but  as  a  con- 
crete record  of  the  psy- 
chological reaction  of  war  on  esthetic  ex- 
pression. 

It  introduces  us  to  the  most  recent  forms 
of  European  interpretation,  in  which  the 
shadow  of  death  and  hideous  recollection 
supplant  the  equable  mental  poise  which 
our  prejudice  has  hitherto  regarded  as 
prerequisite  to  beauty. 

No  other  war  exhibition  yet  shown  in 
New  York  has  revealed  so  fully  the  capa- 
city of  art  to  give  a  moral  reflection  of  a 
colossal  disaster;  the  prevailing  state  of 
mind  of  these  artists,  which  controlled 
their  manner  of  statement,  shows  this  even 
more  clearly  than  the  horror  of  the  inci- 
dents depicted. 
An  architect  wandering  through  the  gal- 


Copyright,  1919,  by  Canadian  War  Memorial  Exhibition. 

A  WAR  RENDERING  OF  YPRES  PAINTED  IN  OILS  BY  MAJOR  J.  KERR  LAWSON. 
AT  THE  CANADIAN  WAR  MEMORIAL  EXHIBITION. 

287 


EXHIBITED 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


leries  will  note  with  satisfaction  that  when 
the  eye  of  the  artist  has  rested  on  the 
beauties  of  ancient  structures,  however  bat- 
tered by  shell,  his  brain,  for  the  moment, 
has  been  capable  of  normal  conception. 
Fragments  of  Ypres  stand  serene  in  warm 
sunshine  against  a  beautiful  sky. 

•  Major  J.  Kerr  Lawson   has   treated   this 
subject  under  the  influence  of  the  day  with 
strength   and   skill,   free   from   the   prevail- 
ing morbidity;  his  rendering  of  detail  has 
great  scenic  value,  and  the  excellent  plan- 
ning of  masses  of  light  and  shade  should 
be  of  particular  interest  to  American  archi- 
tects,  who    at    the    present    moment    show 
little  capacity  in  that  direction. 

The  directness  and  frankness  of  his  state- 
ment indicates  the  mental  process  of  the 
modern  soldier — truth  without  elaboration 
— a  relief  from  the  theatrical  swashbuck- 
ling typified  in  Detaille. 

Destruction,  in  this  picture,  sounds  a  new 
note,  bearing  no  kin  to  the  romantic  de- 
cay so  inspiring  to  Prout  and  his  school, 
or  to  the  ruins  favored  by  Henri  Robert 
as  scenic  accessories  to  paddling  nymphs. 

•  The    distinguished    British    author,    critic 
and  connoisseur,  Mr.  Paul  G.  Konody,  was 
deputed  by  his  Government  to  commission 
the  artists  and  direct  their  work,  to  form 
this    national    collection    for    Canada.      He 
is    to    be    complimented    on    the    admirable 
manner  in  which  he  has  arranged  the  show. 

LEON  V.  SOLON. 


It  is  usually  supposed 
that    the    Massachusetts 
The  oldest  and       Institute   of   Technology 
youngest  of          was  the  first  institution 
American  Schools  to  establish  professional 
of  Architecture,     instruction    in    architec- 
t  u  r  e.       In      continuous 
maintenance  of  such  in- 
struction   it    has    indeed    seniority,    but    it 
yields     to     several     other     institutions     in 
priority    of    establishing    architectural    in- 
struction.    A    first,    abortive    attempt    was 
that    of    Quesnay    de    Beaurepaire,    in    his 
Academic  des  Sciences   et  Beaux-Arts,  in- 
stituted at  Richmond,  as  a  bond  of  Franco- 
American    union,    in    1789.      Although    the 
French    Revolution    stifled   it   barely   at   its 
inception,  •  that    was    not    before    Quesnay 
had   sent   to  America — as    Mr.  Wells   Ben- 
nett   has    shown — the    first    highly    trained 
French    professional,    Stephen    Hallet.      In 


1814,  Jefferson,  in  the  outline  which  formed 
the  basis  of  instruction  at  the  University 
of  Virginia,  proposed  as  the  first  of  the 
professional  schools  a  department  of  fine 
arts,  embracing  civil  architecture,  garden- 
ing, painting,  sculpture,  and  the  theory  of 
music.  When  the  charter  was  adopted  in 
1819,  architecture  appeared,  strangely 
though  it  might  seem  to  us,  among  the 
subjects  to  be  taught  by  the  professor 
of  mathematics !  This  was  not  merely 
because  statics  and  descriptive  geometry 
fell  in  the  field,  but  because  in  that  day 
classicism  was  at  its  height,  and  exact- 
ness of  proportion  was  held  to  be  the 
capital  merit,  while  architecture  was  con- 
sidered within  the  scope  of  every  highly 
cultivated  intelligence.  Sir  Christopher 
Wrenii  himself  had  come  to  architecture 
as  a  professor  of  mathematics.  The  first 
incumbents  of  the  chair  at  Virginia, 
Thomas  Hewett  Key  and  Charles  Bonny- 
castle  were  men  of  wide  culture.  That 
they  sought  to  inculcate  some  knowledge 
of.  basic.-larchitectural  principle,  by  pre- 
cept as.\well  as  by  the  example  of  the 
classic  'buildings  of  the  University,  may 
go  far  to  explain  the  persistence  of  good 
architecture  in  the  antebellum  mansions 
of  the  South. 

The  Confederate  War  and  increasing 
specialization  brought  an  end  to  this,  and 
transferred  the  leadership  for  the  time, 
to  the  victorious  North.  Now,  however, 
an  alumnus  of  the  University  of  Virginia, 
Mr.  Paul  G.  Mclntire,  of  New  York,  has 
provided  a  generous  endowment  for  thq 
re-establishment  there  of  the  school  of 
art,  architecture  and  music.  Professional 
instruction  in  architecture  will  begin  in 
the  fall,  in  charge  of  Prof.  Fiske  Kimball, 
formerly  of  the  University  of  Michigan. 
The  pavilions  of  the  original  classic  group 
of  buildings  will  once  more  serve,  as 
Jefferson  wrote,  "as  specimens  for  the 
architectural  lecturer."  The  splendid  new 
buildings  by  Stanford  White,  the  sculp- 
tures of  Houdon,  Bitter,  Borglum,  Shrady, 
Keck,  and  Aitken,  which  make  without 
question  the  most  harmonious  ensemble 
in  America,  will  come  into  their  own  as 
a  background  for  instruction  in  the  five 
arts.  Thus  the  University  may  bring  to 
the  new  South  as  to  the  old,  the  knowl- 
edge, love  and  patronage  of  the  best  in 
classic  and  modern  art. 


286 


ecor 


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CP.lh.CJ    ^     . 


sr   £ 


A 

BULLDOG'S 
GRIP 


is  No  More  Relentless  than 
Bishopric  Boards  Grip 
on  Stucco  and  Plaster 


WHEN  a  bulldog  grips  in  deadly  earnest  he  never  lets  go. 
His  powerful  jaws  close  like  a  vise  and  never  relax  their 
hold  until  the  end  has  been  accomplished. 


But  whereas  a  bulldog's  grip  is  governed  by  physical  laws  and  finally  must 
yield  to  exhaustion,  the  grip  of  Bishopric  Board  upon  Stucco  and  Plaster  is  unceas- 
ing. Its  dovetailed  key  holds  Stucco  for  generations.  There  is  no  strain  upon  any 
one  part  of  the  Board  because  the  breaking  joint  method  of  application  distributes 
the  strain  over  the  entire  wall  area. 

A  Bishopric  Board  base  usually  makes  the  difference  between  handsome,  endur- 
ing walls  and  walls  that  crack  and  crumble  after  a  season  or  two.  Its  inexorable 
grip  holds  walls  and  columns  secure  and  keeps  them  whole,  and  beautiful. 

Bishopric  Board  is  firm  and  strong.     Its  heavy  wood   strips  are  creosoted  and 
imbedded  in  Asphalt  Mastic.     Creosote  and  Asphalt  Mastic  are  wonderful  preserva- 
tives, and  prevent  warping,  swelling  and  shrinking.     Moreover,  the  Mastic  is  mois- 
ture-proof and  fire-resisting.     And  the  waterproofed  fibreboard  background  keeps  out  heat  and  cold  and 
deadens  sound. 

It  costs  less  to  heat  a  home  on  which  this  Board  is  used  because  of  the  perfect 
insulation.  Yet,  in  summer,  the  home  is  cool  and  dry.  Bishopric  Board  is  the 
most  economical  Stucco  background. 

Bishopric  Board  is  a  modern,  patented  combination  of  materials 
and  principles  that  have  been  in  constant  and  successful  use  by  mas- 
ter builders  for  generations.  It  comes  in  25-foot  lengths,  4  feet  wide, 
and  every  foot  can  be  used. 

On  interiors  it  saves  time,  labor  and  plaster  and  gives  unmatchable 
insulation.  Equally  as  efficient  on  factories  as  on  homes. 

Specify  Bishopric  Sheathing  instead  of  ordinary  %  wood  sheath- 
ing. It  saves  30  per  cent,  and  makes  damp-proof,  sound-proof  walls 
without  knotholes. 

Send  for  the  Bishopric  Book  and  samples.  Read 
•what  other  Architects  and  Contractors  are  do- 
ing: with  the  Stucco  and  Plaster  Background. 

The  BISHOPRIC  MFG.  CO.,  958  Este  Ave.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio  1 

Factory  of  Kelly-Springfield  Motor  Truck  Co.,  Springfield,  Ohio. 
Bishopric  Xarroic  Key  Stucco 
used  direct  to  studding 
covered  MOM  h, 
Rocbond 


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ARCHITEOJVRAL 

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Vol.  XLVI.     No.  4 


OCTOBER,  1919 


Serial  No  25 


Editor:     MICHAEL  A.  MIKKELSEN       Contributing  Editor:    HERBERT  CROLY 
Business  Manager:    J.  A.  OAKLEY 


COVEK — Water  Color,  by  Jack  Manley  Rose  PAGE 

THE  AMERICAN  COUNTRY  HOUSE   .       .;.    .-.      291 

By  Prof.  Fiske  Kimball. 

I.     Practical  Conditions:  Natural,  Economic, 

Social         .        .        ,.       .     *.,,        .       299 

II.     Artistic  Conditions  :   Traditions  and  Ten^ 

dencies  of  Style          .       \        .        .-      329 

III.     The  Solutions :  Disposition  and  Treatment 

of  House  and  Surroundings         .         .       350 


F.  T.  MILLER,  Pres. 


:TURAL   RECORD   COMPANY 

VEST  FORTIETH  STKEET,  NEW  YORK 

XL,  Vice-Pres.        J.  W.  FRANK,  Sec'y-Treas.        E.  S.  DODGE,  Vice-Pi* 

f'lfvjf !»?-»;  •^Tt;">7<"!{^if  ''»£<  ^J^Y^^''*'CwI''-":^^:'^'^''^>'**-*'^j"«^4!V; 


.J.Vi 


Yearly    Subscription — United    States    $3.00 — Foreign    $4.00 — Stn<7?e    copies    33    cents.       Entered 
May  22,  1902,  as  Second  Class  Matter,  at  New  York,  N.  Y.     Member  Audit  Bureau  of  Circulation. 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 

THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD 


TIG.  1.     DETAIL— RESIDENCE  OF  H.  BELLAS  HESS,  ESQ., 
HUNT1NGTON,  L.  I      HOWELLS  &  STOKES,  ARCHITECTS. 


AKCHITECTVKAL 


KECORD 


VOLVME  XLVI 


NVMBER  IV 


OCTOBER,  1919 


<Amerioan  Country  <House 


By  Fiskc  KJmball 


BY  the  "country  house"  in  America 
we  understand  no  such  single  well- 
established  form  as  the  traditional 
country  house  of  England,  fixed  by  cen- 
turies of  almost  unalterable  custom,  with 
a  life  of  its  own  which  has  been  described 
as  "the  perfection  of  human  society." 
Even  in  England  today  the  great  house 
yields  in  importance  to  the  new  and 
smaller  types  which  the  rise  of  the  middle 
classes  has  strewn  over  the  country  and 
on  the  fringes  of  the  city,  and  with  the 
variety  is  infinite,  from  the  dwellings  of 
the  further  suburbs  to  the  distant,  self- 
sustaining  estate.  Yet  the  common  char- 
acteristic of  all  is  clear  enough — a  site 
free  of  the  arid  blocks  and  circum- 


scribed "lots"  of  the  city,  where  one  may 
enjoy  the  informality  of  nature  out-of- 
doors. 

Much  as  has  been  written  on  the  sub- 
ject, we  are  still  far  from  having  any 
such  fundamental  analysis  of  the  Amer- 
ican country  house  of  today  as  that 
which  Hermann  Muthesius  in  his  classic 
book  "The  English  House"  has  given  for 
England.  Perhaps  the  reason  may  be 
that  we  have  taken  too  much  for  granted 
and  should  try,  as  Muthesius  does,  to 
look  on  the  work  more  with  the  eye  of  a 
stranger. 

Things  we  never  mention  are  in 
many  cases  the  very  ones  which  go 
farthest  to  make  the  specific  architec- 


Copyrighted,  1919.  by  The  Architectural  Record  Company.    All  rights  reserved. 


FIG.  2.  DETAIL  VIEW— RESIDENCE  OF  JOSEPH 
BUSH,  ESQ.,  FIELDSTON,  NEW  YORK  CITY, 
DWIGHT  JAMES  BAUM,  ARCHITECT. 


FIG.  3.  SUN  ROOM— RESIDENCE  OF  J.  B.  RICH- 
ARDSON LYETH,  ESQ.,  FIELDSTON,  NEW  YORK 
CITY.  DWIGHT  JAMES  BAUM,  ARCHITECT 


FIG.  4.  ENTRANCE  DETAIL — RESIDENCE  OF 
DR.  EDWARD  B.  KRUMBHAAR,  WHITEMARSH 
VALLEY,  PA.  ARTHUR  H,  BROCKIE,  ARCHITECT 


FIG.  5.  VIEW  FROM  THE  SOUTH— RESIDENCE  OF  STEWART  DUNCAN,  ESQ.,  NEWPORT,  R.  I. 

John  Russell  Pope,  Architect. 


FIG.  6.     RESIDENCE  OF  TRACY  DOWS,  ESQ.,  RHINEBECK,  N.  Y. 
Albro  &  Lindeberg,  Architects. 

295 


FIG.  7.     "THE  MANOR  HOUSE,"  ESTATE  OF  JOHN  T.  PRATT,   ESQ.,    GLEN    COVE,    L.    I. 

Charles  A.  Platt,  Architect. 


f    ,'n- 

-J.T.  I'KAI   1  -\ .-" 


• 


FIG.  7A.     FIRST  FLOOR   PLAN— "THE   MANOR   HOUSE."   ESTATE   OF  JOHN   T.  PRATT,   ESQ.. 

GLEN    COVE,    L.    I. 
Chark s  A.  Platt,  Architect. 

296 


FIG.  7B.     VIEW  FROM  GARDEN— "THE  MANOR  HOUSE,"  ESTATE  OF  JOHN  T.  PRATT,  ESQ., 

GLEN    COVE,    L.    I. 
Charles  A.  Platt,  Architect. 


FIG.    7C.      GENERAL    PLAN— "THE    MANOR    HOUSE."    ESTATE    OF    JOHN   T.   PRATT,    ESQ., 

GLEN    COVE,    L.    I. 
Charles  A.  Platt,  Architect. 

297 


FIG.  8.     RESIDENCE  OF  JAMES  SWAN  FRICK,   ESQ.,   GUILFORD,   BALTIMORE,   MD. 

John  Russell  Pope,  Architect. 


FIG.  8A.     PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  JAMES  SWAN  FRICK,  ESQ.,  GUILFORD,  BALTIMORE,  MD. 

John  Russell  Pope,  Architect. 

298 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


tural  and  domestic  character  which  we 
recognize  intuitively  as  American.  A 
search  for  these  basic  conditions  and  ele- 
ments cannot  fail  to  bring  us  greater 
clarity  of  thought  in  our  domestic  design, 
and  help  make  conscious  and  direct  the 
adaptation  which  tends  to  remain  merely 
intuitive  and  groping. 

Let  us,  then,  apply  to  our  own  prob- 
lem of  today  the  same  thoroughness  of 


analysis  which  has  been  so  successful  in 
helping  us  to  understand  past  styles,  but 
which  we  have  usually  been  content  to 
drop  at  the  year  1800:  seeking,  first,  the 
bearing  of  the  practical  conditions,  nat- 
ural, economic,  social,  next,  the  bearing 
of  artistic  conditions,  the  traditions  and 
tendencies  of  style;  and,  with  the  insight 
thus  won,  examine  the  prevailing  types 
and  recent  examples. 


Practical  Conditions 

**  Natural  *  Economic  ^  Social  *" 


SO  far  as  concerns  natural  conditions, 
certain  diversities  are  so  obvious 
that  it  might  seem  impossible  to 
formulate  generalizations  such  as  are 
readily  made  for  a  homogeneous  country 
like  England.  Closer  examination,  how- 
ever, reveals  much  underlying  unity  with 
respect  to  all  but  a  few  exceptional  dis- 
tricts: semi-tropical  Florida,  the  deserts 
of  the  Southwest,  and  the  temperate 
Pacific  Riviera. 

In  climate,  the  fundamental  character- 
istic is  a  range  of  temperature  out  of  all 
proportion  to  Western  Europe.  Whereas 
there  the  difference  between  the  means  of 
January  and  July  is  but  ten  or  fifteen 
degrees,  as  on  our  Pacific  coast,  through- 
out the  rest  of  the  United  States  the 
mean  annual  range  is  immensely  greater, 
seventy  degrees  in  the  northern  prairies 
and  plains,  and  forty  or  fifty  degrees 
even  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  As 
summer  temperatures  of  a  hundred  de- 
grees are  occasionally  carried  to  the  Ca- 
nadian boundary  and  freezing  winds 
sometimes  sweep  down  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  the  extreme  range  is  even  great- 
er than  this  would  indicate — 110°  and 
even  135°  in  given  localities.  It  follows 
that  building  materials  are  exposed  to 


exceptional  conditions  of  weathering  and 
of  expansion,  and  that  unusual  provi- 
sions of  defense  must  be  made  to  secure 
comfort  both  in  summer  heat  and  in  win- 
ter cold.  No  small  share  of  the  greater 
cost  of  American  buildings  in  proportion 
to  relative  prices  abroad  is  due  to  this 
struggle  with  severity  of  climate. 

In  winter  freezing  temperature  not 
only  demands  deep  foundations  and  care- 
ful protection  of  plumbing,  but  also 
makes  central  artificial  heat  an  absolute 
necessity  for  the  plumbing  system  as  well 
as  for  the  comfort  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  high  cost  of  foundations  tends  to 
prevent  the  house  from  ramifying  and 
to  force  it  into  the  air,  while  the  cost  of 
the  heating  system  restricts  the  open  fire- 
place— still  desirable  as  the  best  means 
of  ventilation  and  cheer — to  the  few 
principal  rooms  at  most.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  development  of  artificial  heat- 
ing gives  us  certain  advantages  that 
other  countries  where  winter  is  less 
drastic  do  not  possess,  making  the  house 
relatively  independent  of  unfavorable 
orientation  and  permitting  large  openings 
between  the  rooms  without  incurring  the 
foreign  bugaboo  of  draughts.  The  ten- 
dency in  the  last  generation  of  adequate 


299 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


heating  has  been  to  utilize  these  possibil- 
ities through  replacing  the  more  Euro- 
pean. Colonial  plan  of  isolated  rooms 
with  inside  chimneys  and  closed  doors  by 
one  with  outside  chimneys  and  with 
rooms  thrown  together  by  broad-cased 
openings. 

The  heavy  and  lasting  snows  of  the 
north  have  also  their  influence,  by  for- 
bidding the  horizontal  valleys  and  free- 
dom of  roof  composition  of  the  English, 
and  by  rendering  interior  courts  exotic 
and  unsatisfactory,  unless  in  houses  not 
intended  to  be  occupied  in  winter. 

The  heat  of  summer  must  be  met 
either  by  high  ceilings  or  by  large  open- 
ings, both,  but  especially  the  latter, 
again  demanding  adequate  winter  heat- 
ing. The  nineteenth  century  solution, 
seen  most  characteristically  in  mid-Vic- 
torian houses,  was  to  use  high  ceilings 
with  openings  relatively  small,  windows 
closed  and  shaded  by  blinds — on  the  prin- 
ciple of  holding  the  imprisoned  air  at  its 
night  temperature.  The  system  was  sat- 
isfactory except  for  the  neglect  of  one 
factor,  disclosed  by  the  medical  science 
of  the  turn  of  the  century,  sufficient  to 
destroy  the  whole  equilibrium  and  grad- 
ually bring  about  the  wholly  different  ad- 
justment of  today.  It  was  the  discovery 
that  tuberculosis  flourishes  in  closed 
rooms  but  yields  to  fresh  air  and  sun- 
light, with  the  complementary  discovery 
that  malaria  comes  not  from  "night  air" 
but  from  mosquito  bites,  which  threw 
wide  the  windows  of  our  houses,  gave 
casement  sash  a  greater  vogue,  and 
brought  the  demand  for  sleeping  porches. 
At  the  same  time,  in  view  of  a  prevalence 
of  flies  and  mosquitos  unknown  in  west- 
ern Europe,  this  required  complete 
screening,  for  safety  as  well  as  comfort. 
•  In  the  new  houses,  where  the  breeze 
blows  through  unrestrained,  high  ceilings 
have  become  unnecessary,  and,  in  all  but 
the  most  pretentious,  have  generally 
given  way  to  low  or  at  least  lower  studs, 
in  the  interest  of  coziness  with  economy 
of  first  cost  and  of  heating.  Blinds,  no 
longer  so  much  used  either  day  or  night, 
and  impossible  to  close  with  full  screens 
or  casements  opening  outward,  have 
tended  to  be  abandoned,  unless  retained 


for  reasons  of  style.  Even  the  forms  of 
porch  posts  and  railings  have  been 
affected  by  the  screens,  the  column  and 
the  balustrade  tending  to  be  replaced  by 
the  square  pier  and  the  solid  parapet. 

Of  building  materials  the  natural 
abundance  in  most  sections  has  always 
given  a  wide  range  of  physical  possibil- 
ities, and  has  left  the  choice  to  be  deter- 
mined primarily  on  economic  grounds. 
That  the  dominant  form  of  construction 
in  America  has  hitherto  been  of  wood 
has  not  been  due  to  special  difficulty  in 
securing  stone  or  brick,  but  to  the  cheap- 
ness of  wood  itself.  In  the  pioneer  set- 
tlement and  on  the  Colonial  estate  tim- 
ber was  actually  to  be  had  for  nothing  as 
a  by-product  of  clearing  the  land  neces- 
sary for  tillage,  and  masonry  has  re- 
mained at  a  relative  economic  disadvan- 
tage quite  unknown  in  the  deforested 
countries  of  Europe.  With  the  deple- 
tion of  our  own  forests  in  recent  years, 
however,  this  disparity  has  been  rapidly 
decreasing.  In  1910  careful  investiga- 
tions showed  that  the  excess  first  cost  in 
dwelling  houses  of  brick  over  wood  had 
fallen  to  ten  or  twelve  per  cent.  And  un- 
less reforestation  is  carried  out  on  a  large 
scale,  it  is  merely  a  question  of  time 
when  the  difference  shall  ultimately  dis- 
appear. Already  products  of  clay,  ce- 
ment, and  metal  tend  more  and  more  to 
replace  wood  at  this  point  or  that.  Wall 
coverings  of  stucco  on  metal  lath,  floors 
of  tile  composition,  girders  of  steel  at 
crucial  points  become  relatively  less  ex- 
travagant. New  materials  and  struc- 
tural devices,  such  as  hollow  tile  for 
walls,  are  further  reducing  the  relative 
expense  of  masonry  construction,  and 
causing  an  increasing  number  to  assume 
the  added  first  cost  for  the  sake  of  great- 
er durability  and  dignity. 

In  our  more  ambitious  houses,  of 
course,  these  motives  of  preference  have 
always  led  to  the  occasional  employment 
of  masonry ;  and,  in  this,  local  conditions 
at  first  played  a  large  role.  The  clay  of 
Maryland  and  Virginia  suggested  brick; 
the  stratified  ledge-stone  of  Pennsylvania, 
stonework  of  special  technique  and  tex- 
ture. Although  cheap  transportation  has 
tended  to  make  brick  and  stone  of  all 


300 


FIG.   9.     VILLA  OF  JAMES   DEERING,   ESQ.,   MIAMI,   FLA. 

Paul  Chalfln  &  F.  Burrall  Hoffman,  Jr,,  Architects. 
(From  the  Architectural  Review  for  July,  1917) 


FIG.  9A.     FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN— VILLA  OF  JAMES  DEERING.  ESQ.,  MIAMI,  FLA. 

Paul  Chalfln  &  F.  Burrall  Hoffman,  Jr.,  Architects. 
(From  the  Architectural  Review  for  July,  1917) 

301 


FIG.  10A.     RESIDENCE  OF  JOSEPH  C.  BALDWIN,  JR.,  ESQ.,  MOUNT  KISCO,  N.  Y. 
Benjamin  Wistar  Morris,  Architect. 


FIG.   10.     "SHALLOW  BROOK  FARM,"  RESIDENCE  OF  JOSEPH  C.  BALDWIN,  JR.,  ESQ. 

MOUNT  KISCO,  N.  Y. 
Benjamin  Wistar  Morris,  Architect. 

202 


FIG.  12.     RESIDENCE  OF  THOMAS  R.  BARD,  ESQ.,  HUENEME,  CAL. 

Myron  Hunt,  Architect 


FIG.  12A.     FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  THOMAS  R.  BARD,  ESQ.,  HUENEMA,  CAL. 

Myron  Hunt,  Architect. 

304 


FIG.   13A.     ENTRANCE   TO  COURT — RESIDENCE  OF   C.   A.   BARTLETT,   ESQ., 

LAKE  GENEVA,  WIS. 
Howard  Shaw,  Architect. 


FIG.  13B.  COURT— RESIDENCE  OF  C.  A.  BARTLETT,  ESQ.,  LAKE  GENEVA,  WIS. 

Howard  Shaw,  Architect. 

305 


, 


FIG.  13.    FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  C.  A.  BARTLETT. 
ESQ.,    LAKE    GENEVA,    WIS.      HOWARD    SHAW,    ARCHITECT. 


FIG.  14.  GROUP  OF  BUILDINGS  ON  ESTATE  OF  FRANK 
LLOYD  WRIGHT,  SPRING  GREEN.  WIS.,  INCLUDING 
RESIDENCE.  ARCHITECTURAL  OFFICE.  FARM  BUILD- 
INGS. FARMER'S  DWELLING  AND  DORMITORIES  FOR 
EMPLOYEES,  FRANK  LLOYD  WRIGHT,  ARCHITECT. 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


sorts  universally  and  equally  available, 
and  fashions  of  style  rather  than  neces- 
sity have  thus  been  able  to  determine  the 
preference  among  them,  the  influence  of 
local  supply  of  materials  either  on  cost 
or  on  style  is  by  no  means  exhausted. 

II 

Economic  conditions,  revolutionized  by 
war  and  still  in  rapid  change,  determine 
both  the  costs  of  building  and  operation 
and  the  sum  available  for  them. 

Who  and  how  many  can  build  country 
houses  depends  ultimately  on  the  distri- 
bution of  income  in  the  nation.  Figures 
really  exact  are  difficult  to  arrive  at,  but 
the  most  reliable  are  these : 


cent.,  have  over  $10,000  a  year.  Obvious- 
ly but  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  popu- 
lation is  in  a  position  to  build  country 
houses  of  any  sort.  Equally  striking,  at 
the  other  end  of  the  scale,  is  the  large 
absolute  number  of  "millionaires,''  and 
their  rapid  increase  from  the  4,027  shown 
by  the  exhaustive  investigation  of  the 
New  York  Tribune  in  1892 — a  quad- 
rupling in  twenty-five  years. 

For  the  time  being  and  for  some  time 
to  come,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
"net  income"  of  the  individual  suffers  a 
large  further  reduction  by  taxes,  amount- 
ing for  1918  to  $830  on  an  income  of 
$10,000;  $11,030  on  an  income  of  $50,- 
000;  and  over  $100,000  on  an  income  of 
$200,000.  Even  with  the  reduction  of 


Annual  Income 


Number  of  families  or  "income  receiving  units" 


1910 


1916 


1917 


Over 

$200,000  to 

100,000  to 

50,000  to 

Total  over 


20,000  to 

10,000  to 

6,000  to 

3,000  to 

Total  over 


$1,000,000 

1,000,000 

200,000 

100,000 

$50,000 


(Estimated)*     (Federal  tax  returns  on 
basis  of  "net  income") 


154 

261 

3,145 

11,630 


("millionaires")    15,190 


50,000 

20,000 

10,000 

6,000 

$3,000 


39,000 

73,000 

117,000 

476,000 
720,190 


Total  families  or  income  receiv- 
ing units 27,945,190 


206 

2,243 

4,184 

10,452 

17,085 

36,690 
67,926 
98,522 

209,178 
429,401 


141 
1,959 
4,604 
12,439 

19,143 

47,197 
95,696 

831,429 
993,465 


The  smaller  numbers  in  certain  classes 
of  incomes  in  1916  are  not  due,  of  course, 
to  decrease  in  incomes  since  1910,  but  to 
deductions  exempt  from  tax  and  to  fail- 
ure to  file  returns  on  the  part  of  those 
with  the  smaller  incomes.  It  is  notable 
that  in  spite  of  such  factors  and  the  in- 
evitable proneness  of  tax  returns  to  un- 
derstate the  facts,  the  number  of  incomes 
of  $100,000  or  more  in  1916  greatly  ex- 
ceed the  estimates  of  1910.  The  striking, 
almost  incredible  conditions — verified, 
however,  by  a  multitude  of  other  evi- 
dences—  are  that  the  families  with  in- 
comes over  $3,000  constitute  but  three 
per  cent,  of  the  whole  number  of  families 
in  the  country;  and  that  not  much  over 
150,000  families,  or  one-half  of  one  per 


one-third  in  the  normal  tax  for  1919, 
these  amounts  will  remain  very  substan- 
tial. 

How  much  of  this  actual  income  is 
available  for  country  house  building  and 
operating  may  be  traced  by  examining 
budgets  for  different  classes.  To  begin 
with  incomes  as  low  as  $3,000,  the  ap- 
portionment between  the  five  usual 
groups  established  by  Professor  Ellen  H. 
Richards  is  somewhat  as  follows: 


Food 

25% 

Rent 
20% 

Operating 
Expenses 
(light, 
heat, 
service, 
etc. 

15% 

Clothes 

20% 

Higher  Life 

20% 

*W.    I.    King:     "The    Wealth    and    Income    of    the 
People    of    the    United    States"    (1915),    pp.    224-226- 


308 


FIG.    15.     GENERAL  VIEW  OF   FORECOURT  AS   SEEN   FROM   THE   GRANARY — ESTATE    OF 

FRANK  LLOYD  WRIGHT,  SPRING  GREEN,  WIS. 

Frank  Lloyd  Wright,  Architect. 


For  larger  incomes  the  percentage  for 
food  and  clothes  naturally  decreases  and 
that  for  higher  life  increases,  the  other 
proportions  remaining  much  the  same. 
Taking  the  average  rent  in  any  case  as 
20  per  cent,  and  capitalizing  it  at  ten 
per  cent,  to  allow  for  taxes,  repairs,  and 
depreciation,  we  find  the  amount  which 
might  be  available  for  building  and  op- 
erating expenses  in  different  grades  of 
income  somewhat  as  follows: 

— Amounts  Available   for: — 

Annual  Annual    Building  (house  Operating 

Income  Rent  and   land  Expenses 

$3,000        $600        $6,000        $450 
6,000       1,200        12,000          900 
10,000       2,000        20,000       1,500 
50,000     10,000      100,000       7,500 
With  the  prices  of  building  in   1914 
the  country  or  suburban  dwelling  of  or- 
dinary character   and   minimum  dimen- 
sions cost,  with  the  land,  roughly  a  thou- 
sand  dollars   a   room.     This   is   on   the 
basis  of  a  rate  of  22  cents  per  cubic  foot 
of   habitable   space   including  the   base- 
ment, or  $3  per  square  foot  of  floor  area 


above  the  basement,  and  allows  for  but 
one  bath.  For  each  additional  bath  the 
allowance  would  have  been  some  $300, 
for  additional  servants'  rooms  about  $500 
each.  With  higher  standards  of  material 
and  finish  the  expense  ranged  in  1914 
from  30  to  50  cents  per  cubic  foot  or  $4 
to  $9  per  square  foot  in  country  houses 
of  the  better  classes.  Meanwhile  costs 
have  risen  to  entirely  new  levels.  On 
figures  given  out  by  the  United  States 
Department  of  Labor,  prices  of  building 
materials,  excluding  metals,  have  ad- 
vanced 84  per  cent,  in  the  last  five  years. 
Owing  to  the  slower  rise  of  wages,  to  be 
sure,  the  advance  in  the  total  cost  of 
construction  has  not  been  so  great.  By 
actual  comparison  of  costs  the  increase 
between  June,  1915,  and  May  of  this  year 
on  a  two  and  a  half  story  frame  dwelling 
with  stucco  exterior,  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  York,  is  48  per  cent.  On  the  basis 
of  present  incomes  it  is  easy  to  see  not 
only  why  the  great  mass  of  city  dwellers 
finds  anything  like  a  country  house  out 


309 


FIG.   16.     LIVING   ROOM— RESIDENCE   OF  FRANK  LLOYD  WRIGHT,   SPRING  GREEN,  WIS. 

Frank  Lloyd  Wright,  Architect. 


of  the  question,  but  why  many  who  might 
have  built  before  the  war  now  find  it  im- 
possible to  do  so,  even  though  assured 
that  prices  are  not  coming  down. 

No  less  important  a  factor  than  the 
cost  of  building  is  the  cost  of  operation. 
In  this  the  largest  element  by  far  is  rep- 
resented by  service.  Even  before  the 
war  at  an  average  wage  for  white  maids 
of  seven  dollars  a  week  with  room  and 
board,  and  at  a  cost  for  board  of  four 
dollars,  the  current  expense  for  female 
help  was  some  $550  a  year  per  servant. 
At  present  wages  of  ten  dollars  and  up- 
wards, $850  to  $1,000  would  be  a  con- 
servative estimate.  If  the  first  cost  of  a 
thousand  dollars  or  more  for  a  servant's 
room  and  bath  are  considered  in  addi- 
tion, it  is  obvious  that  in  the  North,  with 
families  of  average  numbers,  even  the 
keeping  of  a  single  maid  is  a  burden  on 
incomes  less  than  six  or  eight  thousand 
dollars.  Few  of  the  houses  illustrated 
in  this  number  have  provision  for  more 
than  three  servants,  on  incomes  very 
much  larger  than  that.  When  it  is  real- 


ized that  at  the  wages  prevailing  in  Eng- 
land before  the  war  it  was  not  abnormal 
there  to  keep  three  servants  on  an  income 
of  a  thousand  pounds  a  year,  the  notable 
influence  of  present  American  economic 
conditions  will  be  appreciated. 

Ill 

Foremost  of  the  social  conditions  af- 
fecting the  country  house  is  the  very 
impulse  to  its  building,  the  great  wave 
of  renewed  love  of  out-of-door  life  and 
of  nature  which  swept  over  America  in 
the  last  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 
and  the  opening  years  of  the  twentieth. 
Predominant  in  it,  no  doubt,  is  the  fond- 
ness for  out-of-door  sports,  which  have 
had  such  an  unparalleled  development  in 
the  last  generation ;  but  beside  this  has 
come  a  fuller  enjoyment  of  gardening 
and  the  quieter  pleasures  of  country  life. 
To  permit  the  indulgence  of  these  tastes 
even  modern  business  has  had  to  give 
way,  adapting  its  organization  to  vaca- 
tions and  week  ends,  not  only  of  the  ex- 
ecutives but  of  the  whole  sales  and  office 
force. 


310 


FIG.  17.  COURT— RESIDENCE  OF  CHARLES 
A.  WIMPFHEIMER,  ESQ..  LONG  BRANCH. 
N.  J.  HARRY  ALLEN  JACOBS.  ARCHITECT. 


Ji 


T-1 

34 


Up 

*   ; 

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5 

. 

'  §y 

5  ~~ 

V 

i 

s 

•: 

! 

...  J 

3 

-  :    . 

-rU 

ft 

.1  . 

M  cc 

CQ  h 
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O  « 

s 


02   - 

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FIG.  24.     RESIDENCE  OF  WALTER  B.  WALKER,  ESQ.,  ARDSLEY,  N.  Y. 
Frank  J.  Forster,  Architect. 


The  impulse  into  the  open  is  strong 
enough  to  make  a  man  bear  hardships,  if 
necessary,  to  relish  camping,  or  make  the 
best  of  living  in  old  farm  houses  or  in- 
adequate shacks.  But  in  its  cooler  and 
more  permanent  moods  it  is  still  subject 
to  the  imperative  demand  for  modern 
and  American  ideals  of  comfort.  A  com- 
plete water  supply,  drainage  and  plumb- 
ing system,  with  special  facilities  for  ser- 
vants, if  any,  central  heating  in  winter 
supplemented  by  one  or  more  fireplaces, 
electric  lighting,  ease  of  communication 
and  transportation,  are  our  universal  re- 
quirements, to  a  large  degree  indepen- 
dent of  income.  To  make  possible  en- 
joyment of  country  life  without  the  loss 
of  these  modern  facilities,  applied  science 
has  devoted  itself  in  recent  years  with 
complete  success.  Gasoline  pumping  and 
pressure  tanks  have  insured  a  constant 
water  supply ;  long  distance  transmission 
and  private  generating  systems  have 
made  electricity  universally  available; 
rural  delivery,  the  parcels  post  and  the 
telephone  have  solved  the  problem  of 
communication.  Most  important  of  all, 


the  automobile  and  good  roads  have  made 
transportation  over  long  distances  rapid, 
easy,  and  pleasant.  With  over  four  mil- 
lion passenger  cars  in  the  United  States 
in  1918,  of  which  some  two  and  a  half 
million  are  used  in  farm  and  country 
life,  the  car  is  rapidly  coming  to  be  con- 
sidered a  necessary,  like  the  furnace,  the 
fixed  bath  tub,  or  the  telephone. 

The  result  of  these  ideals  and  facili- 
ties has  been  the  great  decentralization  of 
the  more  favored  classes  of  towns  and 
cities,  whether  by  summer  exodus  to  the 
seashore  and  mountains,  or  by  life  the 
year  around  on  the  borders  of  the  coun- 
try or  in  the  country  itself. 

In  determining  the  main  types  to 
which  these  houses  conform,  social 
stratification  plays  the  chief  part.  It  is 
idle  to  ignore  the  reality  of  existence 
of  social  groups  in  contemporary  Amer- 
ica in  spite  of  the  continuous  gradations 
between  them.  Our  political  democracy 
does  not  exclude  industrial  aristocracy, 
and  the  war  and  its  aftermath  are  mak- 
ing the  essential  cleavage  between  cap- 
italists, business  men  and  professional 


318 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


men  and  the  laboring  masses,  but  too 
pronounced. 

Of  the  classes  it  is  only  the  first  two 
that  come  at  all  into  consideration  as 
builders  of  country  houses.  Between 
their  dwellings  there  is  a  difference  more 
fundamental  than  disparity  of  expense 
grounded  on  social  conventions  and  mode 
of  life.  Whereas  in  England,  with  an 
ancient  aristocracy  rooted  in  feudal 
landholding,  the  conventions  and  the  his- 
toric form  of  the  house  alike  are  native 
with  it  and  tend  to  impose  themselves  on 
the  middle  class,  with  us  the  middle  class 
conventions  are  the  fundamental  ones,  to 
(free  itself  from  which  our  industrial 
aristocracy  tends  to  have  recourse  to 
foreign,  especially  English,  models.  This 
does  not  exclude,  of  course,  imitation  of 
the  reigning  social  fashion  in  externals 
by  all  classes.  Thus  it  comes  about  that 
in  the  basic  form  of  the  American  house, 
however  large,  the  traditions  of  simpler 
American  society  are  apt  to  govern, 
while  in  style  and  decoration  the  succes- 
sive modes  of  the  leaders  of  fashion  ul- 
timately prevail  even  in  the  modest 
dwelling. 

For  the  fashionable  world,  residence 
in  the  country  is  a  part  of  the  conven- 
tional division  of  the  year,  which  involves 
also  residence  in  town  during  the  social 
season,  with  visits  to  Florida  or  Cali- 
fornia in  the  depth  of  winter  and  to 
Mount  Desert  in  the  height  of  summer. 
By  such  migrations  there  is  an  escape 
from  conditions  of  climate  which  the 
house  reflects  in  its  freedom  from  pro- 
vision for  extremes.  In  the  country 
house  not  occupied  in  winter,  an  open 
court  becomes  feasible,  as  in  the  Wimpf- 
heimer  house  at  Long  Branch  (Fig.  17). 
The  sleeping  porch  is  not  needed  for 
comfort,  and  under  favorable  circum- 
stances even  screens  may  be  omitted, 
with  advantages  for  picturesqueness  tes- 
tified, for  instance,  by  the  open  loggias 
and  canopies  of  the  Rogers  house  on 
Long  Island  (Architectural  Record  for 
January,  1916).  The  house  of  this  class, 
costing  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  or 
indefinitely  more,  is  distinguished  from 
the  small  house  less  by  any  greater  num- 
ber of  living  rooms  than  by  greater  am- 


plitude and  luxury — a  stamp  which 
shows  that  in  its  building  lavish  means 
were  at  disposal.  There  are  numerous 
rooms  for  house  guests  and  enlarged 
facilities  for  entertaining;  correspond- 
ing provisions  are  made  for  the  privacy 
of  -the  hosts  through  dressing  rooms, 
boudoirs  and  additional  baths ;  the  ser- 
vice arrangements  are  calculated  for  a 
numerous  staff;  gardens,  dependencies 
and  surrounding  land  are  of  generous 
'extent,  and  all  rooms,  especially  .the  liv- 
ing rooms,  of  liberal  dimensions.  While 
in  all  this  to  a  large  degree  it  is  the 
old  ideal  of  the  English  country  house 
which  is  followed,  it  is  only  in  a  minority 
of  cases,  except  in  the  South,  that  this 
is  carried  to  the  extent  of  making  the  es- 
tate self-sustaining.  Agriculture  and 
stock-breeding  as  hobbies  are  rarer  here 
than  in  England  with  its  feudal  back- 
ground. 

The  houses  of  this  class  in  general  are 
of  an  importance  to  demand  individual 
illustration  and  comment,  more  extended 
than  can  be  made  here.  A  few  examples 
only,  such  as  the  Watson  Webb  (Fig. 
19),  Appleton  (Fig.  109)  and  Hess 
(Fig.  41)  houses  on  Long  Island,  them- 
selves relatively  modest  in  their  preten- 
sions, are  shown  in  some  completeness ; 
but  otherwise  houses  like  these  are  dis- 
cussed merely  in  so  far  as  they  have  had 
influence  on  the  smaller  type,  principally 
in  matters  of  style. 

For  American  business  and  profession- 
al men,  ideals  of  life  and  standards  of 
comfort  do  not  differ  so  greatly  from 
those  of  the  greater  capitalists,  but  ab- 
sence of  social  pretensions  permit  a  more 
modest  establishment,  while  difference  of 
means  enforces  certain  limitations.  Full 
material  conveniences  of  plumbing,  heat- 
ing, lighting  and  transport  are  an  abso- 
lute requirement,  taking  unconscious  pre- 
cedent of  any  other.  To  them  must  be 
sacrificed,  if  the  money  available  is  lim- 
ited, dimensions  and  number  of  rooms, 
quality  of  materials,  number  and  very 
presence  of  servants,  and  even  size  of 
families.  Thus  where  there  is  not  money 
for  both,  the  confort  moderne  has 
brought  the  loss  of  the  confort  an  den — 
the  grand  dimension,  sterling  quality, 


319 


FIG.  25.  RESIDENCE  OF  J.  B.  VAN 
HAELEN,  ESQ.,  HARTSDALE,  N.  Y. 
FRANK  J.  FORSTER,  ARCHITECT. 


FIG.  26.  RESIDENCE  OF  J.  B.  VAN 
HAELEN,  ESQ.,  HARTSDALE,  N.  Y. 
FRANK  J.  FORSTER,  ARCHITECT. 


FIG.  27.     RESIDENCE  OF  J.  B.  VAN  HAELEN,  ESQ.,  HARTSDALE,  N.  Y. 
Frank  J.  Forster,  Architect. 


ample  service,  hospitality.  Although 
these  consequences  were  scarcely  fore- 
seen and  not  incurred  consciously,  any 
voluntary  return  to  former  conditions  is 
unimaginable. 

The  most  drastic  of  these  curtailments 
is  in  the  matter  of  service.  The  trouble 
here  is  not  merely  that  money  is  avail- 
able for  only  very  few  servants,  or  per- 
haps only  one,  at  present  wages ;  but  that 
this  reduced  number  of  servants  tend  to 
regard  the  work  as  too  great  and  will 
not  stay  at  all,  if  indeed  the  absorption 
of  the  limited  supply  by  larger  establish- 
ments permits  any  to  be  secured  in  the 
first  place.  Thus,  a  constantly  greater 
number  of  housewives  are  forced  to 
carry  on  the  work  with  little  help  or 
none  at  all.  In  either  case  the  resulting 
trend  is  toward  a  still  further  reduction 
in  the  scale  of  the  establishment,  and 
toward  the  adoption  of  laborsaving  de- 
vices. The  vacuum  cleaner  and  many 
other  electrical  appliances,  recommended 
also  by  other  advantages,  are  already 
very  widespread,  the  dishvasher  is  rapid- 


ly following,  with  the  washing  machine 
and  the  mangle  where  commercial  laun- 
dry service  is  unavailable  or  unsatisfac- 
tory. Such  equipment,  of  course,  brings 
a  large  additional  increase  in  first  cost, 
augmented  still  further  by  the  American 
readiness  to  make  technical  development 
an  end  in  itself. 

This  whole  development  is  best  seen  in 
the  kitchen,  which  with  the  reduction  of 
personnel  and  the  substitution  of  gas  and 
electric  cooking,  is  fast  becoming  in  the 
North  a  little  galley,  bristling  like  a  lab- 
oratory with  technical  devices.  In  the 
South,  negro  help  earning  lower  wages 
and  also  of  less  technical  capacity  per- 
petuates, on  the  whole,  the  conditions  of 
an  earlier  day. 

In  the  ordinary  business  and  profes- 
sional circles  two  establishments  are  the 
most  that  can  be  afforded,  and  the  pres- 
sure is  to  emphasize  but  one,  or  even  to 
concentrate  wholly  on  one,  especially  if 
the  advantages  of  both  city  and  country 
can  be  secured  there.  For  some  whose 
occupation  or  retirement  permits,  a  per- 


322 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


manent  residence  in  the  country  is  pos- 
sible. For  those  whose  occupation  is  in 
the  city,  two  schemes  for  enjoyment  of 
country  life  are  practicable:  a  house  at 
some  distance  used  for  vacations  and 
week-ends,  in  connection  with  a  house  or 
apartment  in  town,  or  a  house  on  the 


while  its  head  spends  the  middle  of  the 
week  in  town.  With  the  large  suburban 
estate,  on  the  other  hand,  the  impulse  to 
spend  the  summer  elsewhere  is  greatly 
reduced  and  the  briefer  vacation  trips 
may  be  spent  at  hotels  and  camps.  Thus, 
although  one  type  is  primarily  a  residence 


FIG.  28.  RESIDENCE  OF  J.  B.  VAN  HAELEN,  ESQ.,  HARTSDALE.  N.  Y. 
Frank  J.  Forster,  Architect. 


outskirts  of  the  further  suburbs  with 
•daily  trips  to  the  city  by  rail  or  motor. 
In  the  former  case  neither  establishment 
can  be  as  ambitious  as  if  there  were  but 
one,  and,  with  the  migratory  apartment 
life  of  cities,  the  trend  is  to  make  the 
country  house  principal,  to  regard  it  as 
the  true  home,  occupied  by  the  family 
•continuously  during  the  good  weather 


for  the  summer,  the  other  for  the  win- 
ter months,  heating  and  other  facilities 
of  a  permanent  residence  are  introduced 
into  the  "summer  cottage,"  porches  and 
related  features  are  multiplied  to  make 
the  suburban  place  thoroughly  livable  in 
summer,  and  both  become  fundamentally 
one  with  the  permanent  country  resi- 
dence. 


323 


FIG.  31. 


RESIDENCE  OF  HORATIO  GATES  LLOYD,  ESQ.,  HAVERFORD,  PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 


FIG.  32.    RESIDENCE  OF  HORATIO  GATES  LLOYD,  ESQ..  HAVERFORD,  PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 

Q9A 


FIG.  29.     RESIDENCE  OP  HORATIO  GATES  LLOYD,  ESQ.,  HAVERFORD,  PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 


FIG.  30.     RESIDENCE  OF  HORATIO  GATES  LLOYD,  ESQ..  HAVERFORD.  PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine.  Architects. 

325 


FIG.   33.      SOUTH   FRONT   FROM   LAWN— RESIDENCE   OF   DR.    EDWARD   B.   KRUMBHAAR, 

WHITEMARSH  VALLEY,  PA. 
Arthur  H.  Brockie,  Architect. 


FIG.  35.     NORTH  FRONT — RESIDENCE  OF  DR.  EDWARD  B.   KRUMBHAAR,  WHITEMARSH 

VALLEY,  PA. 
Arthur  H.  Brockie,  Architect. 

326 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


In  a  suggestive  note  in  the  Architectural 
Record  for  October,  1914,  Mr.  Herbert 
Croly  spoke  of  the  large  suburban  place 
as  a  development  specifically  Middle 
Western.  It  is  true  that  the  type  is  nec- 
essarily uncharacteristic  of  New  York 
with  its  monstrous  urban  extent,  al- 
though in  Greenwich,  Conn.,  in  West- 
chester  County,  N.  Y.,  and  in  Northern 


New  Jersey  many  examples  of  such 
essentially  suburban  country  places  might 
be  cited,  but  about  smaller  Eastern 
cities  they  are  very  numerous,  and  should 
be  regarded  as  characteristic  rather  of  the 
size  of  the  city  than  of  any  particular 
section.  So  far  as  social  requirements 
are  concerned,  then,  there  is  likewise  no 
need  of  a  sectional  division. 


FIG.  34.    SOUTH  FRONT — RESIDENCE  OF  DR.  EDWARD  B.  KRUM- 

BHAAR,  WHITEMARSH  VALLEY.  PA. 

Arthur  H.  Brockie,  Architect. 


327 


FIG.  36.  MAIN  ENTRANCE— RESIDENCE  OF  ED- 
WARD C.  DELAFIELD,  ESQ.,  RIVERDALE-ON-HUDSON. 
NEW  YORK.  DWIGHT  JAMES  BAUM.  ARCHITECT 


"  Artistic  Conditions 

TradiKons  &  tendencies  of  Sme 


WHILE  practical  conditions  de- 
termine the  main  types  and  the 
accommodations  of  our  country 
houses,  artistic  conditions — the  traditions 
and  tendencies  of-  style — have  a  decisive 
influence  not  only  in  fixing  the  character 
of  the  exterior  and  interior  treatment, 
but  even  in  determining  the  plan.  That 
they  are  not  unified  to  the  degree  to 
which  national  traditions  were  in  less 
omniscient  ages  does  not  make  them  less 
vitally  felt — does  not  make  our  modern 
situation  fundamentally  unique.  In  so 
far  as  they  involve  a  conflict  between  in- 
herited forms  and  novel  or  exotic  ele- 
ments they  but  continue  an  age-long  pro- 
cess. What  is  novel  in  the  last  century 
is  merely  that  the  inherited  forms  them- 
selves embrace  a  wide  range  of  selection. 
The  eclectic  theory  as  developed  by  the 
nineteenth  century  was  that  choice  be- 
tween all  these  "historic  styles"  is  per- 
fectly free,  to  be  exercised  by  client  or 
architect  according  to  unrestrained  per- 
sonal preference,  even  in  such  isolated 
experiments  as  the  Pompeian  house  at 
Saratoga.  Within  a  single  design  also 
the  principle  permits  a  combination  of 
elements  of  different  styles,  a  fresh  com- 
position with  elements  of  one  style,  or 
the  literal  reproduction  of  an  individual 
historic  example.  In  its  application 
there  have  always  been  certain  favored 
styles  that  have  the  advantage  of  con- 
formity to  practical  needs  or  cultural  in- 
heritance. Even  among  these  at  any 
given  moment  a  consensus  of  preference 
tends  to  reestablish  the  old  unity  of  style ; 
a  changing  fashion  continues  the  old 
evolution  of  style  at  a  quicker  tempo. 
For  better  or  worse  this  eclectic  princi- 
ple is  still  dominant  in  American  design, 
which,  as  Mr.  Henry  James  has  said  of 
New  York,  "like  an  ample  childless 


mother,  consoles  herself  for  her  own 
sterility  by  an  unbridled  course  of  adop- 
tion." 

In  current  American  domestic  archi- 
tecture the  extreme  range  of  accepted 
precedent  does  not  extend  beyond  Re- 
naissance or  post-Renaissance  architec- 
ture in  certain  of  its  manifestations. 
Italian,  English,  Colonial  and,  to  a  less 
degree,  French  and  Spanish.  Whatever 
the  case  in  ecclesiastical  or  collegiate 
work,  domestic  Gothic  is  now  felt  to  be 
an  anachronism,  and  even  French  work 
of  the  Valois,  with  its  strong  mediaeval 
tinge,  has  come  to  seem  exotic  and  is 
scarce  attempted.  Perhaps  it  is  hardly 
too  much  to  suggest  that  even  Tudor  and 
Elizabethan  treatments  in  any  strictness 
no  longer  appeal  to  us  as  quite  capable 
of  American  naturalization.  The  dom- 
ination of  the  classic  spirit  which  this  in- 
dicates is  revealed  also  in  the  general  dis- 
taste for  anything  florid  or  baroque — the 
expurgation  of  styles  in  the  direction  of 
classical  purism. 

The  Tudor  style,  to  be  sure,  has  had 
recently  superlatively  sympathetic  exem- 
plification in  two  houses  by  Mr.  John 
Russell  Pope — the  Stuart  Duncan  resi- 
dence (Fig.  5)  at  Newport  and  the  Allen 
S.  Lehman  house  at  Tarrytown,  but  by 
their  very  perfection  in  the  reproduction 
of  motives,  textures,  and  weathering  they 
seem  mirages  of  old  England  rather  than 
growths  in  American  soil.  It  is  only 
through  its  modern  adaptations  at  home 
by  Lutyens,  Voysey  and  others,  that  the 
older  English  tradition  becomes  really  as- 
similable by  us.  These  retain  of  the 
mediaeval  elements  no  more  than  the 
casement  window,  the  steep  roof  with 
gable  and  chimney  stack,  and  the  flexible 
mode  of  composition,  accepting  without 
reluctance  every  possibility  of  adaptation 


329 


FIG.  37. 


FORECOURT— RESIDENCE  OF  H.  P.  WHITNEY,  ESQ.,  GLEN  COVE,  L.  I. 
Charles  Willing  of  Furness,  Evans  &  Co.,  Architect. 


FIG.  39.    WEST  AND  SOUTH  FRONTS — RESIDENCE  OF  H.  P.  WHITNEY,  ESQ.,  GLEN  COVE,  L.  I. 
Charles  Willing  of  Furness,  Evans  &  Co.,  Architect. 

330 


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THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


to  practical  requirements,  and  turning 
them  to  picturesque  advantage  on  the  ex- 
terior. In  this  vein  Mr.  Lewis  Colt 
Albro  and  Mr.  Alfred  Hopkins,  among 
other  architects,  have  had  notable  suc- 
cess of  recent  years;  and  this  issue  con- 
tains interesting  examples  by  Mr.  Frank 
J.  Forster  and  others. 

Similarly  we  find,  as  the  sole  versions 
of  the  French  chateau  which  are  now  ac- 
ceptable, adaptations  of  such  Louis  XIII 
buildings  as  les  Grotteaux,  most  success- 
fully in  Mr.  Platt's  house  at  Rockville 
and  Mr.  Pope's  house  for  Commodore 
Gould.  In  them  the  steep  roofs  and  tall 
chimneys  do  not  preclude  the  level  cor- 
nice lines,  wooden  sash  bars,  and  pure 
if  simple  detail  which  connote  modernity. 

The  central  body  of  forms  in  Ameri- 
can style  of  the  present  is  beyond  dis- 
pute the  academic  vocabulary  of  the  Ital- 
ian Renaissance,  of  Palladianism  and 
classicism  in  France,  England  and  the 
early  American  republic,  and  their  more 
vernacular  expression  in  Georgian  Eng- 
land and  the  American  colonies. 

How  this  came  to  be,  within  twenty- 
five  years  from  the  date  we  still  incline 
to  regard  as  the  close  of  the  dark  ages 
of  American  architecture,  is  a  story  the 
incidents  of  which  in  the  realm  of  monu- 
mental building  are  familiar  enough.  To 
understand  its  bearings  in  domestic  archi- 
tecture, however,  we  must  give  attention 
to  a  phase  much  less  known.  The  obscure 
origins  of  the  neo-classic  renaissance  in 
America  are  to  be  sought  long  before  the 
dazzling  object  lesson  of  the  World's 
Fair  of  1893  in  domestic  architecture. 

It  was  the  stirrings  of  the  much  tra- 
vestied "Queen  Anne"  movement  in  Eng- 
land— the  initial  program  of  its  founders, 
Neshfield  and  Shaw,  was  the  revival  of 
the  native  vernacular  materials  ,and  de- 
tail of  the  period  of  Anne — which  led 
Charles  F.  McKim,  with  Meade,  White 
and  Bigelow,  to  make  in  1876  what  they 
came  afterwards  to  call  their  "celebrated 
trip"  along  the  New  England  coast  to 
sketch  and  measure  the  American  work 
of  Anne  and  the  Georges  so  that  it  might 
furnish  a  similar  inspiration.  Thus  to 
the  young  Beaux-Arts  eleves,  with  their 
portfolios  full  of  high-roofed  chateaux, 


and  to  the  right  hand  man  of  Richardson 
came  the  impulse  responsible  for  their 
first  executed  works  of  classic  character, 
the  revived  Colonial  houses  of  Newport 
and  Lenox.  It  was  the  decisive  impulse 
of  the  great  movement  which,  gathering 
strength  by  reverting  to  the  Italian 
sources  in  the  Villard  houses,  the  New 
York  clubs,  the  Boston  Library,  and  then 
finally  to  the  classic  fountain-heads  them- 
selves, has  swept  all  before  it. 

Appreciation  of  the  basic  importance 
of  the  Colonial  revival  in  this  movement 
gives  added  significance  to  the  work  of 
the  long  line  of  its  exponents,  from  the 
late  Robert  S.  Peabody  and  Arthur  Little 
onwards.  Beginning  with  the  copying 
and  compounding  of  isolated  details, 
with  a  consequent  overloading  of  motives 
very  far  from  the  simplicity  of  the  orig- 
inal work,  they  have  made  constant  ad- 
vances in  sympathetic  knowledge  and 
employment  of  the  styles.  The  initial 
enthusiasm  for  the  properly  "Georgian" 
buildings  of  about  1750,  from  the  James 
River,  Annapolis,  Charleston,  Philadel- 
phia, Newport  and  Massachusetts  Bay, 
has  widened  into  catholic  appreciation  of 
all  the  work  from  the  time  of  settlement 
down  to  1830.  Study  and  publication, 
the  necessary  prerequisites  to  revival, 
have  recently  made  familiar  the  seven- 
teenth century  houses;  and,  in  spite  of 
the  difficulty  of  adapting  these  mediaeval 
survivals  to  modern  requirements  of  liv- 
ing, there  have  been  already  a  few  ex- 
periments in  imitation.  Much  more 
fruitful  so  far  has  been  the  revival  of 
post-Colonial  work,  whether  the  delicate 
Adam  detail  of  Bulfinch  and  Mclntire, 
or  the  more  classic  Jeffersonian  porti- 
coes of  the  South.  Whereas  at  first  ele- 
ments from  widely  different  periods  were 
combined,  greater  discrimination  has 
brought  a  greater  consistency  which 
makes  the  work  of  each  generation  seem 
illiterate  to  the  one  that  follows.  While 
most  designers  have  nevertheless  contin- 
ued the  effort  to  use  the  Colonial  forms 
as  the  vocabulary  of  a  living  language, 
there  have  been  an  increasing  number  of 
direct  reproductions,  such  as  Mr.  Platt's 
of  Wes.tover.  A  model  of  special  attrac- 
tion has  been  Mount  Vernon,  which  has 


334 


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been  followed  with  greater  or  less  strict- 
ness in  a  multitude  of  examples,  notably, 
though  here  with  the  freedom  of  a  new 
creation,  in  the  Tracy  Dows  house  at 
Rhinebeck  (Fig.  6). 

The  lack  of  luxuriousness  and  ampli- 
tude in  the  Colonial  style,  as  exemplified 
in  the  simplicity  and  extreme  smallness 
of  scale  even  of  such  houses  as  Mount 
Vernon  and  Whitehall,  has  led  designers 
to  seek  inspiration  or  reinforcement  from 
the  English,  prototypes  of  the  early 
American  work.  Here  also  Georgian  in- 
fluence has  recently  been  succeeded  by 
a  vogue  of  Adam  detail  and  character, 
initiated  in  the  Ritz-Carlton  hotels  and  in 
several  houses  of  Mr.  Pope,  such  as  that 
of  Mr.  James  Swan  Frick  at  Guilford 
(Fig.  8).  The  related  French  work  of 


Louis  XVI  has  so  far  found  more  ap- 
plication in  city  houses  than  in  the  coun- 
try. Indeed  it  must  be  realized  that  in 
country  house  architecture,  even  where 
it  remains  academic,  French  influence  is 
waning;  and  the  Grand  Trianon,  which 
inspired  the  Oelrichs  house  at  Newport, 
would  scarcely  be  selected  for  reproduc- 
tion today. 

Italian  precedent,  on  the  contrary,  has 
been  steadily  invoked,  both  to  supplement 
the  Colonial  and  to  replace  it.  It  was 
in  the  gardens  by  Mr.  Platt  that  Italian 
influence  first  made  itself  strongly  felt 
in  the  American  country  place.  His 
houses  in  connection  with  them  were  at 
first  almost  purely  Colonial  or  Georgian, 
and  it  has  only  been  later,  for  instance, 
in  his  McCormick  house,  that  he  has  car- 


336 


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V3TOB  ^H    r^ 

H       5  w 

Is 


FIG.  46. 


RESIDENCE  OF  S.  W.  MOORE  ESQ.,  KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 
Van  Brunt  &  Hertz,  Architects. 


ried  the  style  consistently  through 
grounds,  house  and  interiors,  even  to 
the  extreme  of  an  open  interior  court. 
The  phase  of  style  adopted — not  the 
Roman  of  Peruzzi,  as  with  McKim,  but 
the  early  Florentine  of  Michelozzo  in 
San  Marco  and  the  Villa  Carregi — has 
advanced  rapidly  in  public  favor  and  is 
beyond  doubt  the  mode  of  the  moment. 
The  needed  material  has  been  furnished 
by  new  publications  on  the  smaller  Ital- 
ian villas  and  farm  houses  and,  in  addi- 
tion, on  Italian  furniture,  which  have 
been  avidly  taken  up  by  furniture  makers 
and  decorators.  Such  notable  works  as 
the  remodelings  at  "Shallow  Brook 
Farm"(Fig.  10) by  Mr.  Benjamin  Wistar 
Morris  have  established  a  vogue  attested 
by  several  of  the  houses  here  illustrated. 
In  view  of  this  vogue  of  the  Italian 
house  and  of  the  Italian  garden  it  is 
specially  significant  of  the  strength  of 
the  classic  spirit  that  the  architecture  as- 
sociated par  excellence  with  the  gardens 
of  Italy  and  with  their  creation,  the 
Baroque,  except  in  Spanish  treatment, 
has  had  but  a  single  notable  exemplifica- 


tion, the  Deering  villa  at  Miami,  Florida 
(Fig.  9).  In  spite  of  the  virtuosity 
and  fantasy  of  its  architects,  Messrs. 
Paul  Chalfin  and  F.  Burrall  Hoffman,  it 
seems  so  far  to  have  remained  without 
imitators. 

With  these  retrospective  tendencies  of 
broad  or  nationalistic  scope  is  related  an- 
other which  manifests  itself  in  the  con- 
scious revival  or  perpetuation  of  local 
traditions  of  style,  materials,  and  work- 
manship. The  idea,  originating  in  the 
last  generation  of  English  architects  and 
brilliantly  exemplified  in  Lutyens'  earlier 
work,  is  one  of  the  dominant  forces  in 
the  whole  architectural  world  today, 
widely  influential  in  Germany  before  the 
war  through  the  efforts  of  Otto  March 
and  Hermann  Muthesius,  and  now  taken 
up  officially  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  dev- 
astated sections  of  France.  In  America, 
while  a  similar  idea  lay  at  the  root  of  the 
whole  Colonial  revival,  in  general  the 
emphasis  has  lain  on  the  universal  rather 
than  the  local  characteristics  of  the  style, 
and  any  strong  emphasis  on  Colonial  tra- 
ditions peculiarly  local  came  first  with  the 


339 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


group  of  Philadelphia  architects  under 
English  influence,  such  as  \Yalter  Cope 
and  John  Stewardson.  Thus  has  arisen 
the  revival  of  the  ledge-stone  houses  of 


and  Long  Island,  have  likewise  had  an 
interesting  renaissance. 

The   return   to   Spanish   traditions   in 
Florida,  begun  as  early  as  1879  by  Messrs. 


FIG.  47.     GARDEN  FRONT — RESIDENCE  OF  S.  W.  MOORE,   ESQ.,   KANSAS  CITY,  MO. 

Van  Brunt  &  Hertz,  Architects. 


Pennsylvania,  developed  especially  in  late 
years  by  Messrs.  Mellor  and  Meigs  and 
Duhring,  Okie  and  Ziegler,  and  well 
illustrated  by  several  works  in  this  num- 
ber. Other  local  variants  of  the  Colonial, 
especially  the  Dutch  work  of  East  Jersey 


Carrere  and  Hastings,  has  found  expres- 
sion in  domestic  architecture  in  their 
Flagler  house  and  many  others ;  and  in 
California  a  similar  inspiration  has  stim- 
ulated some  of  our  finest  classic  work,  in 
houses  by  Mr.  Robert  Farquhar,  Mr. 


340 


FIG.  48.     EAST  FRONT— RESIDENCE  OF  C.  E.  McINNES,  ESQ.,  RYDAL,  PA. 
Duhring,  Okie  &  Ziegler,  Architects. 


Myron  Hunt,  Mr.  Elmer  Gray,  Mr. 
Goodhue  and  others.  In  both  these  re- 
gions the  style  of  Spain  itself  has  been 
drawn  upon  freely,  and  the  influence  of 
the  local  heritage  of  old  buildings  appears 
chiefly  in  the  simplicity  and  restraint 
which  lack  of  means  forced  on  Spanish 
builders  in  these  outposts  of  empire.  In 
New  Mexico,  on  the  other  hand,  where 
such  limitation  was  even  more  pro- 
nounced and  the  resulting  style  took  on 
more  the  character  of  the  native  Pueblo 
than  of  Spain,  its  recent  revival  at  the 
hands  of  Mr.  William  Templeton  John- 
son and  a  few  colleagues  has  strictly  re- 
tained this  character,  with  such  interest- 
ing products  as  Mr.  Sylvanus  G.  Mor- 
ley's  house  at  Sante  Fe. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  those  eclectic 
designers  who,  while  drawing  largely  on 
traditional  sources  for  their  elements, 
have  aimed  at  a  free  and  personal  mode 
of  expression — for  example,  Mr.  Wilson 
Eyre  or  Mr.  Howard  Shaw.  In  their 


earlier  houses,  such  as  Mr.  Shaw's  Bart- 
lett  house  at  Lake  Geneva,  the  spirit  of 
freedom  or  invention  was  dominant,  but 
it  is  noteworthy  that  in  their  recent  works 
respect  for  precedent  tends  to  have  the 
upper  hand.  To  an  even  greater  degree 
Mr.  Charles  Barton  Keen  has  abandoned 
the  individual  blend  of  native  and  orig- 
inal elements  with  which  his  first  tri- 
umphs were  achieved,  in  favor  of  the 
relatively  impersonal  Georgian  seen  in 
the  Leas  house  (Fig.  61). 

The  striving  for  a  style  which  shall  be 
specifically  modern  and  American  has 
had  to  face  heavy  odds  since  the  over- 
whelming popular  victory  of  the  classical 
at  Chicago  in  1893.  But  in  spite  of  this 
defeat  in  the  heart  of  their  own  territory, 
coupled  with  the  death  of  their  leader, 
Root,  the  "progressives,"  rallied  by  Mr. 
Sullivan  and  Mr.  Wright,  have  estab- 
lished a  certain  sovereignty  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Chicago,  and  have  even  secured 
recognition  by  foreign  powers  while  still 


341 


P      Q 


FIG.  53.     NORTH  FRONT— RESIDENCE  OF  E.  H.  FITCH,  ESQ.,   MEADOWBROOK,  PA. 

Tilden  &  Register,  Architects. 


regarded  by  our  own  ruling  artistic  au- 
thorities as  rebels  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
law.  The  attraction  of  the  "merely 
novel"  or  the  "bizarre"  is  not  enough  to 
explain  this  vitality,  which  rests  partly 
on  the  fundamental  appeal  of  the  pro- 
gressive argument,  partly  on  the  fact 
that,  while  the  academic  school  has 
tended  to  subordinate  functional  to  for- 
mal considerations,  the  progressives  have 
steadily  emphasized  the  suggestions  of 
function.  Thus  the  wide,  ramified  plans 
of  Mr.  Wright — unconventional  in  a 
strict  sense  though  they  are — do  not  rest 
merely  on  caprice  but  on  acceptance  of 
the  current  preference  for  rooms  all  on 
a  single  floor  and  on  a  logical  grouping 


of  living  rooms,  bedrooms,  guest  rooms, 
service,  and  so  on,  in  individual  suites 
with  light  and  air  on  three  sides.  No- 
where is  this  better  seen  than  in  Mr. 
Wright's  own  place  at  Spring  Green 
(Fig.  14),  where  studios  and  draughting 
rooms,  living  quarters  for  assistants,  and 
farm  buildings  are  included  in  the  en- 
semble, the  consistency  and  personal 
character  of  which  make  it  beyond  most 
in  America  an  authentic  work  of  creative 
art.  Though  acceptance  of  the  progres- 
sive principle  does  not  necessarily  imply 
imitation  of  this  or  any  single  formula, 
and  few  designers  have  pushed  its  appli- 
cation to  such  logical  extremes,  there  is 
a  body  of  work  of  related  impulse  im- 
pressive in  its  mass  and  cohesion. 


344 


o  &,  « 


ll 


«  w 


FIG.   56.     SOUTH   AND   EAST  FRONTS — RESIDENCE   OF   E.   H.   FITCH,   ESQ. 

MEADOWBROOK,  PA. 
Tilden  &  Register,  Architects. 


FIG.   57.     FORECOURT — RESIDENCE   OF   MRS.   ALBERT   B.   KELLEY,   RADNOR,   PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 

346 


FIG.  60.      BREAKFAST    TERRACE    AND    EAST    FRONT— RESIDENCE    OF    MRS.    ALBERT    B. 

KELLEY,    RADNOR,    PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 


V 


FIG.   63.      RESIDENCE    OF    BENJAMIN    ODELL,    ESQ.,    KENILWORTH,    ILL. 
George  W.  Maher,  Architect. 

348 


FIG     61. 


RESIDENCE    OF    LEROY    P.    LEAS,    ESQ.,    OVERBROOK,    PHILADELPHIA.    PA. 
Charles  Barton  Keen,  Architect. 


FIG.    62.      RESIDENCE    OF    LEROY    P.    LEAS,    ESQ.,    OVERBROOK,    PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Charles  Barton  Keen,  Architect. 

349 


3"  She 

Disposition  ^  IfeatmentJ 
op  House  &*  Surroundings 


IN  the  solutions  of  the  country  house 
problem  of  today  in  America  econom- 
ic and  social  conditions  determine  the 
general  type  of  house  and  its  accommoda- 
tions, while  natural  conditions  deter- 
mine many  details  of  its  construction 
and  equipment;  but  in  the  disposition 
and  treatment,  artistic  motives  dominate 
to  an  unusual  degree.  In  England,  at 
least  until  the  most  recent  years  in  which 
technical  development  and  a  recrudes- 
cence of  academicism  in  style  are  bring- 
ing a  similarity  to  American  conditions, 
this  has  not  been  the  case ;  natural  condi- 
tions and  minute  considerations  of  con- 
venience have  largely  governed  the 
choice  of  site,  the  orientation  and  the 
grouping  of  rooms,  the  outline  of  the 
plan  being  less  preconceived  than  re- 
sultant. If,  for  instance,  in  placing  the 
living  rooms  choice  were  necessary  be- 
tween the  usual  southern  exposure  and 
a  fine  prospect  to  the  north,  the  outlook 
would  inevitably  be  sacrificed  to  the  need 
of  courting  the  sun.  The  mediaeval,  pic- 
turesque mode  of  composition  has  per- 
mitted, even  invited,  the  most  accidental 
resultant  combinations  of  exterior  forms, 
and  even  the  fondness  for  using  a  wing 
of  the  service  quarters  to  frame  an 
Elizabethan  forecourt  has  been  due  not 
only  to  romantic  revivalism  but  to  desire 
to  give  the  butler  easy  oversight  of  the 
arrival  and  departure  of  guests.  With 
us,  on  the  contrary,  mechanical  develop- 
ment permits  climatic  difficulties  in  the 
choice  of  site  or  orientation  to  be  dis- 
regarded in  the  interest  of  prospect,  and 
our  academic  tendency  of  twenty-five 
years  standing  generally  dictates  the 
adoption  of  a  plan  of  formal  regularity. 


In  the  general  disposition  of  the 
American  house  the  idea  of  separation  of 
functions  of  approach,  living  and  ser- 
vice rules  in  a  general  way,  without  be- 
ing carried  out  with  the  same  minuteness 
as  in  England.  Thus  there  is  a  broad 
separation  between  the  entrance  front 
and  the  opposite  garden  front,  along 
which  lie  the  principal  living  rooms,  but 
it  is  not  regarded  as  a  positive  objection 
that  some  of  these  run  through  and  com- 
mand the  entrance.  The  service  quarters 
are  isolated  in  a  wing  with  their  own 
drive  and  entrance,  but  the  limitations  of 
our  formal  planning  make  it  not  unusual 
even  in  the  largest  establishments  that 
the  servants  must  traverse  the  dining 
room  to  reach  the  body  of  the  house  and 
that  the  hand  luggage  of  guests  must  be 
taken  in  at  the  main  door  and  carried  up 
the  main  stairs. 

In  the  arrangement  of  the  plan  the  di- 
versity of  artistic  tradition  leaves  room 
for  the  greatest  variety  of  schemes,  and 
no  single  one  has  the  almost  univer- 
sal acceptance  of  the  Elizabethan  U,  E, 
or  H  plan  of  the  larger  house  in  England. 
Nevertheless  among  the  prevailingly  for- 
mal plans  one  scheme  is  clearly  predom- 
inant. It  is  that  of  a  rectangular  main 
mass  with  entrance  and  garden  fronts  on 
the  longer  sides  and  with  wings  for 
porches  and  service  at  opposite  ends,  as 
seen  in  the  Hess  (Fig.  64)  Leas  (Fig. 
69)  and  many  other  houses  in  this  num- 
ber. In  the  smaller  houses  with  the  ser- 
vants' quarters  limited  to  kitchen,  pantry 
and  a  room  or  two  above,  these  wings 
may  be  perfectly  symmetrical,  at  least 
in  apparent  mass,  as  in  the  Gaylord  resi- 
dence. With  greater  development  of  the 


350 


FIG.   67.     FIRST   FLOOR   PLAN — RESIDENCE   OF   E.   H.   FITCH,   ESQ.,    MEADOWBROOK.    PA, 

Tilden  &  Register,  Architects. 


FIG.   68.      FIRST   FLOOR   PLAN— RESIDENCE   OF   C.    E.   McINNES,   ESQ.,   RYDAL,    PA. 

Duhring,  Okie  &  Ziegler,  Architects. 

353 


f-tnyr  -FLooa-PLAd 


fLOOC.  •  PLM\ 


-OVEfiBDDQK.-PHlLA-PA 


JIG.    09.      FIRST    AND    SECOND    FLOOR    PLANS— RESIDENCE    OF    LEROY    P.    LEAS,   ESQ. 

OVERBROOK,    PHILADELPHIA,   PA. 
Charles  Barton  Keen,  Architect. 


COVNTRY    HOV.5L    FOR. 
H.P.WHITNEY  I5Q,  AT 
GLEN   COVE.  LONG    15LAND 


FIG.  70.     FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  H.  P.  WHITNEY.  ESQ.,  GLEN    COVE,   L.   I. 
Charles  Willing,  of  Furness,  Evans  &,  Co.,  Architect. 

354 


FIG.    71.      FIRST    FLOOR    PLAN — RESIDENCE    OF    DR.    EDWARD    B.    KRUMBHAAR. 

WHITEMARSH   VALLEY,    PA. 
Arthur  H.  Brockle,  Architect. 


FIG.   73.     FIRST   FLOOR   PLAN— RESIDENCE   OF  JOHN   A.    HITCHCOCK.   ESQ..   NASHVILLB, 

TENN. 
Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 

355 


FIG.  74.     SECOND  FLOOR  PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  JOHN  A.  HITCHCOCK,  ESQ.,  NASHVILLE, 

TENN. 
Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 


FIG.  72.     FIRST  AND  SECOND  FLOOR  PLANS— RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  ALBERT  B.  KELLEY. 

RADNOR,    PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 

356 


FIG.   77.     FIRST   FLOOR   PLAN— RESIDENCE   OF  JOHN   B.   VAN   HAELEN,   ESQ. 

HARTSDALE,    N.    Y. 
Frank  J.  Forster,  Architect. 


FIG.  78.     SECOND  FLOOR  PLAN — RESIDENCE  OF  JOHN  B.  VAN  HAELEN,  ESQ., 

HARTSDALE.    N.    Y. 
Frank  J.  Forster,  Architect. 

358 


FIG.    79.      FIRST    FLOOR    PLAN— RESIDENCE    OF    T.    I.    WEBB,  .ESQ.,    NASHVILLE,    TENN. 

Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 


J$an>  d 


FIG.  80.     SECOND   FLOOR   PLAN— RESIDENCE   OF   T.   I.   WEBB,   ESQ.,   NASHVILLE.    TENN. 

Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 


359 


FIG.   81.      RESIDENCE   OF   T.    I.   WEBB,   ESQ.,    NASHVILLE,   TENN. 
Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 


service  end  the  dissymmetry  may  be  ig- 
nored if  the  main  mass  is  sufficiently 
strong;  or  may  be  masked  by  trees,  as  in 
the  Hess  (Fig.  64)  house,  or  by  treating 
the  service  as  a  primary  wing  of  the  same 
weight  as  the  porch  wing,  with  a  secon- 
dary, subordinate  wing,  perhaps  of  con- 
siderable length,  beyond.  The  latter 
scheme  appears,  almost  identically,  in  the 
Fitch  (Fig.  67)  and  Mclnnes  (Fig.  68) 
houses,  in  each  of  which  a  small  dining 
porch  fronts  the  beginning  of  the  service 
wing,  and,  by  balance  with  the  living 
porch,  heightens  the  symmetry  of  the 
garden  fagade.  The  setting  back  of  the 
wing  itself  tends  to  open  the  view  from 
the  living  rooms  even  on  this  fourth  side 
of  the  house.  The  secondary  service 
wing  generally  continues  in  the  length- 
wise direction,  so  as  not  to  obtrude  either 
on  the  entrance  or  on  the  garden  front, 
but  it  is  occasionally  carried  at  right 
angles  toward  the  entrance  side,  as  in 
the  Leas  (Fig.  69)  and  Whitney  (Fig. 
70)  houses.  Only  rarely,  however,  is 
this  wing  long  enough  to  form  one  side 


of  a  forecourt  there,  the  two  examples 
of  this  English  feature  which  are  shown 
here  being  both  from  the  firm  of  Mr. 
Wilson  Eyre.  In  exceptional  cases  with 
the  entrance  at  the  end  of  the  house,  as 
in  the  Hitchcock  house  at  Nashville, 
(Fig.  73)  both  long  sides  may  be  free 
and  the  service  wing  may  still  be  retired 
from  the  approach. 

In  more  informal  planning — associated 
usually  with  styles  outside  the  academic 
canon — when  this  basic  scheme  and  es- 
pecially the  idea  of  two  symmetrical 
fronts  is  abandoned,  it  is  common  to  find 
the  service  wing  brought  into  closer  con- 
nection with  the  entrance  hall,  making  a 
plan  pronouncedly  L-shaped.  The  Zenke 
house  at  Riverdale,  illustrated  in  the  Ar- 
chitectural Record  for  October,  1917,  is 
a  small  house  of  this  sort  in  which  the 
living  rooms  are  kept  toward  the  garden 
and  the  service  wing  projects  beside  the 
entrance.  In  general,  however,  this 
scheme  is  felt  to  cramp  the  entrance  too 
much,  and  the  wing  is  reversed,  bringing 
the  dining  room  on  the  entrance  front 


360 


•Hoi/jt-rot  •  IOVAU  C.4VDM* 

•VWTCHUTZt-  CO-H-Y- 


JUILt.')'-  '/'-»"• 


FIG.  82.    FIRST.FLOOR  PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  EDWARD  C.  GUDE,  ESQ..  WHITE  PLAINS,  N.  Y. 

William  Lawrence  Bottomley,  Architect. 


PIG.   83.     FIRST   FLOOR   PLAN— RESIDENCE   OF   8.   W.   MOORE,    ESQ.,   KANSAS    CITY.    MO. 

Van  Brunt  &  Hertz,  Architects. 

361 


FIG.    85.      RESIDENCE    OF    DR»    W.    D.    HAGGARD,    NASHVILLE,    TENN. 
Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 


FIG.  84.     FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN — RESIDENCE  OF   DR.   W.   D.   HAGGARD,   NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 

362 


FIG.  86.     GARDEN   FRONT — RESIDENCE   OF   DR.   W.   D.   HAGGARD.  NASHVILLE,   TENN. 

Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 


and  making  the  house  conform  more  to 
a  conventionally  suburban  scheme  in 
which  the  "street  front"  is  principal. 
This  is  illustrated  by  the  Walker  house 
(Fig.  75),  which  nevertheless  retains  a 
clear  view  from  the  living  room  over  the 
garden  to  the  rear.  In  the  Van  Haelen 
house  at  Hartsdale  (Fig.  77)  the  scheme 
is  fundamentally  the  same,  although 
turned  at  right  angles  to  the  street.  The 
T.  I.  Webb  house  at  Nashville  (Fig.  79), 
on  the  other  hand,  has  an  ingenious  ir- 
regular scheme  which  surmounts  all  prac- 
tical difficulties,  placing  all  living  rooms 
toward  the  garden  without  allowing  the 
service  wing  to  crowd  the  entrance.  A 
scheme  with  one  of  the  sides  adjacent  to 
the  entrance  front  developed  as  the  gar- 
den front  with  a  resulting  plan  rather 
more  "chunky"  than  would  be  otherwise 
desirable,  appears  in  the  Moore  house 
near  Kansas  City  (Fig.  83). 

Among  informal  plans  there  is  an  in- 
teresting group  in  which  the  right  angle 
is  abandoned  where  this  is  desirable  in 
the  interests  of  adaptation  to  outlook  or 


topography.  The  most  common  of  such 
irregularities  is  the  placing  of  the  service 
wing  diagonally  so  that  it  shall  be  less 
obtrusive  on  the  garden  side  and  still  shall 
not  encroach  too  much  on  the  entrance 
front.  Something  of  this  sort  is  seen  in 
the  plan  of  the  Haggard  house  in  Nash- 
ville (Fig.  84).  Coupled  with  pictur- 
esqueness  of  style,  however,  the  irregu- 
larity often  goes  further,  as  in  the  Sher- 
man Hall  residence  (Fig.  86). 

In  the  disposition  of  all  but  the  main 
living  rooms  other  considerations  beside 
those  of  plan  make  themselves  felt.  Or- 
dinarily there  is  one  full  story  above  the 
ground  floor,  but  occasionally  bed  rooms 
as  well  as  living  rooms  are  kept  on  a 
single  floor.  In  the  North  this  involves 
much  added  expense  for  foundations,  and 
it  is  not  an  accident  that  the  scheme  is 
more  in  favor  in  California  and  the 
South.  Wide  ramification  of  the  service 
quarters  on  the  ground  floor  level — made 
necessary  in  England  by  the  omission  of 
cellars — is  likewise  only  practical  in 
southern  latitudes,  and  since  in  the  old 


363 


FIG.  87.  FIRST  AND  SECOND  FLOOR  PLANS- 
RESIDENCE  OF  SHERMAN^R.  HALL,  ESQ..  PORTLAND, 
OREGON.  LAWRENCE  &  HOLFORD,  ARCHITECTS. 


<  OB 

5 


FIG.    91.      RESIDENCE    OF    SAMUEL    D.    STEVENS,    ESQ.,    MARBLEHEAD,    MASS. 
Allen  W.  Jackson  and  Charles  M.  Baker,  Architects. 


FIG.   92.      RESIDENCE    OF    SAMUEL   D.    8TEVEN8.    ESQ.,    MARBLEHEAD,    MASS. 
Allen  W.  Jackson  and  Charles  M.  Baker.  Architects. 

368 


FIG.    93. 


RESIDENCE    OF    SAMUEL  |D.  ISTEVENS,    ESQ.,    MARBLEHEAD,    MASS 
Allen  W.  Jackson  and  Charles  M.  Baker,  Architects. 


FIG.  94.     SOUTH  FRONT— RESIDENCE  OF  EDWARD  C.  GUDE,  ESQ.,  WHITE  PLAINS,  N.   Y. 

William  Lawrence  Bottomley,  Architect. 

369 


FIG.  95.     EAST  END— RESIDENCE  OF  EDWARD  C.  GUDE,  ESQ.,  WHITE  PLAINS,  N. 
William  Lawrence  Bottomley,  Architect. 


South  few  servants  live  in  the  house, 
scarcely  occurs  outside  of  California. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  cellars  made  nec- 
essary in  the  North  by  artificial  heating, 
which  are  relatively  inexpensive  owing 
to  the  deep  foundations  required  in  any 
case,  take  care  of  many  minor  phases  of 
service.  Motives  of  economy  and  con- 
venience, of  course,  suggest  that  the  ex- 
cavation be  carried  no  lower  than  below 
the  frost  level,  giving  the  "light  cellars" 
so  beloved  of  the  American  philistine  of 
the  nineteenth  century;  but  appreciation 
of  the  aesthetic  merit  of  keeping  the 
house  close  to  the  ground  has  now  made 
deep  excavation  and  lighting  by  areas 
universal  in  good  work.  This  gives  the 
further  advantage  of  permitting  direct 
access  to  terraces  and  lawns  on  all  sides 
by  means  of  French  windows  which  have 
thus  multiplied  rapidly  in  recent  years, 
when  not  forbidden  by  close  adherence 
to  a  chosen  style. 

The  desire  to  keep  the  house  low  has 
led  in  the  past  fifteen  years  to  a  wide  re- 
version to  the  scheme  of  the  "story-and- 


a-half"  house,  such  as  the  Colonial  farm 
house  with  its  eaves  at  the  second  floor 
level.  First  used  with  notable  success 
by  Mr.  Keen,  and  afterwards  widely 
popularized  by  Mr.  Embury  as  "Dutch 
Colonial,"  this  essentially  modern  effort 
to  provide  livable  rooms  in  a  roof  by 
the  aid  of  wide  eaves  projection  or  the 
employment  of  the  gambrel,  although 
now  a  trifle  hackneyed,  still  has  many  ad- 
herents. It  involves  the  development  of 
the  "long  dormer"  and  the  "sunk  dor- 
mer" and  has  advantages  for  the  unity  of 
the  whole  in  permitting  a  single  eaves 
level  for  house  and  porches.  Interesting 
variants  on  it  appear  in  the  Witherspoon 
(Fig  89)  and  Stevens  (Fig.  91)  houses. 
A  novel  experiment  in  placing  two  stories 
of  minor  rooms  against  the  Hving  room 
is  seen  in  Mr.  Bottomley's  Gude  house  on 
Long  Island  (Fig.  94),  with  its  pseudo- 
Connecticut  doorway.  When  there  is  a 
full  second  story  the  desire  for  lowness 
and  appreciation  of  the  superiority  of 
unbroken  roofs  fends  increasingly  to 
cause  the  suppression  of  dormers,  even 


370 


FIG.  96.  HOUSE  DOOR— RESIDENCE  OP  ED- 
WARD C.  GUDE.  ESQ..  WHITE  PLAINS.  N.  Y. 
WILLIAM  LAWRENCE  BOTTOMLEY.  ARCHITECT. 


co  ft  E- 

K  O  O 
CQ  S  (a 

•*£ 

«    £ 


Q  ff 

P5 

fe  < 


-  ^  - 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


though,  in  the  case  of  hip  roofed  houses, 
this  involves  the  loss  of  all  habitable 
room  in  the  third  story.  With  a  funda- 
mentally mediaeval  style  such  dormers 
can  be  managed,  and  dormers  and  gables 


terior  of  the  house  is  governed  in  general 
by  the  tendencies  of  style  discussed 
above.  The  choice  of  historic  suggestion 
once  made,  sympathetic  interpretation  of 
this  is,  except  in  the  modernist  work,  al- 


are  utilized  in  the  Watson  Webb  house     most  the  principal  effort,  and  the  range 


FIG.   98.    RESIDENCE   OF   DR.    R.   BISHOP   CANFIELD.   ANN    ARBOR.   MICH. 

Louis  H.  Boynton,  Architect. 


(Fig.  20)  to  make  the  whole  third  story 
available  for  comfortable  guest  rooms. 
In  general,  however,  even  servants' 
rooms  are  now  rarely  provided  there, 
being  placed,  with  better  relation  to  their 
use,  in  the  second  story  of  the  service 
wing  or  even  on  the  ground  floor. 
In  its  architectural  treatment  the  ex- 


of  personal  liberty  includes  chiefly  mat- 
ters of  proportion,  texture,  and  detail. 
By  themselves,  however,  these  offer  wide 
possibilities  of  success  or  failure,  as  well 
as  of  variety  of  effects.  In  the  wall  to- 
day simplicity  of  membering  goes  hand 
in  hand  with  search  for  novelty  and 
beauty  of  texture.  Any  form  of  pilaster 


373 


w  < 


W  Q 


FIG.   99. 


RESIDENCE   OF   WALTER   RICH,   ESQ.,   ATLANTA,   GA, 
Hentz,  Reid  &  Adlor,  Architects. 


FIG.    101.      RESIDENCE   OF   I.    HELLER.   ESQ.,   CEDAR   LAKE.   WIS. 
Brust  &  Philipp,  Architects. 

375 


THE     ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


treatment  in  country  houses  is  now  of 
extreme  rarity,  and  detail  is  concentrated 
on  doorway,  porch  and  cornice  as  exclu- 
sively as  in  early  Colonial  days.  'When 
wood  is  retained  as  a  material  the  effort 


which  are  obviously  overstrained.  Stuc- 
co, widely  recommended  not  only  by  its 
technical  development  but  by  Italian  and 
English  vogues,  has  numerous  poten- 
tialities. Smooth  floating,  pebble  dash, 


FIG.    102.      RESIDENCE   OF   I.   HELLER,   ESQ.,   CEDAR   LAKE,   WIS. 
Brust  &  Philipp,  Architects. 


is  to  escape  from  banality  by  the  use  of 
wide  clapboards,  long  shingles  or  cover- 
ings of  trellis.  In  brick  the  rage  for 
textures  has  run  riot  to  such  an  extent 
that,  along  with  many  commendable  for 
their  richness  and  softness  of  color, -a 
multitude  of  striking  effects  are  secured 


and  brushing  all  have  their  adherents, 
but  the  fashion  of  the  moment  is  for  the 
rough  trowelling  seen  in  the  Appleton 
(Fig.  109)  and  Lloyd  (Fig.  29)  houses. 
Tinting  and  washing  to  show  selected  ag- 
gregates give  a  welcome  opportunity  for 
color.  In  stone  the  popularity  of  the 


376 


FIG.    103.      RESIDENCE    OF   J.    A.    HITCHCOCK,   ESQ.,    NASHVILLE,    TENN. 
Dougherty  &  Gardner,  Architects. 


FIG.    104.      RESIDENCE    OF    SIGMUND    MOXTAG, 
Hentz,  Reid  &  Adler,  Architects. 


377 


ESQ.,    ATLANTA.    GA. 


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P      O 


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COE.W 

B.       Zi     fy» 


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FIG.  106.  HOUSE  DOOR— RESIDENCE  OF 
8IGMT7ND  MONTAG,  ESQ..  ATLANTA.  GA. 
HENTZ.  REID  &  ADLER.  ARCHITECTS. 


«  o  £ 

O  E-"  £ 


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o  22  <! 

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2d« 

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H  a 

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O         as 

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f 

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1*1 


FIG.  110.  RESIDENCE  OF  ROBERT 
APPLETON,  ESQ..  EAST  HAMPTON,  L. 
I.  FRANK  E.  NEWMAN.  ARCHITECT. 


FIG.     111.       DINING    ROOM— RESIDENCE    OF    SIGMUND    MONTAG,    ESQ.,    ATLANTA,    GA. 

Hentz,  Reid  &  Adler,  Architects. 


FIG.     112.      LIVING    ROOM— RESIDENCE    OF    SIGMUND    MONTAG,    ESQ.,    ATLANTA,    GA. 

Hentz,  Reid  &  AdJer,  Architects. 

383 


FIG.    113.      LIVING    ROOM— RESIDENCE    OF    LEROY    P.    LEAS,    ESQ.,    OVERBROOK, 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Charles  Barton  Keen,  Architect. 


FIG.    114.      DINING    ROOM— RESIDENCE    OF    LEROY    P.    LEAS,    ESQ.,    OVERBROOK, 

PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

Charles  Barton  Keen,  Architect. 

384 


FIG.  115.  RECEPTION  ROOM— RESIDENCE  OF  WALTER  MACH,  ESQ.,  ANN  ARBOR,  MICH. 

Louis  H.  Boynton,  Architect. 


Pennsylvania  ledge-stone  has  led  to  wide- 
spread imitations  with  local  materials, 
often  with  violence  to  their  own  proper- 
ties, and  even,  in  some  instances,  to  trans- 
portation of  the  Pennsylvania  stone  to 
distant  States  such  as  Michigan,  not  only 
in  violation  of  the  very  principle  of  its 
use  but  to  the  neglect  of  an  extremely 
interesting  rusty  native  ledge-stone. 
Were  the  principle  of  using  local  ma- 
terials really  more  widely  applied,  far 
more  good  stone  work  would  be  done 
than  at  present. 

Window  treatment  perhaps  more  than 
any  other  feature  is  dependent  on  choice 
of  style,  and  leaded  casements  appear 
with  the  adoption  of  any  mediaeval  sug- 
gestion. In  spite  of  the  advantages  of 
casements  in  increasing  ventilation  and 
the  overcoming  of  some  of  its  difficulties 
by  improved  steel  sash,  our  constant  re- 
version to  the  double  hung  window  is 


not  accidental — as  is  proved  by  the  pref- 
erence which  the  modern  English  archi- 
tect and  housewife  alike  give  to  it.  Case- 
ment and  sash  window  are  both  small- 
paned,  almost  without  exception.  Only 
in  the  work  of  the  modernists  is  there 
any  attempt  to  give  greater  interest  to 
their  treatment  by  substituting  varied  de- 
signs for  the  stereotyped  equal  rectan- 
f  IPS 

felC3. 

In  roof  treatment  the  academic  spirit 
makes  the  level  cornice  line  normal  and 
the  hip  roof  frequent.  The  eaves  at 
present  are  rarely  given  the  extreme  pro- 
jections of  a  few  years  ago,  seen  here 
only  in  the  Moore  house  in  Kansas  City 
(Fig.  46)  ;  on  the  contrary,  we  find,  in 
the  Hess  house  (Fig.  41),  Mr.  Howells 
using  as  his  cornice  the  single  great 
moulding  of  the  Villa  Madama.  Roof 
parapets  and  eaves  balustrades  are  almost 
wholly  lacking,  whether  in  Elizabethan 


385 


FIG.  116.  STAIRCASE  HALL — RESI- 
DENCE OF  WALTER  MACH,  ESQ.,  ANN 
ARBOR,  MICH.  Louis  H.  Boynton,  Architect. 


FIG.  117.     ENTRANCE  HALL — RESIDENCE  OF  DR.  EDWARD  B.  KRUMBHAAR,  WHITMARSH 

VALLEY,    PA. 
Arthur  H.  Brockie,  Architect. 


or  post-Colonial  revivals.  On  the  other 
hand  great  attention  is  given  to  the  tex- 
ture and  color  of  the  roof  itself.  The 
shingles  of  the  Colonial  style  are  sawn 
and  laid  with  slight  irregularity;  the  so- 
called  "thatched  shingle"  with  its  bolder 
curvature,  while  somewhat  discredited  by 
rank  imitations,  is  still  undergoing  fresh 
development,  as  in  the  Appleton  house 
(Fig.  109),  with  its  heavy  mass  of 
shingles  not  steamed  but  shaped  to  the 
roof  as  laid.  Graded  and  variegated 
slates  and  tile,  both  flat  and  curved  are  an 
ever  increasing  resource.  The  Moore 
residence  has  a  variegated  "fire  flash" 
Spanish  tile,  the  Hess  house  a  remark- 
able special  tile  sprayed  with  moss  green. 
The  handling  of  interiors  has  under- 
gone a  change  of  fashion  in  the  last  five 
years,  the  dominant  vogue  becoming 
Italian  instead  of  Georgian  or  Adam. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Platt  and 
Mr.  Henry  Forbes  Bigelow,  paneling  has 
given  way  to  broad  surfaces  of  plaster, 
enriched  only  by  an  occasional  tapestry  or 
heavily  carved  mirror  in  old  gilt,  and 
crowned  by  groined  arches  or  coffered 


ceilings.  Mantels  and  occasional  door- 
ways of  carved  stone,  gates,  lanterns  and 
sconces  of  metal,  floors  of  tile,  and  spar- 
ing furniture  heavily  carved  carry  out 
the  effect.  Such  fashions  are  not  adopted 
instantly  or  universally,  and  a  number  of 
fine  Georgian  and  Adam  or  Mclntire  in- 
teriors are  still  being  done,  especially  in 
regions  of  strong  Colonial  tradition — 
witness  the  Montag  house  at  Atlanta 
(Fig.  112)  and  the  house  at  Overbrook 
(Fig.  113).  The  hall  of  the  Krumbhaar 
house  at  Whitemarsh  Valley  (Fig.  117), 
however,  shows  how  even  in  a  panelled 
Georgian  room  furniture  of  an  earlier 
and  more  Italian  character  replaces  the 
work  of  the  eighteenth  century  cabinet 
makers,  and  in  Mr.  Rich's  living  room 
at  Atlanta  (Fig.  118)  the  victory  of  the 
Italian  is  complete.  Most  interesting  in 
their  illustration  of  the  new  tendency  are 
the  rooms  of  the  Baker  residence  at  Ke- 
wanee  (Fig.  119),  with  their  plain  walls, 
rich  plaster  ceilings,  and  dependence  al- 
most entirely  on  the  carved  or  painted 
furniture  for  their  success.  A  novelty 
is  the  treatment  of  the  sun  room  in  Delia 


387 


FIG.    118. 


LIVING    ROOM— RESIDENCE    OF    WALTER    RICH,    ESQ.,    ATLANTA,    GA. 
Hentz,  Reid  &  Adler,  Architects. 


Robbia  faience.  The  old  French  treat- 
ment of  the  living  room  of  the  Gay  lord 
house  at  Lake  Winnebago  (Fig.  124)  is 
really  but  a  variant  of  the  Italian  man- 
ner; and  Elizabethan  suggestions, 
whether  strict  or  free,  are  today  rela- 
tively rare. 

The  studied  chastity  of  the  Italian 
work,  or  the  feeling  which  underlies  it, 
is  responsible  also  for  a  new  simplicity 
in  Colonial  interiors,  which  shows  itself 
by  a  reversion  to  the  homespun  work  of 
the  earlier  eighteenth  century  farmhouse. 
Bare  plaster,  with  paneling  only  on  the 
chimney  walls,  mantelless  fireplaces,  rag 
rugs,  and — with  more  regard  for  arch- 
aism than  for  consistency  of  style — the 
hewn  beamed  ceilings  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  mark  the  Gude  (Fig.  128), 
Whitney  (Fig.  129),  Kelley  (Fig.  132) 
and  one  or  two  other  houses.  While  in 
all  this  there  is  no  doubt  a  healthy  re- 
action from  the  extreme  formality  and 
stereotyped  repetition  of  the  Adam  work 
of  the  day  just  past,  no  conclusion  should 
be  formed  that  anything  more  funda- 


mental is  indicated  than  a  change  of 
fashion  itself  destined  to  become  equally 
banal  tomorrow.  To  be  "in  good  taste" 
in  interior  decoration  and  furnishing 
nowadays  seems  to  consist,  like  being  in 
fashion,  in  doing  what  everyone  else  is 
preparing  to  do,  and  stopping  before 
they  begin. 

The  surroundings  of  the  American 
country  house  are  at  once  less  intensively 
developed  and  less  formal  than  those  of 
the  English  house.  For  this  there  are 
several  causes :  the  relatively  lesser  fond- 
ness for  flower  gardens  and  the  greater 
expense  of  maintaining  them,  the  dislike 
of  near  neighborhood  of  the  kitchen  gar- 
den and  stables,  the  absence  of  the  Eliz- 
abethan tradition  of  formal  paneling  out 
of  the  whole  immediate  surroundings  in 
sharply  marked  rectangular  areas  for 
definite  purposes,  and,  finally,  the  strength 
and  saneness  of  American  traditions  of 
informal  landscape  design,  based  not  on 
artificial  picturesqueness  but  on  preser- 
vation and  expression  of  the  native  and 
local  character.  Italian  influence  in  re- 


388 


251 

00 

-I 

sg 


o 


st 

KM 


FIG.    121.     DINING   ROOM— RESIDENCE   OF   E.   E.   BAKER,   ESQ.,   KEWANEE,   ILL. 

Frederick  W.  Perkins,  Architect. 


FIG.    122.      LIVING    ROOM— RESIDENCE   OF   E.    E.   BAKER,    ESQ.,   KEWANEE,   ILL. 

Frederick  W.  Perkins,  Architect. 

390 


FIG.    123.      SUN    ROOM— RESIDENCE    OF    E.    E.    BAKER.    ESQ.,    KEWANEK,    ILL. 
Frederick  W.  Perkins,  Architect. 


FIG.    124.     LIVING   ROOM— RESIDENCE  OF  G.  S.  GAYLORD,   ESQ.,  NEENAH,  WIS. 

Childs  &  Smith,  Architects. 

391 


- 

EH  H 


FIG.  126.     BREAKFAST  ROOM— RESIDENCE  OF  ROBERT  APPLETON.  ESQ.,  EAST  HAMPTON. 

L.  I. 
Frank  E.  Newman,  Architect. 


FIG.  128.     DINING  ROOM— RESIDENCE  O*   EDWAKD  C.  GUDE,  ESQ..  WHITE  PLAINS.  N.  Y. 

William  Lawrence  Bottomley,  Architect. 

393 


FIG.  129.    LIVING  ROOM— RESIDENCE  OF  H.  P.  WHITNEY,  ESQ.,  GLEN  COVE,  L.  I. 
Charles  Willing,  of  Furness.  Evans  &  Co.,  Architect. 


FIG.  130.     STAIRCASE— RESIDENCE  OF  H.  P.  WHITNEY,  ESQ.,  GLEN  COVE,  L.  1. 
Charles  Willing,  of  Furness,  Evans  &  Co.,  Architect. 

394 


FIG.  131.  DINING  ROOM  MANTEL—  RESIDENCE 
OF  MRS.  ALBERT  B.  KELLEY.  RADNOR,  PA. 
WILSON  EYRE  &  McILVAINE.  ARCHITECTS. 


FIG.  132. 


LIVING  ROOM— RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  ALBERT  B.  KELLEY.  RADNOR.  PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine.  Architects. 


FIG.  133.     HALL  AND  STAIR— RESIDENCE  OF  E.  H.  FITCH,  ESQ..  MEADOWBROOK,  PA. 

Tilden  &  Register,  Architects. 


396 


FIG.  134.     MASTER'S  ROOM — RESIDENCE  OF  E.  H.  FITCH,  ESQ.,  MEADOWBROOK,  PA. 

Tilden  &  Register,  Architects. 


cent  years  has  restored  the  formal  gar- 
den and  the  house  terrace  to  important 
places  in  the  scheme,  to  its  great  advan- 
tage, and  there  has  been  thus  some  of 
that  extension  of  the  house  proper  by 
out-of-door  living  rooms  which  is  so  at- 
tractive in  England  and  on  the  Conti- 
nent ;  but  such  features  are  generally  con- 
fined rather  strictly  to  a  single  "garden 
side,"  and  elsewhere  lawn  and  grove 
sweep  uninterruptedly  to  the  base  of  the 
walls.  Thus  the  approach  drive, 
whether  straight,  balanced,  or  irregular, 
seldom  terminates  in  a  formal  forecourt. 
An  enclosed  service  court  or  yard  is 
more  common  for  practical  reasons,  but 
there  is  rarely  an  attempt  to  give  it  an 
architectural  character  in  connection  with 
the  buildings  of  the  service  wing.  The 
garage  may  be  attached  to  the  house  or 
form  a  single  composition  with  it,  but 
stables  and  farm  buildings,  if  present  at 
all,  are  generally  placed  at  some  distance 
in  a  group  wholly  distinct,  and  often  of 
most  interesting  individual  character. 
The  garden  itself,  formerly  often 


treated  as  an  isolated  unit  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  house,  is  now  generally 
laid  out  in  intimate  connection  with  it, 
accessible  directly  from  the  living  rooms 
or  from  a  terrace  on  which  these  open. 
The  necessity  of  a  sense  of  enclosure 
and  privacy  for  the  true  effect  and  enjoy- 
ment of  a  garden  is  now  also  more  widely 
recognized,  and  such  solecisms  of  our 
early  attempts  at  formality  as  the  con- 
founding of  garden  and  forecourt  are 
now  happily  rare.  In  its  own  treatment 
the  garden  shows  a  welcome  reaction 
from  the  obtrusively  architectural  char- 
acter of  too  many  of  the  first  "Italian" 
designs,  and  it  is  realized  that  vegetation 
rather  than  masonry  is  the  essential  fea- 
ture of  a  garden.  A  garden  unique  in 
spirit  is  that  of  the  Appleton  house  on 
Long  Island,  where  hooded  walls  make 
a  fertile  little  oasis  in  the  wind-swept 
sand,  and  justify  its  name,  "Le  nid  de 
papillon." 

To  sum  up  current  tendencies  in  the 
design  of  the  country  house  we  need  only 
emphasize  its  fundamental  character  of 


397 


FIG.    135.     RESIDENCE  OF  HORATIO   GATES   LLOYD,   ESQ..   HAVERFORD,   PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 


FIG.   130.     RESIDENCE   OF   HORATIO  GATES  LLOYD,  ESQ.,   HAVERFORD,   PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects. 

398 


FIG.  137.  DETAIL— RESIDENCE  OF  H. 
BELLAS  HESS.  ESQ.,  HUNTINGTON.  L. 
I.  HOWELLS  &  STOKES,  ARCHITECTS. 


FIG.  138.    GARDEN— RESIDENCE  OF  E.  E.  BAKER,  ESQ.,  KEWANEE,  ILL. 
Frederick  W.  Perkins,  Architect. 


simplicity.  There  are  no  rooms  not  in 
every  day  use,  there  is  no  ornament,  even 
no  "architecture,"  and  the  fundamental 
expression — for  which  even  the  parvenu 
learns  to  strive — is  that  of  unpretentious 
decency  and  comfort.  If  for  the  moment 
this  sound  renunciation  is  carried  to  the 
verge  of  asceticism,  we  may  rest  assured 


that  the  strictness  of  the  regimen  is  not 
permanent.  If  the  choice  of  forms  is 
retrospective  and  dependent,  we  may 
quiet  our  artistic  conscience  by  reflecting 
that  our  civilization  itself  is  still  funda- 
mentally that  of  a  passing  era.  and  that 
a  truly  creative  art  can  triumph  only 
with  a  new  social  order. 


400 


Mr.  George  Gunther's  beautiful  residence,  Baltimore,  Md.     Mr.  Otto  G.  Simonson  was  the  Architect,  and  Mr.  Daniel 
Shaffer  the  Stucco  Contractor.     Bishopric  Board  used  on  all  exteriors. 


our 


So   Build   It   that   the   Original  Beauty   of    the    Stucco    will    be     Preserved 

bedded  is  a  tough,  preservative  material  and  re- 
tards moisture.  The  water-proofed  fibreboard 
backing  is  a  non-conductor  and  prevents  circula- 
tion of  moisture. 


SPECIFY  Bishopric  Board  for  your  client's 
Stucco  dream  home  and  advise  the  use  of  the 
Stucco  mixtures  described  in  our  booklet. 

Bishopric  Board  preserves  the  beauty  of  Stucco 
because  it  holds  the  walls  and  columns  perma- 
nently intact.  Its  dove-tailed-key  wood  strips 
hold  the  Stucco  in  a  vise-like  grip  and  repairs  are 
never  necessary.  Bishopric  Board  is  nailed  so 
positively  to  the  building  that  the  weight  of  the 
Stucco  cannot  strain  a  single  wood  strip.  Other 
backgrounds  cannot  be  nailed  so  securely,  a  big 
reason  why  they  fail  to  keep  the  Stucco  surface 
unmarred  and  unbroken. 

Applied  with  joints  broken  every  four  feet  the 
strain  is  distributed  over  the  entire  wall  area  add- 
ng  greater  strength  and  rigidity  to  the  building. 

The  wood  strips  are  creosoted  like  railroad  ties 
against  exposure  and  atmospheric  change.  The 
Asphalt  Mastic  in  which  the  wood  strips  are  im- 


Not  only  does  Bishopric  Board  keep  Stucco 
firmly  locked  for  generations  but  it  insulates  the 
home  perfectly  and  deadens  sound.  It  costs  less 
than  other  Stucco  bases  and  requires  one-third 
less  Stucco.  You  can  give  your  clients  extra 
conveniences  with  the  saving  effected.  - 

Used  on  interior  walls,  ceilings  and  partitions 
it  provides  desirable  insulation,  smothers  sound 
and  saves  time, 
labor  and  plaster. 
Makes  a  very 
warm  home  yet 
cool  in  summer. 


HAVE  you  ever  tried  BISHOPRIC  SHEATHING?    Its  final  cost, 
applied,  is  nearly  30%  less  than  for  ^g-inch  wood  sheathing  and  it 
makes  a  solid  wall  without  knot-holes.    More  and  more  Corpora- 
tions are  using  it  for  industrial  housing. 

Your  request  will  bring  our  booklet  giving  the  perfect  Stucco 
mixture  and  reports  covering  tests  made  of  Bishopric  Board 
by  Sheffield  Scientific  School  and  others.  Also  sample  of 
the  Board.  Write. 


BOARD 


THE  BISHOPRIC  MFG.   COMPANY, 


971  Este  Ave. 


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THE 


ARCHITECVRAL 

D 


^CONTENTS 


NOVEMBER,  1919 


Vol.  XLVI.  No.  5 


Serial  No.  254 


Editor:     MICHAEL  A.  MIKKELSEN       Contributing  Editor:    HERBERT  CROLY 
Business  Manager:    J.  A.  OAKLEY 


COVER — THE  CLOISTER  OF  TARRAGONA  CATHEDRAL.     Water  Color 
By  Arthur  Byne 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  SMALL  HOUSE  DESIGN.     Part  I.    Design  of  the 

Plot  of  Land        By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr 

THE  COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING,  Washington,  D.  C.: 
WTaddy  B.  Wood,  Architect 

By  Leon  V.  Solon 

THE  LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST  CHURCH,  Rochester,  N.  Y. :    Foote, 

Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects 

By  I.  T.  Frary 

THE  HOLY  GRAIL  WINDOW  IN  PROCTER  HALL,  GRADUATE  COLLEGE, 
PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY:   Designed  and  Executed  by  Charles 

J.    Connick  By  Charles  Over  Cornelius  

THE  A.  E.  F.  ART  TRAINING  CENTER  AT  BELLEVUE,  France 
By  Philip  L.  Small 

THE  RURAL  LIBRARY  BUILDING   By  John  Adam*  Lowe     .... 

THE  PLAN  OF  CHICAGO  By  Robert  H.  Moulton 

PORTFOLIO  OF  CURRENT  ARCHITECTURE  .... 

THE  ARCHITECT'S  LIBRARY 

NOTES  AND  COMMENTS 


PAGE 


403 
419 

429 


451 
457 
471 

485 
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E.  S.  DODGE,  Vice-Pret 


DETAIL  OF  GARDEN  OF  ANDREW 
MORRISON.  ESQ.,  MONTCLAIR,  N.  J. 
WILLIAM  EDGAR  MORAN,  ARCHITECT. 


AKCHITECTVRAL 
KECOKD 


VOLVME  XLVI 


NVMBER  V 


1 


NOVEMBER,  1919 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF 
SMALL  HOUSE  DESIGN 


PX  John  Ta/lor  Boyd,Jr 
Part  I  ~  Design  of  the  Plot  of^JLarul 


WHAT  is  the  most  important  fea- 
ture in  the  design  of  houses? 
Without  any  question,  it  is  the 
arrangement  of  the  lot  on  which  the 
house  stands.  It  is  unfortunate  indeed 
that  this  feature  is  the  one  most  often 
neglected.  Too  many  architects  do  not 
give  it  much  attention,  possibly  because 
they  feel  that  the  really  intricate  and 
highly  technical  details  of  the  house 
itself  are  all  that  they  may  be  expected 
to  be  responsible  for;  and  most  owners 
still  believe  that  thorough  design  of  road- 
ways and  paths,  terraces  and  gardens, 
belongs  properly  to  the  great  estates  of 
the  very  wealthy. 

Careful  planning  of  lots  is  at  least  as 


essential  in  very  small  as  in  great  estates. 
In  large  places  there  is  plenty  of  land 
at  the  designer's  disposal,  offering  some- 
times opportunity  for  several  schemes, 
equally  good ;  more  than  one  building  site 
may  be  available ;  mistakes  may  be  cov- 
ered up.  But  in  small  places,  space  is 
cramped,  every  square  foot  counts,  usu- 
ally only  one  part  of  the  lot  is  far  more 
suitable  for  the  house  and  garage  than 
any  other,  and  thus  more  skillful  de- 
sign is  required  to  obtain  a  satisfac- 
tory result.  In  fact,  if  the  house  be 
placed  only  a  few  feet  out  of  its  correct 
location,  this  apparently  slight  error  may 
forever  block  the  creation  of  a  charming 
terrace  or  garden  enclosure  that  would 


Copyrighted.  1919.  by  The  Architectural  Record  Company.    All  rights  reserved. 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


be  one  of  the  finest  assets  of  the  design. 
If  one  will  select  some  of  the  plot  plans 
in  these  pages — as,  for  instance,  Mr. 
Colby's  house  at  Hartsdale,  N.  Y. — cut 
out  a  small  piece  of  paper  the  size  of  the 
house,  and  move  it  over  the  plan  only 
a  few  feet  from  its  present  location, 
one  will  be  astonished  to  find  the  damage 
that  it  has  done  to  much  beauty;  one 
will  have  ruined  the  whole  plan. 

As  one  knows  more  of  the  possibilities 
of  design  of  a  small  house  lot,  the  more 
one  will  wonder  why  our  American  love 
of  outdoors  has  not  made  a  cult  of  per- 
haps the  sanest  of  all  arts.  "Garden- 
ing," quoth  Sir  Robert  Bacon,  "is  the 
purest  of  the  pleasures."  It  may  be  that 
there  is  a  common  impression  that  land- 
scape design  is  too  expensive  for  the 
average  householder.  Admitting  the  ex- 
pense, the  several  hundreds  or  thousands 
invested  yield  a  rich  return  to  the  owner. 
He  derives  therefrom  many  benefits. 
His  place  gains  a  distinction  among  his 
neighbors,  and  his  friends  are  always 
glad  to  visit  him  in  his  cheerful  and  com- 
fortable surroundings.  In  fine  weather 
his  one  or  two  terraces  and  bits  of  lawn 
double  the  ground  floor  of  his  house  plan, 
particularly  that  part  devoted  to  recrea- 
tion. He  has  possibilities  of  entertain- 
ment and  recreation  that  the  cramped 
quarters  of  his  house  would  alone  never 
permit. 

Nevertheless,  like  anything  else  in 
modern  life,  a  strictly  financial  viewpoint 
is  desirable  before  any  expense  is  under- 
taken. In  this  connection  the  experience 
of  owners  who  own  places  like  these 
shown  herewith  is  of  value.  In  several 
cases,  the  place  sold  for  a  higher  price 
than  the  cost  of  the  investment.  In  three 
cases  the  sale  was  a  fine  business  trans- 
action. In  another,  an  expenditure  of 
$1,800  made  the  owner  confident  that  he 
had  added  $5,000  to  the  real  estate  value 
of  his  property.  Land  is  expensive,  be- 
sides being  difficult  to  get  in  the  right 
neighborhood  at  the  precise  moment  that 
one  wants  it,  and  why  not  therefore  util- 
ize it  to  the  full.  Compared  with  the 
designs  here  shown  one  may  see  that 
most  of  the  average  house  owner's  land 
plot  is  wasted,  serves  only  the  purpose 
of  drying  his  laundry  one  day  in  the 
week.  This  seems  uneconomical  when 


a  few  hundred  dollars  might  reclaim  it 
for  useful  and  delightful  purposes.  Be- 
sides— and  this  point  should  not  be  over- 
looked— since  much  of  the  value  of  good 
garden  design  depends  on  but  a  few 
growing  things  and  a  little  masonry  and 
a  few  years  time,  an  outdoor  room  is 
cheap  indeed  compared  to  the  cost  of  an 
indoor  room  with  its  furnishings,  at  pres- 
ent prices  of  building  materials.  Na- 
ture's drapery  of  shrubs  and  flowers  may 
be  cheaper  than  window  hangings,  grass 
costs  less  than  fine  rugs  and  a  twenty- 
five  foot  tree  may  be  had  for  less  than  a 
handsome  oak  table.  In  fact  one  may 
conclude  that  it  is  sometimes  cheaper  to 
build  outdoors  than  indoors.  It  should 
be  evident  that  the  chief  effort  made  in 
the  designs  in  these  pages  is  not  in  the 
direction  of  money,  but  of  brains — brains 
highly  trained  and  provident  of  new 
ideas.  One  may  notice  that  there  is 
more  variety  of  interest  in  the  designs  of 
the  land  than  of  the  houses  themselves, 
for  each  lot  is  apt  to  bring  its  own  prob- 
lems of  shape  and  of  peculiar  topography 
that  demand  a  new  solution,  one  that 
cannot  be  found  in  the  books.  This  is 
another  way  of  saying  that  such  design 
requires  more  creative  than  adaptive 
skill,  and  therefore  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  work  shown  here  is  the  product 
of  some  of  the  highest  professional  skill 
in  the  country.  One  of  the  landscape 
architects  whose  designs  appear  is  an 
authority  on  city  planning,  and  on  park 
and  playground  design ;  while  two  of  the 
architects  have  had  a  hand  in  solving 
some  of  the  biggest  architectural  prob- 
lems in  the  country,  in  public  and  private 
structures.  The  other  designs  are  the 
work  of  unusual  designers  among  the 
younger  men  of  both  professions. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  go  too  far  into 
detail  in  describing  individual  designs. 
The  plot  plans  afford  the  best  evidence 
of  their  excellence  that  can  be  had.  Good 
photographs  are  usually  difficult  to  get, 
for  the  spaces  are  small  and  the  planting 
interferes  with  the  camera's  eye.  Beside 
a  few  points  of  individual  merit  in  each, 
these  designs,  taken  together,  despite  all 
their  extraordinary  variety,  have  certain 
qualities  in  common. 

They  emphasize  three  technical  fea- 
tures of  design — that  is,  relief,  massing 


404 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


and  light  and  shade,  and,  most  import- 
ant, space  relations.  Without  an  artist's 
sense  of  space  relations,  good  plot  design 
will  fail,  though  it  looks  simple  enough  at 
first  experience.  Space  relations  mean 
not  only  careful  economy  and  ability  to 
use  every  foot  of  space,  but  also  perfect 
harmony  and  perfect  co-ordination  be- 
tween units;  by  skillful  use  of  contrast, 
to  make  the  smaller  and  more  secluded 
spaces  seem  the  more  cozy  and  intimate 
and  charming,  because  near  them  are 
broader  spaces,  freer  and  more  simply 
treated  with  tiny  detail;  which,  in  turn, 
seem  grander  than  they  actually  are, 
because  they  are  made  to  stand  out  by 
the  small  spaces;  in  a  word,  organiza- 
tion. Technically  spaces  should  be  care- 
fully marked  off  from  each  other  by 
pavement  and  wall  and  planting,  other- 
wise the  design  is  loose  and  weak.  It 
lacks  character.  In  the  language  of 
esthetics,  failure  to  .define  spaces  is  the 
reason  for  the  painful  effect  of  the  tradi- 
tional American  backyard. 

The  result  of  accurate,  carefully  co- 
ordinated spacing  is  a  wonderfully  en- 


riched aspect,  really  dramatic,  some- 
times with  a  quiet  splendor,  softly  glow- 
ing in  lovely  color  and  light  and  shade, 
stimulating,  yet  hospitable  and  soothing. 
Obviously  a  fourth  quality  must  appear 
in  such  design — I  mean  good  taste.  After 
all,  one  must  live  day  by  day  in  these 
designs;  they  are  people's  homes.  They 
are  no  places  for  acrobatics  of  art.  All 
these  plans  would  be  horrible  failures  in 
execution,  theatrical  and  tawdry,  had 
not  the  designer  had  something  of  the  ser- 
pent's wisdom;  did  he  not  know  how  to 
get  his  effects  simply  and  quietly; 
when  to  temper  his  boldness  with  sub- 
tlety. One  of  the  most  striking  illustra- 
tions of  how  good  taste  must  execute  a 
plan  to  avoid  all  stagey  effect  is  the  gar- 
den in  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  designed  by  Mr. 
Sibley  C.  Smith.  Mr.  Smith  did  not 
hesitate  to  set  down  a  bold  semi-circular 
motive,  geometrical,  with  octagonal  and 
diagonal  variants  of  the  type  one  looks 
for  in  the  great  gardens  of  palaces  and 
manors,  right  into  an  American  back- 
yard. He  succeeded,  because  he  knew 
how  to  give  in  relief  just  those  simple, 


RESIDENCE  OF  FRANK  A.  COLBY,  ESQ.. 
Architect  and  Owner. 


HARTSDALE,  N.  Y 


405 


RESIDENCE     OF     FRANK    A.     COLBY,     ESQ., 
HARTSDALE,    N.    Y. 

homely  touches  of  wood  fences  and  lat- 
tice and  wood  benches;  homely,  yet  in 
exquisite  taste  that  make  the  design  seem 
exactly  fitted  to  the  atmosphere  of  an  old 
American  city.  Small  wonder  that  he 
was  awarded  a  prize  for  this  art  work 
at  a  joint  professional  exhibit  of  archi- 
tects and  landscape  architects  in  Boston. 
Besides  their  high  development  of  the 
technical  quality  of  space  relationships, 
the  practical  features  of  these  designs  are 
noteworthy.  All  the  functions  of  the 
household  are  carefully  provided  for  and 
kept  separate:  entrance  road,  service  to 
kitchen  by  tradesmen,  and,  on  most  of 
the  plans,  an  enclosed  space  lettered 
"Drying  Yard"  occurs,  where  the  out- 
door domestic  activities  take  place,  with- 
out being  pried  upon,  and  without  of- 
fense to  the  neighborhood.  These  service 
functions  are  taken  care  of,  yet  the  best 
portions  of  the  lot  are  left  for  artistic 
development.  Here  we  are  close  to  the 
real  secret  of  the  designs,  their  xmion 
of  the  practical  with  the  artistic.  In 
some  of  the  lots  there  are  great  topo- 
graphical difficulties,  humps  on  the 
ground  or  hollows  or  steep  slopes. 


Another  truth  is  brought  out  by  a 
study  of  lot  planning;  that  is,  that  the 
character  of  the  lot  determines  the  char- 
acter of  the  house  itself.  As  regards  the 
house  plan,  the  gardens,  terraces,  en- 
trance ways  and  service  arrangements, 
fixed  as  they  are  by  the  shape  and  con- 
figuration of  the  land,  in  their  turn  set- 
tle the  arrangement  of  the  rooms  in- 
doors, whether  living  portions,  stairs,  or 
the  service  with  its  intimate  relation  of 
kitchen  to  dining  room.  The  plan  of  the 
house  almost  evolves  from  the  design  of 
the  lot.  This  of  course  has  a  bearing  on 
the  style  of  architecture  of  the  house. 
Since  its  lines  must  run  in  harmony  with 
masses  of  planting,  of  walls  and  terraces, 
certain  lots  will  call  for  low  proportioned 
houses  of  quiet  broad  wall  spaces,  while 
others  will  demand  taller  buildings.  This 
is  why  so  many  houses,  though  good  in 
themselves  and  looking  well  in  drawings, 
somehow  fail  to  impress  one  when  built. 
They  do  not  look  to  be  built  for  the  lot, 
but  have  the  air  of  having  been  moved 
there  from  somewhere  else. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  house  designed 


RESIDENCE    OF    FRANK    A.    COLBY      ESQ. 
HARTSDALE,    N.    Y. 


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RESIDENCE     OF     FRANK    A.     COLBY,     ESQ.. 
HARTSDALE  .N.  Y..  ARCHITECT  AND  OWNER 


RESIDENCE    OF   J.    P.    CHAMBERLAIN,    ESQ.,    MIDDLEBURY,    CONN. 
Charles  Downing  Lay,  Landscape  Architect;   Theodate  Pope,  Architect. 


by  Mr.  Frank  A.  Colby  for  himself  is 
a  classic  example  of  these  principles  of 
small  house  design.  In  the  first  place, 
the  lot  has  no  peculiar  characteristics. 
It  is  just  an  ordinary  flat  town  lot,  175 
feet  by  100  feet  on  the  south  side  of  an 
east  and  west  street — the  same  problem 
that  thousands  of  Americans  tackle 
every  year  all  over  the  country.  Perhaps 
the  nearest  things  to  a  "feature"  were  a 
few  trees  near  the  street.  Yet  what  a 
singular  work  of  art  has  the  architect 
wrought.  The  house  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  lot  plan ;  in  fact,  every  unit  in  it, 
from  bush  to  bathtub,  has  a  particular 
place  in  the  scheme,  in  which  things  are 
so  interrelated  that  nothing  could  be 
moved  or  changed  without  damage  to 
the  design  of  the  whole.  It  is  apparent 
that  the  factor  of  space  relationships 
is  cultivated  to  an  unusual  degree  es- 
pecially in  the  front  lawn,  which  is  made 
to  appear  greater  by  two  devices.  No 
paths  or  roads  break  it  up;  instead  lines 
of  large  flat  stones  lead  to  garage  and  to 
kitchen.  And  the  small  paved  terrace 
at  the  front  door,  bordered  with  a  tiny 
hedge  and  making  the  entrance  seem 


hospitable  and  cheerful,  by  contrast  em- 
phasizes the  expanse  of  the  lawn.  On 
the  garden  side,  another  terrace — an  out- 
door living  room — acts  likewise  to  make 
the  long  flower  garden  seem  extensive. 
In  itself  it  is  made  more  interesting  by 
little  vistas  towards  garage  and  towards 
an  oil  jar,  where  one  comes  upon  a  turn 
and  is  surprised  by  a  little  odd-shaped 
sumrnerhouse.  The  terrace  is  delight- 
fully shaded  by  a  line  of  small  baytrees. 
In  fact,  until  one  had  seen  it,  one  could 
hardly  believe  that  so  much  variety  and 
interest  could  be  encompassed  in  so  small 
a  space.  It  affords  spaciousness  and 
variety  such  as  one  would  only  expect 
to  find  in  great  estates.  The  taste  in 
which  the  design  is  carried  out  is  fault- 
less. There  is  no  excessive  use  of 
garden  architecture,  such  as  ungainly 
pergolas,  nor  overelaborated  flowerbeds. 
One  will  recognize  certain  elements  as 
of  European  ancestry,  like  the  baytree 
shaded  terrace  outside  the  living  room, 
but  mostly  it  is  just  fine  old-fashioned 
American.  It  is  a  design  that  wears 
well. 

Another  scheme  for  a  flat  lot,  con- 


408 


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RESIDENCE 


OF    WALTER    M.    BENNETT,    ESQ.,    GREENWICH.    CONN. 
Theodore  E.  Blake,  Architect. 


RESIDENCE    OF    WALTER    M.    BENNETT,    ESQ.,    GREENWICH,   CONN. 
Theodore  E.  Blake,  Architect. 

410 


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RESIDENCE    OF    WILLIAM  DEWEY,    ESQ.,    GREENWICH      CONN. 


RESIDENCE    OF    WILLIAM    DEWEY.    ESQ.,    GREENWICH,    CONN. 

412 


RESIDENCE    OF    E.    R.    WILLARD,    ESQ.,    ROCHESTER,    N.    Y. 
Sibley  C.  Smith,  Architect. 


ceived  in  a  different  mood,  is  Mr.  Charles 
Downing  Lay's  plan  for  the  lot  of  Mr. 
J.  P.  Chamberlain  at  Middlebury, 
Conn.  It  is  admirable  for  its  con- 
trast of  broad  greensward  and  massed 


trees  with  masonry  walls  and  rock  paths. 
The  photograph  shows  it  early  in  its  de- 
velopment, before  the  planting  had 
grown  enough  to  complete  the  design. 
The  broad  wall  spaces  of  the  house  and 


413 


RESIDENCE    OF   ANDREW    MORRISON,    ESQ.,    MONTCLAIR,    N.   J. 
William  Edgar  Moran,  Architect 


the  light  colored  walls  afford  splendid 
backgrounds  for  the  play  of  light  and 
shade  of  foliage.  They  are  strikingly 
adapted  to  the  strong  sunshine  of  the 
American  climate,  and  beside  them  dun- 
colored  brick  walls  and  slate  seem  crude 
and  lifeless  and  out  of  the  key  of  color 
of  the  landscape.  Incidentally,  the 
Chamberlain  garden  is  interesting  in  the 
expert's  recognition  that  an  apple  tree  is 
one  of  the  most  decorative  trees  we  have 
to  design  with.  The  one  weak  point  in 
the  design  is  the  garden  house. 

Mr.  Theodore  E.  Blake's  design  for 
Mr.  W.  M.  Bennett's  grounds  at  Green- 
wich, Conn.,  is  noteworthy  for  its  treat- 
ment of  an  eccentric  lot,  a  couple  of  acres 
in  extent,  long  and  narrow,  with  a  steep 
bank  sloping  away  from  a  hogback  in  the 
center,  and  a  minor  hump  at  one  end. 
The  house  stands  on  the  larger  of  the 
two  hogbacks  and  the  garage  on  the 
other.  The  house  overlooks  at  the  rear 
a  pond  formed  by  damming  up  a  little 
brook  which  winds  through  two  lines 
of  shrubbery.  A  little  rose  garden  nes- 
tles in  the  curve  of  the  hogback,  below 


the  terraces  of  the  house,  and  paths  lead 
from  it  and  from  the  house  down  to  the 
pond  and  a  summer  house. 

Mr.  Sibley  C.  Smith's  bold  design  for 
the  Rochester  garden  has  been  mention- 
ed above.  It  is  placed  right  beside  the 
kitchen  yard,  but  is  carefully  sheltered 
from  it.  The  practical  shipshape  ar- 
rangement of  this  kitchen  yard  is  to  be 
commended. 

Peculiarly  interesting  is  the  little  home 
of  Mr.  George  Dewey,  at  Greenwich 
Conn.  It  is  the  one  among  all  these 
schemes  that  is  not  the  work  of  a  pro- 
fessional designer.  Mr.  Dewey  did  it 
himself,  largely  with  his  own  hands.  Nor 
is  there  any  reason  why  this  should  not 
be  so.  Noted  doctors  are  summoned  to 
give  one  health  that  one  should  obtain 
for  one's  self;  and  so  are  the  ablest  archi- 
tects called  upon  to  provide  household 
art  which  myriads  of  laymen  have  known 
how  to  obtain  for  themselves  since  hu- 
man time  began.  Indeed,  if  Americans 
had  but  preserved  the  art  of  their  native 
carpenters  and  gardeners,  and  had  them- 
selves maintained — somewhat  as  the 


414 


RESIDENCE    OF    ANDREW    MORRISON,    ESQ.,    MONT- 
CLAIR,  N.  J.     WILLIAM   EDGAR  MORAN,  ARCHITECT 


RESIDENCE    OP    MRS.    KIDDER    RANDOLPH    BREESE,    DOWNINGTOWN,    PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects;  Robert  Wheelwright,  Landscape  Architect,  Associate. 


5KETCHPLA.N  Or  THtE3TATT  OK 
MR3.  MARTHA  C.  BI1EL3C  - 
PCVMNCrTOWN  ~PA  • 


Robert  Wbe«lwfiobt-iaodK«p«  A«h*t- 
Wilifnlyre  b  /VTiyaine  -"Architects. 


RESIDENCE    OF   MRS.    KIDDER    RANDOLPH    BREESE,    DOWNINGTOWN,    PA. 
Wilson  Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  Architects;   Robert  Wheelwright,  Landscape  Architect,  Associate. 


416 


GAUDE.N  FOB,  ML35  MAE.Y 


RESIDENCE  OF  MISS  MARY  STEWART. 
SOUTH  SALEM,  N.  Y.  CHARLES  DOWN- 
ING LAY.  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT. 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


people  of  Philadelphia  have  done — the 
exquisitely  sensitive  taste  of  their  Ameri- 
can great-grandfathers  to  direct  the 
craftsmen  in  their  humble  art,  they 
would  not  need  to  call  upon  the  Colbys 
and  Blakes  and  Lays  and  Sibley  Smiths 
to  show  them  how  to  make  their  homes. 
It  was  Mr.  Blake  who  called  my  atten- 
tion to  Mr.  Dewey's  achievement.  The 
more  one  studies  it,  the  more  one  will  be- 
come convinced  that  here  is  a  little  mas- 
terpiece. The  ground  is  a  difficult  one, 
for  it  slopes  down  into  a  hollow,  where 
the  garden  and  vegetable  garden  are. 
A  charming  little  enclosed  terrace,  a  sort 
of  outdoor  room,  is  found  behind  the 
house,  with  a  vista  down  the  long  path. 
A  row  of  poplars  along  this  path  screens 
the  ugly  house  of  a  neighbor.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  how  the  strong  level 
lines  of  the  hedges  and  garden  wall  fur- 
nish a  firm  base  for  the  house,  which 
might  otherwise  seem  to  poke  up  unduly. 
The  variety  of  good  design  of  this 
character  is  endless;  but  with  the  house 
of  Mr.  Mcllvaine,  of  the  firm  of  Wftson 
Eyre  &  Mcllvaine,  designers  of  some  of 
the  greatest  estates  in  America,  we  have 
an  entirely  different  treatment.  The 
landscape  treatment  is  the  work  of  Mr. 
Robert  Wheelwright.  The  house  has  been 
placed  on  one  corner  of  the  lot,  because 


that  is  the  high  point  and  because  it 
leaves  the  greater  part  of  the  lot  for 
landscape  design.  The  rather  steep 
slope  is  the  reason  for  the  winding  en- 
trance road.  The  house  has  been  placed 
end  toward  the  street  so  that  its  porches 
have  fine  vistas,  and  also  to  allow  the 
design  of  the  splendid  long  terrace, 
which  overlooks  gardens  and  lawns. 

Another  excellent  house  and  garden 
is  that  of  Mr.  Andrew  Morrison  at  Mont- 
clair,  N.  J.,  designed  by  Mr.  William 
Edgar  Moran.  Here,  too,  the  designer 
encountered  an  eccentric  lot  with  a  steep 
slope  up  towards  the  garage.  A  little 
earth  was  moved  from  the  land  just 
back  of  the  house  to  form  a  terrace  wall 
for  the  garden,  which  has  thus  the  effect 
of  a  sunken  garden.  The  photographs 
show  the  splendidly  quiet  striking  ap- 
pearance of  the  house  from  the  street, 
with  its  fine  bold  horizontal  emphasis  of 
street  and  terrace  walls,  with  which  the 
long  low  proportions  of  the  house  har- 
monize so  well.  The  designer's  skill  is 
evident  in  the  perspective  of  the  terrace 
which  does  not  cut  off  the  house  from  the 
street.  Excellent  are  the  outdoor  char- 
acter and  details  of  the  house,  its  sleeping 
porches  and  old-fashioned  arched  way 
leading  to  the  garage,  and  also  the  fine 
details  of  the  garden. 


RESIDENCE    OF   MISS   MARY    STEWART,    SOUTH    SALEM.    N.   Y. 
Charles  Downing  Lay,   Landscape  Architect. 

418 


COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING 

WASHINGTON,  D  C 
WADDY  B  WOOD,    ARCHITECT 


BY  LEON  V  SOLON 


4    LTHOUGH  excellence  in  design  is 

/\  an  abstract  condition,  varying 
"^  according  to  the  diverse  standards 
of  individual  appraisal,  it  is  capable 
of  inducing  results  of  high  economic 
value.  It  is  a  simple  matter  to  compute 
the  relation  that  exists  between  the  value 
of  a  site  and  the  approximate  rental  pro- 
curable, which  relation  is  a  determining 
factor  for  the  floor  area  to  be  provided 
and  the  expenditure  to  be  apportioned  for 
shell  and  equipment.  But  beyond  that 
comparatively  simple  calculation  lies  a 
personal  and  indeterminate  element, 
which  concerns  the  fashion  in  which  the 
problem  set  shall  be  construed  by  the 
individual  in  control — the  architect. 
Upon  this  depends  whether  the  building 
will  represent  in  appearance  the  net 
expenditure,  a  greater  value,  or  a  lesser. 

The  full  measure  of  serviceableness  in 
a  business  building  of  the  highest  order 
is  complete  only  when  its  architectural 
treatment  has  invested  it  with  the 
power  to  stimulate  a  specific  reaction 
in  the  minds  of  passers-by,  which  in- 
directly enhances  the  status  of  the 
occupants  in  public  estimation.  This 
rare  quality  in  design  is  obviously  of  the 
greatest  value  to  a  banking  institution, 
an  appreciation  of  its  worth  being 
realized  by  bankers  all  over  the  United 
States  at  the  present  moment — a  fact 
proved  by  the  great  number  of  bank 
projects  now  in  hand  and  the  importance 
attached  to  the  selection  of  an  architect. 

In  the  strenuous  competition  for 
business  waged  between  banks  in  every 
township  and  city,  there  is  no  form  of 
advertising  superior  to  the  well  designed 
building  conveying  in  its  appearance  an 
impression  that  it  reflects  the  character 
of  the  institution  by  its  air  of  stability, 


dignity  and  security.  In  the  realization 
of  that  pyschic  property,  Waddy  B. 
Wood  has  been  singularly  successful  in 
his  design  for  the  Commercial  National 
Bank,  in  Washington,  D.  C.  We  are 
impressed  at  once  that  the  convenience 
of  the  building  for  operating  the  routine 
of  banking  has  not  been  sacrificed  to 
attain  superfluous  niceties  of  stylistic 
treatment,  or  slighted  for  the  contriv- 
ance of  picturesque  features.  This 
confronts  us  with  a  modern  phase  of 
architectural  evolution  which  is  without 
equivalent  in  former  times,  an  outcome 
of  the  modern  method  of  reducing 
progressive  stages  of  industrial  and 
financial  activities  to  forms  of  system- 
atized procedure.  Serial  stages  of  opera- 
tion, mutual  relation  of  departments, 
convenience  in  location  of  equipment 
are  the  basic  premises  which  constitute 
the  architect's  hypothesis.  These  may 
not  be  ignored  in  the  least  measure, 
whatever  artistic  advantage  may  accrue 
thereby.  On  a  suitable  provision  for 
these  imperative  requirements,  the  elim- 
ination of  waste  energy  and  time  depends; 
convenience  in  operation  is  the  gauge 
of  efficiency  in  the  bank-architect's 
work,  which,  by  a  judiciously  established 
relation  between  contributory  activities, 
bridges  gaps  that  may  occur  between 
departments  at  their  points  of  contact. 
The  importance  now  attached  to 
accessory  or  subsidiary  parts  is  thrown 
into  high  relief  when  we  examine  the 
extent  to  which  it  figured  in  the  past  in 
buildings  constructed  with  the  highest 
degree  of  artistry  and  the  most  lavish 
expenditure.  Previous  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  modern  point  of  view,  which 
decrees  certain  accessory  parts  of  every 
structure  as  essential,  the  builders  of 


419 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD 


former  times  were  content  to  concentrate 
their  energies  on  the  decorative  accen- 
tuation of  the  main  idea  or  purpose  of 
the  building,  at  the  expense  of  service 
or  convenience.  This  absence  of  ex- 
cursive thought  on  the  part  of  the  old 
time  architect  when  devising  his  struc- 
tures was  as  universal  as  it  is  incredible  to 
us  today.  The  vaults  of  the  former 
U.  S.  Treasury  Building  in  Washington 
stand  out  as  an  example  without  equal; 
the  risks  from  protective  measures  or 
appliances  that  might  have  been  incurred 
by  burglars  breaking  in  amounted  only 
to  a  fraction  of  those  attending  the 
robbery  of  any  well  equipped  modern 
store. 

In  accordance  with  the  professional 
predilection  for  the  classic  styles  for  bank 
buildings,  Waddy  B.  Wood  has  chosen 
the  Doric  treatment  for  the  Commercial 
National  Bank,  but  has  been  influenced 
by  a  rather  earlier  phase  of  the  order 


than  that  which  most  frequently  serves 
as  a  model.  The  simplicity  of  the  chos?n 
period  has  been  carefully  maintained. 
Decorative  elaboration  is  focussed  in  the 
cornice,  according  to  precedent.  The 
pilaster  and  frieze  treatment  of  the 
first  floor  is  purely  decorative  in  its 
architectonic  function,  making  no  false 
pretense  at  supporting  the  superstruc- 
ture. In  this  respect  the  architect  has 
displayed  excellent  judgment,  thereby 
circumventing  the  pitfall  into  which  so 
many  of  his  confreres  have  fallen 
through  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
difficulty  of  endowing  a  number  of 
detached  columns  with  a  sense  of 
statical  strength  that  is  proportionate 
to  the  huge  weight  of  superstructure 
involved  in  a  skyscraper.  Paterae  of 
varied  design  decorate  the  frieze  with 
good  effect,  stimulating  interest  without 
departing  from  the  general  plan  of 
simplicity.  The  guilloche  border  in  the 


F    I    R,   S     T  FLOOR  PLAN 


COMMERCIAL    NATIONAL   BANK   BUILDING.   WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 
Waddy    B.    Wood,    Architect. 


420 


TYPICAL  FLOOR,  PLAN 

COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING.  WASHINGTON.  D.  C. 
Waddy  B.  Wood,  Architect. 


BASEMENT  PLAN 

•  COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING.  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 
Waddy  B.  Wood,  Architect. 


421 


V1?A  -  A  I, 

-^    ' 


_ 
~     ' 


™  Q 


CORNICE— COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING,  WASHINGTON,   D.  C. 
Waddy  B.  Wood,  Architect. 


lintels  serves  as  a  link  between  the  ornate 
pilaster  caps,  which,  without  this  feature, 
would  have  appeared  isolated  in  their 
elaboration. 

The  extreme  simplicity  of  the  window 
grille  is  well  calculated.  The  assertion 
of  vertical  lines  in  the  design  augments 
the  sense  of  loftiness.  The  circular  motif 
framing  the  monogram  of  the  institution 
relieves  by  contrast  in  line  the  upright 
bars  of  a  possible  lack  of  interest.  The 
conventional  Doric  grille  introduces 
sufficient  contrast  to  emphasize  the 
prevailing  austerity  in  treatment,  giving 
decorative  value  to  the  bars  by  the 
comparative  delicacy  of  its  detail.  The 
use  of  this  same  type  of  detail  in  the 
grille  over  the  doorway  is  open  to 
criticism,  as  an  impression  is  imparted 
by  its  modification  there  of  an  infiltra- 
tion of  pattern  from  the  panel  frames; 
this  detracts  both  from  the  architectonic 
entity  of  the  doorway  and  from  the 
ornamental  value  of  the  window-grille 
frame. 

In  the  proportions  of  the  window 
openings  the  relation  of  height  to 
breadth  of  the  fa  (jade  is  in  a  measure 


echoed,  with  harmonious  result.  In 
the  treatment  of  the  windows  themselves 
there  is  the  inevitable  feeling  associated 
with  such  items  in  buildings  of  the 
commercial  character  that  utilitarianism 
eclipses  architectural  simplicity;  how- 
ever, to  differentiate  between  these 
qualities  in  such  manner  as  to  make 
economy  appear  an  accident  in  the 
attainment  of  the  desirable  is  a  problem 
not  easily  solved.  In  the  grouping  of 
windows  a  valuable  sense  of  massiveness 
and  strength  is  imparted  to  the  struc- 
ture by  confining  their  total  width  to 
that  of  the  architectural  motif  orna- 
menting the  banking  floor. 

The  cornice  is  in  every  way  satis- 
factory in  its  relation  to  the  main  scheme, 
both  in  design  and  in  treatment  of 
detail.  The  lion  gargoyles  are  endowed 
with  that  impressiveness  which  the 
Greeks  imparted  to  the  mythological 
guardians  of  their  watercourses.  The 
metal  grille  design  adorning  the  metopes 
is  evidently  evolved  from  a  graceful  Hel- 
lenic vase  ornamentation  of  the  fourth 
century  B.  C.,  transposed  into  metal 
without  loss  of  character  or  grace. 


422 


COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK 
BUILDING.  WASHINGTON.  D.  C. 
WADDY  B.  WOOD.  ARCHITECT. 


'  CC          IRC  I  A  L' 

x       ?KAL  e AIK 

D  L  N  a 


FRANC    TO  OFFICES 


ENTRANCE  TO  OFFICES— COMMERCIAL 
NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING,  WASHING- 
TON, D.  C.  WADDY  B.  WOOD,  ARCHITECT. 


PRINCIPAL  BANK  ENTRANCE— COMMER- 
CIAL NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING.  WASH- 
INGTON, D  C.  WADDYB.  WOOD.  ARCHITECT. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD 


The  interior  is  treated  with  a  severity 
which  would  have  probably  astonished 
the  originators  of  the  Doric  order. 
American  architects  forego  much  in  effect 
by  their  elimination  of  color  from  classic 
schemes.  In  the  disposition  of  his 
carving  and  in  the  type  of  design  adopted, 
Waddy  B.  Wood  had  a  golden  opportu- 
nity to  accentuate  grace  by  chromatic 


The  general  conception  of  the  main 
hall  is  excellent,  and  the  two  detached 
Doric  columns  satisfactorily  fulfill  their 
important  decorative  function.  The 
design  of  the  counter  screen  is  well- 
conceived;  the  small  supporting  pilasters, 
grouped  in  pairs,  space  its  length 
effectively.  The  ceiling,  of  traditional 
type,  is  beyond  criticism.  The^"sub- 


BANKING  ROOM — COMMERCIAL  NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING,  WASHINGTON,   D.   C. 

Waddy  B.  Wood,  Architect. 


enrichment  after  the  Hellenic  manner. 
Greater  entity  would  have  been  im- 
parted to  his  pilasters,  which,  excellent 
as  they  are  in  treatment  and  proportion, 
would  have  been  enhanced  by  an 
alternating  effect  of  panels,  produced  by 
a  judicious  use  of  color  in  the  ornamental 
frieze  below  the  mezzanine.  With  the 
present  indeterminate  data  on  poly- 
chrome, one  cannot  blame  an  architect 
for  hesitating  to  experiment  on  such  a 
scale;  nevertheless,  one  may  venture 
to  prophesy  that,  were  color  systems 
formulated  for  use  with  assured  good 
result,  an  architect  possessing  Waddy 
B.  Wood's  sympathy  with  Greek  tradi- 
tion would  find  the  attraction  of  such  a 
decorative  resource  irresistible. 


division  of  the  pilasters  around  the  bank 
walls  is  agreeably  contrived  and  pro- 
portioned. 

The  spaces  are  well  thought  out,  both 
in  plan  and  elevation,  and  the  manner 
in  which  the  mezzanine  difficulty  has 
been  overcome  is  exemplary;  only  too 
frequently  the  provision  for  this  econ- 
omic necessity  leads  to  the  depreciation 
of  clever  schemes. 

The  lighting  fixtures  are  successful 
adaptations  of  a  Greek  candelabrum  of 
the  Doric  period;  they  are  elegant  in 
their  proportions  and  modelled  with  true 
appreciation  of  early  Greek  ornamenta- 
tion. 

An  economic  experiment  was  success- 
fully tested  in  this  structure,  adding 


426 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


another  link  to  the  chain  of  evidence 
proving  that  architecture  is  capable 
of  reflecting  in  its  methods  the  social 
conditions  of  a  period.  The  influence 
reflected  in  this  structure  is  one  which 
now  ranks  foremost  in  all  phases  of  our 
existence — the  price  of  labor.  To  meet 
this  predominant  difficulty,  Mr.  Wood 
devised  the  plan  of  using  Indiana 
limestone  blocks  of  uniform  size.  The 
units  are  of  large  dimensions,  which 
saved  labor  in  setting  and  reduced 
considerably  the  multiplication  of  units 
of  process  in  construction.  The  blocks 
were  set  at  less  cost  than  would  have 
been  incurred  had  brick  been  employed, 
with  the  usual  accessories  of  stone,  belt 


courses,  terra-cotta  inserts,  and  the  like — 
a  point  well  worth  noting  for  architects 
whose  plans  need  adjusting  to  an  appro- 
priation that  is  not  quite  adequate  to 
the  design  made. 

Examination  of  this  building  yields 
the  satisfactory  impression  that  the 
architect  has  successfully  used  economy 
as  a  spur  to  achieve  simple  elegance  in 
stylistic  expression.  This  is  one  of  the 
most  reassuring  signs  of  progress,  not 
only  in  American  architecture  but  also  in 
discrimination  on  the  part  of  its  patrons; 
a  craving  for  magnificent  sham  has  been 
superseded  by  a  desire  for  quality  in 
treatment,  which  constitutes  an  actual 
value  in  architecture,  irrespective  of 
cqst  of  material. 


LOOKING  TOWARD  OFFICERS'   QUARTERS — COMMERCIAL   NATIONAL   BANK   BUILDING, 
WASHINGTON.  D.  C.    WADDY  B.  WOOD,  ARCHITECT. 

428 


^L LAKE  AVENUE 

BAPTIST  CHURCH 

ROCHESTER,  NY 

Joote,  Tfead/ey  &•  Carpenter,  drchifecfs 

BY  I.  T.  FRARY. 


THERE  is  no  phase  of  architectural 
practice  that  presents  more  dif- 
ficulties than  the  remodelling  of 
old  buildings.    The  limitations  imposed 
by  the  existing  structure  call  for  the 
utmost  ingenuity  in  order  to  obtain  the 
desired  results;  the  study  necessary  to 
accomplish    these    results    is    generally 
out  of  all  proportion  to  that  involved  in 
new  work. 

It  would  be  hard  to  imagine  a  less 
promising  undertaking  of  this  kind  than 
was  offered  to  Mr.  Carpenter,  of  Foote, 
Headley  and  Carpenter,  when  he  was 
asked  to  evolve  from  the  old  Lake 
Avenue  Baptist  Church,  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  a  modern  structure  to  contain  an 
auditorium  seating  1200  persons  and  to 
have  accommodations  for  1500  pupils 


in  a  graded  Sunday  school  requiring 
individual  rooms  for  the  numerous 
departments  into  which  it  is  divided. 

The  old  building  was  of  a  type  com- 
mon in  the  Victorian  era;  the  plan  was 
bad,  the  general  design  was  bad,  and 
all  the  detail  was  bad.  A  stone  tower 
with  a  meaningless  turret  clinging  to 
each  corner  dominated  the  exterior.  The 
auditorium  had  the  pulpit  tucked  off 
in  one  of  the  corners,  while  the  balcony 
twined  itself  uncomfortably  around  the 
opposite  sides.  Back  of  the  auditorium 
was  a  large  barn-like  Sunday  school 
department. 

With  this  unpromising  material  to 
start  with,  the  architect,  retaining  the 
greater  part  of  the  old  walls,  has  pro- 
duced a  good  exterior  and  an  interesting 


429 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


auditorium,  while  the  Sunday  school 
department  has  been  pronounced  by 
national  Sunday  school  workers  to  be 
one  of  the  most  complete  and  best 
equipped  in  the  country. 

As  the  Sunday  school  is  an  important 
factor  in  this  church  organization,  its 
quarters  were  given  prominence  by 
placing  the  main  entrance  foyer  across 


The  auditorium  ceiling  has  an  inter- 
esting treatment  of  richly  ornamented 
beams,  which  at  the  cornice  line  are 
supported  by  figure  corbels.  The  wood- 
work is  of  oak,  stained  a  soft  gray-brown 
and  finished  flat. 

The  organ  front  is  of  open  tracery  and 
fretwork,  behind  which  are  hung  blue 
and  gold  curtains,  thus  effectually 


FIRST  FLOOR  PLAN  —  REMODELING  AND  ADDITIONS  TO  THE   LAKE   AVENUE   BAPTIST 
CHURCH,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.     FOOTE,  HEADLEY  &  CARPENTER,  ARCHITECTS 


the  middle  of  the  building,  opening  into 
the  auditorium  on  one  side  and  into  the 
Sunday  school  department  on  the  other, 
thus  making  the  two  departments  of 
church  activity  equally  accessible. 

The  entrance  vestibules  are  located 
at  either  end  of  the  foyer,  and  from  them 
rise  the  stairways  leading  to  the  audi- 
torium balcony  and  the  second  floor  of 
the  Sunday  school. 

In  the  design  the  Tudor  Gothic  is  the 
dominating  influence,  and  throughout 
the  auditorium,  as  well  as  in  other 
portions  of  the  building,  heraldic  shields 
and  Tudor  rosettes  are  important  ele- 
ments in  the  decorative  scheme. 


concealing  the  pipes  without  inter- 
fering with  the  volume  of  the  organ. 
The  organ  console  is  at  the  right  and  in 
front  of  the  pulpit  platform;  at  the 
opposite  side  the  baptistery  is  placed  in 
a  curtained  alcove,  which  is  framed  in 
with  wood  tracery.  From  the  back  of 
the  baptistery  a  stairway  communicates- 
with  dressing  rooms  in  the  basement.  A 
stairway  from  the  opposite  side  of  the 
chancel  leads  to  the  basement  choir 
room.  The  traceried  archway  of  the 
baptistery  is  balanced  by  a  correspond- 
ing false  arch  on  the  other  side,  beneath 
which  is  a  doorway  for  the  organist's, 
use. 


430 


REAR  PART  Of  BALCONV 


•SECOND  FLOOS.  PLAN' 


SECOND  FLOOR  PLAN —  REMODELING  AND  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST 
CHURCH,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.    FOOTE,  HEADLEY  &  CARPENTER,  ARCHITECTS 


The  color  scheme  is  simple,  the  walls 
being  a  warm  gray  and  the  ceiling  panels 
blue.  The  ceiling  beams,  though  of 
plaster,  are  treated  in  harmony  with  the 
woodwork  and  enriched  with  color  in 
the  ornamental  members.  The  color 
made  use  of  throughout  the  room  is 


soft  in  tone  and  restricted  to  the  carving 
and  plaster  ornament;  consequently  it 
enhances  the  value  of  the  architecture. 

The  Sunday  school  department  is  so 
arranged  that  the  rooms  for  the  more 
advanced  classes  open  from  or  are  in 
close  proximity  to  the  entrance  foyer; 


•BASEMENT    PLAN. 


BASEMENT  PLAN— REMODELING  AND  ADDITIONS  TO  THE  LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST 
CHURCH,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.       FOOTE,  HEADLEY  &  CARPENTER,  ARCHITECTS 


431 


MAINiENTRANCE  — LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST 
CHURCH,  ROCHESTER.  N.  Y.  FOOTE, 
HEADLEY  &  CARPENTER,  ARCHITECTS. 


LAKE    AVENUE    BAPTIST    CHURCH,    ROCHESTER.    N.   Y. 
Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects. 


LAKE    AVENUE    BAPTIST    CHURCH,   ROCHESTER     N.    Y. 
Foote.  Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects. 


PULPIT  —  LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST 
CHURCH,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.  FOOTE. 
HEADLEY  &  CARPENTER,  ARCHITECTS. 


AUDITORIUM,  TOWARD  PULPIT  —  LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST  CHURCH,   ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 

Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects. 


AUDITORIUM,    FROM    PULPIT  —  LAKE    AVENUE    BAPTIST    CHURCH,    ROCHESTER,    N.    Y. 

Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects. 

435 


JNORTH   AUDITORIUM  WINDOW— LAKE  AVENUE   BAPTIST   CHURCH,   ROCHESTER,   N.  Y. 

Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects. 


' 


FIGURE  CORBEL  UNDER  CEILING  BEAMS  — LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST  CHURCH, 
ROCHESTER,  N.  Y.     FOOTE.  HEADLEY  &  CARPENTER,  ARCHITECTS. 


430 


f 


MANTEL  IX  PASTOR'S  OFFICE  — 
LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST  CHURCH. 
ROCHESTER.  N.  Y.  FOOTE.  HEADLEY 
&  CARPENTER.  ARCHITECTS. 


PRIMARY  DEPARTMENT  —  LAKE  AVENUE  BAPTIST  CHURCH,  ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 
Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects. 


JUNIOR    DEPARTMENT  —  LAKE    AVENUE   BAPTIST    CHURCH,    ROCHESTER,    N.    Y. 
Foote,  Headley  &  Carpenter,  Architects. 

438 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


while  the  classes  of  children  are  placed 
in  the  rear  section,  which  has  its  own 
outside  entrance,  thus  effectually  iso- 
lating the  noise  and  confusion  incident 
to  handling  large  numbers  of  little  folk. 
The  pastor's  offices,  the  trustees'  room 
and  the  ladies'  parlor  adjoin  the  foyer 
on  the  rear,  the  latter  two  rooms  being 
used  on  Sundays  as  class  rooms. 

The  rear  portion  of  the  basement  is 
also  divided  into  class  rooms,  so  there 
is  provided  for  the  Sunday  school 
department  a  completely  equipped  plant 
three  stories  in  height.  Each  depart- 
ment is  isolated,  no  attempt  being  made 
to  gather  the  school  together  for  opening 
or  closing  exercises  as  is  common  in  small 
schools.  Each  department  is  complete 
in  itself  and  a  study  of  the  three  floor 
plans  will  show  the  sequence  of  grades, 
the  youngest  children  starting  in  the 
beginners'  department  and  progressing 
step  by  step  through  the  various  grades, 
as  in  day  schools. 

The  policy  of  making  the  trustees' 
room  and  the  ladies'  room  serve  a  two- 
fold purpose  is  carried  into  practically 
every  portion  of  the  building,  so  that 
the  place  teems  with  activity  all  the 
week;  evening  study  classes,  social 
organizations  and  working  societies  make 
practical  use  of  what  would  in  many 
churches  be  waste  space  during  the 
week.  In  other  words,  the  church 
activities  are  conducted  with  business 
like  economy  of  space  and  everything 
is  done  to  cut  down  the  overhead 
expense  of  each  department. 

The  large  basement  provides  space 
for  class  and  recreation  rooms;  for 
kitchen  and  service  equipment;  for 
locker  rooms,  toilet  rooms,  choir  room 
and  storage,  as  well  as  for  the  heating 
and  ventilating  plant. 

This  church  was  intended  to  meet  not 
only  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  commun- 
ity in  which  it  is  placed,  but  also  to  be  a 
social  and  educational  center.  It  was 
desired  that  the  establishment  should 


have  the  character  of  a  church  home 
rather  than  of  an  ecclesiastical  monu- 
ment and  it  was  essential  that  each  form 
of  activity  should  be  suitably  provided  for. 

The  regular  church  services  of  course 
demanded  an  auditorium  thoroughly 
churchly  in  atmosphere;  the  Sunday 
school  and  evening  classes  required  an 
efficiency  comparable  to  that  of  the 
public  school;  while  the  social  life  would 
naturally  suggest  an  environment  pos- 
sessing somewhat  of  the  dignity  and 
artistic  charm  of  a  club  in  order  that  it 
might  prove  attractive  not  only  to  its 
members  but  to  outsiders  whom  it  was 
desirable  to  bring  within  its  influence. 

To  meet  these  varied  requirements 
necessitated  close  study  of  each  in- 
dividual room  in  relation  to  its  functions; 
and  as  a  result  several  of  them,  notably 
the  ladies'  room  and  trustees'  room, 
have  been  given  a  dignified  decorative 
treatment  which  is  of  value  as  an 
attractive  setting  for  social  functions. 

The  secular  world  long  ago  discovered 
the  value  of  beautiful  surroundings  as  a 
means  of  attracting  people  to  its  varied 
forms  of  entertainment;  but  the  church 
has  been  slow  to  learn  that  a  bare  base- 
ment "social  room"  is  not  an  effective 
counter  attraction  to  the  brilliant  ball- 
room and  theater  and  that  money  spent 
judiciously  in  making  the  church  build- 
ing attractive  and  inviting  is  money  well 
invested. 

Without  excessive  expenditure  Lake 
Avenue  Baptist  Church  has  provided 
rooms  where  its  people  can  meet  in  an 
environment  that  will  not  only  add  en- 
joyment to  their  church  life  but  will 
exert  an  influence  on  the  home  sur- 
roundings of  many. 

The  completed  building  realizes  very 
satisfactorily  the  ideal  of  those  respon- 
sible for  its  erection:  to  obtain  a  com- 
plete church  equipment  possessing  the 
maximum  of  churchliness,  efficiency, 
convenience  and  attractiveness  in  return 
for  a  minimum  of  investment. 


439 


HOLY  GRAIL  WINDOW  IN  PROC- 
TER HALL,  GRADUATE  COL- 
LEGE, PRINCETON  UNIVERSITY 


HOLY  GRAIL  WINDOW  IN 
PROCTER  HALL,  GRADUATE  COLLEGE 
—   PRINCETON  ^"UNIVERSITY  — 

DESIGNED  AND  EXECUTED 
BY    CHARLES   J.   CONNICK. 


Charks  Over  Qornelius 


A  NOTABLE  contribution  to  Ameri- 
can decorative  art  in  stained  glass 
is  presented  with  the  installation 
in  Procter  Hall  at  the  Graduate  College, 
Princeton  University,  of  the  series  of 
lancet  windows  which  fill  the  large  bay 
window  on  the  east  side  of  the  hall.  The 
great  hall  itself,  the  finest  example  of 
secular  Gothic  architecture  in  America, 
is  divided  into  seven  bays  by  the  oaken 
hammer-beams  of  the  roof,  marked  on 
the  exterior  by  simple  buttresses.  The 
arched  and  pointed  windows  in  six  of 
the  bays  are  divided  by  the  mullions  into 
lancets  surmounted  by  tracery.  The 
sixth  bay  from  the  entrance  on  either 
side  is  differently  treated — on  the  west 
occupied  by  a  great  fireplace  and  chim- 
neybreast  and  on  the  east  by  the  bay 
window  which  fills  the  whole  space. 

This  bay  window,  forming  three  sides 
of  a  hexagon,  is  divided  into  three  tiers  of 
lancets,  six  lancets  in  each  tier.  Simple 
cusped  tracery  divides  the  lower  tiers, 
flowering  more  elaborately  toward  the 
top  into  various  geometrical  divisions 
dominated  by  the  large  quatrefoils 
crowning  each  of  the  three  sides.  The 
sturdy  stone  mullions  are  simply  molded 
and  at  the  angles  are  reinforced  by  the 
slender  shafts  which  rise  to  support  the 
rib-vaulted  ceiling. 

The  subject  of  the  storied  window  is 
the  Search  for  the  Holy  Grail  as  told 
by  Sir  Thomas  Malory,  in  the  "Morte 
d' Arthur,"  published  in  1485.  The  com- 
position divides  into  three  parts:  the 
first  appearance  of  the  Grail  and  the 
institution  of  the  search,  the  renewal  of 
the  search  by  Sir  Galahad  and  its  final 
consummation  in  the  appearance  of  the 
Grail  to  the  successful  knights.  The 
first  appearance  of  the  Grail  in  Camelot 


and  the  beginning  of  the  search  are 
introduced  in  the  lower  tier,  where  are 
depicted  acts  of  both  the  successful  and 
unsuccessful  searchers,  scenes  significant 
of  the  devoted  self-sacrifice  and  physical 
prowess  of  the  knights  of  the  Round 
Table.  The  mystical  appearance  of  the 
Grail  to  Galahad  amongst  the  knights  is 
perhaps  the  most  noticeable  feature, 
accompanied  as  it  is  by  a  great  sound,  a 
white  light  and  a  sweet  savor — the  first 
symbolized  by  the  associated  idea 
of  lightning  suggesting  thunder;  the 
second  by  a  brilliant  white  ray  caught 
up  by  the  circle  of  white  doves;  and 
the  third  by  the  censers  in  the  hands 
of  the  angels  who  conduct  the  bearer  of 
the  Cup. 

Identification  of  the  nine  knights  and 
King  Arthur  who  appear  in  the  window 
is  preserved  by  their  traditional  heraldic 
devices  and  colors.  Precedent  has  been 
followed,  which  places  on  the  left  those 
knights  who  though  courageous  and 
sincere  did  not  continue  spiritually  pure 
to  the  end  of  the  search,  and  on  the 
right  those  who  came  under  the  im- 
mediate influence  of  the  Holy  Grail. 
These  knights  from  left  to  right  in  the 
lowest  part  of  the  window,  each  as- 
sociated with  his  heraldic  device,  are 
Sir  Gareth,  Sir  Uwain,  KingBagdemagus, 
Sir  Gawaine,  King  Arthur,  Sir  Ector  de 
Maris  (or  Sir  Hector),  Sir  Galahad,  Sir 
Launcelot,  Sir  Percival,  and  Sir  Bors. 
The  inscription  beneath  reads:  "In 
the  myddes  of  thys  blast  thenne  ther 
Entred  in  to  The  Halle  the  Holy  Graile 
couerd  with  whyte  samyte  but  ther  was 
none  that  myghte  see  hit  nor  Who  bare 
hit." 

In  this  lower  tier  are  also  presented 
the  small  scenes  of  adventure  in  which 


441 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD 


the  knights  were  called  upon  to  test 
their  physical  and  moral  courage.  The 
first,  an  L-shaped  composition  on  the 
left,  which  extends  into  the  second  lan- 
cet, tells  of  the  victorious  battle  of 
Sir  Gareth,  Sir  Uwain  (first  lancet),  and 
Sir  Gawain  (second  lancet)  with  the 
seven  wicked  knights,  to  rescue  the  seven 
maidens  at  the  Castle  of  the  Maidens 
— the  seven  wicked  knights  personifying 
the  seven  deadly  sins  and  the  seven 
maidens  the  seven  goodly  virtues.  The 
inscription  for  this  scene  runs,  "Syr 
Gareth  and  syr  Vwayne  and  syr  Ga- 
waine  destroys  the  seven  wycked  Bre- 
theren  of  the  castel  of  the  Maydens." 
In  the  second  lancet  occurs  the  scene, 
above  the  one  just  described,  which  is 
summarized  in  the  legend:  "And  ful 
actually  dyd  Kynge  Bagdemagus  yelde 
the  whyte  shelde."  To  the  right,  in  the 
fifth  and  sixth  lancets,  are  four  more 
scenes  of  adventure.  Sir  Launcelot  at 
the  Cross  of  Stone,  where  the  miracle 
of  the  atonement  is  revealed  through 
the  power  of  the  Grail,  is  shown  in  the 
fifth  lancet  with  the  inscription,  "Alle 
this  syr  Launcelot  sawe  and  beheld  to 
fore  the  Stony  Crosse";  while  below  it 
is  Sir  Launcelot  passing  the  lions  at  the 
perilous  gate  with  its  inscription,  "Syr 
Launcelot  passyng  the  lyons."  In  the 
sixth  lancet  Sir  Bors  rescues  the  maid 
from  the  black  knight  after  a  fierce 
battle  at  sunset:  "Syr  Bors  rescowed  the 
Mayde";  while  in  the  scene  immediately 
below  Sir  Percival  rescues  the  lion  cub 
from  the  evil  snake:  "Syr  Percival 
rescowed  the  lyon." 

In  the  middle  tier  of  lancets  the 
composition  takes  up  the  renewal  of  the 
search  for  the  Grail  by  Sir  Galahad  when 
the  White  Knight  calls  for  him  to  renew 
the  search  and  Sir  Galahad  bids  farewell 
to  his  father  at  the  ship  in  which  they 
have  voyaged  together.  The  inscrip- 
tion for  the  first  scene,  "Come  sayd  the 
knyghte  and  starte  upon  this  horse," 
is  placed  beneath  it;  while  under  the 
second  stands,  "Soo  syr  Galahad  de- 
parted from  hys  fader."  These  two 
scenes  occupy  the  lower  base  panels  of 
the  central  lancets.  In  the  upper  base 
panels  of  these  lancets  is  shown  Sir 
Percival's  vision  of  the  White  Hart  and 
the  Four  Lions  symbolic  of  Christ  and 


the  Four  Evangelists  and  inscribed: 
"Thys  thenne  is  the  Holy  aduysyou 
that  syr  Percyual  sawe." 

The  subject  occupying  four  of  the 
upper  base  panels  of  the  middle  lancets 
is  the  Castle  of  Strange  Custom,  where, 
on  the  right,  Sir  Galahad  and  Sir  Bors 
are  shown  confronting  the  black  war- 
riors, and  on  the  left  Sir  Percival  with 
his  sister  hear  the  plea  for  the  rescue 
by  blood  sacrifice  of  the  princess  who  is 
ill  unto  death  in  the  great  castle.  The 
legend  beneath  this  incident  runs,  "The 
good  knyghtes  and  PercyuaFs  syster  to- 
fore  the  castel  of  the  straunge  custom." 
The  base  panels  to  the  left  are  symbolic ; 
suggesting  the  nearness  of  the  Sangreal, 
they  tell  of  the  miracles  performed 
by  its  proximity.  In  one,  "Kynge 
Mordrayne  receyued  his  syghte,"  in 
another,  "The  maymed  Kynge  is  helyd," 
and  in  the  third  the  scene  bears  the 
legend,  "Soo  that  a  Cryppl  was  made 
hole  by  the  Sancgreal,"  the  cripple 
being  carried  by  Bors  and  Percival.  At 
the  base  of  the  right  lancets  these 
scenes  are  balanced  by  others  symbolic 
of  the  sustaining  power  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  in  adversity  and  of  the  closeness 
of  the  bonds  of  friendship  founded  upon 
spiritual  ideals.  "The  grace  of  the 
Sancgreal  in  pryson"  presents  the  three 
knights  in  prison  ministered  to  by  the 
Holy  Grail;  while  "Syr  Galahads  laste 
adieu"  announces  his  departure  upon 
the  search. 

In  the  upper  parts  of  the  central 
lancets  the  final  consummation  of  the 
search  for  the  Grail  gives  the  opportunity 
for  an  introduction  of  considerable 
symbolic  representation  of  the  origin 
and  legendary  powers  of  the  Holy  Grail. 
The  subject  is  introduced  by  the  figures 
of  the  angel  bearing  the  spear  which 
pierced  the  side  of  the  Lord  and  the 
figure  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  the 
first  bishop  of  Christendom,  who  re 
ceived  the  Blood  into  the  Cup.  The 
knights  are  grouped  to  right  and  left, 
Bearing  banners  whose  staffs  extend 
through  into  the  upper  lancets.  Here 
the  figure  of  Our  Lord  stands  with  up- 
lifted arms  holding  the  Grail  and  is 
surrounded  by  the  seven  cherubs  which 
symbolize  the  seven  theological  virtues. 
Below  Him  are  seven  flying  doves  (the 


442 


LEFT-HAND    PAIR    OP 
LANCETS  IN  TOP  TIER. 


SCENES  FROM  LEFT-HAND  PAIR 
OF  LANCETS    IN    SECOND  TIER. 


ARMS    OF    JOSEPH    OF  ARIMATHEA:    BLUE 

FIELD,    GOLD    LION,    RED    TONGUE    AND 

CLAWS. 


ARMS  OF  SIR  GAWAYN:    BLUE  FIELD,  GOLD 

HEAD?,     SILVER     TEETH,     RED 

TONGUES. 


ARMS  OF  SIR  GARETH:  BLUE  FIELD,  GOLD 

EAGLE,  RED    TONGUE    AND    CLAW-NAILS, 

RED  DIAGONAL  STRIPE. 


ARMS  OF  KING  ARTHUR:    RED  FIELD  AND 
PALE  GOLD  CROWNS. 


Heraldic  Drawings  by  Pierre  de  Chaignon  La  Rose  for  the  Holy  Grail  Window. 


445 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD 


seven  goodly  virtues) ,  and  above  Him 
seven  haloed  doves  (the  seven  gifts  of 
the  Spirit)  dart  in  the  rays  from  the 
Grail.  On  either  side  of  the  main  figure 
are  angels  of  light  with  candles,  and  the 
angels  bearing  the  instruments  of  the 
passion  complete  the  composition. 

In  the  crowning  tracery  of  the  window 
are  seen  cherubs  and  doves,  which  re- 
echo the  symbolism  of  the  virtues  and 
spiritual  gifts  surrounding  the  figure 
of  Christ;  and  in  the  three  quatrefoils 
which  form  the  important  centers  of 
this  tracery  are  placed  the  coats-of-arms 
of  Sir  Galahad,  Sir  Bors  and  Sir  Percival, 
blazoned  on  shields  and  supported  by 
angels. 

The  composition  is  a  complicated  one, 
and  its  resolution  into  three  parts  has 
served  to  simplify  its  reading.  The 
imposition  of  certain  arbitrary  limita- 
tions, such  for  instance  as  the  division 
vertically  into  six  lancets  in  each  row, 
has  only  served  to  heighten  the  effect 
of  a  symmetrical  balance.  The  use  of 
much  heraldry  throughout  has  per- 


mitted of  the  requisite  proportion  of 
formality  in  the  scenes  and  resulted  in 
perhaps  the  most  decorative  detail 
which  the  window  possesses,  through  the 
use  of  pure  and  brilliant  color  in  well 
defined  leading. 

The  color  of  the  window,  while  con- 
sistent and  beautiful  in  itself,  does  suffer 
somewhat  by  contrast  with  the  great 
window  of  the  Seven  Liberal  Studies 
which  occupies  the  end  wall.  When 
these  windows  are  seen  in  conjunction, 
the  two  are  found  to  be  differently  keyed, 
and  the  higher  key  of  the  smaller  is 
somewhat  overpowered  by  the  lower 
and  stronger  key  of  the  other. 

The  designing  and  leading  of  the 
individual  groups  is  masterly,  and  some 
of  the  tiny  scenes  have  a  lyric  quality 
of  purest  essence;  while  the  whole 
window  sets  a  standard  of  the  highest 
caliber  for  individual  war  memorials 
in  its  employment  of  one  of  the 
most  difficult  as  well  as  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  mediums  of  artistic  ex- 
pression. 


ARMS    OF    KING    BAGDEMAGUS. 


446 


A.E  F  ART  TRAINING  CENTER 
O     BELLEVUE,  FRANCE     © 
Philip  L  Small 


EARLY  in  February  of  the  present 
year  I  was  called  to  Paris  to  report 
for  duty  with  the  Army  Educa- 
tional Commission.  Up  to  my  arrival  in 
Paris  I  had  only  a  vague  knowledge 
(gained  partly  through  a  notice  in  The 
Stars  and  Stripes,  partly  through  rumors 
among  fellow  architects  at  my  station) 
of  some  sort  of  an  embryonic  attempt  at 
an  educational  program  for  the  soldiers 
of  the  A.  E.  F. 

At  the  headquarters  of  the  commis- 
sion, 76  Rue  Faubourg  St.  Honore,  mat- 
ters were  still  in  a  rather  chaotic  state, 
due  to  the  unexpectedly  early  signing  of 
the  armistice  and  to  the  necessary  delays 
of  "military  channels."  Certain  plans 
decided  upon  by  the  director  did  not  har- 
monize with  army  regulations;  certain 
officers  promised  by  the  authorities  at 
Chaumont  had  failed  to  put  in  an  ap- 
pearance. But  plans  were  changed,  other 
officers  substituted,  and  a  few  days  in 
that  busy  suite  of  offices  proved  that, 
with  such  men  as  George  S.  Hellman, 
Lloyd  Warren,  Archibald  Brown,  Gros- 
venor  Atterbury,  Ay  mar  Embury, 
George  H.  Gray,  Ernest  Piexotto,  Lor- 
ado  Taft,  Solon  Borglum  and  others, 
failure  was  impossible.  Before  the  time 
appointed  for  the  opening  of  the  schools, 
order  came  out  of  chaos  and  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  project  was  assured.  How 
this  was  accomplished  it  is  not  my  pur- 
pose to  relate.  *  The  details  may  be  found 
in  the  official  reports;  in  a  booklet  report 
of  Major  Geo.  H.  Gray,  commandant  of 
the  school  at  Bellevue;  in  an  article  by 
Mr.  Hellman  in  the  New  York  Times  of 
July  27,  1919,  and  other  sources. 

The  art  educational  program  was  ex- 
tensive and  embraced  many  distinctly 
different  phases.  The  College  of  Fine 
and  Applied  Arts  of  the  American  E. 
F.  University  at  Beaune  dealt  chiefly 
with  men  of  little  or  no  pre-war  train- 
ing in  art,  as  did  also  the  work  at  Le 
Mans  under  Mr.  Coxhead,  at  Coblenz 
under  Mr.  Plowman  and  in  the  hospitals 


and  convalescent  camps'under  the  direc- 
tion of  Captain  Aymar  Embury  and  his 
corps  of  women  art  instructors.  The 
Paris  Atelier  Section  gave  some  two  hun- 
dred men  the  opportunity  of  a  rather 
sketchy  glimpse  of  the  methods  of  art 
instruction  in  Paris.  But  the  Art  Train- 
ing Center  at  Bellevue,  to  which  were 
called  three  hundred  of  the  more  ad- 
vanced men  of  the  A.  E.  F.,  was  the  acme 
of  the  entire  program — a  model  art 
school  near  Paris. 

It  is  of  Bellevue  that  I  wish  particu- 
larly to  speak. 

The  Pavilion  de  Bellevue,  before  the 
war  a  fashionable  hotel,  during  the  war 
a  Red  Cross  hospital,  is  situated  on  the 
hillside  overlooking  the  Seine,  between 
Meudon  and  Sevres.  This  building 
served  to  house  the  entire  staff,  faculty 
and  student  body,  and  gave  ample  room 
for  ateliers,  studios  and  class  rooms. 
The  lecture  hall  and  sculptors'  studio 
were  near  by.  Being  only  a  short  walk 
from  Meudon,  Sevres  and  St.  Cloud,  a 
half  hour  from  Versailles  and  within 
easy  motoring  distance  from  Rambouillet, 
Dampierre,  Vaux-le-Vicomte,  Maisons 
Lafitte,  St.  Germain-en-Laye,  Mal- 
maison  and  many  other  places,  and  only 
twenty  minutes  to  Paris  by  any  of  three 
different  lines,  it  was  ideally  located  for 
a  fine  arts  school.  In  less  than  three 
hours  by  train  the  week-end  sketching 
parties  could  reach  Main  tenon,  Char- 
tres,  Orleans  and  the  chateaux  of  Tou- 
raine,  Fontaineblea,  Etampes,  Reims, 
Amiens,  Beauvais,  Rouen,  Chantilly, 
and  Pierrefonds,  and  on  the  three-day 
trips  which  were  allowed  each  week 
toward  the  close  of  the  term,  the  advanced 
class  could  reach  any  part  of  France  or 
Belgium. 

A  fine  arts  school  as  a  military  organi- 
zation would  seem  a  rather  incongruous 
combination;  but  with  a  commandant, 
himself  a  Beaux  Arts  architect,  and  a 
staff  composed  almost  entirely  of  archi- 
tects, the  military  phase  of  the  adminis- 


447 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


tration  was  so  carefully  and  sympathet- 
ically handled  that  it  turned  out  to  be 
rather  an  advantage  that  we  were  still 
under  military  control.  It  introduced 
just  the  proper  amount  of  systematic  reg- 
ularity that  is  so  universally  lacking  in 
a  group  of  art  students.  The  only  mili- 
tary formation  was  at  physical  drill  each 
morning.  Outside  of  this  the  only  de- 
mands were  regularity  of  attendance  at 
classes  and  meals,  observance  of  "lights 
out"  and  "taps"  and  compliance  with 
regulations  in  all  matters  pertaining  to 
reports,  leaves  of  absence,  etc.  Differ- 
ence of  military  rank  among  the  students 
in  the  ateliers  and  class  rooms  was  dis- 
regarded with  a  fine  spirit  which  in  no 
way  detracted  from  the  strictest  military 
discipline  where  that  discipline  was  nec- 
essary. 

The  intention  of  the  Director,  Mr. 
Warren,  has  been  from  the  outset  to 
make  of  the  three  months'  course  a  cul- 
tural venture  rather  than  a  technical 
training.  The  entire  program  was  laid 
out  with  this  end  in  view.  The  time  al- 
lotted to  atelier  work  was  comparatively 
small.  The  projects  were  short,  gave  op- 
portunity for  a  maximum  of  study  and 
a  minimum  of  drawing,  frequent  criti- 
cism by  eminent  French  architects 
(among  whom  was  Victor  Laloux,  dean 
of  French  architects)  and  a  presentation 
in  sketch  form.  The  idea  was  to  give 
the  student  just  enough  of  the  project  of 
the  Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  so  that  he 
would  become  familiar  with  and  appre- 
ciate the  principles  of  planning  as  taught 
in  the  institution.  Classes  in  pencil 
sketching  and  city  planning  completed 
the  work  in  the  atelier. 

The  study  of  the  French  language  and, 
by  means  of  it,  French  customs  and  man- 
ners, French  thought  and  the  trend  of 
present-day  French  affairs,  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  daily  routine  and  con- 
tributed to  a  clearer  understanding  of 
other  phases  of  the  work  more  purely  ar- 
tistic. But  perhaps  the  most  important 
of  all  were  the  daily  lectures  attended  by 
the  entire  student  body. 

The  lectures  on  French  political  his- 
tory and  on  French  civilization  were  par- 
alleled by  stereopticon  lectures  on  paint- 
ing, sculpture,  architecture  and  decora- 
tion, and  interspersed  with  lectures  on 


special  subjects — bookbinding  art,  cer- 
amics, tapestries  and  the  like.  Thus  the 
student  could  see  unfolding  before  his 
eyes  the  entire  drama  of  French  civiliza- 
tion and  art,  and  bind  together  each 
period  into  a  clear  and  understandable 
chapter.  Da  Vinci,  Primaticcio,  Le 
Brun,  LeVau,  LeNotre,  Puget,  Dela- 
fosse,  Berain,  Watteau,  Richelieu, 
Colbert,  Mazarin,  Moliere,  Lulli  and  a 
hundred  others  ceased  to  be  names  in 
print  to  him  and  became  living  actors  in 
a  drama,  the  setting  for  which  was  before 
him  and  about  him.  Their  day,  their 
passions,  their  pleasures,  their  problems 
and  the  civilization  for  which  they 
wrought  were  revived  before  his  eyes  and 
he  saw  what  art,  to  be  vital,  must  mean 
to  an  age  and  a  people. 

These  lectures  were  delivered  both  by 
members  of  our  faculty  and  by  many  of 
the  most  eminent  of  French  scholars,  ar- 
tists and  art  critics. 

Just  what  were  we  to  learn  from 
France?  Was  it  some  formula,  some 
tabulated  knowledge  that  she  could  in- 
tentionally teach  us?  Or  was  it  not 
something  that  must  be  absorbed  slowly 
as  the  result  of  an  affectionate  and  inti- 
mate contact  with  the  finer  things  of  the 
life  and  culture  of  the  past,  a  culture  as 
rich  and  splendid  and  well-founded  as 
life  itself?  Was  it  not  this  intangible 
something  that  we  inadequately  label  as 
inspiration?  There  is  scarcely  a  build- 
ing of  any  importance  in  France  that 
we  have  not  in  detail  and  photograph  in 
our  libraries  at  home.  Is  it  then  that  in 
France  we  can  see  the  original?  There 
is  scarcely  a  picture  or  a  piece  of  sculp- 
ture in  the  galleries  that  we  cannot  see 
in  reproduction  at  home.  Is  it  then  that 
in  France  we  can  see  the  oils  themselves 
or  catch  the  play  of  light  on  the  surface 
texture  of  the  marble?  Do  we  have  to 
go  to  France  to  learn  of  LeBrun,  LeVau, 
LeNotre,  to  see  the  examples  of  their 
work?  Do  we  need  to  go  to  Versailles 
to  copy  a  motif  of  the  facade  of  the  Petit 
Trianon  to  employ  on  that  new  mansion 
at  Newport?  Or  to  the  Place  de  Vo  ges 
for  a  market  square?  We  have  the 
means  in  our  library  in  the  office. 

But  where  else  in  the  world  can  we 
live  and  breathe  and  sun  our  artistic  en- 
thusiasm amid  the  modern  survivals  of 


448 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


the  very  atmosphere  and  civilization  in 
which  LeVau,  LeBrun  and  LeNotre  met 
and  solved  their  problems?  What  they 
wrought  was  for  another  age,  another 
people  than  ours;  but  in  their  work  we 
should  see  an  inspiration  to  do  for  our 
day  and  age  and  country  what  they  did 
so  well  for  theirs. 

Not  only  in  our  lecture  hall  and  ate- 
liers, but  in  the  museums,  the  galleries, 
the  studios  and  schools  of  Paris,  in  the 
homes  themselves,  the  co-operation  and 
whole-souled  generosity  of  the  French 
were  most  gratifying  and  encouraging 
and  did  much  to  make  possible  the  ven- 
ture. For  the  first  time  in  French  life 
the  mask  was  off,  the  barrier  down;  the 
foyer,  the  most  sacred  institution  of 
French  life,  was  open  to  these  American 
sons — the  foyer,  the  home,  the  heart. 
Our  work  was  theirs  in  sympathy,  and 
there  was  not  a  man  or  woman  with 
whom  we  came  in  contact  who  did  not 
open  heart  and  mind  and  treasures  to 
us,  so  that  what  we  were  doing,  being 
worth  while,  might  be  done  well.  Pri- 
vate homes,  museums,  chateaux,  private 
collections  and  ateliers,  closed  since  1914 
and  in  many  cases  never  opened  to  the 
public  and  therefore  not  to  Americans, 
were  now  opened  to  us.  Practically  all 
of  the  artists'  studios  of  Paris  were 
opened  to  our  painters  and  sculptors, 
that  they  might  be  given  an  insight  into 
the  methods,  the  viewpoint,  the  person- 
alities of  the  leaders  of  French  art. 

Through  Capt.  Leslie  Cauldwell,  the 
Artist-Decorateur-Counseil  of  Paris  and 
head  of  our  department  of  interior  deco- 
ration, the  members  of  his  classes  were 
enabled  to  visit,  with  note-book  and 
sketch-pad,  private  galleries,  private  col- 
lections, display  rooms  of  stuffs,  brasses, 
tapestries,  furniture  and  art  objects. 

To  quote  from  Mr.  Hellman,  "Not 
only  in  Paris,  but  throughout  France, 
wherever  our  students  traveled  in  the 
course  of  their  art  studies,  they  were  wel- 
comed by  the  French;  and  it  may  safely 
be  said  that  no  group  in  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces  came  into  happier 
relationship  with  France  and  its  citizens 
than  those  soldier  art  students  who  en- 
tered so  fully  into  the  spirit  of  that  im- 
memorial land  of  art." 

Every  member  of  the  faculty,  with  the 


exception  of  a  few  of  the  younger  in- 
structors, was  a  Paris-trained  man,  with 
a  wide  circle  of  friends  among  the  French 
artists  and  people  of  prominence.  It 
was  through  friends  such  as  these  that 
we  were  enabled  to  hear  in  our  own  ate- 
lier some  very  delightful  musical  pro- 
grams, rendered  by  a  group  of  Paris 
artistes. 

Architects,  painters,  sculptors,  decora- 
tors, staff  and  faculty  all  lived  under  one 
roof — an  American  roof  in  a  foreign 
land.  They  messed  together,  played  to- 
gether, exchanged  professional  gossip, 
and  for  the  first  and  perhaps  the  last 
time  in  their  lives  really  appreciated  the 
inseparable  interdependence  of  their  re- 
spective metiers.  The  architect  had  the 
freedom  of  the  studios  and  studio-talks 
of  the  painters,  sculptors  and  decora- 
tors; he  attended  critiques  and  lectures 
and  exhibitions  and  had  the  opportunity 
of  going  with  the  painters  to  the  Paris 
studios.  The  point  of  view  and  the 
problems  of  the  painter,  the  sculptor,  the 
decorator  became  clear  to  him  and  left 
an  impression  that  will  influence  all  fu- 
ture relations.  Never  has  a  body  of  art 
students  been  banded  together  in  a  closer 
bond  of  sympathy,  unity  and  common 
purpose.  It  was  a  congenial,  happy 
family  from  the  commandant  to  the  buck 
private.  Think  of  the  value,  for  example 
to  a  young  man  to  be  able  to  drop  in  for 
a  chat,  to  share  in  a  common  work  to 
a  common  end,  to  go  through  the  same 
unusual  experience  with  the  older  and 
successful  men  of  his  profession — men 
who  had  seen  what  he  was  trying  to  see, 
who  had  succeeded  in  doing  what  he 
hoped  one  day  to  do,  but  who  did  not 
conceal  that  they  even  envied  him  his 
experience  of  being  (still  young  and  im- 
pressionable) under  such  conditions,  at 
such  a  time,  in  such  surroundings,  in  this 
rich  art-land  of  France. 

Consider  that  these  men  had  led  for 
two  years  a  healthy,  rigorous  life;  were 
in  the  pink  of  physical  condition,  a  sure 
promise  of  an  alert  and  healthful  mind. 
Consider  also  that  they  had  been  through 
an  experience  that  had  broadened  and 
matured  them;  had  given  them  a  keener 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  the  life  that 
had  been  spared  them,  a  deeper,  more 
serious  affection  for  the  finer  things  of 


449 


THE  ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


that  life.  It  is  then  not  hard  to  imagine 
the  eagerness,  the  enthusiasm  with  which 
they  made  the  most  of  this  wonderful 
opportunity. 

There  was  surprisingly  little  of  the 
spirit  of  selfish  personal  ambition;  a 
great  deal  of  enthusiastic  team-work, 
unity  of  purpose,  to  carry  back  to 
"God's  Country,"  not  a  blind  affec- 
tion, but  a  sane  clear-sighted  duty  and 
ambition  to  make  the  great  opportun- 
ity count  for  the  most  in  the  art  of  the 
homeland. 

Shortly  after  we  entered  the  war  and 
our  new  armies  were  training  in  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  to  be  done  in  France, 
there  were  many  who  expressed  great 
hopes  for  the  future  culture  of  America, 
due  to  this  crusade  of  our  millions  of 
young  men  into  France.  The  hope  was, 
I  think,  justifiable  and  was  reflected 
in  the  desire  of  every  man  and  woman 
of  culture  in  this  country.  The  army 
educational  program  had  not  yet  been 
thought  of,  unless  perhaps  as  a  vague 
hope  in  the  minds  of  such  men  as  did 
finally  put  it  through.  But  the  eleva- 
tion of  this  mass  of  young  American 
manhood  to  a  higher  level,  the  education 
in  the  finer  things  of  life,  through  con- 
tact with  a  world-old  culture,  was  a 
commonly  discussed  topic.  And  com- 
paring this  Twentieth  Century  crusade 
with  other  great  causes  of  art  revival  or 


intellectual    impetus,    we    can    but    be 
optimistic. 

When  Charlemagne  invaded  Italy,  he 
carried  with  him  a  barbarian  horde;  the 
crusaders  were  a  mob  of  undisciplined 
and  unruly  religious  enthusiasts;  the 
armies  of  Louis  XII  and  Francis  I  were 
a  handful  of  professional  soldiers,  and 
yet  look  to  history  for  the  art  changes 
they  wrought  in  France. 

The  American  Expeditionary  Forces 
in  France  were  composed  of  picked 
young  men  from  all  stations  and  walks 
of  life,  at  the  age  when  the  mind  and  eye 
are  most  alert  and  impressionable:  two 
million  men  in  a  common  cause  and 
cast  together  among  new  scenes  and  new 
surroundings — the  heart  of  the  world's 
culture.  It  was  the  romance  of  their 
lives.  Two  million  men,  not  one  of  whom 
but  will  retain  some  spark  of  memory  of 
something  fine  and  desirable  that  he 
would  one  day  like  to  see  in  his  home  or 
his  garden  or  his  city!  Three  thousand 
men,  the  artists  of  the  flock,  coming  back 
with  an  undying  faith  in  the  mission  of 
art,  a  knowledge  and  an  affection  for 
the  finest  and  richest  culture  of  the  world 
and  a  sense  of  duty  to  the  civilization  and 
to  the  homeland  that  gave  them  birth, 
and  whose  artistic  fate  they  will  one  day 
in  a  large  measure  control! 

What  richer  harvest  could  we  reap 
from  the  victory  in  which  we  shared? 


450 


1/ie  RURAL  LIBRARY  BUILDING 


JOHN  ADAMS  LOWE 


THE  ideal  library  is  that  which 
stimulates  its  community  to  use 
print  intelligently  and  which 
teaches  a  genuine  love  of  books.  Library 
service  today  demands  of  the  librarian 
an  intimate  first  hand  knowledge  of  what 
is  available  in  print,  an  understanding 
of  the  needs  of  the  community  to  be 
served,  and  an  ability  to  bring  to  the 
needs  of  the  one  the  resources  of  the 
other.  All  of  us  can  instance  cases  in 
small  towns  in  which  a  true  booklover 
has  aroused  genuine  reading  habits  in 
others  with  only  a  few  well  selected 
books.  The  same  volume  carried  its 
message  and  inspiration  to  many  read- 
ers, each  of  whom  put  upon  it  his  own 
interpretation.  We  trace  character  de- 
velopment in  many  such  cases.  No 
higher  ideal  can  come  to  any  librarian 
than  to  foster  ideas  and  build  men  and 
women. 

The  librarian  may  be  seventy-five 
per  cent  of  the  library  and  the  books 
and  the  building  the  other  twenty-five 
per  cent,  but  I  believe  that  the  building 
may  share  more  of  real  service  than  is 
often  the  case  in  small  country  towns. 
One  need  is  to  make  books  available 
and  attractive.  Convenience  has  some- 
thing to  do  with  their  use.  The  psy- 
chology in  "lure  of  books"  and  "tempta- 
tion to  read"  needs  to  be  employed  by 
the  building  as  well  as  by  the  librarian. 
Its  very  arrangement  may  contribute 
much  by  being  convenient  and  under- 
standable. People  in  the  country  do  not 
live  in  marble  buildings,  nor  are  they 
accustomed  to  lofty  halls,  divisions  of 
columns  with  carved  capitals,  and 
decorated  ceilings.  They  are  not  used 
to  furniture  of  one  pattern  everywhere, 
except  in  such  institutions  as  they  know, 
the  meeting  house,  town  hall,  and  school 
room.  Iron  shelving  in  aisles  too  narrow 
to  permit  the  use  of  the  lower  ones  and 
too  high  for  the  upper  ones  to  be  reached 


are  not  like  anything  they  use  anywhere 
else  than  at  the  library.  They  are 
not  happy  in  making  themselves  con- 
spicuous by  climbing  up  a  broad  flight 
of  stone  steps.  If  the  temperature  at 
the  top  of  a  reading  room  is  70  degrees 
when  it  is  only  42  degrees  where  they  sit, 
they  will  not  readily  go  to  the  library  to 
read.  No,  if  the  building  is  to  share  in 
the  making  of  booklovers,  care  must  be 
given  to  details  which  will  make  it  easy 
to  bring  people  and  books  together. 

To  indicate  what  has  been  done  in  the 
way  of  library  atmosphere  in  buildings 
filled  with  homelike  qualities  and  yet 
which  function  completely  in  bringing 
library  service  to  the  people,  I  might 
suggest  the  very  successful  adaptation 
of  a  beautiful  old  court  house  building 
in  Lenox,  Mass.,  for  a  library  building, 
or  the  church  remodeled  for  the  library 
at  Warwick,  or  the  Colonial  cottages 
at  Worthington  and  Leverett.  But 
perhaps  the  library  building  at  Hyannis, 
a  village  of  Barnstable  on  Cape  Cod, 
offers  in  some  respects  the  best  point  of 
departure  for  the  study  of  certain 
architectural  difficulties  common  to  re- 
cent town  library  buildings. 

Possibly  one  of  the  unconscious  draw- 
backs which  we  feel  in  many  new 
buildings  is  the  lack  of  the  element  of 
surprise.  There  is  no  allurement  about 
them.  You  know  from  the  many  others 
cut  from  the  same  pattern  that  you  will 
find  the  charging  desk  immediately  in 
front  of  you  as  you  enter,  and  that  not 
always  with  the  inviting  hospitality 
which  it  might  possess.  If  you  seek  a 
current  magazine  or  the  daily  news- 
paper, you  know  exactly  where  it  is  to  be 
found,  and  the  same  is  true  with  a  book. 

Located  on  the  main  street  of  Hyannis, 
the  old  story  and  a  half  house  with  two 
ells  at  the  rear  makes  an  appeal  which 
even  a  stranger  feels.  You  never  would 
mistrust  it  of  being  a  library  if  it  were 


451 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


not  for  the  sign  swinging  from  a  bracket 
on  a  tree.  Simple  in  line,  "right  down 
in  the  grass,"  as  Pennsylvanians  say, 
covered  all  over  with  shingles  unstained, 
but  weathered  the  wonderful  gray  of  old 
wood  at  the  seashore,  a  dominating 
chimney  expressive  of  the  forceful  winds 
that  incessantly  blow  around  it,  two 
inviting  projecting  porches  or  weather 
vestibules,  and  smiling  white  lined 
window  casings,  it  presents  an  example 
of  one  of  the  best  types  of  an  old  Cape 
Cod  house.  Moreover,  its  color  charm 
is  enhanced  by  silver  willows  of  great 
age  towering  gauntly  over  it,  their  trunks 
a  fascinating  green  and  silver,  with  scant 
leafage  of  trembling  silvery  bits. 

And  you  feel  the  same  sort  of  an 
appeal  when  you  push  in  the  green  front 
door  and  step  in.  Instinctively  you 
pause  just  for  a  moment  when  you  first 
visit  it,  for  you  find  no  guardian  sit- 
ting commandingly  in  front  of  you. 
No,  here  is  a  stairway  which,  mounting 
its  steep  way,  invites  you  to  the  study  and 
rest  rooms  under  the  gable.  You  look 
through  a  doorway  at  your  left  into  a 
reception  room.  You  feel  like  a  late 
arrival,  for  here  are  groups  of  people  in 
comfortable  chairs,  chatting,  examining 
attractive  books  scattered  about  the 
tables.  One  women  with  many  bundles 
sits  by  the  window,  her  shopping  done, 
watching  for  the  stage  to  take  her  back 
home.  That  girl  minding  the  baby  sug- 
gests that  mother  is  selecting  books. 
You  step  through  a  door  at  your  right 
and  here  you  are  in  the  old  sitting  room, 
very  much  as  it  has  always  been,  save 
that  the  reading  table  in  the  center  is  a 
bit  larger  than  one  would  expect,  and 
that  book  shelves  cover  the  walls  of 
the  room.  It  is  quieter  here  than  across 
the  hall.  You  drop  down  for  a  minute 
in  one  of  the  rocking  chairs  by  the  open 
fireplace.  And  here  for  the  first  time 
you  discover  in  another  room  the  libra- 
rian, the  real  genius  of  the  place,  at  her 
desk.  Crowded  about  it  are  children 
and  men  and  women,  talking  earnestly 
about  the  book  each  has  chosen  for  him- 
self. The  children  have  their  own  room 
in  an  ell  just  back  of  the  librarian's 
desk,  to  her  left.  To  her  right,  in  an- 
other ell,  is  a  special  collection  room,  and 
beyond  that  is  the  workroom.  A  tiny 


bedroom  has  been  transformed  for 
reference  purposes,  and  in  it  one  may 
study  with  almost  as  much  privacy  as 
in  one's  own  sanctum. 

New  buildings  seem  to  require  a  small 
lecture  hall.  Well,  here  we  have  one. 
In  the  reception  room  chairs  may  be  set 
up  to  accommodate  literary  societies 
and  any  groups  of  people  who  might 
naturally  assemble  here.  Before  the 
fireplace  talks  may  be  given  on  local 
history  and  current  events,  and  groups 
of  girls  and  boys,  members  of  the  library 
reading  clubs,  may  meet  with  the  libra- 
rian as  leader  with  the  same  informality 
and  freedom  that  they  do  at  the  home  of 
their  friends.  You  find  here  bulletin 
boards  and  current  events  records,  post- 
card displays  and  picture  exhibitions, 
flower  and  bird  contests  records.  Back 
of  the  library  stretches  under  the  trees  a 
lawn  and  garden;  and  here  the  librarian 
plans  to  conduct  book  entertainments, 
receptions  and  teas.  Visitors,  new 
school  teachers  and  lately  arrived  resi- 
dents find  themselves  invited  to  this 
place  with  the  cordiality  of  new-made 
friends.  In  such  a  place  foreign-speak- 
ing citizens  come  unafraid  and  find  an 
equality  of  citizenship  which  they  ap- 
preciate. The  machinery  of  a  modern 
library  system  is  all  working  here,  but 
it  never  intrudes  itself  upon  the  patrons. 

Whenever  I  visit  this  building  I 
remind  myself  how  well  have  been  over- 
come some  of  the  difficulties  of  securing 
the  essential  principles  of  library  archi- 
tecture. The  librarian's  desk  completely 
supervises  the  reading-rooms.  This  was 
made  possible  by  widening  two  door- 
ways and  by  giving  it  a  central  position. 
Moreover,  the  library  is  arranged  for 
economical  administration,  and  the  few- 
est possible  attendants  are  needed. 
Good  natural  light  abounds  in  all  parts 
of  the  building,  and  the  system  of  venti- 
lation is  so  simple  and  well  known  that 
it  can  be  operated  by  any  one  who  can 
open  a  window.  The  shelves  are  placed 
so  that  a  person  of  medium  height  can 
reach  any  of  them.  And  the  building 
will  provide  for  a  number  of  years  of 
growth. 

In  so  many  new  structures  the  heating 
problem  becomes  a  serious  one.  Lofty 
ceilings  and  complicated  heating  appa- 


452 


•• 


THE  LIBRARIAN  IS  THE  GENIUS  OF  THE  PLACE,  AND  AT  HER  DESK  THE  FAIRY-LOVING 
CHILD  AND  THE  LEARNED  SAGE  DISCUSS  THE  CHOICE  OF  BOOKS  FROM  THE  SHELVES. 


BOOKS  MAKE  THE  BEST  WALL  DECORATION  FOR  LIBRARY  INTERIORS.    LOWER  SHELVING 
WOULD  CREATE  ADDED  HOMELIKE  ATMOSPHERE  IN  THE  READING  ROOM. 

454 


LOOKING  FROM  THE  FRONT  ACROSS  THE  RECEPTION  AND  DELIVERY  ROOMS  INTO  THE 
DOANE  SPECIAL  COLLECTION  ROOM  AND  THE  REFERENCE  ROOM. 


f/r/mtrte 

PLAN  OF  THE  LIBRARY. 
455 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


ratus  designed  for  buildings  in  city 
blocks  make  impossible  in  winter  many  a 
building  upon  which  great  amounts  of 
money  have  been  expended.  Low  ceil- 
ings and  stoves  are  familiar  to  the  people 
who  live  in  the  country,  and  with  them 
they  are  skilfully  successful.  Fireplaces 
in  towns  where  fuel  wood  is  abundant 
will  disperse  the  chill  of  a  late  spring  or 
early  autumn  day,  as  well  as  give  further 
attractiveness  to  the  room. 

For  the  fault  committed  so  repeat- 
edly of  not  providing  shelf  room  suffi- 
cient for  the  books  in  new  buildings  I 
have  no  mercy.  Plans  frequently  state 
a  total  capacity  all  too  evidently  care- 
lessly estimated.  The  shelving  actually 
built  is  filled  with  the  books  already  at 
hand.  No  future  growth  has  been 
planned  for.  This  comes  about  fre- 
quently, because  valuable  space  is  used 
for  decorative  panelling.  Sometimes 
when  a  stack  is  installed,  the  second 
story  is  not  built;  and  it  is  discovered 
later  that  the  first  deck  is  not  strong 
enough  to  carry  a  second  tier,  that  no 
space  has  been  allowed  for  stairways. 
The  result  is  that  at  great  expense  the 
whole  thing  has  to  be  pulled  down  and 
built  over. 

Another  lack  in  many  buildings  is 
sufficient  work  room  for  the  librarian. 
At  Hyannis  the  room  is  fifteen  feet 
square,  a  baronial  hall  compared  with 
many  I  have  seen.  Even  in  a  small  town 
library,  for  such  purposes  there  should 
be  provided  a  room  large  enough  to 


admit  comfortably  a  desk  and  a  table 
and  chairs,  a  closet  for  outside  wraps, 
facilities  for  washing  one's  hands,  and 
sufficient  wall  shelving  to  take  care  of 
several  hundred  books,  those  being  un- 
packed, mended  or  catalogued.  The  light 
should  be  arranged  so  that  the  librarian 
may  sit  down  and  write,  paste  labels, 
mend  books,  and  do  a  thousand  and  one 
things  that  have  to  be  done  in  keeping  a 
library  going.  If  there  is  no  other  ar- 
rangement made  for  the  storage  of 
brushes,  mops,  and  other  tools  used  in 
and  outside  of  the  building,  they  should 
be  provided  for  here.  The  town  library 
does  not  need  a  "Trustees'  Room," 
which  figures  on  so  many  plans,  but  it 
does  need  a  workroom  for  the  real 
executive. 

Unlimited  funds  are  not  always  neces- 
sary to  good  library  service.  For  years 
the  Hyannis  library  association  had 
slender  funds,  no  town  appropriation, 
but  it  begged  its  books  from  friends. 
Several  years  ago  a  loyal  and  fore- 
sighted  trustee  bought  this  old  house  and 
held  it  as  a  home  for  the  library.  At  first 
the  rent  of  one  half  of  it  helped  support 
the  library  in  the  other  half.  When  a 
bequest  recently  came  to  the  association, 
with  great  wisdom  they  used  part  of  it 
in  remodeling  the  entire  house  for  the 
library.  It  serves  the  fundamental 
purpose  of  a  library.  But  in  addition  to 
this  it  is  doing  as  much  as  a  building  can 
to  perform  its  part  of  making  readers 
and  lovers  of  books  in  its  community. 


456 


«       »  -  -•       -1        a       j      j-i      —  i       j     MBr^jft  —  *=  —  *=     ^  —  *^      '        Hi      n        •     ' 

The  PLAN  OF  CHICAGO 


Rpberl  H.  Moulton 


ALTHOUGH  the  work  of  putting 
into  effect  the  Plan  of  Chicago 
was  started  only  six  years  ago,  the 
progress  made,  considering  the  delays 
occasioned  by  the  entrance  of  the  United 
States  into  the  war,  is  noteworthy. 
Twenty-two  important  features  of  the 
plan  are  now  in  the  workshops  of  the 
city,  county,  state  or  nation.  By  the 
time  the  work  is  completed  it  is  esti- 
mated that  $250,000,000  will  have  been 
spent,  only  a  part  of  which  will  come — 
by  direct  taxation,  at  least — out  of  the 
public  pocket.  While  the  various  im- 
provements are  under  way  for  the  next 
ten  or  twelve  years,  they  will  fill  the  city 
with  workmen.  They  will  create  new 
real  estate  values,  new  business,  and 
residence  districts.  Quite  irrespective  of 
general  business  conditions,  they  are  a 
guarantee  that  for  a  long  period  the 
people  of  Chicago  will  enjoy  increasing 
activity  and  prosperity. 

The  Plan  of  Chicago  was  inspired  in 
the  minds  of  a  small  number  of  men, 
leaders  in  the  business  life  of  the  city  and 
members  of  two  of  Chicago's  most 
prominent  social  organizations,  the  Com- 
mercial Club  and  the  Merchants'  Club. 
This  was  in  the  period  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  World's  Columbian  exposi- 
tion in  1893. 

While  the  Commercial  Club  commit- 
tee was  working,  an  independent  move- 
ment to  the  same  end  was  started  by  the 
Merchants'  Club.  The  plans  thus  ad- 
vanced were  entirely  formulated  by 
1906,  when  the  Merchants'  Club  for- 
mally undertook  the  work.  In  1907  the 
two  clubs  united  under  the  name  of  the 
Commercial  Club,  which,  in  1908,  gave 
the  world  the  completed  Plan  of  Chicago. 

In  producing  the  Plan  of  Chicago,  the 
Commercial  Club  spared  neither  time, 
money  nor  effort  in  preparing  all  the 
charts,  maps  and  drawings  by  famous 
architects  necessary  to  carrying  out  the 
remodeling  and  development  of  the 


city.  The  plan  was  then  taken  to  the 
City  Hall  and  bestowed  as  a  gift  of  the 
Commercial  Club  to  the  citizenship  of 
Chicago. 

The  city  officials  accepted  it  and  cre- 
ated the  Chicago  Plan  Commission,  of 
328  members,  with  the  duty  of  studying 
and  promoting  it.  Under  Charles  H. 
Wacker,  its  permanent  chairman,  and 
Walter  D.  Moody,  its  managing  di- 
rector, that  commission  has  been  work- 
ing for  eight  years.  As  a  result,  the  city 
has  adopted  the  Plan  of  Chicago  in 
principle,  has  entered  upon  three  basic 
improvements  and  is  at  the  threshold  of 
various  projects  of  minor  importance. 

What  might  be  called  the  heart  of  the 
entire  Plan  is  that  providing  for  the 
development  of  the  lake  front.  Experts 
in  city  building  have  long  argued  that 
Chicago's  front  gate  can  be  made  the 
most  wonderful  in  the  world — and  with- 
out cost  to  the  taxpayers.  Michigan 
Avenue  in  the  last  decade  has  developed 
into  one  of  the  magnificent  thorough- 
fares of  the  world.  But  the  lake  has  not 
kept  pace.  Chicago  has  a  great  fagade, 
but  an  unkempt  front  lawn. 

The  lake  front  project  calls  for  a  com- 
plete remodeling  of  the  shoreland  from 
Jackson  Park,  on  the  south,  to  Wilmette, 
on  the  north,  a  distance  of  twenty-one 
miles.  In  the  development  of  the  water 
front  park  scheme  there  will  be,  begin- 
ning at  Jackson  Park,  a  yacht  harbor 
three  miles  along  shore  and  two  miles 
across,  with  wooded  islands.  Then 
northward  will  sweep  one  large  island 
park,  or  perhaps  two  islands,  reaching 
the  main  harbor  at  Twelfth  Street, 
nearly  five  miles  in  length  and  half  a 
mile  wide.  Between  it  and  the  mainland 
will  run  a  lagoon,  fourteen  hundred  feet 
wide.  Both  margins  of  this  lagoon  will 
be  planted  with  trees  and  shrubs,  so 
arranged  as  to  leave  openings  of  various 
sizes,  thus  providing  vistas  of  the  water 
and  the  life  upon  it,  to  be  enjoyed  by  the 


457 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


people  along  the  driveways  or  living  in 
the  homes  that  line  the  park  stretches. 
On  the  lagoon,  houseboats,  launches, 
canoes,  rowboats  and  small  sailboats, 
as  well  as  craft  for  public  use,  such  as  are 
usual  on  the  Thames,  the  Seine,  t*nd  the 
canals  of  Venice,  can  ply  unrestricted. 

The  development  of  this  water  front 
park  scheme  does  not  end  here,  however. 
It  is  proposed  to  build  a  new  strip  of  land 
immediately  east  of  that  occupied  by  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad  tracks  and  ex- 
tending out  into  the  water  for  a  distance 
of  about  three  hundred  feet,  running  the 
entire  length  from  Jackson  Park  to  con- 
nect with  Grant  Park  at  Twelfth 
Street,  paralleling  the  lagoon  and  outer 
parkway  strip.  This  will  give  Chicago 
the  most  magnificent  water  front  of  any 
city  in  the  world,  and  will  afford  the 
pleasures  that  only  water  sports  and 
waterway  parks  can  provide. 

All  the  park  authorities  of  Chicago 
have  worked  steadily  toward  the  ideas 
of  the  lake  front  plans  in  the  Plan  of 
Chicago.  During  1915,  for  instance, 
more  than  two  hundred  acres  were 
added  to  Lincoln  Park  on  the  north.  It 
was  made  by  filling  in  the  lake.  This 
improvement  embraces  a  yacht  harbor, 
twenty-six  hundred  feet  long  and  a 
thousand  feet  wide,  a  lagoon,  picnic 
grounds,  extensive  playgrounds,  bathing 
beaches  and  a  golf  course.  This  work 
cost  $1,875,000,  but  the  land  thus  made 
is  estimated  to  be  worth  $15,000,000. 

The  improvement  of  Chicago's  water 
front  is  the  most  practical  and  feasible 
part  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago,  and  can  be 
accomplished  at  practically  no  extra 
cost  to  the  taxpayers  by  building  at  the 
rate  of  125  acres  of  land  a  year,  utilizing 
Chicago's  waste  material  and  filling  to  a 
maximum  depth  of  thirty  feet  with  the 
mean  average  depth  of  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet.  At  this  rate  1,200  acres  of  park 
land  can  be  obtained  in  ten  years,  and 
the  value  of  this  land,  according  to 
experts  of  the  Chicago  Real  Estate 
Board,  would  be  $46,000,000.  Grant 
Park,  on  the  water  front,  is  an  illustra- 
tion of  what  can  be  accomplished.  This 
park  contains  over  three  hundred  acres 
and  was  built  up  entirely  of  the  city's 
waste  in  a  few  years. 

At  the  southern  extremity  of  Grant 


Park  the  Field  Museum  of  Natural 
History,  which  was  made  possible  by 
gifts  aggregating  nine  million  dollars  by 
the  late  Marshall  Field  and  which  is  now 
practically  completed,  was  the  first  step 
in  the  development  of  this  space  as  an 
educational  center.  The  building  stands 
upon  made  land  at  the  foot  of  Twelfth 
Street,  facing  Grant  Park.  It  covers  an 
area  of  700  by  350  feet,  or  approximately 
two  city  blocks,  with  a  floor  space  of 
670,000  square  feet.  In  Grant  Park, 
near  the  Field  Museum,  are  to  be 
grouped  the  new  Crerar  Library,  an 
institution  with  an  endowment  of  four 
million  dollars  and  intended  for  the 
student  of  social,  physical,  natural  and 
applied  science,  and  the  new  structures 
of  the  Art  Institute.  The  plans  for  the 
latter  show  a  gallery  of  fine  arts,  to- 
gether with  a  school  of  art,  comprising 
lecture  halls,  exhibition  rooms,  ateliers 
and  general  administration  quarters. 

One  of  the  most  spectacular  features 
of  the  lake  front  improvement  provides 
for  the  construction  of  a  great  central 
harbor  faced  by  Grant  Park,  which  is 
adjacent  to  the  lake  and  extends  along 
the  entire  business  front  of  the  city. 
This  great  basin  will  lie  in  the  hollow  of 
curving  parkland  shores  extending  into 
the  lake  three-quarters  of  a  mile  and 
more  than  a  mile  in  length.  Two  long 
sea  walls,  curving  outward,  with  open- 
ings at  the  center  and  at  either  end,  will 
permit  easy  passage  of  vessels  and  assure 
calm  water  always  within  the  harbor. 
This  scheme  further  provides  for  great 
piers  and  stations  at  the  extremity  of 
the  northern  coast  of  the  harbor,  for  the 
use  of  passenger  carrying  vessels  of  the 
lakes,  and  buildings  for  park  purposes 
at  the  extremity  of  the  southern  coast  of 
the  harbor.  The  work  of  harbor  im- 
provement has  already  made  wonderful 
progress,  $5,000,000  having  been  ex- 
pended upon  a  municipal  pier  of 
unequaled  character  and  dignity. 

The  lake  front  improvement  involves, 
among  other  things,  the  electrification 
of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad's  right  of 
way  from  a  cindery  smudge  into  a  trol- 
leyized  carrier  and  the  erection  of  a 
$50,000,000  terminal  at  Twelfth  Street, 
facing  north,  by  this  road.  Architec- 
turally the  new  terminal  will  conform  to 


458 


Copyright  by  Commercial  Club,  Chicago. 

GENERAL  DIAGRAM   OF   EXTERIOR   HIGHWAYS 

ENCIRCLING  AND  RADIATING  FROM  CHICAGO. 


GENERAL  MAP  OF  THE  PLAN  OF  CHICAGO. 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD 


the  Field  Museum,  just  to  the  east  of 
it.  The  widened  Twelfth  Street  im- 
provement, which  has  already  trans- 
formed for  two  miles  the  old  66-foot 
street  into  a  magnificent  108-foot  wide 
traffic-way  reaching  into  the  heart  of 
Chicago's  great  West  Side,  is  to  be 
carried  from  Michigan  Avenue  to  the  new 
Field  Museum  ^t  a 
heightened  level;  the 
passenger  tracks  in 
the  new  station  will 
be  at  this  level. 
The  new  station  will 
have  twenty-six 
tracks  at  the  Twelfth 
Street  level,  which  is 
a  larger  capacity  than 
that  of  the  new  Union 
Station,  under  con- 
struction. Further- 
more, to  take  care 
of  future  needs,  it 
will  be  so  built  that 
its  capacity  can  be 
doubled  by  putting 
in  twenty-six  other 
tracks  at  a  future 
lower  level  whenever 
transportation  re- 
quires it,  all  without 
disturbing  traffic. 

The  projected  sta- 
tion is  to  be  large 
enough  to  handle  the 
passenger  traffic  of 
all  eastern  roads  not 
running  into  the 
Union  Station.  Be- 
fore the  war  halted 
the  project,  negotiations  were  under 
way  to  sign  up  the  roads  now  running 
into  the  smaller  stations  to  use  it.  The 
city  terminal  plan  now  looks  to  three 
passenger  terminals  in  Chicago,  instead 
of  the  several  scattered  stations.  This 
will  mean  three  great  railway  stations 
for  Chicago — the  Northwestern,  the 
Union  and  the  Twelfth  Street,  and  pas- 
sengers will  be  able  to  pass  from  one  to  the 
other  by  way  of  the  Twelfth  Street  im- 
provement and  widened  Canal  Street 
without  passing  into  the  Loop.  The 
carrying  out  of  this  plan  will  not  only 
simplify  the  care  of  passenger  traffic  but 
also  the  freight  question  and  work  out 


CHART    SHOWING   HOW    1.280    ACRES 

OF     LAKE     FRONT     PARKS     CAN     BE 

MADE  BY  UTILIZING  WASTE 

MATERIAL 


many  of  the  problems  of  congested 
traffic  downtown,  which  for  years  has 
been  one  of  Chicago's  most  serious 
questions. 

At  the  north  end  of  Grant  Park 
begins  the  great  Michigan  Avenue 
Boulevard  link  across  the  river,  which  is 
now  partly  constructed  and  which  will 
connect  the  South  and 
North  sides  with  a 
wide  two-level  street 
at  the  river  crossing, 
the  upper  to  be  used 
as  a  boulevard  and 
the  lower  as  a  traffic 
street.  The  necessity 
for  the  two-level  plan 
is  seen  in  the  enor- 
mous congestion  due 
to  cross  traffic,  the  seg- 
regation of  which  is 
of  the  greatest  im- 
portance. There  is 
sixteen  per  cent  more 
traffic  crossing  the 
Rush  Street  Bridge 
than  passes  over  Lon- 
don Bridge,  long 
known  as  the  world's 
most  congested  ve- 
hicle bridge.  There 
is  thirty-eight  per 
cent  more  congestion 
on  the  eight  connect- 
ing streets  crossing 
Michigan  Avenue  be- 
tween Randolph  and 
Ohio  Streets  than  on 
the  eight  principal 
points  of  entry  into 
the  city  of  London.  Fifty-eight  thousand 
vehicles  of  all  descriptions  cross  or 
traverse  Michigan  Avenue  between 
Randolph  and  Ohio  Streets  every  twelve 
hours  of  a  working  day. 

Another  important  reason  for  the  pro- 
jection of  Michigan  Avenue  on  the  plan 
outlined  is  that  this  great  natural  high- 
way extending,  as  it  does,  forty  miles 
from  Jackson  Park  to  Lake  Forest,  skirt- 
ing a  great  inland  sea,  where,  in  rough 
weather,  the  spray  dashes  over  the  curb, 
presents  possibilities  for  attractiveness 
and  beauty  such  as  do  not  exist  in  any 
other  city.  The  world's  great  cities  are 
all  inland. 


462 


O  «  i-  -j  H 
03  -  55  S  a 

«         -S  K 


il 

J  <  0,  O  >* 


TYPE  OF  BRIDGE  TO  BE  USED  OVER  THE  LAGOON  OF  THE  PARK  ALONG  THE  SHORE  OF 

LAKE  MICHIGAN. 


VIEW  LOOKING  SOUTH  OVER  THE  LAGOON  OF  THE  PARK  TO  BE  BUILT  ALONG  THE  SHORE 

OF  LAKE  MICHIGAN. 

464 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


The  property  taken  for  the  widening 
of  Michigan  Avenue  from  Randolph 
Street  to  Chicago  Avenue  covers  nearly 
one  mile,  and  embraced  many  expensive 
buildings.  These  have  all  been  wrecked 
and  removed  for  the  widening  of  the 
street,  the  total  amount  of  awards  for 
the  property  taken  being  $5,428,671. 
Work  has  been  completed  from  Ohio 
Street  to  Chicago  Avenue  and  the  street 
is  paved  and  opened  to  traffic.  The  con- 
tracts for  the  balance  of  the  improve- 
ment, including  the  new  bridge  across 
the  Chicago  River,  have  been  let,  and 
the  work  is  being  pushed  to  completion. 
The  total  amount  of  the  contracts  for  all 
of  the  work  is  $7,686,887,  which  added 
to  the  amount  of  awards  and  damages 
makes  the  total  cost  of  the  whole  im- 
provement $13,115,558.  However,  this 
improvement  undoubtedly  will  pay  for 
itself  in  a  few  years,  because  all  property 
from  Randolph  Street  to  Chicago  Ave- 
nue, adjacent  to  the  improvement,  in- 
disputably will  increase  in  value.  As  a 
result,  the  city's  revenue  from  taxation 
will  be  largely  increased. 

In  connection  with  the  Michigan 
Avenue  improvement  a  new  suburban 
station  is  to  be  built  by  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  at  Randolph  Street. 
Suburban  traffic  is  to  enter  a  tunnel  near 
Sixteenth  Street  and  will  shoot  under  the 
new  Twelfth  Street  station,  coming  up 
to  breathe  again  just  south  of  Van 
Buren  Street.  As  an  important  part  of 
the  plan  there  is  to  be  a  concourse  at 
Randolph  Street,  under  Michigan  Ave- 
nue, which  will  take  passengers  out  of 
the  way  of  automobile  traffic.  Entrance 
to  this  concourse  beneath  this  busy  spot 
will  be  in  front  of  the  Public  Library, 
which  is  set  far  enough  back  to  give 
plenty  of  room.  There  will  also  be  built 
at  Randolph  Street  a  new  eighty-foot 
viaduct,  to  cost  $1,500,000,  which  will 
replace  the  narrow  twenty-foot  structure 
that  now  gives  ingress  to  the  north  end 
of  Grant  Park.  It  will  be  another  great 
connection  between  Michigan  Avenue 
and  the  driveway  to  be  built  at  the  lake 
edge. 

The  reclamation  of  South  Water 
Street,  the  city's  great  produce  and  com- 
mission market,  on  which  congestion  is  so 
dense  that  through  traffic  is  absolutely 


blocked,  is  another  improvement  of 
magnitude,  and  one  which  is  necessary 
to  complete  Chicago's  great  central 
district.  As  it  stands  today,  South 
Water  Street  is  a  wasteful,  dishearten- 
ing, riotous,  unnecessary  survival  from 
the  town's  careless,  untutored  youth. 
It  is  a  public  highway  entirely  absorbed 
by  private  business;  and,  worse  than 
that,  the  private  business  runs  over  into 
five  of  the  most  important  north  and 
south  streets  in  the  Loop.  As  a  produce 
market,  South  Water  Street  is  doomed. 
New  locations,  with  improved  sanitary 
and  scientific  handling  and  interchange 
facilities,  must  be  found. 

When  this  street  is  reconstructed  and 
rehabilitated  according  to  the  Chicago 
Plan,  it  will  be  another  Michigan 
Avenue  for  half  a  mile.  It  will  have 
what  even  Michigan  Avenue  lacks  — 
namely,  a  broad  strip  of  subway  and  of 
quays  inclining  to  the  water's  edge  and 
permitting  inexpensive  distribution  of 
goods  from  warerooms  and  of  heavy 
freight  from  warehouses  direct  into  rail 
and  water  terminals;  permitting,  also, 
noble  architectural  treatment  and  the 
introduction  of  that  most  engaging 
feature  of  many  a  European  city,  the 
open  air  flower  market  of  the  quays. 

The  plans  for  the  reconstruction  of 
South  Water  Street  call  for  the  clearing 
away  of  the  buildings  on  the  north  side 
of  the  street  from  State  to  Market  Street, 
a  distance  of  about  half  a  mile,  and  for 
double  decking  it,  thus  providing  road- 
ways for  light  traffic  and  heavy  freight- 
ing. Under  this  plan  it  will  not  only 
have  all  that  it  now  lacks  —  air,  light, 
view,  cleanliness,  spaciousness,  and  a 
definite  place  in  a  harmonized  scheme  of 
downtown  development;  but  will  be- 
come second  only  to  Michigan  Avenue 
as  a  traffic  distributor  by  taking  15,714 
vehicle  trips  a  day  out  of  the  Loop. 

By  development  since  1911,  the  future 
of  Canal  Street  as  a  place  of  monu- 
mental architecture  is  assured.  First 
there  came  the  fine  $20,000,000  North- 
western Railway  Terminal.  Then,  more 
recently,  the  splendid  Union  Station, 
forming  a  part  of  the  $50,000,000  de- 
velopment plans  of  the  Pennsylvania 
and  associated  lines,  work  on  which,  held 
up  by  the  war,  will  now  proceed  as 


465 


PHOTOGRAPH  OF  EXISTING  CENTRAL  DISTRICT  OF  CHICAGO,  WITH  PROPOSED  SOUTH 
WATER  STREET  DOUBLE-DECK  IMPROVEMENTS  SKETCHED  IN. 


SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF  STREETS  AND  WAYS  FOR  TEAMING  AND  RECEPTION  OF 
FREIGHT  BY  BOAT,  AT  DIFFERENT  LEVELS,  ON  THE  CHICAGO  RIVER  AT  LAKE 

MICHIGAN. 

466 


rapidly  as  labor  and  material  can  be 
obtained.  Between  these  two  imposing 
terminals  will  be  located  the  new  West 
Side  Post  Office,  which  will  be  commen- 
surate with  Chicago's  position  as  the 
central  clearing  point  for  the  mail  of  the 
entire  country. 

Perhaps  no  other  feature  of  the  Plan 
of  Chicago  will  save  so  much  money  and 
bring  so  quick  a  return  in  convenience 
and  traffic  facilitation  as  the  extension 
of  Ogden  Avenue  from  Union  Park  to 
Lincoln  Park  at  North  Avenue.  The 
whole  area,  which  the  improved  street 
will  penetrate,  open  up  and  animate,  is 
now  more  or  less  at  a  point  of  stagna- 
tion. It  fits  in  with  no  ordered  scheme  of 
community  activity.  The  reason  is  that 
the  district  is  isolated,  pocketed.  From 
the  northeast  to  the  southwest  it  has  no 
great  diagonal  artery — only  right  angle 
streets. 

The  extension  of  Ogden  Avenue  in  the 
manner  proposed  will  result  in  the  crea- 
tion of  a  big  commercial  artery,  two  and 
a  half  miles  long  and  108  feet  wide, 


tapping  all  important  east  and  west  and 
north  and  south  streets  in  the  area  it  will 
diagonalize.  It  will  result,  further,  in 
an  appreciable  easing  of  traffic  in  the 
Loop;  will  facilitate  heavy  transporta- 
tion into  and  out  of  the  Northwest  Side, 
and  will  provide  a  quick,  easy  way  to 
Lincoln  Park  from  crowded  districts  of 
the  West  Side  far  removed  from  Lake 
Michigan.  It  will  shorten,  for  instance, 
the  distance  from  Union  Park  to  Lincoln 
Park  by  one  mile.  More  than  this,  it 
will  provide  a  cross  town  thoroughfare 
connecting  important  north  shore  sub- 
urbs with  other  suburbs  on  the  south- 
west. 

Other  salient  features  of  the  Plan  of 
Chicago  include  the  widening  of  Western 
Avenue  to  one  hundred  feet  its  entire 
length;  the  improvement  of  Ashland 
Avenue  and  Robey  Street,  making  them 
through  thoroughfares;  the  construction 
of  an  outer  drive  connecting  Grant  and 
Lincoln  Parks  via  the  lake  front,  thus 
relieving  downtown  congestion,  and 
making  a  direct  connection  between 


PLAN    OF    EXISTING    SOUTH    WATER    STREET    AND   OF   CHICAGO    RIVER. 

467 


ILLINOIS  CENTRAL  STATION  AS  IT  WILL  APPEAR  ON  NEW  EAST  TWELFTH  STREET, 
WITH    NEW    FIELD    MUSEUM    ON    THE    LAKE    FRONT. 


• 

'.     "'   i'1          '    .•>  -?  —  - 


NEW  UNION  STATION  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION,  ON  LEFT;   NEW  WEST  SIDE  POST  OFFICE 
IN    CENTER:   AND    NEW    NORTH    WESTERN    STATION    (COMPLETED)   ON    RIGHT. 


^KMflwmrMW-tMi!  .tm**m«ujw 


NEW  PENNSYLVANIA  FREIGHT  TERMINAL  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION  BETWEEN  POLK  AND 
TAYLOR  STREETS.  CANAL  STREET  AND  THE  SOUTH  BRANCH  OF  THE  CHICAGO  RIVER. 


OGDEN    AVENUE    EXTENSION. 


THE  ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


Jackson  Park,  the  new  lake  front  park, 
Grant  Park,  the  Municipal  Pier,  and 
Lincoln  Park;  the  construction  of  boule- 
vards along  the  drainage  canal  to  con- 
nect with  the  park  system;  the  straight- 
ening of  the  Chicago  River  in  a  number 
of  places  and  the  building  of  new  bridges 
across  it;  the  opening  of  the  Indian 
Boundary  Road  from  the  Desplaines 
River  near  Belmont  Avenue  to  Crawford 
and  Peterson  Avenues  and  via  Peterson 
Avenue  to  the  lake,  thus  producing  a 
great  outer  diagonal  thoroughfare,  cross- 
ing prominent  section  and  half-section 
line  streets,  and  passing  many  public 
institutions;  and  the  acquisition  of  addi- 
tional forest  areas  already  selected  for 
purchase,  to  be  added  to  the  more  than 
six  thousand  acres  so  far  secured  in  the 
great  plan  to  give  the  people  on  all  sides 


of  the  city  playgrounds  of  vast  worth  to 
their  health  and  happiness. 

Since  this  article  was  written  the 
people  of  Chicago,-  on  November  4,  by 
an  overwhelming  vote  approved  the 
issue  of  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $28.600,- 
000  for  the  extension  of  Ogden  Avenue 
from  Union  Park  to  Lincoln  Park,  the 
widening  of  Western  Avenue  to  one 
hundred  feet  for  twenty-five  miles,  the 
widening  and  double  decking  of  South 
Water  Street,  the  straightening  and 
widening  to  one  hundred  feet  of  Ash- 
land Avenue,  and  the  straightening  of 
Robey  Street,  with  subways  beneath 
numerous  railroad  tracks.  This  is 
really  going  to  be  a  $57,200,000  job, 
however,  because  for  every  dollar  that 
is  received  from  the  bond  issues  another 
dollar  is  given  by  the  property  owners 
whose  holdings  are  benefitted. 


SCHEME  ADOPTED  FOR  WIDENING  AND  EXTENDING  MICHIGAN  AVENUE  NORTHWARD 
FROM    RANDOLPH    STREET.     LOOKING    NORTH    FROM    WASHINGTON    STREET. 


470 


GARDEN  TERRACE  —  RESIDENCE  OF  J.  WATSON  WEBB, 
ESQ.,  WOODBURY.    L.  I.     CROSS  &  CROSS.  ARCHITECTS. 


EVERGREEN  GARDEN— RESIDENCE   OF  FREDERICK  FRELINGHUYSEN.  ESQ..  ELBERON, 

N.  J. 
Marian  C.  Coffin,  Landscape  Architect. 


"WHITE  GARDEN  —  RESIDENCE   OF  FREDERICK  FRELINGHUYSEN,  ESQ.,  ELBERON,  N.  J. 

Marian  C.  Coffin,  Landscape  Architect. 

472 


VIEW    FROM    TERRACE  —  RESIDENCE    OF   G.    S.    GAYLORD,   ESQ.,   NEENAH,   WIS. 

ChJlds  &  Smith,  Architects. 


ENTRANCE    GATE  —  RESIDENCE    OF    G.    S.    GAYLORD.   ESQ..  NEENAH.   WIS. 

Childs  &  Smith.  Architects. 

473 


RESIDENCE    OF    E.    E.    RAKER,    ESQ.,    KEWANEE,  ILL. 
Frederick  \\    Parkins,  Architect. 


GARDEN  —  RESIDENCE  OF  WILLIAM  MARSHALL  BULLITT,   ESQ..  OXMOOR,   KENTUCKY. 

Marian  C.  Coffin,  Landscape  Architect. 

474 


GARDEN  — RESIDENCE    OF    ROBERT    APPLETON,    ESQ.,    EAST    HAMPTON,    L.    I. 

Frank  Eaton  Newman,  Architect. 


GARAGE  — RESIDENCE    OF   WALTER   B.    WALKER,    ESQ..    ARDSLEY.    N.    Y. 
Frank  J.  Forster,  Architect. 

475 


RESIDENCE    OF    GRENVILLE    T.    EMMET,    ESQ., 
NEW   YORK.     MOTT    B.    SCHMIDT,   ARCHITECT. 


RESIDENCE     OF    GRENVILLE    T.    EMMET.    ESQ., 
NEW    YORK.       MOTT    B.    SCHMIDT.    ARCHITECT. 


RESIDENCE    OF    GRENVILLE    T.    EMMET.    ESQ.. 
NEW   YORK.      MOTT   B.    SCHMIDT,   ARCHITECT. 


RESIDENCE    OF    ORENVILLK    T.    EMMET.    ESQ., 
NEW   YORK.      MOTT   B.   SCHMIDT.  ARCHITECT. 


RESIDENCE    OF    GBENVILLE    T.    EMMET,    ESQ., 
NEW  YORK.      MOTT   B.   SCHMIDT,   ARCHITECT. 


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RESIDENCE    OF    GRENVILLE    T.    EMMET,    ESQ.. 
NEW   YORK.      MOTT   B.    SCHMIDT.   ARCHITECT. 


RESIDENCE    OF    GRENVILLE    T.    EMMET.    ESQ.. 
NEW   YORK.      MOTT    B.    SCHMIDT.   ARCHITECT. 


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FORTY-P^TIENT   PAVILION,    MUNICIPAL    SANITARIUM,   OTISVILLE,    N.    Y. 

J.  J.  Crane,  Architect. 


484 


ART  AND  ARCHITECTURE  AFTER  THE 
WAR:  A  LIST  OF  REFERENCES 

By  FRANK  WE1TENKAMPF 


THERE  has  been  much  writing  and 
speaking  about  the  possible  influ- 
ence of  war  on  art — art  in  the 
broadest  meaning  of  the  word.  A  review 
of  what  has  been  printed  may  at  least 
help  to  clear  the  air.  The  following  list 
includes  American,  English,  French  and 
German  titles.  Thus,  the  national  point 
of  view  is  shown,  sometimes  expressed 
to  the  point  of  rhapsody.  But  the  differ- 
ence in  personal  standpoint,  irrespective 
of  nationality,  also  appears.  Where  one 
writer  sees  a  far-reaching  influence,  a 
veritable  renaissance  of  art;  another  finds 
that  wars  have  no  decisive  significance  at 
all  for  art. 

What  is  perhaps  more  significant  is 
that  not  a  little  of  all  this  writing  turns 
on  the  art  industries — the  great  field  of 
the  applied  and  decorative  arts — and  on 
architecture.  There  we  have  to  do,  ap- 
parently, not  so  much  with  a  direct  spir- 
itual influence  of  the  war  as  with  eco- 
nomic and  social  conditions  furthered  by 
the  war.  The  vital  importance  of  these 
art  industries  to  trade  is  being  realized 
abroad,  and  we  in  America  should  heed 
the  preaching  of  those  agitators  in  the 
good  cause. 

In  architecture,  one  may  expect  some 
individual  profit,  indirectly,  from  the 
war  through  the  opportunity  which  it 
may  have  given  some  young  architects  to 
see  fine  buildings  abroad.  But  above  and 
beyond  that  there  is  the  possibility  that 
war  building  activities  here  may  at  least 
have  taught  some  the  lesson  of  the  ad- 
visability of  better  co-operation  between 
architect,  builder  (contractor)  and  en- 
gineer. That's  one  of  the  things  held  in 
view  by  the  Post- War  Committee  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Architects  in  its 
questionnaire. 

The  essential  emphasis  in  these  appli- 
cations of  the  question,  "what  after  the 
war?"  to  practical  needs  of  the  day  and 
the  future,  lies  therefore  on  forethought 


and  action  rather  than  on  discussion  of 
final  causes. 

The  summaries  of  the  titles  which  fol- 
low are  not  a  matter  of  editorial  selec- 
tion, but  of  compilation.  The  opinions 
are  presented  without  comment  for  the 
reader's  choice. 


ART  IN  GENERAL 

Bell   Clive.     Art    and   war.      (International 
Journal  of  Ethics,  vol.  26,  Oct.,  1915,  p. 

1-10.) 

"Cultivated  people  agree  that  this  is  no  time  for 
art   .    .    .   Art's  supreme  importance  lies  in  its  glory 


to  share  with  truth  and  religion  the  power  of  appeal- 
ing to  that  part  of  us  which  is  unconditional  by  time 
or  place  or  public  or  personal  interests  .  .  .  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  patriotic  art  .  .  .  Rejoice  that 
there  are  some  who,  rising  above  tumultuous  circum- 
stances, continue  to  create  and  speculate.  ...  A 
nation  that  would  defend  the  cause  of  civilization 
must  remain  civilized.  .  .  .  There  have  been  wars 
as  great  as  this;  there  may  be  greater.  .  .  .  Art 
survives." 

Berard,  L.  L'Art  francais  et  la  guerre. 
(Revue  politique  et  litteraire,  55e  annee, 

May  26,  1917,  p.  321-325.) 
"Former  wars,  especially  those  of  the  Empire, 
have  been  followed  by  an  extremely  brilliant  period 
of  artistic  activity.  Doubtless  a  renewal  of  spirit- 
ual life  and  artistic  production  will  similarly  fol- 
low the  rough  time  through  which  we  are  passing. 
.  .  .  The  artists,  after  the  war  as  before  it,  will 
follow  divers  ways."  Author  speaks  also  of  the 
German  invasion  of  the  domain  of  art  industry  in 
France. 

Binyon,  Laurence.  Art  and  the  war.  (New 
Statesman,  vol.  9,  May  12,  1917,  p.  135- 

136.) 

"If  the  senseless  destruction  .  .  .  were  really 
all,  art  could  have  little  traffic  with  such  madness. 
But  never  before  in  history  has  a  war  provoked 
among  people  in  general  ...  a  desire  for  art  _  to 
express  for  them  the  great  realities  of  the  struggle." 

The  author,  being  concerned  with  the  represen- 
tation of  war  in  art,  reviews  the  war  drawings  of 
Bone,  Nevinson,  Kennington,  and  Bandley-Read. 

Col  ton,  W.  R.  Effects  of  war  on  art.  [From 
a  lecture  at  Carpenters'  Hall.]  (Archi- 
tect and  Contract  Reporter,  London, 

vol.  95,  March  17,  1916,  p.  199-201.) 
"I  take  for  the  text  of  my  discourse  a  quotation 
from  Rustdn's  Crown  of  Wild  Olives:  'All  the  pure  and 
noble  arts  of  peace  are  founded  on  war."  War 
teaches  us  self-sacrince  for  the  good  of  an  idea  and  of 
the  community.  As  far  as  art  is  concerned,  it  was 
high  time  that  war  should  come  with  its  purifying 
flrt.  So-called  art  had  grown  in  Europe  like  unto  a 
puffed-out  and  unhealthy  fungus  of  enormous  size. 
A  wave  of  diseased  degeneracy  had  submerged  .  .  . 
art.  ...  In  architecture  we  have  perhaps  kept 
saner,  and  have  not  fallen  to  the  new  art  eccentric 


485 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


ties.    .    .    I  plead  for  a  sane  future  when  peace  comes 
in  art,  including  architecture." 

Evening  Post.  Aug.  23,  1919.    Editorial. 

Deals  not  with  art,  but  with  the  whole  question 
of  transportation  of  character.  "The  war  trans- 
formed no  one." 

Fechter,  Paul.  Wege  zur  Kriegskunst. 
(Deutsche  Kunst  und  Dekoration,  Darm- 
stadt, 19.  Jahrgang,  March,  1916, 

p.  475-478.) 

"With  the  war  there  came  the  attempts  to  perpet- 
uate, with  the  means  of  art,  the  prodigious  event 
...  a  paradox,  since  the  war  aimed  at  invisibility. 
.  .  .  Tliis  war's  peculiarity  lies  in  the  fact  that 
in  the  end  it  defies  representation.  .  .  .  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  there  is  opened  up  a  world  of  possi- 
bilities for  the  younger  men.  They  sought,  even  be- 
fore the  war,  to  depart  from  the  mere  representation 
of  the  visible.  .  .  .  The  war  here  becomes  the 
strongest  promoter  of  the  timely.  Where  one  form 
of  art  finds  its  limits,  it  sets  greater  problems  for  the 
other,  the  coming,  art. 

Friedmann,  Armin.  Der  Krieg  und  die  Kunst 
des  Kindes.  (Westermann's  Monats- 

hefte,  1915,  Bd.  118,  p.  551-559.) 
Deals   with   drawings   made   by   children   in   the 
schools  of  Vienna,  mainly  representing  battle  scenes. 

Galsworthy,  John.  Art  and  the  war.  (At- 
lantic Monthly,  Nov.,  1915,  p.  624-628. 
Also  in  Fortnightly  Review,  Nov.,  1915, 

p.  924-929. 

"For  thousands  of  generations  war  has  been  the 
normal  state  of  man's  existence,  yet  alongside  war 
has  flourished  this  art,  reflecting  man's  myriad  as- 
pirations and  longings.  What  can  this  war  do  that  a 
million  wars  have  not?  It  is  bigger  and  more  bloody 
— the  reaction  from  it  will  be  but  the  greater.  .  .  . 
When  the  war  is  over,  the  world  will  find  that  the 
thing  which  has  changed  least  is  art.  .  .  .  The  wind 
of  war  reeking  with  death  will  neither  have  warped 
nor  poisoned  it.  ...  Monsieur  Splogub,  the  Rus- 
sian poet,  .  .  .  has  indicated  his  view  that  after  the 
war  art  will  move  away  from  the  paths  of  naturalism. 
.  .  .  It  is  never  good  to  argue  about  words.  .  .  . 
Art  will  take  all  paths  after  the  war  just  as  before." 

Gerrard,  Thomas  J.  Art  after  the  war. 
(Dublin  Review,  vol.  158,  Jan.,  1916,  p. 

51-56.) 

"Among  the  many  hopes  that  are  to  be  realized 
through  the  present  clash  of  arms  is  that  of  a  new 
birth  to  art  in  all  its  forms.  .  .  .  All  art  is  sacramen- 
tal. There  is  an  outward  sign  and  inward  beauty. 
....  The  experience  of  the  battlefields  will  carry 
with  it  a  far-reaching  influence.  The  enormous  sacri- 
fice of  life  is  helping  to  make  us  appreciate  more  fully 
the  reality  of  the  spirit  world.  All  these  influences 
.  .  .  will  fall  on  our  national  character  and  tempera- 
ment, and  there  shall  rise  again  a  national  art  worthy 
of  a  great  nation." 

Grundy,  C.  Reginald.  War  and  British  art. 
Illus.  (Connoisseur,  Aug.,  1915,  p. 

195-201.) 

"Optimistic  critics  are  looking  to  the  war  for  a 
great  renaissance  in  English  art,  an  idea  which 
probably  owes  its  genesis  to  a  sentence  in  one  of  Mr. 
George  Moore's  essays  on  Modern  Painting.  .  .  . 
This  theory  is  fascinating.  .  .  .  But  innumerable 
wars  .  .  .  have  occurred  without  being  followed 
by  art.  .  .  .  All  the  periods  of  art,  which  Mr. 
Moore  has  mentioned,  have  followed  on  wars.  .  .  . 
But  they  have  also  come  during  periods  of  great 
national  prosperity:  and,  as  prosperity  appears  to  be 
the  invariable  forerunner  of  art,  we  must  look  on 
wealth  rather  than  war  as  the  source  of  art."  Author 
cites  instances  in  the  past,  and  compares  England's 
position  in  art  at  the  time  of  Napoleonic  wars  with 
that  which  she  occupies  at  the  present.  "Unfor- 
tunately, one  of  the  economies  which  imposes  the 


least  self-denial  on  the  majority  is  the  cessation  of  the 
purchase  of  objects  of  art.  But  the  creation  and  con- 
servation of  the  beautiful  form  a  vast  industry  on 
which  both  the  present  and  future  commercial  success 
of  the  nation  largely  hinges.  .  .  .  Weaken  and  viti- 
ate this  source  and  the  future  of  half  the  industries 
in  the  country  is  jeopardised.  .  .  .  Unless  we  are 
careful,  there  is  every  danger  of  another  decline  in 
English  taste.  The  people  who  have  devoted  their 
lives  to  ...  art  must  receive  adequate  support,  or 
else,  as  in  the  case  of  their  predecessors,  .  .  .  when 
the  war  is  over,  a  new  generation  [will)  arise  ignorant 
of  artistic  traditions.  .  .  .  Money  spent  in  British 
art  is  not  money  lost  to  the  country." 

Harrison,  Birge.  Art  and  the  European 
war.  (American  Magazine  of  Art,  1916, 

vol.  7,  p.  270-272.) 

Deals  with  the  "all-enveloping  war-atmosphere 
which  at  present  overwhelms  our  intellectual  world. 
.  .  .  The  psychology  of  war  and  the  psychology 
of  art  are  dramatically  opposed  to  each  other.  .  .  . 
Monuments  in  commemoration  of  successful  warfare 
were  provided.  .  .  when  the  war  spirit  no  longer 
filled  the  air." 

Hartley,  C.  Gasguoine,  and  Arthur  D.  Lewis. 
War  and  the  arts.  (English  Review, 

1916,  vol.  23,  p.  150-162.) 

"Numberless  wars  left  singularly  little  effect  on 
literature  and  painting.  .  .  .  Untroubled  art  is 
the  product  of  deepest  faith.  .  .  .  Those  who  have 
actually  seen  bloodshed  .  .  .  did  not  wish  to  write 
stories  or  poems.  .  .  .  Probably  the  horrors  of 
war  have  been  better  sxiggested  by  artists  such  as 
Vereshchagon,  Callot,  and  Goya  than  by  any  writer. 
.  .  .  It  is  the  commonest  error  to  think  of  art  as  if 
it  stood  outside  the  other  activities  of  life.  .  .  .  By 
this  war  men  have  been  brought  back  to  the  primi- 
tive emotions.  .  .  .  Art  which  depends  on  mere 
.  .  .  thin  cleverness  will  become  unimportant." 

Hausenstein,  Wilhelm.  Krieg  und  Kunst. 
(Neuezert,  1914,  Jahrg.  33,  Bd.  1,  p. 

154-160.) 

"It  is  clear  that  the  relation  between  war  and 
art,  for  the  period  of  time  nearest  us,  that  is,  the 
19th  and  20th  centuries,  has  had  no  significance  in 
any  way  decisive.  Still,  the  time  in  which  we  live 
impels  many  to  attempt  a  review  of  the  subject." 
.  .  .  Author  touches  on  the  economic  significance  of 
the  war  for  the  artist,  destruction  and  appropriation 
of  art  monuments  and  objects,  the  artistic  value  of 
armor,  uniforms,  weapons,  the  representation  of  war 
in  art,  and  the  question  of  national  art. 

Hendley,  T.  H.  War  in  Indian  art.  (Jour- 
nal of  Indian  Art,  vol.  17,  new  series, 

April,  1915.)     Plates. 

"Object  is  to  trace  effect  which  war  has  had  on 
artistic  expression  of  the  Indian  people  at  different- 
epochs.  ' '  The  article  is  concerned  with  the  represent  a- 
tion  of  war  in  art. 

Jaumann,  A.     Die  deutsche  Kunst  und  der 
Krieg.      (Deutsche  Kunst  und  Dekora- 
tion, Jahrg.  17,  1914,  Hefte  12,  21.) 
"War  is  not  favorable  to  the  muses.    .    .    .   To 
the  noble  race  war  is  as  a  purgatory.     It  consumes 
all  that  is  over-ripe  and  sickly.    .    .    .   That  is  the 
soil  for  a  new,  really  German  art.   .    .    .   Interna- 
tional studio  tricks,  devoid  of  time  or  race,  no  longer 
interest  us.    ...   A  style  will  be  formed,  modern 
and  German." 

Kilmer,  Joyce.  War  has  stopped  European 
letters  and  art,  but  after  peace  old  forms 
will  be  inadequate  to  express  new  and 
tremendous  experiences,  says  Arthur 
Bullard.  (N.  Y.  Times  Magazine,  Nov. 

5,  1916,  p.  8.) 

"The  best  art  comes  when  the  great  experience 
has  come  and  gone,  and  been  pondered." 


486 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


Kriegs-Wahrzeichen  zum  Benageln.  69 
Entwiirfe  axis  einem  Preiswettbewerb 
des  Deutschen  Werkbundes.  Munich: 

F.  Bruckmann  A.  G.,  Dez.,  1915. 

"As  there  was  danger  that  tokens  deficient  would 
be  erected,  the  Deutsche  Werkbund  instituted  a 
competition  for  the  acquisition  of  sketches  which 
were  donated  to  the  national  cause." 

These  tokens  were  the  portraits  and  other  figures 
erected  to  have  nails  driven  into  them. 

Lenz,  Georg.  Kriegsandenken  der  Konig- 
lichen  Porzellamnanufaktur  zu  Berlin. 
Illus.  (Velhagen  und  Klasings  Monat- 

shefte,  Jahrg.  29,  1915,  p.  250-262.) 
Description  and  illustrations  of  souvenirs,  mainly 
of  the   Napoleonic   wars   and   the   Franco-German 
War  of  1870-71,  thus  illustrating  influence  of  war 
in  a  temporary  phase  of  art. 

Oechelhaeuser,  Adolf  von.  Krieg  und  Kunst: 
Kriegs-Vortrag.  Karlsruhe  1.  B.:  G. 

Braun,  1915.    32  p.  12°. 

Speaking  from  the  standpoint  of  a  victorious 
Germany,  the  author  thinks  that  "new  duties  and 
problems  will  be  so  many  that  all  force  and  serious- 
ness will  be  needed  to  fulllil  them  .  .  .  and  that 
will  also  benefit  German  art." 

Pazaurek,  Gustav  E.  Patriotismus,  Kunst 
und  Kunsthandwerk.  Stuttgart :  Deutsche 
Verlags-Anstalt,  1914.  32  p.  8°.  (Der 

deutsche  Krieg,  Heft  20.) 

"Again  a  time  has  come  when  all  art,  in  so  far  as 
it  does  not  serve  outer,  blind  glorification  of  the 
fatherland,  is  considered  superfluous.  .  .  .  The 
rough  practice  of  war  does  not  provide  a  happy  con- 
dition for  the  appreciation  and  cultivation  of  art. 
But  when  the  cause  has  ceased  .  .  .  the  inevi- 
table reaction  will  .  .  .  not  fail  to  appear,  and 
art  in  every  form  will  be  all  the  more  welcome  and 
desired." 

Phillips,  Duncan.  Art  and  the  war.   (American 

Magazine  of  Art,  vol.  9, 1918,  p.  303-309.) 
"Is  art  a  luxury?  ...  In  war-time  we  are  apt 
to  think  more  sentimentally  than  clearly.  .  .  .  The 
conservation  of  art  should  be  an  important  part  of 
our  war  preparations  .  .  .  Art  may  be  a  refuge 
.  .  .  Art  is  an  asset  for  potential  usefulness  in  time 
of  war.  .  .  .  We  need  art  to  clarify  our  under- 
standing. We  .  .  .  need  pictorial  propaganda. 
More  vital  ...  is  the  record  which  art  can  make 
of  the  emotions  of  this  war  against  war.  .  .  .  The 
existence  of  art  is  at  stake.  Painters  and  sculptors  can 
visualize  .  .  .  the  civilization  which  we  intend  to 
preserve.  .  .  .  How  hard  hit  painters  are  just  now. 
Buying  seems  to  have  stopped.  .  .  .  Is  it  not  worth 
while  to  keep  artists  alite  for  the  sake  of  after  time?  .  .  . 
All  true  artists  are  ...  fighting  for  future  genera- 
tions. Our  artists  have  not  yet  received  the  great 
reaction.  .  .  .  Yet  the  war  is  shaping  and  coloring 
their  every  thought.  ..." 

Rothe,  P.  Die  Kinder  und  der  Krieg.  Illus. 
(Deutsche  Kunst  und  Dekoration,  vol. 

35,  1915,  p.  455-457.) 

Describes  an  exhibition,  held  in  Vienna,  of  draw- 
ings by  school  children,  representing  war  scenes. 

Salmon,  Andre".  Effect  on  art  of  present 
war.  (N.  Y.  Times  Magazine,  July 

11,  1915.) 

"Every  war  crisis  puts  art  in  grave  peril,  since  it 
changes  its  conditions,  shatters  it  economically  and 
reduces  for  a  while  the  number  of  its  devotees." 

Schubert,  Walter  F.  Die  deutsche  Zeichen- 
kunst  und  der  Weltkrieg.  (Westennann's 
Monatshefte,  Jan.,  1916,  p.  689-699.) 


Scott,  Cyril.  The  connection  of  the  war 
with  art  and  music.  (The  Monthly 
Musical  Record,  London,  vol.  46,  Mar., 

1916,  p.  68-70.) 

"Certain  signs  of  a  very  particular  nature  have 
shown  themselves  in  the  world  of  art  within  the 
few  years  preceding  the  great  struggle.  In  the  do- 
main of  painting  certain  signs  of  viciousness  ap- 
peared: in  sculpture,  very  much  the  same  thing: 
in  music,  a  discordancy  .  .  .  Hardly  ever  has  the 
Astral  Plane  been  in  the  state  it  now  is.  ...  The 
spirit  of  the  war,  then,  most  certainly  seems  to  have 
influenced  with  its  discordant  force  our  world  of 
music." 

Servaes,  Franz.  Der  Krieg  und  der  Kunst- 
markt.  Illus.  (Deutsche  Kunst  und 

Dekoration,  Jahrg.  18,  1915,  p.  343-350.) 
"In  war  time  there  is  apparently  nothing  more 
superfluous  than  art.  .  .  .  To  him  who  really  loves 
art,  it  will  become  doubly  dear  in  time  of  tribulation 
and  distress.  .  .  .  Therefore,  it  is  necessary  that 
the  atmosphere  of  artistic  life  in  our  land  do  not 
wholly  die  out  at  this  time.  ...  It  would  be  a 
great  national  calamity  if  our  art  market  should 
now  be  wholly  deserted.  In  fine  as  well  as  in  applied 
art  activity  must  not  stop.  Artists  must  produce  and 
art  lovers  must  acquire. 

Steinlein,  Stephan.  Krieg  und  Kunst.  (Kunst 
und  Handwerk,  1915,  Jahrg.  65,  p.  105- 

108.) 

"On  the  one  hand,  war  is  praised  as  the  great 
fructifler  and  liberator.  .  .  .  and  all  past  epochs 
are  cited  in  support.  Others  use  the  same  historic 
periods  to  emphasize  the  opposite.  ...  If  today 
there  is  a  general  belief  that,  so  to  speak,  out  of  noth- 
ing and  over  night  ...  a  great  change  would  take 
place,  just  because  the  war  gave  the  impetus,  the 
answer  to  this  conception,  based  on  romanticism 
rather  than  reality,  is  that,  before  all  and  as  a  deter- 
mining factor,  the  matter  turns  on  our  possession 
of  immediately  active  power  and  positive  capability." 

Symon;  J.  W.  War  and  creative  art.  [Dif- 
ficult position  of  the  artist  unable  to  go 
upon  active  service  and  finding  no 
demand  for  his  creative  genius.]  (English 

Review,  Dec.,  1915,  p.  51-520.) 
Deals  with  the  actual  practice  of  the  arts  during 
the  war. 

Villeurbanne,  Jean  de.  La  guerre  et  les 
Salons  de  peinture.  (Nouvelle  revue, 

April,  1915,  p.  252-264.) 

"The  Salons  will  not  open  their  doors  in  1915. 
Therefore,  it  has  seemed  to  us  interesting  to  ask 
artists  .  .  .  these  two  questions :  1 .  Will  not  the 
war  have  a  deep  reaction  and  effect  on  the  art  of 
tomorrow?  2.  Will  it  not  bring  about  a  modification 
in  the  grouping  of  the  Societies?" 

The  replies,  printed  in  this  article,  deal  mainly 
with  the  question  of  Salon  or  no  Salon. 

Wuest,  Paul.  Moglichkeiten  Kunstlerischer 
Wahrnehmung  im  Kriege.  (Literar- 
historische  Gesellscheft  Bonn.  Mitteil- 

ungen,  1915,  Jahrg.  10,  p.  27-51.) 
Author  describes  "objectivity"  with  which  soldier 
at  front  can  observe  nature,  and  considers  it  pos- 
sibly a  sort  of  reaction  of  the  mind  against  all  too 
horrible  immediate  impressions.  .  .  .  On  the  other 
hand,  such  images  simply  impose  themselves  by  their 
inherent  force. 

Zeitler,  Julius.     Buchgewerbe  und  Graphik 

des  Krieges.     3  pi.    Illus.     (Arohir  fur 

Buchgewerbe,  1915,  Bd.  52,  p.  193-223.) 

Review  of  discussion  on  art  before  and  during  the 

war,  in  Germany.     "It  is  clear  that  the  emphasis 


1ST 


is  not  so  much  on  purging  of  foreign  elements,  as 
desired  by  reactionaries,  but  on  an  immersion  in  the 
fountain  of  our  own  radical  being.  .  .  .  With  our 
new  art  industry,  and  with  architecture,  our  book-art 
shows  the  advantage  of  having  already  grown  farthest 
into  the  great  cultural  problems  of  the  future,  which 
lie  before  us.  The  graphic  arts  also,  so  much  a  child 
of  German  active  phantasy,  will  have  to  join  this 
development  into  the  spiritual,  the  ideal.  .  .  . 
Thus  do  we  define  the  result  which  this  war  in  general 
may  have  for  art.  We  now  come  to  our  subject  when 
we  consider  how  war  itself  is  an  object  of  representa- 
tion in  art.  ...  It  has  been  shown  that  direct 
participation  in  the  war  has  great  study-value,  but 
that  it  cannot  immediately  further  higher  artistic  pro- 
duction. .  .  .  The  artist  who  has  remained  at  home 
is  therefore  not  so  different  in  his  possibilities,  from 
the  one  who  has  been  in  the  field.  .  .  .  To  the  artists 
working  at  home  war  will  always  present  itself  more 
symbolically;  they  are  not  so  much  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  horrors  of  the  moment.  .  .  .  but  for 
the  feeling  which  moves  us  all  .  .  .  they  find  lofty 
symbolism."  So-called  "Hurrah"  illustration  of  the 
sensational,  or  sentimental  kinds,  is  properly  con- 
demned, at  least  in  its  lower  aspects. 

ART  INDUSTRIES 

Annfield,  Maxwell.  Art  and  patriotism. 
(Colour,  London,  vol.  4,  March,  1916, 
p.  55-59.) 

"The  formation  of  the  Design  and  Industries 
Association  ...  is  a  very  interesting  sign  of  the 
times.  Imitating  a  German  organization  that  .  . 
has  been  pouring  gold  into  the  trade-coffers  of  that 
country,  it  ...  shows  that  British  commercial 
people  are  beginning  to  realize  that  art  and  patriotism, 
or  at  any  rate  art  and  money-making,  are  not  so 
disunited  as  they  once  believed.  .  .  .  Is  art  a 
luxury?  .  .  .  Art  is  necessary  to  health.  .  .  .  Our 
economic  position  is  largely  due  to  the  excellence  of 
our  exports.  Of  late  years  some  of  these  have  been 
superseded.  .  .  .  German  goods,  so  far  as  sound- 
ness goes,  are  not  a  patch  on  our  own.  .  .  .  Sound- 
ness is  not  the  only  quality  demanded.  Nowadays 
some  of  the  sound  and  very  solid  British  goods  lose 
then-  attractiveness.  The  transformation  of  Ger- 
many's commercial  output  .  .  .  has  been  accom- 
plished by  an  association  of  artists,  producers  and 
distributors  working  with  one  aim  and  with  inde- 
fatigable industry  and  intelligence.  .  .  .  American 
printing  and  typography  have  for  some  years  been 
far  in  advance  of  our  own.  .  .  .  Whilst  we  have  been 
sleeping,  the  Americans  are  learning  hard.  They 
are  also  discovering  that  taste  pays.  [Comparison 
between  American  and  British  advertisements  and 
illustrations.]  In  artistic  application  Great  Britain 
is  at  present  a  back  number.  .  .  .  We  shall  be 
compelled  to  face  the  music.  .  .  . " 

Eisler,  Max.  Oesterreichisches  Kunstge- 
werbe.  Illustrated.  (Dekorative  Kunst, 

Jahrg.  18,  1915,  p.  258-262.) 
Describes  an  exhibition  in  the  Oesterreichisches 
Museum,  designed  to  provide  work  for  "home  in- 
dustry" and  to  incite  the  technical  schools  "in  the 
direction  of  needs  in  cheap  ware ;  and  to  bring  both 
into  fruitful  relation  with  the  thought  of  the  great 
hour." 

Fischel,  Hartwig.  Ausstellung  von  Kriegs- 
erinerungsartikeln.  Illus.  (Kunst  und 
Kunsthandwerk,  Wien,  Jahrgang  18, 

1915,  p.  130-159.) 

"The  great  times  in  which  we  are  living  make 
their  influence  felt  in  all  fields  of  mental  and  commer- 
cial life.  Artistic  impulse  was  arrested.  .  .  .  And 
yet,  .  .  .  more  attention  might  be  paid  to  the  in- 
tensive efforts  of  artistic,  and  especially  art-indus- 
trial, circles  to  produce  for  home  production  an  in- 
tensifying of  its  sterling  quality  of  particularly 
Austrian  character.  If  we  succeed  in  making  a  virtue 
of  the  general  necessity ;  if  the  moment  can  be  utilized , 
at  which  .  .  .  many  of  the  foreign  and  bad  influ- 
ences are  being  kept  at  a  distance,  then  a  lasting  and 
invaluable  gain  will  grow  from  the  natural  drawing  on 
and  emphasizing  of  indigenous  products." 


This  effort  to  promote  home  art  industries  resulted 
in  the  exhibition  here  described,  controlled  by  a 
jury  of  experts.  The  fact  that  the  exhibitors  were 
limited  to  objects  suitable  for  war  souvenirs  natur- 
ally brought  into  view  a  very  obvious  relation  be- 
tween war  and  art,  since  war  was  the  direct  subject. 
The  exhibition  included  glass,  pottery,  textiles, 
wood  carving,  leather  work,  gingerbread. 

Jaumann,    Anton.      Die    weltwirtschaftliche 
Rolle    des     Kunstgewerbes    nach    dem 
Kriege.      (Innen-Dekoration,  27.     Jahr- 
gang, March,  1916,  p.  101-110.) 
"Preparation  for  peace  needs  no  less  attention 
than  that  for  war.   .    .    .   One  of  the  first  necessities 
of  peace  will  be  to  have  a  sufficient  quantity  of  goods 
to  be  exchanged  for  foreign  raw  materials.      And 
among  these  branches  of  production  will  be  art  in- 
dustry." 

Jessen,  Peter.  Deutsche  Form  im  Kriegs- 
jahr:  Die  Ausstellung  in  Koln,  1914  .  .  . 
Miinchen :  F.  Bruckmann,  1915,  2  p.  1., 
42  p.,  1  1.,  34  pi.  4°.  (Deutscher  Werk- 
bund.  Jahrbuch,  1915.) 

An  illustrated  catalogue  of  the  exhibition  of  the 
Deutsche  Werkbund,  which  was  interrupted  by  the 
war.  The  only  reference  to  our  topic  is  in  the  last 
sentence  of  the  introduction :  "May  the  war,  the  great 
former  of  character,  prove  its  purifying  and  forming 
power  with  us  also." 

Magne,  H.  M.     La  guerre  et  1'avenir  de  nos 
industries  d'art.     (Bulletin  de  la  Societe 
d'Encouragement  pour  1'Industrie  Na- 
tionale,  1916,  p.  532-552.) 
"German    competition   ...  in    certain     indus- 
tries, especially  chemical  industries.    Certain  French 
industries,  despite  the  perfection  of  their  products, 
found    competition   from    German   industry.      The 
German  influence  gave  further  cause  for  disquietude. 
Not  only  were  certain  German  products  received  in 
our  exhibitions  .    .    .  and  shops,  but  this  sort  of 
heavy  and  complicated  forms  .    .    .   seemed  to  find 
imitators.    Happily  the  evil  has  not  become  general. 
.    .    .   (p.  545.)    The  only  means  of  maintaining  the 
artistic  pre-eminence  of  a  country  such  as  ours  .    .    . 
is  to  develop,  in  the  artist  and  the  artizan,  by  means 
of  an  appropriate  training,  the  qualities  peculiar  to 
pur  race.   .    .    .   One  of  our  finest  traditions  .    .    . 
is  to  love  art  and  enjoy  it." 

Vachon  Marius.  La  guerre  arti&tique  avec 
rAllemagne;  1' organisation  de  la  vic- 
toire.  Paris:  Payot  et  Cie.,  1916,  268 

pages,  12). 

Preface:  "When  the  great  military  war  will  be 
terminated  by  the  victory  of  the  allied  nations 
...  a  new  war  will  begin,  the  artistic,  industrial 
and  commercial  war,  under  conditions  which  will 
make  it  equally  terrible  and  implacable.  The  thor- 
ough preparation  for  this  war  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  and  immediate  preoccupations  of  the  Entente. 
...  In  this  volume,  I  have  analyzed,  with  all  pos- 
sible care,  the  powerful  organism  for  teaching  and 
propaganda  for  the  art  industries  created  by  the 
Germans  since  1881,  and  which  has  served  them  to 
make  a  breach,  during  thirty  years,  in  the  artistic 
supremacy  of  France.  Sole  object  .  .  .  has  been  to 
make  known  the  elements  of  this  organization  .  .  . 
in  order  to  discover  what  may  be  opportunely  utilized, 
by  an  intelligent  adaptation,  to  our  needs,  our  ideas, 
and  our  traditions." 

The  chapters  are  as  follows:  1  The  artistic  inva- 
sion of  France  by  Germany  from  1882  to  1914  .  .  . 
2.  The  organization  of  art  industries  in  Germany. 
...  3.  The  causes  of  the  crisis  in  French  art  in- 
dustries. ...  4.  What  is  the  museum  for  industrial 
art  doing  in  France?  ...  5.  Some  other  causes  of 
the  crisis  in  French  industrial  art.  ...  6.  The  les- 
sons of  history  (XII-XVIII  centuries).  ...  7.  The 
organization  of  victory.  (Suppression  of  the  artistic 
tutelage  of  the  state,  etc.). 


488 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


Architecture  and  the  war.  (Architect  and 
Engineer  of  California,  vol.  5,  Oct.,  1917, 
p.  67-68.) 

A  quotation  from  "Indian  Engineering,"  Calcutta- 
"In  the  profession  the  proportion  of  those  that  have 
studied  outside  their  own  country  has  fallen  greatly 
.  .  .  But  .  .  .  the  war  has  caught  up  the  pro- 
fession bodily  and  carried  it  out  to  fight  in  France, 
Belgium,  Italy,  Greece,  the  Balkans,  Turkey,  Egypt, 
Mesopotamia,  India.  Architects  in  great  numbers 
have  now  observed  some  of  the  works  of  these  coun- 
tries. .  .  .  Such  men  must  return  home  with  a 
greatly  widened  view  of  their  profession.  .  .  .  Why 
do  we  not  get  beyond  the  eternal  round  of  Renais- 
sance, bastard  Gothic  .  .  .  modified  medieval? 
Because  we  are  hide-bound  by  convention.  .  .  . 
Those  who  have  seen  and  been  convinced  of  new 
possibilities  in  architecture  may  now  take  the  lead. 
The  truest  definition  of  architecture  is  that  it  is  an 
expression  in  form  of  a  people's  feeling." 

Bragdon,  Claude.  Architecture  and  de- 
mocracy. New  York:  A.  A,  Knopf,  1918. 

Architecture  and  democracy,  before,  during  and 
after  the  war,  p.  1-73,  appeared  originally  in  the 
Architectural  Record. 

"In  whatever  way  the  war  may  complicate  the 
architect's  personal  problem,  it  should  .  .  .  clarify 
his  attitude  toward  his  art  .  .  .  The  world's  arrest- 
ment  of  architecture  (in  all  but  its  most  utilitarian  and 
ephemeral  phases)  is  no  great  loss  to  the  world  for  the 
reason  that  our  architecture  was  uninspired.  .  .  . 
We  were  under  the  evil  spell  of  materialism.  .  .  . 
When  the  storm  broke  militant  democracy  turned  to 
the  engineer,  who  produced  buildings  at  record 
speed.  ...  In  one  direction  only,  toward  the 
general  housing  problem,  the  architectural  profession 
has  been  spurred  into  activity  by  reason  of  the  war. 
.  .  .  Architects  will  recapture  their  imperiled  pres- 
tige, but  .  .  .  with  an  altered  attitude  toward  their 
art.  Many  must  unlearn  preoccupation  with  Gothic 
classic.  Many  must  learn  certain  neglected  lessons 
from  the  engineer."  [Author  cites  Red  Cross  Com- 
munity Club  House  at  Camp  Sherman  as  a  product 
of  the  ideal  relation  between  architect  and  engineer.) 
"Of  the  transvaluation  of  values  brought  about 
by  the  war,  this  building  is  an  eminent  example; 
it  stands  in  symbolic  relation  to  the  time.  .  .  .  To 
the  architect  falls  the  task,  in  the  new  dispensation,  of 
providing  the  appropriate  material  environment  for 
Its  new  life.  Let  him  turn  to  the  .  .  .  soldiers.  They 
will  come  back  with  ideas.  .  .  .  The  future  of  the 
countries  will  be  in  their  young  hands.  They  will 
seek  for  self-expression.  Because  it  is  a  spiritual 
thing  it  will  find  supreme  expression  through  art. 
The  architect  who  assists  in  weaving  this  garment  will 
be  supremely  blessed."  [In  considering  the  effect 
of  war  on  art,  author  discusses  the  increase  of  light 
and  color  in  building  and  city  planning.]  "Thus  will 
be  born  the  architecture  of  the  future ;  and  the  orna- 
ment of  that  architecture  will  tell,  in  a  new  set  of 
symbols,  the  story  of  the  rejuvenation  of  the  world." 

Gillies,   John   Wallace.      The   effect   of  war 

upon    architecture.      There    have   been 

two  great  influences  in  architecture,  war 

and  religion,   and   the  former  is   dealt 

with   in    these   paragraphs.      (Arts   and 

Decoration,  May,  1919,  p.  7-9,  38-47.) 

"Now  that  we  have  successfully  ended  the  greatest 

war  of  our  history,  with  the  minimum  of  loss  and 

the  maximum  of  material  gain,  we  should  be  strong 

in  national  spirit  and  rich  necessarily.     A  greater 

activity    in    building    than    we    have    ever    known 

should     follow     during     the     next     fifty     years,  if 

any   precedent   is   to   be   depended    upon.     Up   to 

this  time  our  architecture  has  been  peace-loving. 

commercial.   .    .    .Now   it   is    to    be    martial:    real 


architecture,  as  it  has  always  been.  Great  me- 
morials will  spring  up  all  over  the  country.  They 
will  be  monumental,  which  after  all  is  the  form 
real  architecture  should  take.  Let  us  hope  that 
they  will  be  in  stone.  .  .  .The  conqueror  always 
builds  unless  he  be  a  barbarian,  and  builds  pro- 
fusely. The  conqueror  who  fought  for  a  principle 
alone  should  build  ideally.  So  our  twentieth  cen- 
tury should  see  in  America  the  actual  accomplish- 
ment of  a  national  architecture,  and  the  character 
of  its  structure  should  be  martial " 

The  Post-War  Committee  on  Architectural 
Practice.     Some  comments  from  archi- 
tects relating  to  questions  asked  by  the 
Committee.     (Architectural  Forum,  Bos- 
ton, Vol.  31,  July,  1919,  p.  17-19.) 
Committee  appointed  by  American  Institute  of 
Architectects  to  inquire  into  conditions  surrounding 
the   practice   of   the   profession.      "The   future   of 
architecture  is  brighter  than  any  period  of  its  past. 
.    .    .   Influence   must   now,  however,   be   extended 
to  wider  fields.  [The  architect]  must  be  aware  of 
sociological    questions.  .   .    .  economic    conditions. 
We  present  some  interesting  letters  on  subjects  con- 
tained  in   the    Post-War   circular;    others    will   fol- 
low in  the  next  issue."     The  letters  deal  with  the 
relations  with  the  contractor,  the  education  of  the 
public  as  to  the  functions  of  the  architect,  prac- 
tical problems  involved  in  factories,  warehouses,  etc. 
The  Evening  Post  had  two  columns  on  this  question- 
naire of  the  Institute,  with  its  query  "are  we  in  right 
relation  with  the  public,  the  building  trades  and 
crafts,  and  with  each  other.    The  experience  of  war 
has  bared  weaknesses." 

An  opinion  on  competitions  by  E.  Swartwout. 
(Architectural  Forum,  Sept.,  1919,  p.  99- 
102.) 

Some  Canadian  opinions.  (Journal  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Architects,  Aug.. 
1919,  p.  363-365.) 

Post-War  Committee  on  Architectural  Prac- 
tice. (Architect  and  Engineer  of  Cali- 
fornia, San  Francisco,  vol.  57,  p.  57-61.) 
Convention  of  American  Institute  of  Architects 
.  .  .  discussion:  on  status  of  architect.  Post- 
War  Committee  statement  .  .  .  mailed  to  10,000 
or  more  architects.  Extracts:  Need  for  more  com- 
prehensive service.  Modern  tendency  of  business, 
accentuated  by  the  experience  of  the  war,  is  to 
deal  with  larger  organizations  rather  than  with 
the  several  contributing  factors.  .  .  .  It  is  said 
that  the  architect  has  done  nothing  to  meet  this 
demand,  but  that  engineers  and  contracting  organ- 
izations have,  to  an  extent,  done  so.  The  war  has 
brought  a  situation  which  demands  that  produc- 
tion be  increased.  Experience  demonstrated  the 
great  advantage  of  intimate  organized  co-operation 
.  .  .  between  engineers,  architects  and  construc- 
tion men.  The  architect  is  said  to  have  neglected 
his  relationship  to  labor.  .  .  Standardization  of 
building  products  .  .  .  would  simplify  and  cheapen 
the  process  of  building." 

Newell,  J.  P.  A  time  for  optimism.  (Arch- 
itect and  Engineer  of  California,  vol.  56, 

March,  1919.) 

"The  period  of  transition  in  business  from  war 
to  peace  is  one  of  doubt  and  uncertainty.  .  .  Into 
this  uncertainty  comes  the  (Portland)  City  Plan- 
ning Commission  and  proposes  that  every  property 
owner  should  set  himself  to  considering  the  future 
of  his  neighborhood,  studying  its  prospective  growth 
in  the  light  of  its  past  development.  As  the  work  ol 
city  planning  proceeds,  the  spirit  of  optimism  will 
spread." 


Architects   have  yet  to 

master     the    problem    of 
Color  of          color   in   sunshine       The 

Architecture       failufe  of  many  of    them 
in  Sunshine.       in  ^  regard  .g  due     &s 

I  have  hinted  at  va- 
rious times  before,  to  the  fact  that  they  do  not 
take  the  painter's  point  of  view.  The 
painter's  point  of  view  is  really  the  art- 
ist's point  of  view.  Where  color  is  con- 
cerned the  architect  must  view  things  through 
the  painter's  eyes,  or  he  is  just  so  much 
the  less  artistic.  He  can  hardly  lay  claim 
to  a  system  of  color  of  his  own,  different 
from  the  painter's,  and  equally  valuable. 

If  we  try  to  view  color  in  architecture 
with  the  painter's  eye,  certain  facts  arrest 
our  attention.  One  is  that  a  building  placed 
in  a  landscape  forms  a  picture  with  the 
enveloping  foliage,  turf,  rocks,  etc.,  of 
which  the  building  is  only  a  part.  All  this 
seems  evident  enough;  it  has  been  referred 
to  many  times  in  talk  and  writing,  yet  the 
architect  ignores  it  in  practice.  He  con- 
tinues to  choose  colors  of  walls  and  roofs, 
either  pleasing  in  themselves  or  in  combina- 
tion, but  without  thinking  of  how  they  will 
be  affected  by  the  sky,  the  land,  and,  above 
all,  by  the  sunlight. 

Let  us  assume  that  a  painter  has  decided 
to  paint  a  picture  of  a  building  that  is  promi- 
nent in  a  landscape.  His  first  thought 
is  to  achieve  the  fullest  impression  of 
unity  possible.  Without  that  single  im- 
pression, he  knows  that  he  will  fail  in 
his  art,  no  matter  how  perfect  his  drawing 
or  rendering  of  different  parts  may  be. 
Composition — or  design — will  tend  to  achieve 
this  unity,  and  this  is  what  architects  mainly 
conceive  of  when  they  think  of  unity  in  a 
picture.  But  equally  important,  and,  in 
regard  to  color,  almost  solely  important,  is  the 


"lighting"  or  "effect  of  light,"  the  atmosphere, 
the  sunshine,  that  floods  his  picture.  The  sun- 
shine acts  in  modifying,  blending  and  harmo- 
nizing every  color  in  it.  Lighting  is  the 
great  goal  of  modern  landscape  painting. 
The  only  difference  between  architect  and 
painter  in  regard  to  lighting  is  difference 
in  the  technique  of  realizing  it.  The  paint- 
er works  with  the  brush  and  palette,  and 
the  architect  chooses  colors  of  materials. 
Yet  it  is  curious  enough  that,  in  all  the  end- 
less discussions  of  color  in  architecture, 
the  all-essential  matter  of  "lighting"  and  of 
"effect  of  light"  is  rarely  mentioned. 

The  painter  sits  him  down  as  I  have 
said,  and  immediately  strives,  with  all  his 
might,  to  sense  the  effect  of  light  in  his 
picture.  Now,  as  everyone  knows,  light 
and  atmosphere  in  a  landscape  never  re- 
main exactly  the  same  for  many  minutes 
at  a  time,  yet  the  painter  must  draw  some 
conclusions  from  Nature  in  the  infinite 
coquetry  of  her  moods.  If  he  sits  still  and 
studies  his  subject  too  long,  the  light  will 
change.  Consequently  he  is  apt  to  determine 
at  once  whether  the  light  be  "hot"  or  "cold," 
or  intense  or  subdued,  or  clear  or  murky.  If 
it  is  "cold,"  it  does  not  mean  always  that 
cold  colors,  such  as  blue,  purple,  blue  green 
predominate,  but  that  the  light  effect  is  some- 
what bluish  or  greenish  or  purplish.  The  sun 
is  therefore  a  changing  spotlight  on  Nature's 
outdoor  stage.  Objects  which  are  actually 
white  or  gray  will  appear  bluish  or  greenish- 
white  or  gray.  Bright  red  and  yellow  colors 
will  appear  slightly  neutralized  or  softened, 
and  dark  reds  will  take  on  a  purplish  tinge. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  light  is  "hot," 
a  golden  or  amber  film  of  light  will  ap- 
pear drawn  over  the  atmosphere.  Blues 
will  appear  more  vibrant,  often  more  green- 
ish; purples,  richer;  greens  will  be  touched 


490 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


with  gold,  and  the  reds  and  yellows  will 
blaze  forth.  There  are  no  whites  or  grays 
in  such  a  picture;  they  all  become  yellowish  or 
slightly  golden.  Even  the  high  lights  on  pure 
white  clouds,  the  upper  parts  in  the  sky 
where  the  light  turns  full  upon  them,  will  need 
to  be  painted  in  a  slightly  yellow  tone  to  hold 
them  in  the  key  of  color  of  the  canvas. 

The  painter,  then,  determines  the  qual- 
ity of  light  in  the  landscape  before  him. 
as  a  single,  full  impression,  and  strives 
mightily  to  key  aU  his  colors  to  it.  And 
the  architect  must  do  the  same  when  he 
enters  the  landscape  with  his  buildings, 
if  he  would  have  his  colors  successful.  He 
must  therefore  learn  to  think  of  the 
light  in  his  landscapes  more  than  he  has 
•done  up  to  this  time.  Hitherto  he  has 
thought  of  his  colors  as  "local"  colors  merely. 
He  has  chosen  colors  of  ^all,  roof,  pilaster, 
cornice,  window  frames,  shutters,  simply 
thinking  of  how  they  will  go  together  in 
themselves — perhaps  in  a  sample  room — 
without  much  regard  to  their  effect  in  sun- 
shine. Or,  if  he  has  perchance  worked  up  an 
excellent  color  scheme  in  sunlight  in  a  certain 
locality,  he  is  apt  to  use  the  same  scheme  else- 
where, where,  in  a  different  light  and  land- 
scape, it  will  be  out  of  harmony,  In  sun- 
shine a  larger  synthesis  of  color  must  be 
accomplished,  that  of  keying  colors  to  the 
brilliant  light  of  the  American  sunshine. 

The  proof  of  these  assertions  will  be 
evident  if  we  study  our  American  sun- 
shine, and  try  to  see  if  we  cannot  under- 
stand it  better  than  we  do  now.  Then  we 
must  study  some  of  the  prevailing  schemes 
of  color  in  architecture  to  find  out  how 
far  they  are  united  to  the  light  in  different 
localities  of  the  country.  The  architect 
should  consult  the  painter  in  this,  for  he  can 
best  give  the  benefit  of  his  long  training  and 
experience  in  painting  in  many  landscapes. 
There  are,  however,  some  observations  that 
should  occur  to  any  keen  eyed  architect. 

If  we  try  to  generalize,  we  may  assert 
that  most  of  the  usual  color  combinations 
employed  on  buildings  were  developed, 
along  with  the  architectural  design,  in  the 
eastern  and  northern  portion  of  the  United 
States,  largely  east  of  the  Mississippi, 
north  of  the  Ohio  and  of  the  Mason  and 
Dixon  line.  What  may  be  said  of  the 
quality  of  sunshine  in  this  district?  A 
light,  brilliant,  hard,  even  disconcerting, 
trying  in  its  very  clearness  and  searching 


quality.  Edges,  details  appear  at  a  dis- 
tance. The  light  is  hardly  hot  or  cold; 
rather  white  altogether;  never  very  hot 
or  very  cold  in  the  range  of  its  shiftings. 
In  New  England  is  this  hard  light  espe- 
cially characteristic.  There  the  midday  sun 
is  metallic  in  its  glare,  showing  up  every 
detail  ruthlessly,  without  any  soften- 
ing edges  or  mellowness  of  form,  with- 
out depth  or  poetry  or  atmosphere.  With- 
out much  of  what  Ruskin  explains  as  "mys- 
tery," in  a  splendid  chapter  in  Mod- 
ern Painters.  The  New  England  light  is 
the  most  matter-of-fact,  bull's-eye  light 
that  I  believe  may  be  seen  in  the  world. 
This  is  not  to  say  that  poetry  and  romance 
are  not  to  be  found  in  the  New  England 
landscape.  Not  in  the  noon  sun,  perhaps, 
but  on  damp  or  misty  days,  and  at  sun- 
rise and  sunset.  It  has  often  been  a  delight 
to  watch  the  beautiful,  cool,  clear  blues 
and  violets  slowly  steal  into  the  hard  shadows 
as  the  day  ends  there;  to  see  the  faint  golden, 
yet  very  clear,  light  envelop  the  hills  at  a 
distance  and  enflame  the  high  lights  of  green 
lawns,  of  tree  trunks  and  of  roads  in  the 
foreground.  At  this  time  the  landscape  has  an 
atmosphere  of  deep,  clear,  almost  resonant  har- 
mony. The  hard,  severe  light  of  New  England 
occurs,  somewhat  softened,  as  one  goes  west 
along  the  northern  boundary  of  the  country  and 
south  from  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 
Of  course,  an  exception  to  this  is  the  mel- 
lower light  of  the  seashore,  along  the  shore 
south  of  Cape  Cod  and  Long  Island. 

The  appropriateness  of  the  white  walls 
of  the  New  England  farmhouse  is  much 
explained  if  we  understand  the  hard  light 
of  the  north.  Though  not  an  imaginative 
coloring,  white  goes  well  in  most  landscapes, 
either  in  an  atmosphere  that  tends  to 
disappear,  leaving  colors  to  exist  chiefly 
as  local  colors,  or  where  there  is  radiance 
in  the  sunshine.  Then  walls  become  touched 
with  faint  clear,  often  violet  shadows;  or  a 
golden  or  greenish  light.  It  also  adds  cheerful- 
ness to  the  landscape,  and  affords  a  foil  for 
foliage  and  their  shadows.  The  olden  New 
Englander  was  poetic  when  he  introduced  his 
white  architectural  elements  of  fences,  posts, 
gates,  trellises  and  summer  houses  into  his 
gardens,  where  they  gleam  most  appro- 
priately in  dainty  exquisite  touches.  Un- 
fortunately, the  modern  architect  has  been 
somewhat  less  successful,  especially  in  garden 
work.  Design  is  overelaborated  by  too 


491 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


many  spotty  paths  and  flower  beds;  masonry 
work  is  sombre  by  use  of  dark  brick  or  rock, 
with  a  consequent  effect  of  dullness.  Too 
much  detail  is  bad  in  a  searching  light  where 
it  is  all  thrust  before  the  eye.  Much  more 
fitting  are  those  designs  where  broad  green- 
sward spaces  are  set  off  against  massed  flowers, 
long  rows  and  hedges,  with  masonry  walls 
whitewashed  or  white  painted  or  stuccoed 
to  form  a  foil  for  the  planting.  These  flat 
white  surfaces  catch  sunlight  and  reflect 
colors.  The  gardens  of  the  Alcazar  in  Seville, 
Spain,  are  a  classic  example  of  what  big,  sim- 
ple handling  of  masses  of  foliage  and  flowers 
against  severe  white  walls  may  accomplish.  The 
whole  effect  of  the  Alcazar  might  easily  be  trans- 
ferred to  America  and  seem  quite  in  place  here. 

Another  error  has  been  made  by  our 
northern  architects  and  landscape  archi- 
tects in  their  work.  I  mean  their  ill- 
thought  use  of  color  schemes  imported 
from  alien  atmospheres  of  northern  Europe. 
They  would  have  done  better  to  stick 
to  the  cautious,  somewhat  bald,  but 
still  rightful  beginnings  of  the  early 
New  Englanders  and  New  Yorkers.  North 
Europe  has  no  great  sunlight:  has  in  fact 
gloom,  mist,  rain.  In  such  climate  the 
soft  dull  harmonies  of  dark  red  brick, 
stone,  purple  slate  and  weathered  timber 
go  well  together.  The  murky  atmosphere 
tones  over  their  edges  and  contrasts.  Ma- 
terials favoring  play  of  light  and  shade 
are  not  greatly  needed.  Consequently  the 
classic  orders  are  never  so  vital  as  in 
Italy  or  America,  for  they  were  designed 
for  brilliant  sunshine  and  clear  skies. 
Under  misty  conditions  the  dull  colors  of 
European  architecture  are  rarely  beauti- 
ful, blended,  edges  softened,  and  smoothed 
over  by  light  reflected  through  moisture. 
But  transferred  to  American  sunlight,  they 
crop  out  hard  and  cold  in  the  north  of  our 
country  and  dull  in  the  south.  This  is 
rather  true  of  our  prevailing  motive  of 
white  stone  and  red  brick.  It  is  most  difficult 
to  bring  such  coloration  into  the  key  of  Ameri- 
can sunlight  satisfactorily. 

South  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
our  hard  glaring  sunlight  softens,  not  in 
intensity  of  light,  but  by  reason  of  a  beauti- 
ful golden  radiance  often  increasing  as  one 
goes  south.  In  New  Jersey  this  radiance  has 
a  prettifying,  at  times  almost  cloying  effect  on 
the  full  greens  and  red  earth  of  the  landscape, 
somewhat  as  in  Sienna,  Italy.  It  is  further 


south,  however,  that  the  sunlight  becomes  so 
wonderfully  mellow  and  golden.  With  the 
luxuriousness  of  the  vegetation,  it  produces 
landscape  coloring  that  is  warm,  sensuous, 
vibrating.  Let  me  quote  the  following: 

"Here  and  there  a  negro  log  cabin  alone 
disturbed  the  dogwood  and  the  judas-tree, 
the  azalea  and  the  laurel.  The  tulip  and 
the  chestnut  gave  no  sense  of  struggle  against 
a  stingy  nature.  The  soft  full  outlines  of  the 
landscape  carried  no  hidden  horror  of  glaciers 
in  its  bosom.  The  brooding  heat  of  the  prof- 
ligate vegetation,  the  cool  charm  of  the 
running  water,  the  terrific  splendor  of  the 
June  thunder-gust  in  the  deep  and  solitary 
woods,  were  all  sensual,  animal,  elemental. 
No  European  spring  had  shown  him  the  same 
intermixture  of  delicate  grace  and  passionate 
depravity  that  marked  the  Maryland  May. 
He  loved  it  too  much,  as  if  it  were  half 
Greek  and  half  human." 

This  is  not  taken  from  a  follower  of 
Swinburne,  nor  of  a  modern-like  Gals- 
worthy in  his  most  exuberant  mood.  It 
was  penned  by  one  of  the  coolest  of  the 
Puritans,  an  essential  Bostonian,  Henry 
Adams  (The  Education  of  Henry  Adams, 
page  268).  In  another  passage  he  says 
"the  May  sunshine  and  shadow  .  .  .  ; 
the  thickness  of  the  foliage  and  the  heavy 
smells,  the  sense  of  atmosphere,  almost 
new."  Study  these  lines  carefully  and  one 
will  see  that  it  is  the  realization  by  a 
keen  mind  in  his  first  experience  of  the 
great  difference  between  New  England  and 
southern  landscape — a  difference  more  sig- 
nificant than  even  in  respect  to  color  or 
light,  one  which  should  profoundly  influ- 
ence the  inspiration  of  architecture  in  the 
south.  "The  sense  of  atmosphere,  almost 
new"  reveals  the  impression  made  on  a 
young  New  Englander  who  had  grown  up 
without  seeing  anything  but  his  hard,  clear, 
native  light,  when  he  first  experiences  the  mel- 
low light  of  Maryland.  Certainly  Henry 
Adams  furnishes  us  with  a  picture  into  which 
no  architect  can  enter  in  any  tepid  mood  of 
imported  north  European  color  schemes. 

In  parts  of  the  south  this  golden  mellow- 
ness in  the  air  is  extraordinary.  In  the 
South  Carolina  sand  hills  in  full  summer 
it  was  a  marvel  to  me.  An  infinitely  deep 
blue  sky,  often  with  vast  steam  clouds, 
so  huge  as  I  had  never  seen  before,  tower- 
ing and  piling  up  into  the  sunlight,  up, 
up,  casting  vast  shadows  into  great  cliffs 


492 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


and  abysses  of  cloud.  The  clouds  were 
never  really  white,  even  toward  the  sun, 
but  always  golden,  and  the  golden  light 
played  down  into  the  vast  shadows.  The 
phenomenon  was  so  striking  that  even 
practical  soldier-minds  noted  it,  and  of- 
fered explanations  of  it.  Obviously,  in 
such  a  hot  effect  of  light,  an  architecture 
of  hot  colors  is  needed — walls  yellow,  of 
chrome  or  sienna  or  ochre  tints ;  roofs  yellow, 
pink,  red,  vermillion  or  claret,  bright  green 
spots,  brilliant  awnings.  A  more  prosaic 
arrangement  will  probably  disappoint. 

In  the  coloring  of  hotter  climes  than 
England  or  Flanders  should  American 
architects  seek  their  inspiration.  Let  them 
study  atmospheric  color  in  Spain  and  Italy. 
If  they  do  they  will  discover  that  each 
country  has  a  different  method  of  coloration. 

In  Italy  the  light  and  color  is  daintier, 
more  subtle,  more  evanescent,  more  feminine: 
in  Spain  the  light  and  color  is  bolder,  hotter, 
higher  in  key,  more  masculine.  Before  I  went 
to  Italy  I  had  often  remarked  the  landscapes 
in  the  backgrounds  of  the  paintings  of  Titian, 
Tintoretto,  Veronese,  and  had  thought  the 
very  blue  mountains  and  pretty,  clear 
colors  in  the  distance  exaggerated;  but  it 
is  exactly  the  effect  one  finds  in  the  Italian 
landscapes,  that  clear,  radiant  "pretty" 
light  near  the  horizon  and  in  the  distance. 
Perhaps  on  account  of  this  delicate  light  the 
Italians  of  north  Italy — where  most  of  the 
great  architecture  is — do  not  attempt  so  much 
strong  coloring  as  the  Spaniards,  except 
around  Perugia  and  Assisi.  Also  they  are 
blessed  with  such  a  picturesque  and  statuesque 
flora — stone  pines  and  cedars — that  they 
often  prefer  to  use  their  architecture  as 
a  foil  for  this  foliage,  as  I  have  pointed 
out  in  times  past.  Although  there  are  a 
number  of  well-known  villas  in  and  near 
the  cities  which  are  highly  developed  de- 
signs in  themselves,  interesting  architec- 
turally without  regard  to  then*  setting, 
the  hundreds  of  less-known  country  villas 
are  usually  bare,  light  colored  walls,  pierced 
with  a  few  window  holes,  like  an  old  fashioned 
factory-  But  they  are  wonderful  screens 
against  which  the  foliage  stands  out  so 
magnificently. 

In  Spain  we  meet  with  wilder  and  more 
violent  conditions,  more  like  our  own 
in  America.  There  is  blinding  yellow  sun- 
light over  broad  sweeps  of  landscape,  not 
many  trees  on  the  yellow  and  red  moun- 


tains and  plains,  such  landscapes  as  Zuloaga 
paints  as  the  backgrounds  for  his  pictures, 
as  all  the  great  Spaniards  have  done  before 
him.  In  this  light  the  Spaniard  has  preferred 
a  decisive  coloring  for  his  buildings.  He  uses 
a  rich  yellow  golden  stone  for  his  walls, 
almost  as  rich  as  any  marble;  yeUow,  ver- 
million and  claret  tiles  for  his  roofs;  bright 
colored  accessories;  brass,  and  strongly  pat- 
terned iron  work.  He  accents  his  coloring  with 
decoration  in  bold  relief,  grouped  or  in  strong 
bands,  gaining  the  utmost  possible  contrast  by 
the  deep  holes  of  the  under  cuttings,  showing 
black,  either  in  light  or  in  the  luminous 
shadows.  Thus  he  meets  Nature  on  her  own 
terms,  opposing  flashing  color  and  bold  light 
and  shade  and  concentrated,  sparkling  decora- 
tion to  her  flashing  color  in  brilliant  light. 
As  a  result,  Spanish  buildings  are  always 
keyed  into  the  picture,  indeed  in  the  centre  of 
things.  They  do  not  appear  as  intruders,  drab 
beggars  at  a  banquet. 

Let  architects  think  not  only  of  the  local 
coloring  of  materials,  but  of  the  light  in  our 
American  landscape,  and  its  effect  on  the 
colors  of  buildings.  There  is  a  revival  of 
interest  in  color,  over  the  whole  art  world,  even 
in  the  last  few  years.  Only  twenty  years  ago 
color  was  somewhat  neglected,  and  by  painters, 
too,  who  avoided  bright  colors,  preferring 
neutral  tones.  But  now  the  new  art  of 
decoration  is  swiftly  gaining  acceptance, 
is  even  influencing  commercial  products, 
and,  in  the  theatre  especially,  is  exerting 
a  profound  and  stirring  interest.  But, 
except  for  a  few  brilliant  exceptions,  ar- 
chitecture still  lags  behind,  a  generation 
behind.  Let  it  lead  and  not  follow. 

JOHN  TAYLOR  BOYD,  JB. 


Word    has    just    come 
The  Passing  of    from  the  City  of  Mexico 
the    "House       that  the  famous  "House 
of  the  Tiles"      of   the   Tiles"    (Casa   de 
los     Azulejos),     one     of 
the  most  conspicuous  and 
beautiful  of  the  palatial  old  houses  in  the  capi- 
tal, is  to  be  converted  into  a  typical  American 
drug  store.     This  will  be  lamented   by  all 
lovers  of  the  Spanish  Colonial  architecture 
that  in  Mexico,  of  all  Latin  countries  in  the 
New  World,  is  found  in  its  highest  develop- 
ment.     No   other   palace   of   the   vice-regal 
nobility  of  New  Spain  has  to  this  day  been 
so    perfectly    preserved,    both    within    and 
without,    as    this.    It   seems   an   everlasting 


493 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


pity  that  this  fortunate  condition  could 
not  have  been  perpetuated.  These  fine  old 
monuments  have  been  well  appreciated  in 
Mexico;  the  national  government  seems  to 
have  been  alive  to  the  fact;  under  ordinary 
circumstances  it  would  doubtless  have  taken 
measures  to  secure  the  preservation  of  the 


building.  But  just  now  the  expense  would  be- 
out  of  the  question.  Hope  that  eventually 
the  government  will  do  this  seems  to  be  en- 
couraged by  the  circumstance  that  before  the 
alterations  for  commercial  uses  were  taken  in 
hand,  photographs  of  all  important  details 
were  taken.  Let  us  hope  that  measurements 


PATIO  —  HOUSE    OF    TILES.    CITY    OF    MEXICO.      (REPRODUCED    BY    PERMISSION    FROM 

"SPANISH    COLONIAL   ARCHITECTURE    IN    MEXICO,"    BY    SYLVESTER 

BAXTER.      BOSTON:   J.   B.   MILLET,   PUBLISHER.) 


494 


THE   ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


THE  HOUSE  OF  TILES,  CITY  OF  MEXICO.    (REPRODUCED  BY  PERMISSION  FROM  "SPANISH 

COLONIAL   ARCHITECTURE    IN   MEXICO,"   BY   SYLVESTER    BAXTER. 

BOSTON:   J.    B.    MILLET.  PUBLISHER.) 


were  also  made  and  that  all  portions  of  the 
stonework,  carvings,  tiles,  etc.,  that  have  had 
to  be  removed  have  been  carefully  preserved. 
How  far  this  reconstruction  has  had  to  go 
for  the  new  purposes  does  not  appear.  But 
the  piso,  or  basement  story,  is  uncom- 
monly low,  as  may  be  seen  by  comparison 
with  the  neighboring  buildings  shown  in 
the  illustration.  So  it  appears  not  unlikely 
that  the  basement  and  the  story  above  may 
be  thrown  into  one.  In  that  event  only  the 
greatest  care  would  avoid  a  painful  dis- 
figurement of  the  beautiful  exterior  with 
the  customary  show  windows.  Perhaps  by 
the  time  this  article  appears  the  sizzling  of 
the  soda-fountain  will  have  become  a  feature 
of  what  will  probably  be  one  of  the  busiest 
corners  of  the  modern  city. 

The  House  of  the  Tiles  has  an  uncom- 
monly interesting  history.  It  is  the  most 
notable  example  of  Moorish  influence  upon 
Spanish  Colonial  architecture  in  America. 
With  its  brilliant  surface  of  blue  and  white 


glazed  tiles,  its  sparkling  quality  enhanced 
with  touches  of  yellow,  under  the  clear  skies 
and  intense  tropical  sunlight  of  that  latitude 
it  looks  as  new  as  if  it  had  been  built  the 
year  before,  instead  of  standing  in  its  pres- 
ent shape  something  like  a  century  and  a 
half.  Just  how  old  the  house  is  nobody  can 
say.  But  it  dates  well  back  into  the  six- 
teenth century.  Don  Damian  Martinez  was 
the  first  owner  on  record.  Impoverished  by 
financial  misfortune,  Don  Damian  felt 
obliged  to  sell  the  place  at  public  auction. 
Don  Diego  Suarez  de  Pereda  was  the  high- 
est bidder,  taking  possession  on  December 
2,  1596.  In  this  way  it  became  the  palace 
of  the  Count  of  the  Valley  of  Orizaba,  one 
of  the  wealthiest  and  most  eminent  of  the 
nobility  of  New  Spain,  as  Mexico  was  called 
before  its  independence.  In  the  early  days 
of  the  colony  a  Spanish  gentleman  of  old 
and  eminent  family,  Don  Rodrigo  de  Vivero 
Velasco,  came  to  New  Spain  and  married 
the  widow  of  one  of  the  conquerors.  Their 


495 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL   RECORD 


son,  who  became  the  first  bearer  of  the 
title,  achieved  eminence  as  a  scholar  and 
statesman.  He  was  the  author  6f  a  treatise 
on  political  economy  and  ottfer  notable 
works.  He  served  as  governor  and  captain 
general  of  the  Philippines  and  on  his  return 
voyage  was  shipwrecked,  perhaps  on  one  of 
the  richly  laden  galleons  that  used  to  bring 
splendid  cargoes  of  precious  wares  from  the 
Orient  to  Acapulco;  to  this  day  old  Mexican 
families  treasure  heirlooms  in  the  shape  of 
delicate  Chinese  porcelain  and  exquisitely 
wrought  silken  fabrics  dating  from  those  times 
— that  is,  if  any  of  them  have  had  the  fortune 
to  escape  a  sacking  of  their  houses  in  the 
period  of  anarchy  precipitated  upon  Mexico. 

The  second  Count  of  the  Valley  of  Orizaba, 
Don  Luis  de  Vivero,  married  Dona  Graciana, 
the  daughter  of  Don  Diego  Suarez  de  Pereda. 
The  grand  old  house  thus  became  the  seniorial 
mansion  of  the  family.  Its  aspect  both  with- 
out and  within  must  have  been  radically 
different  in  those  days.  According  to  tradi- 
tion its  transformation  into  its  present  shape — 
or  rather  the  shape  it  bore  until  just  now — is 
accounted  for  by  the  following  picturesque 
story,  with  its  truly  Spanish  flavor: 

The  mayorazgo,  as  the  oldest  son  and  heir 
is  called  in  Spanish,  of  one  of  the  counts, 
was  such  a  spendthrift  that  his  father  said 
to  him  one  day,  "Hijo,  tu  nunca  haras  casa 
de  azulejos — My  son,  thou  wilt  never  achieve 
a  house  of  tiles." 

To  dwell  in  a  "house  of  tiles"  seems  pro- 
verbially to  have  been  a  Spanish  ideal,  repre- 
senting the  luxurious  living  incident  to  the  accu- 
mulation of  great  wealth,  ever  since  the  Moors 
built  in  that  fashion  then-  "castles  in  Spain." 

The  father's  remark  gave  the  young  man 
pause.  The  idea  stayed  by:  A  house  of 
tiles!  The  seed  germinated  in  his  brain 
and  bore  fruit  in  purpose;  he  turned  a  new 
leaf;  changed  his  mode  of  life,  worked  stead- 
fastly for  his  end,  and  with  such  success  that 
when  the  property  came  into  his  hands  he 
at  once  began  to  transform  his  ancestral 
home  into  such  a  palace  of  tiles,  without 
and  within,  that  nothing  so  elaborate  and 
splendid  in  that  form  of  adornment  has  ever 
equaled  it  in  New  Spain  or  anywhere  else  in 
the  New  World. 

The  tiles  were  of  Mexican  make,  the 
product  of  an  art  developed  in  the  city  of 
Puebla  by  skilled  workers  brought  over 
from  Talavera  in  Spain  by  Dominican  friars 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  Since  that  time 


Puebla  has  been  famed  for  its  tiles  and  its 
pottery.  From  Puebla  have  come  all  the 
beautiful  tiles  that  so  finely  characterize 
much  of  the  best  architecture  all  through 
Central  and  Southern  Mexico,  particularly 
in  the  resplendent  polychrome  surfacing  of 
the  domes  of  the  churches  and  convents — 
and  probably  in  no  other  country  is  the 
dome  such  a  universal  feature. 

With  the  exception  of  the  ornamental 
stonework  of  light  buff  limestone  the 
main  part  of  the  exterior  is  entirely  covered 
with  these  tiles.  The  stonework,  in  color  and 
design,  effectively  frames  the  broad  sur- 
faces of  tile.  The  following  is  from  the  ac- 
count of  the  house  in  my  book,  "Spanish- 
Colonial  Architecture  in  Mexico": 

The  beautiful  bronze  balconies  of  the 
upper  story,  the  altos,  together  with  the 
balustrade  of  the  patio  corridor,  were  made 
in  China  or  Japan  (probably  China),  as 
was  likewise  the  case  with  the  similar  bal- 
cony over  the  entrance  to  the  house  of  the 
Count  of  Heras.  The  interior  throughout, 
in  its  elegance,  bears  out  the  promise  of 
the  exterior.  There  is  a  strong  flavor  of 
the  Oriental  in  the  style — Persian  as  well 
as  Moorish;  the  former,  for  example,  in  the  pe- 
culiarly tall  and  slender  columns  of  the  patio. 

Tiles  are  lavishly  employed  here,  also;  no- 
tably in  the  dado  of  the  corridor  and  of  the 
staircase,  and  bordering  the  exquisite  fountain 
in  the  patio.  In  the  tiling  on  the  staircase 
the  arms  of  the  house  are  represented. 

This  staircase  witnessed  the  assassina- 
tion in  1828  of  the  last  nobleman  of  the  line, 
the  ex-Count  Don  Andies  Suarez  de  Pereda, 
whose  title  had  been  extinguished  with  the 
proclamation  of  the  republic. 

It  was  late  in  the  eighties,  or  early  in  the 
nineties,  of  the  nineteenth  century  that 
the  House  of  the  Tiles  became  the  home  of 
the  Jockey  Club — at  that  time  in  Mexico, 
as  typically  in  other  Latin  capitals  of  the 
world,  celebrated  for  wealth,  luxurious  liv- 
ing, and  for  gambling;  quite  as  with  gilded 
youth  and  effete  old  age  the  world  over. 
Few  clubs  anywhere  have  been  more  sump- 
tuously or  palatially  housed.  The  Jockey 
Club,  of  course,  went  the  way  of  all  flesh 
during  the  recent  period  of  anarchy  in 
Mexico.  The  palace  has  since  remained 
vacant  until  its  conversion  to  commercial 
uses.  Its  lessees  have  secured  it  for  a  period 
of  twenty  years. 


SYLVESTER  BAXTER. 


496 


THE 


A  RC  HI  TEC  TVR-AL 
RECORD 


PUBLISHED    IN    NEW    YOR.K 


The  above  illustration  shows  the  res- 
idence of  William  Mills,Cedar  Rapids. 
Iowa,  in  course  of  coimuctiou.  De- 
signed by  Architect  William  J. Brown. 
Stucco  Contractor  Charles  R.  Car- 
penter. Bishopric  Stucco  Board  was 
used  on  this  borne. 


We  are  ready  to  guf 
you  erery  serricr  i» 
connection  with  neuter 
construction  on  Bish- 
opric Board.  \\rrite~us 


vmesm  mnier 


DO  NOT  permit  winter's  interfering  hand  to  halt  your 
construction  this  year — apply  Bishopric  Stucco  and 
Plaster  Board  to  the  studding  or  sheathing  and  pro- 
ceed with  the  interior  finishing. 

Bishopric  Board  has  in  numerous  instances  especially  in 
the  severe  cold  of  the  Northwest  stood  exposed  to  the  ele- 
ments from  fall  to  spring  without  disintegration  or  damage. 
In  every  instance  the  buildings  have'  been  ready  for  Stucco- 
ing at  the  Architect's  or  Contractor's  convenience. 

If  your  clients  are  in  urgent  need  of'  a  place  to  live 
they  can  occupy  a  Bishopric  Board  walled  home  in  consid- 
erable comfort  until  the  spring  Stuccoing.  The  insulating 
qualities  of  this  Board  are  decidedly  extraordinary — it 
keeps  a  home  extremely  warm  and  dry.  Dampness  can- 
not penetrate  the  Asphalt  Mastic  and  fibreboard  and  the 
heavy  wood  strips  are  creosoted  against  exposure.  Warmth 
and  comfort  are  increased  when  it  is  used  on  the  interior 
instead  of  wood  lath. 

Bishopric  Board's  economy  should  influence  contracts  at  this 
time.  The  saving  on  the  average  home  is  about  25°^.  This  is  a 
big  point  today! 

But  best  of  all  Bishopric  Board  is  a  Stucco  background  you  can 
be  sure  of.  You  can  apply  the  Stucco  next  spring  .and  know  that 
the  walls  will  remain  permanently  beautiful  and  crackles* — monu- 
ments to  your  judgment. 

Tell  your  clients  they  can  go  ahead  with  their  construction  and 


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Editor:    MICHAEL  A.  MIKKELSEN          Contributing  Editor:    HERBERT  CROLY 
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COVER—  Apse  of  the  Old  Cathedral  of  Salamanca.     Water  Color 

By  Arthur  Byne 

THE  RESIDENCE  OF  J.  HARLESTON  PAKKEK  Esq.,  Boston,  Mass.,  of 
the  Firm  of  Parker,  Thomas  6-  Rice,  Architects        .        ,        » 

By  Frank  Chouteau  Brown 

A  STUDY  IN  MUSEUM  PLANNING       .  .... 

By  M  eyrie  R.  Rogers 

THE  LATERO-SECTIONAL  MODELS  OF  BELLOWS  6-  ALDRICH     . 

By  Sylvester  Baxter 

WAK   MEMORIALS.     Part  I.     Community  Houses  for   Towns  and 
Small  Cities       .......... 

By  Charles  Over  Cornelius 

SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF  SMALL  HOUSE  DESIGN.   Part  II.     Design  of  the 
Plot  of  Land  (continued)    ........ 

By  John  Taylor  Boyd,  Jr. 

ENGLISH  ARCHITECTURAL  DECORATION.    Part  XI     ... 

By  Albert  E.  Bullock 

PORTFOLIO  OF  CURRENT  ARCHITECTURE     ...... 

NOTES  AND  COMMENTS 


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MANTELPIECE     IN     LIVING     ROOM-RESIDENCE     OF 
J.  HARLESTON  PARKER,  ARCHITECT,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


THE 

AKCHITECTVRAL 
RECORD 


VOLVME  XLVI 


NVMBER  VI 


DECEMBER,  1919 


RESIDENCE  sf  J  HARLE  JTON  PARKER. 

BOSTON,  MASS.   OF  THE  FIRM  OF 
PARKER.  THOMAS  <*  RICE.  ARCHITECTS 


THE  special  points  of  interest  in  this 
city  house  are  to  be  summarized 
in  the  following  particulars :  first, 
the  dwelling  is  an  alteration  —  not  a 
new,  house  —  though  few  might  sus- 
pect that  fact  from  any  details  now 
apparent  in  the  structure;  second,  it  is 
the  house  built  by  an  architect  for  him- 
self; third,  its  interest — and  difficulty- 
is  greatly  increased  by  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Parker  possessed  a  large  amount  of 
family  furniture,  pictures  and  objets  d' 
art  which  had  all  to  be  considered  and 
permanently  accommodated  in  his  new 
home.  Finally,  there  was  the  "mystery 
of  the  purple  glass,"  a  mere  detail  in 
the  house,  that,  because  of  a  peculiarly 
local  and  native  Boston  tradition,  has 


happened  rather  to  overshadow  other  ele- 
ments far  more  important  in  the  design 
and  success  of  the  building ;  and  the  story 
of  the  purple  glass  should  be  told  first— 
if  told  at  all — in  order  to  supply  the 
proper  "local  color"  and  clear  the  way 
for  more  informing  and  important  mat- 
ter to  follow. 

About  two  springs  ago,  shortly  after 
we  finally  went  into  the  war,  the  gener- 
ally unruffled  equanimity  of  Boston's 
most  exclusive  section,  the  so-called 
"Back  Bay,"  was  disturbed  by  a  per- 
sistent and  pervasive  rumor  that  would 
not  down,  but  continued  to  intrude  at 
the  most  exclusive  dinner  tables — once 
the  latest  news  from  the  Front  from  that 
evening's  Transcript  (all  of  two  days  old, 


Copyrighted,  1919,  by  The  Architectural   Record  Company.     All  Rights  Reserved. 

499 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


and  therefore  hopefully  considered  as 
less  likely  to  be  contradicted  in  next 
morning's  Post)  had  been  paraded  and 
dissected  unto  the  third  course. 

The  rumor  was  to  the  effect  that  a 
most  disturbing  and  unprecedented  phe- 
nomenon had  been  noted  on  Common- 
wealth Avenue,  nearly  across  from  the 
marble  fagade  of  the  Hotel  Vendome. 
It  was  there  that,  in  a  new  house  rising 
on  the  Avenue,  certain  windows  had  been 
seen  glazed  with  the  glass  that  had  there- 
tofore been  considered  the  exclusive  pre- 
rogative and  birthright  of  Beacon  Hill — 
and  only  the  smallest  and  most  exclusive 
portion  of  Beacon  Hill  at  that.  It  was 
most  certainly  not,  in  the  natural  order 
of  established  things  in  Boston,  to  be 
encountered  on  Commonwealth  Avenue. 
Even  on  the  Hill  the  buildings  that  could 
boast  of  "purple  glass"  in  their  windows 
were  few  and  far  between,  dating  mostly 
from  the  farther  side  of  1840.  It  was 
inconceivable — not  to  say  indecent — that 
any  new  "front"  on  the  Avenue  should 
have  presumed  to  encroach  upon  so 
cherished  a  local  tradition.  The  rumor 
was  investigated,  and  denied ;  it  was  de- 
clared to  be  impossible.  Some  there  were 
who  acknowledged  that,  in  certain  lights, 
there  was  an  effect  that  gave  a  possible 
tincture  of  color  to  the  rumor;  but  the 
mere  fact  that  it  had  never  happened 
before  was  ample  evidence  to  most  hear- 
ers: that,  of  course,  was  sufficient  to 
settle  it — for  Boston. 

Nevertheless,  the  story  would  not 
down ;  it  bobbed  up  again  and  again ;  and 
then  at  last  the  mischief  was  done:  the 
beans  were  spilled — and  in  public,  too — 
for  some  one  wrote  to  the  Evening  Trans- 
cript asking  for  information  (there  were 
those  who  claimed  it  a  clear  case  of  lese- 
majeste  on  the  part  of  the  editor  who 
allowed  the  letter  to  appear  in  print). 
Someone  else  replied,  claiming  these  win- 
dows were  only  to  be  found  in  the  houses 
of  the  oldest  and  "bluest"  blood  in  the 
Colony ;  another,  writing  under  the  well- 
known  pen  name  of  "Politicus,"  dis- 
coursed learnedly  on  old  Boston's  an- 
cestry, the  history  of  the  Hill,  changes 
on  the  Common,  the  effect  of  Christmas 
eve  candles  behind  Beacon  Street  win- 
dow panes  (the  nearest  he  ever  got  to 


his  subject,  by  the  way),  finally  ending 
by  saying  his  grandfather  had  told  him 
that  only  possessors  of  the  oldest  and 
finest  wine  cellars  were  entitled  to  dis- 
play the  symbol — whose  meaning  was 
known  to  the  elect — adding  it  had  been 
of  great  assistance  to  the  young  bloods 
of  several  generations  ago  in  laying  out 
the  uncharted  route  of  their  New  Year's 
Day  calls.  This  was  followed  by  an- 
other letter,  in  the  "Notes  and  Queries" 
columns,  telling  how  the  glass  had  orig- 
inally been  imported,  and  some  panes 
set  in  the  windows  of  a  popular  coffee 
house  of  the  day  in  Spring  Lane,  where 
the  enriching  (color)  qualities  added  to 
port  and  sherries  seen  through  the  light 
admitted  by  such  windows  was  not  to 
be  gainsaid.  And  so  the  glass  came  into 
demand  among  its  habitues,  who  desired 
to  sip  their  sherry  with  the  adumbra  of 
color  thus  gained,  but  without  the  extra 
charge  added  for  that  privilege  by  the 
canny  Yankee  innkeeper — thus  the  ship- 
ment was  soon  depleted  in  order  to  re- 
set their  dining  room  and  parlor  windows 
with  this  marvellous  glass. 

Finally,  the  editor  of  the  above  de- 
partment, causing  search  to  be  made, 
found  that  the  whole  subject  of  purple, 
or  more  strictly  "violet"  glass,  had  been 
investigated  and  published  in  his  columns 
some  fifteen  or  so  years  before,  and  so 
the  facts  about  the  whole  matter  were 
reprinted  to  the  following  effect:  The 
glass  was  imported  from  abroad,  some 
authorities  say  from  France,  and  upon 
its  arrival  was  perfectly  colorless.  After 
being  set  and  exposed  to  the  sun  it  be- 
gan to  turn  violet,  causing  much  discus- 
sion and  so  much  dissatisfaction  that 
people  refused  to  buy  any  more  of  it. 
It  has  been  found  that  that  portion  of 
the  panes  covered  by  the  putty  is  still 
colorless  after  many  years,  thereby  prov- 
ing the  discoloration  was  caused  by  the 
action  of  the  sun's  rays. 

Thomas  Gaffield,  the  best  known  au- 
thority of  his  day  on  glass  and  its  man- 
ufacture, made  extensive  experiments 
with  various  glasses  and  the  effect  of 
sun  upon  them.  He  gave  an  address  be- 
fore the  Chemical  Section  of  the  Amer- 
ican Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science  in  Boston  on  August  27,  1880, 


500 


THE    RESIDENCE    OF   J.    HARLESTON 
PARKER,  ARCHITECT,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


ENTRANCE-RESIDENCE   OF  J.   HARLESTON 
PARKER.       ARCHITECT,       BOSTON,       MASS. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


in  which  he  refers  to  the  Boston  purple 
glass,  saying  that  although  originally 
clear,  the  change  to  the  violet  tone  was 
due  to  the  action  of  the  sunlight  and 
caused  by  an  excess  of  oxide  of  man- 
ganese used  in  its  manufacture.  As  soon 
as  this  mistake  was  discovered  by  the 


Lord  1917.  Hence  the  true  and  only  ex- 
planation of  the  mystery  now  appears 
for  the  first  time  in  print.  It  was  merely 
this — at  about  the  beginning  of  Mr. 
Parker's  alteration,  the  old  houses  at 
Beacon  and  Somerset  Streets,  formerly 
used  by  the  Boston  City  Club,  had  cer- 


DETAIL  OF   FACADE-RESIDENCE  OF  J.   HARLESTON    PARKER.   ARCHITECT, 

BOSTON,   MASS. 


makers  it  was  corrected ;  therefore  only 
a  limited  amount  of  this  glass  was  manu- 
factured and  sold.  Today  it  is  of  course 
practically  unobtainable,  except  where 
found  in  one  of  the  old  buildings  of  that 
period. 

This  seemed  authoritatively  to  clear 
up  the  mystery  of  the  original  glass,  but 
still  did  not  explain  its  sudden  and  un- 
expected reappearance  in  the  year  of  our 


tain  repairs  and  alterations  made  in  them, 
giving  Mr.  Parker  an  opportunity  to 
purchase  the  old  sash,  glass  and  all,  and 
use  the  latter  in  his  home.  Investigation 
disclosed  that  the  houses  from  which  it 
had  been  removed  had  been  built  by 
David  Sears  in  1837  to  1838,  and— 
minus  the  glass,  and  a  mantel  and  hob 
grate  also  purchased  and  transferred  to 
Mr.  Parker's  smoking  room  at  the  same 


503 


THIHD    FLOOR,    PLAN 


!)LCOND    FLOOR.    PLAN 


FLOOR  PLAN 


THE    RESIDENCE    OF    J.    HARLESTON 
PARKER,  ARCHITECT,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


time — they  are  still  to  be  seen  at  the 
upper  corner  of  these  streets  in  the  City 
of  Boston.  This  makes  the  glass  that 
has  caused  all  this  discussion,  undoubt- 
edly, about  eighty  years  old. 

Having,  it  is  hoped,  now  succeeded  in 
disposing  of  this  rumor  we  can  turn  to 
the  equally  interesting — if  quite  different 
—story  of  the  house  itself,  and  relate 
some  details  of  its  present  transforma- 
tion from  an  old — and  somewhat  ugly — 
type  of  Bostonian  Back  Bay  respecta- 
bility to  a  more  modern,  beautiful  and,  I 
trust  we  may  still  say,  eminently  respect- 
able example  of  what  the  development  of 
Boston's  Back  Bay  might  have  been,  pro- 
vided only  that  the  ill-considered  restric- 
tions in  regard  to  "bay  windows"  arbi- 
trarily established  by  the  original  owners 
of  all  the  property  in  this  section  of 
Boston  had  never  been  invented  or 
applied.  So  great  was  Mr.  Parker's  own 
antipathy  to  this  hoary  local  precedent 
that  he  pulled  down  the  entire  fagade  of 
the  old  house,  largely  to  get  rid  of  this 
incumbrance ;  and  that  he  has  proved  his 
belief  by  the  result  is  amply  evidenced 
by  a  comparison  of  the  new  front  with 
the  old  houses  still  standing  on  each  side 
of  it. 

Two  other  factors  also  influenced  Mr. 
Parker  in  his  purchase  of  this  property, 
and  these  were  factors  of  plan  and  story 
height.  The  plan  —  with  some  merely 
minor  modifications  —  he  regarded  as 
nearly  right;  while  the  height  and,  even 
more,  the  location  of  the  various  floor 
levels  relative  to  themselves  and  to  the 
street  were  such  that  he  believed  it  pos- 
sible to  adapt  them,  with  comparative 
inexpense,  to  his  requirements  and  needs. 
And  so  the  event  has  proved.  Even  the 
old  baths  and  their  plumbing  were 
accepted  by  Mr.  Parker,  and,  with  the 
heating,  utilized  without  any  drastic 
change.  The  service  portion,  the  bed- 
rooms, the  rear,  were  all  made  use  of 
with  only  slight  redecoration,  repainting 
of  walls  and  woodwork,  and  refinishing 
of  floors,  some  occasional  new  closet  fit- 
ments and  mantels  being  added  to  give 
the  character  requisite  to  the  furniture 
and  draperies  that  were  to  be  installed. 

The  front,  as  has  already  been  indi- 
cated, is  almost  entirely  new.  The  design, 


carried  out  in  a  delicately  modified  ver- 
sion of  English  Georgian,  or  Colonial, 
with  a  distinct  flavor  of  Adam  influence 
pervading  the  carved  limestone  trim, 
possesses  an  architectural  distinction  all 
its  own — quite  aside  from  the  overly 
much  discussed  incidental  embellishment 
of  its  "purple"  glass.  Much  of  this  char- 
acter is  in  the  brickwork,  water-struck 
brick,  carefully  selected  under  Mr. 
Parker's  supervision  to  obtain  a  prevail- 
ing purple  and  brown  color  note  in  the 
stretchers  and  headers  laid  into  the  wall 
face.  This  color  scheme  is  aided  by  the 
use  of  a  selected  dark  sand  and  an 
irregularly  surfaced  joint. 

The  bricks  are  laid  up  in  an  irregular 
English  Bond;  irregular  because  no 
especial  importance  was  attached  to 
balancing  the  upright  joints  exactly  over 
the  stretcher  courses,  with  the  result  that 
the  alternate  header  courses  are  laid  up 
with  regard  only  to  their  disposition 
within  their  own  course;  and  a  most 
pleasing  irregularity  of  effect  has  re- 
sulted. The  first-story  windows  are 
additionally  marked  with  a  row  of 
headers  outside  the  frame ;  and  the  attic 
story — more  than  usually  subservient  to 
the  fagade — was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  left 
much  as  in  the  old  house,  a  slight  change 
in  the  dormer  top  and  a  new  color  treat- 
ment, both  in  the  metal  dormers  and  the 
old  tile  roof,  being  about  the  extent  of 
alteration  attempted. 

The  vestibule  is  lined  with  Travertine, 
and  the  front  doors  are  rough  paneled 
and  painted  in  several  varying  tones  of 
blue  and  green  to  a  genuinely  "antique" 
appearance.  The  doors  throughout  the 
house  have  been  made  from  discarded 
pieces  of  oak  and  English  oak  veneer, 
used  to  give  added  interest  and  character 
to  the  new  interiors  in  which  their  rough, 
cracked  and  gnarled  surfaces  appear. 

The  principal  portions  of  the  first  and 
second  floors  were  all  remade  to  accord 
with  the  occupants'  ideas,  and  it  is  with 
this  portion  of  the  house — along  with  the 
front  to  the  street — that  we  are  there- 
fore concerned.  But  before  entering 
upon  their  description  a  few  more  words 
are  still  to  be  said  about  the  plan,  because 
the  house  is,  in  several  important  par- 
ticulars, different  from  the  conventional 


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THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


city  block  plan.  First  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  second  floor  contained  a  front 
living  room  and  a  rear  dining  room 
(instead  of  the  more  customary  library), 
connected  by  a  hall — also  of  a  difference. 
This  placed  the  kitchen  upon  the  first 
floor  at  the  rear,  and  probably  left  plenty 
of  room  for  that  already  obsolete  ele- 
ment— a  wine  cellar — in  the  basement 
below.  The  first  floor  thus  contains  a 
reception  room  at  the  right  of  the 
entrance — used  by  Mr.  Parker  as  a  more 
informal  smoking  room  because  of  his 
determination  to  make  the  house  essen- 
tially livable  and  comfortable  as  a  home. 

Back  of  the  front  room  on  the  entrance 
floor  the  staircase  hall  occupied  the 
whole  width  of  the  lot  —  an  unusually 
ample  one  of  twenty-six  feet  in  width 
with  the  staircase  well  recessed  at  the 
side  behind  the  smoking  room,  leaving 
the  space  in  front  of  the  entrance  vesti- 
bule entirely  free  and  clear — an  impor- 
tant detail — adding  spaciousness  to  an 
already  wide  area  and  making  the  hall 
more  available  for  use  as  a  room  in  the 
first-floor  plan.  Originally  the  staircase 
had  started  from  well  out  in  this  space, 
with  a  center  run  to  a  landing,  where  the 
stairs  divided  and  then  went  on  to  the 
.second  floor  in  two  rooms — a  large 
Southern  Colonial  motive  that  Mr. 
Parker  found  somewhat  too  pretentious 
and  crowded  for  even  this  ample  hall ; 
and  so  he  took  down  and  rebuilt  the 
staircase  in  the  form  it  now  appears  in 
the  photographs — landing  on  the  second 
story  toward  the  rear,  near  the  dining 
room  door.  This  staircase  had  originally 
extended  only  from  the  first  floor  to  the 
second,  where  it  stopped,  the  staircase 
serving  the  bedrooms  above  starting 
again  from  the  second  floor  and  being 
placed  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  house. 

This  arrangement  made  it  possible  to 
square  out  the  ceiling  over  the  first  flight 
of  stairs,  under  the  third  floor,  and  again 
add  to  the  effect  of  spaciousness  desired ; 
while  the  start  of  the  staircase  to  the 
rooms  occupied  by  the  family  above  is 
unobtrusively  concealed  by  the  wall  of 
the  second  floor  hall  containing  the  niche 
and  statue — the  latter  a  fine  family  copy 
of  the  well-known  original — except  at 
the  point  where  the  first  few  steps  of  the 


flight  and  the  landing  occur  in  the  arch- 
way opposite  the  landing  of  the  first 
flight  upon  the  second  floor. 

The  hall  has  been  treated  in  the  sim- 
plest fashion  on  both  stories.  A  rough 
plastered  wall,  with  a  brown  coat  floated 
with  a  felt  float  and  then  partly  scoured, 
is  left  as  the  finish.  A  plain  dark  floor 
of  eighteen-inch  square  tiles  of  black  and 
green  slate,  diagonally  laid  inside  a  black 
border  and  a  low  black  slate  base,  covers 
the  first  floor ;  eighteen-inch  gray  squares 
inside  a  black  slate  border  the  second. 
A  simple,  roughly  molded  plaster  crown- 
mould,  with  a  dull  gilt  rope  moulding  at 
the  bottom  marks  the  line  of  the  ceiling, 
leaving  the  distinctive  furniture,  the  few 
pictures,  one  or  two  tapestries — and  last, 
but  certainly  not  least,  the  light  fixtures 
— to  give  emphasis  and  distinction  to  the 
space.  The  stair  rail  is  a  delicately 
modelled  design  in  alternating  units  of 
cast  and  wrought  iron,  touched  in  with 
some  light  color  and  old  gilt,  and  notably 
graceful  and  light  in  effect. 

Mr.  Parker  has  included  two  unusual 
conveniences  in  his  plan.  The  small 
vestibule  occurring  between  the  front 
hall  and  the  service  stairs  admits  not 
only  to  the  house  elevator,  but  is  also 
furnished  for  use  as  a  small  toilet  or 
dressing  room,  which,  with  the  lavatory 
opening  from  one  side,  makes  it  possi- 
ble for  arrivals  by  automobiles  to  make 
themselves  entirely  presentable  here  be- 
fore appearing  upon  the  floor  above.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  hall,  the  pantry 
opening  under  the  stairs  from  the  kitchen 
can — by  means  of  a  blind  door  beneath 
the  stair  stringer — also  be  put  to  use 
as  a  service  connection  with  the  front 
hall  and  door,  whenever  the  little  dress- 
ing room  is  occupied  for  that  purpose. 

The  smoking  room  on  the  first  floor 
contains  the  dark  green  marble  mantel 
and  grate  already  referred  to,  the  walls 
are  covered  with  grasscloth,  the  wood 
trim  and  ceiling  mold  (it  is  hardly  more) 
are  painted  a  dark  green,  and  the  whole 
room  forms  merely  an  enclosing  frame 
for  the  many  old  pictures  and  prints — 
the  former  mostly  of  old  merchant  ships 
— that  crowd  the  walls,  and  the  old 
pieces  of  Chinese  inlaid  and  lacquered 
furniture  brought  back  by  a  merchant 


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THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


forbear  from  a  trip  to  the  Orient.  Brown 
velvet  hangings  at  the  windows  tone  in 
with  the  walls,  and  the  whole  room  ex- 
cellently fulfils  its  purpose  of  a  some- 
what masculine  lounging  room,  livable 
and  homelike,  in  which  the  "mere 


the  usual  decorator,  a  "square''  room. 
Again  has  liveableness  been  considered 
the  chief  desideratum;  and  once  again 
has  it  been  attained  in  this  room,  walled 
from  floor  to  ceiling  in  paneled  oak, 
with  carved  cornice,  mantelpiece  and 


SECOND    FLOOR   HALL— RESIDENCE   OF   J.    HARLESTON   PARKER, 
ARCHITECT,  BOSTON,   MASS. 


creature  man"  may  take  such  comfort  as 
abides  in  deep  upholstery  and  tobacco 
without  paying  undue  regard  to  where 
his  ashes  may  be  deposited  by  any  sud- 
den or  incidental  gesture. 

One  of  the  few  structural  changes 
undertaken  was  in  the  front,  second 
story  room,  where  the  interior  rear  wall 
was  moved  back  some  three  or  four  feet 
into  the  hall,  to  ease  up  the  dimensions 
and  also  to  achieve  that  bete  noire  of 


door  architrave,  after  the  Georgian  fash- 
ion. On  either  side  of  the  entrance  door 
are  bookcases,  recessed  into  the  thick- 
ness of  the  wall,  and  left  unglazed  and 
undefended,  so  that  mellow  tones  of  old 
calf  and  leather  bindings  may  fulfil  their 
ordained  purpose  of  harmonizing  and 
enriching  the  paneled  oak.  Here,  again, 
Mr.  Parker  has  succeeded  in  solving 
another  of  those  difficult  problems  of  the 
house  furnisher,  what  to  do  with  the 


510 


MAIN  STAIRCASE  LANDING  ON  SECOND  FLOOR-RESIDENCE  OF  J.  HARLESTON  PARKER, 

ARCHITECT,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


upright  piano.  He  has,  below  the  shelves 
of  one  case,  adjusted  in  width  to  the 
width  of  his  piano  case,  left  a  space  of 
just  the  right  size  to  allow  the  piano  to 
be  set  inside  this  recess,  where,  by  finish- 
ing the  exposed  front  of  the  instrument 
in  oak  to  match  the  wall,  it  is  effectually 
concealed  and  its  polished  ebony  and 
rosewood  case  has,  for  once,  become  in- 
nocuous. This  arrangement  also  makes 
it  possible  to  place  a  concealed  light 
under  the  bottom  of  the  shelf  above, 
exactly  where  it  will  best  throw  down 
upon  the  music  rack,  another  feat  most 
difficult  of  successful  accomplishment. 

The  color  of  this  room  varies  between 
the  tones  of  the  oak — rough -grained, 
knotted  and  gnarled,  cracked  and  irregu- 
larly moulded,  with  the  surface  brushed 
to  obtain  added  interest  of  texture, 
treated  only  with  a  dull  waxed  finish — 
and  the  grey  white  and  dull  soft  green 
of  the  slate  and  marble  mantel  (in  part 
of  old  material),  the  latter  color  re- 
echoed in  the  dull  green  figured  hangings 


at  the  windows,  dropping  from  behind 
their  coved  cornice,  covered  with  the 
same  material,  and  a  pendent  fringe 
along  the  lower  edge.  This  room  is 
floored  in  eighteen-inch  squares  of  oak, 
stained  very  dark,  and  with  the  fine  old 
furniture — and  another  bit  of  color  in  the 
coat  of  arms  over  the  mantel — completes 
the  bare  description  of  an  entirely  pleas- 
ing, attractive  and  livable  living  room. 

By  the  same  deft  means  as  he  has  em- 
ployed elsewhere  throughout  the  house, 
Mr.  Parker  in  this  comfortable  living- 
room  again  is  successful  in  crowding  its 
formal  walls  with  old  pictures,  and  the 
margin  of  the  room  with  furntiure,  in- 
herited from  a  number  of  generations. 
The  pieces  shown  in  the  photographs  are 
readily  recognizable  as  worthy  exemplars 
of  the  best  periods  and  early  styles  in 
this  country — the  pair  of  old  gilt  mirrors 
flanking  the  mantel  breast,  for  instance, 
contain  the  labeled  record  that  they  were 
"made  by  W.  Lewis,  Charleston.  South 
Carolina,  in  1777,"  where  they  were 


511 


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LIVING  ROOM  CORNER  NEAR  WINDOW— RESIDENCE  OF 
J.    HARLESTON    PARKER,    ARCHITECT,    BOSTON,    MASS. 


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LIVING   ROOM   CORNER   AND   PIANO-RESIDENCE  OF 
J.  HARLESTON  PARKER,  ARCHITECT,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


bought  in  the  year  1819  by  Peter  Parker. 

Of  the  new  interiors,  there  remains 
only  the  dining  room  still  to  be  described. 
This,  as  is  evident  in  the  photographs,  is 
more  formal  in  derivation,  being 
modeled,  or  influenced  rather,  by  some 
French  interiors  of  the  Regentcy.  And 
again  only  a  close  and  appreciative 
observer  will  note  that  any  too  literal 
copying  of  foreign  moldings  and  details 
has  been  carefully  avoided.  The  result 
is  perhaps  even  more  delicate  (and  here, 
too,  the  moldings  have  been  blurred  and 
softened  on  the  sander)  and  more  suited 
to  the  smaller  size  and  greater  propor- 
tionate height  of  the  room  over  its 
recognizable  originals.  The  molding  of 
panels  and  at  openings  is  at  once  delicate, 
rich  and  varied;  and  the  final  cachet  is 
given  this  interior  by  the  two  painted 
panels  over  the  side  doors,  by  a  well 
known  French  artist,  M.  P.  V.  Galland, 
which  belonged  in  Mr.  Parker's  family 
and  had  been  formerly  used  in  a  house 
in  New  York. 

Finally,  these  wood  walls  have  been 
painted  a  sufficiently  dark  and  warmly 
tinted  grey  to  avoid  any  of  the  usual 
coldness  often  felt  in  a  room  of  this  style ; 
and  this  color  has  again  been  warmed  by 
the  plain  crimson  carpet  over  the  floor 
of  eighteen-inch  black  slate  tiles,  laid 
square  within  a  margin  and  base  of  grey 
waxed  Knoxville,  and  old  crimson  hang- 
ings at  the  windows,  which  have  been 
glazed  with  an  irregular  and  bubbly 
cathedral  glass  of  a  warm  tinge,  which 
not  only  warms  and  diffuses  the  light 
from  the  rear — and  north — but  also  pre- 
vents the  eye  from  visioning  too  clearly 


the  rear  fagades  of  the  houses  on  the 
backing  street.  The  mantel  is  of  Alps 
green  marble,  with  gilt  ormolu  orna- 
ments, and  the  walls  have  lent  them- 
selves, with  unexpected  pliability,  to  car- 
rying the  unusual  number  of  interesting 
old  family  portraits  that  are  both  hung 
upon  and  set  within  their  panelled 
surfaces. 

It  should  be  clear  by  now  that  Mr. 
Parker's  house  is  not  a  show  house,  in 
the  sense  that  phrase  is  generally  em- 
ployed. On  leaving,  one  carries  away 
most  distinctly  its  flavor  of  dignified  re- 
laxation— of  livableness  and  charm.  It 
possesses  individuality,  amply  but  never 
obtrusively  evident.  It  is  obviously  solid 
and  substantial ;  a  worthy  descendant  of 
those  times  when  the  resident  family  had 
acquired  the  substantial  and  elegant 
pieces  that  the  house  interiors  set  forth 
so  nicely  and  so  well.  In  how  few  houses 
could  there  be  gathered  together  the 
amount  and  variety  of  furniture  and  pic- 
tures combined  within  these  walls  with- 
out oppressively  cluttering  and  confus- 
ing the  visitor?  Here  Mr.  Parker  has 
succeeded  in  so  arranging  plan  and  treat- 
ment as  to  allow  each  object  its  full  sig- 
nificance and  value — as  in  the  Copley  at 
the  left  of  the  dining-room  mantel,  for 
instance. 

Outside,  a  backward  glance  discloses 
this  same  spirit  animate  upon  the  ex- 
terior; and  recalling  the  narrow  crowded 
aspect  of  the  bay-windowed  front  the 
new  fagade  has  supplanted,  one  cannot 
but  the  more  fully  appreciate  the  greater 
breadth,  dignity  and  simplicity  of  the 
new  treatment. 


517 


A  STUDY  IN  MUSEUM  PLANNING 

BEING  AN  EFFORT  TO  ESTABLISH  A  WORK- 
ING BASIS  FOR  THE  SOLUTION  OF  CURRENT 
PROBLEMS  IN  MUSEUM  PLANNING 


BY  MEYRIC  R.ROCERS 

[Mr.  Rogers  is  a  member  of  the  staff  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art. 
His  paper,  which  was  read  before  the  convention  of  the  American  Association  of 
Museums,  May  21,  1919,  aims  to  establish  a  solution  for  a  group  of  questions 
which1  is  engaging  the  attention  of  museum  officials,  relating  to  circulation,  safety 
of  objects,  transportation,  administration  and  control,  etc.  The  paper  is  to  be 
published  in  "Museum  Work,"  the  organ  of  the  Association  of  Museums,  as  well 
as  in  The  Architectural  .Record,  the  purpose  being  to  place  the  problem  stated  b\ 
Mr.  Rogers  before  both  architects  and  museum  officials  in  order  to  obtain  comments 
on  his  solution,  and  possibly  alternative  solutions,  from  both  sources.  The  results 
will  be  summarised  by  Mr.  Richard  F.  Bach,  also  a  member  of  the  staff  of  the 
Metropolitan  Museum,  and  published  in  "Museum  Work"  and  in  The  Architectural 
Record.  It  is  hoped,  that  discussion  will  bring  out  a  valuable  fund  of  experience 
and  suggestions.  Communications  may  be  sent  to  Mr.  Bach  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  of  Art,  New  York,  or  to  The  Architectural  Record.  —  EDITOR.] 

••. 

owing  to  continued  modification  and  ex- 
tension of  functions,  has  achieved  no 
logical  formula  of  design. 

We  must  first  of  all  change  our  con- 
ception of  the  museum.  It  not  only  re- 
ceives but  gives,  and  gives  bountifully. 
towards  'the  sum  of  education  and  public 
culture.  It  is  becoming  more  and  more 
highly  organized  as  its  functions  in- 
crease and  its  influence  broadens  ;  and  a 
correspondingly  efficient  and  highly  or- 
ganized plant  is  necessary,  which  can  be 
obtained  only  by  satisfying  the  numerous 
definite  requirements  of  the  problem. 
These  requirements  can  not  be  recog- 
nized except  by  frankly  putting  aside 
preconceived  ideas  and  analyzing  the  sit- 
uation as  it  is,  a  task  that  must  be  per- 
formed by  the  museum  worker  with  the 
advice  of  an  architect  experienced  in  the 
technical  problems  of  building. 

The  detailed  analysis  of  the  modern 
museum  is  another  story  and  far  beyond 
the  limitations  of  this  article,  which  is  in- 
tended to  be  merely  descriptive  of  a  gen- 
eral scheme  for  museum  planning,  built 
on  the  results  of  such  a  process.  This 
study  was  undertaken  after  several  years' 
experience  in  the  actual  workings  of  one 


WHAT -is  wrong  with  our  Ameri- 
can museums,  with  our  art 
museums  in  particular  ?  There 
is  no  doubt  that  there  is  something  the 
matter.  The  public  feels  it  generally  by 
suffering  unnecessary  gallery  fatigue; 
the  trustees  feel  it  appreciably  in  heavy 
maintenance  costs,  and,  last  but  not  least, 
the  artist  of  every  class  is  exasperated  by 
it.  The  secret  seems  to  lie  in  bad  marks- 
manship. The  architect  has  been  un- 
certain of  his  target;  and  the  various 
building  committees  or  their  substitutes, 
the  museum  administrators,  do  not  seem 
to  have  given  much  solid  help  or  practical 
expert  advice. 

In  every  class  of  building  today  the 
architectural  problems  have  become  so 
complicated  that  they  call  each  for  their 
own  special  fund  of  information  and  ex- 
perience. No  one  man  can  properly  meet 
all  the  demands.  The  architectural  pro- 
fession has  been  forced  to  divide  itself 
into  groups  of  specialists,  each  with  its 
more  or  less  limited  field.  The  particular 
problems  of  the  bank,  the  office  build- 
ing, the  store,  the  railway  terminal,  etc., 
have  been  effectively  met  and  solved 
with  fair  satisfaction.  But  the  museum, 


518 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


of  the  country's  largest  museums,  pre- 
ceded by  fairly  thorough  architectural 
training. 

Before  discussing  the  situation  in  detail 
it  will  be  well  to  give  in  brief  some  of 
the  cardinal  points  which  determined 
the  method  of  attack.  In  the  first  place, 
the  conception  that  a  museum  of  art  con- 
taining the  art  treasures  of  the  people 
should  be  as  far  as  possible  a  sort  of 
public  palace  whose  architectural  treat- 
ment should  itself  be  one  of  the  chief 
exhibits,  internally  and  externally,  was 
greatly  modified.  The  functional  aspect 
of  the  plan  was  made  supreme.  Only 
so  much  of  the  monumental  idea  was 
retained  as  could  readily  be  harmonized 
with  the  dominating  idea  that  the  muse- 
um of  art  should  be  a  conveniently  and 
harmoniously  arranged  background  for 
its  contents.  From  this  fundamental 
conception  the  following  objectives  de- 
veloped and  were  to  become,  as  it  were, 
the  backbone  of  the  solution: 

1.  Economical  utilization  of  space. 

2.  Convenient    interadjustment    of    spaces 
alloted   to    exhibition,    educational    and 
administrative  purposes. 

3.  A   plan    which   would   admit   of    simple 
"route"  arrangement. 

4.  A  plan  which  would  facilitate  economy 
and  efficiency  of  maintenance. 

5.  A  plan  which  could  be  extended  with- 
out  radical   rearrangement. 

6.  A    reasonable    system    of    lighting. 

7.  Adoption  of  a  gallery-and-adjacent-cor- 
ridor  exhibition  unit. 

8.  A    readily    accessible,    easily    isolated, 
temporary  exhibition  space. 

9.  Relegation    of    stairways    to    secondary 
positions. 

10.  Ample    facilities    for    the    educational 
functions  of  the  museum. 

11.  Use  of  every  reasonable  means  to  give 
maximum  service,  esthetic  pleasure  and 
physical  comfort  to  the  public. 

\Yith  these  points  in  mind  the  follow- 
ing program  was  drawn  up  to  serve  as 
the  statement  of  a  definite  problem.  Al- 
though it  was  desirable  that  the  require- 
ments should  be  as  general  as  possible,  it 
was  also  necessary  to  get  a  working  start 
by  making  certain  specific  demands  based 
on  the  average  requirements  of  a  museum 
of  moderate  size  suitable  for  a  city  with 
a  population  of  from  200,000  to  500,000. 
In  many  cases,  however,  the  fullest  use 
of  the  facilities  given  has  made  it  pos- 
sible to  meet  these  requirements  more 
generously  than  was  absolutely  de- 


manded. The  conditions  of  the  ideal 
problem  set  for  solution  were  the  fol- 
lowing (numbers  in  parentheses  refer 
to  objectives  above) : 

GENERAL  CONDITIONS. 

1.  The  building  area,  exclusive  of  setting, 

should  not  exceed  40,000  square  feet. 

2.  There  should  be  three  main  floors,  two 

of  which  should  be  used  for  exhibition 
purposes  (1). 

3.  Every     advantage     possible     should     be 

taken  of  any  slope  of  land  (1). 

EXHIBITION  SPACE. 

A.  Galleries. 

Galleries,  etc.,  used  for  exhibition  pur- 
poses should  offer,  in  all,  about  60,000  square 
feet  of  floor  space. 

1.  Large  hall,  top  or  high  side  light,  3,000 

square  feet,  more  than  one  story  high 
(11). 

2.  Room  or   rooms  for  special  exhibitions 

not  less  than  1,500  square  feet  in  all 
(8). 

3.  Not  less  than  40,000  square  feet  of  gen- 

eral gallery  space,  exclusive  of  circula- 
tion, giving  galleries  of  varying  pro- 
portions (11). 

4.  Court,  open  to  air  or  not,  as  advisable, 

about  3,500  square  feet  to  be  used  for 
exhibit  of  architectural  fragments,  etc. 
(11). 

B.    Circulation. 

1.  Small  concourse  or  lobby  in  connection 

with  main  entrance  (2). 

2.  Means  of  access   to   galleries   from  en- 

trance without  using  galleries  as  such, 
should  be  provided  (7). 

3.  Doorways   into   the  galleries   should  be 

reduced  to  a  minimum  requirement  of 
safety  (4). 

4.  Public    staircases    should    be    spacious, 

convenient  and  easy,  but  not  architec- 
turally prominent,  and  few  in  number 
to  avoid  confusion  (9  and  11). 

5.  Passenger  elevators   close   to   main   en- 

trance (2  and  11). 

C.  Public  Service. 

1.  Ample    check    rooms    near   entrance    (4 

and  11). 

2.  Space  for  information  desk  and  sale  of 

photographs  near  entrance   (4  and   11). 

3.  At  favorable  points  not  actually  in  the 

galleries  provision  should  be  made  for 
affording  the  visitor  a  resting  place 
(11). 

4.  General  rest  room  for  public,  with  small 

lunchroom  attached  (11). 

5.  Smoking    room,    toilet,    etc.,    should    be 

provided  (11). 

EDUCATIONAL  FACILITIES   (10). 

1.  Auditorium  to  seat  about  500,  with  sep- 

arate entrance,  cloak  room,  etc.,  which 
can  be  used  when  galleries  are  closed. 

2.  Library  of  about  1,500  square  feet,  with 

basement  stacks. 


519 


FIG.  1.  GROUND  FLOOR  PLAN-DESIGN  BY  MEYRIC 
R.    ROGERS    FOR    A    SMALL    MUSEUM    OF    ART. 


-i r- 


FIG    2.  SECOND  FLCX)R  PLAN-DESIGN  BY  MEYRIC 
R.    ROGERS    FOR    A    SMALL    MUSEUM    OF    ART. 


nil  ii  8 


FIG.      3.        BASEMENT      FLOOR      PLAN-DESIGN      BY 
MEYRIC  R.  ROGERS  FOR  A  SMALL  MUSEUM  OF  ART. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


3.    Study  and  class  rooms. 

(a)  A  well  lighted,  well  ventilated 
room  to  seat  about  100,  on  each 
floor. 

(b)  Children's  room  close  to  library. 

(c)  Other    study    and    class    rooms 
should    be    provided     wherever 
possible. 

ADMINISTRATION. 
A.  Control. 

1.  Centralized  control  of  the  main  arteries 

is    essential    (4). 

2.  Emergency  exits   should  be  provided  in 

wings  remote  from  main  entrance  (11). 

3.  Entrance    to    auditorium    and    adjacent 

circulation    must    be    easily    separable 
from  the  gallery  area  (4). 
B.    Staff  Offices. 

Centrally  located  but  not  in  direct  con- 
nection with  public  circulation  (4). 

1.  Trustees'  room,   about   750   square   feet, 

with  ante-room. 

2.  Director's  room  connecting  with  assist- 

ant's   office. 

3.  At  least  one  curator's  office. 

4.  Clerking  space. 

5.  Office  for  Registrar  and  assistant  within 

easy  reach  of  the  curatorial  offices,  re- 
ceiving and  storage  rooms. 

6.  Office    for    superintendent,    etc. 

C.  Work  Rooms  (4). 

1.  Large,   well-lighted    room   or   rooms   for 

repair   or   carpenter    shop. 

2.  Supply  room. 

3.  Receiving  and   packing  room,  commodi- 

ous and  central. 

4.  Service    entrance    in    connection    with 

above. 

5.  Small    photographic    studio. 

6.  Locker   room  and   toilet   for   employees 

with  rest  room  attached. 

7.  Service  for  lunch  room. 

8.  Freight    elevators    conveniently    placed 

with    reference   to    storage   room. 
D.  Storage  (4). 

1.  Vaults     in     connection     with     offices     of 

trustees,  librarian,  and  registrar. 

2.  At  least  40,000  cubic  feet  of  good  stor- 

age space. 

E.  Mechanical  Plant. 

Adequate  space  for  ventilating,  heating 
and  humidifying  apparatus  must  be  pro- 
vided. 

The  accompanying  illustrations  show 
the  solution  of  the  problem  just  stated. 
The  area  occupied  by  the  building  is  a 
simple  rectangle,  approximately  260x160 
feet,  lying  on  a  gentle  slope  with  the 
ground  rising  about  six  feet  from  front 
to  rear,  thus  making  it  possible  to  reach 
the  building  by  a  driveway  running  un- 
derneath the  terraced  steps  leading  to 
the  main  entrance.  From  this  driveway 
a  wide  area  runs  around  the  entire  build- 


ing' giymg  access,  on  one  side,  to  the 
service  entrance  and,  on  the  other,  to  an 
emergency  exit  from  the  auditorium. 
This  area  also  facilitates  the  adequate 
lighting  of  the  basement  on  the  ground 
floor  by  ordinary  windows,  and  avoids 
the  necessity  for  an  elaborate  external 
lay-out. 

On  the  main  exhibition  floor  (Fig.  1) 
the  entrance  is  through  a  weather  vesti- 
bule directly  into  a  barrel-vaulted  sky-lit 
lobby  with  which  a  corridor,  running 
around  the  entire  building,  connects  on 
the  right  and  left.  This  insures  direct 
approach  to  any  gallery  or  group  of  gal- 
leries in  the  entire  circuit  without  using 
the  galleries  themselves  for  circulation. 
Joining  the  lobby  on  the  main  axis  is  the 
large  tapestry  hall,  which  gives  the  visitor 
an  important  vista  the  moment  he  enters. 

The  vaulted  staircases  to  the  ground 
and  second  floors  open  from  the  sides 
of  the  lobby,  into  which  they  look  again 
from  a  mezzanine  landing  before  reach- 
ing the  second  floor.  The  plan  shows 
the  placing  of  the  special  exhibition  rooms 
on  the  fagade  and  how  these  can  be  con- 
nected with  or  separated  from  the  main 
range  of  galleries  without  disorganizing 
the  circulation. 

At  the  rear  of  the  tapestry  hall  is  the 
garden  court,  in  this  case  with  a  glass 
roof  allowing  the  arches  between  it  and 
the  corridor  to  remain  unglazed.  An 
arcaded  loggia  lying  between  a  small 
secondary  stairway  and  the  service  ele- 
vator separates  it  on  the  remaining  side 
from  the  encircling  corridor.  The  cor- 
ner room  marked  "Study"  can  also  be 
removed  from  the  general  circulation 
without  difficulty  and  could  well  be  used 
either  for  class  room  or  study  purposes. 
The  cast  collection,  of  particular  interest 
to  students  only,  is  relegated  to  the  rear 
galleries.  One  of  the  most  objectionable 
features  of  some  of  the  smaller  museums 
is  the  accumulation  of  casts  near  the  en- 
trance, in  places  of  prominence  which 
should  be  given  to  original  works  of  im- 
portance. 

On  the  second  floor  (Fig.  2)  the  gen- 
eral arrangement  is  practically  the  same. 
Connecting  the  two  main  stairways  is  a 
broad  corridor  with  segmental  vault  lit 
by  indirect  side  light  through  a  small 


523 


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THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


loggia  opening  on  the  fagacle.  This,  with 
a  similar  corridor  lit  from  the  great  hall, 
would  form  appropriate  galleries  for 
smaller  sculpture.  The  light  in  either 
case  is  capable  of  augmentation  from  the 
roof.  The  visitor,  leaving  the  two  rooms 
on  the  plan  assigned  to  bronzes  and 
sculpture,  enters  either  directly  into  the 
first  range  of  painting  galleries  or  into 
the  corridor  from  which,  about  half  way 
down,  a  small  resting  place  gives  a 
glimpse  into  the  great  hall  below.  The 
corridor  also  opens  through  a  colonnade 
on  to  the  garden  court  and  into  a  loggia 
similar  to  that  on  the  lower  floor.  The 
corner  galleries,  as  before,  can  either  be 
used  as  further  exhibition  space  or  re- 
served for  the  special  use  of  copyists  or 
utilized  as  studios  and  work  rooms. 

One  of  the  main  values  of  this  type  of 
plan  from  the  museum  point  of  view  lies, 
however,  in  the  possibilities  it  offers  for 
a  convenient  and  economical  arrange- 
ment of  the  administrative  area  in  con- 
nection not  only  with  the  exhibition  space 
but  with  that  used  for  the  other  public 
functions  of  the  institutions. 

The  basement  (Fig.  3)  or  first  floor 
plan  gives  a  good  idea  of  what  is  meant 
by  this.  The  problem  was  to  secure  a 
location  for  the  administrative  offices 
that  would  be  readily  accessible,  yet,  at 
the  same  time,  definitely  cut  off  from  en- 
croachment by  the  public.  This  was  ac- 
complished by  opening  to  the  public  the 
entire  left  of  the  plan  from  the  secondary 
staircase  "A"  to  the  main  staircase  "B,"' 
and  reserving  the  remainder. 

The -chief  use  of  the  auditorium,  of 
course,  being  for  stereopticon  lectures, 
daylight  is  not  necessary  and  can  there- 
fore be  given  the  space  beneath  the  great 
hall.  This,  in  its  turn,  enables  the  utili- 
zation of  access  areas  corresponding  to 
that  given  by.  the  main  entrance.  Direct 
access  to  the  lobby  from  the  outside  is 
obtained  by  an  entrance  from  the  drive- 
way beneath  the  terrace,  which  can  be 
utilized  when  the  museum  proper  is 
closed.  Access  to  the  rest  of  the  museum 
on  such  occasions  is  easily  preventable. 

The  arrangement  and  sequence  of  ad- 
ministrative offices  is  more  or  less  dia- 
grammatical, following  in  the  main  the 
excellent  organization  of  this  area  in  the 


Art  Museum  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  For 
practical  purposes  the  receiving  room 
would  be  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  the 
space  assigned  on  the  plan  to  the  supply 
and  receiving  clerks  and  a  consequent 
reduction  of  the  space  alloted  to  the 
building  superintendent.  The  storage 
room  is  considerably  more  than  that  de- 
manded by  the  program  and  probably 
more  than  enough  for  any  active  museum 
of  its  size.  It  is  readily  accessible  to  the 
office  of  the  registrar,  under  whose  con- 
trol it  would  be,  and  is  directly  served 
by  the  freight  elevator,  which  could,  of 
course,  open  directly  into  it. 

The  block  plan  (Fig.  6)  gives  some 
idea  of  the  general  scheme  of  extension 
should  such  be  necessary,  though  the 
complete  formation  of  the  two  courts 
would  hardly  be  called  for  except  in  the 
development  of  a  museum  01  the  first 
magnitude,  at  which  this  study  does  not 
really  aim.  A  study  of  the  complete 
plans  in  this  case  will  show  how  this  ex- 
tension would  be  connected  with  the  ex- 
tant portion  by  a  continuation  of  the 
north  and  south  corridors  and  a  slight 
adjustment  of  the  adjoining  galleries, 
two  of  which  would  have  to  rely  on  arti- 
ficial light,  should  the  extension  be  two 
stories  in  height. 

The  longitudinal  and  transverse  sec- 
tions (Figs.  4  and  5),  taken  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  plans,  will  show  more  clear- 
ly the  interrelation  of  the  various  parts. 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  treatment  of  the 
interior  is  of  the  simplest  sort,  with  the 
exception  of  the  enrance  hall,  which  is 
here  finished  in  stone  in  a  stylistic  man- 
ner as  neutral  as  possible.  For  the  rest, 
tinted  plaster  with  plain  wood  or  stone 
trim  is  intended,  this  being  found  in  the 
main  to  be  the  most  satisfactory  museum 
background.  From  these  drawings  the 
lighting  system  of  the  galleries  on  the 
main  floor  will  be  seen  to  be  a  sort  of 
attic  or  high  side  light.  In  general  it 
seems  to  be  evident  that  clerestory  light- 
ing is  superior  to  all  other  forms  for 
every  purpose,  except,  perhaps,  painting 
galleries,  by  virtue  of  its  softness  and 
general  freedom  from  glare.  It  has 
therefore  been  used  not  only  in  the  great 
hall,  where  a  flat  ceiling  would  have  pro- 
duced happier  proportions,  but  also  in 


526 


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THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


the  side  galleries  on  the  main  floor,  where 
the  windows  run  horizontally  and 
practically  the  entire  length  of  each  gal- 
lery. With  the  openings  placed  in  the 
most  effective  position  and  the  walls  kept 
light  in  tone,  the  wall  area  under  the 
windows  will  be  sufficiently  illuminated 
for  ordinary  objects  in  relief,  provided 
the  sill  of  the  openings  is  kept  high 
enough  to  avoid  direct  glare  of  the  eye- 
sight. This,  of  course,  necessitates  a 
gallery  of  rather  more  than  usual  height, 
the  upper  part  of  the  room  being,  in  a 
sense,  a  diffusion  chamber.  The  exact 
amount  of  window  area  required  to  give 
sufficient  illumination  would,  of  course, 
be  obtained  only  by  experiment  and  trial, 
but  the  quality  of  light  thus  obtained 
would  be  greatly  superior  to  the  usual 
direct  side  light  which  also  renders  the 
window  wall  practically  useless  for  ex- 
hibition purposes. 

With  the  first  floor  reserved  in  the 
main  for  the  exhibition  of  objects  in  the 
round,  the  second  floor,  with  top  light, 
is  practically  given  over  to  painting  gal- 
leries. These  galleries  have  been  kept 
rather  smaller  and  lower  than  usual.  The 
excessive  height  in  most  painting  gal- 
leries with  top  light  is  not  only  unneces- 
sary, but  positively  unsightly  when  only 
one  line  of  pictures  is  hung.  The  cen- 
ter portion  of  the  glass  ceiling  would  in 
this  case  be  made  somewhat  less  trans- 
lucent than  the  side  panels  and,  by  the 
use  of  prismatic  glass,  effort  would  be 
made  to  concentrate  the  light  on  the  side 
walls  to  the  height  of  ten  feet  or  so  above 
the  floor. 

The  mechanical  plant  has  been  placed 
in  a  sub-basement,  in  which  run  the  main 
air  channels  to  supply  the  various 
branches  in  the  two  series  of  duct  walls. 
In  this  connection  it  may  have  been  ob- 
served that  wherever  possible  the  solid 
wall  has  been  kept  on  the  gallery  side 
so  that  heavy  objects  may  be  fastened 
on  the  wall  without  the  constant  danger 
of  breaking  down  duct  partitions  or 
breaking  into  the  ducts  themselves. 

As  to  actual  structure,  the  plans  have 
been  made  for  brick  bearing  walls,  car- 
rying floors  of  steel  beams,  and  terra 
cotta  arches.  A  steel  skeleton  or  re- 


inforced concrete  could  be  substituted  so 
far  as  the  plan  arrangements  go,  though 
trouble  might  arise  in  taking  ducts  around 
columns  and  girders.  The  New  York 
building  law  has  been  followed  in  its 
structural,  fire  and  sanitary  regulations 
in  order  to  assure  a  thoroughly  sound  and 
fireproof  structure  to  which  the  public 
can  freely  entrust  both  its  treasures  and 
itsel'f. 

The  plans  described,  it  is  fair  to  say, 
meet  fully  and  squarely  the  requirements 
specified  in  the  program  and  in  that  sense 
solve  the  particular  problem.  It  should 
be  remembered,  however,  that  the  plans 
illustrated,  while  they  could,  with  a  few 
slight  changes,  be  turned  into  a  workable 
museum,  are  in  the  largest  sense  of  the 
word  diagrammatic  and  are  specific  only 
in  the  sense  that  they  offer  a  concrete 
illustration  of  what  can  be  done  with  this 
type  of  plan  and  program.  Varying  con- 
ditions and  localities  would,  of  course, 
necessitate  considerable  changes  in  de- 
tail, but  the  fundamental  idea  and  or- 
ganization of  this  plan  could  be  retained 
to  advantage.  Exterior  architectural  ex- 
pression and  precise  internal  arrange- 
ment should  vary  to  meet  specific  de- 
mands, but  the  basic  ideas  of  organization 
and  interrelation  of  parts  must  remain 
constant  if  our  fundamental  conception 
of  the  functions  of  the  museum  remains 
unchanged. 

The  chief  trouble  has  been  and  is  that 
the  museum  is  considered  primarily  as 
a  monumental  building.  This  is  contrary 
to  the  fact,  for,  unlike  other  structures 
of  its  class,  the  museum  is  not  complete 
until  the  collections  are  installed.  In 
the  last  analysis,  it  is  the  contents  we 
want  to  see  and  not  the  museum  build- 
ing. When  our  attention  is  distracted 
by  architectonic  display,  our  minds  and 
muscles  strained  by  inconvenient  plan- 
ning, and  our  senses  disturbed  by  incon- 
gruous settings,  we  may  be  reasonably 
sure  that  the  building  and  its  functions 
are  not  in  agreement.  The  arts  are 
rapidly  coming  into  their  own,  after  hav- 
ing been  neglected  for  almost  a  century; 
if  we  consider  the  museum  to  be  their 
cradle  and  nurse  rather  than  their  sepul- 
chre, we  must  build  accordingly. 


528 


d     The      0 

LATERO-SECTIONAL  MODELS 
OF  BELLOWS  &>  ALDRICH 

A  Valuable  Contribution 
to  Architectural  Technique 

By"  SYLVESTER  BAXTER 


THE  value  of  models  in  architectural 
practice  has  long  been  appreciated. 
They  not  only  serve  to  show  a  client 
how  his  building  will  look  in  actuality; 
they  help  the  architect  himself  in  form- 
ing a  better  estimate  of  his  work  and  its 
relationship  to  environment.     And  since 
they  exhibit  all  sides  of  a  building  they 
perform  a  service  that  otherwise  would 
demand  several  perspectives. 

The  worth  of  the  architectural  model 
as  a  technical  device  has  lately  been 
notably  enhanced  by  an  amplification  of 
its  services  in  a  simple  and  ingenious 
fashion,  an  improvement  for  which  credit 
is  due  to  the  Boston  firm  of  Bellows  and 
Aldrich,  who  put  the  use  of  this  device 
freely  at  the  disposition  of  their  fellow 
architects.  And  since  experience  amply 
demonstrates  its  value  as  a  legitimate 
and  efficient  "business  getter"  this  service 
will  be  cordially  appreciated. 

"Latero-sectional"  models  are  simply 
an  application  of  the  familiar  principle 
embodied  in  dissected  maps  and  puzzle- 
pictures.  The  model  is  dissected  either 
at  each  story,  or  at  the  particular  story 
or  at  any  other  point  where  "look- 
in"  may  be  desirable.  It  thus  becomes, 
if  not  four-dimensional,  at  least  an  ap- 
proach to  that  mystically  mathematical 
status  to  a  degree  that  perhaps  might 
well  be  described  as  three-and-a-half 
dimensional — according  to  the  explana- 
tion of  the  fourth  dimension  that  indi- 
cates its  sen  .ce  as  presenting  a  simul- 
taneous knowledge  of  the  whole  of  a 
given  unit  in  all  parts,  within  and  with- 
out, as  well  as  in  its  familiar  three-di- 
mensional aspects,  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  this  device  quite  appreciably  ap- 
proaches the  four-dimensional  ideal. 
In  these  days  of  economy  the  ease  and 


cheapness  with  which  a  latero-sectional 
model  may  be  constructed  constitutes  not 
the  least  aspect  of  its  value.  In  the  first 
place,  elevation  drawings  are  made  in 
the  usual  way  to  the  desired  scale.  Blocks 
of  suitable  hardwood  plank,  well  planed 
to  the  desired  thickness  and  smooth- 
finished,  are  cut  to  the  corresponding 
dimensions.  They  are  then  built  up  into 
the  model.  The  elevations,  cut  into  sec- 
tions, are  pasted  on  to  the  sides;  the 
floor-plans  on  to  the  upper  horizontal 
surfaces ;  the  ceiling  plans,  if  desired,  on 
to  the  lower  sides.  The  model  as  a  whole, 
containing  almost  the  entire  anatomy  of 
the  structure,  may  thus  represent  a  build- 
ing in  all  the  detail  desired.  Projecting 
parts  may  be  easily  made  separately  and 
affixed  or  detached.  Models  ranging 
from  the  comparative  simplicity  of  an 
office-building  or  a  shoe  factory  to  the 
complex  of  a  great  institutional  or  monu- 
mental structure  may  thus  be  easily  and 
cheaply  made  and  exhibited  at  a  glance 
in  a  way  that  imparts  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  most  intimate  details. 

The  device  has  an  interesting  history. 
It  originated  in  the  presentation  of  a 
damage-case  in  court.  Mr.  Bellows 
chanced  to  talk  with  a  friend  about  a 
case  which  the  latter,  an  owner  in  a  hotel 
property,  had  against  the  Boston  Sub- 
way Commission  for  damages  to  be 
caused  by  the  contemplated  extension  of 
the  East  Boston  tunnel  to  and  beyond 
Bowdoin  Square,  cutting  in  at  an  angle 
across  the  front  of  the  property  and 
taking  off  a  considerable  slice  which,  al- 
though not  encroaching  upon  the  exist- 
ing building,  interfered  with  its  possible 
reconstruction  under  modern  hotel  con- 
ditions. The  property  in  question  was 
the  old  Revere  House,  one  of  the  most 


529 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


famous  of  the  nineteenth  century  hostel- 
ries  in  the  country  (Astor  House  and 
Tremont  House  period),  which  when 
Paran  Stevens  was  landlord,  entertained 
probably  more  distinguished  guests  than 
any  other  hotel  in  Boston.  Among  its 


willing  in  the  line  of  his  professional 
activities  to  construct  such  a  model  and 
produce  it  in  court  when  the  case  came 
to  trial.  This  was  agreed,  and  the  model 
produced  was  devised  on  the  novel  lines 
above  described. 


MODEL  OF  PROPOSED  NEW  REVERE  HOUSE,  BOSTON. 

The  model  was  constructed  to   show   the  damage  to  the  property  by  the  laying  out   of  a  subway. 
According  to  hotel  requirements  in  a  great  city   there  are  four  floors  below   the   street. 


guests  was  Albert  Edward,  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  who,  on  his  visit  to  this  coun- 
try when  a  youth,  occupied  a  magnificent 
suite,  said  to  have  been  the  most  finely 
furnished  to  be  found  in  any  hotel  of 
that  date. 

It  was  suggested  that  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  damage  to  this  property 
might  best  be  illustrated  by  a  model 
specially  constructed  for  the  purpose. 
His  friend  asked  him  if  he  would  be 


When  brought  into  court  there  was 
manifest  curiosity  on  all  sides  to  see  the 
model  and  learn  what  it  meant.  The 
opposing  counsel  objected  to  the  sub- 
mission of  the  model  as  being  an  order 
of  evidence  that  should  not  be  admissible 
under  the  rules  governing  court  pro- 
cedure. But  everyone  knows  how  the 
average  boy  takes  pleasure  in  a  set  of 
building  blocks.  Much  of  the  boy  re- 
mains in  grown-up  men  and  even  the 


530 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


judge    himself    was   manifestly   curious 
to  see  the  working  of  the  thing. 

The  model  showed  the  hotel  as  a  whole 
with  the  several  stories  that  in  a  modern 
hostelry  run  deep  down  into  the  ground, 
making  valuable  space  utilizable,  not  only 


posed  development  would  be  interfered 
with.  Also,  the  character  of  the  pro- 
posed new  hotel  was  graphically  set 
forth  by  illustrating  the  principal  floors 
as  the  model  was  successively  taken 
apart.  For  instance,  the  main  floor,  as 


MODEL  OF  PROPOSED  NEW  REVERE  HOUSE. 

The    removed    segment    shows    how    the    subway    would    cut    into    the    new    building    and    seriously 
interfere  with  the  plans  of  the  two  most  important  sub- surface  floors. 


for  ordinary  basement  purposes,  but 
even  for  cafes,  billiard  rooms  and  other 
features  of  an  up-to-date  hotel  equip- 
ment. The  course  of  the  subway  was 
indicated  in  the  upper  part  of  the  base- 
ment, which  as  contemplated  for  the  new 
hotel  extended  two  stories  below  the 
track  level.  The  segment  along  the  course 
of  the  subway  was  removable,  showing 
at  a  glance  the  extent  to  which  the  pro- 


shown  in  one  of  the  accompanying  illus- 
trations, was  evident  at  a  glance,  with 
its  handsome  parlor,  named  in  com- 
memoration of  the  stay  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  with  the  spacious  Paul  Revere 
Hall  adjoining.  The  importance  of  the 
case  and  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
damage  to  be  caused  by  the  subway  con- 
struction was  made  so  evident  in  this 
way  that  an  award  of  somewhat  more 


531 


MODEL  OF  PROPOSED  NEW  REVERE  HOUSE. 

The   model   disassembled,   showing   its   component   parts.     Since   the   five   floors   occupied   by    the 

guest-chambers   are   all   essentially  alike   in   plan  one   thick   section   is   sufficient 

to    illustrate    them    all. 


MODEL  OF  PROPOSED  NEW  REVERE  HOUSE— DETAIL  OF  A  SECTIONAL  UNIT. 

532 


TENTATIVE  SKETCH-MODEL  OF  AN  EDUCATIONAL  GROUP. 


TENTATIVE  SKETCH  MODEL  OF  AN  EDUCATIONAL  GHcHT. 

The  model  disassembled.    This  complex  design  comprises  an  auditorum,  lecture  room,  workshop, 
heating  and  power  plant.    These  features  are  shown  in  detail  by  the  sixteen  units. 

533 


TENTATIVE  SKETCH-MODEL  OF  PROPOSED  DEVELOPMENT   FOR  THE  WOMEN'S  CITY  CLUB 

OF  BOSTON. 

This  model  was  made  to  indicate  a  way  in  which  the  space  in  the  rear  could  be  utilized  for  the 

extension  of  the  clubhouse,   one   of  the   fine  old  houses  on   the    slope  of  Beacon   Hill. 

The  proposed  new  L  is  represented  by  the  latero-sectional  part  of  the  model. 


than  $10,000  damage  was  made  by  the 
jury. 

Another  model  which  showed  the 
clients  at  a  glance  one  way  in  which  the 
property  could  be  most  efficiently  and 
economically  developed  in  the  enlarge- 
ment of  existing  accommodations  is  that 
of  the  prospective  extension  of  the 
\Yomen's  City  Club  of  Boston.  The 
Club  is  domiciled  in  one  of  the  finest  old 
houses  on  Beacon  Street,  facing  the 
Common,  on  the  slope  of  the  hill.  In 
the  rear  was  an  extensive  ell.  By  con- 
structing a  model  according  to  the  latero- 
sectional  idea  it  was  shown  how  fine  new 
accommodations  could  be  obtained  by 
building  under  this  ell  instead  of  de- 
molishing the  ell  and  building  a  loftier 
structure  on  its  site,  as  had  been  sug- 
gested. The  way  in  which  the  latero- 


sectional  idea  can  be  utilized  in  showing 
an  exceedingly  complex  structure  or 
group  of  buildings  is  shown  by  the  ac- 
companying illustrations  depicting  an  im- 
portant technical  institution  in  one  of 
our  large  American  cities.  This  institu- 
tion comprises  workshops  with  art  gal- 
leries, audience  halls,  etc.,  with  a  fine 
Colonial  mansion  housing  a  collection  of 
old  furniture.  The  model,  in  the  ac- 
companying two  illustrations,  is  made 
to  show  first  the  tentative  scheme  for  the 
institution  in  its  entirety  and  next  the 
numerous  important  features  of  the 
several  portions. 

These  typical  examples  are  sufficient 
to  indicate  how  exceedingly  valuable  an 
adjunct  in  architectural  practice  the 
latero-sectional  idea  may  be  expected  to 
become. 


534 


READ  MEMORIAL  COMMUNITY  HOUSE,   PURCHASE,  N.  Y. 

WAR.   MEMORIALS 


PART  1-  COMMUNITY    HOUSES    FOR. 
• TOWNS    fc    SMALL  CITIES 

BY  CHARLES    OVER    CORNELIUS 


FROM  the  discussion  of  memorials 
commemorative  of  the  recent  war 
two  general  forms  emerge — the 
purely  votive  one,  devoid  of  practical 
utility,  and  the  utilitarian  memorial  dedi- 
cated to  a  special  purpose.  Much  is  to 
be  said  in  favor  of  both  general  forms, 
yet  in  particular  situations  there  will  be 
valid  objections  to  the  one  or  to  the 
other.  The  preference  cannot  be  based 
upon  theoretical  grounds,  for  in  the 
choice  of  individual  memorials  exigencies 
of  local  circumstance  intervene  to  decide 
the  matter  almost  out  of  hand.  In  any 
form  of  memorial,  however,  the  quality 
of  beauty  is  of  prime  consideration. 

Of  the  various  forms  which  the  utili- 
tarian memorial  may  take  none  has  more 
quickly  or  more  surely  established  itself 
in  a  position  commanding  popular  ap- 
proval than  has  the  community  house. 
Within  the  past  year  groups  of  persons, 
convinced  of  the  appropriateness  of  this 
form  of  memorial,  have  bent  their  efforts 


toward  placing  before  the  public  the 
qualifications  inherent  in  community 
buildings  which  render  them  of  particu- 
lar suitability ;  and  a  convincing  evidence 
of  the  validity  of  their  contention  lies 
in  the  astonishingly  prompt  response  on 
the  part  of  memorial  committees  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  in  favor  of  the 
community  house  as  a  war  memorial. 
One  of  the  contributing  reasons  for  this 
unreserved  endorsement  of  the  commu- 
nity house  is  the  fact  that  its  latent 
possibilities  have  been  largely  developed 
by  and  through  conditions  arising  from 
the  war.  A  few  such  buildings,  existing 
before  the  war,  had  functioned  with  so 
much  success  that  the  germ  of  the  move- 
ment was  already  well  developed.  With 
the  unusual  conditions  created  by  mobili- 
zation, involving  the  concentration  of 
large  numbers  of  men  in  localities 
where  no  adequate  provision  had  been 
made  for  their  entertainment  and  com- 
fort when  not  upon  military  duty,  a 


535 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD 


form  of  community  house  was  hastily 
devised  which  answered  the  need  in  sat- 
isfactory fashion. 

Here  the  demands  were  in  the  main 
practical.  On  the  shortest  notice  a  build- 
ing was  required  which  would  serve  all 
the  purposes  of  a  club  for  soldiers  dur- 
ing their  hours  of  recreation.  Provision 
had  to  be  made  for  various  forms  of 
indoor  amusement,  comfortable  loung- 
ing-rooms  were  needed  as  a  meeting- 
place  for  social  intercourse,  while  res- 
taurants and  cafeterias  were  of  primary 
importance.  In  these  buildings,  hastily 
constructed  to  meet  a  pressing  need,  the 
solution  of  the  problem  seems  to  have 
been  reached  so  far  as  practical  layout 
is  concerned,  uncomplicated  as  such 
buildings  were  by  the  necessity  for  ar- 
chitectural beauty.  Many  ideas  for  per- 
manent buildings  are  contained  in  the 
"huts"  erected  by  the  various  non-mili- 
tary organizations  associated  with  the 
camps;  but  it  is  the  hostess  house  in  its 
best  development  that  brings  together 
the  attributes  most  essenial  for  incorpo- 
ration in  the  permanent  memorial 
houses  which  are  to  be  erected  in  the 
future. 

It  is  to  the  people  most  actively  inter- 
ested in  these  organizations  during  the 
war,  who  saw  these  houses  in  successful 
operation,  that  we  owe  the  suggestion 
of  giving  them  permanent  form  as  war 
memorials. 

Another  fact,  not  without  force  in  its 
argument  for  the  community  house,  is 
that  by  the  creation  of  such  buildings  in 
communities  where  special  demands  are 
to  be  made  upon  them  (and  each  com- 
munity has  its  own  special  problems) 
the  danger  of  a  stereotyped  memorial 
is  lessened. 

In  considering  community  buildings  a 
primary  distinction  must  be  made  be- 
tween those  which  are  to  be  erected  in 
smaller  communities  and  those  which 
will  be  placed  in  great  cities.  Com- 
munity houses,  depending  for  much  of 
their  effectiveness  upon  a  close  personal 
interest  on  the  part  of  all  instrumental 
in  their  erection  and  functioning,  pre- 
suppose a  closer  bond  of  interest  be- 
tween their  supporters  than  would  be 


possible  for  one  such  building  in  a  me- 
tropolis to  inspire.  Hence,  in  large  cities 
community  houses  will  largely  take  the 
form  of  neighborhood  houses  supported 
by  a  group  of  interested  persons  living 
within  a  small  radius;  where  the  whole 
city  wishes  to  participate  in  one  memo- 
rial- building  it  is  apt  to  be  developed  into 
a  great  community  auditorium  or  sta- 
dium of  a  size  proportioned  to  the  num- 
ber of  people  destined  to  use  it. 

This  first  paper  will  be  devoted, 
therefore,  to  those  problems  which  arise 
in  connection  with  community  houses  lo- 
cated in  towns  of  such  size  that  one 
modest  building  will  serve  the  purposes 
of  a  gathering  place  for  the  whole  com- 
munity. 

The  most  difficult  problem  confronting 
the  architect  of  such  buildings  is  that  of 
the  architectural  style  which  shall  char- 
acterize them.  The  two  essential  qual- 
ities to  be  expressed  in  their  design, 
esthetically  speaking,  seem  diametrically 
opposed  when  interpreted  in  the  light  of 
historic  architectural  design — informal- 
ity and  commemorative  character.  The 
one  point  which  these  two  may  hold  in 
common  is  simplicity,  a  simplicity  which 
shall  heighten  the  inviting  aspect  of  the 
house,  which  shall  draw  people  to  it 
rather  than  repel  them  and  at  the  same 
time  preserve  the  genuine  dignity  which 
is  essential  to  any  memorial  building. 
This  means  a  complete  freedom  from  the 
suggestion  of  Roman  triumphs  or  the 
splendors  of  Renaissance  courts,  and  one 
can  find  no  better  foundation  for  stylistic 
character  than  the  local  types  which 
America  developed  in  the  first  two  cen- 
turies of  her  history.  By  a  recognition 
of  the  beauty  and  flexibility  of  the  ar- 
chitectural forms  evolved  in  Colonial 
America,  and  an  appreciation  of  the  ap- 
proach which  the  early  American  archi- 
tects made  toward  their  problems,  a  truly 
American  basis  will  be  laid  for  a  memo- 
rial architecture  equal  to  the  opportunity 
for  which  it  is  created. 

The  success  of  the  community  house 
depends  almost  exclusively  upon  the 
functions  which  it  performs.  In  each 
community  the  needs  are  different;  in  so 
far  as  the  unmet  demands  of  the  com- 


536 


MtMtNT  •  PLAN  • 
jc»Li.!*'-r-or 


READ  MEMORIAL  COMMUNITY  HOUSE,  PUR- 
CHASE.    N.    Y.,    DONN    BARBER,    ARCHITECT. 


(LEAD  MEMO  B.1AL- 

COMMUNITY  •  HOUSE 

PURCHASE  •  NY 


READ  MEMORIAL  COMMUNITY  HOUSE,  PUR- 
CHASE,   N.    Y.      DONN    BARBER,    ARCHITECT. 


FLoac  •  PLAN  • 
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READ  MEMORIAL  COMMUNITY  HOUSE,  PUR- 
CHASE,   N.    Y.     DONN    BARBER,    ARCHITECT. 


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CLUB  BUILDING,  MORGAN  PARK,  DULUTH, 
MINN.       DEAN       &       DEAN,       ARCHITECTS. 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


munity  are  met  in  the  new  building,  to 
that  extent  success  is  assured.  Most  im- 
portant, then,  at  the  outset  is  some  form 
of  survey  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the 
social  and  recreational  needs  of  the 
community  and  to  what  extent  these 
needs  are  served  by  existing  institutions. 
In  most  cases  it  would  be  a  mistake  to 
duplicate  such  facilities  unless  those  al- 
ready established  are  restricted  to  the 
use  of  a  limited  group.  The  result  of 


organizations,  charity  organizations, 
American  Legion  and  other  similar 
groups. 

There  will,  of  course,  be  spacious 
lounging-rooms,  where  all  who  use  the 
building  will  be  tempted  to  linger.  There 
will  be  rooms  for  billiards  and  pool,  a 
gymnasium  and  a  swimming  pool,  bowl- 
ing alleys,  card  and  game  rooms,  and 
above  all  a  roomy  auditorium  for  lec- 
tures, motion  pictures,  community 


CLUB  BUILDING,  MORGAN  PARK,  DULUTH,  MINN. 
Dean  &  Dean,  Architects. 


such  a  survey,  whether  by  the  architect 
or  by  the  memorial  committee,  is  ele- 
mentary in  determining  the  layout  of  the 
grounds  and  building  as  well  as  deter- 
mining their  location. 

The  purpose  of  the  community  house 
is  the  establishment  of  a  center  to  serve 
as  a  general  meeting  place  for  the  com- 
munity, with  facilities  which  will  render 
it  a  clearing-house  for  civic,  educational 
and  recreational  activities.  The  smaller 
the  community  the  fewer  are  apt  to  be 
the  organized  resorts  of  amusement  and 
gathering  places  for  public  intercourse. 
Hence,  in  these  smaller  communities, 
whose  actual  needs  are  much  greater 
than  are  adequately  met,  the  contem- 
plated building  must  incorporate  within 
itself  a  varied  and  complicated  organism. 
It  may,  in  addition  to  its  social  and  recre- 
ational equipment,  well  make  itself  the 
headquarters  of  organizations  which 
are  unable  to  maintain  separate  build- 
ings, such  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C. 
A.,  chamber  of  commerce,  tradesmen's 


drama,  and  the  local  forum,  the  presence 
of  each  of  which  will  depend  upon  what 
similar  facilities  are  already  provided  in 
the  neighborhood. 

The  house  may  also  serve  the  uses  of 
a  town  hall,  in  which  public  meetings 
may  be  held  and  which  would  be  the 
headquarters  of  municipal  authority. 

Of  particular  interest  is  the  suggestion 
for  making  these  buildings  the  art  cen- 
ter of  the  town.  One  or  more  of  the 
larger  rooms  could  be  so  designed  as  to 
make  a  suitable  exhibition  gallery  for 
traveling  exhibitions  of  painting,  sculpt- 
ure or  handicraft.  Not  only  the  plastic 
arts  could  be  forwarded  in  this  way,  but 
community  drama  would  find  a  perma 
nent  home  and  musical  recitals  take  a 
large  share  in  the  yearly  program. 

This  idea  of  making  the  building  the 
art  center  of  the  town  cannot  be  over- 
emphasized, for  with  organizations  such 
as  the  American  Federation  of  Arts,  the 
Art  Alliance  and  the  great  museums  and 
libraries  sending  out  numbers  of  travel- 


543 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


ing  exhibitions  and  lending  lantern  slides 
with  lectures  written  to  accompany 
them,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  great 
chain  of  these  houses  should  not  bind 
the  country  into  one  effort  to  appreciate 
art  and  raise  the  standard  of  taste. 

So  many  activities  present  their  claims 
upon  these  buildings  that  the  necessity 
of  some  such  survey  as  was  referred  to 
above  seems  doubly  insistent,  in  order 
to  avoid  duplication  of  activities;  the 


The  main  entrance  leads  into  a  foyer 
or  hall,  which  acts  as  the  main  circula- 
tion for  the  adjacent  portion  of  the 
building  and  also  as  lobby  for  the  assem- 
bly hall.  From  it  open  rooms  for  meet- 
ings and  lounging  rooms  for  men.  Im- 
mediately below  are  the  men's  gymna- 
sium dependencies  —  toilets,  locker 
rooms,  exercising  rooms  and  a  coat 
room.  The  gymnasium  room,  which  oc- 
cupies the  space  beneath  the  assembly 


I. 


SCRIPPS  PLAYGROUND  BUILDING,   LA  JOLLA,  CAL. 
Irving  J.  &  Louis  J.  Gill,  Architects. 


vision  of  genially  lighted  houses, 
thronged  with  people,  some  at  play, 
others  enjoying  music  or  the  drama, 
still  others  meeting  at  round  table  dis- 
cussion of  local  or  national  topics,  is  a 
vivid  and  stirring  picture. 

From  a  consideration  of  a  number  of 
buildings  erected  for  the  purpose  of 
which  we  have  spoken,  some  idea  may 
be  formed  of  just  what  elements  enter 
into  their  arrangement  and  how,  in  par- 
ticular cases,  improvements  may  be 
wrought  in  the  direction  of  greater  ef- 
ficiency. 

The  Read  Memorial  Community 
House,  Purchase,  N.  Y.,  in  its  plan  is  a 
solution  of  a  problem  set  by  one  of  the 
smaller  communities.  The  central  mass 
of  the  building  is  occupied  by  an  assem- 
bly hall,  which  serves  at  once  to  separate 
two  portions  of  the  building  whose  uses 
are  not  interdependent.  The  front  por- 
tion, in  the  ordinary  usage  of  the  rooms, 
is  given  over  to  men,  while  at  the  oppo- 
site end  are  rooms  devoted  to  girls'  and 
women's  activities. 


hall,  is  directly  accessible  from  here.  On 
the  second  floor  are  men's  game  rooms, 
with  coat  rooms  and  toilets. 

The  women's  portion  at  the  far  end 
of  the  building  contains  meeting  rooms, 
a  complete  suite  for  the  resident  Red 
Cross  worker,  including  a  small  infirm- 
ary and  convenient  living  arrangements. 
Through  the  special  entrance  to  this  por- 
tion of  the  building  direct  access  is  had  to 
the  basement  immediately  below  it,  where 
are  the  gymnasium  dependencies  for 
the  women,  with  an  entrance  to  the  gym- 
nasium. One  good-sized  room  is  devoted 
to  domestic  science,  and  an  entrance  is 
made  into  the  garage  where  the  motor 
car  of  the  Red  Cross  worker  is  kept. 
The  second  floor  is  devoted  to  bedrooms 
and  living  room  for  residents  or  helpers 
or  class  rooms  and  studios  for  the  activ- 
ities which  will  enter  into  the  life  of 
the  building.  The  arrangements  about 
the  stage  of  the  assembly  room  seem  in- 
adequate for  dramatic  productions. 
Comfortable  dressing  rooms  at  either 
side  and  more  space  for  passage  at  the 


544 


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FLCO'I.-  PLAN 


FLOCJ.  PLAN 


COMMUNITY  HOUSE  FOR  GOVERNMENT  HOUSING  PROJECT, 
PERRYVILLE,      MD.       MANN      &      McNEILLE,      ARCHITECTS. 


Kilham  (r  Hopkins.! 

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Architects.;        Bo>:on.1 


MEMORIAL  TOWN  HALL,  TEWKESBURY,  MASS. 
Kilham  &  Hopkins,  Architects. 


rear  should  have  been  provided  .and  a 
larger  proscenium  would  be  an  error  on 
the  safe  side. 

The  house  opens  up  especially  well  for 
general  entertainments ;  and  for  recitals 
of  music  or  dramatic  reading,  for  lec- 
tures or  moving  pictures,  the  assembly 
room  could  not  be  bettered.  If,  how- 
ever, this  room  should  ever  be  called 
upon  for  a,rt  exhibitions,  the  present 
fenestration  would  offer  an  insurmount- 
able difficulty. 

Some  necessary  adjuncts  of  the  town 
hall  are  also  incorporated  in  the  base- 
ment. A  small  police  room  with  jail  and 
cells  is  advantageously  placed  near  the 
front,  while  at  the  rear  a  space  is  re- 
served for  the  fire  engine. 

Altogether,  this  building  forms  as  com- 
plete an  entity  for  a  special  purpose  as 
could  be  desired.  The  portions  for  men 
and  women  are  separate,  yet  susceptible 
of  being  joined  in  the  circulation  upon 
occasion.  The  exterior  is  informal  yet 
dignified  and  in  keeping  with  local  tra- 
ditions in  style  and  material. 

A  treatment  not  dissimilar  from  that 
of  the  Read  Memorial  has  been  accord- 
ed to  the  club  building  in  Morgan  Park, 


Minnesota.  The  differences  noted  be- 
tween the  two  serve  to  show  the  varia- 
tions in  requirements,  sometimes  slight, 
which  arise  through  local  contingency. 
In  the  Morgan  Park  building,  as  in  the 
Read  Memorial,  are  found  a  large  as- 
sembly hall,  clubrooms  for  men  and 
women,  game  rooms  and  gymnasium.  In 
addition,  the  basement  of  the  building 
contains  a  swimming  pool  and  three 
bowling  alleys.  There  are  a  special  club 
room,  lounge  and  locker  room  for  boys 
at  the  opposite  end  of  the  building,  away 
from  the  portion  given  over  to  adults. 
In  connection  with  both  these  houses 
are  community  gardens  and  space  re- 
served for  outdoor  recreations. 

The  behind-the-stage  arrangements  of 
the  Morgan  Park  Club  are  very  satisfac- 
tory. Two  large  dressing  rooms  open 
on  to  a  corridor  which  surrounds  the 
stage  and  access  to  and  from  it  is  sim- 
plified and  uncrowcled.  The  fenestration 
in  this  assembly  hall  leaves  no  wall  space 
for  exhibitions  of  pictures,  but  the  club 
rooms  for  men  and  women  are  so  spa- 
cious and  well  fenestrated  as  to  make 
possible  their  use  for  this  purpose.  The 
adoption  of  clerestory  lighting  in  such 


547 


BASEME|MT-PLAN 

Suit  ftw  -IF.. 


MEMORIAL    TOWN     HALL,     TEWKESBURY, 
MASS.     KILHAM   &   HOPKINS,   ARCHITECTS. 


MEMORIAL    TOWN     HALL,     TEWKESBURY, 
MASS.     KILHAM   &   HOPKINS,   ARCHITECTS. 


-  V 


1 


THL  MEMORIAL  Bun  DING 


•.       * 


L 


WINNING  DESIGN  IN  A  COMPETITION  FOR  PRO- 
POSED MEMORIAL  COMMUNITY  BUILDING  AT 
PLYMOUTH,  MASS.  LITTLE  &  RUSSELL,  ARCHITECTS 


WINNING   DESIGN   IN   A   COMPETITION    FOR   PROPOSED   MEMORIAL   COMMUNITY    BUILDING 

AT  PLYMOUTH,  MASS. 
Little   &  Russell,  Architects. 


assembly  halls  is  a  simple  solution  which 
would  permit  their  use  as  exhibition  gal- 
leries, but  to  gain  this  a  sacrifice  must 
be  made  of  much  pleasant  access  to  the 
outdoor  terraces  or  loggias  adjoining. 

The  La  Jolla  Community  House  in 
San  Diego,  California,  built  some  years 
ago  and  functioning  with  much  success, 
is  of  still  the  same  type  as  the  two  fore- 
going buildings.  Erected  in  connection 
with  a  large  playground,  its  chief  inno- 
vation is  the  location  of  the  locker  rooms 
on  the  first  floor,  with  direct  access  to 
the  outdoor  playground.  Its  other  ele- 
ments are  not  unusual,  but  the  simplicity 
and  straightforwardness  of  its  plan  have 
contributed  much  to  its  usefulness. 

The  Community  House  at  Perryville, 
Maryland,  is  of  particular  significance  in 
that  it  forms  an  important  part  of  a  Gov- 
ernment housing  project.  Its  arrange- 
ment is  highly  convenient  and  a  well 
studied  piece  of  planning;  the  stage  de- 
pendencies are  quite  ideal,  although  the 
stage  itself  seems  almost  too  narrow  for 
general  use. 


In  the  Tewkesbury  Town  Hall  some 
features  of  a  community  house  are  pres- 
ent. The  main  lobby  is  the  central  cir- 
culation, from  which  open  the  assembly 
room,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  about 
six  hundred ;  a  library  and  reading  room 
to  the  left  and  the  offices  of  the  town 
officials  to  the  right.  In  the  basement  is 
a  large  banqueting  hall  and  kitchen,  the 
latter  connected  by  a  lift  with  the  floor 
above  if  need  of  its  service  there  should 
arise. 

The  two  proposed  memorial  buildings 
which  are  the  last  on  our  list,  one  at 
Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  the  other  at 
Goldsboro,  North  Carolina,  are  a  some- 
what different  departure.  In  both  of 
these  special  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the 
large  auditorium,  whose  lobby  forms  a 
memorial  hall  in  which  the  war  memo- 
rial element  is  featured.  The  Goldsboro 
building  has  very  well  arranged  com- 
munity facilities,  both  as  a  center  for 
civic  work  and  for  recreational  activity. 

The  treatment  of  the  rotunda  in  the 
Plymouth  building  offers  a  splendid  op- 


551 


BA5IMENT    ?LAN 


MEMORIAL    COMMUNITY     BUILDING,     GOLDS 
BORO,  N.  C.     C.  ADRIAN  CASNER,  ARCHITECT. 


MAIN 


PL'A'N 


MEMORIAL    COMMUNITY     BUILDING,     GOLDS. 
BORO    N.  C.     C.  ADRIAN  CASNER.  ARCHITECT. 


SECOND    PLOOTL    "PLAN 


MEMORIAL     COMMUNITY     BUILDING,     GOLDS- 
BORO,  N.  C.     C.  ADRIAN  CASNER.  ARCHITECT. 


MEMORIAL  COMMUNITY  BUILDING,  GOLDSBORO,  N.  C. 
C.    Adrian    Casner,    Architect. 


portunity  for  a  dignified  and  effective 
memorial  hall  where  flags  and  trophies 
of  war  may  be  exhibited  and  comemmo- 
rative  tablets  placed  in  fitting  sur- 
roundings. 

Many  problems  other  than  architectu- 
ral arise  in  connection  with  community 
buildings.  The  form  which  the  building 
is  to  take  depends  largely  upon  the  re- 
sult of  the  survey  of  existing  local  con- 
ditions, and  with  this  situation  the  archi- 
tect must  be  thoroughly  familiar.  The 
question  of  its  ownership  and  manage- 
ment, with  that  of  the  financing,  are 
matters  to  be  decided  by  the  memorial 
committee,  but  in  which  the  architect's 
advice  may  be  valuable. 

Useful  as  these  buildings  must  and  do 
prove  themselves  to  be  in  towns  and 
small  cities  of  closely  knit  population,  of 
equal  value  is  their  contribution  to  coun- 
try districts  with  a  widely  scattered  resi- 
dence. We  are  all  familiar  with  the 
spirit  of  co-operation  and  the  willingness 
to  "get  together"  exhibited  in  rural  com- 
munities when  the  call  goes  forth  for 


support  of  church  and  grange  activities. 
What  could  better  fulfil  the  purpose  in 
such  localities  of  drawing  together  in  a 
co-operative  interest  the  efforts  of  these 
organizations  than  a  building  where  the 
large  assembly  hall  could  be  utilized  by 
each  and  all  for  entertainment  or  in- 
struction ? 

The  idea  of  raising  living  memorials 
to  the  men  who  have  died  for  a  great 
ideal,  memorials  whose  function  it  will 
be  to  keep  alive  that  ideal  and,  holding  it 
aloft,  pass  it  on  to  generations  to  come, 
makes  an  appeal  to  all  who  feel  that  the 
causes  of  the  conflicts  of  this  war  should 
never  be  forgotten.  The  difficulties  and 
misunderstandings  which  arose  between 
nations  in  the  past  are  at  present  trans- 
forming themselves  into  difficulties  and 
misunderstandings  between  classes,  and 
no  other  purpose  would  be  more  emi- 
nently served  by  a  memorial  community 
building  than  the  encouragement  of  a 
meeting  of  minds  of  all  classes,  united  by 
the  bonds  of  common  interest  created  by 
a  highly  developed  community  spirit. 


555 


SOME  PRINCIPLES  OF 
SMALL  HOUSE  DESIGN 


P?  John  Ta/lor  Boyd,Jr 

Parltt~  Design  of  the  Plot  o 
{/coniued- 


THE  variety  of  design  of  small 
house  lots  is  endless.  So  long  as 
plots  of  land  vary  in  character 
and  in  size  and  shape,  so  long  will  new 
schemes  be  always  developing;  variety 
of  treatment  is  forthcoming  because  of 
differing  ideas  and  tastes  among  indi- 
vidual designers.  We  should  cultivate 
this  art  with  all  zeal,  for  thus  we  may 
rescue  American  small  house  design 
from  certain  unfortunate  tendencies.  I 
mean  that  too  many  of  our  homes  have 
no  great  individual  charm  and  are 
without  inspiration.  They  seem  to  be 
turned  out  too  much  of  a  pattern, 
mechanically  designed  and  executed 
with  commonplace  details ;  or  else  they 
are,  especially  in  the  case  of  cheaper 
houses,  crude  and  often  vulgar  in  their 
striving  for  exaggerated  effect. 

It  may  be  thought  that  too  much  is 
being  made  of  the  phrase  "lot  design," 
that  it  is  used  as  a  new  term  to  des- 
cribe what  is,  after  all,  only  garden 
design,  an  art  which  is  flourishing  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  But  it  should  be 
apparent  that  planning  and  planting 
gardens  is  only  a  subordinate  part  of 
the  design  of  the  whole  lot.  One  may 
see  well-desgined  gardens  on  plots  of 
land  which — including  the  buildings — 
are  poorly  designed.  Indeed,  gardens 
often  suffer  from  the  same  faults  as 
houses.  They  are  too  often  laid  out 
as  an  afterthought  with  no  attention 
paid  to  their  coordination  with  the 
house  or  with  other  features  on  the 


grounds.  A  garden  will  never  be  en- 
tirely successful  unless  one  designs  it 
in  strict,  harmonious  relationship  to 
everything  around  it,  particularly  with 
respect  to  the  house.  Such  are  the  ele- 
mental principles  of  the  matter.  As 
stated,  they  seem  simple  enough,  and 
reasonable;  yet  they  are  usually  over- 
looked in  all  the  vast  amount  that  is 
printed  about  gardens. 

Although  a  book  might  be  written 
on  the  art  of  sub-dividing  small  plots 
of  land  and  on  placing  a  house  thereon, 
space  will  allow  only  a  few  more 
examples  to  be  illustrated  in  these 
pages.  The  designs  shown  in  this 
issue  were  chosen  to  bring  out  certain 
specific  principles,  either  in  emphasiz- 
ing unusual  features  of  space  relation- 
ship or  else  in  showing  how  unprom- 
ising, eccentric  sites  may  be  often  made 
not  only  available,  but  strikingly  de- 
sirable. 

Among  these  the  design  of  the 
Merriman  place  is  another  character- 
istic effect  of  Mr.  Sibley  C.  Smith's. 
As  in  the  design  of  the  Rochester 
garden  in  the  first  article,  he  uses  the 
same  bold,  geometrical  patterns  with 
extraordinary  skill,  in  faultless,  exquis- 
ite taste.  A  first  glance  at  the  plan 
makes  it  seem  a  little  overdone,  but 
the  photos  show  this  impression  to  be 
a  false  one,  for,  as  executed  in  the 
third  dimension,  utterly  simple,  har- 
monious details  are  revealed,  in  fine, 
quiet  massing,  softening  the  bold  ideas 


556 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


of  the  plan.  Such  combination  of 
imagination  and  control  entitle  this 
design  to  be  called  a  masterpiece.  In- 
cidentally, a  word  should  be  said  for 
the  fine  quality  of  the  house  itself,  to 
point  out  how  well  it  plays  its  part  with 
the  foliage  of  the  garden.  It,  too,  is  a 
decisive  design,  its  simple  lines  and  broad 
wall  spaces,  with  exquisitely  propor- 
tioned door  and  window  openings — all 
combined  to  stand  as  a  strong  foil  to  the 
gardens  with  their  massed  planting.  Its 
light,  well  textured  walls  are  fine  surfaces 
for  the  play  of  light  and  shade  and  color 
of  the  foliage. 

A  point  of  particular  interest  about 
the  Merriman  house  is  that  it  illustrates 
a  problem  often  met  with,  one  difficult 
to  handle:  that  is,  a  larger  house,  set 
in  a  small  lot.  One  may  notice  how  won- 
derfully well  planned  is  the  house  for 
large  entertainments.  And  how  well 
Mr.  Smith's  design  carries  out  the  spirit 
of  the  house  in  this.  The  arrangement 
of  house  and  grounds  together  would 
easily  provide  for  scores  of  people  en 
fete,  inviting  groups  to  assemble  and  to 


circulate,  and  individuals  to  draw  apart 
in  little  gatherings.  It  is  well  to  remem- 
ber this  feature  of  the  Merriman  design, 
for  it  offers  splendid  suggestions  for 
that  semi-domestic  type  of  building 
which  is  every  day  coming  more  and 
,more  into  use  in  American  life:  that 
is  the  recreational  centre — whether  com- 
munity building,  town  or  country  club, 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  parish  or  church  houses. 
These  are  buildings  on  a  generous  scale, 
designed  principally  for  recreation  and 
foregathering,  expensive  to  erect,  often 
with  but  a  little  land  around  them  that 
might  be  made  vastly  useful  at  small 
cost,  thus  doubling  the  facilities  of  the 
building  in  good  weather. 

So  far,  most  of  the  designs  presented 
in  these  two  articles  have  been  highly 
elaix>rated  ones,  designs  in  which  every 
square  foot  of  ground  was  used  to  the 
full.  There  are,  however,  cases  in  which 
such  highly  organized  design  will  not  do, 
either  by  reason  of  practical  difficulties, 
or  as  a  matter  of  personal  taste.  The 
two  designs  of  Mellor  and  Meigs,  of 
Philadelphia,  are  of  this  type.  It  is 


FRONT-RESIDENCE  OF  E.  B.  MERRIMAN,  ESQ.,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 
Sibley  C.  Smith,  Landicapc  Architect. 

557 


BLOCK  PLAN  —  RESIDENCE  OF  E.  B. 
MERRIMAN,  ESQ.,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  I. 
SIBLEY  C.  SMITH,  LANDSCAPE  ARCHITECT. 


GARDEN  IN  REAR  OF  HOUSE— RESIDENCE  OF  E.  B.  MERRIMAN,  ESQ.,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 
Sibley  C.  Smith,  Landscape  Architect. 


to  Philadelphia  that  we  must  go  for  the 
best,  all-round,  wholesome  house  archi- 
tecture in  this  country.  Whatever  be  our 
local  pride  or  prejudice,  the  most  con- 
sistently beautiful  groups  of  small  houses 
shall  find  there.  The  two  designs 
these  pages  are  characteristically 


we 
in 


Philadelphian.  The  one  at  Cynwyd  is 
the  simplest.  Both  of  them  evidence  the 
local  fondness  for  planting  along  the  lot 
boundaries,  leaving  broad  greensward 
spaces  and  less  planting  about  the  dwell- 
ing. However,  it  should  be  observed 
that  the  photographs  show  some  trees 


GARDEN  OFF  LIBRARY-RESIDENCE  OF  E.   B.  MERRIMAN,  ESQ.,  PROVIDENCE,  R.  L 
Sibley  C.  Smith,  Landscape  Architect. 

559 


BLOCK    PLAN— HOUSE    AT    CYNWYD, 
PA.    MELLOR  &  MEIGS,  ARCHITECTS. 


ENTRANCE-HOUSE  AT  CYNWYD,   PA. 


FRONT  VIEW-HOUSE  AT  CYNWYD,  PA. 

Mcllor   &   Meigi,  Architects. 

561 


BLOCK    PLAN-RESIDENCE    OF    LEONARD    T.    BEALE, 
ESQ.,  ST.  DAVIDS,  PA.    MELLOR  &  MEIGS,  ARCHITECTS. 


VIEW   FROM   EAST— RESIDENCE  OF   LEONARD  T.   BEALE,   ESQ.,   ST.   DAVIDS,   PA. 

Mellor  &  Meigs,  Arthitects. 


and  shrubbery  about  the  house  that  do 
not  appear  in  the  sketch  plan,  which 
thus  make  the  schemes  seem  barer  than 
they  actually  are.  One  should  observe 
that,  although  these  two  schemes  are  less 
sub-divided  than  some  of  the  preceding 
ones,  they  nevertheless  follow  just  as 


strictly  the  principles  of  good  plot  de- 
sign. The  houses  are  accurately  placed 
in  just  the  best  location,  to  a  foot,  and 
all  the  practical  features  of  entrances, 
roadways  and  paths,  service  and  drying 
yard,  are  just  as  carefully  and  artistically 
provided  for ;  and,  further,  the  spaces 


GARDEN  TERRACE— RESIDENCE  OF  LEONARD  T.   BEALE,   ESQ.,   ST.   DAVIDS.   PA. 
Mellor  &  Meigs,  Arthitects. 

563 


BLOCK  PLAN— RESIDENCE  OF  CHARLES  B.   NICHOLSON,  ESQ., 
HARTSDALE,    N.     Y.      FRANK    ARNOLD    COLBY.    ARCHITECT. 


BLOCK  PLAN-RESIDENCE  OF   MRS.   VINCENT  B.  THOMAS, 
HARTSDALE,    N.    Y.     FRANK   ARNOLD   COLBY,   ARCHITECT. 


TERRACE  AT  REAR— RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  VINCENT  B.  THOMAS,  HARTSDALE,  N.  Y. 

Frank  Arnold  Colby,  Architect. 


STti'b  FROM  GLAZED  PORCH— RESIDENCE  OF  MRS.  VINCENT  B.  THOMAS,  HARTSDALE,  N.  Y. 

Frank  Arnold  Colby,  Architect. 

566 


VIEW  TOWARDS  GARAGE— RESIDENCE  OF  C.  A.  MALLORY,  ESQ.,  DANBURY,  CONN. 
Charles  Downing  Lay,  Landscape  Architect. 


are  each  marked  off  from  the  others  by 
firmly  established  boundaries  of  wall  or 
path  or  planting.  Plenty  of  terrace  space 
is  provided.  There  is  no  looseness — and 
no  loose  ends — the  proportions  are  per- 
fect and  beautiful.  It  will  be  noted  how 
the  garage  is  joined  to  the  house  in  the 
St.  David's  place,  thus  aiding  in  the  long, 
low,  irregular  grouping. 

Mr.  Frank  A.  Colby  solved  two  hard 
problems  in  the  two  places  at  Hartsdale. 
The  one,  the  Nicholson  design,  presents 
a  house  that  had  already  been  built  be- 
fore the  architect  was  called  in.  For- 
tunately, it  had  been  correctly  located 
on  the  high  part  of  the  site,  though  a 
few  feet  too  near  the  street.  Behind  it 
and  beside  it  the  ground  falls  rapidly 
away.  Mr.  Colby  took  advantage  of  this  • 
change  of  level  by  adding  the  glazed 
side  porch,  with  rock  steps  winding 
down ;  and  also  building  a  rear,  secluded 
terrace,  somewhat  lower,  yet  high  enough 
also  to  overlook  a  broad,  garden-like 
lawn.  Together  they  afford  a  most  at- 
tractive arrangement,  effective  in  all 
respects.  They  rescue  the  design  of  the 
house  by  making  it  seem  one  with  the 
land,  for  otherwise  the  building  would 


poke  up  too  much  from  the  ground. 
The  Thomas  house  design  is  a  strik 
ing  success  on  an  unpromising  plot  of 
land — a  site  small,  overexposed  on  two 
roads,  crowding  into  a  narrow  corner 
on  the  main  road,  with  an  undesirable 
slope  down  from  the  sidewalk.  The  de- 
signer did  not  hesitate  to  place  the  house 
in  this  location  along  the  front.  He 
screened  the  side  road  off  by  planting 
and  by  the  odd,  curving  terraces,  seen 
on  the  plan.  But  the  most  skillful  touch 
of  all  is  in  the  position  of  the  little  en- 
trance path  leading  from  the  sidewalk 
to  the  house.  Had  it  led  straight  across 
the  front  lawn  to  the  front  door,  it  would 
have  directed  attention  forcibly  to  the 
depression  of  this  lawn  below  the  side- 
walk and  thus  have  emphasized  the 
sunken  level  of  the  house.  But,  by  keep- 
ing the  lawn  unbroken,  and  carrying  this 
entrance  path  at  the  one  side,  one  is  not 
allowed  to  realize  that  the  house  is  some- 
what below  the  level  of  the  sidewalk. 
An  original  touch  is  the  interesting  shape 
of  the  star-shaped  little  garden,  whim- 
sically leading  off  from  the  corner  of 
the  porch.  Odd,  and  original,  but  not  at 
all  out  of  place. 


568 


Enqlish  Architectural  Decoration 

Text  and  Measured  Dtaw- 
by  Albert  E  Bullock, 


Part  XI.  —  Doorways  and  Fanlights 


TOLSTOI  attempted  a  definition  of 
art  in  its  various  phases  from  a 
literary  standpoint  in  his  exhaus- 
tive volume,  "What  is  Art?"  Other 
writers  have  since  described  and  illus- 
trated the  essentials  of  certain  branches 
of  the  several  crafts  which  exhibit  taste 
in  the  principles  and  proportions  adopted 
to  secure  their  respective  ends. 

In  decorations  for  interiors  many  arts 
are  employed  to  which  it  would  not  be 
possible  to  apply  universal  rules,  as  their 
boundaries  are  too  elastic  to  be  confined 
within  definite  limitations. 

Art  is  either  good  or  bad  in  proportion 
to  the  comparative  value  it  attains  with 
regard  to  the  character  of  the  accepted 
codes  in  each  particular  branch.  Whether 
it  be  architecture,  sculpture  or  painting, 
the  art  portrayed  is  the  expression  of  the 
artist's  experience  after  eliminating  all 
he  considers  superfluous  to  the  true  de- 
lineation of  his  theme. 

To  Greek  art  is  given  the  premier 
place  in  the  history  of  the  fine  arts  by 
virtue  of  the  chastity  of  its  expression 
and  its  idealistic  qualities,  as  compared 
with  former  ancient  examples  of  pagan 
art.  To  it  subsequent  artists  invariably 
turned  for  inspiration,  and  from  it  range 
the  avenues  of  all  subsequent  produc- 
tions. The  attainment  of  the  ideal  is  the 
great  problem  ever  foremost  in  the  mind 
of  the  artist  who  seeks  that  his  work  may 
live  after  him,  and  holds  the  laurel 
wreath  of  greater  value  than  immediate 
gain. 

Ever  striving  after  the  goal  of  his  ideal, 
one  sees  through  the  predilections  of  the 
individual  artist  the  motive  power  of  his 
genius.  Inigo  Jones,  Wren,  Grinling 
Gibbons,  Chippendale,  Adam,  Wedge- 
wood,  Flaxman  and  a  host  of  famous 
sculptors  and  painters,  have  each  given 
us  their  several  interpretations  of  this 
elusive  subject.  Each  craftsman  brings 


his  personal  inspirations  into  play,  hav- 
ing by  careful  comparative  survey  of  the 
works  of  his  predecessors  and  confreres 
created  a  style  or  mode  of  production  pe- 
culiar to  his  taste,  and  he  presents  these 
new  features  to  the  criticism  of  his  con- 
temporaries and  to  posterity.  Posterity 
classifies  these  products  into  types  and 
periods  and  heads  them  with  the  name 
of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
school  of  thought  or  originator  of  the 
particular  mode  of  craftsmanship. 

Naturally  the  styles  of  decoration 
which  find  most  favor  are  those  which 
are  the  more  suitable  for  modern  use  and 
emulation.  The  styles  which  exhibit  the 
most  distinctive  characteristics  range 
from  the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  or  the  reign  of  Charles  I, 
to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
during  the  reign  of  George  III,  al- 
though the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  saw  a  large  amount  of  reproduc- 
tion of  the  works  of  previous  eras  by  the 
disciples  of  the  school  of  the  Earl  of 
Burlington. 

The  Queen's  House,  Greenwich,  built 
by  Inigo  Jones  for  Queen  Henrietta 
Maria,  wife  of  Charles  I.  is  one 
of  extremely  refined  and  scholarly  taste 
by  that  architect,  based  upon  Palladian 
principles,  and  was  followed  by  the  build- 
ing of  Ashburnham  House,  Westminster, 
within  the  precincts  of  the  Abbey,  which 
is  now  occupied  by  Westminster  School. 
This  latter  work  is  attributed  to  John 
Webb,  kinsman  and  pupil  of  Inigo 
Jones,  who  was  born  in  1611  ;  but  it  was 
undoubtedly  chiefly  designed  by  his 
master,  who  alone  could  be  responsible 
for  the  conception  of  the  exceptionally 
fine  staircase  which  has  served  as  a  model 
for  many  subsequent  productions.  The 
library  has  a  fine  ceiling,  with  a  bold 
chimneypiece,  which  has  already  been 
illustrated  in  these  pages.  The  rear  room 


569 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


contains  an  alcove  of  some  interest,  with 
the  wig  room  adjoining  it.  East  of  these 
rooms,  near  the  large  Tudor  Hall,  is  the 
Busby  Library,  which  is  a  later  work,  to 
which  the  carving  to  the  stiles  of  the 
bookcases  bear  testimony,  as  well  as  the 
elaborate  ceiling,  which  latter  has  a 
strong  resemblance  to  the  ceiling  of  the 
Church  of  King  Charles-the-Martyr  at 
Tunbridge  Wells.  The  Wren  period 
ceilings  were  of  very  bold  character,  as 
the  instances  given  from  Love  Lane,  City 
of  London,  and  that  of  the  New  River 
Company's  Offices,  Rosebery  Avenue, 
testify.  During  this  period  much  ^fine 
work  was  executed  in  Scotland,  chiefly 
by  the  Mylne  family  and  Sir  William 
Bruce.  The  latter  built  himself  a  house 
at  Balcasky  in  1665,  and  made  alterations 
to  Ham  House,  Richmond,  in  1670,  where 
the  first  sash  or  "guillotine"  windows  are 
reputed  to  have  been  used.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  he  was  associated  with 
Robert  Mylne  in  additions  to  Holyrood 
Palace,  and  doubtless  undertook  the  work 
executed  in  1675  at  Drumlanrigg  Castle. 
One  of  Bruce's  later  works  is  Kinross 
House,  a  famous  Scottish  residence, 
where  considerable  taste  in  the  decora- 
tion is  exhibited. 

One  of  the  best  works  of  John  Webb 
is  the  famous  Tredegar  Park,  Mon- 
mouthshire, which  he  remodeled  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  II.  The  stair- 
case has  a  resemblance  to  that  at  Sud- 
bury  Hall,  Derbyshire,  and  features  sim- 
;lar  to  those  at  Thorp  and  Ramsbury.  It 
was  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  quite  in 
keeping  with  Webb's  work,  to  have 
carved  balustrading  in  place  of  the  single 
turned  bottle-shaped  balusters  which  had 
preceded  it,  and  which  were  subsequently 
revived  in  Wren's  day.  The  carved  stair- 
case at  Forde  Abbey  is  well  known  to 
many  who  have  visited  that  famous 
Somersetshire  residence.  Webb  was  at- 
tached to  the  pedimented  type  of  door 
and  many  other  smaller  conceits  which 
stamp  an  individuality  to  his  work. 

The  erection  of  Chatsworth  House  for 
the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  by  William  Tal- 
man,  was  preceded  by  the  building  of 
Thoresby  House,  Nottinghamshire,  by 
the  same  architect.  The  dignified  nature 


of  Talman's  work  remains  a  permanent 
testimony  to  the  genius  of  this  architect 
who,  but  for  the  notoriety  of  his  contem- 
porary— Sir  Christopher  Wren — would 
undoubtedly  have  been  proclaimed  the 
most  renowned  of  his  age.  He  gathered 
around  him  all  the  finest  craftsmen  of  his 
day,  whose  work  must  have  been  sub- 
jected to  an  exacting  scrutiny  and  super- 
vision. 

Although  the  Watson  family  were  em- 
ployed in  carving  the  woodwork  at  Chats- 
worth  for  forty  years,  Samuel  Watson's 
term  of  twenty-five  years  ceased  with  his 
death  in  1715,  and  he  was  originally  sub- 
servient to  Thomas  Young  and  Joel  Lobb, 
whom  he  appears  to  have  survived. 
Other  carvers  there  included  Robert 
Owen  and  William  Davis,  who  are  all 
recorded  to  have  worked  together  upon 
the  state  rooms  from  1692.  Lord  Exeter 
engaged  both  Young  and  Watson  to  work 
at  Burley.  It  is  interesting  to  compare 
the  character  of  the  work  at  Chatsworth 
with  that  at  Ashburnham  House  of  the 
previous  period.  The  freedom  in  the 
carving  in  the  lapse  of  fifty  years  is  very 
marked,  the  staircase  in  each  case  being 
totally  different  in  nature.  The  heavy 
wood  balusters  are — at  Chatsworth — sub- 
stituted for  graceful  wrought  ironwork 
by  Tijou,  while  the  stone  carving  on  the 
soffits  of  the  landings  and  on  the  piers 
within  the  fountain  court  are  very  effec- 
tive. (See  illustration  on  page  426,  May, 
1918.) 

The  staircase  at  Hampton  Court 
Palace  is  of  similar  nature,  having 
wrought  iron  balustrading  and  stone 
steps,  the  landings  being  ornamental 
with  hexagonal  stone  tiles. 

The  practice  of  adopting  variegated 
paving  was  of  early  origin,  since  the 
black  and  white  marble  setting  to  the 
Hall  of  the  Queen's  House,  Greenwich, — 
by  Nicholas  Stone  for  Inigo  Jones  in 
1639 — is  one  of  the  interesting  features 
of  that  royal  residence.  In  the  time  of 
the  Adam  brothers  the  staircases  were 
occasionally  inlaid  with  hardwood,  as  at 
Clayton  House,  Buckinghamshire. 

The  Great  Fire  of  London  destroyed 
or  damaged  many  of  the  City  Livery 
Halls,  which  were  subsequently  reno- 


570 


V&AM  -  DOORWAY  FROM   N?  18,   * 
CAREY  STREET 'LONDON 


DOORWAY     FROM     18     CAREY     STREET.     LONDON. 
IN  VICTORIA  AND  ALBERT  MUSEUM,  KENSINGTON. 


CVILOfOfLO 


•WATFORD:      tlfR.!* 


SECTION 


GLOVCCSTEle. 


WeST   STREET.    GLos' 


SVSSEX     HOV.5E  :    CLOSC 


12'  «'  O 


PARLIAMENT   5T : 


GLAZED    WOOD 
FANLIGHTS. 


a  / 
<  H 

MB 


a  z 

•J  < 

Ota 


**  « 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


vated  or  rebuilt  within  a  decade  or  two. 
The  Brewers'  Hall,  Addle  Street,  the 
Hall  of  the  Vintners  Company  and  that 
of  the  Tallow  Chandlers  all  contain  in- 
teresting details  of  the  work  of  this 
period  with  good  wood  carving  and  wain- 
scoting distinguished  by  large  panels 
having  bolection  moldings  and  enriched 
cornices.  Both  timber  and  craftsmen 
were  occasionally  imported  from  Hol- 
land, as  was  the  case  at  Holyrood  Palace, 
where  Jacob  de  Wett  and  Jan  Vansant- 
voort  were  engaged  under  the  direction 
of  Sir  William  Bruce  and  Robert  Mylne 
in  1671. 

In  Surrey  the  Chapel  of  Farnham 
Castle  possesses  some  good  Charles  II 
wainscoting  and  carving  of  the  angelic 
and  seraphic  order,  which  became  a 
typical  feature  in  most  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical edifices  of  this  age.  Some  of  the 
work  seems  earlier,  since  composition  has 
been  used  in  places  in  lieu  of  carving,  the 
work  having  been  carried  out  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century  for  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester. 

Badminton  House,  Gloucestershire, 
contains  examples  of  work  from  several 
different  periods  since  its  partial  re-crea- 
tion in  1682  for  the  Duke  of  Beaufort. 
The  Jacobean  oak  room  originally  ex- 
isted in  Raglan  Castle,  Monmouthshire. 
The  dining  room  possesses  carving  of  the 
Grinling  Gibbons  School,  while  additions 
were  made  in  1740  by  William  Kent  and 
Rysbrack,  chiefly  to  the  Hall  and  the  East 
Room.  The  chimneypiece  in  the  large 
drawing  room  is  of  the  time  of  Flaxman, 
carved  in  a  refined  and  delicate  manner, 
in  addition  to  which  there  exists  a 
"Chinese"  Room,  where  the  Chippendale- 
Chinese  style  has  run  a  free  course. 

In  the  grounds  of  Badminton  House 
is  situated  Worcester  Lodge,  designed  by 
William  Kent,  where  exists  a  ceiling  by 
him,  and  formerly  a  chimneypiece  with 
his  usual  consoles,  now,  however,  con- 
signed to  the  East  Room  of  the  Mansion. 
Great  Badminton  is  slightly  northeast  of 
Dyrham  Park,  the  seat  of  the  Rev.  Wyn- 
ter  Thomas  Blaythwayt,  M.A.,  designed 
originally  by  Sir  John  Vanbrugh  (the 
architect  of  Blenheim  Palace),  for  his 
ancestor,  Sir  William  Blaythwayt,  and 


both  estates  are  north  of  Marshfield,  on 
the  Somersetshire  border. 

Gloucestershire  contains  several  fa- 
mous country  seats,  of  which  Stanway 
House,  near  Winchcombe,  is  of  much  in- 
terest. It  was  erected  in  1626  for  Sir 
Paul  Tracey,  and  contains  entrance  gates 
reputed  to  be  designed  by  Inigo  Jones. 
It  is  now  in  the  occupation  of  Lord 
Elcho.  Near  Cirencester  is  situated 
Barnsley  Park,  rebuilt  about  1715  for 
Brereton  Bouchier,  who  died  in  1719, 
and  whose  daughter  married  Henry  Per- 
rot,  who  doubtless  had  additions  made, 
since  the  rainwater  heads  bears  the  date 
1721.  The  style  is  not  unlike  that  of 
Easton  Neston,  which  latter  was  erected 
by  Nicholas  Hawksmoor  in  1702. 

Hawksmoor  followed  the  Wren  man- 
ner in  most  of  his  work,  and  is  said  to 
have  been  responsible  for  the  "Or- 
angery," which  is  situated  in  Kensington 
Gardens  near  the  palace,  and  was  built 
early  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  He 
is  credited  with  work  at  Barnsley  Park, 
Gloucestershire,  where  the  decorations 
are  more  florid  than  one  would  have  ex- 
pected from  an  architect  of  his  training. 

James  Gibbs,  the  architect  of  the  Rad- 
cliffe  Library  at  Oxford,  built  Ditchley 
House  in  the  same  county.  This  place 
contains  some  notable  examples  of  art, 
certain  chimneypieces  being  from  the 
chisel  of  Sir  William  Cheere,  the  well 
known  sculptor,  who  was  a  disciple  of 
Scheemakers.  Architectural  drawings, 
monographs  and  literature  were  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  during  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  Gibbs,  who  was  of  Scottish 
descent,  issued  a  monograph  upon  the 
Radcliffe  Library,  having  in  1728  pre- 
viously published  his  "Designs  of  Build- 
ings and  Ornament."  Gibbs  had  a  pas- 
sion for  ornament  of  bold  character, 
whether  carved  in  wood  or  marble  or 
modeled  in  plaster. 

That  versatile  genius,  William  Kent, 
was  responsible  for  some  of  the  paint- 
ings at  Ditchley  House,  and  probably  de- 
signed the  benches  in  the  Hall,  as  also 
the  chimneypiece  executed  by  Stanton 
and  Horsennaile.  The  Italian  plasterers, 
Serena  and  Vassali,  modeled  the  plaster 
work  of  the  saloon,  while  the  green  draw- 


576 


GREAT  MARBLE  DOOR  ON   LAND- 
ING, CHATSWORTH,  DERBYSHIRE. 


I 


GEORGIAN  HOUSE  AT 
YEOVIL,      SOMERSET. 


OVERBOOK  FROM  27  HATTON  GARDEN.    IN  VICTORIA  AND  ALBERT  MUSEUM,  KENSINGTON. 


ing  room  decorations  are  for  the  most 
part  of  Louis  XV.  character. 

Kent  was  an  earnest  student  of  archi- 
tecture, sculpture  and  painting,  having 
visited  Rome  with  the  younger  Talman 
in  1714.  In  company  with  Flitcroft,  Isaac 
Ware  and  others,  Kent  published  his 
"Designs  of  Inigo  Jones"  in  1727  at  the 
expense  of  the  Earl  of  Burlington.  He 
made  his  third  visit  to  Rome  three  years 
later,  and  became,  by  virtue  of  his  ability, 
much  sought  after  by  the  nobility  of  his 
age,  who  even  asked  his  advice  in  mat- 
ters of  taste  in  dress  and  attire.  One  of 
his  chief  works  was  Houghton  Hall, 
where  Rysbrack  and  Artari  were  much 
employed.  Kent  adopted  many  features 
of  ornament  practised  by  Inigo  Jones, 
the  staircase  at  Houghton  being  on  the 
model  of  that  at  Coleshill,  while  much  of 
the  plaster  work  at  the  Treasury  Offices 
executed  during  Kent's  period  of  super- 
vision is  based  upon  Jones's  work  at  the 
Queen's  House,  Greenwich. 

Kent  was  associated  with  Ripley  in  the 
building  of  Wolterton,  and  executed 
much  of  the  designing  for  Lord  Burling- 
ton's villa  at  Chiswick. 


Holkham  Hall  is  the  result  of  the  com- 
bined efforts  of  the  Earl  of  Burlington's 
school,  and  is  more  severely  classical 
than  any  of  the  foregoing. 

One  of  the  most  useful  publications  of 
this  age  is  "Vitruvius  Brittanicus,"  by 
Colin  Campbell,  which  illustrates  scale 
drawings  of  the  plans  and  elevations  with 
certain  interiors  of  the  most  notable 
buildings  standing  in  England  at  this 
time. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  publi- 
cations of  Chippendale  and  the  joiners  of 
his  era,  which  were  followed  by  many 
works  on  objects  of  art,  ornaments,  chim- 
ney pieces,  etc.,  by  Pergolesi,  Columbani 
and  others,  and  one  on  ceilings  by  George 
Richardson,  a  student  of,  and  assistant 
to,  the  Adam  brothers,  who  themselves 
caused  their  work  at  Sion  House  to  '•*. 
published  in  a  large  folio  book  of  fine  en- 
gravings. 

The  entrance  doors  of  the  latter  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century  are  of  particu- 
lar interest,  and  form  one  of  the  most 
absorbing  studies  in  many  of  the  chief 
towns  in  England,  such  as  London,  Salis- 
bury, Yeovil,  Exeter  and  many  similarly 


581 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


important  centres.  Several  good  exam- 
ples are  preserved  intact  at  the  Victoria 
and  Albert  Museum,  of  which  I  give  a 
measured  drawing  from  that  formerly  at 
No.  18  Carey  Street,  London.  The 
wrought  iron  overdoor  will  be  noticed  for 
its  simplicity  of  design,  many  variations 
of  which  are  to  be  seen  in  rural  districts 
and  the  Midland  towns.  They  are  fre- 
quently in  wood,  metal  or  lead,  sometimes 
being  in  a  combination  of  several  metals. 
The  play  of  design  and  great  variety  will 
be  gathered  from  the  few  examples  here 
given,  drawn  from  hurried  sketches  made 
during  my  tours  around  England,  chiefly, 
however,  culled  from  doorways  in  Mid- 
dlesex, Essex,  Hertfordshire  and  Staf- 
fordshire. They  are  not  measured  in 
every  case,  but  the  general  proportions 


are  maintained,  and  will  be  found  a 
satisfactory  guide  to  the  principles 
adopted  in  olden  days. 

The  glass  of  the  fanlights  was  not  al- 
ways cut  to  the  shapes  shown,  some  of 
the  ornament  having  broken  away  reveal- 
ing this  fact.  For  the  most  part,  how- 
ever, old  examples  had  a  rebate  for  glass 
on  each  side  of  the  bar  or  certainly  to 
all  the  main  bars  in  the  design. 

The  Adam  examples  were  very  deli- 
cate in  construction  and  decorative  in 
design,  frequently  having  festoons  of 
beaded  or  husked  ornament  incorporated 
in  the  pattern.  The  wood  types  were 
necessarily  more  simple,  except  in  the 
case  of  the  example  from  the  Guildford 
Bank,  which  also  has  a  prototype  in  the 
example  from  Lichjield. 


THE     HALL     IN     FORDE     ABBEY.       BY     INIGO 
JONES.      CHARLES    I.    PERIOD. 


582 


HEARST    MEMORIAL    MINING    BUILDING,    UNIVERSITY 
OF   CALIFORNIA.     JOHN   GALEN    HOWARD.   ARCHITECT. 


NORTH  AND  WEST  FRONTS— HIGH  SCHOOL,  SOUTHAMPTON,   L.  I. 
William  Lawrence  Bottomley,  Architect. 


WEST  WING-HIGH  SCHOOL,  SOUTHAMPTON,  L.  L 
William  Lawrence  Bottomley,  Architect. 

584 


NORTH  FRONT— HIGH  SCHOOL.  SOUTHAMPTON,  L.  L 
WILLIAM     LAWRENCE     BOTTOMLEY,     ARCHITECT. 


PAULINE  CHAPEL,  COLORADO  SPRINGS, 
COL.    THOMAS  MAC  LAREN,  ARCHITECT. 


GARAGE  OF  MRS.  SARAH  B.  HALLADAY,   ENGLE- 
WOOD,  N.  J.     CARETTO  &  FORSTER,  ARCHITECTS. 


The    nation-wide    inter- 
est in  war  memorials  and 
.  the  need  for  advice  as  to 

A  Civic  Art  what  architectural  form 
Library  for  Qr  forms  arfi  mQst  fiuing 
New  York  City.  and  most  expressive  of 
American  ideals,  has 
demonstrated  the  need 
for  greater  attention  to  the  aesthetic  de- 
velopment of  the  American  municipality. 
Daniel  Burnham  long  since  implored  us  to 
"make  no  little  plans"  as  "they  have  no 
magic  to  stir  men's  blood";  and  Mayor 
Meredith  P.  Snyder  of  Los  Angeles  has 
recently  pointed  out  that  "there  is  a  spirit 
abroad  to  make  cities  beautiful  as  well 
as  bigger."  Interest  in  war  memorials  has 
brought  forth  suggestions  and  recom- 
mendations from  the  American  Federation 
of  Arts,  the  National  Committee  on  Me- 
morial Buildings  (changed  to  Bureau  of 
Memorial  Buildings  of  the  War  Camp 
Community  Service),  the  United  States 
Commission  of  Fine  Arts,  the  American 
Civic  Association,  the  Municipal  Art 
Society  of  New  York,  the  American  For- 
estry Association,  and  numerous  other 
civic  organizations.  War  Memorial  refer- 
ence lists  and  bibliographies  have  been 
compiled  by  Mr.  Frank  Weitenkamf  of 
the  New  York  Public  Library  (See  Archi- 
tectural Record,  September,  1919),  by  Miss 
Theodora  Kimball  of  the  Library  of  the 
Harvard  School  of  Landscape  Architecture, 
and  others.  But  despite  all  this  activity 
there  is  little  evidence  that  any  consider- 
able endeavor  is  being  made  by  purely 
municipal  agencies  to  build  up  a  compre- 
hensive collection  of  literature  and  in- 
formation concerning  the  important  sub- 
ject of  civic  art  in  its  various  relationships. 
In  New  York  City,  however,  a  nucleus 
for  a  library  of  Civic  Art  is  now  being 
formed  as  the  result  of  a  cooperative 
agreement  made  recently  by  the  Municipal 


Art  Commission  and  the  Municipal  Refer- 
ence Library.  The  new  library  will  be 
known  as  the  Civic  Art  Division  of  the 
New  York  Municipal  Reference  Library, 
and  it  will  be  located  in  the  Art  Com- 
mission chambers  on  the  upper  floor  of 
the  old  City  Hall  building. 

The  Art  Commission  of  the  City  of  New 
York  when  it  was  established  in  1897  under 
the  Greater  New  York  Charter  was  "prac- 
tically a  new  departure  in  municipal  gov- 
ernment in  the  United  States,"  for  al- 
though Connecticut  had  organized  a  State 
Capitol  Commission  and  Boston  (1890)  and 
Baltimore  (1895)  had  made  provision  for 
Art  Commissions,  the  last  two  were  only 
in  the  experimental  stage,  as  they  were 
not  yet  accepted  as  integral  parts  of  city 
government.  Lacking  American  experi- 
ence as  a  guide  in  planning  and  organiz- 
ing the  work  of  the  Commission  it  was 
decided  to  make  a  study  of  the  practice 
in  European  cities,  many  of  which  have 
departments  to  pass  on  the  artistic  quality 
of  designs  of  monuments  and  buildings. 
Mr.  Milo  R.  Maltbie,  Assistant  Secretary 
to  the  Commission,  was  therefore  in- 
structed to  visit  the  principal  European 
cities,  study  their  art  departments  and 
collect  data  and  information  to  guide  the 
New  York  Commission  in  its  work. 

In  his  report,  entitled  "Civic  Art  in 
Northern  Europe,"  published  upon  his 
return  in  1903,  Mr.  Maltbie  enumerates 
the  cities  visited  and  he  states  further : 
"Maps,  plans,  photographs,  books  and 
pamphlets  relating  to  city  embellishment 
in  its  many  phases  were  secured  from 
each  city,  which  form  as  complete  and  as 
comprehensive  a  collection  as  exists  upon 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic."  The  collection, 
in  Mr.  Maltbie's  opinion,  "when  classified 
and  thoroughly  indexed,  should  be  of  great 
usefulness,  not  only  to  city  officials  but 
to  artists,  architects  and  private  individ- 


589 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL     RECORD. 


uals  interested  in  city  embellishment." 
The  literature  collected  by  Mr.  Maltbie 
has  since  been  added  to  from  time  to  time 
until  in  1916  the  collection  comprised  some 
one  thousand  volumes,  as  well  as  a  collec- 
tion of  one  thousand  photographs  of  views 
in  American  and  foreign  cities,  dealing 
chiefly  with  civic  improvements.  Photo- 
graphs of  old  New  York  buildings  were 
subsequently  obtained  and  added  to  the 
collection.  Some  attempt  had  been  made 
to  classify  and  index  the  collection,  but 
this  work  was  retarded  because  of  insuffi- 
cient clerical  assistance. 

Shortly  after  his  appointment  to  the 
office  of  Assistant  Secretary  Mr.  Henry 
Rutgers  Marshall  discussed  with  the 
Municipal  Reference  Library  the  matter 
of  the  establishment  of  a  branch  library 
devoted  to  Civic  Art,  to  be  located  in  the 
Commission's  offices.  This  step  appeared 
to  be  advisable  because  the  Municipal 
Reference  Library  was  purchasing  all  out- 
standing books  on  Civic  Art  while  the 
Commission's  funds  for  the  same  purpose 
were  inadequate.  The  following  agree- 
ment was  therefore  drawn  up: 

1.  That   the  Art   Commission   deliver  to 
Dorsey  W.  Hyde,  Jr.,  as  the  Librarian   of 
the  Municipal  Reference  Library,  all  books 
in    the    Library    of    the    Art    Commission 
which     it    considers     inappropriate    to     its 
present    uses;    these    to    be    added    to    the 
Municipal  Reference  Library,  or  to  be  dis- 
posed of   otherwise   as   may   seem  best  to 
the  Librarian. 

2.  That,  on   the   other   hand,   Mr.  Hyde, 
as    Librarian    of    the    Municipal   Reference 
Library,  turn  over  to  us  such  books  relat- 
ing to  Art  as  are  now  in  his  charge;  and 
that   the   Library   of   the   Art   Commission 
be   thereupon  constituted  a  branch  of  the 
Municipal    Library    to    be    devoted    to    the 
subject  of  Art. 

3.  That  the  Municipal  Reference  Library 
make    a   new   catalogue   of   the   Library   of 
the  Commission  as  thus  newly  constituted, 
and  furnish  the  Commission  with  a  dupli- 
cate of  the  same  for  its  use;  and  to  keep 
this  new  catalogue  up-to-date. 

4.  The     Municipal     Reference     Library 
further    agrees    to    consult    the    appointed 
representatives  of  this  Commission  in  rela- 
tion to  the  purchase  of  books  on  Art;  and 
also  to  purchase,  from  time  to  time,  books 
which    may   be   recommended   by   the   said 
representatives,    provided    he    approves    of 
the  selections  made  and  finds  funds  avail- 
able for  such  purchases. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  plan  a 
Civic  Art  Division  of  the  Municipal  Refer- 


ence Library  has  been  created  and  the 
work  of  consolidating  the  art  collections 
of  the  two  institutions  is  now  in  progress. 
A  classification  scheme  is  being  worked 
out  and  a  complete  index  prepared.  Index 
cards  will  be  duplicated  in  the  index  of 
the  Municipal  Reference  Library  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plan  already  followed  for 
the  books  of  the  Public  Health  Division. 
At  the  suggestion  of  the  Municipal  Art 
Society  the  advisability  of  publishing  a 
catalogue  of  books  and  literature  on  Civic 
Art  is  now  under  consideration. 

DORSEY  W.  HYDE,  JR. 


Students    of    the    Ne- 
braska College  of  Agri- 
Model  Group  of    culture  are  aided  in  their 
Farm  Buildings     work  to  master  the  prob- 
in  Miniature.        lems      of      farming      by 
means  of  a  model  farm- 
stead in  miniature  which 
is   a   part  of   the   equip- 
ment of  the  Agricultural  Engineering  De- 
partment   of    the    College.     The    buildings 
comprising  the   model  were   designed   and 
constructed    by    students    of    the    Depart- 
ment, and  include  a  comfortable  farmhouse, 
set  on  a  concrete  foundation  and  equipped 
with   modern   conveniences ;    a   dairy  barn 
with  a  solid-wall  concrete  silo ;  a  hay  shed 
for  alfalfa;  a  horse  barn;  a  hog  house;  a 
tool  shed  and  shop,  a  poultry  house  and  a 
machine  shed.    The  entire  model  was  built 
to    one-quarter    scale,   the    materials    from 
which  the  buildings  were  constructed  be- 
ing cut  to  this  scale  in  the  woodwork  shop 
of  the  College. 

This  model,  or  "Nebraska  farmstead  No. 
1,"  as  it  is  called,  represents  a  nearly  ideal 
arrangement  for  a  160-acre  farm  in  the 
prairie  states.  The  plan  was  worked  out 
for  one  particular  farm,  and  has  been 
tried  out  on  farms  in  several  counties  of 
Nebraska.  Many  points  were  given  con- 
sideration in  planning  the  farmstead  to 
make  it  practical  and  at  the  same  time 
comfortable  and  pleasant. 

The  barns  and  yards  are  east  of  the 
house  so  that  unpleasant  odors  are  car- 
ried away  by  the  wind,  which,  in  Nebraska, 
usually  is  south  and  southwest  in  summer, 
and  north  and  northwest  in  winter.  The 
house  is  on  high,  well-drained  land,  which 
insures  a  good  view  and  prevents  barn- 
yard drainage  from  reaching  it. 

All  of  the  buildings  are  so  located  as  to 
act  as  windbreaks  to  adjoining  yards,  near- 
ly all  the  fences  serving  two  yards.  The 
yards  are  adjacent  to  the  pastures  and  the 


590 


THE  MODEL  FARMSTEAD  IN  MINIATURE. 


garden  is  close  to  the  house.  The  farm 
scales  are  so  situated  as  to  be  handy  for 
weighing  grain  and  stock,  and  it  is  pos- 
sible to  drive  to  nearly  all  of  the  buildings 
without  opening  gates. 

Each  building  in  this  arrangement  is 
planned  so  as  to  house  sufficient  feed  for 
stock  in  adjoining  lots.  Thus,  unnecessary 
walking  is  eliminated,  and  the  man  who 


does  the  chores  has  only  to  follow  a  gen- 
eral path  around  the  group  of  buildings,  as 
shown  by  the  dotted  lines  on  the  plan  of 
the  farmstead. 

When  a  man  starts  doing  chores  in  the 
morning  he  goes  from  the  house  to  the 
barn,  where  he  tends  the  horses,  colts, 
cows  and  calves,  separates  the  milk  and 
feeds  the  calves.  He  then  takes  the  re- 


PLAN  OF  THE  MODEL   FARMSTEAD. 
591 


THE    ARCHITECTURAL    RECORD. 


maining  skim  milk  to  the  pigs  at  the  far- 
rowing pens,  and  goes  to  the  combined 
crib  and  granary  to  feed  the  fattening  hogs 
and  fat  cattle.  In  returning  he  passes  to 
the  hay  shed  and  feeds  the  stock  cattle 
and  then  the  poultry.  He  steps  into  the 
milk-room  at  the  barn,  gets  his  cream, 
returns  to  the  house,  and  the  chores  are 
done.  He  has  walked  only  750  feet.  When 
two  men  are  doing  chores,  one  goes  to  the 
barn  and  one  takes  care  of  the  outside 
stock. 

Suppose  it  is  evening  and  the  farmer  is 
coming  through  the  lower  gate  by  the  hay 
shed.  His  course  to  the  barn  leads  past 
nearly  all  of  the  buildings,  ?.nd  most  of 
the  chores  can  be  done  while  the  team 
is  reaching  the  tank,  drinking  and  going  to 
the  barn.  When  the  horses  and  cows  are 
attended  to,  the  chores  are  done. 

Factory  managers  save  thousands  of  dol- 
lars each  year  by  devising  methods  of  sav- 
ing labor,  but  very  little  attention  has  been 
given  to  the  arrangement  of  farm  build- 
ings so  that  farm  operations  can  be  made 
efficient.  Yet  one-fifth  of  the  value  of  all 
farm  properties  is  invested  in  buildings. 
Actual  observation  has  shown  that  proper 
arrangement  of  farm  buildings  in  many  in- 
stances saves  one  mile  of  walking  every 
day,  or  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles 
per  year.  ROBERT  H.  MOULTON. 

Albany  Efforts   are  being  made 

Business    Men      in   Albany,   N.   Y.,   to   pre- 
Oppose  vent   deterioration    in   the 

Commercial       surroundings   of  the   Cap- 
Type  of  'to^»  an<*  ^  IS  interesting 
Public  to    note    that    the    move- 
Building.       «ment     is     supported     pri- 
marily   by    business    men, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  Albany  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce,  who  are  urging  the  Leg- 
islature   to    vote   down   the    proposed   con- 
struction of  a  ten-story  office  building  just 
east  of  the   Capitol,  on   a  corner  opposite 
the  new  Education  Building,  which  flanks 
the  Capitol.    The  height  and  shape  of  the 
intended    structure    would    clash    with    the 
lower  proportions  of  the  Capitol  and,  par- 
ticularly, with   the   fine   long  colonnade   of 
the'  Educational   Building.     The   unwisdom 


of  this  scheme  is  emphasized  when  one 
realizes  that  on  the  other  front  of  the 
Capitol  a  like  sky-scraper,  built  by  private 
interests,  gives  too  evident  proof  of  the 
damage  that  will  be  done.  Quite  correctly, 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  wishes  to  see 
the  proposed  office  building  similar  in  de- 
sign to  the  Education  Building,  balancing 
it,  and  thus  making  a  splendid  group  of 
three  public  buildings,  rightly  placed  and 
worthy  of  the  government  of  the  Empire 
State.  It  is  further  desired  that  the  small 
square  block  of  land  in  front  of  the  Capi- 
tol, enclosed  by  this  properly  designed 
group,  be  made  a  little  park  or  plaza.,  either 
entirely  open,  or  else  containing  a  screen 
of  columns  in  the  form  of  a  war  memorial, 
this  memorial  making  the  fourth  side  of 
the  square.  The  State  has  bought  this 
small  block;  and,  now  that  the  buildings 
in  it  have  been  razed,  one  sees  revealed 
the  fine  silhouette  of  the  Capitol  as  viewed 
from,  the  east,  together  with  the  splendid 
colonnaded  proportions  of  the  Education 
Building  .hitherto  blanketed  by  business 
buildings.'  This  square,  therefore,  should 
be  kept  as  open  as  possible. 

The  proper  planning  of  Albany  has  long 
been  under  consideration  ever  since  Mr. 
Arnold  Brunner  and  Mr.  C.  D.  Lay  re- 
ported on  the  city  plan  of  Albany  in  1911. 
Since  then  three  successive  State  archi- 
tects, Messrs.  Ware,  Hoefer  and  Pilcher, 
have  worked  on  the  scheme  of  the  Capitol 
surroundings.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce 
has  adopted  their  ideas,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  Chamber  will  succeed  in  its 
public  spirited  aim  to  prevent  the  depre- 
ciation of  the  millions  of  dollars  that  the 
tax-payers  have  put  into  fine  architecture 
of  their  Capitol  buildings.  And  not  only 
in  regard  to  this  attempt.  Further  raids 
will  doubtless  be  made.  Still,  the  Ameri- 
can people  are  gaining  in  appreciation  of 
open  air  majesty  and  of  the  worth  of  fine 
architecture.,  Each  year  it  becomes  easier 
for  public  sp'irited  citizens  to  do  their  duty 
as  guardians  in  defense  of  public  property 
against  material  damage.  The  thanks  and 
support  of  architects  will  go  out  to  the 
Albany  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

JOHN  TAYLOR  BOYD,  JR. 


592 


HA  Architectural  record 

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