File:American homes and gardens (1905) (17965126689).jpg

Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesgar11905newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York : Munn and Co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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October, 1905 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 22. house, but what the original architect would have done had he been called upon to design a larger house and one of the dimensions now decided upon. This is obviously not only the correct point of view to take, but the only one, and the very admirable way in which the building has been extended is satisfying evidence of its truth. The house has been expanded and extended, therefore, in strict harmony with the older part. The latter is two stories in height, with a low, sloping roof, in the center of which are two large dormers opening immediately above the colonnade, which reaches from end to end of this part. Both the colon- nade and the roof have been omitted in the new parts, which are two stories in height, plainly boarded on the outside, but actually, like the older part, built of brick within, surmounted with a severely molded cornice, above which is a pierced balustrade or parapet. These wings are recessed behind the front wall of the old building, but at the end the final pavilions, with plain corner pilasters and pointed pediments, are brought forward. Not all of this work was done at once, and as a matter of fact neither wing is quite alike, the windows of the second story being below the cornice in one and cutting it in the other. The entire front—and the building is elongated in plan, its depth being somewhat shal- low in comparison with its great frontage—is thoroughly harmonious, than which greater praise could not be given. Inside the house the story is somewhat different. The plan of the older part was thoroughly typical of its day, and consisted of a central hall, from which opened four rooms: dining-room and kitchen to the right; two parlors to the left. All of these rooms were small and quite unsuited for the generous hospitality planned for the modernized dwelling and which has since been carried out within it. It was ob- viously necessary to effect a complete transformation of the interior; but, while unavoidable, it was, at the same time, determined to retain the old style and feeling as far as pos- sible. It is sufficient to add that the interior restoration has been as fortunate and as successful as that of the exterior. The hall, which opens at the further end onto a porch overlooking the garden, retains a number of its original features. The staircase, beyond an arch supported on pan- eled pilasters, is new; but the hand rail is thoroughly Colo- nial in feeling and thoroughly in harmony with the other woodwork. The door frames are decorated with small, carved rosettes and have carved cornices; the superb doors are of solid mahogany. The yellow wall paper and the rugs of deep red laid on the hardwood floor give a distinct charm and gaiety to the hall, with the real quality of a joyous wel- come. On the left is the dining-room, completely occupying the space formerly filled by the old parlor and library; the divid- ing wall has been removed and the central beam supported on pairs of columns. The original frieze—a delicately mod- eled band—has survived, and its pattern has been reproduced on the new parts. Architecturally, therefore, the room re- tains the definite character of the period at which the house was built. Most of the mantelpieces in the old house had been more or less defaced before it came into the possession of its present owner; but the new ones have, in each instance, been very charmingly designed in the older style, and are completely in keeping with the rooms in which they stand. The dining-room is a green room; the walls hung with green silk, mildly flowered; the window curtains are of green plush; the rug is green. A wainscoting of white wood en- tirely surrounds the base of the walls, and each ceiling of the two parts forms a single square panel, plainly molded. There are two mantels, one for each part of the room, and the walls are hung with prints and photographs, many of them having direct relation to Princeton. A sideboard—seen in the photograph to the right—once stood in the house of Richard Stockton, the signer of the Declaration of Independence,
Text Appearing After Image:
" Drumthwacket"—The Dining-Room

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