Clyde Andrew Sloody Se 3S ferhe= SE —P Msbergh = nod WaVA “wl ‘GTIOUMAN A AAHLAV Ie ae ~ \ a \ \ \ iN \ | \ \ \ ~ \ x \ AX os \ \ \ \ ox \ = \ \ X\ . \ Se : \ \ . " \ \ < . K PUBLUSHL e \ \ \ \ < \ \ _ \ \ \ axed word wv - - z0877zL+aT000 40 ont MS FOI WweD eo AXIO 49 TWD -M-O NO BHOUY BOL MLMAIL © Wig > aye own a so jem sil SOVTH ELCVATION GEORGE HOWE, PEELE SiNCay 1914 7 CELLAR PLAN GROVND FLOR PLAN raw) TSHULIL,, SECOND TLODR PLAN + 8%"- rade PHILA. NORTH ELEVATION GARAGE AT CHESTNYT HILL PA for Grorcet How Esa. Scale fp ~ J" sHreT Na: J Avavsr 3 Ir een ELEVATION: OF-LEAF- low + hiss li on -side+ awiny- | to- second: floor-) me FS. DE -3 a SE - *NEWEL S. AILS - OF -NEWEL - v4 Ay | | Vy, | y f | From: ! AND « STAIR: FOR - GEORGE - HOWE: Esq - > CHESTNUT - HILL - - PENNA + GARAGE AND STAIR DETAILS mab 7 i \ He + PLAN-ON + SECTION « A-A: Or - | NewEL + ON- FIRST: RISED ler aa EN 4 Ze ae pels = 1 ee EE + 6Y-redine- i5an | le LAN-ON-SECTION -C-C- OF / - NEWEL - AWAY - FRoM- STAIR + fe AY 4 ___\, - To: SECOND - FLoor - THE RESIDENCE OF FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, ESQ. CHESTNUT HILL, PHILADELPHIA REPRINTED FROM THE OCTOBER 1919 IssuE oF ‘“THE ARCHITECTURAL FoRUM” N THE consideration of the problems involved in the design for the house of Mr. Francis S. McIlhenny two principal basic considerations were at once apparent. First, that the house was to be built upon a hill, and second, that the hill sloped towards the northeast, and that the outlook was directly to the north. These two points formed the root and foundation for the whole design. Regarding the question of orientation, it was decided that the solution of the problem lay in planning the house in such a way that the principal rooms would look out to the southeast, and this necessitated the creation of the parterre at that point. By this arrangement the living room, the hall and the writing room, on the first floor, and the owner's bedroom and the other two principal bedrooms on the second floor, obtained this valuable exposure. The question of view, to a large extent, was subordinated, but, by the location of the dining room, the bay looks directly at the view, the iving room has two windows facing it, and the porch is so placed that it commands both the parterre and the view. In order to get the sun also into the dining room, the sunken garden was created, and while practical considerations make this a necessity, it brought about, as is almost universally the case, when such considerations are successfully handled, one of the leasantest features of the design. In fact, this process was followed throughout, and if the finished product has any merit at all, it is entirely due to the lan being born from its situation, and the elevations and outbuildings following as a logical sequence from the parti originally assumed. Of all elements of design, this seems to be the most important, and the one that, if faithfully, frankly and logically ollowed, produces in the end the most successful results. If the parti suits the ground, if the house is set at the right level, and if it is set in such a way, with regard to the points of the compass that the sun gets into the principal rooms, that the places in which one lives outside are both cool in summer and warm in winter; everything else in the design seems to fall into its natural place and takes care of itself. The designer can find ready to his hand an answer to almost any question which may arise, if what he started with was right and suitable and if he can treat what he does afterwards with taste and a sense of the beautiful. The functioning of a place of this kind is of the utmost importance. The property is about four acres in extent, and of this scarcely two are available for buildings, namely, those which show upon the plan, while the balance of the property extends to the northeast and further down the slope. The two ramps at either side of the main gates to the Forecourt, which show on the plan, but not in the plates, are an interesting illustration of beauty growing out of necessity. They form a pleasant feature and, although built before the green- house, they now constitute the only connection between the garden functions of the place and that part of it which lies to the southeast of the sunken road. Such matters, too often forgotten, show the importance of thinking and designing beforehand, while it is frequently the case that the owner takes the position that he wants from the architect only the design of a house; that the matter of the functioning of his house, and the functioning of the various things that go with it, are considerations entirely apart from the service to be expected from the architect, — the result being in so many instances that the outbuildings are located in a haphazard fashion and, frequently, in wrong and inaccessible places. With regard to planting, practically all that shown on the plan has been done through co-operation between the owner and the architect, and here again, an opportunity exists which is too often neglected. When the designer creates blank spaces which exist in his mind as covered with vines, climbing roses, espalier fruit trees, or any other such pleasant appurte- nances belonging to a country house, and those spaces are treated entirely differently and unsympathetically by an owner quite unconscious of the designer's conception, and aiming at a different object, thoroughly unsatisfactory results may be expected from the two opposing forces. The levels were such that, in order to get the main first floor at an elevation equal to that of the parterre, formed by cutting out on one side and filling in on the other, this first floor level had to be set five feet lower than the level of the forecourt, thus necessitating the entrance loggia with its flight of steps leading from the front door to the actual entrance to the hall. It would be quite impossible to classify the house as belonging to any style. Certainly the plan is English in feeling, inasmuch as it is both broken up and irregular, wandering about the property in a haphazard fashion, with no attempt at formality, considerations of orientation having taken precedence as every decision. Fenestration of the house could be considered either French or Italian, though certain features—such as the entrance loggia—are quite slavishly Italian. As for French influence,—the bricks around the windows and the free use of brick as a color motive around the cornice and various other places might be said to be taken from the French, while the form of the roof is perhaps nearer French than anything else, but the fact of its being covered with shingles puts in an American touch. An attempt has been made in presenting this house in the plates to arrange them serially, so that one is taken from the front—beginning at the entrance from the highway, through the forecourt, showing various views of the elements there, passing through the gate to the Garden, and after numerous views of it, returning to the interior of the house, and finally out of the Dining Room and back to the Sunken Garden. One year elapsed between the broaching of the original proposition for designing this house and the breaking of ground for its construction. Another year elapsed while it was building, two more until the building of the Green House, and it was not until the Spring of 1922 that the Garden was built—six years after the first beginnings. The owner having come to the very wise decision that he expects to live in the house for the rest of his natural life, proceeds slowly with the new features of the place, thereby getting his amusement as he goes along, and conditions such as these are undoubtedly ideal from the standpoint of the architect. A new experiment was tried with regard to the treatment of the plaster walls in the porch and entrance loggia. The walls in these two places were sand-finish, and it was felt that color was desirable. In the loggia, three main colors were decided upon,—yellow, brown and blue, all colors being very strong, and the brown about the tone of Spanish leather. Taking these three colors in three separate pots, the walls were covered in irregular shaped blocks, so that when they were first finished, they looked more like a ship that had been camouflaged than anything else. The colors were blended together by putting blue over the brown, brown over the blue, and both blue and brown over the yellow. A very successful result was thus obtained in which the color starts with yellow at the bottom, blending into brown half way up, and ending in a very rich blue on the vaulted ceiling, though there is no part of the surface that is all one color, as the three colors vary and inter- mingle throughout the entire surface. The porch walls and ceiling are treated similarly except that the ceiling is a strong yellow, while the walls graduate up from yellow, through a pink orange, into a violet at the top. The most careful study has been put upon the Garden and the matter of landscape architecture is perhaps as much neglected in this country and in the present times, as it is important, as a general idea seems to exist that, compared to the house, it is relatively unimportant, and that the house being finished, there is little else to do. Design is quite as important in landscape work as it is in architecture, except that it is more evanescent, more difficult to apprehend, and more rare. Masses of growing things, whether they be trees, hedges or an open lawn, bear a relation to each other quite as im- portant as the relation between the masses of architecture proper, and to suppose that the harmony, or lack of it, e: sting between the width of a terrace and the wall back of it, the size of an open space and the height of the features surrounding it, or any such elements of proportion — in short, design — are unimportant, is a most profound error. In this Garden, the effort was made to keep it simple almost eliminated. Color exists in the architecture itself and Parterre, the trees and the woods form the background, and the flowers in pots and jars are the in mass, and rich in unobtrusive detail, flower beds being in the brick and gravel walks; the level green carpet of the accents, but it should be taken into consideration that it is less than a year old and awaits the quality that age nerver fails to bring. It is interesting to note that a free use of concrete All has been made and that all concrete was cast on the job. this work was done by the carpenter, the mason, and the common labor, and every baluster shown came from two moulds cut out with a gouge from solid blocks of wood. surfaces were untouched after the removal of the moulds, thus One porch can be habitable only at one time during t afternoon, ag the porch in connection with the house becomes shac affords a capital place in which to spend a hot summer out over the principal view of the property. The circulation around the Parterre as expressed by t afford both variety and interest. features of different heights; the house to the northwest, the ser and the Belvedere, Lion Fountain and Tool House, backed by t The color o morning The Parterre is an element o f the concrete is similar to that of Indiana Limestone, and the obtaining a sympathetic texture without effort or expense. ne day; in this case there is a place to go both morning and y at about three o’clock in the afternoon, and the Belvedere overhung as it is with well-established trees and looking > he paths has been carefully studied to be continuous, and to yen to the northeast and closed on the other three sides with yentine wall, capped with pleached trees, to the southwest he woods to the southeast. This circulation runs completely around, beginning with the main terrace of the house, through the porch, along the open side, across the steps of the Belvedere, thence around the Lion Fountain to the Tool House, and fit the alley of pleached trees is an additional variation. To sum up, there were two principal decisions taken many of the most important features of the house, and the inf almost all the details. These were first, the orientation and, seco The entire arrangement of the rooms, the placing of t house and garden, resulted from the former, while the sunken g garden gate with its steps and pool, all followed in logical sequence from the latter. open to question, but certain it is that, from the standpoint of from the planning of a house, up from the ground, rather thar 35 rally back along the serpentine wall. The upper walk through before the design was really started, which have created Aluence of which was so strong that it seems to extend into nd, the level at which the main floor of the house was set. he forecourt, service court, parterre, vegetable garden, green- arden, entrance loggia, the feature of the garden itself, and the Whether the results are good or bad is the designer, much more pleasure and benefit may be derived 1 down from a style. ARTHUR I. MEIGS. PRANCISsS Mellon NY SO CRBS PNW HIE PEpiE a: 1918 ea R we) rw, & Ss = aii zi . minima 7 aS | OWNERS Ce Se H Properly Line Mr: : KY ‘ Guests Rm iy 5 fi TSI] yy BATH | Rit Linen | i SERYTS fi pe Mt is ne. = GL 6 a a aoa 8 . og as $ — We N Na ys N ry AQ he ® 4 i SS ‘ ae X : HS 3 Hs . us $ -f LIA TOV RED LEH ret ZZ. WRITING. |Roort Us Hs eee i 8 a ee 4 Pleached Apple Trees’ — = S ine on Russ wiremel a: mie tether mel nmi peat slat Bs | ©e002000000eG0000 COCOBSDODDOHDG0 oO : BACOOPTCHOBPO090000 eS as aa ae FR RRM RR Oh DR OD OVIGETABLE GARDEN # YYWWW WWW WY WWW) MOD DDD ODOCSB BAH EER Land falls away abraptly 12 Hs PAO00 00000000000000000000 eJo0000000000000000000000 att jo 9 0 Q fe} oO Q ° 0 ° ° ° ° ° a fe} oO ic} } al \ e j ° 0 ° ° re) SONS ae | RESIDENCE OF ~ FRANCIS: 3 -MILHENNY-LsQ - CHESTNVT-HILL-PA- ee Aellor Meigs § Howe frchis PRANCISi a. MclImIEN NY (ESO Clb si NU WIE eer Ten 1918 HOUSE FROM HIGHWAY FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, ESQ., CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. 1918 GENERAL VIEW GARAGE AND GREENHOUSE FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, ESQ., CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. SUNKEN GARDEN HOUSE FROM SERVICE COURT 39 FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, ESQ., CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. 1918 DETAIL OF FRONT DOOR GRAPES AND GRILLES FRANC > 5S. MciLH NCAP Table, IStINLyAN, 1918 ENTRANCE LOGGIA OF ELEPHANT K BACK v7] =i < ed a >) a a < 1a GARDEN pM rT , 4 FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, ESO:, CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. 1918 me > LION FOUNTAIN AND 5 a Zz (ay (a) n = < 43 FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, ESQ 1918 GARDEN FROM HALL = = eI eI a n Ce 2 : WISTARIA TRELLIS FROM WRITING ROOM FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, ESQ., CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. 1918 HALL MANTEL 49 PRANCIS'S: MeiLHENNS, ESO CHESTNUT TIMES PE IEA: 1918 WRITING ROOM PARLOR FIREPLACE BELVEDERE FROM PARLOR PARLOR FRANCIS 5S. McILHENNY, ES@., CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. 1918 im SUNKEN GARDEN FROM DINING ROOM DINING ROOM BAY are DINING ROOM STEPS INTO SUNKEN GARDEN ar SNOILVAYTa IPI, CIAUESTINWIP ILL, ESO., . Ze Zz a) = Vi Y) Zz a ed i. (CISUES IONE ISHNLIL, lsHUL, ESO., FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, 1918 VISDO1 ADNVALNGA ~ YIDDS| edo MVIAd ~ Yq eTMY LNWLSIHD + oS] -ANWINT]5)(°C *SIONVA] “dal DONIAISTG @ ~ WW NOUDIC - ~ NOMIWAT Se) ve} STIVLAd WOIMALXa PHILA. BESO), CHESTNUT HILL, sf Zi zi ea] q e lal Vv} nn 5 S < =) \, SOONG IERUBIL, TBULs OMG HIE, iSQ a RANCIS S. McILHENNY, I I 1918 STIVLad wood °GLOOT, ° ToT WOLLILS* i GON AOL Tg LO LON CI SMIM OMS, TitLE a A VOLL IA) meee Copy ye ae Soc yee voog woos Semary of [Pele ed, BY lenbbar ruaef rrogr QO WOLLOTS i posed Betrmaiye \ zs *WOMILES. De 2° NOLS zeta cmieeh IDE wn AINVULNA NIVW YHAO dWVT 88-61 / | i ‘\ | sek bewornc7 Al i 229127 F872 iN i e | hs | 1 | \\ f = es i Bee eva barre? i A i so perm be \ ESQ., CHESTNUT HILL, PHILA. 1918 29 2 Boe f hin FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, CHESTNUD HILL, PEIICAY. 1SO0),, FRANCIS S. McILHENNY, FE 1918 TIVH OST ANNI > S- Si iONVE - QL DICH - “TTY JO -IMLIQ- “NOLLVAITY + LV | * So Se a REE en | t i Lt IO N ite) SNIVINOOA - em/ortia, - rice eles - var0IATIG 10 > VL wz vias aH Y/ + FeeZlaey -so°) 9-2] aN PHIL TS UNUD HILL, bp Clallt SQ sf A EA (ea) ) S S Uv) n O Vz, < [or F - suong- do nel TSIEN TaN IL, TPIS, CHI ESO, McILHENNY, ERUANCIS S, 1918 TIVM ANILNAdYAS GNV ASNOH TC co-ee| ©7176 -IMILVII UTC «40° Let 76 srelTg- ved peyareg 778M -awlniar¢-sotielig. — ¥ | ace Hoel +7 pat SONGLETTE 2 ene WALLET Gp AO” ITO S cespoy loans zap pri0l7e o£ 23 fy — 00g do 0 Id ead swooy| ke 7p —= == erro Lanz Zs) nt ona) bh d S yjere mene puytire 5 — Ln Es 72 sap fouleAazTe Tole « 70 ISU: 4SO- WAC? SMIVLS PHILA. ESO CHE SP NUMM EEE: . rz F4 {ea} a uv} nn O A << oa ge THE HOUSE OF ROBERT T. McCRACKEN, ESQ. GERMANTOWN REPRINTED FROM THE SEPT. 1921 Issu—E of ARTS AND DECORATION T IS by no means difficult to assign a reason for the conspicuous scarcity of examples of good small houses. Most small houses do not come from the designs of architects, but are usually a builder’s unskillful compromise between several houses seen in book or magazine illustrations, or they are copied as nearly as possible after other houses of similar cost in a certain locality. It is by no means surprising that this kind of small house, especially if it is built on specula- tion, to sell to any chance purchaser, should lack architectural qualities. Everything in a small house counts tremendously, and if the whole thing, from the study of the plan, through to the detailing and supervision of the work, is done in a mechanical and, usually, a scant manner, the result can only be regarded as “building’’—not as architecture. When an architect is engaged to design a small house, several things usually occur, some of them inevitable, others arising more indirectly from the nature of the problem. It is inevitable, for instance, that one real mistake in a small house, whether in its planning or in its design, will ruin the whole effect, while it might be of virtually no significance in a large house. From the initial condition of its smallness, the small house usually means a limited expenditure and rigid architectural economy. Moreover, the small house client usually worries more than the prospective builder of a large house, and his worries do not aid the architect in creating a fine and unhampered piece of work. They insist upon working into the house more whims and restrictions, more commands and interdictions, often contradictory, than the design of one small house can sustain and still retain true character. Often the cost restriction hampers both client and architect in creating a beautiful small house: both would be in accord if there were a little more money available. So the house is finished as a fabric of compromises, expressing neither the client’s taste or individuality nor the architect’s ability. The architect who sets out with a high standard for a small , with house must be gifted not only with strictly architectural ability, but, even more, with ingenuity and resourcefulnes the knack of making the most of every inch and every dollar. The charm of a small house, its livable qualities, its picturesque values, do not depend upon expenditure. A thousand noticeable difference, but dollars, one way or another, on some one item of material or labor, may, of course, make a very the skillful architect is the one who can come the nearest to satisfying his professional conscience and realizing his client’s aspirations within an allotted sum of money. Concessions on both sides are often necessary—neither architect nor client can afford to be autocratic in planning a small house—and harmony in the architect-client relationship, which should always be a real friendship, will smooth out many difficulties and achieve many triumphs, as will be seen later. The mistake of many small houses take the form either of attempting too much or of attempting too little. A small house should never attempt to be a large one, but on the other hand it need not be stupid or unbeautiful. A small house is neither a portion of a large house, nor a miniature version of a large house: its problem is a special one, and it is a distinct kind of house. In its broadest terms the problem of successfully designing a small house resolves itself into devising and effecting a maximum of practicality, beauty and individuality within a fixed cost limit. The entire plan, including every closet and door, and all the permanent equipment, must be practical, for there is virtually no margin for error. The element of beauty will come first from sheer design, and second from the suitability and inherent qualities of the materials used, and from the technique with which these are used. The element of individuality will be measured by the success with which the architect understands ol his client’s temperament and expresses it, the expression mingled, perhaps, with some elements of the architects’ individuality in design and technique. In order to achieve these things, every element of planning and designing must be utilized to its utmost. Briefly, I would say that the main aims of the architect who is trying to create a successful small house would Le to develop with a maximum effectiveness the layout of the site, the floor plans of the house, its pictorial qualities in design, the choice of materials and any and all ingenious devices which will add practical and individual character to the whole house. Much, in the first place, can be done with the site, meaning the entire grounds. The small house need not be a forlorn little box, crying its smallness to every passer-by. Terraces, walls, hedges, gates and skillful planting can impart the essential element of design to the whole premises, and just as every bit of space in the floor plan can, with sufficient study, be utilized, so can every bit of space in the grounds be made a part of the complete design. Upon the floor plans, obviously, must depend the practical success of the house. They are the source of the pictorial aspect of the problem, and yet they must be carefully considered from the first, and developed hand in hand with the pictorial effect. The beautiful little house which, inside, is inconvenient, ill-arranged and impractical is no better, architecturally, than the efficiently and well-planned house which stands up, uncompromisingly box-like, from a bare, clipped lawn. Given a good plan, the pictorial aspect of the small house is highly important. The beauty of a small house, as a picture, may make its size such a minor question, by comparison, that the beauty is all that is seen or remembered, and the owner will receive a certain kind of sincere envy from many owners of large and burdensome houses. In the matter of materials—skill and imagination in selection will not only aid the pictorial aspect of the house, but will impart also another small house essential—character. Lack of character is the distinguishing demerit of the preponderant majority of small houses. The foregoing brief survey of the general conditions of small house design, both ideal and actual, is intended as an aid in the appreciation of this exceptional small house in Germantown. It possesses such ideal qualities in every essential respect that a detailed exploration of the whole premises cannot fail to hold much of inspiration and practical suggestion to all who are thus far interested. The house, with its long dimension parallel with the road, seems to occupy but little of a property frontage of a hundred feet. To the right an unnoticeable driveway leads back to a service court and a garage, both of which are entirely invisible from the garden. From the highway, then, there is the picture of a charming stone house, seen above a hedge, and across a narrow lawn. The extreme left wall of the house merges subtly into a stone garden wall, coped with brick. Some bright flowers stand up before this wall, and before the house—but beyond these visible things, complete privacy and seclusion reign. Approaching the house, a brick walk is seen to lead from the driveway across the whole lot to a gate at the far left end of the front garden wall. A turn of this walk leads directly to the front door, which admits to the smallest possible hallwe 7, with rough plaster walls, and ceiling beams of hewn timber, stained brown. At the hall's end is a door giving upon the garden terrace—a place to be explored presently. The main function of the hallway, aside from its stairs to the second floor, is to give access to the living-room, which, by virtue of a frank acceptance of the dimensional limitations of the whole house, is also the dining-room. The row of case- ments, in fact, which were at your left as you came in the front door, are the ‘“‘dining-room” windows. — In front of these win- dows, and along the wall at right angle, is a built-in bench, and paneling, and an ample and gracious refectory table is the dining-table. Step away from the table, and you are in the living-room, with its quiet, restful walls, dark woodwork, and a simple fireplace. Upstairs there is presented an arrangement of the utmost compactness—three unbelievably comfortable bedrooms, two bathrooms, and plenty of closets. Two of the bedrooms, moreover, have fireplaces, and all have amply adequate (and very picturesque) windows. It seems as though everything that could reasonably be wanted is there, and that nothing there is superfluous. And, as may well be imagined, there is no waste space—with fort x feet as the total length of the house, there was not any space available to waste. Returning to the downstairs hall, you are about to go out into the garden, quite unaware that the ingenious plan of this extraordinary little house has not been entirely inspected. There must be a kitchen somewhere (certainly there could be no room for a maid), but you did not notice any evidence of a kitchen, either outside or inside. Here is an illustration of the potency of the pictorial element in country house architecture. The whole profile of the little house, in its relation to the site, seemed so perfect and so charming that you did not notice the blank downstairs wall of the end of the T-shaped wing. A look at the plan will disclose not one, but two maids’ rooms, an ample kitchen, refrigerator room, and back porch. And all this space was never missed, as you came into the house—the kitchen and maids’ rooms were so skillfully disposed of that they might have been located in the furthermost wing of some great rambling manor house like Haddon Hall. More clever small house planning than this does not exist. It seems almost impossible that such complete isolation could be effected in so small a house. With the plan at last explored, the garden is found to be beautifully consistent with the whole scheme. To adjust the pitch of the whole piece of ground toward its back-line, the house is set upon a pleasantly informal brick terrace, and is seen to possess, quite astonishingly, no “‘back’’—it is as charmingly picturesque from the garden as it appeared from the road. It is a walled garden, with its highest wall completely eliminating the garage, service court and back-door—the only communication being a quaint little postern gate, a door in an arched opening. There, in the garden, are flowers, and an informal flagged walk, all around about a central space of grass. Along the left wall is a grape arbor, which continues on the terrace, covering the whole space formed by the end-wall of the house, and the wall that screens the garden from the road. Immediately beyond the back wall of the garden the ground falls away abruptly, so that only the upper branches of a dense grove of large trees appear above it—and in this corner is a brick-floored “‘belvedere’’—a quaintly informal little summer house with a strangely and interestingly designed roof. When the sun is hot upon the terrace, it is cool in the belvedere, for an iron-grilled opening draws a breeze through it. And, seated in the belvedere, you command a view of the entire domain—house and grounds, and realize the power of design, whereby on a small piece of ground, the owner has been given all, essentially, that could really be enjoyed or used if his estate covered a score of broad acres. The house and the garden can be lived in—there is not a brick or a stone wasted on mere vainglorious show. Every bit of the place is designed and made to be enjoyed and utilized—an architectural achievement of the highest order. The illustrations show a house which makes ‘pictures’ from any point of view. The plan has been explored, but another salient point is not to be overlooked. The materials are all honest, home-like things—local “Chestnut Hill’ ledge stone, brick, and cement, with a shingle roof. Not only are the materials significant through their inherent qualities of texture and color, and also excellently appropriate to the character of the house, but they are used with a vigorous colloquialism that brings out their best qualiti The execution, in other words, is as nice an architectural achievement as the ideas and plan-work that created the house. At an earlier point something was said about harmony between architect and client. You would not imagine such a perfect little house emerging from discord, or the mutual recriminations which so often (and so unnecessarily) mar many an otherwise happy building project. But this was not the case. Cause and result become confused in any conjecture as to whether the house is good be- cause the relationship between architect and client was such a happy one, or whether the latter was so because the architect did the house so beautifully. It is very worthy of chronicle, however, that the relationship was a happy one, and that the clients were consistently in sympathy with the architect’s sincere efforts to create a small house, on a small piece of ground, so conscientiously that it would attain, as nearly as possible, the ideal. Such work as produced this house cannot be done unless it is inspired by absolute sincerity on the part of the archi- tect. And the client’s recognition of that sincerity should take the form it took in this instance—the form of confidence. Generally speaking, far too little confidence is reposed in architects, and in others who are earnestly trying to do creative work. The house which forms the subject of this article stands forth as an example of the eminently satisfactory results that come from a certain kind of faith—faith in the architect, and abstention from coercing him and overruling him at every | turn. Houses very seldom turn out unsuccessfully under the hands of an able architect, but numberless houses have turned out unsuccessfully because of a client’s insistence on some fundamentally unwise changes. Let us give our architects and designers every chance to do their best and most inspired work. They have everything to gain and nothing to lose by doing their best. In this admirable little house there is a sociological as well as an architectural aspect to consider. It is, in many ways, a symbol of a new era, of a whole set of new standards, and very excellent ones. It typifies a new and really sincere kind of simplicity quite different from the “cult” of simplicity that duped many of our least simple people a few years ago. It typifies a kind of simplicity that is a fact, not a fad. Nothing about this house, or about its grounds, is in any way pretentious. Materials, design, planning and furniture all reflect a new sincerity, a new freedom from affectation. There is apparent neither the affectation that seeks to convey an impression of grandeur, nor the affectation that seeks to convey an impression of “the simple life,’ consciously ‘‘staged.”’ There are a great many new valuations in effect since the war. A great many people are wanting simple, straight- forward things, free from much of the unusable excess which was once indulged in for show. At one time houses were built more for the edification of the passerby than for the use, comfort or domestic economy of the people who were to live in them. Why, otherwise, was it considered so desirable, even essential as an index of social standing, to have a perfectly useless and | artistically distressing ‘“‘cupola’’ on every mansard-roofed ‘‘mansion?”’ It is very doubtful if people will ever do that particular kind of foolish thing again. Our sense of values, and | perhaps our sense of humor, has improved. So many things have worked against sincere architectural expression in this country—and cne of the worst, from 1830 or thereabouts, until well past 1896, was self-consciousness—from which we are not yet entirely free. Colonial architecture, and early American architecture—especially the former—were straightforward and simple expressions of actual needs, in terms dictated by actual conditions. They did not try to build better houses than they could afford, and, most important of all, they did not build for show. E a. There is less pretense and far more straightforward expression of honest needs and preferences. Country houses in general are ven the larger houses of today are beginning to assume a new kind of good taste, a new architectural and social integrity. taking on more of the aspect of dwellings. But architects cannot bring this about unaided. The tastes and ideals of their clients must ever play a powerful part in the development of architecturally fine and honest country houses. The mental attitude of the client toward life in general, and toward the kind of life which he, in particular, intends to live, must ultimately exert more influence upon domestic archi- tecture than the heritage of all European architecture, and the successive fashions which are called styles, and which clothe but fail to inspire the work of the architect. is little Philadelphia country house, which gives its owners all that they It is because of these things that I think th really require, actually is a symbol not only of the highest order of architectural achievement for its type, but a symbol as well of a new and better America. MATLACK PRICE. ROBERT 1 ». McCRACK EN, ESOQ., 1920 GERMANTOWN PROPERTY Lik R © A D Aellor:. Sey AreR/ 205 5 Sipiper eae a 2h Dhila. Pex. ee: Peer ME, oes T. MC CRACKEN - ie, ae ee - PHILADELPHIA 2» Sfp Afigphmedigee nab OE ack romadpnmetacenangtinnd as ior FOR. Vs 90." MANTOWN iER 'SQ., G AND GARAGE E N, Na x McCR. Ww, HIGH WALL BETWEEN HOUSE T SER ROI ROBERT T. McCRACKEN, ESQ., GERMANTOWN 1920 WIDE BED ON ENTRANCE SIDE 67 ROBERT T. McCRACKEN, ESQ!, GERMANTOWN 1920 ee] SECOND STORY HALLWAY aE a CIN crit yp ‘wow! BOOK CASES IN LIVING ROOM FOUNTAIN IN GRAPE ROOM ROBERT T. McCRACKEN, ESO., GERMANTOWN 1920 SIDEBOARD AND SERVING TABLE IN LIVING ROOM 69 ROBERT T. McCRACKEN, ESQ., GERMANTOWN eer note = ead ee IR . . ai, ao rR. SAY CREEL Lee cagmemmmmmnnn ee tla HOUSE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN ROBERT T. McCRACKEN, ESQ., GERMANTOWN 1920 mg 8 Zi 2 fe iz a be (ay a) 4