OCTOBER 12, 1912





WHEN  PLANNING  A  COUNTRY  HOUSE





The Principles and cTWethods That Lead to the Best Results—Intimate
Counsel For La5mien from Noted cArchitects—Works of c^llbro & Lindeberg





THE making over of some of the best
residential sections of Manhattan
is compelling every year many well-to-
do families to make the choice between
city and country as a place of residence.
Very often a compromise is effected
whereby both city and country living
can be pleasantly combined by means
of a large estate in the country for most
of the year, and an apartment in the
city for the winter. But to state the ob¬
vious fact without giving the complex
reasons, which may vary with the pref¬
erence and circumstances of every fam¬
ily, it is plain to every one that more
country houses are now being built an¬
nually than in any previous decade.





into their houses, and through following
out certain principles which they have
set forth in the introduction to the book
which they have published for private
distribution only. They state that their
appeal has been to families who would
have their home comfortable and con¬
venient inside as well as beautiful out¬
side. This sentiment, they say, implies
the gap which too often exists in this
country between beauty and utility. The
portfolio is proof of what this one firm,
Albro & Lindeberg, of New York, have
done to bridge the gap.

Messrs. Albro & Lindeberg attracted
attention originally by erecting a type .jf
houses with thatched roofs, broken into





fitness to interior convenience is quite
needless and unwarranted.

In some introductory remarks the au¬
thors give interesting advice to laymen,
from which the following excerpts are
taken:

"Build simply, whether a cottage or a
castle. That is one of the fundamental
laws of domestic architecture. This law
applies especially to the architecture of
country houses. A large living room is
obviously more acceptable to the aver¬
age family than the same space cut up
into a 'parlor' and 'reception room,' and
a porte-cochere is generally demanded
for its name rather than its necessitj'.
To avoid pretense, to  ignore shams, to







Bast  Hampton,   L.   I.                                  Albro   &   Lindeberg,   Architects

HOUiSB  OP   DR.   PREDBRIOK   K.   HOLLISTE«.
A well balanced arrangement characteristic of the more formal type
ot house by this firm.





Woodmere, L. I.                                              Albro & Lindeberg, ArchitecU.

RESIDENCE    OP   DR.    B.    H.   PEJRSHING.
One ot  the first  houses  with the    thatched   root   effect,
whicli has   become   very   popular.





Architects have done a great deal to
foster the movement. They have been
designing country places exquisitely at¬
tractive and containing every .conveni¬
ence possible to a city home, with many
more besides. The number who can be
depended upon to impart distinction
with propriety or elegance is increasing.
In the mind of most city people of a
generation ago the summer home was
a seaside villa of ornate design and nar¬
row outlook. Only to a comparatively
few city families did it mean a place ^t
all comparable with the fine houses and
beautiful grounds that have been plan¬
ned in recent years in the country be-
j'ond the usual commuting distances.

A large collection of illustrations of
country houses now before us represents
but five years' work of a single firm of
architects.* This firm have made their
reputation through certain original and
charming   effects   which   they   have   put

•"Domestic Architecture." Published by
Lewis Colt Albro and Harrie T. Lindeberg for
private distribution.





many different planes, of which type the
house at Kingston is an example. Eliza¬
bethan models have obviously furnished
certain elements in this design, but the
values have been so changed and com¬
bined with other motives as to produce
a really new and individual effect. The
house at Woodmere is almost as suc¬
cessful in its way as the one at Kings¬
ton, while the residence at East Hamp¬
ton is an example of another type of
dwelling with which the firm have also
been notably successful — dwellings
which have certain characteristics of
Italian villas, but are different in detail
and   effect.

In the examples given in the book the
authors state that, no matter what the
site or class of dwelling, the attempt has
been made to embody the spirit of do¬
mesticity. They hold the opinion that
this attempt is surely the duty of all
those who are striving to raise the
standard of our native domestic archi¬
tecture, of all who would prove that the
sacrifice   of   exterior   attractiveness   and





prune and cut the superfluous, these are
the rules to follow in designing houses
of real character.

"In America the increased desire for
country life has of late given rise to an
increased demand for modest but well-
designed houses. Now those architects
who have the ability and the desire lo
put conscientious study into the plan¬
ning of small houses have long realized
that the work involves even greater in¬
genuity than the work of building larger
structures. The reward, on the other
hand, is much less. It is, therefore,
easy to see why so much of the work
lias been done by untrained men, whose
lamentable monuments of bad taste are
scattered   throughout   our   countrysides.

"To treat the problem more specific¬
ally, we had best to consider it under
two distinct headings: The small house
or cottage, and the large residence or
manor house. We shall find that al¬
though a number of practical consider¬
ations vary widely with the two, yet the
fundamental laws are the same for both.