Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-05-31
4 REMODELED CITY DWELLING.

The Art Amateur. :.
The problem Of rcmodeling the ordi.
nary city house for added comfort and
artistic effect is one that has engaged
many Of our architects. None has pro.
rided more original and satisfactory
than that which We illustrate
with the permission Of the owner, Mrs
William Glyn, formerly Mrs. Walter
Langdon Kane is due, with the-deo-
OF utions which We also illustrate, to
Harlan Victor Cause, with whom has
been associated Peyton Van Rensselaer,.
The house was originally the usual
high stoop, brown stone dwelling, a
glance at the plans will show that Mr..
Cause has suppressed the stoop and the
narrow entrance hall on the first floor
to which it led. He has substituted a
square entrance hall in tho basement
from which the visitor mounts to
beautifully rioportioned elliptical ante
room or UPPER hall on the first iioor.
The dining room to thu rear, and the
drawing room in fiont, both of-the full
width of the house, open oil this ante
loom which accommodates the winding
stairs at one of its rounded ENDS. OPP
posite, framed BY relliptical arches on
a level with those OF the doors, are
three mural paintings by Mr.. Cause,
representing Emerson's well-known.
lines called Days" In this poem
Emerson has presented all Of history,
both personal and national-and Mr..
Cause felt this when he divided his
decoration into three panels of past,
present and future.
The panel of the future 1.-THE first to
the right 10 full OF tho story of the I'M
known and makes only the broad SUBJ
division of sorrow and JOY. In the
panel of the present Tor the ono in the
middlel the Days have laid aside their
shrouding drapeIy Of mystery and are
offering their gifts, the opportunities
of the present; while in the panel of
the past only memory holds whether of
sadness, Joy or pain. Together, they
symbolic every phase OF life-actiye,
speculative, contemIlative.
The color scheme OF the rooms is very
delicate aud harmonious. In 10th the
upper and the lower halls, tones of moss
green predominant, relieved by acces-
sories in beaten copper and brass. In
the elliptical upper hall, seonces of ham,
mered copper are placed between the
arches. The newell post is to end in q
fieuron of hammered iron and copper,
the petals of which will enclose an cleo.
trio lamp. The dining room was de.
signed to he in rose,red and Hungarian
oak, the walls to be covered with q
honeysuckle design in bas.relief. The
drawingsroom, which was designed IL
be in the style of Marie Antoinette'
apartments in the Petit Tiianon, is t.
show panels in pale grey with foliatec
rinceaux and baguettes i'm delicat,
tints ornamenting the larger panels
and diaper Of conventionalized wilC
roses the smaller.
Though much of the refined finish
absolutely necessary in carrying out ,
design of this nature, has not yet beef
| added, it is already possible to see tina
we have here charmingly simple anS
artisticsinterior.
Mr.. Cause is a pupil of the Beau,
Arts and has also enjoyed tho great op
| portunity of studying decoration an,
mural painting under the criticism O
M. Puvis de Chavannes. A portraites
of much distinction as may be seen il
his portrait Of Mrs Thomas 5. Dolal
of Philadelphia. soon 10 be on exhibi
tion at the Natural;arts Club, yet it i
as decorator and architect that b
particularly excels. Reing of the schoo
Of Puyis de Chayennes, he believes tina
mural painting is the writing of ideal
and thoughts ON the wall by means d
decorative pictures. His creed ais
teaches that unity of thought in for1
and color is paramount among tn
essentials for harmony of decoration an
architecture. In consequence he nevo
loses the sense of the wall surface an
nothing is more abhorrent to artist
feeling than the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. con
sciously or unconsoiously-to trick tb
eye into the belief of the realistic
This charlatanism, to quote froI
Mr.. Cause, land q lamentable lack {
thought, as exhibited In too many {
our modern decorations, are the wea
spots In American art.n
His work as mural FAINTER
marked by great reserve and delicacy {
both line and color, and as be is in
position to refuse commissions thu
come coupled with repugnant oond
tions, we may expect of him design
such as cannot be produced, under til
usual commercial system OF a divisio
Of labor among tradesmen, artists an
architects. each doing his worst |
spoil the others work.