The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-10-26
AUTHOR BUILDS HIS OWN HOUSE,
les T. Lummis Varies His Literary Work in Calf ornia

rooms Of his house finished and the family
! moved i-to them. while the author eStao-
lished his library and literary workroom In
= unique APARTMENT On the Upper floor
Then the work on another and l1rger part
81 the edihc was begun. aud Il has con-
I tinlei until now.
All together Mr.. LIgmmis has been hard ae
work upon his house SONS thirty months,
and Esoa the broad lines he has laid out
1rr himself he Viii be "A houSehuiider for at
] least six years more. He has spent weeks
2 10 patiently and artisticaliy cdrving Oaken
p.arSs frr the doors. Alone he fashioned
ard put in place the great round beams In
the raftercd ceiling of the main apartments.
Thr authors plans call for Il stone house.
built after the architecture Of The Spanish
homes; that IS. enc story. with tile roof.
built about an open square known as ths
patio The only upper rooms are two used
for library and den. A SPRAYING sycamore.
I axes old. has been carefully preserved. AMI
when the house Is done this tree will be
ia the middle OF the patio. About the walls
n thehouse VIII be generouS cloisters. with
Roman .archss.
Ny. Lummls was working upon a stone
wall sor his cellar when i visitor called ths
other day. When he had reached a point ii
the work where he could leave II TO his
indian boy helper. he laid aside the trowel
aud lei hts visitor through the part OF thu
house already Occupied.
Il * a marvellous structure. rich in his
torie end literary treasures and extraor-
binary IN artistic arrangement. Everything
WITHIN the nouse has a story or some his
tcr-c associatiOn. There are ceiling beams.
s-Gr7n-hueI with age. from the ancient
I'ranciEcan missions in California. a bell
which hung IN G little church in New Mex
Eco. a vast aUmber OF relics IAN SO artls-
@c1iy arTangedD OF the Inca period in Peru.
. fIeze OF ancient ruhrics from centuries
Old from Spain and a case fun oc
deicatel% embroidered fabrics from thS
trruBs OF ancient American Chiefs
At one enf ~ the largest room f. a bench.
which was iaboriously carved by n Francis
f1n monk in T79 and was used for longer
than a century as a ceremonial seat by .hs
Pueblo Governor Then there are Navajo
blankets-not the coarse. heavy sort people
buy nowadays. but sof; and exquiStely COL
o-Fd. yet firm as sheet iron They have bur
few cOunterTarts anywhere. Hanging from
the raftcred ceiling are hand-wrought
shelves uuon which are tlnstas Cwater jarzl
OF primitive decoration from n half dozen
ancient ,puebios in the Southwest and Mexi-
co. while smaller bits Of the MASTERPIECES OF
the earliest American pOtters are here and
there about the house.
One might spend days there and find some
thing OF fresh interest every hour All these
things AR. Lgnmts has been gathering to-
gether during his explorations and travels
for twenty years.
The floors OF the house are OF smooth. res
dish-brown cement The 6repiaces are odd
little affairs In the corner OF each room.
constructed after Mexican patterns. The
windows are unique. About the large pane
in the larger windows. Mr.. Lurmis has ret
In n score or more transparencies. made OF
photographic negatives OF scenes which he
has explored and photographed In strange
lands and among primitive peoples.
LOCKS and hinges on the main doors have
histories For instance, the great heavy
'front.' doors hang on enormous iron hinces
taken from a prehistoric edlnce In Tnhna-
nueo. IN Bolivia The ponderous lock came
from q 9~O-year-old mansion IN Chile Door
knobs CT a score OF unusual shapes Tpicked
up among Aztec. Mexican. Incan and Span
ish monasteries. temples and palaces) have
been deftiy fitted to Mr.. LummLss hand
made and wonderful doors. Carvings in
stone and wood from all the ancient scots
In North and South America have been
set In the solid walls. and here and there
above the hreplaces are specimens OF some
OF the earliest art in oil painting In Amerf-
ca. A.,
When at last the stone building Is done.
the author-mechanic viii have months Of
labor before him in making and burning
tiles for the roof OF his house Then. still
yearning for more things to keep his
muscles up. he viii set himself about the
making OF all the home furniture, in which
he has quite as many original ideas a. be
has in ho1sebuilding. -fSs,