The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-08-16
HOMES OUT OF THE ORDINARY
SNUG QUARTERS FOR ONE IN
A FORMER STABLE.

Brick Cottages of an Uncommon Type.
The oonventionality Of New Workers In
the matter Of homes was recently discussed
In TIE Sun by q real estate agent. who
told Of some houses In attractive quarters
that had been neglected because they were
not just the kind that average tenants seek
on the northward march toward The Bronx.
But though the demand for the unusual in
homes may not be great in New York 1t
does exist. It was expressed last week by
an artist who had been looking through
some studio apartments hat have just
been put up OF the East Side.
-These places are very attractive he
said. "and are admirably suited to my pur-
poses. But 1t would make me unhappy
all the time to feel that there were twenty
other studios IN this house just like mine,
with twenty tenants living In rooms just
as I do. I'd rather be somewhere else and
have individuality"
That quality was certainly attained by
the man who lives in a little stable OF Fifth
avenue In one Of the Sixties. The building.
which is about twenty feet broad. stands
In the rear Of Q house occupying the Fifth
avenue corner. A yard perhaps ten feet
broad and paved in brownstone separates
the stable from the house.
For moro than a decade the stable has
not bean used for the purpose for which
It was intended. It IL entirely too small
to accommodate the horses, not to mon
ton the automobiles required by the family
that lives In the house. and oven the unusual
o~onvenience Of being % near the house did
not serve TO make 1t available.
On the frst floor there has been CON-
structsd Q small entrance hall. Back OF
that are three living rooms used by the
servants of the house and for storerooms.
The second floor IL occupied entirely by
q relative Of tho family. who decided that
he could find no more comfortable lodging
anywhere else.
From the entrance hall. which used to
DO the front part Of the first hoor Of the
stable, q narrow flight Of stairs runs up
10 his door. There IL also the separate
entrance and staircase intended for the
use Of the goodman. % 1t In not necessary
for him to use the main door unless he
specially desires to.
A suite Of -four delightfully."- light and
airy rooms occupies the second story floor.
There are q sitting room. . library. . bath
and two sleeping rooms. There are win
dows overlooking the yard between the
stable and tho house. giving tho rooms
light ON two sides. Ths windows are
always carefully draped with sash curtains
and the whole aspect Of this stable apart
ment shows scrupulous care.
Stables have been converted Of late
into business buildings Of every kind. A
block Of stables in West Thirtylninth street
houses different kinds Of commercial enter
~Saos That vopv yHOvn n rnAat pNartof ~
q silversmith's and the ahop Of Q dealer
In old and rare books.
A decorator in one OF the streets In the
Twenties has made out of his stable o very
artistic structure which looks a. II It might
purposes. But theso places have been
less eagerly seized upon BY tho homo
but hers.
Yet down on the East Side two old stables
have been turned into charming homes.
Tho upper story Of oourse offers no prob
lens to the tenant. It u In nearly every
CASE already divided into living rooms.
AL It requires j. decoration.
It II the problem Of converting the square
room downstafrs into salon, dining room
and kitchen that causes tho chief trouble.
In these particular houses made from
stables q bay window has been built out in
front Of the main door. That serves to
make an entrance hall which relieves the
awkwardness Of stepping into the living
room directly. just at present both Of
these entrance halls that project from the
facade Of the building are covered with
Reraniums that mako them bowers OF
scarlet blooms.
BY making some additions the tenants
who altered these stables have managed
to get on the ground floor the rooms they
need. There has been the necessity Of
making a small addition at the back to
make more space for the kitchen.
In one case the original stone floor Of the
stable has been retained and the front
part Of the ground floor room has been
and plants in it. and this forms a species Of
reception hall unusual in New York.
As the stables intended for the use Of
private families almost always occupy
lots not less than twenty-five feet across.
these houses are wide and the rooms may
be made in symmetrical proportions. The
downstairs rooms are lighted from the
sides as we'll as the front. Is It happens that
the two stables stand next to ordinary
dwelling houses and run further back in
the lot.
or course there are discomforts to be
found in such homes. however artistic and out
Of the usual they may be. They are rarely
more than two stories high. and that makes
the second floor room warm in summer.
Then the pedestrians passing In front OF
the house may walk II they want to very
close to the front windows.
But there are few artistic houses that
do not possess some material drawbacks
in the way Of comfort. Comfort is not the
important quality in an out Of the ordinary
abode.
Several years ago a woman sculptor de-
oided that she must have an atelier large
enough for both her and her husband. who
Is also OF the same profession. She finally
heard Of a church that was for sale. and It
seemed to have greater artistic POSSIBLE
ties than any thing else she could discover.
So abe bought the red brick church and the
architects got busy.
The result Of their work was a symmetrical
building that suggests very slightly its
former use and provides one Of the largest
studios In the city living rooms for a family