The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-19

Josephine Wright
 CE>aPruan
( Most Successful ! MorNnn 1N
 Cor,,~ercial Life | iN AMerica


 She has a stenographer and a maid. They are the only persons or the gender
 feminine about her. She has big work
 room in which her draughtsmen-gener | ally four or five-are busy on her plans.
 As an outgrowth of her regular profess | sion she has an outpost or depend- | ency for interior decoration, where all designs for furnishings, and even land- scape layouts, are made in cases where | a client wishes her to take entire charge
 of the dwelling. inside and out. She specializes now In building homes, beautiful homes, homes for the very rich | or the very artistic. Her fad is the Eng | fish country house. She says the Amer | ican country house cannot compare with | the English in beauty, comfort and ar- tistic setting. She invariably builds her | houses around the owner.' She reads | the character of the man or woman who comes to give an order. She Is a clever judge of human nature She knows the | likes and dislikes of a person for color, | for space, for style, without questioning | that person directly as to his or her preferences. She "personalizes'' each sin- | gle room in a house, after she studies this person or that person who is to
 occupy that room.
 l Miss Chapman delights in this sort of work. It brings her a fine income, but not so much as the more commercial line would bring. If a client insists, she will | build a structure according to the Span | ish, the Flemish or the Italian style. | But never with the pleasure that comes | to her in following her own ideas in the | English style. She believes no other national style is so well suited to an Anglo-Saxon people as their ancestral 1 type.
 | Miss Chapman bosses everything she does. It has not been all smooth sailing | with her.. She has had to jump hurdles.
 overcome obstacles and fight her own
 disappointments and complications enough | to try the patience of a saint. That is the portion af an architect. She Is bit of a philosopher. She save the architect | Is a human football, and she has had enough experience in the football line to | tackle her difficulties gracefully now. | Some of the gentlemen who have known her to tackle a complicated situation have
 reason to remember her grip when they | left the field.
 | gang of men engaged In the brick | laying business thought they had her | tied up in knots once in Yonkers. They presented an ultimatum. A distracted contractor rushed to her with 1t. The masons were going to strike then and there unless the things they demanded were granted instantly. If the brick
 
 support part of the structure would not be built There was no strike There
 were no brick pillars built. Miss Chap man sat down upon a scaffolding and | thought for a moment. Then she
 changed the Assign and put In iron posts | instead.
 | She had another labor experience in
 Boston. There was another piece of wark under way that it was necessary | to complete in given time. The men | threatened to quit work on account of | the heat. Miss Chapman went out on the | work herself walked along the steel framework with her blueprints in her hand, stayed there in the sun and told the men that if she could stand 1t there was no good reason they could not They did not dare have it said that woman. had more grit than they-so they went right along, mopping their honest brows
 and completed their work.
 There is probably no architect fin New York who has just such an establishment today as Miss Chapman Her studio is in Fortieth street, near Fifth avenue over looking the wonderful library that Is one of the most artistic creations with
 which New York is graced. This room.
 is poem in itself. Almost every piece
 of furniture bears the stamp of exquis- ite workmanship. There are carven chests, cathedral chairs, odd little tables
 that whisper of secret drawers and hid
 den springs, and deep divan with leath- l ern cushions. A great north light stained | in orange, throws soft illumina- | ton over the apartment, and little 1 peaked window overlooks the avenue and
 the library. Everything has a used look.
 Nothing is new but the piano and the
 photograph, and even they looked chas- i tened in the shadows that are every | where. What upholstery there is is old
 blue, and tapestries and bits of faded l brocade are on the walls. while the floor