New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-06-22
Colonial Doorways
Scattered Through This Terri
tory Are Portals Used
for Modern Homes.


building erected prior TO lI1o'
D.. &C America was still divided
80 thirteen colonies-the colonies
-, settled by different nations, who
III brought to this country certain
.L.roc+eristics Of the architecture OF
=. mother country-a number OF
e.o,-,t. and distinct styles existed IN
America during the Colonial days
landings around New York were
o-..tlv influenced by Holland, al
.Lo-sL Dutch rule in New York had
rc.scd long before the ending OF the
Colonial period.
New England and some of the sea-
hoard state, had been settled by the
r,c,isb but so different were the
.,,.tbods and habits of life in the
North and in the South that the col
o,;s,s might almost have come from
two wholly different countries, and
these conditions were expressed, 20
some extent. in the architecture OF the
time The style Of building in Penn
sv,vania was a mixture Of English
with Pennsylvania Dutch" and in the
Southern states the styles were those
Of Spain and France.
Although there are several Colo
NAL" styles, unless the term is quail
fed as Dutch Colonial or Spanish
Colonial" it is applied to the adapta-
tons Of the English style used by the
colonists. The architecture then in
favor in England was Georgian" or
Queen Anne" brought to England
from Italy.
EnoIish Doors Often Copied.
The homes of the better classes OF
colonists in New England and the
Southland during the later period
also in New York-show a very care
full copying Of English models. In
the South such homes were usually
Of brick. but further North, and par
ticularly in New England, they were
quite as often built of wood.
All, however, were usually of good
proportions and designed with GER
tain severity of style which centred
decoration chiefly at the points OF
support, such as the cornice and the
entrance doorway. The cornices were
massive rather than decorative, the
chimneys usually severely plain, and
only slight decoration, if any, was
used above the windows. But, how
ever plain and unadorned the rest Of
the building might be. the entrance
always showed touch of decoration
and sometimes the ornamentation was
surprisingly elaborate.
Very few of the early American
public buildings were designed and
built by men who were trained archi-
tects. The beauty of the Capitol at
Washington and the New York City
Hall and few other structures erect
ed either during the Colonial period
or during the early years of American
settlement, bear witness to the skill
of the men who planned them.
Most of the residence architecture,
however, was left to amateurs, and in
Ahose early days, when there were
but few architects. carpenters often
combined with the knowledge Of their
trade a surprising proficiency in the
basic principles of architectural d.
sign and its practical application TO
the problems in hand.
Ships Carpenters Did Carving.
Most of the cities and towns OF
those early days were seaports and
possessed of the wealth derived from
commerce. They were also the homes
of men who were, or had been ship
ioiners or carpenters and who were
accustomed to carving the elaborate
and often gorgeously bedecked figure
heads and other parts OF vessels then
in favor. It was quite natural, there
fore. that these men should apply to
carving for domestic purposes the
skill acquired in working upon ships,
and when such carefully trained
craftsmen were set t. working out
faithful copies of the designing of
such master craftsmen as Wren,
Grinling, Gibbon and the Adam broth
ers, the designers then most popular
in England, it is hardly surprising that
brilliantly successful results were
achieved. These craftsmen often be-
came so irnbued with the spirit of the
designer tina: they sometimes departed
rom the strict letter of design, but
very rarely did they transgress the
principles which govern the laws of
beauty and proportion.
Of course, much of the work Of
these early American artisans has
wholly disappeared, for time, FIRE and
modern progress are powerful enemies
Of oldtime beauty, and one can hard.
ly guess at the quantity Of old wooj-
a