New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-20
This Happy Colony oil
Twenty Families May
Help Crowded Nam.
kind Solve Prob
lem Of Living.


buildings in other parts of Brooklyn and on
Manhattan Island do not heed the call Of h.
apartment-weary, of those countless ho.dss
who are tired Of the insolence of West Indian
elevator boys and the papier mache franz.
work of the modern dwelling house, which per-
mits you, at SOS month and up, to hear your
neighbors think, and, by making few altera-
tons of an inexpensive character, turn those
buildings into studio apartments.
There is a long waiting list at the place ia
the Bridge gang district in Brooklyn.
The owner and his wife, who used to live in
one of the aristocratic parts OF Brooklyn. have
moved into what was formerly loft but is
now beautifully peaceful home over that ma
chine shop. Writers and artists have Jumped
at chance to live over the machine shop at
from S23 to $40 month.
Why should SUCH places be devoted excu-
sively to the happiness and well-being OF art
lists and writers?
There is absolutely no reason except that
they are more inclined, perhaps. to dig such
been passed by because of the uptown move
ment in business, or for any other cause are
not being utilized for the purposes originally
intended, would take tip from Brooklyn they
would make good return on their investment
and thousands of persons who are now dissat-
ished would rush for chance to get away
from the cramped conditions and noisy neigh
bors that take most of the JOY out OF Their
lives at present.
One gets the impression when visiting in the
home Of the artist that the original intention
of the builder was to erect a fort. The walls
are thick; what goes on in one apartment
not heard by those who live in the one next
door. Machinery is not made in the machine
shop-it is merely assembled. Although the
building is only two minutes walk from The
bridge, the rumble OF traffic is subdued into
soporifc song.
CONCERNING DEAD MEN AND HOMES
OF THE PAST.
Martha Bensley Bruere has summed it 10
well. Once upon time, she says, there was
a man whose home was his castle; it provided
the greatest luxury of his day--safety.
That man is dead.
Then there came man whose home was
factory in which he and his wife and his chill
dren and his man servants and his maid ser-
ants did the manufacturing of the world. He
consumed what he needed and bartsred the
rest
That man is dead, too.
Later appeared a man whose home was
merely unit cell in the great battery that
drives civilization forward.
That man, socially speaking, is just born.
We are not concerned with those dead men
she adds, except to remove from our pathway
such useless and pernicious legacies as they
nave inconsiderately left US.
This is an era in which persons are trying
to decide how the rest of us shall live with tn
maximum amount of comfort and culture io
the minimum expense.
Listen TO the man who has lately built, ana
written about, what he calls a servantless COZ
tage:
happy housewife, so there must be no stairs
iHcrc are tnoSe VINO Will OBJECT 10 SoA"'
away the stairs.
One critic who feels sure that he spesn
for large minority, says il is the Aatness OF sne
fiat, its very condensed and restricted cozines''
It's very lack of upstairs and downstairs whsa
prevents it from ever attaining completely ne
atmosphere OF home.
The feet which cross the floor above rp
head are those of another family; the soanp
which reach me from below are the noses o
strangers; the life horizontal of the fat sefve
its convenient use, but only emphasizes the W
dependence and self-respect OF the life vefusS.
master of the floor above, master likewise
the basement. feel more human, less Nv
some ingeniously constructed doll, when ! 9"
take my candle in hand and go upstairs :
sleep. l want no bungalow There is soa.
thing fine in going to sleep even one h'ss
nearer the stars-and away from the dn'S
ROOM"
Which is precisely what our friend the =
ist does over the machine shop in BrookuH