Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-09-17
FARM BUiluNCS
 MADE BEAUTIFUL
| New and Picturesque Type
 Is Appearing.
RURAL SCENES IN NORMANDY
Decorative Possibilities of Country Homes and the Adjunets About Them Havs Come to Be Realized Only Within the Past Few Years.

Homes and the Adjunets About Then,
 Havs Come to Be Realized Only
 Within the Past Few Years.
 It is only during the past few years that the architects and owners of coun- try homes have become aware of the decorative possibilities of farm and service buildings of every kind.
 Structures devoted to the many util. itarian purposes upon farms and coun- try estntes have long teen regarded as evils which must be tolerated because they are necessary. This theory has led to their being hidden as far as possible when 1t has not been prac- ticable to banish them wholly to some distant part of the estate where their uginess could not interfere with the smart appearance which 1t was de- sired that the estate should assume. The mistake has consisted in not real, izing or approaching the opportunities which the buildings themselves have held out.
 Any one who has motorel through Normandy or through many of the rural sections of northern France will no doubt remember the picturesque ness of the old farmhouses and their surrounding buildings. which are much larger than the houses themselves.
 The highways in many places are borlered with rows of tall poplars, and the old stone farmhouses are sur rounded by barns. low, rambling structures. also of stone, with pic turesque sweeping roofs. The stone of their wills and the coverings of the roofs have weathered tOa gray which Is thrown into relief against the green cry of surrounding fields or pastures.
 Each group seems to express cer- thin sense of the fitness Of things. or It may be that the habit of giving ar- tistic expression to the most prosaic of utilities. which Is inherent in the French character, has produced what seems to Americans the most pictur- esdue of settings. for very different are the gaunt and bare buildings. which generally serve the same pur- poses upon farms in America.
 \ Or, to take an example nearer home. there are old barns in certain dis. tricts settled by those sturdy colo nists. the early Pennsylvania Dutch barns built of stone and possessed Of q rugged Quaintness which is particu- larIy interesting. These and many similar object lessons have led recently to the adoption of wholly changed attitude upon the part of Americans toward sucf, buildings as stables. COW barns, garages or buildings called by any other name which maybe neces- sary upon farm or country estate.
 The very size and bulk of these buildings often make possible a treat ment which Is bold and striking. for they may be built after architectural types which depend for their effect not SO much upon minute and ex- quisitely designed detail as upon the effective use of great wall surfaces. frequently without windows and top ped by broad and sweeping roofs un. broken by formers.
 The skillful placing of these has much to do with the effect which they pro- duce. The scattering of buildings about an estate could never result in any thing but an appearance of disorder. confusion and lack of unity. always to be avoided if beauty is to be regarded.
 American country homes are no longer being built with back yards" and rear premises" They have been discarded along with the wax flowers and crocheted tidies which were once considered ornaments to the home. The country house now presents an ''entrance front to the road or the driveway. and garden front" faces an opposite direction. with the service entrance and drying yard suitably screened. In like manner the other de- tails of residence and farm buildings which were once undignified and often unsightly are clothed with a certain grace and dignity of their own, so that now there is no part of the estate which may not be considered as habit. ually arrayed in correct attire,