The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-15
ola New England Homes and Eurni-
ture.

In the happy art OF making useful
things pleasant TO the eye our Colonial
ancestors were efficient. English in
model so far as they had a model. their
houses and house fittings reflected nee
essariy the needs and the conditions OF
life in the new country. Grandiose Il
could not have been, for that il not
the temper of pioneers with cultured
immediate anteCedents Their homes
and furniture had wearing quality. a
simplicity of line often severe but not
harsh. fulness of effect sprung from
economical means. and a union of some
grace and more dignity scarcely to
have been expected where strength and
durability were the prime considera-
tons. An honest art. utterly moral;
certainly not prggsh. In describing
the Historic Homes Of Ne,C England
and their furniture little, Brown)
MARY II. NoRTHENp does not neglect
the human history OF these old houses.
Her 100 photographs Of buildings and
interiors are exceptionally fine.
\ dead house IS a sad sight. and IN
the older East there are all too many
Of such mournful monuments. May
fine old Southern mansions decaycd
after the civil war, and In the Middle
Colonies" ther" are probably fewer sur
vivals tha in Nev' England OF the best
example. of pre- Re volutionary building.
New Ell gland. espe, tally in the seaport
towns. vas rich in fine homes express
Ing the m charles and decorative art OF
the time and the country.
The earlier steps In house building
and home making ahundantly re-
corded. are not preserved in the oriGi-
nal model. The last old log house with
matched roof rotted away long ago.
Examples Of the second period how
ever, st!ll endure, the frame structure
with two stories at the front and one
at the rear under a single long slop-
ing roof. They were sturdlly built OF
selected wood, commonly white oak.
Miss Northend etymologizes: The outer
walls were daubed with clay. with
"clayboards" over Il. the clayboards
became "clabbords" clapboards $50
in w. r. weeden's History of New
England" 1ssOl Professional archi-
tectural fancies did not prevail, for
there were no professional architects
Homes were built on the owners plans
by rule Of thumb with advancing
prosperity house building and furnish
ing became increasingly ambitious.
The eighteenth century Derby house
IN Salem, Mass. three story frame,
cost $4,000 to build II contained
much OF Samuel McIntirc's finest
woodwork. used again in 1902, when
the house was torn down. in the Oliver
house, where It is still preserved. The
Sprague. Cabot and Pickering houses in
Salem are fine Colonial types The
House Of the Seven Gables was built
in 1863. The Hathaway house. near
by, now used in Settlement" work,
dates from 1888
The Lindens," Dauvcrs, Mass, built
in 1870 of wood painted to represent
stone, was the official home Of Gen.
CGOvernor) Gage during his solourn in
the Colonies 1t was built by Robert
Hooper. a wealthy merchant of Mar
blehead suspected Tory. and later be-
came the property of Francis Peabody
of Salem, II Is notable to the American
antiquarian particularly for It's fine
woodwork, some of Mclntires hest hay
Ing gone into its mahogany halustrades
nd cNquisitcly carved mantels Il has
rare treasures of old English and Colo
NAL furniture. Tho Lee house Mt Mar
hlehcad, built by Col, jeremiah Lee in
l7GS, was famous for it's hospitality.
Not least among its distinguished visit
ors was Lafayette, in 1924, An inside
dormer window in the attic Of this
house points to an English designer. as
that device was then used in the mother
country for ventilation; hut the trad-
ton that the lumber was brought over
sea is apparently upset by the fact that
some of the boards, Of pumpkin pine"
are four feet wide, and none hut native
trees could have produced a plank Of