The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-22
Growing Use of Outdoor
Rooms Has Produced
Artistic and Com
Portable Variations of
Porches

ITO enjoy on a sheltered veranda
the close companionship of ma
i ture Is one of the most init
mate and precious experiences
known TO man and one in which we as
q class are daily growing more
familiar. Fortunately we have been
forced to seek this relationship and as
a result have evolved a feature of
domestic architecture OF which we
may well be proud. For. while our
love for the garden has been learned
from our English cousins the outdoor
living room, as such, is distinctly
American.
1t has come to be quite the most
important feature of the country or
the suburban home. and the idea back
IN the brain of most home folk is TO
first design the veranda and then build
the house around it. Not only have
Architects but the members of every
profession concerned with domestic
construction allied themselves to
develop new ideas and designs for
the arrangement as well as the fur
nishing OF these outdoor living rooms,
In most instances with charming re-
suits.
In the old Southern plantation
homes there has always been the fine,
broad gallery for the afternoon siesta
when the sun becomes u~nbearable In
It's tropical heat. In the North we
have long had the small contracted
porches as familiar adjuncts to every
Colonial house. But the wide veranda,
fitted with all the indoor comforts we
have come to believe necessary to
our material well being, is of such
recent origin that its final evolution
has by no means been reached. In
deed, each season sees new ideas eX-
pressed and more novel suggestions
worked out, the universal aim being
In each instance to add still more
Joy TO outdoor life.
Americans can't altogether be blamed
Tor shortcomings in this respect in the
past, for We have had to contend with
pioneer conditions which an older civ
ilzation has long since forgotten. In
our task Of building up a new country
W. have had no time to become famil.
800 wa AAaAult VI al nv iiiotASt VI oN
least we have until now supposed il
an impossibility. We have lived and
worked and played within the compass
OF o walls until our health and
spirits and the very rock on which
our well being is founded cried aloud
| Tor a change. AS a result there is
a tremendous increase in our health
and strength and most Of all in the
Joy Of living.
When II comes to designing the out
dor living rom a wide latitude Is al
lowed. Indeed, it is limited only by
the location of the veranda and the
"hlms or wishes OF the owner. For "A
house Of the period, either in the sub
urb or the broad country, there is
nothing prcttler or more charming
than a veranda upheld by finely mod
eIed, we'll proportional pillars OF the
Colonial type, and when used in con-
junction with cut stone in a house of
modern design il forms a decorative
feature that is as artistic as it is de-
ligh,fu,.
Now and then the cut stone pillars,
massive or small in compass accord
Ing u the size and style of the house,
are introduced. Fine o work, wher-
ever used, is always effective and in
teresting and If massive lends a dig
: MY that nothing else supplies, Where
II Is desired that n veranda shall be
more sheltered il is enclosed like "A
room, the side walls being pierced by
huRe arches that extend from floor to
ce.!hg When treated inside with a
covering of pretty green stained lat
tc" work the effect il stunning The
use IF lattice work for the walls OF
y f.AcS, sun rooms, retaining walls
ana dividing walls introduces another
element into the decoration Of the
mouse and forms one OF the most eff
r'''tN" backgrounds for furnishings Of
ary sort.
such a wonder room was intro
dLc.I INTO the north elevation of a
lovely Long Island home, and its
ehtrh ~as 50 appealing hat every
o." who saw II wen home ard made
one .k" II. II was one Of the semi
enclosed vorandas with high arches
through which wonderful vistas ~
l''.'' and fen, ancient forest trees
oha landscape Planting, gay beds Of
Ao%cls and Italian marbles. were Wis