Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-08-22


ing rise of the New York apartment,
house Is about TO reach It's zenith I'm
the creation OF an immense co-opcra-
i've country home on tho shores OF
Long Island. The idea for this .upcr-
apartment originated with two we'll
known American artists. Walter Rus
sell and Penrhyn Stanlaws SO far. /.
has its existence only In drawings and
plans. but inasmuch as "a number OF
New York's millionaires arc back OF
the project. aud ouch artists az Fred
eric McMonnies. Paul Bartlett. Jules
Gucrin and others, as we'll as Russell
and Stanlaws. have perfected the plans
with the architects. there is no era :
son to doubt that |; viii In due course
arise to amaze the world.
The development OF tho New York
apartment Is the most striking phc-
nomenon OF modern urban living. and
the one fraueht with the greatest pos
sihilittes. Not many years ago the
only apartment houses uere ,ene-
mcnts, ana all Of the rich and wcll-to-
do lived in houses OF their own. But
the individual dwelling was forced out
by tho sneer Limitation o. space. First
the old brownstonc fronts were dc F..
serted and changed into lodging and
boardinG-houscs: then more expensive
residences shared their fate. y house
that rented for 5000 few years ago
may be had now for $500. Only the
very wealthy can AFFORD separate
houses in desirable parts of the town,
while the demand for apartments by
the moderately wealthy has brought
Into being tcncments OF the mos. luxu-
rious md elaborate sort. Twenty i've
thousand dollars = year is pain for
the occupancy Of more than one New
York apartment.
Hut this observation-disclosures vogue Is
not merely space saving cxpedicnt.
The significant thing is that the apart
mcnt house is an experiment In CO.
operative living The occupants com
bine. in effect. TO build them q house,
and heat 1t. and provide themselves
with other Convcnicnccs. This CO.
operative idea has already been given
definition by the erection OF series
OF apartment houses in which each
tenant actually buys one-half of the
space he occupies while paying rent
on the other half. This operative
idea was first pu, into practice by a
group OF artists. IN fact. tho rise OF
the apartment houes and the artist
have been Ia Il great extent cotcnpo-
raneous when the apartment was m
IFS infancy. The artists were mostly
confined TO Washington Square, Nc
Doucau Alley and Greenwich Alley
where they eiicd prccarious exist
cncc out of tho few magazines ana
art patrons OF that day. But the rise
OF the magazine brought wealth 10
tine story writer and illustrator, whilc
portrait painters, sculptors ana archi-
tccts began to enjoy new vogue
Forthwith they moved uptown.
Artists Natural Homo.
Bnt the artist wants few possessions
He does not wish TO worry ahoul ser
wants. and garages and furnaces ana
rl,.l rf l
habitat lie was first among the sue
rcssful TO make the apartment ms
home. and first 10 devise ana inhahi'
the cooperative apartment IL was nv
who designed the duplex S'u"io
apartmcnt" which Is now all the go
i'm New York, even among people who
never study anything. 1t is an apart
mcnt of which almost the whole hrst
floor Is one great room, with Nanited
ceiling and n gallery all the way
around. upon which the bedrooms open.
Thus the ancient wheeZc about the
sman-siZe apartment rooms has lost
its force \ famous dancing tcachcr
holds classes OF thirty pupils in her
duplex apartment without croWdihS'
and one artist. walter Russell, mas Il
studio in his apartment home that Is
sixty feet long. and has number OF
windows ten feet wide opening upon
Central Park.
TO revert 10 the Long Island wonder,
Il Is 10 take these ideas of plenty ~;
room and cooperation for convenience
and carry them TO their logical limit.
by having every occupant the owner
Of his own share Of the building, and
by erccting i, out I'm the country. in
cidcntally this most ambitious of all
apartments is to be called New Yer
saillcs," not because it will he copy
Of its French counterpart. because no
work of art can he copied. but be-
cause the name conveys something OF
the intention OF the builders. II is
Ia be an American work of art. with
the spirit of american art back Of il.
The designs, which have already been
painted by Jules Gucrin. show an i'm :
mensc palace of marble climbing by
a series Of terraces set with orna
mental pools and formal gardens and
colonnadeS and fountains, from the
sea shore 10 the top OF the gently
sloping hill. II is proclaimed that
this is to he the true home OF all that
Is great in American sculpture. Mac
Monies will here restore tho famous
fountain which he designed for the
Chicago exposition, aud which has
been torn down because there was ma
room for il. SO will Athens "Toun
tain Of the Earth he preserved
along with hartlctts equestrian mas
;crpiocc.
No Great Architecture Here.
|. The United States lacks great archi-
lecture It's works OF decorative ar,
have heretofore been. housed mostly In