The Topeka state journal., 1922-08-31
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
HREDER1C >. HAsKIN. DirecssE.
Washington, d. O.
RoOF pWELITNds.

ideal place to live in New York is on
q roof, IL is said. On the roof OF a
tall building, particularly. the air Is
marvelously fresh and clear, the view
Is unusually charming, and it is pos
sible to achieve a degree of quiet and
privacy unobtainable anywhere else in
the city, AS the site for summer
home it excels the finest suburb. for
it is cool and mosquitoiess and can be
reached without the daily tedium of
committing.
Yet roof-dwelling is still compara-
lively rare there. Except for few
prosperous business men who can af-
ford expensive novelties, and some
lucky janitors who are provided with
living quarters attached to pent-
houses on the top OF apartment houses
and office buildings. New Workers for
the most part cling to the old
fashioned idea that a roof. having
been designed as protective lid, and
that only, should not suddenly be
called upon to fulfill the duties of a
floor.
This view is held with particular
firmness, for some mysterious reason,
by the city's real estate owners, who
stubbornly resist the idea, long since
urged upon them, of building bunga-
lows on the roofs of apartment houses,
office buildings and private houses.
there is a woeful lack of residential
space in the lower part of Manhattan,
altho there is any amount of it going
to waste up on the roofs. With mill
veloped in this manner, there are
probably not more than so roof dwell
ings in the entire city.
One of the most interesting of these
is the home of Henry L. Doherty, well
known New York banker, on top of
hn Park building WhGrA fha
outlook is magnificent. On the one
hand lies the harbor. with its quiet
islands and strange, bustling craft.
And on the other hand, there is the
stretch of giant office buildings
which. lightened up in the night time,
suggest weird, JeweI-studded cliffs.
A Roof Tennis Court.
Mr.. Doherty not only has a COM
Portable, spacious apartment on this
novel site, but tennis court and a
curious, painted garden as we'll. He
because they do not harbor flies and
mosquitoes. Sitting on his back porch
these summer evenings. he looks out
upon = picturesque rural landscape
with rolling hills and green. fertile
valleys, q mountain top or two in the
distance and in the foreground
lovely garden with trellises of climbing
roses and lily pools set here and there
on a green lawn or between flower
beds. Everything is painted.
My idea is TO make this place a
real health resort" explains Mr.. Do
herty. zone that can reach in a few
minutes walk from my office. The
principal thing is to get lots of good.
sweet air. I never could see why peo-
pie want to go to places in search of
fresh air. and then screen themselves
away from ii. I haven't a screen in
my place and ! don't want any.
Tnf~ a 7 NJ mr.
flies. SO / have the plants and ever
green's which are OUT on this place in
winter taken away in summer. and, as
I don't want 1t to look too plain and
bare. 1 have had the walls and fiooE
IeiiIted ITO give an effect OF foliage,
pools and flowers.
IF New Yorkers would only realize
how fine it Is up on the roofs, more
gardens and Fairgrounds" he contin-
ued.. 1T seems amazing tho that
when by simply taking an elevator to
The roof they could get glorious fresh
breezes and AIR as sweet as in the
&C untry they continue to ignore these
possibilities and spend their time
down at the ground level, or travelling
to and from summer resorts.
The average New York suburban.
ite travels a long distance from his
office to his country home and gets
there just about in time TO go inside
to get away from mosquitoes. Or
perhaps he fas his veranda screen ID
and sits outside, deluding himself that
he's getting just as much benefit as
if he were really out in the open.
Think of the time he passes in the
cars and the struggling crowds he ell
counters every day! If he only would
up Oh the roofs he could have inf
nitely more time out of doors and with
infinitely less trouble
"All this life in the open cir makes
nfffHfnnnNr h ind nf
man to take long vacations, and as
for communicated 1 wouldn't> t>&lo it.
L believe if more New Workers would
use their, roofs for health resorts
add to their efficiency and continue to
be efficient longer"
A Yacht-Mke Dwelling.
Another picturesque roof dwelling
to a well known New York
who years ago decided that
he would like to live on top OF the
Berkeley Arcade building in the midst
A satisfactory long term lease for a
certain portion of the roof was ar
ranged, with adequate provision for
and also for elevator service
and heat Then an architect was
called TO the roof and requested, to
design an appropriate bungalow. The
result is well worth seeing.
The exterior walls of the place are
Of brick and hollow tile covered with
a rough stucco; the base, window sills
and chimneyS being of a dark, red
brick. the roof is covered with Span |
Ish roofing tile, and small dominoes |
are build into the roof with ventilat- |
ng louvers opening into the air space |
Dver the ceilings in order to make !
he rooms cooler in summer. On they
west side OF the house are a pergola |
and lattice that enclose and screen it |
from that portion of the roof reserved |
'or the use of the building. This lat
ice is broken by an arohway and gate |
and is covered with vines-real ones |
his time-planted in flower boxes ar
ranged along its base.
The living room is designed some