Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-19

Some Old Houses Very Properly
Razed and Some That Deserve to
l've-chureh Saved by Samuel
Flslsher, for Which City Owes
Him Debt Of Gratitude
BY SARAH ID. LOWRIE
T HAVE been watching two houses Z


peiow Eighteenth. and the other was facing
Rittenhouse Square, not far of. Both houses
were trimmed inside and out after the fash
ion OF the Eastlake School. which had for
of what an architect know calls ''dados
and didos.'' Both were admirably built as
TO construction and material 80 that they
have had to be practically quarried down
lies. and in both in their day considerable
hospitality had been shown. But neither
house was we'll adapted for present. day
conditions because Of the inadequate and
poorly lighted servants quarters and be-
cause, in spite Of the space the floors covered.
the rooms were chopped up and badly pro-
portioned. being neither large enough to be
on grand scale nor small enough to be
intimate.
Either the wall colors we're very absorbent
of light or the windows were too heavily
encunbered with Slated inside shutters or
the chandeliers were badly placed am not
sure what was the reason. but both houses
a,,s.;o1 gave one , the impression by daylight or
artificial light Of darkness.
One house only knew in formal after.
noon reception way. in with a stream OF
callers and out again; the other l knew
that way and also as committee house
times in the midst Of details Of Land Army
or Red Cross or relief discussions at the
astonishing change that had come over our
sense of beauty that a matter Of twenty five
last cry in color and detail seem SO de-.
pressing.
TT WAS the exaggerated side Of the pre-
L Raphaeltes, the Oscar Wilde absurdities,
the sunHower symbolism and burnt tile and
gutta percha effiorescences that played havoc
with the early Victorian ideas. There is
nothing to be done with such houses but to
tear them down; they cannot be made over
into something more modern and convenient
and at the same time kept simple and cheer
full like the older houses on the very same
blocks.
But half block away from one Of them.
for instance. is a much older house that
had been delightfully."- added to without
acter: # is not question Of age. but it is
utility.
The houses that were built in this town
before 1870 were better and simpler and
more likable to our generation than those
built the next twenty years after the Cen
tennial Even the little houses on the little
streets that were never meant to house so
much as the poor relations Of the rich or
gance about their tiny we'll designed pro.
portions that make them perfectly "pos-
sible' for persons who have taste but not
money to indulge their taste overmuch.
a little street of such houses here and
there is continually being retrieved from the
slums and made charming by touch Of
restoration and a general cleaning up. 1t
is plain that we are much nearer in SYM
pathy with the predictions and enthusi.
asms of our grandmothcrs than with our
mothers.
DROUGHT down to dots, the thing we
- like about our grandsires' tastes was
their sense of proportion. and we can 20
back several generations without being Jared
by their taste or wanting to tear down what
they so serenely built up. But that is to-
day. Who knows what set of values we
may swear by esthetically tomorrow. or the
day after tomorrow, when the Sesqui- Cen
tennial art and architectural ideals are to
semi Italian cupola building to the So
called Queen Anne peaked tiles and jutting
windows had only the Centennial of 1875
to explain it. One wonders what 1926 is
going to do with us.
OUT In California this year I was greatly
~ struck by the retirement Of the Mission
Indian type Of house and the tremendous
vogue of the Saracenic Spanish blank
walled houses without caves and with doors
buildings of bright color placed on the
ground at any. angle and rising like cliff
dwellings one above another.
In our parents houses very great deal
was made of verandas, porches. piazzas or
whatever they happened TO be called: now
we turn to terraces and pnrterre spaces with
adjustable awnings. Is 1t possible that even
here in this climate we may take to court
Yards and balconies, the one for our public
and the other for our private social uses?
MEANWHILE 1t is slightly solacinS to
IVl note that something remains always
beautiful and suitable and in the perfection
I went down the other evening to the
opening night of the Graphic Sketch Club
exhibition. the twenty third annual view Of
the drawings and paintings and sculpture
of that remarkable school. And to my relief
I found that the church that is next the
school gallery, there on Catharine street
above Seventh. has been acquired by Mr..
Samuel Fleisher and is now being used as
possessions.
| was glad since It could no longer be
used as a place for the worship of God
nv the ritual Of the Episcopal Church that
of its architectural beauty and the beauty
of the objects of art which its new owner
has stored there. DR., Percival, who gave
many years Of his life to making It
lovely church building, beautiful according
to Romanesque pattern, was a great
scholar and antiquarian, and there Is
nothing of imitation either in the propor-
tions Of the church and chapels or in their
ornamentation. 1t is real and its proper
ties have intrinsic value. And Its symbolism
does give one a sense OF worship and of
dedication. 1t might be on the banks Of
the Lung Arno. ] do not know definitely
what vicissitudes befell 1t other than the
death Of its rector and the moving away Of
many Of its original parish members When
it was put up for sale it was looked over
with an acquisitive eye by n garage pro-
prietor who did not value the Della Robbias
or marbles or glass or fresco, but who did
find the nave and side chapels practical for
storage purposes for cars and accessories
| understand Mr.. Flesher plans to use