The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-10-14
Many Past Fashions Are
Combined in Finishing of
Modern Home-Different
Woods May Be Used With
Good Effect.
BY Molly Elliott
By Molly Elliott

American home these days is a sort
of composite of the authentic"
modes of a wide range of past fash
ions which have served as our mod
els. Much as they lend to the gen.
eral character of the house, they
have evolutionized into a sort Of
glorified American pioneer and de-
generated old world style.
American shopping about among
the ancient buildings Of great
beauty in their old-world setting
with the natural mellowness Of time
about them feel with their innate
responses to beauty, that they might
pick off the ideas and make them
theirs in their American homes. A
close study Of the evolution Of the
characteristics of woodwork from
the Seventeenth century to the
Nineteenth, Of which we see traces
in nearly all interiors today, shows
a slow transition from the Gothic
gradually into the English Georgian
influence which produced the fine
old wood-lined rooms as seen in
Virginia homes Of the generation
just past.
Wood on Wells
Wood paneled walls, doors, stair
rails and balusters were often made
of native walnut or rare mahagony
and plastered walls were in use as
early as the first of the Eighteenth
century. Wall paper, however,
brought in with the English vogue,
Chinese inspired, was superseded by
the low wainscoting with plaster
above to provide for wallpaper.
Today the mode is to pay particu-
lar attention to window and door
frames and obtain the desired effect
with painted work. The spiral stair
way--a French inspired fashion,
which was much used in the early
Nineteenth is singularly suited to
the modern home. 1t is unfortunate
ly expensive to construct and when
not we'll designed is unspeakably de-
pressing and offensive. A salts
factory way to handle the stair with
out loss of dignity is to carry it up
between two walls, starting under
an archway at the bottom. This
eliminates the balusters and wood
work at the tread ends which, if
not we'll done had better not be done
at all.
Many Features
In the construction of interior
wood work there are innumerable
features which require attention.
The old method of the expert wood
craftsman who spent many weeks
upon the big house making each
feature of the woodwork fit into the
owners plan, room by room, has
nearly passed out. For much expert
millwork may be obtained already
If handled by reliable
There is a wide choice
in woods oak, chestnut, walnut, but
ternut, cherry, maple, gum, red
wood and pine fore natural finishes
and for painted work; birch, poplar,
white and yellow pine, the latter be-
ing used considerably in the South
ern States.
Many tragedies in woodwork have
been due to the careless placing on
damp plaster walls. The dampness
is absorbed and then the wood is
dried too rapidly when heat is
brought into the house. AS an initial
protection against dampness. wood
work should be "primed' or painted
a first coat of lead and oil at the
mill, on the back only, if for natu-
raj finish; and on all sides if for a
painted finish, and then should not
be sent to the new house until the
plaster is bone dry. Then, when the
woodwork arrives at the house and
is being inst billed, constant attention
should be given the control of the
supply Of heat in the radiators, and
peratures avoided.
With woodwork, as in nearly all
fields where design and workmanship
are involved. design and execution
are far more important than guam
tity and elaboration. A moderate
enAiOuiiI VI ehOuS hIluiIy uOolSHSu III
terror trim will always outclass a
larger quantity of carelessly planned
work, poorly put together. One Of
the encouraging signs Of the times
is that manufacturers of stock wood
work have employed competent and
skillful architects to design their
trim, so that there is no longer any
excuse for a house being built with
woodwork in bad taste.