San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-08-23

WASHINGTON, d. c., Aug. 22.-
Few persons of good taste can be in
sensible to the beauty and charm of
the Colonial home. Whether it be
the stately and columned mansion of
the great estate, standing amid sweep
ing, shadow-flecked lawns and framed
by sentinel elms of traditional asso-
citation, or the modest cottage pceping
demurely from its nest of flowers and
shrubbery, the Colonial home is typi-
cally American, always quiet, grace
full and appealing. What is there about
this architectural type that is so dis
tinctly attractive? What is the elu-
sive quality that perpetuates its vogue
under the clamorOus assaults of those
vandals of trade who have assailed IL
from every angle? Who does the Co
lonial home never go out Of fashion?
Students tell us that the style of
the earlier Colonial homes was in
spired by the heavier masonry archi-
lecture known as Georgian, and that
American expatriates naturally copied
the remembered designs of their old
homes in England. Yet there is a ge-
neric difference today between "GeOr-
gian" and Colonial, due, we must be
convinced. to the greater adaptability.
lighter and more graceful utility of
the wood of which the genuine Colo
NAL home is built.
POPULAR DUTCH"
To be sure the true Colonial has
been subjected TO many and varied
notifications. The dutch" influence
has had a popular vogue. Masonry en-
thusiasts, while never able TO get en-
tirely away from the Colonial style.
have sought TO justify their architec.
tural plagiarism on the theory that
early Americans built quite generally
of material other than wood. 1t is
true that Colonial architecture may be
copied in brick and stone and even
stuccO. but efforts to unite monumen-
tai solidity with delicacy and grace
have never been truly successful. Es-
sentially Colonial character can only
be presented by using the material
that evolved it-wood.
Undoubtedly, as one qualified writer
points out, the New England ship
wrights were primarily responsible for
the development Of American Colonial
architecture. This writer, in "Thc
Small Home" says:
FINE EXAMPLES.
"The workmen who constructed
these ships are known to have built
many of the homes of that period also.
The same quality of honest workman
ship that was wrought into the ships
was worked into the homes. so that
many of them remain TO this day as
the finest examples Of staunch con-
struction in wood. The details were
constantly refined and forms lightcned.
and while one finds a sense of stability
and permanency in these earlier houses
there is an interplay Of delicate and
graceful ornament. light holdings and
wood trim. which has stamped the Co
lOnial style as a distinctive type.
"The things that really make the
Colonial style cannot be so easily iden-
tilted by the average home builder.
1t is true that we commonly identify
houses in which there appear ar
cades, columns, wood trim, and cor
nices that follow classic styles as Col
oniaP but true Colonial architecture,
while employing these architectural
forms never forgets that the material
wherein they are expressed is of
wood"
Architects exhibit the greatest 10y
atty TO the Colonial design" says
Dudley f. Hoffman, construction en-.