Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-26


tainly not Stereotyped, and indicates
q freedom OF handling not only In It's
general arrangement but In the de-
tails OF color, paneling and the like.
The capacious kitchen, with its &C
cessory features, such as the table
recess, the pantry, the comparatively
novel dishWaSher and even the con-
venient placing Of the fuse box, at
tracts favorable comment. AT the
other end Of the house we again find
the rational economic combination OF
the garage beneath the porch, con-
yeniently reached in inclement
weather from the inside of the house.
On the second floor the rooms are
ample and the closets are unusual in
their size. The baths indicate current
tendencies not only in the lavish use
of color but in the substitution of
shower for the usual tub, an arrange
ment which would decidedly simplify
one element of house planning if 1t
were more generally accepted.
Ceiling Work Emphasized.
Attention Is especially called to the
ceiling of the attic, with cane-hber
product which is particularly valuable
as an insulating medium against heat
or cold and is incidentlly pleasing to
the eye in color texture.
| Apropos Of the earlier comment as
to the hearty collaboration given by
the different architects, the writer
feels that special credit is due to
Mr.. Mindeleff for his cheerful acQuies.
| cence in the requirements of the COM
mittee which forced him to abandon.
because of cost limitations, the type
| Of house originally selected, of which
| the present house is but an abbrevia-
| ton.
| This prototype, with its two charm
| ing wings leading toward the street
and the entrance between. may be
| found on Tunlaw road between Mount
Alto and Wesley Heights. 1t may be
passed on the next stage Of the
| journey. the restination being Forty
fourth place and Hawthorne avenue
! Wesley Heights.
| The objective may perhaps be
reached more quickly by crossing
| Rock Creek Park just north of the
Zoo, continuing up klingle road un.
derneath Connecticut avenue to-
Woodley road, thence to Wisconsin,
| Massachusetts and Cathedral avenues,
west to Forty-fourth place. Haw-
thorn street being one block to the
south.
| We now reach a more pretentious
| type, a brick house Of simple, digni.
fed lines. designed by Delos H. Smith
for w. C. & A. N. Miller, builders
Again we have the emphasis of pri.
| vacy expressed in the separation of
the entrance from the living porch.
Impression of Stairway.
| On entering, the first impression is
of the interesting curving stairway.
worked out with most careful atten.
ton to detail. The living room is
| ALL
room opening to a south terrace and
connected to picturesque and
rambling service arrangement under
which again occurs the built-in ga.
! rage, which by this time should have
established itself in the minds of the
visitors as one of the most desirable
features Of the demonstration.
Another special note is struck in
the maximum utilization of the attic
space, a surprising demonstration of
the amount of valuable and disable
space which is ordinarily wasted.
Here is huge room. with picturesque
ceiling lines, ideal for billiards or for
| dancing or for a dormitory. One will
| compare this room with a similar
| space in the house previously visited.
Returning now via Cathedral ave-
nue. to Massachusetts and continuing
down toward Observatory Circle, we
find at Thirty-f1fth street the last and
the largest of the detached houses. a
stone structure designed by Robert
Beresford for Hedges & Middleton.
There can be no question but that the
quality of stone in a house makes a
most favorable first impression and a
lasting one. 1t has an enduring char
acter and, handled with discrimina-
ton, can reflect just as much of taste
and refinement as the most delicate
wood carving.
Expression i'm Stone.
There are, however, many types Of
stone work, good, bad and Indifferent,
and 1t Is Of interest to study the DOS
sibilities Of expression in stone In
the one case we have more or less
rambling pieces laid with a certain
irregular regularity, whereas in an
other case there is the most pains
| taking searching for the element Of
horizontally, which requires the use
Of long, thin pieces of stone and deeply
| raked joints. 1t Is also interesting to
note how stone from the same quarry
appears radically different in differ
ent projects, due to the way in which
it's color Is featured or concealed.
Finally, one may study the treatment
Of the joint, its undue accentuation
or its subordination to the effect Of
the wall as a whole.
After having just completed the in
spection of four other houses in
! which the stairs were more or less
of a conspicuous element, immedi-
ately upon entering the house one Is
equally impressed in this instance by
the conspicuous incOnspicuousness Of
the stairs, just as a city dweller ia
overwhelmed by the stiffness upon
spending his first night in the coun-
try. The stairs are present, graceful.
but nevertheless subordinated, and
| they mark a tendency which may be
studied later to good advantage in the
group housing developments, namely,
| the realization that it is good plan
| ming not to overemphasize that which
| Is merely connection to the private
| retreat of the family, and that where
appropriations are limited 1t is much
better to place the stair comfortably
| between walls rather than to take
money for unnecessary space and
| overelaboration merely to make it
decorative feature. when both space
| and funds are more vitality needed for
other parts of the plan. However. in
| this case 1t will be noted that the
stair is a distinct element Of beauty
! and is not unduly subordinated.
| Here again one finds the ideal de-
| velopment of the angle porch strategic
| ally located for its connection to a
garden. This house especially empha-
sizes the lesson which it was hoped
to convey with all these houses. name
ly, that there need be no such thing
garden has not as yet been de-
| veloped, but all the provisions for II
| have been made, and there Is no pos
sibility that service requirements can