Evening star., 1928-11-25


" ton to the dwelling might serve
"A as very good introduction to
4 4 the study of domestic house
planning. The prototypes of our
own dwellings, In Northern European
countries were IN fact all hall-and in
EmRlamd the home Of the leading mem
Ner Of q community came to be
spoken Of as '-the hall" In early times
Ii served as a general sitting room, re-
eepticn room. work room, assembly
room and kitchen
/ 1t Is rather pleasant TO picture an
old "hAI1f' Of this sort with its enor-
naoais fireplace at one end. with its clut-
ter Of rude cooking equipment. fruits
and vegetables, freshly Killed game and
fish and all the huh-huh of meal prep
aration. with It's cuphOards ana chests
where foods were stored and its rafters
hung with strange food products which
we could hardly recognize. Another
fireplace at the other end of the hall
mtght be the center OF group of
knights and yeomen. the head of the
house seated in his own enormous chair,
with chairs and benches for his more
important followers and nothing but
fOOr space for the less important ones.
The lady Of the hall might be sew
ing. weaving or spinning with her older
chi1dren and maids. Younger children
tended hy q chattering nanny" might
be seen near the fireplace used for
cooking while older boys would be "ls-
tening in" to the conversation of the
men at the other end of the room. In
a corner might be sitting poor trav-
cling musician nnendinG the mute or
rude strimeed instrument with which
he hoped to entertain the company at
L. ~tNAan fvA Hnff For
which entertainment he might be al
lowed to satisfy his own hunger and
win the privilege of sleeping within the
shelter of the hall that night.
If ever there was a room that was in
very deed 3 living room it was the hall
In one of these old-time halls" And
when we aSeribe our own overwrOught
nerves to the confusion and complica-
ton of modern life we might do we'll
to imagine the confusion and compli-
cations that must have characterized
the life of women most Of whose days
were spent in such hall" To be
sure, there were private rooms for the
women, usually opening off the main
hall, but these rooms were not heated
and-before the days of abundant or
even any window glaSs-must have been
but poorly lighted
with drawing rooms, libraries. adequate
sleeping rooms-all developed as off,
shoots of the hall, and in many fine
old European country house the hall
still remains the main living room,
where the social life of the family is
carried on.
The desirahility of small entrance
hall--a sort of vestibule-must early
have been thought of, and when houses
were built with second floors this en-
trance hall was frequently enlarged to
accommodate flight of winding stairs
which II opening directly on the main
hall would cause needless draughts.
We might 60 on tracing the develop
ment of the hall as we know 1t today
down through the centuries to the
present time. And even within the
memory of most Of US ideas have
changed about halls considerably. Most
of US have visited. II not actually lived
In, house where there were halls of
various sorts The center hall running
through the house. with drawing rooms
dining room and kitchen fianking II
| on either side--and itself possessing
both front and back entrance as well
as the flight of stairs: then the narrow
hall of the city house, with ''parlor'