Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-31
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

to cause an expense in calling for
blinds at each Of its windows Yet that
unnecessary excrescence was what We
recall the most wildly. 1t was, after
all, an attempt at beauty. And yet, in
relation to the house which it was sup
posed to adorn, 1t was ugly-as ugly as
totally unnecessary things often are.
4
Today as one goes about the country
side he will still see many Of these ugly
old houses, relics of the United States
Victorian period. Most of them APP
pear sound and substantial. 1t does not
require much Imagination to picture
happy people in them, well fed, well
clothed-people who understand and
appreciate beauty as well as the family
in yonder beautiful home on the corner.
Perhaps the Europeans understand
beauty just little better than we do.
They know that the concentrate OF
beauty, such as an art gallery, or a
vast park, or an unforgettable view, is
something which may be enjoyed by
not worry them. They know that
beauty in most cases unfortunately
hinges squarely on money. They know
that the man who can afford to pay
$15,0 900 for the construction Of a fine
stone wall around his property can
have-a beautiful stone wall around his
property. Often beauty Is as simple as
that.
The real trouble with an ugly house
comes when the family in it worries
about it's lack of beauty. Home beauty,
nor its lack, should be permitted to
worry one. Yet there are many per-
sons living In unattractive homes who
perpetually spoil their tenure by COM
planning because the place Is not as
beautiful as q palace.
The family that makes an ugly house
comfortable and goes right ahead liv-
ing in 1t knows how to make the best
of q bargain. The old hymn at which
much fun has been poked, Earth Is a
desert drear, Heaven is my home" had
aspects of common sense. Since life
must end for all of us sooner or later,
in some moods it would be unseemly
to put too much stress on earthly habi-
tations. Earth's glories fade and flee
away, indeed. No doubt the loveliest
dwelling place In this world would ap-
pear somewhat shabby as viewed from
the vantage point Of q celestial dawn.
OF course, we are not to fail to secure
as much beauty as we can as we go
along. But II the limitations Of money,
or Of taste, OF opportunity, or Of train
ing, have imposed restrictions which
make genuine beauty OF dwelling place
impossible, one should not lament 1t
overmuch.
There is a wide latitude of beauty
and ugliness, after all. What strikes
one man as beautiful seems merely
mediocre to another. A house posi-
lively hideous to a third turns out to
be Just the dwelling a fourth was look
ing for. One home owner will have
nothing but O brick house, and wonders
why any one would build frame; but
this rich man constructs himself a
wooden house to resemble Mount Yer
non, and takes great pride in 1t and
gets more delight from it than If 1t
had been built from the very rocks OF
the pyramids.
Do not repine, therefore, II the house
you live in does not meet the --latest
dictates. They in their turn will be
old soon enough. Be glad you have a
house. See that 1t is livable, that it
Is comfortable, and that it Is as free
from pickering as you can make It,
Such a home, even If it Is ugly to out
ward appearance, nevertheless has a
great beauty in it. It Is like a fine
bulldog-so ugly that it is beautiful;
one must revise his definitions Of ugn-
ness and beauty.