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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
174
There
was
much
to
do!
We
hardly
knew
where
to
begin,
the
house
was
in
such
wretched
condition.
The
roof
was
falling
in,
and
the
debris
of
years
was
piled
high
inside,
but
the
walls
and
the
floors
were
still
very
beautiful
and
as
sound
as
ever,
structurally.
We
had
the
roof
restored,
the
debris
removed,
and
the
underbrush
weeded
out
of
the
garden,
and
then
we
were
ready
to
begin
the
real
business
of
restoration.
The
house
is
very
simply
planned.
There
is
a
broad
hall
that
runs
straight
through
it,
with
dining-room
and
servants'
hall
on
the
right,
and
four
connecting
salons
on
the
left.
These
salons
are
charming
rooms,
with
beautiful
panelings
and
over-doors,
and
great
arches
framed
in
delicate
carvings.
First
comes
the
writing-room,
then
the
library,
then
the
large
and
small
salons.
The
rooms
opening
on
the
back
of
the
house
have
long
French
windows
that
open
directly
upon
the
terrace,
where
we
have
most
of
our
meals.
The
note
of
the
interior
of
the
house
is
blue,
and
there
are
masses
of
blue
flowers
in
the
garden.
The
interior
woodwork
is
cream,
pointed
with
blue,
and
there
are
blues
innumerable
in
the
rugs
and
curtains
and
objets
d'art.
There
must
be
a
hundred
different
shades
of
blue
on
this
living-floor,
I
think.
We
have
tried
to
restore
the
rooms
to
a
Louis
XV
scheme
of
decoration.
The
tables
and
cabinets
are
of
the
fine
polished
woods
of
the
period.
Some
of
the
chairs
are
roomy
affairs
of
carved
and
painted
wooden
frames
and
brocade
coverings,
but
others
are
modern
easychairs
covered
in
new
linens
of
old
designs,
linens
that
were
designed
for
just
such
interiors
when
Oberkampf
first
began
his
designing
at
Jouy.
The
mirrors
and
lighting-fixtures
are,
of
course,
designed
to
harmonize
with
the
carvings
of
the
woodwork.
Monsieur
de
Nolhac
and
Sardou
were
most
helpful
to
us
when
such
architectural
problems
had
to
be
solved.
Marker
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White-out
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Circle
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Hand
Scalpel
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Sieve
Purify
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Redo
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