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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
74
To
return
to
our
staircases:
In
France
the
intermural,
or
spiral,
staircase
was
considered
quite
splendid
enough
for
all
human
needs,
and
in
the
finest
châteaux
of
the
French
Renaissance
one
finds
these
practical
staircases.
Possibly
in
those
troublous
times
the
French
architects
planned
for
an
aristocracy
living
under
the
influence
of
an
inherited
tradition
of
treachery
and
violence,
they
felt
more
secure
in
the
isolation
and
ready
command
of
a
small,
narrow
staircase
where
one
man
well
nigh
single-handed
could
keep
an
army
at
bay.
A
large
wide
staircase
of
easy
ascent
might
have
meant
many
uneasy
moments,
with
plots
without
and
treachery
within.
Gradually,
however,
the
old
feudal
entrance
gave
way
to
its
sub-divisions
of
guardroom,
vestibule,
and
salon.
England
was
last
to
capitulate,
and
in
the
great
Tudor
houses
still
extant
one
finds
the
entrance
door
opening
directly
into
the
Hall.
Often
in
these
English
houses
there
was
a
screen
of
very
beautiful
carved
wood,
behind
which
was
the
staircase.
Inigo
Jones
introduced
the
Palladian
style
into
England,
and
so
brought
in
the
many-storied
central
salon
which
served
as
means
of
access
to
all
the
house.
The
old
English
halls
and
staircases
designed
by
Inigo
Jones
would
be
perfect
for
our
more
elaborate
American
country
houses.
The
severe
beauty
of
English
paneling
and
the
carving
of
newel-post
and
spindles
are
having
a
just
revival.
The
pendulum
swings--and
there
is
nothing
new
under
the
sun!
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