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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
76
We
do
not,
however,
have
to
go
abroad
for
historic
examples
of
stately
halls
and
stairs.
There
are
fine
old
houses
scattered
all
through
the
old
thirteen
states
that
cannot
be
surpassed
for
dignity
and
simplicity.
One
of
the
best
halls
in
America
is
that
of
"Westover,"
probably
the
most
famous
house
in
Virginia.
This
old
house
was
built
in
1737
by
Colonel
Byrd
on
the
James
River,
where
so
many
of
the
Colonial
aristocrats
of
Virginia
made
their
homes.
The
plan
of
the
hall
is
suggestive
of
an
old
English
manor
house.
The
walls
are
beautifully
paneled
from
an
old
English
plan.
The
turned
balusters
are
representative
of
the
late
Seventeenth
or
early
Eighteenth
Century.
The
fine
old
Jacobean
chairs
and
tables
have
weathered
two
centuries,
and
are
friendly
to
their
new
neighbors,
Oriental
rugs
older
than
themselves.
The
staircase
has
two
landings,
on
the
first
of
which
stands
an
old
Grandfather's-clock,
marking
the
beginning
of
a
custom
that
obtains
to
this
day.
This
hall
is
characteristic
of
American
houses
of
the
Colonial
period,
and
indeed
of
the
average
large
country
house
of
to-day,
for
the
straightaway
hall,
cutting
the
house
squarely
in
two,
is
so
much
a
part
of
our
architecture
that
we
use
it
as
a
standard.
It
is
to
be
found,
somewhat
narrower
and
lower
of
ceiling,
in
New
England
farmhouses
and
in
Eastern
city
houses.
The
Southern
house
of
ante-bellum
days
varied
the
stair
occasionally
by
patterning
the
magnificent
winding
staircases
of
old
England,
but
the
long
hall
open
at
both
ends,
and
the
long
stair,
with
one
or
two
landings,
is
characteristic
of
all
old
American
houses.
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