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192
The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
79
I
used
an
old
porcelain
stove,
creamy
and
iridescent
in
glaze,
in
such
a
hall
in
an
uptown
house
very
similar
to
my
own.
The
stove
is
very
beautiful
in
itself,
but
it
was
used
for
use
as
well
as
beauty.
It
really
holds
a
fire
and
furnishes
an
even
heat.
The
stove
was
flanked
by
two
pedestals
surmounted
with
baskets
spilling
over
with
fruits,
carved
from
wood
and
gilded
and
painted
in
polychrome.
Everything
in
this
hall
is
arranged
with
precision
of
balance.
The
stove
is
flanked
by
two
pedestals.
The
niche
that
holds
the
stove
and
the
corresponding
niche
on
the
other
wall,
which
holds
a
statue,
are
flanked
by
narrow
panels
holding
lighting-fixtures.
The
street
wall
is
broken
by
doors
and
its
two
flanking
windows.
The
opposite
wall
has
a
large
central
panel
flanked
by
two
glass
doors,
one
leading
to
the
stairway
and
the
other
to
a
closet,
beneath
it.
Everything
is
"paired,"
with
resulting
effect
of
great
formality
and
restraint.
Very
little
furniture
is
required:
A
table
to
hold
cards
and
notes,
two
low
benches,
and
a
wrought
iron
stand
for
umbrellas.
The
windows
have
curtains
of
Italian
linen,
coarse
homespun
stuff
that
is
very
lovely
with
white
walls
and
woodwork.
There
are
no
pictures
on
the
wall,
but
there
are
specially
designed
lighting-fixtures
in
the
small
panels
that
frame
the
niches.
In
several
of
the
finer
houses
that
have
been
built
recently,
notably
that
of
Mrs.
O.H.P.
Belmont,
the
staircase
is
enclosed,
and
is
in
no
way
an
architectural
feature,
merely
a
possible
means
of
communication
when
needed.
This
solution
of
the
staircase
problem
has
no
doubt
brought
about
our
modern
luxury
of
elevators.
In
another
fine
private
house
recently
built
the
grand
staircase
only
goes
so
far
as
the
formal
rooms
of
the
second
floor,
and
a
small
iron
staircase
enclosed
in
the
wall
leads
to
the
intimate
family
rooms
of
the
bedroom
floor.
The
advantage
of
this
gain
in
space
can
easily
be
appreciated.
All
the
room
usually
taken
up
by
the
large
wall
of
the
staircase
halls,
and
so
forth,
can
be
thrown
into
the
bedrooms
upstairs.
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