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The House in Good Taste
·
Elsie De Wolfe
9
And
so
we
women
have
achieved
a
house,
luminous
with
kind
purpose
throughout.
It
is
finished--that
is
our
difficulty!
We
inherit
it,
all
rounded
in
its
perfection,
consummate
in
its
charms,
but
it
is
finished,
and
what
can
we
do
about
a
thing
that
is
finished
I
Doesn't
it
seem
that
we
are
back
in
the
old
position
of
Isabella
d'Este--eager,
predatory,
and
"thingy"?
And
isn't
it
time
for
us
to
pull
up
short
lest
we
sidestep
the
goal?
We
are
so
sure
of
a
thousand
appetites
we
are
in
danger
of
passing
by
the
amiable
commonplaces.
We
find
ourselves
dismayed
in
old
houses
that
look
too
simple.
We
must
stop
and
ask
ourselves
questions,
and,
if
necessary,
plan
for
ourselves
little
retreats
until
we
can
find
ourselves
again.
What
is
the
goal?
A
house
that
is
like
the
life
that
goes
on
within
it,
a
house
that
gives
us
beauty
as
we
understand
it--and
beauty
of
a
nobler
kind
that
we
may
grow
to
understand,
a
house
that
looks
amenity.
Suppose
you
have
obtained
this
sort
of
wisdom--a
sane
viewpoint.
I
think
it
will
give
you
as
great
a
satisfaction
to
re-arrange
your
house
with
what
you
have
as
to
re-build,
re-decorate.
The
results
may
not
be
so
charming,
but
you
can
learn
by
them.
You
can
take
your
indiscriminate
inheritance
of
Victorian
rosewood
of
Eastlake
walnut
and
cocobolo,
your
pickle-and-plum
colored
Morris
furniture,
and
make
a
civilized
interior
by
placing
it
right,
and
putting
detail
at
the
right
points.
Your
sense
of
the
pleasure
and
meaning
of
human
intercourse
will
be
clear
in
your
disposition
of
your
best
things,
in
your
elimination
of
your
worst
ones.
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