The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, February 16, 1928, Page 14

MUL b E F AUTH UUNTannneteeergneUUtEE ATUL AUVEVeevrUHGAR ANTENA TAAC AT ATTTTI HUNVONCOINUTOHEDAVORUONUTUESUOTTO EAH 1 PTT ULUUULLLUULLLLULLIULULTRTRLILLLLLLLL LCL. Be Ie Ever So Humble, There's No Place Like ple. It is just as easily sensed and felt, and sometimes just as difh- cult to place and define. Some houses are just houses—soundly built, correct in an architectural sense, and adequate in every way, but they make no impression. They are like people whom you forget ten minutes after you have met them. They give you nothing. They make no appeal to your imagination or your fancy. I have been in homes where there is absolutely none of the personality of the owner present. I have seen beau- tifully decorated rooms that bespeak only the ideals of the interior decorator who created them. They are mere show cases. In just what way can personality be expressed in the home? This is a question that can be answered only by house- wives individually. Each one has her own favored ideas of color, of arrangement and decoration. One can think of almost any adjective, and then think of a house he has seen that will fit the word. I have seen gracious houses, forbidding ones, gay and somber ones. Some beautiful, some sad. Others overdressed and vulgar. ERSONALITY in homes is just P as desirable as personality in peo- By OMES can express ideas on the exterior as well as in the interior. Their taste and personality—or lack of it—is impressed upon the passerby, and is scen by the world as it passes the door. But, unfortunately, there are houses that must be lived in, whether or not they have been built according to the taste of the ones who live there. With such as these the interior must make up for all that is lacking on the outside. It is frequently true that a comparatively uninteresting exterior opens into a home of distinct personality and char- acter. I can recall the rather forbidding exterior of a cer- tain “brownstone front” in New York where the hand of its mistress had, within, more than made Be for what the place lacked on the out- side. The modern woman has had opened for her a greater range, fuller possibilities for the making of a successful and attractive home than the woman of any earlier day. It seems, too, that the general knowledge of types and styles of furniture and of decoration of all sorts has grown very rapidly. Schools and uni- versities, by taking up the home as a definite study, have done much in this line. The ex- cellent magazines that deal exclusively with the home and its surroundings, by giving inti- mate glimpses of other homes throughout the country, have educated people to make their homes comfortable, attractive and personal. Nowadays there seem to be two expressions ~ of decoration and of architecture—the mod- ernistic trend and the tendency to turn back to past generations, both in sica_ and in Europe, for inspiration. This is Old New Eng- illustrated by the interest land Homes in early American things, +. + stand in and also by the most mod- their gardens ern of the modern, the new —in_ simple dig- French decoration and nity. architecture. IAN we say that we have any type o: architecture or of decoration that is en tirely American in character? There have been discussions pro and con. It seem: that, so far, what me hare here, ge : possesses many origina! aracteristics has felt to a greater or less degree the influence and tradition c — ites Gegah Ve, sky- scraper a! log cabin are perhaps the only types of building native to America. The modern decoration and architecture which can truly be called “American” is that which has emerged from the fusion of many influences and traditions from many sources. In this same way, to chose a Parte commie: Illustrations And Text HELEN WILLS O Helen Wills . . . only the log cabin and the skyscraper are 100 per ccnt American. the American people represent not, one nationality, but the combination and mixture of many. : Architecture, just as a nation that has gained its life from many sources and has felt many influences, is bound to be flexible and fresh, with infinite possibilities at its command. Because of all this we have an oppor- tunity for the fullest expression, of individ- uality, character and of personality in our homes, both within and without. This wide range that we have to chose from in architecture and decoration and fur- nishings makes the business of home-making a fascinating one. Every woman should find homes an interesting study. It is natural that she should, and there are probably very few-who do not. , I do not think that the modern woman, because of all her outside interests and activities, cares less about her home. She can appreciate it more, I think, and make it even more attractive because of her many experiences. The modern conveniences and the simplified mode of living are really the cause of her freedom, not the result. HAVE always noticed houses, because of my interest in interior decoration and love of color, and because I have studied some architecture during the course of my university work. In traveling about I have made notes of various homes, and it is interesting to compare the dif- ferent types in this country and abroad, and to discover the why of their existence. ere is always a logical reason for the home, and the kind of home that it happens to be. It has a distinct re- lation to its surroundings, to the climate, to the building materials at hand, to the history of the place, and to the influences of earlier building. Above all, it reflects the, character of the people in the locality. Suitability plays an important part. Wherever you sce attractive houses you find that they fit into their sur- roundings. The relationship of the house to its surround- a} 0 HN NT spa AY be bre (Copyright, 1927, NEA Magazine) AMAA atch Your Personality ings is perhaps one of the most important of all things in the business of expressing character and personality. Whether the house is large or small, for the city, suburbs or the country, its relation to its sur- roundings is tremendously important. When a house is alien to its sur- roundings anyone with the least feeling for harmony knows there is “something wrong.” Not far from where I live there are several white-walled houses with tiled roofs. They are very charming and attractive houses of the Medi- terranean type and seem to be ideally suited for the California climate “arnoay thon mn « tneae stl with steeply pitched ong them looms a house of col ay stone wil ite] slate roof. It is well done and by pacer i Ame aibaiaets tat a siiply does not fit. Its perfection of line and reserved beauty does not possess half the appeal of the low, white-walled houses on the hillside around it. Yet in the proper surroundings it would have had great charm. In countries where building has been going on for centuries you see, less frequently, houses that are alien to their suri ings. The tiled roofs and the soft pastel-colored walls of the Mediter- ranean towns and villages seem to be a part of that country. They have grown out of the very heart of their surroundings. So it is in Italy. NVIRONMENDT in- fluences the very line and color of a house as well as cause bet be ex- ample, as you go north in France, the buildings colder in color, more serious in line. They have not been. able to stretch themselves out, to bask in the sun; they have had no urge to paint themselves gaily. Like the people within them, they are more serious. The south- erner would not be half so happy living in them as he would be in his own tile-roofed home, with its doors and windows always open and decoration is their simplicity. Simplicity was a-product of the times. . It expressed the personality and character of the peo- ple. They lived simply, thought seriously. Simple things always seem to have more to say, anyway. If simplicity is the keynote, it is certainly easier to attain complete harmony. NE of the strongest points of modern decoration is the tendency toward simplicity in line, in color, and in decora- tion. Too much fussy detail can utterly spoil a room, while simplicity can bring out all the character and personality that is present. How true this’ is in-most things. In dress, for example, the woman who gets herself done up in fussy cl and too many colors becomes a nonentity, while if she is simply attired, she brings out her real personality and her charm. How Eatery Ct too, is a woman's character expressed by her surroundings. I know a very beautiful and intelligent woman whose drawing-room is so simple that it is almost entirely bare except for the most necessary pieces of furniture. The walls are white, and unrelieved by pictures or by any decoration. The floor is tiled in soft dark red. The decoration and brilliant color of the room depend entirely upon flowers that she arranges herself. This room, in its perfect simplicity, harmony and bal- ance is tremenduously appealing, and forms a perfect back- ground for the dark quiet beauty of its mistress. Have you ever been in a where you. were afraid to move for fear of knocking something over, or at least felt that way—where spotty vases and pictures and decoration and ornate rugs screamed at each other? Compared to this, the peaceful, tasteful room of the quict mistress is like a breath of fresh air from the open country. The Victorian era of gingerbread decoration has a hangover in some places, and now and then we are reminded of this period. Sometimes it is very painful. ‘ PPORTUNITIES for furnishing the home are unlimited. The American woman can choose from the best that every riod has to offer. She can carry out her decoration with the advice of skillful interior decorators, or go along with her own ideas. The homes that have perhaps the greatest charm are the ones that are the direct expression of the owners themselves—homes Tiled roofs, warm walls . . .bar- that are the result of rowed from the Mediterranean by the thought of the California and Florida. ones who occupy : them. These are bound to = reflect much of the personality of the owners and to be much more in- teresting than a mere house. i AM reminded of a house on the French Riviera where I was once a guest. The lady of the house, an American, had bought it, a simple little peasant’s home, 15 years previously. It was an irregularly built house that climbed y and down a steep terraced garden overhanging the blue ‘Med. iterranean. Its soft creamy walls tiled roof fitted perfectly into the background of mimosa and orange trees. It was first of all in perfect harmony with its surrounding: them Jo. many leatanect ad 08 of her days turn a jor envy, had a story. ‘She knew them sll. She had selected them with infinite care and ir it The native stone, of a soft brownish is excellent ma- terial. I.saw many houses built of the stone which Karmonizes beautifully with the landscape. Seeing them the yellow and red of trees in colorful autumn dresg gave one the impression UME AL ag Tu mr nn STL TTT) = HUNAN VOMMAR ANTRAL ce | TTT j =e ¥ oA