. American homes and gardens. baking of the goodies ofthose days. More than ahundred years later anotherroom was added, a big living-room, and so the house stillstood when Mr. Otis jour-neyed out to view it, and seeif it might be turned into thehouse of his dreams. Atfirst he was certain that itcouldnt. As a dream house,it resembled nothing morethan a nightmare. Neglectand age seemed to have settheir indelible stamp uponits every board and ground around was awilderness. But the locationwas there—the wonderfullocation on that gentle slope,with the Sound in front andthe woods behind,
. American homes and gardens. baking of the goodies ofthose days. More than ahundred years later anotherroom was added, a big living-room, and so the house stillstood when Mr. Otis jour-neyed out to view it, and seeif it might be turned into thehouse of his dreams. Atfirst he was certain that itcouldnt. As a dream house,it resembled nothing morethan a nightmare. Neglectand age seemed to have settheir indelible stamp uponits every board and ground around was awilderness. But the locationwas there—the wonderfullocation on that gentle slope,with the Sound in front andthe woods behind, and thebig trees here and there, andthe sunny spaces just madefor a garden, and—insideone treasure—a jewel of anold corner cupboard! Thatcupboard seemed to bethrusting itself out from be-hind its disfiguring coat ofdismal chocolate brown, Garden of the Otis house smeared upon it by some former owner, and calling aloud Both are necessary into be rescued. The owner heard, and answered the appeal, to-day. So the old place. He remembered themighty timbers our fore-fathers used in building,looked for them, and foundthat the frame of the oldhouse was good for anothertwo hundred years. So hebought it. Bought the houseand four acres of the landabout, and then set to workto make the poor old wreckof a place back into a home—and a bigger, handsomerhome than it had everdreamed of being before. His work of regenerationwas slow, painstaking, lov-ing. He studied every lineof old and new, determinedthat they should harmonizeperfectly. He made certain,that with all the changesnecessary, there should beperfect symmetry in the linesof roofs and walls, so thatno part could blandly ex-claim, See me—Im new tothe most critical he has succeeded. Hehas maintained the simplicityof the old house and yetmade a modern home. There was a great deal to do besides merely adding rooms. The old house had had no cellar and no attic. a sanitary, convenient living place was propped up and s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectarchitecturedomestic
