The House Beautiful
April 1911

Stretched out in your hammock 'neath the vine-covered pergola? No, siree-bob! (How does one spell "siree-bob"?) Not while there's decorating to be done! Exhaust yourself (as I did) simply by reading the daunting list of home improvement tasks herein. Bungalow owners and old house fans: sharpen that number 2 pencil and start jotting things down...

• Plant nasturtiums by the woodpile! Create a lovely walk-way garden from a junky side yard! Restore the original colors of your Craftsman bungalow using authentic color schemes! I love a make-over, don't you?



• Consider the sun parlors of the rich an famous (including Mark Twain's): should you spiff up your sun parlor? Or add one? Ask yourself: "Is my carriage entrance up to snuff?"



• Is your house fireproof? If not, start worrying about this! Several well-illustrated pages discuss building houses of terra cotta hollow tile. Take inspiration from a charming, "slightly English" fireproof neighborhood in Orange, New Jersey.




  
• Study up on English transfer ware, 15th century chair backs, Sheraton furniture, Chinese lacquer, the art of Jules Bastien-Lepage and the recent architectural works of Tallmadge and Watson. Informative articles all! There will be a test!




Will you stop moping about the place, and start ridding your garden of hollyhock rust?!


• Mix up your own bordeaux spray and rid your hollyhocks of rust! This WAS a pressing problem at the beginning of the century, was it not? And we think Y2K is a dilemma! Cultivate neglected salad plants! Should you create a commuter garden, install Japanese statuary or construct elaborate treillage, as in the rose garden at Surrenden Park, Kent, UK?



• Why not redecorate your bedroom, or wallpaper your ceilings? And where must you put your brass tea kettle? (see column below)

 
Do you want to throttle the writer of this letter, or is it just me? If you'd like to read House Beautiful's remarkably restrained reply, let me know.

And, finally:

Why indeed not?