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The larger and more pretentious the house, the more nearly its interior tends to approach that of the city house, and too many of our finest show places are simply what their owners would have in town if they had more space here. There are, however, several fine stone structures that have been fitted up with a very praiseworthy simplicity. The Colonial style, in its modifications of Chippendale, Adam, Heppelwhite and Sheraton, has been widely employed both in the collecting of supposed originals and in reproductions, of which there are many excellent ones upon the market. I personally care for the Colonial only in houses that are designed to receive it and I feel that there are almost as many ugly old Colonial pieces as there are handsome ones. But at times, owners have secured remarkable results with this style. Near Gloucester, Mass., for example, there is a fairly modern house, the interior of which has been completed almost entirely with portions of old ships picked up in the harbor. The living room has a floor made from the wide timbers of a ship's deck, wonderfully seasoned and set together
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78INTERIOR DECORATING
and the stone mantel is made up of large pebbles picked up near Bass Rocks. The whole thing has an aquatic flavor like the scene in the first act of Shaw's '' Heartbreak House.' * Years and years were spent upon the accumulation of its furniture and years more on the developing of its old-fashioned garden, and also more dollars than one would realize who is accustomed only to the Renaissance effects of our greater mansions. But for the most part, the Colonial is now restricted to the smaller houses and our millionaires have gathered lavish things from Italy, France, England and Spain for their country as well as for their city homes.
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