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In any case, a ground plan that gives one a feeling of spaciousness, of opening vistas and plenty of sunlight is to be desired. Any cramping of the interior must be avoided, especially in the country. A feeling of crowd-edness in a hotel lobby is always to be eschewed. The Vanderbilt Hotel in New York, which is built upon a very shallow lot, has achieved a certain extensiveness by not separating the main dining room from the lobby except by glass screens. The Ritz-Carlton has
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done almost the reverse, and while it is carefully furnished the feeling of open spaces is, except around the main staircase, generally absent. The Chatham creates a dignified and restful impression by means of a lobby two hundred feet long, excellently furnished, which acts as its foyer and lounging room. The Ambassador Hotel in Atlantic City achieves a very satisfactory impression through its series of square lobbies leading up to a large dining room at the far end. Here there is a vista of several hundred feet with windows on three sides.
Ease and pleasure are created by lobbies in which the furniture is carefully and permanently grouped so that one set of people does not interfere with another. A hodge-podge of even the most excellent furniture mars one's comfort as well as. the decorative effect. Just as in the home, the artistic and spiritual result is either aided or hampered by the lighting. This should be furnished indirectly or by means of direct fixtures attractively shaded and assisted by torcheres, lamps, etc.
Obviously there can be nothing finicky in so public a place. The effect must be created without the aid of those proper accouterments of the private living room: bric-a-brac, sofa pillows, pictures and books, but there may be carefully distributed mirrors and small tables as well as large ones; and color, dignity and variety may be supplied in part by the draperies and shades. It is surprising to see what an air of comfort is created in some places without the help of any really personal touches, and at the same time it is still more surprising to see what an unsettled feeling
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