"WELD" - An Estate of Originality - RESIDENCE of LARZ ANDERSON in BROOKLINE, MASS. Little and Brown, Architects

 "WELD" - An Estate of Originality

 RESIDENCE of LARZ ANDERSON in BROOKLINE, MASS. 

Little and Brown, Architects

The conservatory sidewall decorations consist of a series of interesting frescoes, one of which depicts the famous ‘‘Spanish Steps" in Rome leading down to the water. 

A replica of the fountain in Rome, which stands in the Piazza di Spagna, is set among flowering shrubs close up to the wall. The miniature gondola, cut in stone, adds to the realistic effect. The furniture is upholstered yellow brocade.

A marble tiled foyer connects the ballroom with the hall. Here the ceiling is of lattice work with mirrored walls.

 Rich Oriental hangings and exquisitely carved Chinese screens contribute to the beauty and charm of the room.

   In the Chinese ballroom the painted sidewall panels, window, and furniture carry out in detail the Chinese feeling.

A Buddha is a distinct feature of the over-mantel, with bronze Dogs Fu as andirons. The furniture and fireplace seat are covered with black and gold brocade.

   On the third floor of the house is Mrs. Anderson's study. This is distinctly Japanese with walls of smooth, perfectly matched wood, decorated panels and screens. The ceiling is decorated with floral motifs of Japanese origin. The fireplace of blue tile is unique, for it is sunken, a semicircular seat surrounding it.

   The Larz Anderson gardens, which cover many acres of this beautiful estate, are divided into gardens of different character and uses. The  main garden, which joins the house is connected with it by graveled walks and terraces. 

. "The Wild Flower," by Henry Berge.

 

  The facade has several niches, in one of which appears a bronze wall fountain.

A corner the Japanese garden showing a statue of Buddha. Here are little ponds, stepping stones and bridges about which are planted dwarfed trees, iris, and wisteria in a characteristic setting, that has a the charm of a garden Japan.

   Below this lies vegetable and beyond what is known as the lower garden, a natural garden laid out like a park. 

   

ARBOR

   Nearer the road is the Chinese rockery in which is seen a pagoda and an arbor, three hundred feet or more in length, with an arched top, over which are trained cherry trees and grape vines.

A charming feature of pagoda in the Chinese garden is the marble figure of a winsome flower girl with her lap filled with blossoms, looking down into the bird bath below.

https://downeastdilettante.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/this-garden-was-made-in-1901-and-named-weld-2/

https://brooklinehistoricalsociety.org/archives/listPhotos.asp?mainList=archives&subList=Larz

          Erte description of this month's Harper's Bazar cover translated from the French - 

"The thoughts of a young girl—these are beautiful flowers in life's garden. That queen of flowers, the rose, symbolizes them in its short but exquisite career. The young bud offers the bright hope of regal beauty to come; the sumptuous full-blown rose represents the enjoyment of present happiness; the petals falling scented tears, are scattered memories of happiness past. ... Do not the roses adorning the hair of a young girl symbolize the whole cycle of the feminine soul—which consists of hopes, of fleeting joys and of happiness past.... And the thorns, which often prick pretty fingers, have they perfect semblance to the passing dangers and disillusionments which confront every woman? Thorns, like bees hovering about flowers, are but the guardians of beauty. They keep the timid at a distance. But he who loves the rose and admires its beauty will know how to pluck it. And he who loves a woman will never fear that under her tenderness he will find thorns that will scratch him."

THE TIFFANY HOUSE at OYSTER BAY L. I.

 

THE TIFFANY HOUSE at OYSTER BAY L. I.

   IN developing Laurelton Hall, his Oyster Bay home. Mr. Louis Tiffany kept clear of the temptation to reproduce a Roman villa or French chateau. Being an artist with an intense feeling and love for the leagues of his own country, Mr. Tiffany created what he considers a distinctively American house. Before planning his estate, even on paper, the artist had the site carefully surveyed and a clay model of it made to scale. The valley, meadows, hills and trees were made in miniature. With this model before him, he formed in wax, to the same scale, his conception of the house. The building is very long, and its main rooms face either the harbor or the wonderful flowered hills. 

THE TIFFANY HOUSE at OYSTER BAY L. I.

  The grounds are marvelously beautiful, perhaps because nature has been assisted, not interfered with. Laurelton, by the way, has lost practically all its locust and other deciduous trees, for the North Shore of Long Island is bleak in winter, and Mr. Tiffany has planted pine or hemlock wherever the former trees have faltered in their growth. 

   The interior of the house shows a rare feeling for color, for here the genius of the designer has had full play. 

THE TIFFANY HOUSE at OYSTER BAY L. I.

  The most striking feature of the whole house is the central court—this room, for such it really is. Is suggestive of the Persian. It is a perfect riot of color, not only architecturally, but because it was designed as a place for flowers. From early spring until midwinter this court is a symphony in color. The crystal fountain resembles a large bottle or vase of the clearest glass. The water, coming from the lily pond in the garden, enters the vase at the bottom and overflows the slender neck in a silent sheet of limpid spray that reflects all the brilliant colors of the flowers. 

THE TIFFANY HOUSE at OYSTER BAY L. I.

   The distinguishing features of the main rooms of the house are their size and color. The living-room cannot be labeled, it belongs to no period or style. Rectangular, with no breaks and no excrescences, green predominates in its decorations, and there is a pervading sense of restfulness within its wainscoted walls.