A GENUINE love of nature, and a growing interest in outdoor games and sports, has gradually undermined the formal character of the old-time country house. The realization of the fact that the country is the place for rest and relaxation, for simple joys and simple life has crept into the modern conception of the great manor house and villa, as well as the tiny cottage and bungalow.

The chief charm of the country house lies in its utilization to the fullest extent of the out-of-doors as a background both for its exterior and interior setting. The time of the transplanted, flattened, and spread-out city house set down haphazard somewhere in the country is passed. We see fewer and fewer of the old tall, spare houses perched gauntly on top of a treeless hill, or the low rambling ones striving vainly to crane their stubby necks above the brow of the hollow. American architects are beginning to adapt the country house both in line and material to the character of the surroundings. In California and some of the Southern states they are even going so far as to enliven the exteriors with touches of pure color transforming them into an integral part of their vividly colored environment.

To bring the out-of-doors as much as possible into the interior of the house, the rooms of the ideal modem summer country house are conceived as a series of enclosed porches. Each room is equipped with rows of plain glass sash or casement windows which put it into intimate touch with the immediate grounds or garden; or with long French doors opening out upon small balconies or upper and lower verandas; or with large plate glass windows which frame wide vistas of the adjacent country. The walls act merely as a setting for the landscape visible through their many openings, and the furnishings become a means of insuring the completest enjoyment of it.

An appreciation of the important influence which windows exert upon the decorations of the room inspired Mr. Irving Gill in his unique home on the Pacific Coast to leave the walls dead white and to rely upon the prismatic reflection of the windows to provide their ever shifting and changing colorings.

Obviously heavy furniture, elaborate draperies or rugs, and countless trivial decorative objects would be out of keeping with the natural backgrounds of which these rooms are so largely composed, so their furnishing has come to resemble more and more that of their prototype the enclosed porch. Light green, blue, or gray tinted walls are used and crisp light woodwork. The furniture is usually painted wood, reed, or willow, hangings and upholstery of light silks, cool awning stripes, or garden cretonnes, and floor coverings of simple rugs or matting.

All country houses, however, are not endowed with three or four sides of view. Most of them consider themselves fortunate if they are blessed with one, and that one usually has to be artificially created with a garden. This makes it all the more important to utilize this one side to its utmost capacity. On this side should be located the outdoor living-room, the sleeping porch, and some provision for an outdoor dining-room - essentials without which no modern country-house is complete.

The nature of the outdoor living-room depends to a great extent on the plan of the house. It may be an open or glass-enclosed porch or veranda. But it may, just as conveniently, be a loggia, terrace, garden nook, or a room in the house proper equipped with large removable windows. Whatever its nature, the principal point is that its location should take advantage of the grounds or garden, and not expose it to the dust and lack of privacy of the road.

The regulation front porch is usually desirable for this reason for an out-of-door living-room. Some of the modern builders of suburban houses have at last awakened to this fact, and are placing the living quarters in the rear of the house and the kitchen and servants' rooms facing the road or street

A large open porch overlooking the lawn or garden can be converted into a thoroughly delightful outdoor living-room. It should be supplied with awnings, green and white, or yellow and white striped, preferably. The furniture, consisting of tables, book and newspaper racks, and comfortable chairs must be substantially constructed to withstand wind and weather. Heavy wicker is the best and it may be obtained in attractive two or three color combinations, or in good plain shades, with seats of contrasting denim, burlap, or canvas. Cretonne is not practical as unavoidable wettings soon give it a washed-out appearance. Be sure that the furniture is finished with weather-proof paint. Couch hammocks are popular porch accessories, but they should be located, if possible, in an ell of the porch and used for reclining. Crex or wool rugs, flower boxes, hanging fern baskets, bay trees in tubs or plants in pottery jardinieres complete the necessary equipment.

The glass-enclosed porch can be treated somewhat differently. It ensures sufficient protection for the use of a lighter type of furniture and upholstery of chintz or cretonne. A couch and bookcases may be added to the furnishings. Casement cloth curtains should protect one's eyes from the glare of the glass, and there should be outside awnings, or inside shades of painted bamboo, silk or cloth. The broad kind which pull up in festoons are very decorative. They are best in pongee or rajah silk, or mercerized tan cotton material. The walls of the house are often covered with lattice work painted the same color as the porch, and much of its charm is dependent upon green growing things. By the addition of steam heat or an open fireplace its use can be greatly extended and it may be employed as an all-year-round breakfast-room insuring comfort in all weathers.

The loggia, or open gallery common to stone and stucco houses, may be converted by the use of French windows and concrete or painted iron furniture into an interesting outdoor living-room. With frescoed walls, white marble columns, a black and white marble floor, orange velvet upholstery and a small fountain in the center surrounded by greens, it can be made to rival the attractions of many of the rooms indoors.