The back hall led from the stairway to what once had been the back porch. It was replaced by a flagstone paved court which was shaded by an awning and used as a terrace. The front veranda could only be entered by the French windows of the living-room, and had no steps. The driveway led to the side of the house where one entered through a porte-cochere into the sun-parlor, or continued around to the terrace entrance in the rear. The kitchen was in a separate wing built off from the dining-room and the drying yard was concealed by a high privet hedge. The back terrace overlooked the garden and fulfilled all the functions of a front porch, but insured greater privacy and protection from the dust of a well-traveled automobile road. The entrance through the sun-parlor, or vine-covered arbor, was counted by many as one of its chief charms.

The walls of the living-room were mulberry, the ceiling was oak beamed as it had been originally with a later covering of plaster removed, and the old floor was left as it was and painted a deep purple. A large Caen stone fireplace was built in the center of the wall opposite the front windows and this was tinted a deep ochre - a delightful touch with the mulberry walls. Oak bookcases balanced each other at opposite ends of the room, as also did two long oak tables placed parallel to them, and several high-backed oak chairs. Two large oak settles flanked the fireplace. There were several large chairs and a divan upholstered in purple velvet, and one large chair upholstered in deep crimson brocade. Two narrow settees under the windows were covered with orange corded silk cushions and the shades for the side bracket lighting fixtures were of orange silk. The shades of the two floor lamps placed on either side of the mantel were composed of equal sections of orange, purple, and crimson silk, and were edged with a variegated fringe composed of the three colors. The two lamps on the tables had mirror black bases and shades of black, orange, and rose silk, shaped like Japanese pagodas. Three large plain burnt-orange rugs were placed upon the purple floor.

The character of this room was essentially that of a formal living-hall, and it was used exclusively for that purpose. When one came down the stairway whch led to the rear of the house, one entered on the left into the large sun-parlor used as a reading- and writing-room and informal living-room, and on the right into the dining-room.

The sun-parlor had gray walls, a green painted floor, and red and green chintz hangings. Three little green writing tables stood out from the wall on one side and at each was placed a green painted desk chair. Each table and chair stood on a small oblong scarlet rug. The easy chairs and couch were of gray wicker upholstered in red and green chintz. The magazine rack and small reading table were painted bright scarlet, and green window boxes with red geraniums were arranged in the windows.

The dining-room also had gray walls. Its floors were painted a mustard brown, its hangings were orange and black chintz, and its furniture unpolished oak. A long narrow sideboard with carved panels occupied one side of the wall. The table was oblong with a curiously inlaid top, and the chairs had slender carved backs and rush seats.

The addition of extra bedrooms or guest rooms is often accomplished in novel ways in made-over houses. In one case a stairway landing on the second floor was utilized. A row of small casement windows was cut into the blank wall in the rear and with the addition of a few feet of the back hall allowed a pleasant little room of fifteen by nine feet. A couch was placed across one end and a green side-table with an oblong mirror above it took the place of a bureau or chest of drawers at the other. This was suitable either for a man or woman guest. An ample green-painted wardrobe with drawer space supplied the lack of a closet, and there was also a convenient little green writing-table. The bedcover and casement window curtains were green and yellow figured cotton, the walls were deep buff, and the floor terra-cotta with two bright red and green oval braided rugs. There were flower pots on the window ledge and the little room was solicitously comfortable besides being charming and naive.

In another case, where the host had many bachelor friends, the only available place for an extra bedroom for the bachelors was on the top floor in a small space where there was a dormer window, but where a projection at one end arose three feet above the level of the floor. The space was not large enough to ignore the projection and the problem was finally solved by building two bunks lengthwise on top of it. With the addition of the framework, the springs, and mattress the beds were about four feet from the floor and were reached by three broad built-in steps. The walls and woodwork of the room were pure white. There was a black chest of drawers, a small black writing table, a white built-in wash stand with a coarse peasant ware bowl and pitcher, two small black rugs, and bed covers of a stunning black cretonne with touches of red and green. These quarters proved a powerful magnet for blase city bachelors.

The problem of providing adequate closet space in an old house is an important one. One good method of disguising built-in closets is to make them in the form of cupboards with small glass panes in the top of the doors, behind which can be hung curtains to match the hangings of the room. These are much more sightly than the usual clumsy built-in wardrobes reaching to the ceiling.

Many old houses have alcoves adjoining the bedrooms, and these alcoves can often be used to form separate sleeping- and dressing-rooms, allowing the main room to be used as a sitting-room. The bedroom alcove in one old house was papered in a smart green and white paper and two square posted white iron beds, a white chest of drawers, and two small chairs placed in it. It was separated from the main room by gray linen curtains lined with green and could be cut entirely off from it in the daytime while affording the use of its ventilation and space at nght. The main room was used as a study and sitting-room and was pleasantly conceived in gray, green, and violet.