al rugs older than
themselves. The staircase has two landings, on the first of which
stands an old Grandfather's-clock, marking the beginning of a custom
that obtains to this day.

This hall is characteristic of American houses of the Colonial period,
and indeed of the average large country house of to-day, for the
straightaway hall, cutting the house squarely in two, is so much a part
of our architecture that we use it as a standard. It is to be found,
somewhat narrower and lower of ceiling, in New England farmhouses and in
Eastern city houses. The Southern house of ante-bellum days varied the
stair occasionally by patterning the magnificent winding staircases of
old England, but the long hall open at both ends, and the long stair,
with one or two landings, is characteristic of all old American houses.

The customary finish for these old halls was a landscape wall paper, a
painted wall broken into panels by molding, a high white wainscoting
with white plaster above, or possibly a gay figured paper of
questionable beauty. Mahogany furniture was characteristic of all these
halls--a grandfather's-clock, a turn-top table, a number of dignified
chairs, and a quaint old mirror. Sometimes there was a fireplace, but
oftener there were doors opening evenly into various rooms of the first
floor. These things are irreproachable to-day. Why did we have to go
through the period of the walnut hat-rack and shiny oak hall furniture,
only to return to our simplicities?

[Illustration: THE STAIRCASE IN THE BAYARD THAYER HOUSE]

When I planned the main hall of the Colony Club I determined to make it
very Colonial, very American, very inviting and comfortable, the sort
of hall you like to remember having seen in an old Virginia house. One
enters from the street into a narrow hall that soon broadens into a
spacious and lofty living-hall. The walls are, of course, white, the
paneled spaces being broken by quaint old Colonial mirrors and
appropriate lighting-fixtures. There is a great fireplace at one end of
the hall, with a deep, chintz-covered davenport before it. There are
also roomy chairs covered with the same delightful chintz, a green and
white glazed English chintz that is as serviceable as it is beautiful.
Besides the chintz-covered chairs, there are two old English chairs
covered with English needlework. These chairs are among the treasures of
the Club. There are several long mahogany tables, and many small tea
tables. The rugs