are of a spring green--I can think of no better name
for it.

In modern English and American houses of the smaller class the staircase
is a part of an elongated entrance hall, and there is often no
vestibule. In many of the more important new houses the stairs are
divided from the entrance hall, so that one staircase will do for the
servants, family and all, and the privacy of the entrance hall will be
secured. In my own house in New York, you enter the square hall
directly, and the staircase is in a second hall. This entrance hall is a
real breathing-space, affording the visitor a few moments of rest and
calm after the crowded streets of the city. The hall is quite large,
with a color-plan of black and white and dark green. You will find a
description of this hall in another chapter. I have used this same plan
in many other city houses, with individual variations, of course. The
serene quality of such a hall is very valuable in the city. If you
introduced a lot of furniture the whole thing would be spoiled.

I used an old porcelain stove, creamy and iridescent in glaze, in such a
hall in an uptown house very similar to my own. The stove is very
beautiful in itself, but it was used for use as well as beauty. It
really holds a fire and furnishes an even heat. The stove was flanked by
two pedestals surmounted with baskets spilling over with fruits, carved
from wood and gilded and painted in polychrome. Everything in this hall
is arranged with precision of balance. The stove is flanked by two
pedestals. The niche that holds the stove and the corresponding niche on
the other wall, which holds a statue, are flanked by narrow panels
holding lighting-fixtures. The street wall is broken by doors and its
two flanking windows. The opposite wall has a large central panel
flanked by two glass doors, one leading to the stairway and the other to
a closet, beneath it. Everything is "paired," with resulting effect of
great formality and restraint. Very little furniture is required: A
table to hold cards and notes, two low benches, and a wrought iron stand
for umbrellas. The windows have curtains of Italian linen, coarse
homespun stuff that is very lovely with white walls and woodwork. There
are no pictures on the wall, but there are specially designed
lighting-fixtures in the small panels that frame the niches.

In several of the finer houses that have been built recently, notably
that of Mrs. O.H.P. Belmont, the staircase is enclos