The servants' quarters in this house are very well planned. In the back
yard that always goes with a house of this type I had built a new wing,
five stories high, connected with the floors of the house proper by
window-lined passages. On the dining-room floor the passage becomes a
butler's pantry. On the bedroom floors the passages are large enough for
dressing-rooms and baths, connecting with the bedrooms, and for outer
halls and laundries connecting with the maids' rooms and the back
stairs. In this way, you see, the maids can reach the dressing-rooms
without invading the bedrooms. The kitchen and its dependencies occupy
the first floor of the new wing, the servants' bedrooms the next three
floors, and the top floor is made up of clothes closets, sewing-rooms,
store rooms, etc.

I firmly believe that the whole question of household comfort evolves
from the careful planning of the service portion of the house. My
servants' rooms are all attractive. The woodwork of these rooms is
white, the walls are cream, the floors are waxed. They are all gay and
sweet and cheerful, with white painted beds and chests of drawers and
willow chairs, and chintz curtains and bed-coverings that are
especially chosen, _not_ handed down when they have become too faded to
be used elsewhere!




V

THE TREATMENT OF WALLS