International studio (61.1917)

An Uninstitutional Institution

Spanish table graced a nearby nook, while here at
hand was a Jacobean seat. In the corner by the
window a hooded Queen Anne secretary sought
pleasant contrast with an inlaid desk of period
“William and Mary.” Gateleg tables and a mas-
sive table, a Mandarin lamp, oriental rugs cf vary-
ing patterns and weaves—and so it went—with
no foolish slavery to period but much thought of
the spirit that pervaded
the room. Yes, she was
right. I wondered at
the even quality of it
all, for there was no in-
harmony despite the
momentarily apparent
clash of varying design.
Why? The unifying
element was colour.
The fine soft tones of
oak well finished. The
rubbed floor and walls
of even tone. Lamps
and cushions, rugs,
hangings and uphol-
sterings, they brought
to the room the softly
brilliant reds and blues
and yellows and apostle
greens. Here, then was
the secret: selection of
fitments in harmonious
spirit, arrangement by
experienced and loving
hands, and a proper use
of colour.
The rugs throughout
the building are of ori-
ental weave and have
been pronounced the
finest single large col-
lection in the city.
The windows are del-
icately designed leaded
glass with but few hang-
ings to hide them, except upon the south side,
where persistent sunshine has made some shading
a practical necessity.
In the lounging rooms and library the curtains
are gray green velours; in the old English sun-
room they are a yellow figured cretonne; in the
offices they are of various cretonnes to suit the
individuality of the particular room; and in the

refectory they are monk’s cloth with a border of
blue stencilled from a design, the motif of which
Miss Hollister, sculptor and instructor in clay
modelling at the University, took from the carved
lozenges in the oak wall panels.
The furniture in the refectory is very attractive.
It is dark oak like the wall panels. The tables
are square and oblong, carrying out the idea of
variety, which is in all
rooms. The chairs are
lovely in line, uphol-
stered with blue hair-
cloth, because it is wash-
able, another bit of the
practicableness of
things along with their
beauty. The refectory
will seat 300 persons at
once. It is used for
serving luncheon and
supper to the girls and
for the banquets and
dinners.
One cannot refrain
from shuddering at the
possibilities if this won-
derful building had fall-
en into careless hands;
how garish it might
have been, how sump-
tuous, uncomfortable,
unwelcoming and cold.
Instead it is warm and
inviting and comfort-
able, with all the charm
that culture and refine-
ment and hominess can
bring to it, as one critic
has put it, “the art of
domestic achieve-
ment,” and another, “a
place which possesses
the most perfect har-
mony on a large scale—
either here or abroad”—and as the girls them-
selves put it, “a place we love to go to and stay
and stay and stay.”
The building is the gift of Air. La Verne W.
Noyes, as a memorial to his wife, herself a college
graduate and one who worked for the finer things
for women. It comprises the functions performed
for the men by the Frank Dickinson Bartlett


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