Seventeenth Century (Dutch)
Let us enter a rich home and see how the rooms are
arranged. We pass through a great oaken door painted
green and furnished with a heavy iron knocker, to enter
a high and commodious vestibule, the walls of which are
hung with pictures, deers' heads or other hunting tro-
phies. On one side is a broad oak staircase with a lion,
griffin, or dragon beautifully carved at the base, and
holding in his paws the same coat-of-arms that is carved
in front of the gable. Facing the entrance hangs a mag-
nificent oil painting. In less wealthy homes the vesti-
bule is encased with blue and white tiles, and the floor
is also laid in the same, and a carved oak or stone bench
faces the door. As this " voorhuis, or vestibule, is used
by the less fashionable as a living apartment, there also
stands here a table, and on the wall a mirror in an ebony
frame, and many polished brass vessels and Delft dishes
and plates give a homelike character to the spot. A
house of this type has a verandah outside, on and under
which the small merchant conducts his business, al-
though his office or " comptoir " is at the back. If this
happens to be a school, the master or mistress teaches his
or her class under the " luifel "; or, if an inn, this is the
meeting or smoking-room.
The " comptoir " is also found in the homes of the
rich, and the lady of the house often sits there with her
children, not because it is the most attractive place, but
in order to keep the better rooms neat and clean. In
rich houses many of the rooms are known by individual
names,—some according to the use to which, they were
put, others on account of the hangings, the name of the
occupant, or an important piece of furniture. Hence we
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