DE WOLF-COLT MANSION, BRISTOL, R. I. EPOCH 1810.
CHAPTER VI
EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY WORK
To the brief but brilliant interregnum lasting from the beginning of the nineteenth century until the year 1825 we are indebted for some excellent domestic architecture. The end of the ancient régime in America, at least up to the war with Great Britain in 1812, was marked by a healthy and material progress which seems to have encouraged domestic architecture before everything. It presents no phases in common with that ancient régime in France from which we borrow the title. With us it was not a case of Du Barry and revolution; for the last remnant of America’s aristocracy passed away amid the pleasantest of surroundings, the only regret being that our gentry failed to bequeath to their children those rare qualities of eminent nobility which they themselves enjoyed to such perfection, and which are so charmingly indicated by the houses they erected—the houses they could not make out to take with them, to which it is still our privilege to pay visits and respects.
Looking backward, let us pay an imaginary visit to Bristol, R. I., in 1810—Bristol at the height of its Renaissance. Perhaps your engagement is an invitation to supper or high tea at George De Wolf’s, on Hope Street. (See [Plate XXXVIII]). They entertain elegantly, and this evening the entire grounds comprised within the close are illuminated by lanterns. One lingers in an enchanted garden, intensely absorbed conversing with the architect of it all—Russell Warren; the scene delightfully recalling a visit to Versailles, and the work of Louis XIV’s famous gardener architect, Le Nôtre. It is thus you nearly fail to heed the interruption caused by the servant who approaches along the box-bordered walk to say that supper is served in the large dining-hall. I only wish I had the space to continue this make-believe reminiscence; but the economy of the age in which I live forbids.
I once wrote for the House Beautiful, also for the Architectural Review, papers wholly devoted to the
