Building air castles in Spain is not a bit more interesting than planning a Spanish house for America. America is young yet and blood of our European ancestors is still flowing in our veins, so it is not at all strange that we should want our architecture even today to still bear evidence of European influence, although at the same time showing the individuality and sentiment of our people

Carlson, Thelma

English

Building air castles in Spain is not a bit more interesting than planning a Spanish house for America. America is young yet and blood of our European ancestors is still flowing in our veins, so it is not at all strange that we should want our architecture even today to still bear evidence of European influence, although at the same time showing the individuality and sentiment of our people.</p

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B 4 THE IOWA HOMEMAKER Bringing Romance from Spain ... BUILDING air castles in Spain is not a bit more interesting than pl.an-ning a Spanish house for Amenca. America is young yet and blood of our European ancestors is still flowing in our veins, so it is not at all strange that we should want our architecture even today to still bear evidence of European influ-ence, although at the same time showing the individuality and sentiment of our people. By Thelma Carlson Balconies were used in the old houses for protection. The Spaniards also bad the belief that the iron bars absorbed the heat, so put them in the front of their \\;ndows to help keep out the heat of the sun. Now, these balconies are merely decorative. Another characteristic of the Spanish house is the flat roof. This has been mod-ified omewhat throughout America. In the more northern clima le it was neces-sa ry to make the roof steeper to shed the snows. The Spaniards, instead of building their garden around the house, built their house around the garden. This was known a a patio or inside living room. 1'hcy were thought of as liYing from the outside in, while the American lives from the inside out. One writer also men-tions that the American habit of sitting on the porch could not be neglected, so the Americans did not surround their patios on all four sides. Often, however, you find them inclosed on three sides and rivaling the old patios in beauty. The Spanish type of house actually seems to be born from the physical con-ditions of the snrt'oundings. In this, color plays a ' 'cry important part. The delicately shaded pinks and yellows set off ";th the red tile roofs blend with the surrounding colors. Ya rJ;ng of floor levels is used to an advantage in this bouse. 'rhe efficiency of the Americans in room arrangement, and ingenuity in distribution of heating and plumbing apparatus have made a type of house with comforts nowhere else known. o like every art thnt has ever lived, Spani h architecture has responded to the demand.> and absorbed the characteristics uf the race and age that it serves. Although the ideas of Spain have been adapted to modern living conditions in ,-arious parts of this country giving re-sults which are interesting, which are or-iginal and which afford a greater enjoy-ment in life generally, they have been a little o,·erdone. Various roof lines and much decoration ha,•e made them too or-nate. The panish house should show sinceritv and honesty in design. The 'spanish house was first brought to Mexico and from there wa taken to California, New Mexico, Texas and Flor-iclll. As these places were more or less isolated from each other at that time, it is not peculiar that each developed a local variety. When t:he Thermomet:er Goes Up In California the monks had an unmis-takable influence on the dominate archi-tecture. But becau e of the scarcity of architects, and the pre ence of only the crudest of materials, there was an ex-treme simplification and almost utter los of details. There developed therefore '~h at might be termed as frugal, honest and crnftmanship-architecturc. The hou es of Arizona took on a desert quality. The roofs became flat a nd de-dined to appear in the perspective: In Mexico the Indian influence was felt greatly. In fact they became almost half Indian and half Spanish. The In-dian ideas were carried out in the mass and outline. Florida. developed the tropical type which might he known as the "romantic" house of America. High walls of stone, festoons of Spanish moss, lolling, wind-blown palm trees, varic·olored awnings, and wrought iron gates and grilles c·hanged its appearance. In the northern climate the houses were less spread out because of the extra cost to make the foundation rea<•h the frost line. Here the chimney rec<•iyed a place of prominence hecnuse of its utilitarian importance. 'rho bright sunlight of Spain is one of the reasons why the • poniards made small windows. Then, also thcv b!'\ic,·ed in the seclusion of women, • and the construction of but a few smn\1 win-dows wa one way of keeping women from being een from the street. The pnnish house in America also has. thi distinctive feature. DID you it sweltering on a sticky mohair davenport, sipping iced lemonade and staring dejectedly at a li\•ing room clone in warm browns and reds last ummer f Anticipating ju t such a hot, dry sum-mer as last, many women are already scheming how to make their living rooms comforta.blo and inviting for that time. nd it is a simple matter to entirely a\-t c:-r the aspect of a room by a few simple changes. Let us begin with the overstuffed d:w -~nport nncl rhairs. Covered with mohair, the~· present a. very difficult problem-that of keeping them free from the fine du t ancl dirt that blow thru the open windows . 'Why not slip-cover them t There is something quite thrilling about seeing tho former drab furniture dressed up in a new tailored covering of rep or denim in some soft color. A flounce, or "petticoat.'' of boxed plait around the bottom gives a finishing touch that i quite pleasing. Th<'n there is the mntter of drapes. The hen,·y silk or ,-e\our ones that have aclornecl the windows all winter nrc too (IXpensivo to be swished out the window in tho summer winds, yet people insist upon ha,·ing e\•ery possible breeze. A ,·er~· simple solution is to hang up some inoxpensh·e, printed crash in gay, har-monizing rolor., or perhaps some plain mat<·rinl such a<; Osnaberg would be more •nitahle. Th~s() need only to be laun-dt•rcd when they become s~iled, and will look fre•h and ~ool all ummer long. .\nd isn't there some little furniture By Anafred St:ephenson knick-knack that can be painted f A little end table, a magazine rack, some hang-ing shelve , or a chair, when painted some bright but harmonizing color, will do wonders toward bringing color and gay-ety into the room. Then when everything is completed-tho lip-co,·ers, the drapes and the paint-ed furniture--arrango it all and decide upon the pillows. Perhaps more color is till needed, so pillows of big bold prints are chosen. However, if printed drapes haYo pre,·iou ly been selected, then cush-ions of plain colors arc more to be de-si red . Aside from color and design, they must bo washable, and preferably cot-ton, so when the cool nights beckon, they can bo carried out onto the la\vn with-out harming them. We know of one lidng room that is in tho prOC('SS of being rejuvenated for spring. Tho davenport and one large c·hai r Wt'ro slip-co,·er~cl with a soft blue drnim. Two other quaint shaped, small, stuffet"l chairs were slip-covered with a no,·elty-wo,·en, st riped linen with ,;olet, green and yellow the predominating col-ors. A not her was done in a plain rus et colored material. This variety of color seemed to call for plain drapes, so nat-ural colored Osnaberg was bung at the windows. The two sections of bookcases were painted black on the outside and linen with bright yellow. When the green, orange, red and ,·iolet books were ar-ranged in groups, it presented a charming c•ll'ect. A small table and an a.<•h stand woru painted a rtl' ct color imilar to the (Continued on page 14) Do HOI\ lo you to you ( 1 sp.nd · ~~~.•ervi yuu will r r that in •·m•n it Ibi, on lh li ]~cent o l mtn' WO o~ •Jaent in Tb, amo •lit.\ one klchtn ran htrtd if th 11'11lRtd pro JW to d l~mt in the ltftfnt, you 11 protiJoatel kou" daily ·~:~ding, in 11 • Parent·T I 14 T H E IO WA HO MEMA K E R I I I I I I I I I I I I I HOLLYWOOD FROCKS of Sports Material Silk and Wool The clevere. t fla1·e skirt tyle. you could ever im~ine. Eggshell, maizr, flesh palest nile $}8.75 THE RIEKENBERG CO. STYLE SHOP WE ST AME S 1 I I I I I I I I I ! I I I ~-------------------------------------_____ ____. ~----------------------------------- ----~ !ELECTROLUX ! I I I - //; I i TH~ 'aJ_ REFRIGERATOR j I I I I I Electrolux is the one nutomati~ rc- I I frigerntor that makes cold and freezes I I ire cubes without u ing any machinery I I nt niL 11 I Silent when you buy it, Elcctrolux I nins silent forever after. I I I I I 11 d tinvun• flanot take• tht II place of all mouing parts. I I I f D ·I l d 1 ow; .... ~a1 way an !' , Lid Cor}lorcl1ion , I :, I I 13 1 Main S treet Phone 11 I I I ~-------------------------------------------------~ ~--~~--------------~~~~~--------------------------] 1 ~pri11~1?s / 1 I Here. 1 1 The New, All-Occasion Shade I I in Phoenix dul SHEER I I Hosiery I•~ or your lovelie t nrw spring frocks the new " pringtime" hnsil'ry shade ! J\n rntrnncm::r warm g-rey beige . . . that dis-tmgiushrd your costumP 1:1s surely 1:1s the slcPk Jines of Phoenix cluJ l:llH'l'r fla ttC'r yom· nnklr. · ------------------------------------------an adaptor 10 the faucet and emptied int o the machine. Pots and Pans Are Fun (Continued from page 3) primary coat of a sort of cream colored base before receiving the final color coat-ing. Then the girls dip the ware into baths of the colored ~name!, or spray t he ubstanco on with ''air brushes'' or ''guns.'' Each motion that they make in tho operation is systematic and well-timed, and tht•rc is not one bit of wasted energy. Tho vats of tho cnamt'l make ·uch a colorful array, I couldn't help asking the guido if the introduction of color hadn't been effective in eliminating much of the monotony of the job. I should imagint' that no one could help liking to work with such loYely stuff. He laughed and disillusioned me by saying that to the girls it was ju t a long day of hard work, and one or anotber was all the same to them. After tho pans art• dipped they are hung on racks to dry and tht' rack are taken to the baking rooms. Here expert "bakers" operate thl' OYens. A great amount of kill and experience is needed in regulating the exact temperature and timing the baking proces . These men take a great deal of pride in tlteir work, since so much of the success of the pro-duct depends upon their performance. Tho finishing process is the last, and tho article arc polished, inspected care-full)' for any po sible flaw , then wrapped, packed nnd shipped or booked for stornge. The plant employs n technical stnff to conduct experimental investigations in te ·ting tho finished products and devel-oping new ones for the market. And so we see them in attractive dis-plays on our department store tables, are enticed, fall, and carry them proudly homo to complete our color scheme. And my lit tic set of canary yellow mixing bowls goes on tho shelf us one of my treasl)rcd possessions, along with n luster-luo cream pitcher llltcl a gny Cheeho· l!l\·akinn platt'. The Thermometer Goes Up ( C'ontinucu from page 4) chair covering. Both printed and plain pillows wcro used, somo blue-grct•n and \'iolet linen ones for the blue dtwcnport, with two \"Cry nttrnctiw printed onl'!l bringing out yellow nncl mon• gn•l'n. As n lnst finishing 1ou(•h, an inter~sting printed cotton textile wns hung on th~ wall in n spncc formerly occupied by 11 h('twicr tape!!try hanging, which wns cn-tiroly out of plnco with thll new nrrny of color. Kite he (Contil th!ir U!('-(1 (3) senin~ 31 nite table 1 diDio~ room i - IT(d -.ill be t.lble.-herc il ~tohm fl· trit ODI:\ t Of•JY•itc the to the prepu tl.tt it .-ill! tie food prep rm~ renter. rocm for oft• . rh, butter. f<1JC!, are ph An ohloue ~ rted an o1htr form. lll!olillt of n t~e large eqt btr of <:qua~ TIIQ •~n <ee ·i~lb the' 1 from one .id, illld all loge ~trry. Too lllanr roor in a· tilb foor d !!quire thr ~n the ~ted. II .j hro pi Itt. Tbl< llrangement l'l'fl' on onQ oa lhe otbe~ lllllr ettra lot, on v •tt !the~ Ott, Do Cll l.o~t l<ind ~for, '1\ e in "hi 9 1ttnolo,, !I) l~t lht~· Dl Dlf:ln. D )j ht ~.~ten.!<! ll '''" t ~~and te lion ttn lit l'o'tfo ait~ttr t' Ire. ll " 1indo '·~ t.oa o •• ~0 the ~ ~Ptt~ ~ 1 ' to 14 'll~r ,, ~~ lbe l illlo d 0 'I\ 0 '"'t 

Bringing Romance from Spain

https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/38900

Bringing Romance from Spain

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