For the 1964-1965 New York's World Fair three companies built display homes. The Royal Barry Wills Associates went for a more traditional home. Its designers, well-known for their authentically styled Early American houses, wanted it to have the flavor and charm that people would appreciate, along with the flexibility and arrangement of space found in the best new homes.
As the exterior photograpf demonstrates, Wills designer Merton Barrows succeeded in retaining the appeal of the original New England home. Two wings extend from a slightly larger central section, just as they did on the first Cape Cod homes. Other details also mark this as a Wills creation: small-pane windows, properly proportioned shutters, narrow siding and large central chimney.
The plan indicates the guiding concept of this house - a room arrangement that is geared to a family of all ages. Since people tend to live around a kitchen, it occupies a central place in the plan; the living and dining rooms are close by and the family room is just down the hall by the garage. This arrangement helps generate systematic privacy for the family, with space for the children to entertain at one end room at the other end for a quiet master bedroom suite and a study.
The rear exterior of the Wills house displays the functional side to this traditionally oriented home. All three of the rooms facing the terrace - from the living room at left to the dining and family rooms - have large glass panels and sliding doors. For each of the rooms, the glass panels mean more light, an unobstructed view to the yard and a way outside.
In keeping with the leisurely pattern of family life, the terrace plantings are kept to compact, convenient areas. The siding, though authentically scaled is permanent white plastic.
The dining room of the Wills house is formal, yet doesn't seem studied or forced. Living rooms color were carried through to the dining room, from the off-white of the rug and walls to the salmon covers on the Queen Anne chairs. The crystal chandelier and illuminated corner cupboards create an effective, dramatic pattern of light. A walnut-stained plank floor harmonizes with the living room paneling.
The Willis living room displays a graciousness that comes from mixing the traditional forms of several eras. Just as our heritage draws influences of England and the continent, the decorating here is a blend, rather than a dry reproduction of any single period. This skillful blending - and the use of modern materials - make the room livable by today's standards. Prefinished walnut paneling (with molding trim added) forms a rich backdrop for the furniture, which ranges from the Queen Anne tea table to the classic-contemporary grand piano. Next to the fireplace is a Chippendale wing chair, ane xample of the 18th century English period. Basically, the color scheme of the living rooms is a simple one. An off-white Empire sofa blends with the sculptured rug, the drapery and the porcelain lamps; the tub chair adds a spot of pattern, while the salmon wing chair repeats the color of the end wall.
The study of the Wills house also borrows heavily from the 18th century. The English influence appears in the Queen Anne wing chair, Italian provincial in the desk, and Oriental in the turnings of the occasional chair. Here the salmon accents of the living and dining rooms become the main color scheme. Grooved prefinished paneling combines with the milled fireplace mantel to give the study a subdued but authentic richness.
In some of the other rooms of the Wills house - like this child's room - the formal decorating gives way to a more informal arrangement. Here the furniture has the whimsical touch of 19th-century Hitchcock peces, from rush-seat chairs to the stenciled storage chest and lamp tables. The wallt reatment accentuates the light feeling of the room, with stried paper repeating the drapery pattern. Solid squares of accent color on the wall are frames holding small lead soldiers.
Efficiency is the hallmark of this combination laundry-bathroom. A solid panel of ceiling light illuminates the room, with smaller built-in fixtures in strategic corners. A wide storage counter is divided by the mirror into a laundry-sorting section and a vanity-dressing counter. The white folding door at left slides back to reveal an under-counter washer and dryer, a compact sink and wall cabinets for linen storage. Exposed surfaces - from walls to floors - are hard-finished, washable.
One end of the Wills kitchen was planned as a sewing center. Even though it is as efficient as the laundry-bathm this rooms retains the traditional detailing: fruitwood-and-brass chandelier, flowered cafe curtains, diamond floor tile pattern and wrought-iron chairs with comb backs. Brightly lit, the sewing counter has space for all equipment and materials; above and below it are deep storage cabinets, some of themw ith accessory racks mounted on the inner side of the doors.
In the main are aof the kitchen the island cooking unit forms the hub of activities, its hanging pans and copper hood adding a plantation-kitchen warmth to the room. Ranged carefully around the island are a double sinkm long work counters and the appliances. On the far sie of the room, surrounded by storage is a buit-in planning desk.
A vaulted acoustic ceiling, trimmed with antique beams, establishes the Early American mood of the family room. Elm paneling and dark plank floor set off the greens and browns of the comfortable pieces. Unusual accessories - like the ship's lantern and the coffee table adapted from a trestle table - add realistic notes to the decorating scheme.
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