January 04, 1952

Detroit News Quilt History Project; Michigan State University Museum; Susan Salser

Detroit, Michigan, United States

A portion of an Edith B. Crumb interior design column.

Small House in Beverly Hills​
Gray Aqua Prevails
Library Ceiling Is Gay Wallpaper
By Edith B. Crumb
Home Furnishings Writer
This shows the new residence of Mr. and Mrs. P. M. Piper, 32420 Sheridan road, Beverly Hills. After living over 30 years in a house three times the size of this, the Pipers were under the necessity of reducing the contents of the large house to fit the smaller one - no simple task.

Moving from a large house to a small one is a delightful prospect to most home-makers, but to Mr. and Mrs. P. H. Piper, who built a new home at 32420 Sheridan Drive, Beverly Hills, the move took on the intricacies of putting the tooth-paste back in the tube.

The house from which they were to move was three times the size of the new one and the Pipers were confronted with the task of weeding out the contents of a house in which they had accumulated furnishings over a period of 30 to 35 years.

This took some doing but that it was done right is shown in the furnishings of the new house, which is a story-and-a-half structure with basement, for it is not crowded with furniture.

Generous Storage
The first floor of this new house has a center hall living room, small dining room, library, kitchen with breakfast area, bedroom and bath. On the upper floor is a large bedroom with bath and plenty of storage space. That is one detail that the Pipers insisted on - closets and more closets.

A door at the top of the stairs makes it possible to close off the upper floor, thus leaving an apartment-sized house on the first floor.

The floor of the entrance hall is a flagstone and the walls are grayed aqua while the woodwork is white.

Aqua Ceiling
The walls of the living room repeat the color of the hall walls and the ceiling is a lighter tint of aquar. The woodwork is white. Wall-to-wall carpeting in color to match the walls give the room depth of background that is flattering to the chartreuse antique satin draperies which are hung over white taffeta traverse curtains.

Courtesy of The Detroit News Archives.