The Architecture of Mott B. Schmidt

In his country houses, Schmidt often looked directly to English models, such as the H-plan of 17th-century Honnington Hall in Warwickshire. Both the Peyton house and the Richard Woolworth house in Westchester County of 1934 use this source to good effect. The formal rooms in the former are comfortable, elegantly decorated and surely proportioned, and the plan functions admirably. The gardens and site of the Peyton estate were planned by Ellen Shipman, the well-known landscape architect who often collaborated with Charles Platt. Elements such as the intimate side garden, the contrasting handling of entry and garden fronts, and the treatment of the service court owe much to the older master. The house remained in the Peyton family until the early 1980s.