, the use of stones so small and irregular as
to suggest a "crazy-quilt" mosaic rather than structural stonework is
equally displeasing. This scheme unquestionably lends texture to the
wall, but it attracts too much attention to itself to the detriment of
such architectural features as doors, windows and other wood trim
intended to provide suitable embellishment as well as to fulfill the
practical requirements of daily use. Inasmuch as rubble used in this
manner becomes merely an aggregate in a concrete wall, the consistent
thing to do is to consider it as such and give the wall an outside
finish or veneer of rough plaster. This fact was recognized and often
acted upon by the early Philadelphia builders wherever the stone readily
available did not make an attractive wall. A few of the best examples
extant serve to indicate that houses of this sort have all the charm of
the modern stucco structure built over hollow tile.

Perhaps the most picturesque of the old houses of this type is Wyck at
Germantown Avenue and Walnut Lane, Germantown, a long, rambling
structure of rubble masonry with an outside veneer of rough white
plaster standing end to the street. Although Colonial in detail and
partaking to a degree of the general character of its neighbors, the
ensemble presents a rare blending of European influences with American
construction. Vine-clad trellises on the entrance front, a long arbor on
the garden front, box-bordered flower beds and a profusion of shade
trees and shrubs all help to compose a picture of rare charm in which
leading American architects have often found inspiration for modern
work.

Wyck is probably the oldest building in Germantown and certainly quaint
of appearance, considering its age, for it has been preserved as nearly
as possible in its early condition. The oldest part was built about 1690
by Hans Millan. Later another house was built near by on the opposite
side of an old Indian trail, and subsequently the two were joined
together, a wide, brick-paved wagon way running beneath the connecting
structure. This passage has since been closed in to form a spacious
hallway with wide double doors and a long transom above, the outer doors
being wood paneled and the inner ones glazed.

Of romantic interest is the use of this great hall of Wyck as a hospital
and operating room after the Battle of Germantown, and later, in 1825,
as the scene of a reception tendered to La Fayette, following his
breakfas