Plan and exterior features The Edna S. Purcell house, or the “Little Joker,” as Elmslie nicknamed it, is known for its innovative arrangement of space. Occupying a deep, narrow lot, the plan of the house was organized on a single axis, open from one end to the other, evoking spaciousness within the relatively small interior. Purcell and Elmslie set the house thirty feet behind the front property line, conserving a sense of privacy for its inhabitants and allowing them to look over their neighbors’ gardens to their north and south, rather than through their windows. The structure of the house is steel-reinforced, with a buff-colored stucco exterior, built on a concrete foundation. Its overall design and decoration emphasizes a clean, modern aesthetic while serving practical functions and staying in harmony with natural surroundings. Overhanging eaves, with a 7-foot projection of the roof at the front (east) side of the house, emphasize the building's horizontality while also regulating heat and light at its entrance. A front wall of art glass windows connects the dwelling's interior to the garden, with bands of windows on the upper story adding to the sense of horizontality. Wooden piers and trim were all given “jin-di-sugi” treatment, a wood-aging technique based on traditional Japanese techniques using the application of chemicals or burning to artificially age wood. The exterior features ornamentation created by George Elmslie, including bands of red and blue stenciled square motifs and sawn wood elements. These include playful symbols of Purcell's family life: for example, a sawn wood beam-end decoration above the side gate that includes the motto, “Gray Days and Gold,” in reference to Purcell's grandparents, the Grays, to the colors of the firm's progressive architecture, and to the funds supporting Purcell's architectural practice and house. Two art glass windows flanking the entryway door contain a written message for neighbors and callers: “Peek-a-Boo.”
Interior Though open-plan, the first-level interior of the Purcell–Cutts House features individual room areas by virtue of alterations in floor level and breadth of floor space, while the tented ceiling maintains the same height throughout. The ground floor living room area at the front of the house features a high ceiling, increasing available space for the repeated pairs of art glass windows that comprise the walls of the front of the living room, while the dining area behind, set a half-story above, has a low ceiling. The pointed prow separating the dining and living areas creates a small nook, reserved as Edna Purcell's writing area. The effect of the main level's design is to maintain intimacy within the larger space, not rendering adjacent spaces automatically visible in main areas of the house, while preserving unity between rooms and the openness of the entire floor. The second floor is accessed by a stairway on the north side, and includes a small hallway opening to a guest bedroom with sink, a bathroom, and the family bedroom space. The latter is a singular suite which could be divided by a built-in folding screen wall, separating it into children's and master bedrooms. The maid's room is accessed off the stair landing, which is surrounded by wraparound wall of art glass windows.
Decoration, furniture, innovative features Throughout the house's interior, painted Elmslie-designed stencils repeat along the upper border of walls, with designs differing from room to room. Curtains were originally painted to match the rooms’ respective stencils, or were embroidered with other designs. Windows throughout the house also feature graceful geometric patterns of clear glass, highlighted with subtle colors, which vary slightly from window to window. In the first floor living room space, these patterns echo in art glass doors of the bookcase, built into the prow. Above the mantel-less fireplace, a mural by illustrator
Charles Livingston Bull depicts Louisiana herons flying before a lake scene. A wood decoration of semicircular design, decorated with art glass and sawed wood decoration, partially frames the painted scene. Purcell and Elmslie designed select pieces of furniture for the house, including a small, triangular-backed chair, dubbed a “surprise point” chair by William Purcell, for use in Edna's writing nook. Several noteworthy built-in furnishings include a combined bench and radiator cover beneath the front living room windows; a desk in the writing nook; and a combined bed, writing desk, bookcase, and storage area in the children's room, which Purcell designed after the Pullman-style bed of a train's sleeping car. Purcell brought furniture from his previous home for use in the dining space, and folding chairs were stored in the dining area for impromptu visitors. == Alteration and restoration ==