ABSTRACT
Being in the Lanson home for a short time, one gains a feeling that here life is tranquil and subdued. No forceful sounds are to be heard, no visible assertions arrest the eye. Care and containment are suggested in the plastic coverings on the conventional furniture. People speak quietly in this house, with an evenness of tone that extends into the physical surroundings. Walls, carpet, and furnishings are in pale neutral shades. In talking, the Lansons maintain a steady posture, shifting placidly, gesturing minimally. The modest but new five-room house is, in almost all respects, a suitable setting for family life as the Lansons believe it should be: harmonious, quiescent, and unspectacular. For such a life few paraphernalia are necessary, and few are immediately in evidence. The visitor in the living room sees no books, pictures, or magazines—only yesterday’s newspapers. The absence of cultural artifacts does not reflect lack of intelligence. Neither, in this family, is it a sign of lack of interest in the house itself or in its embellishment; when the Lansons moved into this house five years ago, as soon as the builder completed it, they were realizing a long-cherished dream for a home of their own.
