HOMES NEAR TO NATURE 



495 



and withered, as I have carried it for 

 a long distance." 



I accepted the suggestion and called 

 on Mr. and Mrs. Gotthold, where I 

 was delighted, not only with the pic- 

 turesque pond and the profusion of 

 these marvelous flowers within it, but 

 with the perfectly natural surround- 

 ings in immediate proximity with well- 

 kept grounds. The tennis court was 

 abruptly bordered by a tangled thicket 

 of sumach, briars and vines. The ar- 

 tificial path at the back door imme- 



tiful and picturesque as any in the 

 famous Yosemite Valley or other 

 equally renowned ravines. 



The jewel of the lotus and its pond 

 were in an admirable and harmonious 

 setting. The paths leading from the 

 lawn and woods to the pond were 

 bordered with big clumps of perennial 

 flowers such as larkspur, phlox, iris, 

 peonies, roses, foxgloves, chrysanthe- 

 mums and many others, making a suc- 

 cession of bloom from early spring 

 when the first lotus leaves appear to 



A RETROSPECT OF THE PUBLIC ROAD FROM THE DRIVEWAY. 



diately, not gradually, changed into a 

 natural path as wild and picturesque 

 as one would ordinarily expect to find 

 at a distance of many rods from the 

 house. The art of nature and the art 

 of man have here sympathetically co- 

 operated. 



"And then too, do not neglect," said 

 my informant, "to visit the hemlock 

 grove and the wonderful ravines just 

 behind this home." 



Following this suggestion I found a 

 lofty, dense hemlock growth as beau- 



late autumn when the picturesque 

 seed vessels succeed the big fragrant 

 blossoms. The flower, therefore, 

 seemed to be in its proper place as 

 sometimes such flowers do not seem to 

 be when they are in a large park or a 

 formal lawn. The photographic illus- 

 trations here shown afford a general 

 notion of the effectiveness of this bit 

 of dainty aquatic scenery. The boat 

 in the foreground, the great leaves and 

 the slender stalks of the lotus plants, 

 with the globular blossoms, together 



