THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



principal reason these early homes were so successful, artistically, 

 was because the taste of the period was superior and the appre- 

 ciation of artistic things more thoroughly genuine. 



There was a high state of culture and refinement among the 

 people of New York during the period just previous to the 

 Revolution. The leading families of English descent were of 

 gentle birth, and. possessed of fine instincts, the appreciation of 

 beautiful things was quite natural. Those of Dutch ancestry were 

 perhaps not so lively in their artistic sense, but nevertheless the 

 Dutch always possessed good taste and high intelligence and their 

 work showed evidences of it. English ideas and expressions of 

 art were followed to a large extent at this period (1750-84), 

 though the Dutch influence was still followed to a moderate degree, 

 both in architecture and gardening. 



During the very early days of Manhattan, the Dutch, as a na- 

 tion, had attained great distinction in the art of cultivating fruits 

 and flowers. This interest and facility were naturally trans- 

 mitted to this country, and gardens containing fruits and flowers, 

 as well as vegetables, were important adjuncts of the American 

 Dutchman's home. The 17th century gardens of New Amster- 

 dam were perhaps not elaborate or ornate and did not follow 

 complicated patterns (as in the French gardens of that time), but 

 they were laid out in regular and formal lines and were meant to 

 live in as well as to work in, and summer houses and arbors were 

 features. Then, as the citizens of New Amsterdam, later New 

 York, began to acquire wealth, expression of it began to show in 

 their dwelHngs and grounds. As the styles changed in the mother 

 country, so they changed in America. 



The first New York City country seats of importance origin- 

 ated apparently at about the middle of the i8th century. What is 

 now known as the Georgian type of architecture (and to some 

 extent Queen Anne) was prevalent, although the Dutch type was 

 also quite common. Previous to this period, formal design in 

 gardens and country seats had been the vogue in Europe for a 

 long period, but a change had begun, and toward the end of the 

 18th century the informal style had become popular. The earliest 

 American country estates therefore showed evidences of formal 

 design in the layout of gardens and general pleasure grounds, 



474 



