270 



LANDSCAPE DESIGN 



should be pleasantly and completely fitted to the topography, and 

 should give a flattering impression of the estate and of the house at 

 first glance ; but usually for none of these considerations should a 

 very much greater length of road be built, because the road is not 

 itself a desirable object in the landscape, and adding to its length may 

 well spoil more beauty than it creates. 



As we have said, where it can be avoided, a road should not intrude 

 upon the open naturalistic views from the house. Where the road 

 must cross such a view, it is better to have it cross approximately at 

 right angles to the axis of the view so that it shall offer the minimum 

 surface to the sight, and very often the road may be entirely concealed 

 in an undulation of the surface of the ground. It is usually better to 

 have the approach road rise as it nears the house, that the house may 

 have sufficient dominance in the composition. If the house lies upon 

 a side hill, it may be both necessary and esthetically effective to have 

 the road approach it from above, but in this case it can be made evi- 

 dent that there is still lower land beyond the house. The front turn 

 itself, however, should pitch away from the house both for ease of 

 drainage and for appearance' sake. If the road approaches the house 

 from below or approximately on a level, it is likely to be unpleasant to 

 have the portion of the road nearest the house pitch down into the 

 front turn. The first view of the house will be ineffective if it is dwarfed 

 by an intervening rise in the road, and in any case it is likely to be 

 annoying to be required to go up a hill for no purpose except at once 

 to descend to the objective point. 



It is always theoretically desirable not to allow service traffic to 

 use the road that approaches the living portion of the house, but in 

 many cases this would entail so great an additional road construction as 

 to be practically inadvisable. (Compare Drawings XXX and XXXII.) 

 If both kinds of traffic use the same road for a part of the way from the 

 public highway to the house, the continuity of direction should fol- 

 low the main road when the service road branches off from it, and 

 the service road should commonly be narrower than the main approach, 

 so that there can be no possible question which is the more important. 

 This separation of the two roads should if possible take place before the 

 service traffic becomes visible from the living portion of the house ; at 



