6 



or even on a single lot, such conditions are a visible reason for an unusual plan, 

 and if plans employ clever rather than awkward methods and details, the effects 

 may be indeed pleasing. For this statement there is ample proof in well-done 

 examples. Drives may have to resort to profiles which do not conform to the 

 grades of the lawn; they may have to cross the lawn, or even to receive other 

 treatment than that or dinar ly used, and, in fact, quite contrary to the prin- 

 ciples previously set forth. But the houses and the drives will both look well 

 and be practical, if the conditions of any particular situation are cleverly met 

 and if the result is apparently intentional rather than haphazard. 



The entrance problem is a very important one, and in the examination of a lot, 

 if there are apparent reasons for doubting the possibility of a satisfactory entrance, 

 this question should be decided before any further consideration is given to the 

 lot. A close observation of the conditions may be sufficient, or some information 

 as to the actual elevations may be necessary. At least one should visualize a plan 

 for drives and be reasonably certain of its practicability, before he seriously con- 

 siders purchasing the property. It is possible to make foot approaches of a satis- 

 factory nature over topographic conditions that will by no means permit a good 

 road, and therefore less thought need be given to this matter. In order to obviate 

 the necessity for a drive, garages may sometimes be recessed in a bank rising steep- 

 ly from the street, and though opening directly on the sidewalk, may be made 

 not unattractive by means of heavy planting about them. Still, garages so lo- 

 cated may as well be on a nearby lot, as far as the convenience to the owner is 

 concerned, since a long, steep foot approach is usually the only connection with 

 the house, and this is both undesirable for a main entrance and expensive for ser- 

 vice. Under some conditions, however, it may be possible to locate the house 

 directly on the street line and to make the garage merely a part of its basement. 

 This arrangement would, of course, permit of a stairway connecting the garage 

 directly with the main portion of the house. However it would be an exceptional 

 condition indeed that would justify such a scheme, and other plans are more likely 

 to be preferable. 



Drives may be made to enter at one side of a front yard, to turn and climb the 

 slope across the width of the lawn, and to turn again when the other side is reached, 

 thence passing in the usual manner between the house and the side property line 

 to the garage. In such cases, the drive should cross the lawn at a level sufficiently 

 below the house to be practically out of sight therefrom. The steeply sloping 

 ground may be attractively planted, and if desirable the drive may be thus quite 

 hidden from either the house or the street. Heavy planting on the steep grade 

 may in appearance serve to give the house more support ; and if much of the front 

 area is covered with suitable varieties of woody plants, the abruptness of the 

 grade may thus be made less evident. Drives may enter lots considerably below the 

 street by a reversal of these devices. When this is done, it is best to have the slope 

 nearest the sidewalk the steepest and to make for all possible width in level directly 

 in front of the house. Sometimes it may seem best to approach a house high above 

 .the street by means of a deep cut, the retaining walls or the abrupt slopes on either 

 side serving, with the aid of heavy planting, to render it less noticeable. A main 

 drive of this kind may be made to afford a very private and enclosed entrance, 

 and if used as a service drive, it may be almost completely hidden. Of course, 

 in sections where heavy snows are prevalent, such a drive may not always be 



