CHAPTER III 



GARDEN AND SUMMER HOUSES 



THERE are few objects better calculated to lend an air of 

 character and distinction to the garden than a well-built 

 summer-house, and certainly none more liable to make it 

 an artistic failure than those of ugly and commonplace 

 design. There is a certain fascination in sitting out of 

 doors when the weather is suitable, and even the smallest 

 villa gardens have their summer-houses, such as they most 

 of them are. It is rare indeed to find that much thought 

 has been bestowed on the choice of a suitable structure, 

 still less on the site it is to occupy, and the numbers 

 of English gardens which are disfigured by flimsily 

 constructed matchwood erections is a matter for keen 

 regret. Though a summer-house of some description is 

 to be found in almost every garden, a very large pro- 

 portion of them serve no good purpose whatever they 

 are neither ornamental, nor are they ever used. Certainly 

 some of them serve as a storehouse for croquet mallets 

 and tennis nets, but, as for sitting in them, the idea is out 

 of the question. In hot weather they are unbearably 

 stuffy, in cold they are draughty ; and, when free from 

 such disadvantages, the seats are so narrow and uncom- 

 fortable, that we generally find a few rugs on the ground 

 are considered far preferable to sit upon. I am speaking, 

 of course, of the orthodox summer-house, which can be 

 purchased ready built from manufacturers of " rustic " 

 furniture ; those which have been built by the amateur 



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