GARDEN AND SUMMER HOUSES 21 



style of workmanship there is great scope for the display 

 of artistic taste, and the garden designer will take a keen 

 pleasure in making his summer-house harmonise with its 

 surroundings, and at the same time prove both useful and 

 ornamental. Buildings in stone or brick, being of greater 

 importance than those in wood, will commend themselves 

 to owners who require a really durable structure, which 

 will form part of a decorative scheme carried out in 

 similar materials. The stone summer-house seldom looks 

 well in a garden which is devoid of any architectural 

 features ; it seems to require the association of walls and 

 terraces, in order that it may not be unduly conspicuous. 

 Small houses often look well recessed into a brick or stone 

 wall, or they may fittingly occupy the end of a terrace 

 walk, which is bounded by a low stone parapet or open 

 balustrading. They should, of course, be designed in 

 strict accordance with any mural work in the vicinity, 

 and the seats, which should be roomy and comfortable, 

 fixed at a convenient angle with the walls. A suitable 

 material for covering the latter would be India matting, 

 which can be procured in a variety of colours. If 

 preferred, this style of summer-house might have one 

 of the oak or pine seats recommended in the last chapter, 

 instead of permanent benches fixed along the walls. 

 This would obviate the necessity for leaning against 

 the cold material, and the seat could be stored away 

 in the winter time. 



Very beautiful stone houses are sometimes made to 

 cross a paved walk leading from one part of the garden to 

 another. There are two deeply recessed seats on either 

 side, the actual pathway forms the floor, and a highly 

 ornamental effect may be obtained by fixing gates of 

 some good design in bent iron work at one or other 

 of the entrances. A roof of weathered tiles would look 

 well, and the whole would lend an air of quaint distinc- 

 tion to any garden large enough to demand such a feature. 



