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HOW TO MAKE A COUNTRY PLACE 



The Crater Garden. 



Grounds are arboretum-edged, while on the lawns are grouped 

 choice and desirable shrubs and trees, and there is a rare Druid- 

 ical garden, into the centre of which was dragged, by that 

 double yoke of cattle, a ponderous, representative Cromlech stone. 

 This garden outlines a miniature Monte Nuova crater like that 

 just outside of Naples. Standing on its edge, one looks down at a 

 varied mass of flowering shrubs and plants. The winding paths are 

 bordered by old-fashioned box, while lily, eglantine and honeysuckle 

 perfume the air and brilliant blossoms carpet the ground. This 

 wonderful little basin was of nature's fashioning; man simply in- 

 tensified its beauty by rearrangement and planting. In some ways 

 it outclassed an Italian formal garden. 



ISLAND HOUSE. 



Passing through the depth of the forest that surrounds Drachen- 

 fels, as shown in the accompanying picture, in a spot where time and 

 again the Indian pitched his wigwam, stands Island House. When 

 one crossed the causeway, flashing in view, it seemed like a 

 new discovery, so hidden by foliage and rocky cliff was this ideal semi- 

 bungalow with the big living room and stone fireplace, stairway hid- 

 den behind the chimney, wide veranda, and upper balconies over- 

 looking the water. The veranda posts rustic, the house itself attractive 

 and homelike, it is the best example I know of a thoroughly con- 

 structed, plastered and finished house built in ten weeks. There are 

 ten rooms of good size, and it cost exactly $3,000. A pokehole 

 head hitting cellar was the one drawback and a needless error. 



Two miles 'cross country, at the meeting of the ways, stands 

 Crossways. With that broad towering exterior stone chimney, it fits 



