TERRACES AND BALUSTRADES 119 



will be kept low and the view left uninterrupted. 

 It is essentially a place of prospect, open to the air 

 and sky, although it may often be prolonged into 

 sheltered walks and covered ways. The potentiality 

 of the terrace as a subject for design is very great, 

 and in the past it has provided the opportunity for 

 widely varied types of arrangement. As an outdoor 

 " room " it can be paved and furnished with seats 

 and every variety of garden furniture and ornament. 

 As a platform or place of vantage from which to 

 enjoy the view, it requires the help of a retaining 

 wall crowned with balustrading, a parapet of brick or 

 stone, a low hedge, or a fence curiously contrived of 

 wrought-iron. Such features combined with a flight 

 of steps to a lower level can be made into a delightful 

 composition as viewed from below. Again, pro- 

 longed as a walk, the terrace may lead the eye to a 

 beautiful vista, through trees, or over lawns, up or 

 down the sloping ground, to a distant view on one 

 hand or terminating in a garden house on the other. 

 Once we have set out the lines of our main terrace 

 and pondered upon its possibilities laterally and at 

 each end, we shall find that the rest will largely take 

 care of itself and fall into line. 



