150 GARDENS IN THE MAKING 



house has a curiously close relationship with the 

 terrace, wherever it may be placed ; and whether 

 seen at the end of a paved walk or from the lower 

 levels over which it appears raised as an integral 

 portion and a crowning feature of the retaining wall 

 (fig. 31), it is sure to make an admirable composi- 

 tion. Whether square, circular, or many-sided on 

 plan, its bulk is usually a rough cube, and its steep 

 conical or pyramidal roof always provides a welcome 

 feature. With the trees and gateways it breaks 

 the skyline and dominates the scene in which it is 

 placed. 



The essential requirements of a garden house 

 are few and simple, yet they are capable of a very 

 wide diversity of treatment. From the timber 

 buildings, taking their inspiration from the mediaeval 

 period, to the prim and quaint essays in miniature 

 classical architecture which were the joy of the 

 eighteenth century, we can draw on a very extensive 

 choice. As long as we avoid the extremes of too 

 great a finish or too obvious a " rusticity," and make 

 the outline simple and the detail good, we cannot go 

 far astray. The architects of the time of James i. 

 possessed perhaps the greatest felicity in this kind of 



