CHAPTER V. 



BUILDING SITES AND GROUND SURFACES. 



HAVING, in the chapter on "Suburban Neighborhoods 

 compared with Country Places," suggested the most 

 desirable proportions for suburban lots, we propose in 

 this to consider building sites with reference to their 

 tree-furniture, their natural surfaces, and the better ways of im- 

 proving them. But it may not be superfluous to repeat, that where 

 the form of the lot can be determined by the purchaser, a propor- 

 tion where the depth is from three to four times as great as the 

 frontage is usually the most desirable. 



A varied surface is, of course, a great desideratum ; yet, for 

 quite small grounds, abruptness or picturesqueness is seldom com- 

 patible with the high keeping that is essential near the dwelling. 



