.\ir\s7i -in 



gallery, the interest ol the th.m things thereabout. 



It IN pU-.is.un t., tn.irks ..ii tin- posts and 



i-, .uul it',- manner in whuh tin- uattsman. win-re curving 



timbers wer- required, lias ! th ise m 



which the natura! ' :iher would serve Ins need. 



And then, in th.- frst. and in the rooms later, the 



x t., reihse th ii every window has it oaken 



millions set llush with the miter wall. and tlui each is pl.i,. -.1. 

 .is it were, accidentally, but with nought for the garden 



that is out ide. Ii may ch.ince. tor example, that the outlook 

 AM a path, running like a river between two long hanks ot 



\' aelmis dames ..| every hue lavender, purple, and 



white beautifully grouped, and at the end the pergola, with 



tea r..ses and 



many kinds of 



clematis ram- 



pant upon it. 

 perg. la, 



indeed, is pre- 



w hat .1 



.la should 



be. with Us 



massive pillars 



>'t masonry, its 

 trunks ot 



trees, with the 



bark on, to sup- 

 port the mass .,1 



creepers, its OM.| 



shade at the en. I. 



From the win- 

 dow of the hall, 



the view i s 



absolutely 



restful. The 



eye falls upon 



a little lawn, 



fringed with 



birches, tin.- most 



graceful of 



hnglish trees. 



with rhododen- 

 drons, glorious in 



due si-ason, at 



their foot ; and 



through them, 



and between 



s rub of Spanish 



chestnut later. 



runs a br 



green path, at 



the end of which 



one sees the 



warm stems of 



a Scotch fir, 



which survived 



in the days of the 



great cutting 



but thereby 



hangs a tale, the 



ex pin nation, 



indeed, of much 



of ths spec al 



beauty of Munstead. which must be postponed for a brief 



rnom.-nt. Even at th s point it must be plain that tiles-.- 



harmonies between hnuss and environment this fashion 



in which the house takes advantage of every view of the 



wood and garden, and the wood and garden miss no view of 



the hou e must be the result of careful thought on the part of 



some person or persons. It is well, therefore, to say at once 



that the persons in question are Mr. Lutyens and Miss Jekyll. 



and that the whole was the result of innumerable discussi-ms 



and debates between them. " When it came t.. the actual 



planning of the house I was to live in I had made one fals< 



start a year or two before I agreed with the architect how 



and where the house should stand, and more or less how the 





THE BEAUTY OF THE BIRCHES. 



should In- t, Aether. And I s.u.l that I wand, I a small 

 with plenH ..I r...in in it. and that I disliked small. 



narrow p< ind would have nothing screwy oi ill-lighted. 



So he drew a plan, and we S.M.M , mi.- !. an understanding, 

 lust about the main blink, and then upon the details. I 

 portion ol it was i.trefully talked over. a:i 1 I (eel hound to 

 Confess that, in most LIM-S out t the lew in which I put 

 Mire on him to waive his judgment in favour of my wishes. 

 I should have done better (o leave matters alone." I he 

 combination, in fait, was in many n-spe.t- ideal, and that all 

 the more so because Miss l.-kv II. living in the .otta-e in the 

 WINK! hard by, and tending and arranging her garden and 

 vvoodlanJ, w.is always on the spot to advise and ! suggest. 

 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I he garden 



was iH'lnre the 

 Itouse in pan, 

 .it anv rate and 

 that was an 

 unmixed advan- 

 tage. I he site. 



''[J^, I" '. vv .is ..| ^re.ll 



natural tv.iuts . 

 It was on a 

 sandy hillside, 

 with an admix- 

 ture of (vat in 

 the s.irfa.e soil, 



which had <>iue 

 I'een a WINK! ; 

 but of the 

 original trees 

 few survived, 

 save the >cotch 

 fir wliuh ha- 

 been mentioned, 

 and which has 

 been spared 

 b e cause its 

 leading shoot 

 had met s,,m, 

 .undent .411. or 

 5(1. ahve the 

 ground, and the 

 gnarled a n d 

 divided trunk 

 rein. lining was 

 as valueless for 

 timber as it was 

 tvaiitiful to III. 

 Hut there 

 was scrub 

 timber of some 

 fifteen yea is 

 growth, and 

 there were heath 

 and I'M. ken. 

 and so there 

 w e r e e n d ! 

 opportunities, 

 hvell better than 

 the pergola, than 

 the rude wall 

 which Miss 

 Jekyll built for her beloved plants with her own hands, 

 more than the rock garden or the tank, more even than the 

 rampant roses, and the Iv border with its splendid 



background of warm red brick and creepers, may many like 

 the wood, because it has been so admirably managed, 

 and because the marks of interference with Nature have 

 been so artisticall. tied. Nature has teen ^impelled, 



so to speak, to group the trees. There has been but little 

 planting, but where the birches predominated their rivals 

 have been removed ; and so it has been with the other t 

 The paths, or many of them, are broad and straight, and the 

 sandy soil makes them springy and dry to the f<.t. Mere in 

 summer you come ' those giant lilies, iof:. high 



