PRACTICAL BOOK OF GARDEN ARCHITECTURE 



steep flight of steps leading up the terrace just 

 within the stone gate-posts. It would be unwise 

 to have the gate swing out to obstruct the pub- 

 lic roadway or walk, and impossible for it to 

 swing in, because of the steps. Drop chains, or some 

 other attractive form of barrier, are sometimes used 

 to give the effect of privacy. When the big gate- 

 posts are covered with ivy or ampelopsis vines, it is 

 not unusual to find the vine trained about the chains 

 swung between the posts. The pliable tendrils of the 

 vines are not injured by repeated using, and the 

 effect is that of a thick rope of living green to en- 

 close the entrance. A single drop chain is sometimes 

 used for the stately tower gate-posts giving entrance 

 to a formal garden. Naturally, this finish does not 

 present a real barrier to trespassers, but it preserves 

 the dignity of a barrier, which is sufficiently effective. 

 Carved and molded woodwork forms the favorite 

 gateway of the old Colonial gardens of New Eng- 

 land. Providence and Middleton, Marblehead and 

 Salem, are the towns of Ehode Island, Connecticut, 

 and Massachusetts where the best types may be 

 found. At the historic estate of Commodore Cowles, 

 at Farmington, Connecticut, is a prominent type 

 where the quaintly designed gate stands close to the 

 house, providing a barrier for the typically narrow 

 front dooryard of the old house facing the village 



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