THE TERRACE 



THE function of the terrace in the convenience and 

 pleasure of the house is not far to seek. It is, 

 so to speak, a sort of exterior living place, an 

 open-air piazza out of which the house rises, and from 

 which it gains a special dignity and convenient opportu- 

 nity to enjoy most agreeably the open air and changing 

 views made up of lawn tennis, croquet, and social gath- 

 erings, which make delightful pictures when framed in 

 holly or box-bordered terrace, allowing one to pass, it 

 may be, from one level to another, and to look from 

 special points on evening sky and landscape. 



There need be no confusion as to the intention that 

 should inspire the erection of a terrace. It is not pri- 

 marily a garden, Italian or French, although it may be 

 appropriately decorated with gay parterres, presenting a 

 generally flat effect, relieved, perhaps, by clumps of 

 grasses, or more formal evergreen shrubs, of which we 

 must allow there are few that succeed in this climate. 

 The ordinary old-fashioned flower, such as the Blackeyed 

 Susan, hollyhock, larkspur, and sunflower, and even the 

 rose, can hardly be used appropriately on most terraces, 

 unless it be on some special part that is backed up by 

 heavy masses of shrubs or woodland. Such flowers are 



