RESIDENTIAL PARKS 177 



Over at least half of this territory a fine forest of 

 chestnuts and oaks extends itself. It is not very wonder- 

 ful, therefore, to discover that the mountain views from 

 these slopes are enchanting on a bright, sunshiny after- 

 noon; but, oh, the mountain torrents that tear down 

 through these valleys, and the perched-up sites for houses 

 that seem to offer insoluble problems to those whose un- 

 happy lot it is to devise reasonably accessible houses by 

 means of devious roads and paths. The first thing done 

 was the establishment of a drainage system that was 

 large enough to take care of the greatest rush of water 

 that it would be possible to imagine would at any time 

 occur. The pipe used was in part two feet in diameter, 

 diminishing gradually to one foot, and extending through- 

 out the lowest part of the valleys the length and breadth 

 of the territory. 



At the entrance of the park, at the lower end, a simple 

 but picturesque stone lodge, with an arched passage 

 through, has been erected, and here business offices are 

 located. Just within the entrance, a small reservation, 

 some three acres of open space, has been reserved for a 

 small hotel or casino, and lawns with trees. This build- 

 ing is low and picturesque, and is reached by a* winding 

 road, for the passage of which it has been necessary to 

 make deep cuts, in order to partially overcome the orig- 

 inal inordinately steep grade of twenty per cent., so far 

 as to secure a fourteen per cent, grade, over which it is 

 possible for a carriage to pass with some degree of 

 comfort. 



It is evident that on this tract of land the extremes in 

 the way of grades have been reached. The puffing and 

 blowing produced by the mountain climb must be com- 

 pensated by the mountain views, which, as we strain up- 

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