3Lasfn0 ut of a parfe or Estate 75 



only a nook of three quarters of an acre, high enough 

 to dominate a fine view to the north, and entirely 

 secluded on a steep narrow back road embowered with 

 many trees. The region is an inhabited one, but except 

 for a house here and there, it might be in the Adiron- 

 dacks. There are hundreds of similar places within 

 fifty miles of New York City, only most people do not 

 look for them. The dwelling itself is a small farmhouse 

 of a quaint, yet familiar, and commonplace character. 

 The purchaser of the place really left the house almost 

 alone. A simple wing and a stoop were added, also 

 closets, cupboards, and some changes of partitions. 

 The exterior was little changed, except for a coat of 

 paint. Even plumbing was left out, and yet the owner 

 and her friends and relatives often spend considerable 

 periods of time in this little nook. The place has a 

 wonderful charm for its owner, who has lived much 

 abroad, especially in Italy. Her respect, however, for 

 the thoroughly American quality of the place, its sim- 

 plicity and quaint natural beauty is great, and no 

 foreign fashion is allowed to mar its inherent, native 

 charm; just a plain old-fashioned house near the road, 

 of no special style at all, not even Colonial. On the 

 steep sidehill from where the house stands a narrow 

 path wanders about in somewhat uncertain fashion, 

 just to suit itself and the flower garden of roses and 

 old-fashioned perennials with some of the herbs in a 

 bed by themselves that one sees so often in Italy. 

 The path winds down to a deep hollow where a cool 

 spring reposes in the shadow of many trees. Passing 



