THE TERRACE. 



THE terrace is not only the narrow strip of raised level ground 

 placed parallel with the house, or the more stately portion often 

 with architectural adornments that is laid out along the face of 

 the structure, but must be understood as the whole of the ground 

 that forms the base, or setting, for the building. 



The greatest divergence between the work of English and foreign 

 landscape gardeners is to be seen in their several methods of dealing 

 with the ground immediately surrounding the house. In England 

 we lay down as an axiom that the treatment of ground next the 

 house shall be artistically formal, with regular lines of turf, slopes, 

 walks, or beds, all displaying harmony, so far as may be, with the 

 architectural character of the building. On the Continent they 

 surround the house with broad, irregularly curved spaces, or walks, 

 that have nothing in common with the design of the structure. By 

 one practice the endeavour is to give a base to the building, 

 and to create on the contiguous ground an expression of kindred 

 artistic spirit ; by the other the ground is treated as something 

 apart, and a feeling of unrest is created. 



A terrace may have various forms, from the simple walk parallel 

 with the house, to the more elaborate arrangement shown in 

 the Plan. The larger, more important and decorated the building, 

 the more extensive, massive, and ornate may be the terrace. 

 It should have a definite proportion to the size of the house. 



