PLEASANT PLACES 13 



less beauty, and all the resources of great wealth and 

 marvellous technical skill had been employed to make 

 the place perfect. After Sir John (then Mr. Fowler) 

 purchased the estate he set to work to select a site 

 for a residence. " I must have," he told his architect, 

 " a view of the valley, the river, and the sea, and the 

 house must stand so high that there will be no danger 

 of feeling enervated by the relaxing West coast 

 climate." 



Careful and exhaustive inspection failed to show 

 any site possessing all the advantages required. 

 No matter ; a plateau was scooped out of the side of 

 the mountain, just where a brawling torrent leaped 

 in a succession of cascades down a steep birch-clad 

 ravine into the narrow valley through which that 

 delightful salmon river the Broom finds its way to 

 the sea. A dam above the house turned the little 

 torrent into the " Home Loch," which when I knew it 

 was well stocked with excellent trout, sporting risers, 

 although not very large. The overflow, directed and 

 controlled, supplied electric light and power for the 

 establishment, as well as an inexhaustible supply of 

 excellent water for drinking and other purposes. As 

 every inch of space had to be hardly won from rock 

 and moss, the stables and gardens were put in the 

 valley just below the house, three miles distant by a 

 beautifully constructed winding road, although a stone 

 could almost be thrown upon the roof of the coach- 

 house from the terrace above. Two paths, one very 

 steep, the other, afterwards known as Lady Fowler's, 

 gently winding across and beside the stream among 

 fern-clad rocks which were a vision of loveliness, 

 provided a shorter access for pedestrians or deer ponies. 



