"Blairsden" 



The House of C. Ledyard Blair, Esq., Bernardsville, New Jersey 



HE building of a large house means very much more than the incurring of a great 

 expenditure. Costliness is, indeed, an essential element in all large building enter- 

 prises — an element unavoidably entailed by the very extent of the building operation. 

 And a great house in the country, destined for the accommodation of a family and 

 the entertainment of many guests, must have space ample and abundant for every possible 

 occasion. It is big, therefore, not to display the wealth that created it, but because size is 

 a fundamental requirement. 



A large house requires a large site. There must not only be room to build upon, but 

 there must be ample grounds for the proper environing of the house with land that will give 

 the dweUing suitable individuality, pleasure grounds for the inmates, and perhaps a farm for 

 their further delight and sustenance. A great house in the country implies opportunities for 

 the enjoyment of rural life in every aspect, so that a large estate is l)oth a necessity and a natural 

 consequence of the building of such houses. 



Acreage alone is not sufficient. The land must be pleasant to look upon, with fine out- 

 looks across the country, and perhaps a stream or lake or harbor to add to its beauty. A beau- 

 tiful site— that is the desideratum in all large country buildings, and very beautiful indeed are 

 many of the places chosen for the location of our great country houses. The human element 

 is supplied by the architect, the designing genius whose part it is to create a house that will 

 fit the site, that will stand just where the house should stand, and which shall have an artistic 

 outward character in keeping with the surroundings. Almost as weighty is the share of the 

 landscape architect, to whom is assigned the agreeable task of beautifying the grounds in imme- 

 diate contact with the house, of designing the formal garden, of arranging the walks and drives, 

 of giving the crowning touch of beauty which welds every part into one perfect picture. 



Such a picture, combining in one splendid whole the elements that help in the making 

 of fine American country places, is presented by "Blairsden," the picturesquely placed house 

 that Mr. Blair has built on the steep slope of one of the mountains of Somerset County, near 

 Bernardsville, New Jersey. It is a fine house, finely placed on a superb site; not, indeed, on 

 the summit of the hill, but, more wisely, and somewhat after the Italian manner, on the 

 sloping hillside, so that it may have the advantage of the wooded backgrotmd which adds so 

 much to the beauty of the location. A rather startling innovation is the placing of the stable 

 on the top of the hill, above the house, but it is so placed that it can not be seen from the house 

 and is scarcely visible from the surrounding summits. The wooded slope of the hillside 



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