AMERICAN ESTATES AND GARDENS 



some of which are rare old works of art. Below the side porch is the Italian, or formal, garden. 

 It lies beyond a terrace wall, and is small, but brilliant with color. It is square, with walks 

 bounded with box, and an outer higher box border for a final enclosure. In the center is 

 a large circular basin and fountain, with a stooping Venus in the middle. Farther down, 

 below a lower terrace, is the pergola which closes the garden beyond which are the trees of 

 the forest. Across the roadway is a smaller enclosed garden, ablaze with hardy phlox, 

 a brilliant mass of bloom, with lofty dahlias beyond. 



A wonderful view may be had from the inner porch, a view so broad and entrancing 

 that even Long Island, with its host of pleasant spots, can scarcely equal it. To the farthest 

 right stretches Crane Neck Point, that reaches far out into Long Island Sound. Immediately 

 below one is Stony Brook Harbor, and, beyond, the quiet waters of Smithtown Harbor; and 

 then, farther on, the blue waters of the Sound, filling in the horizon. All this is at one's feet; 

 but before it can be reached one must cross a gently swelling lawn, that spreads in delightful 

 green to the forests and low bushes which entirely surround its distant borders. Far off, and 

 quite some distance below the house — whose altitude is exceeded by but two other spots on 

 Long Island — is a Grecian temple, a graceful circular structure with Doric columns, whence 

 one mav view in quiet and peace the waterscape below, or look upward toward the house and 

 lawn at one's back. 



THE FORMAL GARDEN. 



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