AMERICAN ESTATES AND GARDENS 



The Garden of "Georgian Court," 

 Lakewood, New Jersey. 



The fine property of Mr. George J. Gould, at Lakewood, 

 New Jersey, has, from its first development, excited much 

 public interest. The house, placed among the pines that 

 throng the grounds around it, was the favorite work of its 

 architect, the late Bruce Price, and the garden, which was 

 developed some years after the house had been finished, was 

 one of his latest designs. 



It is a truly sumptuous garden, most elaborate in its 

 architectural setting, stately in its dimensions, splendid in its 

 planting and arrangement. The conditions that attended its 

 creation were exactly those that were favorable to fine realiza- 

 tion. The owner is a man of culture, and possessed of a fine 

 appreciation of art and art values; there was great wealth, 

 without which rare and costly works of art can not be produced 

 or acquired; there was a fine site for nature had already 

 made the frame that awaited only the creative touch of the 

 designer. 



And that was the last essential, and in some respects the 

 most important. For a true artist can redeem the most barren 

 landscape, as Le N6tre and his associates showed at Versailles, 

 and as has been shown many a time again where barren spots 



have been made to bloom with undying beauty of nature and art. But Mr. Gould was 



fortunate enough to have as his architect a man of profoundly keen artistic temperament, 



who saw a magnificent opportunity in the creation 



of this garden, and who rose to the full limit of his 



opportunity. Thus, under Mr. Price's guidance, 



and with an enthusiasm that was almost limitless, 



the grounds around the Gould house were trans- 

 formed, embellished, adorned, and glorified. It is 



neither necessary nor helpful to compare this 



garden with any other; it is sufficient that it is 



fine and distinctive, and these two words sum up 



about the utmost limit of praise of any work of art. 

 Mr. Price's perception of proportion and fitness 



was seldom better illustrated than here. His task 



was to create a garden, and he did that and A MARBLE SEAT. 



A GROUP OF STATUARY. 



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