30 LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



cious manner as to heighten the charms of nature. Large 

 and costly hot-houses were erected by Dr. Hosack, with 

 also entrance lodges at two points on the estate, a fine 

 bridge over the stream, and numerous pavilions and seats 

 commanding extensive prospects ; in short, nothing was 

 spared to render this a complete residence. The park, 

 which at one time contained some fine deer, afibrded a de- 

 lightful drive within itself, as the whole estate numbered 

 about seven hundred acres. The plans for laying out the 

 grounds were furnished by Parmentier, and architects from 

 New York were employed in designing and erecting the 

 buildings. For a long time, this was the finest seat in 

 America, but there are now many rivals to this claim. 



The Manor of Li/vingston, lately the seat of Mrs. Marj 

 Livingston (but now of Jacob Le Roy, Esq.), is seven 

 miles east of the city of Hudson. The mansion stands 

 in the midst of a fine park, rising gradually from the 

 level of a rich inland country, and commanding prospects 

 for sixty miles around. The park is, perhaps, the most 

 remarkable in America, for the noble simplicity of its 

 character, and the perfect order in which it is kept. The 

 turf is, everywhere, short and velvet-like, the gravel-roads 

 scrupulously firm and smooth, and near the house are the 

 largest and most superb evei-greens. The mansion is one 

 of the chastest specimens of the Grecian style, and there 

 is an air of great dignity about the whole demesne. 



Blithewood, formerly the seat of E. Donaldson, Esq., 

 (now John Bard, Esq.), near Barrytown, on the Hudson, 

 is one of the most charming villa residences in the 

 Union. The natural scenery here, is nowhere sur- 

 passed in its enchanting union of softness and dignity 

 —the river being four miles wide, its placid bosom 

 broken only by islands and gleaming sails, and the horizon 



