XVII 

 PIERSON HIGH SCHOOL 



The situation of this school is on a high knoll 

 with hummocky rolling land all around. Coarse, 

 gravelly sand constitutes the soil of the entire 

 property, sterile in the extreme. The location 

 of the building evidently had to be on the apex 

 or highest point of this territory; but the space 

 was so narrow that the entire crown of the hill 

 was cut down two to three feet in order to give 

 a sufficient space in front of the structure to allow 

 a vehicle to turn conveniently and give the build- 

 ing a sense of fitness to its surroundings. 



The grading of the rest of the place was com- 

 plicated and difficult. Irregularities had to be 

 removed and hollows filled up to secure long 

 sweeping lines and graceful contours. Wherever 

 the planting-spaces came, slightly raised contours 

 were made to give prominence to the effect of the 

 trees and shrubs set there : larkspurs, hollyhocks, 

 irises, bleeding heart, and the like. At least 

 twelve thousand cubic feet of soil were moved 

 from one place to another before this work was 

 completed. This scheme was carried out from 

 calculations in accordance with sections made 

 from a contour map with elevations of one foot 

 shown at the intersections of squares of fifty 

 feet. 



[69] 



