May, 1 9 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



i59 



totally "practical" — "stupid," some of us should be tempted 

 to call it — that they are deaf and blind to all the appeals of 

 mere beauty and will ruthlessly destroy the most delightful 

 places rather than budge one jot or title from their fore- 

 ordained scheme of "beautification." Likewise, while mak- 

 ing these preliminary enquiries, it would be well to find out 

 whether there is any likelihood of the neighborhood ap- 

 pealing to industrial considerations owing to the presence 

 of water courses or opportunities of rail transportation, so 

 that some fine day a foundry or a glue factory might spoil 

 everything. Perhaps this piece of advice may seem to 

 some a trifle far-fetched and overly cautious. It is best to 

 err, though, on the side of caution and besides that, the 

 writer knows of several just such instances where veritable 

 little bits of earthly paradise are being swallowed up in a 

 wave of advancing industrialism — "the march of the prole- 

 tariat upon run-down gentility," some of the daily spectators 

 call it, as they speed cityward in their trains. 



Of course no one can be expected to be infallibly prescient 

 and foresee every objection that might arise in years to 

 come, but as far as may be it is necessary and right to 

 look into all such matters at the first just as you would 

 examine the title. Another important consideration that 

 must not be overlooked is the matter of accessibility. If 

 your prospective site is in the country, it makes no dif- 

 ference how alluring it may be, if it proves difficult of 

 access so that you are hampered in your goings and comings 

 you will rue the day you decided in its favor. Country or 

 suburbs, if you are wise you will consider also the character 

 of the immediate neighborhood with reference to the prob- 

 able lines of its future growth in beauty and in importance. 



If in the country where great estates are likely to jostle 

 you on all sides it would be better to forego the site unless 

 it possesses some unusual features sufficient to counterbal- 

 ance all ordinary objections. Those ordinary objections, 

 which it is hard to silence, are in the first place that it is 

 not pleasant to feel that your home is a kind of Naboth's 

 Vineyard, that your more affluent neighbors resent its pres- 

 ence as a blot on the landscape because it intrenches upon 

 their lines and would that you and it were elsewhere. If 

 they are aggressive and grasping or soapy and insinuating 

 and try sundry methods of inducing you to depart — and it 

 is remarkable how offensively ingenious they can be — your 

 indignation and belligerency are kept constantly wrought up. 



If your wealthy neighbors are your particular friends 

 and they like not your dwelling, you suffer from a perpetual 

 subconscious mortification. The chiefest objection, how- 

 ever, to the proximity of great estates is, that it often 

 breeds serious troubles in the servants' quarters of the 

 smaller establishments. Another objection is that the pres- 

 ence of large landholders will necessarily entail upon the 

 smaller owner many expenses that he did not at first con- 

 template. Of course if one goes beyond that middle region 

 of great estates lying between the suburbs and the farming 

 communities, the difficulties just noted are not likely to 

 appear. 



In suburban districts, where building is tolerably active, 

 many an attractive site presents itself. In such cases look 

 to the character of other buildings and also investigate the 

 attitude of any land companies that may control consider- 

 able acreage. What is meant by this last caution will be 

 better understood by giving a concrete example than in any 



A better type of small house for this small site could hardly have been evolved 



