October, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



229 



and barren, but thickly 

 grassed, with fine old forest 

 monarchs amply spaced, add- 

 ing spaciousness of effect to 

 the ground they shadow with 

 their lofty branches. There 

 are no ornamental touches 

 here, for the great trees are 

 so fine that no art could make 

 them finer; but there is the 

 quiet and the serenity of a 

 shaded place in the country, 

 than which there could be 

 nothing more peaceful nor 

 more delightful. 



Of the remainder of the 

 near-by grounds I need say but 

 little. That the formal gar- 

 den is inclosed has already 

 been made clear; but the 

 rigidity of its inclosure is, 

 without, softened by clumps of 

 shrubs and banks of bushes, 

 some one or other of which is 

 ever in bloom, according to its 

 season, and the same treat- 

 ment of hedges and masses of 

 foliage is employed in a very 



able manner to lessen the differences between the house 

 grounds and the more ample area of the farm. 



The floral planting is thus gradually merged into the more 

 utilitarian activities of the farm, which, owing to the size of 

 the estate, are carried on in an extended manner. Broad 

 fields of grass, corn and grain and a well-stocked market 



"Drumthwackei" — The Sun Dial 



garden form the chief features 

 of the land. The farm barn, 

 a handsome structure designed 

 by Mr. Gildersleeve. is placed 

 at a distant point of the estate. 

 And all this is sacred land. 

 On these broad fertile acres 

 the battle of Princeton was 

 fought out. Yonder is the 

 cottage in which General Mer- 

 cer died; beyond is the little 

 old Quaker meeting house 

 from which Washington di- 

 rected his men; at the Red 

 House, in another direction, 

 Mrs. Moore had her leg shot 

 off by a cannon ball. 



One other building of inter- 

 est remains to be noted. This 

 is the house of Thomas Olden, 

 which stands under the trees 

 beyond the entrance front of 

 " Drumthwacket " house. It 

 is a quaint little old structure, 

 and is believed to have been 

 the house of the original 

 settler on this site, William 

 Olden, who came to Princeton 

 in 1696, when he purchased the estate from William Penn. It 

 is one of the oldest buildings in the vicinity, and is now an 

 aviary for a fine collection of rare birds, maintained in beauti- 

 ful order, and affords a strong contrast with the greater house 

 near by. It is an excellent type of the houses built in this part 

 of America in the early a ars of the eighteenth century. 





"Drumthwacket" — The Upper Terrace 



