28 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1906 



having a view from the house and porch, and the entrance 

 to the garden, on either side of which are placed large ter- 

 ra-cotta pots filled with red geraniums, faces the porch. The 

 central walk opens from this gateway, and terminates in the 

 colonnade which extends along the western side of the 

 garden, beyond which is a broad settle, placed in front of 

 the low balustrade fence with which the garden is enclosed. 

 The garden is screened from the street by a colonnade 

 formed of a row of Ionic columns with each capped with a 

 basket of fruit and flowers. Between these columns which 

 are painted white, is placed a latticed screen, painted green. 

 The columns of this colonnade are ten feet in height and are 

 connected with stringers and cross pieces, on which crimson 

 ramblers are trained as they grow; one large bush being 

 planted at each column. From the center of the garden the 

 walks cross and the one leading to the street end shows a 

 fluted column, on which is placed an old sun dial of the date 

 of 17 17, and beyond is an old marble niche. In the opposite 

 direction the walk leads to the fountain in the basin of which 

 there are sporting gold fish, and about which are ferns 

 growing in artistic profusion. Beyond this is the summer 

 house, which is placed at the terminal of the walk, and is 

 stately with its entrance way showing two massive pilasters, 

 at the top of which are brackets supporting the entablature 

 with pediment above. 



The beds throughout the garden are planted with peren- 

 nials which are so arranged and planted that they are in 

 continual bloom from early spring till late in the autumn. 

 The old cement and iron vases are planted with annuals. 

 The effect from the summer house, looking toward and be- 

 yond the quaint fountain to the old sun dial and the old 

 marble niche beyond, is extremely fascinating as also the 

 view into the garden from the porch of the house to the 

 marble seat, with the old vase as a center feature; beyond 

 which is a grassed lawn extending to the street, and enclosed 

 with a privet hedge. 



To the right of the house there has been much planting 

 done in connection with the white painted stable in its rela- 

 tion to the house. At this side is the vegetable garden, in 

 which are also grown the kitchen flowers, and the whole 

 screened and enclosed with a privet hedge. The house, 

 stable and its gardens in their relation to each other, and as 

 a completed whole is most perfect, and it very ably demon- 

 strates what can be done to beautify one's home, and sur- 

 round it with a proper setting by a little thought on the part 

 of both the architect and his client. The home of Mr. 

 Couch is the height of simplicity, and yet is beautiful in its 

 appointments for it contains nothing that does not mean 

 something for the pleasure and comfort of its inmates and 

 their intimates. 



Parks — Large and Small 



Concluded from Page 18 



has been a gain in extending existing park boundaries; new 

 parks have been located at various spots, and the total park 

 area increased and made more available at the same time. 



One of the most notable tendencies of modern life is toward 

 recreation. We waste quantities of time, it is true, and have 

 always done so; but as a people we have been backward in 

 matters of recreation, the sporting columns of the news- 

 papers to the contrary notwithstanding. This is particularly 

 true of outdoor recreation, which has been helped so im- 

 mensely of late years by the bicycle and the automobile. 

 Even those who had no mechanical means of getting about 

 have been attracted out-of-doors by the current tendency in 

 that direction. The pleasures of outdoor enjoyment once 

 tasted seldom pall, and thus with our increased parks has 

 come an increased use of them, a greater appreciation in 

 their delights, a keener satisfaction in their beauties. The 

 accessibility of the parks has added greatly to their use, for 

 the current tendency is to bring them as close to the people 

 as possible, if not actually by location, then as near as may 

 be by good transportation facilities. 



It is obvious, from our later park development, that all 

 parks do not serve identical ends, nor are they intended for 

 identical purposes. The large park is available for many 

 uses. It has roads for driving, bridle paths for riding, picnic 

 grounds and playgrounds, perhaps a central concourse and 

 music stand, a lake for boating in summer and for skating 

 in winter; it certainly affords many opportunities for land- 

 scape gardening. The small park can not compete with its 

 greater sister in the manifold nature of the attractions it 

 offers. Nor should it be expected to. As a mere breathing 

 spot it quite well fulfills every demand that may be put upon 

 it. As a simple place of resort it is doing all that can be 

 asked of it. As a playground it is sufficient, and more than 

 sufficient, for the part it takes in the municipal life of the day. 



Playgrounds, however, should not be confused with parks. 

 A park implies a certain ornamental character from which 

 it derives its chief charm. A playground may have none of 

 this and yet give even greater satisfaction than a park and 

 be many times as useful. It is a mistake to imagine that 



every open spot can be treated in the same way, or that it 

 has the same end and purpose as every other open spot. The 

 small parks would soon lose their value if this were so. 

 A park must be suited to its neighborhood. This is par- 

 ticularly true of small parks, whose areas are so small that 

 only a limited number of people can be accommodated in 

 them. 



Thus the neighborhood park has come into existence, one 

 of the most useful members of the park system, and a very 

 recent development that bids fair to become one of the most 

 popular. Once the idea of separate small parks was de- 

 veloped it became apparent that what was good for one 

 neighborhood might not be suited to another. A park in a 

 residential section of well-to-do people simply added to the 

 values of the surrounding real estate without in the least 

 fulfilling any needed purpose. Such a park in a tenement 

 house region, with its warnings to keep off the grass, with 

 its handsome shrubbery requiring constant care, became a 

 pure mockery. Apparently the tenement parks must be of a 

 different sort, and the neighborhood park, the public play- 

 ground, the play place of the children living close by, was 

 created, helping to a better life in many ways. 



All this new growth of parks necessitated a still further 

 step in park development, and that was their connection and 

 the creation of a system of united parks out of the many 

 unrelated and scattered members. There are limits, of 

 course, beyond which the connective system can not be car- 

 ried. Parks of some size are alone advantageously joined by 

 connecting boulevards. No good end is served by fastening 

 the many small parks onto the large park system. Large 

 parks are very largely maintained for driving purposes, which 

 are at least important enough to be considered in their de- 

 velopment. There is a very obvious advantage in being 

 able to drive from one park to another through streets and 

 boulevards which are adapted to that use. It is an arrange- 

 ment that helps the city as a whole, for it makes the parks 

 more available, brings them closer to the people and greatly 

 facilitates their growth. Thus the park movement has grown 

 far beyond the bounds imagined by its pioneers. 



