i66 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



September, 1906 



The Entrance to a Country Place 



By John A. Gade 



ALVE HOSPES," the Roman inscribed on 

 the pavement of his Fauces. He wished to 

 emphasize the character of the greeting 

 which would be tendered the stranger cross- 

 ing his threshold. This expression, how- 

 ever rendered, of generous admission, of 

 wide and easy access, of unhesitating, open-armed hospitality, 

 is, I believe, an important quality for the owner, architect, 

 or landscape-gardener to mark when considering the entrance 

 to a country estate. The smallest, unpretending latch gate, 

 as well as the most magnificent iron grillage, are equally 

 capable of hitting or missing the expression of this feeling. 

 The ampler means within reach of the architect and the 

 landscape-gardener for such expression were not known when 

 the little monastic institution was first founded, but the 

 passer-by was none the less pleasantly impressed by the naive 

 inscription interlaced in its gates: 



' Where'er thou art, where'er thou roam, 

 A greeting, traveler, within this home!'' 



What is now the most fitting and practical manner of ex- 

 pressing the quality referred to in a twentieth century Ameri- 

 can country entrance? First, I believe it is in making the 

 approach neither too small nor too abrupt. Secondly, in 

 the case of a large estate, the entrance must be in keeping 

 with the grounds and surroundings, and in a small one har- 

 mony must be equally sustained. Fifty feet of Newport 

 lawn do not need gateways which look appropriate at the end 

 of Bushy Park or the Cour d'Honneur at Versailles. The 



proper relationship of the entrance to what it leads to and 

 from is most vital if there is to be no dissonance. There 

 must be plenty of room for vehicles to pass each other, with- 

 out any danger of the wheels cutting the lawns at the sides; 

 for this, fourteen feet of driveway is none too much, sixteen 

 to twenty is generous and consequently better. There must, 

 further, be separate paths for pedestrians, for symmetry one 

 on each side of the broad, central axis, of sufficient width for 

 two persons to walk comfortably side by side, and safely 

 separated or raised from the central driveway. The laying 

 out of the drive and paths from the gate to the house is 

 naturally determined, to a great extent, by the lay of the 

 land and site of the house and roads, but the character of the 

 house should also be taken into consideration. The charm 

 of a sudden glimpse of the house, as you abruptly turn a 

 corner of the drive, may linger as ineffably among delight- 

 ful architectural memories as the dignified Elizabethan court- 

 yard awaiting you from afar at the end of a stately avenue 

 of oaks — old, weather-beaten sentinels, that time the steps of 

 your approach. As a general rule, however, you will not 

 go far wrong, if grades allow, in considering the most direct 

 line from the country road to the front door the best one to 

 aim at. Likewise, the more imposing your architecture the 

 straighter should your avenue be. Put your front door in 

 the center of your home and aim straight for it. Grades 

 are of the greatest importance and especially at the entrance. 

 They should all be gradual and easy. Nothing is more un- 

 fortunate in a country place than to have placed your en- 

 trance at such a point that you are forced to squirm or shoot 



The Entrance Should Be in Keeping with the Grounds and Surroundings 



