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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



September, 1906 



cessful to make the former recall the material of the latter. 

 Should your house, for instance, be of brick and limestone, 

 of Georgian or Colonial design, strike the note at once, as 

 you enter, and you are not so liable to fail. If it is merely a 

 modest little shingle cottage let the woodwork of your en- 



of the gates must be detailed with sufficient strength not to 

 look " spindly " beside the bolder material. 



In regard to the borders along your property lines and 

 entrance, I confess that no architect's designs seem to me 

 equal to those formed by nature's own hands. No spiked 



The Entrance Should Be Wide Enough for Two Vehicles to Pass Each Other 



trance-gate correspond in details, moldings and feeling. 

 What could be more horrible than the Strozzi lanterns strad- 

 dling, bald and naked, over the woodwork of a Colonial 

 post? Heavy stone or iron work should never be superposed 

 on woodwork. What would have happened to the world 

 had Atlas' shoulders been of sawdust? Wooden gates may 

 be supported by stone or brick posts, because the posts are the 

 points demanding strength, in reality as well as in feeling. 

 They are the points d'appui. Even then, the woodwork 



and gilded fence can bear comparison with a thick hedge of 

 unbroken yew or an avenue of pine or beech trees. No gate- 

 way can inclose or open into a place with the magnificent 

 spread of a well-chosen and banked mass of properly selected 

 trees and shrubs. Who would, for a moment, compare the 

 entrance-gates of the Giusti Gardens to the entrance of the 

 second garden level, through the majestic portal of laurel, 

 myrtle, cypress and olive? In our American country estates, 

 as well as in our parks and public playgrounds, we have 





The Natural Materials at Hand May Be Employed with Good Effect 



