November, 1 906 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



311 



Looking Through the Pergola 



done, but only to allow of comfortable walking; a few rest- 

 ing places have been made at points of special advantage; 

 and the one necessary foot bridge is a simple structure ot 

 logs. 



Returning across the lawn toward the house, one looks 

 up at a splendid border of rhododendrons, running along two 

 sides of the terrace which is the house site. This is so thick 

 as to make of the veranda, which it shelters, a retiring-room 

 as secluded as though it were within four walls. On the east 

 this terrace opens on a lower level by means of a flight of 

 steps, high above which reaches the glorious white and rose 

 magenta of the rhododendron, massed against a background 

 of rich green arbor vitas that serves to screen the rear of the 

 house on this side and the stables. The rhododendrons from 

 here border a path that descends on its winding way through 

 a rose arbor dividing an upper from a lower rose garden, 

 beyond which it joins "the lower garden walk." 



This is the main path through the lower part of the place, 

 and is bordered throughout its course with many a hardy 

 shrub and perennial. From its beginning at the far end of 

 the estate it also skirts a ravine — a very tiny one — threaded 

 by the least suspicion of a brook. The ravine deepens 

 and the brook swells as they continue, until they join the 

 other ravine at right angles. This path is in itself a garden. 

 Here a mass of mountain laurel lights the leafy shade of 

 June; a little further on it runs between masses of corn 

 lilies and harebells, with the white day-lily thrusting its old 

 fashioned, fragrant spikes of white among the orange and 

 purple ; and now it begins to climb to where it enters a wis- 

 taria arbor; and so on, winding, climbing, descending, flanked 

 by beds of heliotrope or pansies or geranium or glowing 

 snap-dragon, and, again, by irregular masses of shrubs — 

 azalea, honeysuckle, barberry, elder, sweet fern — every va- 



riety of natural and cultivated bush and tree. There are 

 splendid magnolia, tulip and catalpa trees, and many va- 

 rieties of evergreen, besides all the common forest trees of 

 the ravine below. Of course this path, in skirting the lower 

 edge of the lawn, makes a turn to the right that carries one 

 eventually to the house, or, by another turn to the right to 

 the stables and servants' quarters. This upward path makes 

 delightful turns and ascents — two steps here, a whole flight 

 there — and is bordered by a wealth and variety of shrubs and 

 flowers. 



The charm of all this general garden lies in its diversity and 

 informality. One finds oneself suddenly in the woods 

 walking through an azalea thicket; or, rounding a turn, 

 comes upon a rocky basin filled with pond lilies and pickerel 

 weed; and always, down below, stretches the woodland that 

 forms about half the estate, clothing the hillside with a thick 

 mantle of green, and giving the eye a clean sweep unbroken 

 by building or by highway until the distance of the hills lying 

 opposite have lent all the enchantment necessary. 



However, if this were all, "Glenn Elsinore" would have 

 small right to the distinction claimed for it; but it is only 

 the beginning. Like almost every other property of any ex- 

 tent in Connecticut, this estate included a goodly portion ot 

 swampland. The miriest bog presents no obstacle to the 

 determined gardener, and this spot has been made to blossom 

 like the rose. It has been converted into one of those elab- 

 orate formal walled gardens which have become a feature 

 of our garden making during the last decade. The garden 

 of "Glenn Elsinore" is fashioned after the models of Italy, 

 and is one of the best specimens of its kind in the country. 

 With another decade to mellow its glistening walls and struc- 

 tures (the marbles, generally, have already the exquisite 

 softness of centuries under Italian skies), with a little more 

 growth, a little more rioting, a few more of the thumb marks 

 of usage and enjoyment, this will be a charming example of 

 the Italian garden. 



Many tons of our American panacea, concrete, were sunk 

 in this swamp for a substratum on which to lay the soil for 

 planting, but it was thoroughly done and one would never 

 suspect this forest of bloom and verdure to have been super- 

 imposed upon a redeemed swamp. 



The garden is not large. It covers little more than an acre 

 of space. The path leading to it turns aside from "the 

 lower garden walk," already described, and runs the length 

 of a brick walled vegetable garden of about an acre in extent. 

 This is in itself very interesting. About mid-distance of 

 the path, it is entered through a fascinating old green, brass- 

 knobbed door, picked up somewhere in the surrounding 

 country. Besides the conservatories and hothouses here, 

 there are walled fruit trees, splendid trellises of blackberries, 

 raspberries carefully staked, a magnificent strawberry bed, 

 netted in season, and, of course, all sorts of toothsome 

 vegetables. 



Opposite the green entrance door is the entrance to the 

 gardener's place, so hidden by vines and trellises and orna- 

 mental trees as to be noticeable only as a pleasant suggestion 

 of guardianship and superintendence. 



The broad path between the gardener's grounds and the 

 vegetable inclosure is charming, especially where, in early 

 June, the bridal wreath which flanks it is in blossom. At the 

 end of this path a wrought iron gate gives entrance to the 

 lower end of the Italian garden, a scene of dazzling and gor- 

 geous beauty in its general aspect. It gives one an impression 

 of glistening whiteness, all aglow in its depths with ravishing 

 color. 



Advancing to the middle path one has a fine survey of the 

 entire garden. On the left, occupying nearly the whole of 

 the north side, is the casino, with a long pillared porch, and 



