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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 1906 



a red roof; on the opposite side, a pergola of equal length, 

 terminating at cither end in a glass-roofed vestibule. The 

 rear of the garden is elevated some six or eight feet, and is 

 reached by a flight of stone steps. The wall here is some 

 twenty feet high, and is entered at the left by a door painted 

 white within and green without. This corresponds in posi- 

 tion to the iron gate at the opposite end of the garden, and 

 these two entrances are the only means of access to the place. 

 To be sure the lower end is bounded only by a low balustrade 

 and appears to open quite freely on the wood beyond, but 

 there is so great a drop in the level here that it would re- 

 quire at least the ingenuity of a Raffles to enter at this point. 



The middle path, running the entire length of the garden, 

 from the balustrade at the lower end to the terrace and high, 

 vase ornamented wall at the upper is divided into four sec- 

 tions by two wells and a fountain. The first of these is of 

 white marble deliciously mellowed and weather worn with 

 crevices of olive moss, veins of blue, and breaks and bruises 

 of a dull, rosy, earthy tone. 



At the opposite end of the path is a terra cotta well 

 adorned with cupids in relief. This is smaller than the white 

 well, but more beautiful, perhaps, in color and design. A 

 large fountain plays in the middle section of the path, and 

 in center of the rear wall, heading the long path, a well head 

 throws a stream into a basin at its foot. Both wells have 

 lilies, and the central fountain shows shoals of Japanese gold- 

 fish sporting among the aquatic plants. 



The casino is a rectangular structure some two hundred 

 feet long by fifty in depth. At either end the width is entire- 

 ly taken up in the interior, but the long narrow bowling alley 

 connecting these portions is entered from a pillared porch 

 of about equal depth. At the lower end the interior is one 

 large room adapted for a reception-room, a card-room, or a 

 theater. It is handsomely furnished with rugs, divans, tables, 

 and ornately ceiled and frescoed. On one side a large French 

 window opens into the garden, and on the other a window 

 of stained glass leads to the wood. 



The bowling alley is almost entirely faced with windows 

 from ceiling to floor, which open up nearly the whole side 

 of the room onto the wood. It is equipped for bowling, shuffle 

 board, etc. With the well set out kitchen, the dainty cham- 

 bers, and ample bathrooms at the upper end, beyond the 

 bowling alley, one can imagine the overflow of a house party 

 thanking its stars at its luck in being quartered in the garden. 



The pergola opposite the casino balances it and gives a 

 grateful sense of symmetry in the architecture of the gar- 

 den. This is trellis-roofed and brick-floored. After a rain, 

 pools of water evade the zealous gardener for a time and re- 

 flect the marble pillars and the bloom beyond, with charming 

 effect. The sun sifts in between the overhanging grape-vines, 

 the stalks of which, with a few cool green leaves, make 

 classic designs upon the pillars. In one of the vestibules at 

 the end is a marble table available for tea drinking or cards; 

 the center of the other is occupied by an interesting old font 

 or well carved in quaint pagan design. In the arch opening 

 onto the garden in both vestibules, stand small figures cast 

 in metal, while beyond, at the upper end, is an Apollo in the 

 niche of the wall, facing another figure at the opposite side 

 of the garden, just above the casino. 



At the lower end of the garden the architectural features 

 consist of two simple grape trellises on opposite sides of the 

 garden. The arches at the ends are filled in with wall boxes 

 full of pot plants. There is a bit of lawn here between the 

 two trellises, with one or two vases and a small well. 



The great trouble in such a garden as this is how to plant. 

 The first rule should be abundance. There must be a riot 

 of bloom and of growth to keep the place from looking 

 empty and artificial. First, from the point of color values, 



Grape Trellis-work in the Wall-box in the Arch 



this expanse of glittering, trying white must be broken and 

 warmed and not allowed to tyrannize. One very clever step 

 towards accomplishing this in the garden of "Glenn Elsi- 

 nore" is the paths. These are quite broad, and are all of a 

 warm ochre tone. But of course the chief source of color 

 must be the flowers. 



Again, all the rigidity of line established in the architecture 

 must be softened by the graceful lines of growth; and finally 

 the magnificence, the pretentiousness of so much magnificence 

 in design and in material must be lived up to. The soul must 

 be more beautiful and rich than the body. It must never ap- 

 pear that those who made this costly setting for a garden had 

 more thought for the setting than for the gem. 



There should be a wealth of bloom and lavish color; 

 and there is, from the time the feathery blushing Japanese 

 cherry opens the ball in May till the asters and dahlias and 

 chrysanthemums and the glorious plumage of the bounding 

 wood close it in November. The wall at the rear is pink and 

 crimson in June with the ramblers, and green all the season 

 with beautiful foliage, a frieze of grape-vine, so to speak, 

 bordering it at the top. Just below the high terrace are 

 peonies and foxglove; about the fountain in the center of 

 the garden is a wealth of cherry-hued phlox ; by the grape 

 trellises are great tangles of poppies; against the walls are 

 tiger lilies; flanking the paths are hollyhocks, foxglove, 

 canterbury bell; bordering the pergola and the long pillared 

 porch of the casino are larkspur in exquisite blues and pinks 

 and rich purples; and everywhere are masses of sweet wil- 

 liam, zinnias, verbenas, sweet alyssum, geraniums, of course, 

 and nasturtiums. There are pansies, forget-me-nots and 

 grass pinks, flaunting rudbeckias, coreopsis and all manner of 

 gay and boisterous bloom. 



