364 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



December, 1906 



The Lofty Terrace Below the River Front is Upheld by a High Stone Wall, Handsomely Balustraded 



Most houses can be reviewed in a survey of the public 

 apartments on the first floor. This can not be said of Mrs. 

 Shepard's house. The suites of bedrooms that fill the second 

 and third floor offer quite as much interest as the great rooms 

 below. The bedrooms are of various sizes, most of them 

 being large, while Mrs. Shepard's own room is actually im- 

 mense. There is a wonderful variety and singular good taste 

 in the furnishings of these rooms. Each is distinct, each is 

 very well done, and each has a charm of its own. The range 

 of treatment varies considerably, the scale of decoration in 

 some rooms being comparatively moderate while in others 

 it reaches a very rich climax. This is especially so with the 

 Moorish room, furnished in the Moorish style, with mantel 

 and furniture inlaid with mother of pearl. The third story 

 contains a children's suite, with a large playroom. 



Mrs. Shepard's estate is so large that the cultivated 

 gardens constitute but a comparatively small part of the 

 grounds. Necessarily they are located in immediate prox- 

 imity to the house. The formal garden lies to its north and 



below the river front. Although built against the hillside it 

 occupies a portion of a slope that falls far below it. Seen 

 from below, therefore, it has all the characteristics of a 

 hanging garden. The lower walls of the house are screened 

 by a row of great cedars planted on the highest part of the 

 garden. A great plateau or terrace has been built on the hill- 

 side, and on it the formal garden has been made. It is 

 formed by an immense rectangular space, in the middle of 

 each of the four sides of which is a pergola, thickly over- 

 grown with vines, and in the center is pool and fountain. 

 Walks and beds of flowers and shrubbery, arranged in an in- 

 teresting manner, occupy the whole of the remaining space, 

 constituting a wonderfully brilliant and beautiful spot just 

 below the house, separated from it, it is true, somewhat by 

 its own individual level, but near enough to be readily visible 

 from the windows of the river front. It forms an integral 

 part of every aspect of the house as seen from this side, and 

 of every outlook from its windows. And that it adds enorm- 

 ously to the effect of this stately house need scarcely be added. 



