382 
ing arranged around three sides of a vast open court. 
The coachman’s house is a cottage at one side of the 
entrance. It is built of Harvard brick, and has a shingled 
roof, with woodwork painted white. A characteristic feature 
is the wagon-shed on one side, with two immense concrete 
piers to uphold the 
roof. It need hardly 
be added that the 
equipment of this great 
structure is the best 
that can be had. 
Dignity and calm of 
the most delightful 
and restful kind per- 
vades the whole place. 
The house is spacious, 
and stands in an ample 
estate; yet, notwith- 
standing the excellence 
of its architecture, it 
is entirely unassuming 
and modest. In no 
sense does it dominate 
the countryside, for 
the fine old trees, be- 
neath which it has 
been built, shelter it 
naturally and give it 
the choicest screen that Nature can provide when in one of 
her happiest moods. 
The fascination of these trees linger long in memory. 
They give the house shade and environment; the mansion 
is, for all practical purposes, a house built in the woods; 
yet, as a matter of fact, it stands just within the wood 
boundary, sufficiently within the woods to be within them, 
and is still at its very borders. Hence, the remarkable 
association of the formal garden with the house. A garden 
in the woods is something hardly to be thought of, since 
a garden implies and necessitates sunlight, for which the 
woods are Nature’s own protection. But the situation for 
‘Willow Brook House” was so happily chosen that almost 
without it, space, and ample space, was obtained for a 
formal garden, entirely adequate in size, and laid out in the 
most brilliant sunlight, so that all sorts of beautiful plants 
and shrubs and flowers might flourish forth within it. 
This is a result that the most skilful taste in gardening 
could not, alone, have accomplished. It is a result brought 
about by Nature herself, by the fortunate and delightful 
combination of Nature’s own forces, seized upon and util- 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
The fountain in the garden 
October, 1909 
ized in an exceedingly fine way by the designer of the place 
and developed in the most advantageous manner possible. 
It is worth while to keep these elemental facts in mind, 
since real success in the development of a country estate— 
of a large country estate, of which that of ‘‘Willow Brook 
House” is a more than 
ordinarily interesting 
example — is largely 
dependent upon 
its natural advantages 
and environment. 
That very beautiful 
effects have some- 
times been accom- 
plishedon what 
seemed to be unpropi- 
tious sites does not 
diminish the © signifi- 
cance of the basic con- 
ditions under which 
such undertakings are 
best carried out. 
A very fine result 
has been accomplished 
at “Willow Brook 
House”? because the 
spot of spots was 
chosen for the house. 
It is easy of access to the outer world. It was a superb 
site for a house, considered simply as a house and without 
any other buildings or the relationship to anything else. 
It enabled the stable to be built at a closely convenient point, 
yet in a situation that kept it quite away from the residence. 
And crowning advantage of all, it permitted the laying out 
of a beautiful flower-garden at precisely the right spot and 
in a highly original manner. For the garden is part of the 
house, yet it is apart from it. It stands in direct relation 
to it, yet it is completely isolated. And this isolation is not 
from the house alone, but from the entire estate. This result 
is accomplished, of course, by the building of the brick wall 
by which it is surrounded. Yet everything has its relation- 
ship in such matters. This isolation was essential. The 
garden must begin and it must end. A line of demarkation 
of some kind must be made somewhere. The wall around 
the garden accomplishes this essential end, accomplishes it 
quietly and in perfect taste. And the glorious trees that 
stand without it on one side necessitate it and demand it. 
For such a house, so situated, an enclosed and separated 
garden was absolutely essential. 
TTT OOOO OOOO One ee = 
A 
Hit; 
Mh 
‘) 
\) 
G ‘ a 
mh N\ 
Wit \ \ | \\\ 
\ 5 \ ‘ \ \ \ 5 Ne 
\ \ A . : 
