September, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



349 



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Endicott Garden 



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Danvers, Massachusetts 



By Sarah May Londer 



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Governor Endicott 



Photographs by Mary H. Northend 



Capt. Joseph Peabody 



IIDDEN from the road by intervening trees, 

 and approached through an avenue bor- 

 dered by stately elms, is the summer resi- 

 dence of Mrs. William C. Endicott, widow 

 of the late William C. Endicott, who served 

 as Secretary of War during President 

 Cleveland's administration. The lawns, 

 with their stately trees and shrubs, and the gardens are the 

 notable features of the estate, which has its share of his- 

 torical interest. 



The estate was purchased by Captain Joseph Peabody, 

 grandfather of Mrs. Endicott, when war was declared with 

 England in 18 12. Salem's harbor and the wealth of her 

 citizens made it not unlikely that the British would attempt 

 to capture the town from the sea, and Cap- 

 tain Peabody intended the old place to serve 

 as a place of refuge for himself and his fam- 

 ily in case of an attack. Although it was 

 never required for this purpose, its barns 

 were made the storing place of rich cargoes 

 brought by his ships from all parts of the 

 world, for he was one of the wealthiest and 

 most influential of Salem's merchant princes. 

 Captain Peabody spent much time in im- 

 proving the estate and in caring for the gar- 

 den, to which many acres have been added 

 from time to time. 



On either side of the avenue the grounds 

 slope away, the right side being reserved for 

 the gardens and velvety lawns, while fields 

 of grass, interspersed with trees, lie on the 

 left. 



In front of the house, which is painted 

 white, with green blinds, and is typically 

 Colonial, are handsome lawns broken here 

 and there by groups of ornamental shrubs 

 and geometrically designed flower beds. 

 The elm-bordered avenue ends in a circular 

 drive before the house, which has a lofty 

 porch supported by Doric columns, between 

 which stand bay trees. 



At the rear is a wide veranda with low, 

 wide steps, down which one must pass to 

 cross the stretch of sward separating the 

 house and gardens. The first of the latter is 



the old-fashioned garden designed by Captain Peabody, and 

 which remains practically as he left it. It is box bordered, 

 with primly laid out beds, and through its center is a gravel 

 path ending in a unique little summer house, whose pretty 

 lattice work, graceful arches, and domed roof make it an in- 

 viting resting place. Mrs. Endicott has been very careful not 

 to disturb any of the old-fashioned flowers, and the place 

 breathes with the Colonial atmosphere. 



There are lawns on either side of the prim flower beds, de- 

 fined by marble fragments, of which the "Dancing Girl" of 

 Canova, carved by Ferdinand Demetz, may be mentioned. 

 In the center of the garden stands a majestic tulip tree some 

 eighty or ninety feet in height, which is said to be the largest 

 and most perfect specimen in Massachusetts. 



At the rear of the old-fashioned garden 

 is a yew path, at the end of which stands a 

 wooden figure, a replica of one which stands 

 on the estate of the present Marquis of 

 Waterford, in Curraghmore County, Ire- 

 land. This, too, was the work of the tal- 

 ented Demetz. 



A well clipped hedge separates this gar- 

 den from the Italian garden, which was 

 designed by Right Hon. Joseph Chamber- 

 lain, husband of Mrs. Endicott's daughter, 

 Mary, during one of his infrequent visits at 

 Danvers. The entrance is through a rustic 

 archway, over which clambers wistaria. 

 Wide paths of gravel, grass bordered, inter- 

 sect the garden at intervals. 



In the center of the garden is a fountain 

 which continually sends up a silvery spray 

 tinted now in rainbow hues by the flowers 

 around it, now by the golden sunshine, and 

 then with the white moonlight, as day fades 

 into night, to merge again in morning. The 

 end of the garden is beautifully defined by 

 rows of slender rustic supports, over which 

 grow rambler roses. In the season of their 

 blooming the garden is outlined in vivid 

 crimson, contrasting with the turf below and 

 the deep green of the meadows which stretch 

 away beyond it. The garden itself is laid 

 out in formal flower beds and larger flower- 

 The Fountain m S plants are grouped about the outer edge. 



