358 
reaper ee 
AMERICAN HOMES “AND ~GAKDENs 
Transforming Garden Landmarks 
By Phebe Westcott Humphreys 
Sey 
buildings ‘ttoo good to tear down,” or 
treasured for their associations, is a sub- 
ject of exceeding interest to-day. The 
owners of ancestral estates that have be- 
come beautiful modern country seats, as 
well as the founders of attractive little 
homes in suburban and village sections, are eagerly con- 
sulting garden architects for suggestions in remodeling 
quaint and dilapidated landmarks. It is now considered 
little less than sacrilege to destroy a genuinely historic home- 
stead, no matter how modern and beautiful may be the man- 
sion of the country seat surrounding it. Various uses are 
being found, in these days of homestead veneration, not only 
for the old-home structure itself, but also for quaint old-time 
smoke-houses, dilapidated spring-houses, and other buildings 
that have withstood the elements of one or more centuries. 
In transforming these old buildings for modern useful- 
ness and picturesque value, the homestead studio, or other 
artistic workshop, is the latest fad. When there is a real 
artist in the family, the little historic building makes an ideal 
workshop. When music is the delight of the talented mem- 
ber, a decidedly quaint music-room (or musical studio) may 
be designed within the ancient structure. When literature, 
science, or other ‘‘artistic industry’ occupies the time or 
serves as a hobby of someone living on the country estate, the 
homestead workshop is always a very desirable addition. 
The interior “fitting up” of the studio, and the exterior 
transformation of the ancient building, will depend largely 
upon the use to which it is to be put when reconstructed. In 
some instances the little one-story buildings which formed 
the original homes of the settlers have been turned into 
“billiard cabins,’’ when the ancient farm homes were altered 
into modern country seats. An author’s workshop and a 
studio for artistic bookbinding may be found in other re- 
modeled buildings that are an attractive feature of an estate. 
But it has remained for Mrs. Walter Hering, of Abington, 
Pa., to display the most quaint and beautiful, as well as 
practical form of utilizing a picturesque homestead. 
When the extensive Lindanwalt country seat first attracted 
the attention of the entire section of Abington, Pa., because 
of the pleasing architecture of its mansion and surrounding 
buildings, and the splendid scale on which the grounds were 
developed, there remained untouched one sacred spot—a 
little old, tumble-down structure, partially hidden in a clump 
of trees, on the lower slope of the grounds, below the man- 
sion. This dilapidated structure was never considered an 
eyesore, because of its picturesque situation and its quaint 
surroundings; but wonder has frequently been expressed 
during the gradual development of the fine estate as to the 
probable use of the old building. 
All curiosity has of late been satisfied in a most novel 
Interior of Mrs. Walter Hering’s studio, at Lindanwalt 
The chimney end of Mrs. Hering’s studio, at Lindanwalt 
