April, 1914 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
*15 
use as a last resort— ^a kind of architectural makeshift — used 
because resource failed to suggest any other method of over- 
coming a difficulty. And yet here is an instance which proves 
how beautiful and successful a really adequate treatment 
may be and how what might seem to be a difficulty has been 
found to be only a blessing in disguise, of which a happy 
solution has created the most beautiful of effects. 
'I'he terrace walls of this Ardmore home are not allowed 
to expose their bareness — upon the contrary, they are clad 
in a dress of ivy, against which is planted a wealth of ever- 
green, which serves, in turn, as a background for the bril- 
liant hues of the long succession of Howering plants which 
follow one another from early Summer to latest frost. Where 
the abrupt sloping of the ground renders necessary a num- 
ber of such terraces, the Italian effect may be still further 
heightened, and walls, if not covered with ivy or some simi- 
lar clinging plant, may be made into wall gardens with plants 
growing in the crevices of the masonry. 
I'he interior arrangement of the house is just what would 
be expected from the expression without. There has been 
no effort to plan in the country a city home, with its stiff 
arrangement of rectangular drawing-rooms one beyond an- 
other; the planning is broad, generous and ample, with 
vistas through one long spacious room across a wide hall 
into another room, and with windows so placed that they 
offer glimpses of the most varied and beautiful outlooks 
which are at hand. The planning of the upper floor sug- 
gests an economy of plumbing which may well be studied 
by a prospective home builder, for here are three bath- 
rooms in the body of the house served by a system of pipes 
vastly more economical than those which would adequately 
supply bathrooms not so thoughtfully arranged. 
Mr. Stout’s country home is situated in a section of the 
famous suburban district of IMiiladelphia which is beautiful 
as well as historic — the section along the "Main lane.” 1 he 
country in this direction is high and rolling, and it is said 
that within twenty miles of Philadelphia the land level is 
raised fully five hundred feet. The highways in this direc- 
tion between Philadelphia and Valley I'orge are rich in 
historic associations and are fraught with memories which 
are dear to the hearts of students of American history, tor 
along these roads marched back and forth the Continentals 
and the British during the days when the tate ol the nation 
seemed to be trembling and wavering in the balance. 
The entire region is now occupied with beautiful suburban 
or country homes which make the locality famous even tor a 
city noted for the success of its suburbs. I he historic road- 
ways are lined for miles with the most carefully trained ot 
hedges which, due perhaps to some particular quality of the 
soil, attain a most unusual and luxuriant growth. I’he 
plants most popular for hedging purposes are the hemlock 
and privet, although box, which is so very difficult to grow 
in localities only a short distance further north, often nour- 
ishes in a way which would surprise those who have labored 
patiently year after year to acquire a heilgc of this most 
difficult and elusive of hedging plants. 
Property lines in the district about Ardmore, while of 
course they exist, are not emphasized. Often an estate will 
be so arranged that it seems to extend into another and the 
effect is much that of a vast residence park. 
The water-garden 
