THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
469 
Sunken Garden on the Jennings Estate, Fairfield, C 
a balustered terrace or a colonnade, a tea house or a per- 
gola, a spouting fountain or a lily pond, or even nothing 
more pretentious than a sun-dial or a simple pedestal and 
bust. Indeed, a tiled path or a coping for parterres will 
afford grateful and 
artistic contrast 
from the greenery 
and floral bloom. It 
is a welcome sign of 
the growth of the 
public taste that 
even in many of the 
ratber bumble sub- 
urban bomes, one 
can see strivings for 
well ordered a n d 
formal effects by the 
introduction of stone 
work — steps or 
seats, a marble urn 
for flowers, or the 
like. The heedless 
and 11 11 t li i n k i n g 
might perhaps say 
that they preferred 
nature unadorned, but this is just what they cannot have 
in the surroundings of the average dwelling. The closely 
clipped lawns, the trimmed hedges, the paved pathways, 
the formal beds of flowers — all of these suggest arti- 
ficiality, and a bit of well-contrived ma- 
sonrv and stone carving adds the one touch 
that is necessary to render them most 
alluring." 
In the early days of this country, people 
were concerned chieflv about building- 
plans. Landscape architecture was known 
only by name to a majority of home 
makers. The old colonial houses, notwith- 
standing their impressive quaintness and 
originality, were not of a kind that called 
for a skillfully designed background; they 
needed nothng better than the old fash- 
ioned garden with its riot of stiffly set 
flowers, broken here and there by loaded 
trellises and uncurbed vines. 
Modern homes, particularly those of the 
more imposing type, call for studios and 
masterful treatment. The develooment of 
the grounds is no longer left in the hands 
of an understudv ; it is turned over to the 
Marble Garden Ornaments in 
expert. Oftentimes the garden represents 
an expenditure that is only a step behind 
the cost of the house. This change can 
be traced to a number of causes. There 
is more money to be spent for one thing ; 
millions are now going into residences 
where once there were only thousands. 
Furthermore, the tendency of present day- 
life is toward the open. Each year finds 
the garden delegated to a broader field of 
service, and with the enlargement of its 
functions lias come the desire to make it 
equal to the occasion. 
The transformation has been notably ap- 
parent in country estates. Small gardens 
open the way for seats and vases, steps, 
figures, or. perhaps, sun-dials and gazing 
globes, but the larger grounds, in addition 
to all these accessories, provide space for 
bridges or swimming pools, drinking foun- 
tains, bird baths, shelter houses and 
numerous other stone products, all of which may be made 
to contribute generously to the charm of the countryside. 
Many of these forms of marble work have been in- 
corporated in the grounds of the Thompson Estate at 
Canandaigua, X. Y. 
Perhaps, the swim- 
ming pool should 
be mentioned first, 
as that would, no 
doubt, be considered 
the dominant fea- 
ture of the picture. 
It is commodious in 
the extreme and its 
c o v e r e cl portions, 
equipped as they are 
with drinking foun- 
tain, seats, figures 
and pedestals, have 
a peculiar attractive- 
ness that is not often 
e q u a 1 e d in struc- 
tures of this type. 
Whit; w i t h the 
Proctor Park, I hca, N. 3 . swimming pool in 
interest, stand the shelter houses, set back against a 
drapery of foliage. These also are supplied with seats, 
vases and figures, and outlined by rows of shapelv col- 
umns. The approach to the residence includes marble 
/ 
^L | l.W m — . 
«"■*•?. " 
w JBfe "~!b8k^ 
b ^^ 
•r^li 
jjpji^^^.' • i ' : '. 
Bridge on the Bourne Estate, Oakdale, X. )'. 
