Roads and Paths 
lawn, or to cross it to some spot not other- 
wise accessible. And even on those sides 
of the house where a path is needed it 
should not be allowed to run close to the 
walls. Sufficient space should be reserved 
for planting against the walls, and thus, if 
the further side of the path is properly- 
planted too, from a little distance the eye 
will see only the masses of verdure which 
connect the house with the landscape about 
it. 
When we are thinking not of a country- 
place but of a more modest home — a simple 
cottage in a narrow lot or a villa in wider 
grounds — the first point to be decided is the 
position of the house as regards distance 
from the street. Cases are rare in which 
the configuration of the ground determines 
this question ; most often it depends merely 
upon the size of the expanse of level ground, 
and the taste of the owner. In former days 
such a house was usually placed quite near 
the street, its principal lawns and gardens 
lying in the rear, as we see in Salem, New 
Bedford, Annapolis, and other colonial towns. 
