FARM AND VILLA OF MR. DONALDSON. 
89 
micjst of a group of forest trees, it is no less orna¬ 
mental than useful. An excellent macadamized 
road leads through the estate from the lodge to the 
mansion. 
Si^on after entering the gate, we lose sight of all 
1 boundary walls and fences, and pass the gardener’s 
house (fig. 25). This is in the Cottage Gothic style, 
and With its pointed and projecting gables, and 
miniature porch, covered with honeysuckles and 
Bous^ault roses, it has a very neat and pretty 
appearance. 
Approaching the house, the road winds among 
white pines, through which may be seen the grace¬ 
ful slopes of the grounds, and the noble masses of 
wood. The view which is disclosed, as you sweep 
round to the river front, assures you that nature has 
been lavish of her beauties here. Our readers will 
get a very good idea of the view presented at this 
point by looking at the frontispiece to Downing’s 
Landscape Gardening and Rural Architecture. 
The Kaatskill mountains, on the opposite side of 
-he river, reach a height of nearly 4,000 feet, and 
the range may be seen for fifty miles, clothed in the 
enchanting hues that distance ever lends to bold 
mountain scenery. The unusual width of the fiver 
here—the wooded isles—the promontories, with 
their quiet bays—the spires of the neighboring vil¬ 
lages—the Mountain House—all combine to form a 
landscape of extraordinary attraction. The 
scenery along the Sawkill, which forms the 
southern boundary of this place, reminds one 
of Trenton Falls. The stream descends in 
cascades and rapids, 150 feet in a quarter of 
a mile. A lake has been formed about half 
way up its course, through the estate, the 
placid waters of which contrast finely with 
the rushing cataracts. 
By an overshot waterwheel which could 
be made ornamental, and a simple hydraulic 
machine, a portion of the water of this stream 1 
might be forced up to the adjoining height, 
and thence conducted to the house, garden, 
stables, and cattle yard; it might also be jf 
made to irrigate the grass land, and to form 
fish ponds, and jets d’eau. 
The dwelling house is 160 fe£t above the 
river. It is a low, but most commodious 
structure, embosomed in trees, stuccoed and || 
colored in imitation of freestone, with a deep h, 
verandah on three sides, and a boldly pro- ^ 
jecting and richly bracketted roof ; and what¬ 
ever may have been its original plan, it has 
been so enlarged and transformed by its 
present owner, as to present a most inviting 
aspect. The interior is very tastefully ar¬ 
ranged ; but on this we cannot enlarge, and 
confine ourselves to a description of the pic¬ 
ture room—an apartment on the river 
side of the house, 16 by 32 feet, of a high pitch, and 
receiving its strongest light through an ornamented 
sash in the ceiling. In this choice, though limited 
collection, there are the Picnic Party in Epping For¬ 
est, by C. R. Leslie; a Landscape, by John Both; 
the Billet Doux, by Terburg; tbe Lute Lesson, by 
Gaspar Netcher ; a most lovely Madonna and Child, 
supposed to be by Luini; the Physician and Invalid* 
by the elder Palamedes; the Benevolent Family, a 
highly finished painting, by a Flemish Master ; to¬ 
gether with some portraits by Leslie, and some 
carefully made copies of well known pictures. But 
more striking than all these is the Landscape Win¬ 
dow, a novelty introduced by Mr D., which quite 
took us by surprise. It is an oval plate glass, 3 by 
4£ feet, inserted in the wall, and surrounded by rich 
mouldings, in imitation of a picture frame. One 
feels that the natural beauties here revealed surpass 
even the glowing composition. 
Walks lead away in the most alluring manner, 
for two miles, through the varying scenes of this 
place, along which rustic seats and pavilions are 
placed, at the best points of view. We give a 
view of one of them on the Sawkill (fig. 26). 
The spring house, which is in course of erection, 
on the verge of the spacious lawn, will be very or¬ 
namental. The water flows through a water lily, 
into a sculptured shell, from the scolloped lip of 
which it falls as from a dripping tazza. 
The garden, -which is in the geometric style, 
though near the house, is concealed by hedges and 
shrubbery. The upper plateau is devoted to fruits 
and flowers, and the terraces are given up to vege¬ 
tables. The green-house and fruit houses, 90 feet 
long, are so arranged as to present a very handsome 
architectural appearance. Besides a great variety of 
foreign grapes, the fig, apricot, nectarine, plum, 
Ravine Walk—Fig.. 26 . 
and peach, are grown in these houses as espaliers, 
and dwarf standards. 
The Farm. —This comprises 125 acres. The soil 
varies from a sandy to a clayey loam. Parts of 
the outer lots, where the subsoil was so adhesive 
as to retain the surface soil, have been subdrained 
with the small stones gathered from the sur¬ 
face. These lots can now be worked at the earliest 
opening of spring; and though forming a very sn 
