HOUSE AND GARDEN 
December, 1911 
The four box-stalls for the thoroughbreds have their doors and windows opening upon this view over the court. 
at the left, partly enclosing the quadrangle 
The service wing of the house is 
Mr. Hastings wanted to live where the center of interest is the 
thoroughbred horse. Here live many of the friends of Mrs. 
Hastings and himself — horsemen and horsewomen all, enjoying 
the broadest sort of country life, in which the saddlehorse plays 
the leading part. The Westbury colonists do have 30 horse¬ 
power mounts too — with the accent 
always on the horse, for one of the 
really scarce things in that part of the 
country is a carriage. 
The dominating idea, then, in Mr. 
Hastings’ own home was that he was 
living in a place where the main inter¬ 
est of everyday life was the horse, and 
all that has to do with him — following 
the hounds or riding cross country. 
To those who know him, the 
thoroughbred borse is a very lovable 
animal. Mr. Hastings knew this so 
well that he wanted to live in the same 
house with his mounts. A glance at 
the plan will show how clearly he has 
expressed this in his design. House 
and stable are at opposite ends of a 
moderate-sized court that is enclosed 
on one of the longer sides by the ser¬ 
vice wing and a brick wall, on the 
other side by a pergola. Both build¬ 
ings are built of the same materials on 
the outside—a rough-textured brick, 
which, on the house, is brightened by 
a restrained use of white marble. The 
four large box-stalls look out upon 
the court, whose broad graveled paths 
are made for the use of the four-footed 
members of the family as well as for 
those who come from out the Palla- 
dian entrance at the opposite end across the plot of smooth lawn. 
The site of the group is one that closely approaches the ideal. 
Half in and half out of a patch of woods on the slope of a hill, 
the stable end is given a background of green as a setting for its 
splendidly simple roof lines, while the outside rooms of the house 
look out over a terrace down to the 
pasture for the thoroughbreds in the 
valley. A really magnificent concep¬ 
tion, is it not? — and one that express¬ 
es, as clearly as architecture can. the 
thought—“Love me, love my horse.” 
When one examines the group more 
in detail there are several particularly 
interesting things to notice. One is 
the fact that Mr. Hastings has built 
his home as well as it could be built, 
of enduring materials—the only wood 
exposed to the weather is that in the 
window sashes. He has so disposed 
the openings that there are broad 
masses of brickwork to support the 
vines that are already well started. 
Under the terrace there is a place for 
wintering the bay trees, aquatics and 
other potted plants of the kind. A 
garage is found in a secondary posi¬ 
tion in the stable group and under it 
there is a low stable. 
It is a pleasure to notice that Mr. 
Hastings has not followed the beaten 
path as regards his vegetable garden, 
relegating it to some out-of-the-way 
corner as a necessary evil. He has, on 
the other hand, given it a place bor¬ 
dering the entrance driveway, edging 
it with lindens which he purposes clip- 
In the entrance gates Mr. Hastings has given a freer 
rein to his fancy for color, using terra cotta with 
the brickwork 
