House and Garden 
THE CENTRAL WALK OF THE FORMAL GARDEN 
Beyond is the hill ot S. Miniato, and beyond 
again, hill upon hill fade away into a horizon 
still of hills. To the east the terrace is pro¬ 
tected by a high wall from the keen tramon- 
tana or north wind, and here a grass plot, 
shaded by a grand magnolia, a camphor tree 
and an ilex, runs the length of the villa. A 
summer-house at one corner of the terrace 
on this side gives one a view of the machi- 
colated walls of Poggio Gherardo, that first 
resting place ot Boccaccio’s merry company; 
and beyond on the side of 
the hill is the village of 
Settignano. To the left 
Vincigliata crowns its beau¬ 
tiful woods,and high above 
stand the remains of the 
once fortified C as tel di 
Poggio. 
To the northwest of the 
formal garden, and on a 
somewhat lower level, we 
come upon the rose gar¬ 
den. Ot this neither pho¬ 
tograph nor pen can give 
any idea. Words must 
seem exaggeration when 
attempting to describe the 
wealth of bloom, the mass 
of color. Of roses there 
are five hundred varieties 
collected in a comparative¬ 
ly small space. Every 
shade from white to deep¬ 
est orange, from palest 
pink to darkest red are 
there, not growing as in 
more northern climes — 
each standard tidily re¬ 
stricted to its allotted space, 
—but in glorious profu¬ 
sion—intermingling, inter¬ 
twining in a grand luxuri¬ 
ance of growth. Such 
wealth of bud and flower 
is never seen in the north. 
The beauty of it is posi¬ 
tively intoxicating. The 
eye rests on nothing but 
color and color, while you 
breathe the delicate per¬ 
fume of these thousands 
upon thousands of flowers. 
Below the roses and at the entrance of a 
long pergola which runs west and south the 
whole length of the grounds, a path leads 
through a small herbaceous garden, rich in 
every variety of plant, at the side of which, 
shaded by ilex and pines, is a large basin, one 
of fifteen constructed by Count Hochberg to 
supply his immense garden with water. The 
rain collected from the roofs fills the highest 
one, and overflows into the others placed at 
different levels on the slope. I was told by 
A POOL BESTDE THE HOUSE 
