House and Garden 
d arning round a corner and 
going up a steep bit of road, 
you at last reach the terrace 
in front of the house. This is 
a semicircular stretch of grass, 
edged to the north by the ilex 
wood and shut from the south 
by a low wall, whose only 
decoration is the oleanders 
growing in the garden behind, 
tall bushes that rise above the 
masonry. 
It is surprising, not to say 
disappointing, when one has 
reached this point, to find that, 
instead of the grand sixteenth 
century villa you had every THE triton blowing his silent shell 
right to expect, the only 
buildings in sight are two very ordinary white 
stucco houses, one larger than the other, 
placed at each end of the terrace. 
The larger one at the western end is the 
villa, and has the distinction of being ap¬ 
proached by a few steps; the other, the fat- 
toria (agent’s house), is reached through a 
small door in the wall which opens into the 
garden. It is through this door we must 
pass, for the central gates look as if they 
A DESERTED GRASS WALK 
Avenue 4 4 B ’ ’ (See Plan ) 
had not been opened for many a long year, 
and the hinges are rusty. 
Once inside and standing by the fat - 
toria door, a long, stone-paved terrace runs 
from it to the villa opposite ; the inner side 
of the wall is covered with ivy which, in its 
turn, is almost hidden by oleander bushes 
and aloes planted alternately. The flower 
garden proper fills the space between house 
and house, and is at a lower level than the 
terrace, along the southern side 
of which a fine wistaria and 
other creepers form a hedge. 
The flower garden is all of 
formal beds and gravel paths. 
The fine box borders have 
little to protect. A few jas¬ 
mine, pomegranates, bamboos, 
a sickly palm or two, some 
monthly roses, have survived. 
Some ivy leaved geraniums 
and zinnias seem to have got 
there bv mistake. Lemons 
in pots are of course there ; 
without them we should not 
believe ourselves in Italy; but 
there is very little else that 
shows sign of any gardener 
having passed that way. 
Standing on the terrace, be¬ 
tween house and fattoria, we 
are on the very crest of the 
narrow hill, and find the gar¬ 
dens and pleasure grounds are 
laid out on its southern slopes. 
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