H ouse and Garden 
Amory Place for a summer 
residence. ” Mr. Olmsted’s 
first choice for the house site 
is thus in no way left uncer¬ 
tain. Mr. Schlesinger had 
other intentions with regard to 
the location of the house, and 
Mr. Olmsted’s firm insistence 
upon the advantages of the 
proposed site was the most 
important point in this case 
in the whole service of his 
client. 1 he house was 
placed where he recom¬ 
mended, thus securing an 
attractive prospect both to 
the north and south, and a 
pleasant aspect for it from the 
same directions. 
As a connection between 
the house itself and the living 
grounds southeast of it, Mr. 
Olmsted recommended a 
broad terrace walk, 14 feet 
wide, constructed in harmony 
with the house and architecturally 
such a terrace 
the lawn come unbroken to the walls of the 
house. Unfortunately in this particular, neither 
of his suggestions was followed. Instead a nar¬ 
row walk was made. It 1- merely disturbs and 
breaks, as he said it would, the intimate relation that 
is essential between house and grounds. Has the 
Schlesinger house an appropriate garden setting to 
the south ? Does not a house so large and stately as 
THE ENTRANCE DRIVE IS BEAUTIFUL AND SERVICEABLE 
defined. If 
was not constructed he urged that 
this one is require something more of formality to 
make the transition to “nature” more gradual? 
Such questions should not he answered off hand, for 
to be answered wisely they require a careful exam¬ 
ination of the particular property under considera¬ 
tion and a sympathetic knowledge of both formal 
and landscape gardening. A comparative study of 
a formal design by Le Notre, like Vaux-le-Vicomte 
or the formal setting for an estate like “Biltmore,” 
with the best modern English and American natu¬ 
ralistic design, would be illu¬ 
minating. There is ample 
room and opportunity for 
both styles but the question 
of the appropriate use of either 
will always be one requiring 
sound judgment based 
upon knowledge and experi¬ 
ence. 
The location of the entrance 
road and its treatment was 
almost as difficult to decide 
upon as the fixing of the house 
site. The importance of the 
approach, both in itself and 
in its effect upon the general 
design, was insisted upon by 
Mr. Olmsted again and again. 
It is perfectly clear from his 
letters that he looked upon it 
as the most permanent and 
important of controllable fea¬ 
tures. Three plans were con- 
GENERAL VIEW OF THE MAIN LAWN SOUTH OF THE HOUSE 
220 
