H ouse and Garden 
‘THE PASTURE, ALSO MAKING ITS CONTRIBUTION TO BEAUTY 
rhe orchards and the pasture were likewise appro¬ 
priately located. One of Mr. Olmsted’s happiest 
faculties, in both public and private work, was the 
skilful division of ground for its various purposes. 
The illustration of the “pasture” shows how much 
beauty can be incidentally obtained from an 
altogether utilitarian use of parts of an out-of- 
town home. 
But in conclusion may I point out that the 
satisfying character of the Schlesinger Place is 
not due to the convenient and wise treatment of 
the separate parts of the design, but to a large 
general ideal which affected every detail, an 
ideal that never lost sight of appropriateness, of 
beauty nor of unity. What was the general ideal kept 
so constantly in view ? Early in the correspondence 
Mr. Olmsted pointed out that this property had a 
poetic character of its own, an unmistakable charm. 
This character, it is true, was more or less mangled by 
roads and buildings; nevertheless it was there. Two 
courses were open in the construction of the new 
estate: To unveil and develop the present character 
of the site to a much higher degree, or to destroy it 
completely and substitute for it an ideal of an en¬ 
tirely different nature. Mr. 
Olmsted favored the first 
course, not from sentiment, 
but because be believed that 
in the long run it would 
contribute more to conven¬ 
ience, health and beauty. His 
advice was accepted and so 
we have in the Schlesinger 
Place a design that is dis¬ 
tinctive and consistent. It 
is a law unto itself. The 
topography is accepted 
frankly and its suggestions 
followed. There is no at¬ 
tempt to smooth it out or 
change its native character. 
Mr. Olmsted’s general point 
of view cannot be better 
illustrated than in his ad¬ 
vice as to the entrance : 
I would make an entrance 
far different from what is 
commonly looked for . 
.I would have it appear 
that no more had been done than was necessary 
to obtain access in the easiest way from the 
public road across an interposing valley to a 
fine situation upon a neighboring height. There 
should not be a suspicion of effort about it 
for anything but convenience. ” And so each 
apparent difficulty proved, in this master designer’s 
hands, to be an advantage. Insipid com¬ 
promises were avoided. Moreover this frank- 
some might even say crude—treatment of the 
public side suggested that the key to the whole 
arrangement was to he looked for on the other side 
of the house, on the side reserved for the family 
and its guests. Finally, one short quotation from 
Mr. Olmsted’s letter to Mr. Schlesinger illustrates 
his estimate of the value of design out-of-doors 
and shows his constant adherence to a high ideal: 
“The dishing and garnishing (if you take so very 
poor a view of the outside part of your proposed 
home) of such a house should be more than good. It 
should be perfectly excellent of its kind.” Because 
of such points of view and such standards of work, 
Mr. Olmsted succeeded in making the Schlesinger 
Place, like all his other designs, a work of art. 
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