Quaint Houses of the South 
“WYE” 
By EDITH DABNEY 
I T is only in these early hours of a new century 
that latter day Americans have begun to 
realize the beauty and importance of vast landed 
estates comparable with those of the Colonies, 
and it is gratifying to know that a craze is rapidly 
growing for the possession of country places that may 
rival in size and magnificence the great plantations 
of olden days. Unfortunately there are few of these 
plantations left, and still fewer in the possession of 
descendants of the original owners, but “Wye,” the 
home for generations ot the Maryland Eloyds, 
furnishes, perhaps, as good an example of the purely 
simple art of our forefathers as America affords. 
On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and situated 
on the river of that name, “Wye House” commands 
from the rear a superb view of land and water, while 
far beyond one’s vision, lie the thousands of acres 
granted to Edward Eloyd by King James II. in 1649. 
Eight generations have known this beautiful old 
homestead, nearly three centuries have come and 
gone, yet to-day the old-fashioned, Colonial aspect 
is still retained in both house and grounds. True 
it is that the methods used to secure such results 
must have been both tiring and costly owing to the 
vastness and wildness of the surroundings, and let 
it now be said that no attempt to reproduce such 
effects should be made on any but the large, sub¬ 
stantial scale of bygone days. 
On first viewing the spacious grounds of the 
“Wye” estate, one experiences a feeling of delightful 
restfulness which changes to keen appreciation as, 
step by step, new examples of the gardeners’ art or 
foresters’ craft, gradually give themselves to the eyes 
of the initiated. Perhaps it is the air of vast, beauti¬ 
ful space that is the secret, the key-note, of this effect 
of comfortable age. The first owner of “Wye” 
realized and attained it by laying off for his entrance 
nearly a square half mile through the center of which 
ran the roadway, shaded and outlined by towering 
oaks and lindens, the whole being thickly turfed. 
Just in front of the mansion the driveway branches 
to both right and left, affording easy entrance and 
THE HOUSE FROM THE SIDE SHOWING THE SPACIOUS LAWN 
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