been gained here by placing the fence above a stone course set dry, and fitting the size of the 
increasing height of that course. Ramblers grown on the fence add a touch of color 
A natural effect has 
fence to the 
A lthough 
the fence 
is generally an 
afterthought, and 
is often planned 
or provided for 
only when the 
building or re¬ 
modeling of the 
house has been 
completed, it 
bears a distinct 
architectural re¬ 
lation to the 
house, and only 
by considering 
them together 
can a successful 
combination be 
made. A second 
relationship ex¬ 
ists between the 
character of the 
grounds — 
whether they are 
formal or infor¬ 
mal — and the 
character of the 
fence which en¬ 
closes them. The 
problems and 
uses of walls and 
hedges will not 
be considered, 
since here we are 
THE RELATION OF THE FENCE TO THE HOUSE AND GROUNDS— 
GATE POSTS AND THE PLANTING ON THEM—PERGOLA ENTRANCES— 
THE ESSENTIALS OF FENCE CONSTRUCTION 
Stsphen E d s a l l 
concerned only 
with fences, those 
constructed of 
wood or iron or 
with a base of 
brick or stone. 
For the purpose 
of walls and 
The Southern Colonial 
ral relation to 
gateway has a distinct architectu- 
the architecture of the house 
hedges, it might 
be noted en pas¬ 
sant, is to close 
the grounds in 
such a manner as 
to insure privacy 
within, make a 
background for 
garden effects and 
offer opportunity 
for outdoor liv¬ 
ing. In that in¬ 
stance the rela¬ 
tion between the 
architecture of 
of the house or 
style of hedge 
may not be so 
pronounced. 
Fences, on the 
other hand, are 
compromises with 
the public. They 
make no avowed 
assurances of pri¬ 
vacy : you can 
look thro u g h 
t h e m — see the 
garden, see the 
house. Hence the 
necessity for es¬ 
tablishing by the 
stvle of fence the 
proper relations 
between it and 
the architecture of 
the house and the 
character of the 
garden. 
The fence is a 
product of the 
American demo¬ 
cratic spirit and 
can be said to 
have reached its 
highest point of 
development in 
this country. 
Naturally they 
are to be seen to 
the best advan¬ 
tage on suburban or country places, although in both New Eng¬ 
land and the South are excellent examples of Colonial city fences 
that have served as models for later country development and 
adaptation. And a salient point about the classical types of fences 
in both these sections is not that they are a byproduct of local car¬ 
pentry—as many of our modern wooden fences are — but were a 
sincere endeavor on the part of the architect to tie both the house 
and its enclosure into a congruous whole. So there follows this 
rule, which the architect may fortunately be able to impress upon 
his client—that when the house is designed the fence also should be 
designed, and not left to the vagaries of the local carpenter. The 
type of gate, which will be considered later on, depends upon the 
type of fence and should not be taken as a problem by itself, as 
is often done with lamentable results. 
The first thing to establish before the fence is set up is your 
right to place it. Make sure of the legal boundaries of your prop¬ 
erty ; the laws differ in different States, and an inch one way 
or the other may mean an encroachment upon your neighbor’s 
property. We have now and again newspaper accounts of com¬ 
munity squabbles which result in the erection of ‘‘spite fences’’ — 
a regrettable commentary on American neighborhood spirit but 
generally founded on some encroachment of boundary lines. 
Having established vour 
legal 
rights and chosen the type of 
340 
