August, 
1914 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
81 
ing will not be difficult if, by the use of a non-porous substance, 
the impurities of the water have not penetrated beneath the sur¬ 
face. Those beautiful bathing pools of the ancients, fair in¬ 
deed to look upon, could scarcely fulfill present-day demands 
for cleanliness; their walls and floors were marble, which, being 
more or less porous, eventually became clogged with all manner 
of impurities from the water that no amount of scouring could 
possibly remove. Better by far, though perhaps less pictur¬ 
esque, is our modern earthenware covered by a glaze through 
which moisture cannot penetrate. 
The decorative effect of a bathing pool depends almost wholly 
upon its architectural treatment or upon the accessories with 
which it is surrounded. By placing a pool upon a terrace or 
within a garden, marble balustrades, pergolas, or flights of stone 
steps may be made attractive details of its surroundings; or, 
if the pool be in a spot retired and remote, it may be set in a 
narrow strip of green lawn enclosed by a tall clipped hedge. 
Unless the pool be very close to the residence, it will be neces¬ 
sary to provide a shelter where bathers may disrobe and dress, 
and upon the treatment of this shelter will depend much of the 
pool's decorative effect. It may, to be in complete accord with 
its surroundings, be built of 
rustic work and lined with 
birch bark; of shingles, brick, 
stone or any other material 
desired. The shelters at¬ 
tached to elaborate pools are 
often provided with shower 
baths and every other device 
which ingenuity can suggest, 
but these details are by no 
means necessary, nor are they 
always desirable. 
The furnishings of the pool 
are few and simple. There 
should be a spring board at 
one end, from which the 
bather may dive. A tiny 
canoe is sometimes a help to 
the bathers, and always heaps 
of fun. A few rugs may be 
spread before the shelter, and, above, might be stretched an awn¬ 
ing against direct sunlight. But these are mere details that sel- 
Greater far than its decoration is the sheer sport the pool affords: swimming in 
summer; in winter, skating 
dom affect the pleasure of 
those to whom the pool be¬ 
longs. The furnishing is by 
no means an invariable index 
to the enjoyment the pool pro¬ 
vides. 
The cost may naturally be 
just what one elects to spend. 
Saving rare instances, it 
would hardly be that of even 
a simple motor car, while the 
pleasure which its possession 
will afford might easily be as 
great. Moreover, the cost of 
a motor's upkeep is consider¬ 
able, and within a year or two 
it must be discarded for a 
new machine; whereas the 
upkeep of any but the most 
elaborate bathing pool need be scarcely anything. As there are 
no changes of style in swimming pools, and consequently no new 
model annually, a pool once constructed may be used practically 
forever. 
For variety’s sake, however, it were advisable to make occa¬ 
sional changes in the immediate surroundings of the pool, such 
as rearrangements of the plants round its edge or the assuring 
of a sequence of bloom. The varieties of iris, fern and hydran¬ 
geas, and the other plants requiring abundant moisture, are espe¬ 
cially adaptable to the position. For the informal pool they are 
unexcelled. Should the pool be Nrmal, clipped box trees may 
be set at intervals along the edge. One rule, however, should 
always be observed: a sufficiently broad path should be left 
around the edge so that the bather will have easy access to the 
water on all sides. 
One who has gone, during the first fresh hours of a sum¬ 
mer's morning, into a cool green enclosure screened by a tall 
hedge, and there dived into ten or twelve feet of crystal water, 
will hardly wonder that the bathing pool has once more come 
into its own. And then, when the bathing is over and there 
comes the thrill and glow in its wake, he will understand why 
pools are being built upon estates both large and small all over 
the land. For every man still thinks with pleasure and a sense 
of longing, of those joyful swimmin’ hole days of his youth ; and 
to every living creature Beauty makes her everlasting appeal. 
The exterior of the shelter is the key to the pool’s decorative effect. Interior 
development of detail can be ad lib 
Nor is the pool alone the hobby of the rich man. Here is a modest, serviceable 
pool, simple in construction and of moderate cost 
