January, 1916 
31 
View of the Cranston house from the side street, showing the 
trance and the brick wall surrounding the property 
garage en- 
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vo.e\\iAv&Aj CvQN&c;e, 
As the 
Cranston 
house was 
already 
built, only 
the garden 
remained to 
be planned 
these there 
may be many 
or few. The 
points of the 
compass, the 
preva i 1 i n g 
winter and 
summer 
winds, the outlook, the neighboring layouts, the character of 
the place—i. e., urban, suburban or country—the land contours, 
the natural vegetation in many instances, the character of the 
land formation—rocky and unwieldy or more plastic—all these 
are some of the external things that should influence plan. 
Add to these those elements which you yourself and your 
needs and your family’s supply, and you will have begun to 
gather loose ends of planning into a group that may be com¬ 
prehensively examined and considered. 
The unusual feature of a long straight drive has been em¬ 
ployed in this problem because the street lies some 3' to 5' 
lower than the property—hence there is need of a long cut. The 
banks are to be rounded neatly from the lawn level 
above, and a row of flowering dogwoods, cornus florida, 
planted along each side. These 
trees are small, yet large enough to 
give clearance to the driveway be¬ 
neath, by reason of their situation 
at the top of the bank; and they 
thrive under the shade of larger 
trees such as the lawn and drive¬ 
way are to be planted with, in car¬ 
rying out the park or “landscape” 
effect before the house. 
Placing Shrubbery 
Shrubbery massed as shown 
completes this development of the 
lawn, and screens garage and 
clothes the house foundations at 
suitable places. The position of 
the flower gardens at the north of 
the house is u.ifortunate, but un¬ 
avoidable—so we must make the 
best of it. It is not so difficult as 
it might be, for a protective plant¬ 
ing of arbor vitaes at the extreme 
limits of the place along the north 
will effectually overcome dangers 
from exposure and at the same 
time furnish a pleasing backing for 
the garden as seen from the house. 
These are to be supplemented by 
shrubs in natural arrangement; and so far from impairing the 
view, such a grouping will rather make it more effective. 
A hedge of boxwood or of clipped euonymous, euonymous 
radicans, outlines the garden paths, which are to be grassed 
rather than gravelled. The kitchen garden is hidden from the 
terrace and the house by an arbor on which grapes are to grow. 
Direct from the end of the terrace a straight path leads, down 
which is the long vista which every garden should have. This 
goes across the arbor and through an arched gateway shutting 
off the kitchen garden, then on through this between borders 
of mixed and sturdy growing perennials, and out at a similar 
exit at the far side which gives into the fruit orchard, and 
leads on ultimately to the wild garden and tangle beside the 
little pond, formed by damming the brook. Reaching this 
tangle the path divides and is lost in the shrubby mass; and 
here is opportunity for an unusual little wilderness with a rude 
bridge across the stream, a thatched retreat beside the water¬ 
fall at the dam, stepping stones crossing back again below 
this, and masses of wild flowers that love such a glen, natural¬ 
ized everywhere. All of this is, of course, to be tree shaded and 
thickly planted, so that it is completely hidden and unsuspected 
until the path, winding left and right, rounds the shrubbery 
and discovers it. 
Developing a Built Property 
The second problem, which is the house at Summit, N. J., on 
page 27, shows at the very beginning the misfortune of placing 
the house and planning it, and then planning the grounds. A 
garage should couple up with the 
service end of a dwelling invari¬ 
ably ; yet it is folly to construct 
driveways where a side street al¬ 
ready provides entrance. More¬ 
over, in this case the dwelling has 
been put so close to the line on its 
service side that nothing can be 
built there. Neither can anything 
be put at the rear; for all the out¬ 
look is in this direction and the 
house has been arranged along this 
exposure, the living-room deliber¬ 
ately turning its back upon every¬ 
thing else,—save an end view 
which it gets across the porch to 
the too near side street. 
Why, oh why, were the grounds 
not considered when the plan was 
under way? (I wonder how many 
people say this about their houses, 
A'/ 
For the bottom of the path to the brook on the Cran¬ 
ston property is planned a garden gate. This would 
be a fitting type for that use 
in the course of a year?) Now 
there is only one place for the 
garage; so, in spite of its closing 
the end of the porch and the end 
window in the bedroom above, here 
it must go. 
But the end of the porch is per¬ 
haps better closed, with the street 
so near; and a chimney with a fire¬ 
place on porch below and in bedroom above, where the window 
was, compensates for a great deal. Then too the front and 
rear are still open, and the living-room’s light and outlook are 
unimpaired—and altogether there is more seclusion. Great 
luck 1 
,.^a»gl§P§f 
(Continued on page 66) 
