A HILLSIDE GARDEN IN NEW ENGLAND 
Prentice Sanger, Landscape Architect 
ELSA REHMANN 
I N the steeply sloping residence section of 
one of those charming old New England 
towns is a certain remodeled place where 
the problems of a peculiar location and a 
successful treatment have been solved at 
one and the same time. From the rather 
crude planning which characterized the fit¬ 
ting of the old house to its site has been 
evolved a scheme wherein all the natural 
advantages of the site have been retained, 
the former defects remedied, and the sepa¬ 
rate features of the place united in a har- 
Design for the monious and pleasing whole. Here is the 
gate to the service story of how it was done. 
court In the beginning there were three deter¬ 
mining factors in the rearrangement: a 
sharp double tilt of the property to the south and west, a view 
of distant hills to the southwest, and the position of the house 
and barn. The first and second of these were unalterable; 
the third must be retained if possible. 
Taking the house and its immediate surroundings first, the 
old entrance drive on the south, which detracted from rather 
than added to the effect, was abolished. In its stead a new one 
was built at the extreme north side of the lot, curving away 
from the side of the front porch so that it would not spoil 
the width of the front lawn. The drive as it now stands takes 
up the least possible space consistent with generous room for 
turning, and is in close and direct communication with service 
court and garage. 
Near the entrance of the drive on the lawn side, prairie roses 
and prostrate junipers spread their branches over out-crop¬ 
ping rocks. On the other side, the pendant branches of for- 
sythia and the graceful growth of spirea bring the taller 
shrubbery down to the ground. 
Backing the service court, so to speak, is the garage, a build¬ 
ing of real architectural worth as well as practical utility. Two 
entrance doors are provided for it, and there is ample space for 
two cars, as well as the usual outfit rooms, inside. The old. 
barn’s stone foundation upon which the garage is built forms 
good storage room below and provides a large additional space 
at the back for an open balustrade platform. 
The Service Drive and General Plan 
While the principal connection from the garage to the house 
front and the driveway is through the service court, yet it 
was obvious that in rearranging the old place some separate 
roadway must be provided to enable tradesmen’s wagons, etc., 
to reach the service wing without being too much in evidence. 
Accordingly it was decided to build a long, narrow drive¬ 
way from the west corner of the service yard, down the hill 
to the street which bounds the property 
on the south. Properly screened as it is 
from what might be termed the “living” 
part of the house and grounds, this en¬ 
trance is at once direct and easier to 
negotiate than the steeper street on the 
east. 
With these two driveways and the posi- Design for a small 
tion of the house and garage established, tral sta ; rway to 
die rest of the landscaping plan followed the garden 
