42 
House & Garden 
Rough stone steps lead down from the upper terrace to the semicircular rose garden whose center is laid out with 
precise formality. Each of the six small beds is bordered with box, and all converge at a sundial set in a flat stone 
pedestal. H. T. Patterson, landscape architect 
A GARDEN IN THREE LEVELS 
How a House on a Hilltop Was Joined 
to the Flowers Growing on Lower Ground 
LILLIAN C. ALDERSON 
A THREE-STORIED gabled house set 
on a hilltop with ample grounds, yet in 
the midst of a more or less built-up 
neighborhood—how could the feeling of pri¬ 
vacy and seclusion be best obtained in the gar¬ 
den, and what form of garden should one choose ? 
In this instance the problem was solved by 
creating a series of levels. 
A broad flight of rough 
stone steps leads down from 
an upper terrace of brick to 
the semicircular rose garden 
forming the second terrace. 
The steps are marked by 
tall cedars and the beds be¬ 
tween the retaining wall and 
the curved brick wall are 
filled with a broad band of 
pink and white phlox bor¬ 
dered by creeping polemo- 
nium. Across the front of 
the terrace the phlox again 
predominates, but the cen¬ 
ter is laid out in a precise 
design of evident formality. There are six 
small beds set in grass and bordered with box, 
each shaped like an oyster and filled with 
hybrid tea roses. The converging point is a 
sundial set in a flat pedestal of stone. 
In midsummer the glory of the phlox pre¬ 
vents one from noticing that the roses have 
passed their full beauty, as we follow the 
curved brick path to the steps leading down at 
either side to the garden beneath. Below 
stretches a wide tapis vert, enclosed by a mas¬ 
sive hedge of beech, framing the vista of the 
pergola that forms the far boundary as 
one looks down the lower garden. 
This part of the garden 
is only slightly raised above 
the ground level and is 
separated from the lawn 
and shrubberies by a low 
stone wall at either side and 
a wide open pergola at the 
farthest end. The broad 
brick walks are box bor¬ 
dered and pass between a 
wide herbaceous border and 
five annual beds arranged 
in a geometric design. These 
beds are gay with bulbs in 
the early spring and are 
bedded out later with helio¬ 
trope and zinnias. 
This garden, which is at the home of Alfred G. Smith of Greenwich, Conn., demon¬ 
strates that close relationship of house to planting which is always desirable and can 
generally be obtained on even a hilltop site 
