The Development of a Country Estate 
looks through Moorish arches, and obtains a new 
and charming vista from every point of view. Per¬ 
haps it is beneath the old Mission bell; out through 
the eucalyptus trees, or through the branches of 
the flame and skeleton trees, or over the bread¬ 
fruit and Irish buckthorn. Everywhere lofty snow¬ 
capped mountains, orange groves, ridges of green 
hills, stretch away, completing a picture, rare in 
any land beneath the sun. 
It can be imagined that “Sunnycrest” has interior 
charms as well. It is one of the purest Spanish 
houses in the valley, its lines attractive and to it the 
mistress has lent her artistic tastes. The living- 
room suggests the orange, the deep yellow of the 
lower walls gradually paling as it ascends. In the 
reception room the idea of the apricot is carried out 
with delicate tints. The guest rooms have other 
schemes, while the library is perfect in its splendid 
Moorish finish and ornate decoration. The dining¬ 
room is modern Spanish, if the term can be used, 
being furnished in Santa Barbara Spanish leather 
work. Withal, “Sunnycrest” is essentially home¬ 
like; this charm is nowhere absent. It has the 
formality of a great place, yet its garden softens the 
lines, and as a whole, it is the embodiment of all that 
would seem desirable in this land of the afternoon. 
Practical Features in the Development 
of a Country Estate 
By RICHARD SCHERMERHORN, Jr., 
Civil Engineer and Landscape Architect 
T HE esthetics of country estate development have 
been treated in numerous articles, recent and 
long past; as also there have been exception¬ 
ally thorough accounts of the work accomplished 
through horticultural aids in the rendering of land¬ 
scape effects and general pleasing conditions. It is, 
however, particularly noteworthy that there has been 
little space given to the practical points concerned 
in the building of a private estate, and it is the pur¬ 
pose of this article to dwell upon the subject mainly 
from this latter standpoint. 
We have to consider a tract of say 500 acres, of 
rough and undeveloped land except for a portion 
which has been used for farming purposes. The 
country is hilly and fairly wooded. The owner 
engages a landscape specialist and arrangements are 
made for the immediate use of his services. We may 
now follow the successive steps and important points 
toward the object in view, i. e., to make of this wild 
tract of land a property which shall in the first place 
be habitable and with all means furnished for per¬ 
sonal convenience; in the second place, which shall 
be rendered attractive and pleasing to the eye; and 
in the third place, which shall contain all requisites 
for amusement and recreation. 
The boundary lines of the property are first care¬ 
fully surveyed and the building of a substantial 
fence following these lines is commenced at the 
earliest practicable moment. I his provides a barrier 
against all trespassers, many of whom, however 
uninterested they may have been in the property in 
its former condition, are always greatly delighted to 
pry into matters concerning the actual work of con¬ 
struction. A careful topographical survey is next 
in progress, and if the landscape man can personally 
participate in this, so much to his advantage in the 
matter of a careful study of the property. The 
survey gives at the outset a chart of the land, every 
feature of which can be studied in detail. Plans can 
thus be drawn intelligently and a full economy pro¬ 
vided for, while artistic features can be studied 
thoroughly instead of half-way guessed at. An 
economy derived from the proper planning of even 
a few hundred feet of roadway through the use of 
such a survey plan will often save in excavation the 
cost of the entire survey. 
The first step toward the actual execution of the 
work will consist in establishing the correct location 
of the house. It is by all means wise to set the house 
at the highest elevation for purposes of wide range 
of view, but other considerations must also be ob¬ 
served. It is often the case that a house will be 
placed upon an extremely high ridge without ever 
considering the proper means of approach, and as a 
result the driveway is constructed with grades which 
necessitate not only an enormous expenditure for 
excavation, but the roadway will furnish, from an 
artistic standpoint, an ugly and unprepossessing 
appearance. Care must be taken also to locate the 
house with due regard to its position governed by the 
5 1 
