Houses Garden 
W— — —W——M— -^ .wLi 
V o 1 . I OCTOBER, i 9 o i No. 5 
THE VILLA D’ESTE, AT TIVOLI. 
By George Walter Dawson. 
M OSSY niches, outdoor apartments en¬ 
closing pools ot cool water, basins fringed 
with maidenhair fern, vine-hidden balustrades 
and grass plots, 
overspread now 
and again with 
broad reaching 
sycamores: these 
are but a few of the 
features existing 
to-dav in the old 
half-ruined Villa 
d’Este on the steep 
northwest slope of 
the hill of Tivoli. 
Besides these time- 
softened creations 
of man, are charms 
that are purely 
those of nature. 
Odors of orange 
and rose blossoms, 
mingling with those 
ot bay and box 
leaves, refresh one 
with every breeze. 
Bird-notes and the 
music of running 
and falling water 
soothe at each turn; 
while to delight the 
eye, are every¬ 
where visions of 
light and color. 
The sun dances in golden spots along mossy 
paths, or flashes a rainbow from fountains’ 
spray. In statueless niches, thin sheets of 
water, mystic veils of blue and green, purple 
and old gold, slip and fall. In placid pools 
urns, crumbling walls, and wild flowers are 
reflected. Beautiful tree-forms, placed in a 
masterly way, are now in small groups tor 
special accent, now planted like the old classic 
grove. And as if enough to give pleasure 
were not within the limits of this princely 
place, there is the far-reaching, broad Italian 
landscape—like unto none other—to be 
viewed from palace, 
grove or loggia. 
It is a natural 
desire of every hu¬ 
man being to set 
aside tor his habita¬ 
tion part of earth’s 
great sun face, and 
to gather about him 
things to satisfy his 
natural, intellectual 
and testhetic long¬ 
ings. He modifies 
nature to his need 
and makes the spot 
livable and lovable. 
He creates when 
nature does not 
provide, but with 
nature as his pre- 
ception. The im¬ 
pulse that builds 
the humble home 
withitsgarden is the 
same as that which 
creates the princely 
Villa d’Este. Fun¬ 
damentally they are 
alike. It is but a 
difference ot extent 
and enrichment, for 
both clearly show man’s love ot nature and 
his delight in his own creations. D’Este is a 
spot where nature, thoroughly understood, 
has been handled in nature’s way but with 
man’s guidance—a work of art so superb 
that in spite of its lost marbles and bronzes, 
its statueless pedestals, its flower gardens that 
STAIRWAY 
VILLA D ESTE 
I 
