House & Garden 
the gate stands open, 
one may pick his way 
down a flight of stone 
steps into the garden 
of a disused convent. 
A curiously irregular 
plot of ground, 
bounded on the one 
side by the bare old 
buildings and on the 
other by the wall that 
holds up the road, it 
offered in the first 
place no great facilities 
for the making of a 
garden, but so cleverly 
have the beds been 
planned, so ingen¬ 
iously has the irregu¬ 
larity in some cases 
been frankly used, in 
others concealed, that 
a garden has been 
formed the peculiar 
charm of which is 
scarcely to be forgot- 
A WINDOW OF THE CASA CIAMPOI.I 
ten when once seen. 
Standing in the midst 
of it the parterres 
with their quaint 
forms and once trim 
edgings seem held in 
place by a low enclos¬ 
ing wall of two steps, 
the tops of which are 
formed as little 
trenches whence a 
wealth of blossom 
starts up in spray-like 
forms or rolls down 
in a cascade to the 
ground beneath. A- 
bout this wall extends 
a narrow band of 
small shrubs above 
which rise lemon and 
orange trees studded 
with their fruit. Be¬ 
yond these again a 
path, and then the 
outer walk running 
wild with a riot of 
