THE REBUILDING OF AN OLD GARDEN 
A BANDONED and overgrown, the gar- 
, den of “ Grape House” has long been 
an object of curiosity in the vicinity of 
Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. A railroad has 
robbed the region of its former agricultural 
character and has circumscribed lands which 
once surrounded the homestead of a last 
century country seat. Through the trees 
of an apple orchard great mounds of un¬ 
heeded box can now be seen from the 
windows of passing trains. Garden paths 
which once were neatly set walks have fallen 
into disorder, and it is now possible to form 
only a dim idea of a garden which was once 
the graceful accompaniment of the house. 
This is one of the few old gardens of the 
formal sort existing in America, and it has, 
like its contemporaries, an interesting his¬ 
tory. It differs from them, however, in that 
its design is of French origin, rather than 
English. The land on which it was built 
was given by William Penn to Francis Dan¬ 
iel Pastorius ; and after several subsequent 
changes of ownership it passed, in 1796, into 
the hands of Frenchmen. The last of 
these was John Du Barry, who, acquiring 
the property in 1803, laid out the gardens 
in the formal style. His design has almost 
completely disappeared in the neglect the gar¬ 
den has suffered, but its distinguishing archi¬ 
tecture remains. Phis consists of the grape- 
house and the high stone walls extending 
outward from it upon each side and enclosing 
the end of the garden farthest from the 
house. 
Du Barry was not only a skilful agricul¬ 
turist ; he was greatly interested in silk 
culture, and it was said that the row of trees 
in his garden forming the “ mulberry walk ” 
he planted to supply food for the silk¬ 
worms. The apple trees still standing on 
the place were brought by him from France. 
All of the grounds were most elaborately 
decorated with statuary, arbors, shrubbery 
and an abundance of flowers. The entire 
front of the picturesque house he built was 
covered with French roses. The stable was 
erected in 1812. While the larger rows of 
box were planted by Du Barry soon after 
his purchase of the property in 1803, the 
smaller hedges were set by a later owner, 
who also tore down Du Barry’s house and 
erected two large barns and other minor 
buildings still standing on the place. 
Whoever threaded his way in recent years 
between hedges almost meeting over his 
path has been struck by the foreign character 
of the place. But it is foreign only in ar¬ 
rangement, for the materials of the building 
are local materials, and those of the garden, 
too, are, with the exception already named, 
the natural flora of the Philadelphia locality, 
put to an artistic use. 
The garden, we have said, is like many 
others, left to grow in idle ways, creating its 
own unappreciated charm ; but its fate has 
THE OLD GARDEN 
THE TRENCH BESIDE THE HEDGE 
