House & Garden 
THE POOL 
house was a natural one for the drive and 
was kept unchanged for that purpose. The 
lawn occupying the central space and con¬ 
taining the pool is not level, as at first seems, 
but it declines slightly as the drive does, and 
is thus a medium between the slope at the 
extreme sides of the forecourt and the sur¬ 
face of the water in the centre. The retain¬ 
ing walls of the pool extend much higher 
BELLE FONTAINE 
level of the lawn and the drive, a heavily 
battered retaining wall provides a strong end¬ 
ing feature of the design. Two low hedges 
cross the lawn in front of the wall and, divid¬ 
ing, one skirts the semicircular margin of the 
pool. Creeping vines trail over the whole 
height of this high wall and save from com¬ 
plete interruption the green background of 
Nature upon which the design has been placed. 
straight edge of wood reaching across the 
hillside was found on the original site. The 
house was placed at the centre of this line 
and a wide outlook toward the south ob¬ 
tained. On the north the trees were cut 
away for the forecourt. As the ground to be 
used was a hillside the question of grades 
was first to be solved. The slope from the 
entrance of the court to the entrance of the 
above the water at the upper end than at the 
south or house end. This height between 
the water and the grass and the strong bor¬ 
der of white curbing separating the two is 
perhaps the one crudity in the whole effect. 
It is somewhat veiled, however, by the grass 
and vines which spring from the joints of the 
stonework. At the northern end, where 
there is the greatest difference between the 
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