March, 1923 
53 
by ancient walls, and the Ros- 
erie of i/Hay is reached. 
The rose gardens of L'Hay, 
which for the past two cen¬ 
turies have been the vacation 
grounds of wealthy Parisians, 
are now the property of lime. 
Gravereaux. On the terrace, 
dominating the lands below, 
there was formerly a castle 
called la Tournelle de L’Hay, 
once owned by the ill-remem¬ 
bered Queen Isabelle, wife of 
Charles VI of France, and 
where died, a few years later, 
the proud and handsome 
knight Dunois, son of Prince 
Louis d’Orleans, who fought 
beside Jeanne d’Arc to deliver 
the soil of France from the 
English. 
About 1810 the best lo¬ 
cated portion of the domain 
became the property of Henri 
Auguste, appointed goldsmith 
to Napoleon I, and son and grandson of 
the goldsmiths of the French kings Louis 
XV and XVI. It was he who constructed 
the present mansion over a century ago. 
Respecting the traditions of the palace, 
Mme. Gravereaux has framed and placed 
in the Reception Hall a list bearing the 
names and titles of its successive owners. 
The old familiar fence encloses a 
pretty, shaded yard. The house, of mea¬ 
sured proportions, has the character and 
design of the villas built in the environs 
of Paris from the end of the 18th Century 
to the days of Napoleon I. The gardens 
form a balcony for this, facing south, and 
continue the terrace. In the gardens, 
almost concealed by the foliage, is a dainty 
Norman chalet, an annex necessary for 
the comfort of a large family. Towards 
The mass of bloom in this particular section of the Roserie is almost 
bewildering; the result of planting all the roses of one variety, or of 
a similar variety, in the same location and getting thereby, a nearly 
simultaneous flowering 
Within the space surrounded by this arbor 
and treillage are planted the roses noted for 
their sweet scents; varieties from India and 
Persia and China 
the right is the beautiful vista 
of the sunny terrace and to 
the left, behind the Norman 
chalet, under the shadow of 
centenarian trees, several 
climbing alleys lead to the 
scented and world famous 
Roserie. 
All sorts of flowery arches 
and porticoes surround the nu¬ 
merous rose beds. In the midst 
of these, facing a high semi¬ 
circle of light wooden frame¬ 
work covered with roses, the 
calm surface of a pool mir¬ 
rors the flowers. Low hedges 
surround it, each one bearing 
a different variety of roses. 
The first two rectangular 
bushes at the entrance of this 
large adorned enclosure are, 
from right to left, “Joseph 
Guy” and “Redhoette” roses 
respectively. It is the spot re¬ 
served for the prettiest blooms. 
Here can be admired “Caroline Testout”, 
“Capitaine Christy”, “Mme. R. Poincare”, 
“Commander J. Gravereaux”, “Candeur 
Lyonnaise”, “Souvenir de Claudius Per- 
net”, etc. The flowers are all of one 
color. 
Many persons of taste prefer the vigor¬ 
ous masses of similar shades of flowers, 
and this idea is oftentimes a principle in 
the composition of a whole rose garden. 
Thus, the many arches, porches, and 
frames are covered with one distinct 
variety of roses, and so part of the garden 
bears all red roses and another part pink, 
then, further away, placed in a group, 
the yellow shaded roses, gradually fading 
until the white ones are reached. This 
is a beautiful theory indeed, but often- 
( Continued, on page 100) 
At the apex of 
the Roserie is 
the Theatre de 
Verdure, with 
its sloping gal¬ 
lery of broad, 
turfed steps 
that serve to 
seat the spec¬ 
tators of the 
pageants below 
