House Garden 
GLIMPSES OF MODERN PERSIA. 1 
FI-EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF THE HOME. 
E LABORATE doors and gateways are a 
Persian tradition, to the proof of which 
the portals of all the old-time monuments 
add their share. Modern inanition has 
resulted in a general abandonment of 
pretension in this direction, and the en¬ 
trances to some of the most attractive homes, 
nowadays, are merely the severest of door¬ 
ways in a grim expanse of wall. But even 
now, a Persian, strenuous in the effort to 
outshine his neighbors, builds a showy 
portal of hard brick, usually in color, giving 
in its variegations some crude suggestion 
of the old enamels. Sometimes, by way 
of piling on the splendor, stucco figures 
are added, of rude design and harsh colora¬ 
tion, suggestive, somehow, of lower Italy. 
It is more than likely that the workmen, 
having accomplished this horror, will leave 
unfilled the pit caused by their excavation 
for the foundations, and trust to time to 
bring it up to the street level. Such are 
minor details. 
been most expert. At night this inner entry 
is usually lighted. The Persian has a passion 
tor lights, and there are few gardens without 
one or more post-lamps lit at night, though 
the streets outside are dark as a moonless 
desert, and whoever traverses them must 
have servants going ahead with huge Japanese 
lanterns, to reveal the numberless pitfalls in 
the way. It seems as if, in the time when 
Persia built up to its inspirations, the broad 
walk surrounding the garden, allusion to 
which was made in the preceding paper, must 
have been bordered by pillars upholding a 
shadowy arcade. The remains of such are 
to be seen in the ruins of even common¬ 
place structures ; and in the vast and admir¬ 
able caravansaries which Shah Abbas built 
throughout Persia, all that part of the build¬ 
ing looking out on the great inner yard was 
constructed somewhat after this order, with 
a view to cool shelter, since caravan travel is 
at night and these places were sought for 
protection from the midday heat. In the 
best building of Persia, shade has necessarily 
been an object, but if the arcade was ever 
popular for private dwellings it has long been 
HOUSES AT RESHT 
Inside the gate the vestibule often shows 
an admirable groining in its arches, a trick 
of masonry in the execution of which the 
Persian artisan has from time immemorial 
, Continued from the May number of House and Garden. 
abandoned, and save for such shadow as the 
garden’s trees may furnish, the sun’s heat 
beats unbroken on the facades of the houses. 
To obviate this, in a measure, awnings are 
much utilized. 
In the better class of city houses the walls 
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