Page 548

NATURE AS CONSULTING ARCHITECT
THE CONSTRUCTION SHOWN HERE IS CHARACTERISTIC
OF LAWRENCE PARK, WHERE FIELD-STONE WALLS RE-
PEAT THE ROCKY NOTE OF THE HILLSIDE GARDENS.
in plans, design and materials to its irregu-
lar and towering site.
  Lawrence Park is full of surprises.
Every turn of the road-and those turns
are many-brings into view some new and
unexpected charm.    Here is a clump of
trees upon a grassy incline, with slabs of
granite at their feet, and behind them part
of that same rock foundation, blasted and
broken into convenient fragments, has been
used for the walls of a sturdy vine-covered
home. Another turn, and beyond more
rocky ledges, trees and knolls, are other
houses of field stone, stucco or shingle-
homes that rise so naturally from     the
rugged ground that they seem to have stood
there for ages, part of the form and spirit
of the place. And although they obviously
encompass much spacious and luxurious
comfort, they have yet an air of solid sim-
plicity. Their wide sheltering porches and
big stone chimneys, diamond-paned case-
ments, broad-eaved roofs and peeping dor-
FIELD-STONE AND CEMENT HOUSE, THE RESIDENCE OF
DR. CHARLTON, WHICH IS ADMIRABLY ADAPTED TO
ITS SLOPING SITE: WILLIAM BATES, ARCHITECT.
548
mers seem to spell'in every syllable ot stone
and beam and shingle, the word "home."
  Around them, creeping snugly up to the
very walls, are the informal gardens-so in-
formal, often, that they are hardly more
than little bits of Nature, coaxed into com-
panionship with man.  Here and there,
where the ground grows tired of climbing
and relaxes in a miniature plateau, smooth
lawns appear, bordered with flower-beds
and bushes. But in most cases the gardens
have been left in primitive wildness, with
only the suggestion of a human touch. The
latter takes the form, usually, of irregular
patches of vividly blooming flowers that
gleam with sudden brightness of blue, pink,
white or purple among the more neutral
tones of the rock.
  There is usually no dividing line between
these pleasant gardens, save an occasional
HOME OF H. A. BANE, SHOWING ESPECIALLY STURDY
STONEWORK IN THE ARCHED PILLARS OF THE PORCH:
WILLIAM BATES, ARCHITECT.
bush, a group of planting or a ledge of rock,
so that the effect of the whole hillside is
almost that of a park or co6perative colony.
  A dip in the road discloses the panorama
of a wide valley with wooded hills and half-
hidden housetops beyond the low stone wall
and posts that mark the farther boundary
of Lawrence Park; while to the left the
road winds up a grass-grown hill. And at
this point is a most unusual piece of archi-
tecture.
  Jutting out of the hill is a huge gray granite
boulder, and perched upon it like a light-
house upon a rock is a great rambling house
that spreads out solid wings and airy
porches to hold it firmly on the slope. With
decklike balcony and windowed tower, it
seems to be keeping guard over the quiet
valley below--a veritable rocky sentinel.